October 2, 1950
 

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OCTOBER 2, 1950
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FORESTERS SURVIVE CA BATTLE: WIN SECOND STRAIGHT FLAG

In a race that wasn't decided until the final day of the season, the Cleveland Foresters -baseball's hottest team- survived a brutal bloodbath in the Continental, winning 24 of their last 29 games -- including 12 of their last 13 -- to capture their second crown in as many seasons. A dominant force all September, the final week was no exception, as after dropping the opener against the Wolves, they won each of their last five games, outlasting a Stars team that went 4-2 against the Kings, Saints, and Cougars.

As they had most season, the Foresters lineup had no trouble putting runs on the board, winning most of their matches down the stretch quite handily. Sherry Doyal, their 22-year-old star that came over in the Hiram Steinberg (14-11, 4.10, 102) trade that won the now last place Pioneers a pair of championships, finished off his excellent campaign with a huge week. The third year pro went 12-for-28 with 5 walks, 6 runs, 2 homers, and 11 RBIs, finishing his potential Whitney Campaign with a .312/.388/.519 (133 OPS+) batting line and 150 WRC+. Doyal provided Cleveland with 31 doubles, 6 triples, 27 homers, 100 runs, and 111 RBIs, winning the team triple crown and leading the team in numerous statistical categories.

Doyal is a big reason the Foresters are back, but with one of the most complete offenses and it's no surprise they finished the season with the most runs in the association. This team is both young and good, as while Doyal may be the star, the team's most valuable player may be backstop Larry McClure. Not only does he do a great job handling the staff, but the should be Kellogg Winner had a great rookie campaign, despite starting the season as a backup catcher who was yet to pass A ball. 24 in November, McClure quickly seized the job from starting catcher Mark Smith, and was named the CA's starting catcher in the All-Star game. His 159 WRC+ was actually higher then Doyal's, even if it came in an unqualified 455 trips to the plate, and the former Star draftee produced a robust .337/.394/.550 (142 OPS+) line at the dish. He led all rookies in homers (13), RBIs (83), WAR (4.6), and WPA (4.33) in one of the best all-around seasons for a catcher who isn't George Cleaves (.310, 21, 77).

The young talent doesn't stop there, as the lineup features Jim Urquhart (.288, 1, 60, 12), Lloyd Coulter (.309, 5, 33), and Frenchy Sonntag (.251, 10, 36) as well, who like Doyle and McClure, are all key long-term pieces under the age of 24. Coulter in particular was a huge addition, as he was their 2nd Round pick this season, and with quality production at third, quickly made Forester fans forget that star and former 1st pick Jim Adams Jr. (.283, 6, 40, 4) tore his meniscus in July and never came back. One of the only key contributors that isn't super young is the recently turned 28-year-old Lorenzo Samuels (.257, 22, 72), one of the top lefty sluggers in the game. His experience could be critical in the Foresters second attempt as a title, as the dominant Gothams have an enviable rotation and lineup that gives all teams fits.

If there is a weakness on this Foresters team, its the rotation, and that's compounded by the fact that ace and reigning Allen Winner Adrian Czerwinski (19-13, 3.31, 111) was forced to pitch gave 154 as the pennant was still up for grabs on the final day. His 19th win sealed it, as while the 25-year-old righty didn't lead the association in wins for the second straight season, he repeated in starts (36), innings (304.1), and WAR (7.1). Cleveland could pitch him on short rest for Game 2, but he's just as likely to open play in New York, setting him up to be fully rested for a potential Game 7. He's the most reliable member of the staff, but rookie Larry Beebe (7-9, 3.60, 63) looked good in his first 18 starts, while veterans Ducky Davis (8-13, 3.71, 89), Gordie Irwin (13-5, 1, 3.92, 64), and John Jackson (13-14, 4.14, 106) can be counted on to keep them in games.

One has to feel bad for the Montreal Saints, who looked to be on the way to finally breaking their long pennant drought. A rough September (10-16) and injuries to Joe Austin (.234, 6, 44, 29), Maurice Carter (.267, 24, 86), Luke Weaver (.290, 8, 48), and Wally Doyle (10-13, 3.98, 135) proved too much to overcome, and the Saints finished five out in a tie for 5th. Same can be said for the New York Stars, who hung around all season, and spent most of the final month at or around first place. Stars fans can look back to a tough series on the 15th and 16th at home, when the eventual champs came to town and took two close games from a rested Stars team. If only Vern Hubbard (12-12, 4.62, 73) didn't have such a disastrous June (1-5, 11.45, 9), it would be the Big Apple Boppers participating in a crosstown series.

And then of course, there's the Chicago Cougars, who year-after-year collapse under the pressure of high expectations. Towards the end of August, the Cougars were eight games out of first place, but they won 11-of-14 to move within a half game of the lead. That was followed up with a 3-3 week before a disappointing 2-5 week to end it, leaving Chicago tied with Montreal in 5th. They have now won 80 or more games in 11 of the last 12 games but have just one pennant for their efforts.

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES PREVIEW

Well the 1950 regular season is over in the FABL and it certainly was an exciting one in the CA as there were 6 teams that were still in the pennant race as the calendar flipped to October. The team that emerged from the CA was the Cleveland Foresters who slept-walked their way through most of the first 5 months of the season but then came alive to finish 24-6 and claim their 2nd straight CA Crown. They will be facing the once again Mighty New York Gothams who ran away from the FA field. This will be a rematch of the 1934 and 1935 World Series matchups with each club winning one (Cleveland in 1934 and the Gothams in 1935). Who is the favorite? Let’s take a look.

The Gothams look like a pure powerhouse team that on paper would seem to be the clear favorites. Led by 1B Red Johnson (259/366/863 39 HR’s 109 RBI’s), LF Walt Messer (290/360/882 38 HR’s 122 RBI’s), C George Cleaves (310/429/941 21 HR and 77 RBI’s). Rounding out the infield is former 2B now playing at 3B Roosevelt Brewer (314), SS Cecil LaBonte (319) and 2B Tom Jeffries (306). The only real weakness in their starting 8 is in CF.

But the Gothams are not all just power hitting, they have a very capable and veteran starting rotation headlined by 30-year-old Ed Bowman (21-7 2.82 ERA), who is likely the frontrunner for the FA Allen Award. The Foresters will also have to deal with resurgent veteran LHSP Lefty Allen who was 21-11 with a solid 3.10 ERA. The #3 spot is probably up for grabs but veteran SP Buddy Long is the odds on favorite who went 16-5 with a 3.70 ERA in 27 games (23 starts) this season.

The Gothams won 96 games this season and were truly not challenged for the FA, winning the Association by 13 games over both the Phildelphia Keystones and Washington Eagles.

But the Cleveland Foresters are no slouch and won their 2nd straight pennant in the highly competitive (some would say mediocre) Continental Association. The Foresters won the first 3 games of last season's “Fluke World Series” against the Chicago Chiefs, before the Chiefs came roaring back to win the last 4 games and leave the Foresters gasping. The way the Foresters started out the season, it looked like neither the Chiefs or Foresters would be back, but the Cleveland Nine found a way.

The Foresters offense was powered by 2nd year CF Sherry Doyal. He came up in the 2nd half of the season last year and struggled some hitting just 247 with 4 home runs in half a season. This year Doyal flourished hitting 312/388/907 with 27 home runs and 111 RBI’s and led the high powered Cleveland offense. The Foresters led the CA in runs scored, and while it was very much a team approach, Doyal was the star. The offense was given a boost when 23-year-old catcher Larry McClure took over as the everyday starter. McClure hit 337/394/944 over 118 total games (101 starts) and hit 13 home runs, and drove in 83 RBI’s. Just think what he might have done if he started say 130 games. 1B Lorenzo Samuels didn’t put up the same numbers as he did a year ago, but still hit 22 home runs and drove in 72 RBI’s. The Foresters offense is very young, and might not have as much firepower as the Gothams, but they can score runs.

The pitching might be the Foresters “weak” spot although it was good enough to be 4th overall in the CA in ERA. They do not have the veterans that the Gothams have but they do have “The Mad Professor” Adrian Czerwinski and the key in Czerwinski is win. Last year’s CA Allen Award winner didn’t quite have as good of a season this time around, but he will be a strong contender once again for that award. He was 19-13 with a 3.31 ERA this year and once again led the FABL in innings pitched topping 300 (304) this season. Czerwinski pitched on the last day of the season so he is unlikely for game 1 which means the Foresters might only get 2 games out of the Mad Professor if the Series goes 7. The real question is who will start game 1 if Czerwinski isn’t available. That could be several pitchers with Larry Beebe 7-9 3.60 ERA, Gordie Irwin 13-5 3.92 or maybe even Ducky Davis 8-13 3.71. These guys do not match up well with the Gothams veteran arms, but you never know what will happen in a short 7 game series.

The starting pitching edge goes to the Gothams, especially since Czerwinski will likely only get 2 starts. Bullpen edge also goes to the Gothams.

On paper it looks pretty one sided and I am going to agree. I see the Gothams repeating their 1935 triumph over the Foresters in 5 games.



Well another year has gone by for the Brooklyn Kings and it has once again ended in the club not being in the World Series. The season started with a lot of drama around team owner Dan Prescott and the new FABL President Dan Barrell. That owners meeting drama slid down to the club offices in Brooklyn and some questions on whether Tom Barrell would survive the year as the manager along with GM DD Martin. It’s no secret that Prescott has been in a foul mood ever since his ventures in basketball failed. He doesn’t like the current home of the Kings and has been trying to work with the city to build a new stadium, which some have called Prescott Yards. We will get more into the stadium drama, but first let's take a look at the season just completed.

After the disappointing 1949 season that saw the Kings finish 72-82 and miles out of a pennant race early, this year's club got off to a fast start. Opening the season with a 25-15 record and actually being on top of the Continental Association. Then chinks in the armor started to crop up, first with 1B Chuck Collins who has earned the label of scapegoat by some fans. Two years ago Collins looked like an upper division first sacker with potential to hit 15-20 home runs and drive in 80-90. But the 1949 season was terrible for Collins who hit just 235 and hit 11 home runs and drove in just 39 RBI’s in starting a little over half the season. Then this year he started the first month with a below 200 batting average and struggled to ever really get started. The 25-year-old was then sent packing to AAA Jersey City for what many thought was a short stint to get his bat going again. And Collins did that in 50 games hitting 374 with 10 home runs and 47 RBI’s, but it was never supposed to be that long of an exile. It was like he was the forgotten man and many wondered if he would ever put on the Brooklyn uniform again. He did come up after the AAA club finished their season and performed better as the Kings went 9-3 in those last 12 games. The question is, will he be the King’s starting 1B next spring?

Another area where the club struggled was with its rotation and specifically Bob Arman and 2nd year player Joe Potts. In late July Arman was just 10-9 with a 4.32 ERA, not horrific numbers but not what the club expected from the “ace” starting pitcher. On August 6th, 2nd year SP Joe Potts was just 5-11 with a 3.86 ERA. Potts deserved better than that 5-11 mark, but bad luck, lack of run support were big factors in his “struggles”. Fortunately both pitchers regained their forms as Arman won 7 of his last 11 decisions to finish with a 17-13 record. He was really sharp in the Kings September run going 3-2 with a 2.72.ERA. Potts went 7-0 in his last 9 starts with a 2.25 ERA.

RF Ralph Johnson had another solid season hitting 320/410/910 with 19 home runs and 89 RBI’s with 92 runs scored. A very good season but probably not Whitney worthy this season.

Other bright spots for the Kings were 2 of their prized rookies. The club feels that one of them should be the Kellogg Rookie Award winner and give the Kings their 4th Rookie of the Year in the first 5 years of the award. CF Charlie Rogers had big shoes to fill after the club dealt the very capable CF John Moss to the CA rival Chicago Cougars. Many thought the Kings were nuts in making such a deal and we will get to what they got in that deal shortly. Rogers (309/343/802) though had a very good rookie season which saw him lead the FABL in hits with 213, in triples with 16 while adding 47 doubles, 8 home runs and scoring a rookie high 106 runs while driving in 64 from the leadoff spot. The player that the Kings got from the Cougars for John Moss was SP Ron Berry. A 24-year-old lefty SP who had never pitched in a big league game. He was rated as high as the #39 overall prospect in baseball a few seasons ago, but could not crack the Cougars outstanding veteran rotation. Berry was lights out for the Kings this year going 20-11 with a 3.12 ERA and probably is the front-runner for the Rookie of the Year in the CA. In his last 3 starts over the last 2 weeks of the season he won all 3 games going 26 IP giving up just 16 hits with just 4 runs given up and shut out the Montreal Saints 6-0 on the last day of the season.

With the Kings young players, there appear to be very few spots up for grabs next spring. The lineup will likely have the following players in it.
C Dan Smith
2B Chuck Lewis
SS Billy Bryant
3B Ken Newman
LF Pat Petty (could be at 1B)
CF Charlie Rogers
RF Ralph Johnson

The only real question is Collins at 1B as we head into spring. The Kings were active in looking at some players to take over 1B last off-season and based on his 2nd straight subpar season, don’t be surprised if they again look to bring someone in to challenge Collins. They almost dealt SS Billy Bryant in a deal last season, but Bryant showed why he probably should not be moved in the near future with his 302 season and improved defensive play.

At the top of the story I mentioned tension in the King’s front office between the owner and his GM and Field Manager. While Prescott will not comment on this, it is believed by insiders that he was planning on making changes if the Kings did not have an above 500 year this season. Thanks to an 18-10 last month and a 9-3 run the last two weeks, both Martin and Barrell appear safe for now. Prescott has seemed to turn his attention to the ballpark situation and another sports venture for now, but rest assured the pressure is on now to build on this 81-73 record. The King’s appear to have most of the pieces in place to perhaps make a serious run at the CA title next season. I mean if the Cleveland Foresters can come from nowhere to win the pennant the last several years, so can the King’s make that jump. As this young core of players matures, so do the King’s chances of returning to the World Series.

TALES FROM THE LAIR

Wolves Close Out the Season With 100th Loss - For Toronto's baseball fans, their team's season mercifully came to a close on crisp, clear Sunday afternoon as almost 18,000 in attendance saw yet another lead given up late when the visiting Cincinnati Cannons scored 3 in the top of the ninth to turn a 3-2 Toronto lead into a 5-3 Wolves loss. It was Toronto's 100th loss of the season: a mark in futility not seen at Dominion Stadium since 1932. As Fred Barrell's charges finish packing up their personal belongings to return to their off-season homes Brett takes a broad overview look at what went wrong with the Wolves in 1950.

Most insiders will tell you that while hitting gets the headlines most successful teams are built around strong pitching and defense. Preventing runs leads to more success than trying to outscore teams day after day over a six month season. Good work on the mound, in the field is far more reliable, sustainable than relying on the big inning.

Therein lies the main reasons for the Wolves disastrous season, the team gave up 772 runs - the worst in CA by 42 runs. Of those 772 an unheard of total, 114, were unearned which means the Wolves were giving the opposition almost an extra run per game, basically starting the game down 1-0. The other half of the equation, fielding, was again at the bottom of the CA. The team made 165 errors to go along with 17 passed balls. Around the infield the Wolves ranked either last or next to last in fielding, the biggest two locations that must improve before next season are at shortstop and behind the plate. Catcher Harry Pomeroy and 19-year-old John Wells have to tighten up their work in the field for the team to move forward. Fans, who took for granted Charlie Artuso's work at short, now see what value John Wells can bring the team from improving his defense. Pomeroy has a great mentor in Barrell to improve his work behind the plate.

The the third leg of the stool, hitting, was bad during 1950 although going into the season the Wolves were not expected to be a run scoring machine. That said they scored the least runs, 602, in the CA, 28 less than next hitting challenged team, the Cougars. They also grounded into the most double plays in the loop. When the team leader in homeruns, Kirby Copeland, who should receive serious consideration for rookie of the year, only deposited 10 in the seats you will not win many games coming from behind, as the Wolves proved this past season.

They gave away more games than they stole in 1950. Most discussion while the fans prepare to watch is whether or not Fred McCormick and Joe Hancock will return for 1951. Hancock just won his 200th FABL game. The off-season should focus on pitching, defense that should give the most noticeable improvement going forward. The Wolves have a young nucleus of a good team going forward if they can improve in the field. Brett will have more updates on the Wolves over the winter.

Brett's main focus will now turn to the Dukes who have begun their preseason games with a win, a loss, and a tie. Brett earlier reported that there were some spirited battles during camp. The fights may not have only been for jobs, the Mail & Empire is hearing that there are some factions in the dressing room, led by veterans, causing some tension amongst the players. Brett will try to talk Jack Barrell into an interview then ask a question about team harmony.

THE END OF ANOTHER DISAPPOINTING SEASON FOR THE DYNAMOS

"They have loads of potential. Just wait until they mature."

Those are the lines the front office of the Detroit Dynamos has been spoon-feeding us for years...decades even if you want to go back to the previous regime. 1929 remains the last time the Dynamos played postseason baseball and I suppose we can be thankful the injury bug ravaged the Montreal Saints down the stretch otherwise it would be the local nine, and not the Saints who are pennantless since 1921, with the longest active title drought in FABL.

Remember back to April when the OSA said this year's edition of the Dynamos was going to win the Fed in a stroll, calling for a 7 game bulge on second place Boston. Well, the Dynamos never spent even a day in first place. Their season, ruined by a dismal 3-14 start, was over before it began. The pitching staff, the strength of the club a year ago, had an awful time in the cold weather of April and although things did pick up somewhat over the summer we are left staring at another losing season.

*** No Major Changes On the Field ***

Despite the struggles this year, do not expect management to make any major moves -at least not on the playing field. The club is still fairly young and there is a lot more talent close to being big league ready.

Carl Potter (13-20, 2.87) pitched nearly as well as he did when he won 22 games and the Allen Award a year ago, but was a victim of bad luck and poor run support much of the season. Still he is only 24 years old and the clear ace of a young staff that also expects improvement from fellow 24-year-old hurlers Jack Miller (11-8, 4.11) and Roy Schuab (7-10, 3.81).

Dick Estes (.316,29,105) had a breakout season at age 26 and gives the Dynamos a solid clean-up hitter to follow 24-year-old Edwin Hackberrry (.295,23,77) in the lineup. Second sacker Del Johnson (.278,7,66), at 27, is now the old man of the infield that also features 23-year-old shortstop Stan Kleminski (.279,4,37) and a nice battle for the third base job between 21-year-old Jim Gaiter (.303,2,12 in 26 games) and 25-year-old Tommy Griffin (.262,1,49).

22-year-olds Bill Morrison (.310,8,47) and Joe Fulgham (.248,0,11) join Hackberry in the outfield although it is expected one will lose his job to Estes when it is deemed that local phenom Dino Sharp is ready for the first base job. Morrison is a candidate for the Kellogg Award this season while Fulgham, the All-American halfback from St. Blane -but don't hold that against him Detroit City College fans- made his debut in Detroit in July and looks to have a bright future.

With that core group and youngsters like Fred Washington, who had a rough trial on the mound in Detroit in September, Sharp, as well as 1950 draft picks Ralph Capriotti and Beau McClellan on the way the future looks bright. However, we have heard that so often before, it is easy to understand if fans are becoming numb to it.

*** A Change in the Dugout? ***

There is growing sentiment that Dick York has worn out his welcome as Dynamos skipper. Were he not a franchise legend from his playing days, it is not hard to imagine York would be long gone by now. The 54-year-old York has been at the helm since 1942 and only once guided the team as high as second place. With 5 second division finishes including this year and three losing seasons in the past five years there is growing sentiment in the front office that a change may be needed to give the young players a jolt.

The old adage goes 'It is much easier to change the manager than 24 players' and to be fair, very few of the 24 players are deserving of even being considered for trade. It was hoped that York would have coaxed so much more out of this team than he has and he far underperformed OSA's expectations as well as club owner Powell Thompson.

If Fred Barrell was still the Scouting Director in Detroit I expect a move would have been made to make Fred the manager after the dreadful April start. Fred is of course dealing with his own troubles with a bad Toronto Wolves team, so that bought York a little more time. If the right replacement can be found, I would not be surprised if time expires for York over the winter.

MOTOR CITY MUSINGS- How about that! The Detroit Maroons finally scored some points. Sure, they were lucky to hang on and hold off CFC survivor New Orleans in the Crescent City by a 24-23 score yesterday but after getting outscored 58-0 in their first two outings, it is progress. New Maroons coach Tom Bowens, the brother-in-law of owner Rollie Barrell, is going to have a tough time of things until the Maroons make major improvements to their offense. And seeing former Maroons coach Frank Yurik land in Cleveland and open the season with 3 straight victories as to really ruffle some feathers in the Maroons ownership group........Hockey is back. The Motors were back on the ice with some tune-up games last week. The result mean little in the big picture but the lack of offensive production is a concern, although hopefully that will be alleviated somewhat when 24-year-old Nick Tardif, who was seriously injured late last season, is deemed fit to return to the lineup. Tardif, a former NAHC rookie of the year, has been cleared to practice so there is hope he will be ready for the regular season opener in the middle of the month.......Who do you have winning the World Championship Series? Cleveland is better than many give them credit but I think the Gothams, with our old pal Red Johnson and Ward Messer's brother leading the way, are just too powerful for the Ohio side. Pitching has been a strength for a change in New York as well and I can't see the Foresters winning more than two games against the mighty Gothams.

• The World Championship Series will mark the third time that the Cleveland Foresters have faced the New York Gothams. The '34 Series was a classic with the Foresters rallying from a 3 games to one deficit to win it. Roger Perry and Frank Phillips combined to silence the Gothams bats in a 4-0 road win for the Foresters in game five and then Cleveland hitting destroyed New York in games six and seven, winning by scores of 8-3 and in the most lobsided game seven ever staged, blasted the Gothams 18-3 in the deciding contest. A year later the Gothams got their revenge, winning in 5 games including a 10-1 rout in the deciding contest. Games three and four in Cleveland each went into extra innings with the Foresters getting their lone victory in the series by a 9-8 score in 12 innings in game three before Gothams bats busted open a tight fourth game with 6 runs in the top of the 11th to win 7-1.
• It will be the 10th trip to the WCS for the Gothams, who last appeared in the 1942 WCS. New York has won it all 5 times including their win over the New York Stars in '42. Cleveland was awful throughout most of the 1940s and broke through with its first pennant since 1935 a year ago. The Foresters are making their 7th appearance in the WCS but have only won it once - when they beat the Gothams in 7 games in 1934. A year ago the Foresters took a 3-0 WCS lead on the Federal Association Chicago Chiefs but then proceeded to lose four straight games including a hearbreaking 7-6 loss in 11 innings in a dramatic game seven.
• There has been little to cheer about in Toronto this season but veteran pitcher Joe Hancock deserves recognition for notching his 200th career FABL victory. That ties the 37-year-old lifelong Wolves star with Issac Meyer for 54th on the all-time win list. Hancock finished with a 13-9 record this season.

RAMBLERS HAND DEFENDING CHAMPS SECOND LOSS

Chicago Wildcats Drop to 1-2 On Season

Turnovers proved the difference as the St Louis Ramblers, despite being outplayed by Chicago, improved to 3-0 on the season with a 21-7 victory over the visiting Wildcats. Chicago, which won each of the past two American Football Association championship games, falls to 1-2 with the loss.

It was a game the Wildcats likely should have won. The had a slight edge on their hosts in most categories: more first downs, more total yardage, more passing yards, and a better completion percentage but the difference was the Ramblers took advantage of Chicago turnovers to win the game.

St Louis opened the scoring thanks to a short field after Chicago quarterback Ricky McCallister fumbled his first snap. That gave the Ramblers the ball on the Wildcats 31 yard line and six plays later John Sweat threw a quick one-yard touchdown pass to Ken Kirby to open the scoring. Chicago evened the game early in the second period on a 6-yard toss from McCallister to Tom Gipson but midway through the period another Chicago fumbled led to a second St Louis scoring drive, this one finishing with a 12-yard run by Dave Smith.

The defense was solid for both teams and the second play of the fourth quarter proved the difference in the game when St Louis defender Stu Hubbard anticipated a short pass from McCallister intended for Terry Palmer. The fleet Ramblers back step in front of Palmer to nab the ball and race untouched 26 yards to make the score 21-7. Chicago pulled closer on their most impressive drive of the game, a 13-play 80-yard march that culminated in a short touchdown pass from McCallister to George Meyer to cut the St Louis lead to seven points but that would be as close as the Wildcats would get.

Elsewhere, the Cleveland Finches remained perfect and tied with St Louis for the American Conference lead after holding off the New York Stars 10-7. Cleveland's only touchdown came in the second quarter on a 5 yard fumble return by Ray Angello. The Gothams had a large advantage in total yardage on the afternoon but were held off the scoresheet until late in the final quarter.

After being shut out in their first two games the Detroit Maroons finally got on the scoresheet and in the win column. Detroit barely held off a late charge from New Orleans to beat the winless Crescents 24-23. The Maroons won despite the fact that New Orleans quarterback Vince Gallegos threw for 390 yards - the highest total accumulated by a signal caller in any game this season.

The Los Angeles Tigers offense continues to impress as backs Al Lewis and Nate Tyson combined for 172 yards rushing and 4 touchdowns while Mark Monday and Bill Ault combined on a pair of scoring passes as the Tigers improved to 3-0 with a 47-14 rout over AFA newcomer San Francisco.

Pat Chappell and the Kansas City Cowboys, another newcomer that was formerly the pride of the Continental Football Conference, are learning that life is not so easy in the AFA. A last minute 17 yard scoring pass from Tommy Norwood to Kevin Bradley lifted the Washington Wasps to 16-10 victory over the Cowboys. The normally accurate Chappell was intercepted 5 times in the game and completed just 8 of 22 passes for 121 yards.

The Pittsburgh Paladins joined Los Angeles atop the Continental Conference at 3-0 following a 41-14 drubbing of the Boston Americans. Newcomer John Mecham paced the Paladins attack with 109 yards on the ground while Dusty Sinclair, also new to the Paladins threw for 185 yards and 3 touchdowns. Mecham played for the CFC's Chicago Comets last season while Sinclair was with the Los Angeles Tigers.

Highlighting next week's action will be a Saturday meeting in Pittsburgh between a pair of 3-0 teams in the Paladins and the visiting Cleveland Finches.

FIGHTING SAINTS SURVIVE A SCARE IN GRID OPENER

Modern football's greatest reign of invincibility tottered but held firm as St Blane, weary and worn, staggered to a 13-7 opening victory over a North Carolina Tech team that nearly played the Saints off their feet in the second half. Trailing 7-6, a 26-yard touchdown pass with only 2:20 remaining, from heroic Bill Thomas, the 1949 All-American, to end Jim Barta, a combination that accounted for both St Blane scores, produced a victory for the preseason number one team and winners of back to back National Titles in 1946-47.

A capacity crowd of 56,430 saw the Fighting Saints score early after capitalizing on a opening drive fumble from the Techsters but the rest of the way the North Carolina Tech crew was more than up to the challenge of opening against the most feared team in collegiate football the past half dozen years.

Another powerhouse had little difficulty in its curtain raiser as the armored column speed characteristic of the Rome State attack on the football field humbled an overmatched Empire State team 28-0. The Centurions have not lost a game since 1947, going 18-0-3 over that span including Saturday's victory.

Other results of note included Central Kentucky improving to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in Deep South Conference play with a 26-0 shutout of Mississippi A&M. Georgia Baptist made up for last week's loss with a 21-13 victory over Columbia Military Academy. Cumberland outlasted Northern Mississippi 16-10. Detroit City College held off in-state rival St. Ignatius 20-16. Two-sport star Jack Kress, who also dabbles in baseball, ran for a pair of touchdowns including the game winner in the final minute to lift Central Ohio to a 24-21 victory over Texas Gulf Coast in what was a matchup of perhaps the two best backs in collegiate football today - Philo Bennett of the Hurricanes being the other one.

TANK’S COMEBACK FALLS SHORT IN UNANIMOUS DECISION FOR EDMONDS

Bigsby Garden, New York, N.Y., September 29 - John Edmonds is the current middleweight champion. Frank Melanson, for many, is the middleweight champion that captured the imagination.

Melanson’s rags-to-riches story was indeed captivating, starting as a heavy underdog, losing in a return to his hometown, becoming the People’s Champion after losing the belt only to win it back, and falling into retirement. The story was over, that is, until the announcement of this bout tonight. Melanson was coming out of retirement to fight John Edmonds, the best we have in the middleweight division at the moment.

For Edmonds, it is a chance to make his mark against one of the most popular champions in boxing history. A win and he may rate higher with the boxing public. A loss and people will forget him as ol’-what’s-his-name that lost to the Tank.

Melanson’s last fight was also at Bigsby Garden, losing the belt a second time against Edouard Desmarais in January 1949. The ensuring 18 months have endured tragedy in the case of Desmarais and Edmonds stepping into the breach to win and hold the title. Edmonds defeated Bill Boggs in March of this year and followed up by holding off Hugh Canio in May. Both of those bouts were decided – where else? – at the Garden.

This will be a chance for the Tank to reclaim his belt for a third reign, but we thought Melanson was at the end of the line last year. Melanson did arrive at the arena in top shape. You could believe he trained unlike he had ever trained before to get here. Edmonds had a little longer of a respite than between his previous couple of fights, with four months coming between his last defense and tonight instead of the two months between capturing the title and his first defense.

As the fight began, Edmonds came out with guns blazing. With his prize-winning hook, Edmonds worked the body just a few seconds in. Melanson managed to rebound and get his defenses up, but Edmonds was on the offense early. Hook after hook in the early rounds, Edmonds was getting ahead and beating Melanson to the punch. In the second round, Melanson carried the play after an opening hook from Edmonds. Melanson swung with a hook and landed a combination that kept Edmonds at bay for his first big response of the night.

Edmonds dominated the third round and we saw the first noticeable swelling on Melanson’s left eye. With another hook that sent the challenger reeling in the opening seconds of the round, Edmonds did not let up during the round. The champion had no less than four Big Boppers in the third. Edmonds started with the body, but caught Melanson on a right hook up high that hammered Melanson’s left eye.

The swelling was stubborn throughout the rest of the fight and his right eye turned puffy in the final rounds, turning his face into a pillow with ears at the end of the night.

Melanson had to come up with something or else this bout would end relatively fast because his vision would soon be hampered. His solution was to hit everything that moved and that started in Round 5. There was a great back-and-forth in this round, with Melanson starting on the offensive for a change and Edmonds trying to hit back. The tactic worked for the Tank in the first two minutes, but Edmonds changed momentum with a scoring cross right in the face that left Melanson gasping for air.

The middle rounds saw a changing of the tide, both in tactics and results. Edmonds began to look for quality over quantity in the next two rounds, while Melanson was trying to figure out how to hang in there with a bad left eye. Melanson found his rhythm in the eighth round. Starting with short punches close to the body and working his way into launching several hooks, Melanson dominated the round. For all of the fire and brimstone Edmonds started with, Melanson was showing that his stamina was his greatest asset.

Melanson continued to pour it on in the ninth and tenth rounds, without so much as a big punch thrown by Edmonds in the combined six minutes that affected Melanson. By now, the crowd was behind Melanson, pushing him, willing him to finish the job. Edmonds was stationary, but Melanson could not close the deal.

Gains were minimal by either side in the next couple of rounds and, by the end of Round 13, it was later revealed that the fight scoring was tied, 124-124, on all three judges’ cards. Both men were bruised and battered from their opponent’s barrages.

Although the fight went the distance, Round 14 was the deciding round in this one. In keeping with Edmonds most effective punch of the evening, it was the hook from Edmonds that roared back a minute into the penultimate round. Melanson was losing his grip and could not muster a comeback as Edmonds started to take control. An uppercut to Melanson’s head affirmed the round in the win column for Edmonds.

There was not much gas left in Tank and while he offered some protests in the final minute of the final round, Edmonds regained enough energy in the last rounds to come away a winner. All three judges saw it the same, with Edmonds (33-3-0) eeking out a victory over Melanson (33-4-3), 144-142. The decision was hanging in the balance at the end of the fight and while Edmonds was on the offensive early and Melanson fought back to get even, Edmonds that that little bit extra that made the difference.

As the fight wore on, Melanson just could not finish Edmonds off. The Melanson of championship vintage would have been able to end the fight in the tenth or eleventh round. This will likely be the end of the Tank in a boxing ring. One last chance. One last hurrah. A hero, but not a conquering one, but a champion to be remembered.



UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS

• Oct 11 - Vernon, CA.- Veteran Heavyweight Scott 'The Chef' Baker (23-5-3) meets Barry Scott (20-7)
• Oct 14- Atlanta, GA.- former heavyweight contender Pete Sanderson (41-11-2) faces Emmett Seals (25-16-2)
• Oct 15 - Dominion Gardens, Toronto - former middleweight champ Adrian Petrie (20-3-2) meets Jerry Roberts (25-10-2)
• Oct 18 - San Francisco, CA- Heavyweight contenders Cannon Cooper (31-6-1) and Tommy Cline (17-3) meet
• Oct 19- Denny Arena, Boston- Boston heavyweight Roy Crawford (32-6) faces Canadian Phil Easton (30-6-2)
• Oct 22 - Lewiston, ME.- Heavyweight Bill Sloan (19-3) meets Harvey Winter (22-6-1)
• Oct 26- Cincinnati, OH- Unbeaten heavyweight contender Joey Tierney (20-0) faces Mike McFarland (21-11-2)
• Oct 27- San Francisco, CA- middleweight contender Millard Shelton (29-5) faces Dan Atkin (28-11-2)
• Oct 28- Thompson Palladium, Detroit - welterweight veteran George Gibbs (27-6) meets William Stevens (10-3-1)
• Oct 31- Atlanta, GA.- former welterweight champion Mac Erickson (22-2) faces Brian Pierce (17-3)
• Oct 31- St. Paul, MN - middleweight contender Davis Owens (23-1) meets Henry Alder (36-24-5)
• Oct 31 - Lakeside Auditorium, Chicago: Middleweight contender Bill Boggs (21-3-1) faces Jack Rainey (29-10-1)

BURNS, PACKERS OFF TO STRONG START

The Chicago Packers look to be in mid-season form after starting the preseason with 4 straight victories. The Chicago offense, led as usual by Tommy Burns, has been on fire, lighting the lamp a total of 18 times in their four wins, three of them by just a single goal. Max Lavinge had the biggest night of the preseason so far, lighting the lamp 4 times in a 5-4 victory over Toronto on Thursday evening.

At the other end of the spectrum, we have the winless Boston Bees. The Bees shockingly finished last in the NAHC a year ago and are looking to have all kinds of troubles at their training camp. Three players, including captain Wilbur Chandler and veteran defenseman Bryant Williams, have been blasted by Coach Denny McLachlan for reporting to camp out of shape and the club was badly beaten in two games against the defending Challenge Cup champion Montreal Valiants. Goaltenders Pierre Melancon and Oscar James each had their struggles and while there is still plenty of time to get untracked before the Bees open their season against Montreal a week from Thursday, the club appears to be in disarray.

• Meeting no enemy resistance, South Korean troops crossed the thirty-eighth Parallel Sunday morning and by mid-afternoon had moved more than a mile into territory that was under Communist rule before the war began on June 25.
  
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• Lt. Gen. Walton Walker, the commander of the 8th Army says the Red invader army as a whole has been defeated in Korea, and is reduced to cut-up pockets of dwindling resistance and head-long retreat. "The North Korea Army is in complete rout and no longer exists as an organized force" Walker told war correspondents at his headquarters in Korea.
• In a decision laden with consequences not only for Korea and the Far East, but possibly the whole world, the United Nations must decide whether to order the U.N. forces to continue across the 38th in pursuit of a broken enemy or whether to hold up at the line.
• American sources outlined a six-point postwar formula for Korea, calling for a unified country to be put back on its feet by the combined resources of the United Nations.
• Reports say a Russian major was killed and another Soviet officer taken prisoner by an American reconnaissance company near Seoul.
• Machinery for operating the Communist-control law began to take shape in the Justice Department but its start awaits President Truman's appointment of a five-member board. Even after that Subversive Activities Control Board takes office, full enforcement of the law enacted by Congress over the President's veto last week will be a long way off. Court fights alone regarding its legality could drag on for years.
• Communist demonstrators rioted in Vienna and thousands of workers in Russian-controlled industrial plants went on strike in protest against government plans to raises prices along with wages.
• Two crime investigators were slain in separate shootings shortly before they were to have reported on the activities of Chicago gangsters. One a police lieutenant, and the other an attorney, were digging up crime syndicate information.
  
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Friday October 6, 1950: Special World Championship Series Edition
 

OCTOBER 6, 1950

GOTHAMS, FORESTERS SPLIT OPENING TWO GAMES OF WCS

The New York Gothams secured a split of the opening two games of the World Championship Series and now return to Gothams Stadium for games three and four beginning tomorrow afternoon. New York has to be happy with gaining one victory in the series when you consider the Gothams 3-4-5 hitters went a combined 1-for-21 in Cleveland. Surprisingly, the opening two games of the series saw the power hitting Gothams hit 4 triples but only homer once. That number is likely to reversed once the series shifts to New York.

The opener saw Ed Bowman, who is favoured to win his second career Federal Association Allen Award following a tremendous 23-8, 2.82 season, go the distance allowing 8 Cleveland hits in a 4-2 Gothams victory. The well-rested Gothams wasted little time in getting to Foresters starter John Jackson, on the hill for the opener only because Cleveland ace Adrian Czerwinski was forced to pitch in Sunday's pennant-clinching victory. New York lead-off man Cecil LaBonte tripled in his first career WCS plate appearance and scored on a single by Roosevelt Brewer. Jackson then settled down and got out of the potential jam by retiring the Gothams big three in Walt Messer, Red Johnson and George Cleaves in order.

Bowman did allow a first inning single to rising star Sherry Doyal but that was the only hit the Foresters managed to collect through the opening three innings.

New York threatened to add to its lead in the top of the fourth when Jackson walked both Johnson and Cleaves to start the inning, but he escaped unscathed in no small part due to strike outs of Flipper Robinson and Chief Lewis. Cleveland tied the score at 1 in the home half of the fourth with three straight singles off the bats of Lorenzo Samuels along with rookies Larry McClure and Lloyd Coulter.

The game did not stay tied for long as LaBonte and Brewer repeated their first inning script in the fifth with the shortstop smacking his second triple of the day and scoring on Brewer's base knock.

Cleveland again showed moxie as the young Foresters relied on the bat of the oldest player in the starting lineup as 28-year-old slugger Lorenzo Samuels took Bowman deep with the first pitch of the bottom of the sixth inning to tie the contest again, this time at two runs apiece.

The Gothams responded quickly, breaking open the game with two runs in the top of the seventh and once more a lead-off triple was the catalyst. This one was off the bat of pinch-hitter Billy Moody and was followed by a rbi single from Bowman. That unnerved Jackson who once more walked Red Johnson and George Cleaves, with the Cleaves free pass coming with the bases loaded to plate the final Gothams run of the day.

His work as a hitter considered a success, Bowman returned to the hill and allowed just one more Cleveland hit, a Frenchy Sontag 7th inning single, the rest of the way in collecting the complete game victory and running his career World Championship Series record to 3-0.

FORESTERS EVEN SERIES WITH GAME TWO VICTORY

An Adrian Czerwinski pitching on short rest was still better than most of the pitchers in the sport and the Foresters ace was back on the hill Thursday for the second game of the World Championship Series after going the distance in a pennant clinching victory over the Philadelphia Sailors on Sunday. It was not classic Czerwinski, certainly not up to the par of the 5-0, 1.12 run the cerebral 25-year-old righthander displayed in leading the Foresters seemingly from the murky depths of Lake Erie to their second straight Continental Association pennant following a scintilating September performance from the Cleveland nine.

Czerwinski found himself in a bit of a pickle early as for the second game in a row the Gothams scored a run in the opening inning thanks to the work of Cecil LaBonte and Roosevelt Brewer at the top of the order. No triple for LaBonte, who had two of them in the opener, this time but he did single and moved to third on a double off of Brewer's bat. Czerwinski settled down and retired the big three East Coast powers in Walt Messer, Red Johnson and George Cleaves but not before LaBonte trotted home on a Messer groundout.

The Foresters had a quick reply, as they plated three runs in the bottom of the first inning off 36-year-old Gothams starter Lefty Allen, who was making his seventh career postseason appearance but the first in a decade. It looked like it would be a very short night for Allen who allowed hits to the first four Cleveland batters including a double off the stick of Frenchy Sontag and a 2-run triple from rising star Sherry Doyal. Only a double-play saved Allen's bacon and Lefty fanned Lloyd Coulter to end the inning, but his Gothams were trailing 3-1 after a single frame.

An error by Cleveland centerfielder Doyal contributed to a Gothams run in the fourth inning as Tom Jeffries worked Czerwinski for a bases-loaded walk with no one out to plate Red Johnson. What could have been a huge inning for the Gothams fizzled quickly as Czerwinski managed to get a short fly ball out of pinch-hitter Billy Moody for the first out before retiring Allen and LaBonte on successive pitches to escape the mess with just 1 run scored.

Cleveland wasted a Larry McClure one out double in the bottom of the fourth but the Foresters did increase their lead to 4-2 in the fifth when Jim Uruquart delivered a rbi triple to score Eddie Morris. The 2-run lead was short-lived as in the top of the 6th Moody delivered the first homerun of the series, taking Czerwinski over the leftfield wall with a 2-run shot that knotted game at four.

The Foresters, who staged an amazing comeback the final month of the season just to reach the series, proved their are a resilliant bunch as they regained the lead a half inning later and it was Czerwinski doing the damage with his bat instead of his arm. A lifetime .139 hitter during the regular season, the Cleveland hurler turns into Bobby Barrell come October, he homered and doubled in last year's series and owns a .273 career post-season average including a single with two on in this trip to the plate. A centerfielder error hurt the Foresters earlier in the game, but they benefitted from one this time as Flipper Robinson -who had shifted from right to center earlier in the contest- uncorked an errant throw retrieving the Czerwinski hit which allowed Larry McClure to score what would prove to be the game winning run.

Czerwinski faced just one over the minimum number of Gothams hitters through the final three innings to earn the complete game 5-4 victory will surrendering just 7 New York hits. The clubs have a travel day today before resuming action in New York tomorrow.

• Cecil LaBonte tied a Federal Association WCS record by becoming the 7th Fed player to hit two triples in a championship series game. The overall record of 3 has never been accomplished by a Federal Association player but has been reached 15 times by a Continental Association batter with the most recent being David Merchant of the Philadelphia Sailors in the 1928 WCS.
• In the old days I expect there would be plenty of sabre rattling in New York, calling for changes because the Big Three Gothams sluggers are a combined 1-for-21. Only Red Johnson, who is 1-for-6 in the series, had a hit in Cleveland.
• Good to see Lefty Allen and George Cleaves get another shot at a WCS ring. Each went 0-for-3 in WCS appearances with the Pittsburgh Miners.
• After losing game two Lefty is now 1-6 all-time in WCS action. That ties him with Double Al for second all-time in career WCS losses. Only Woody Trease, who made 15 WCS starts over 8 seasons, has lost more WCS games. Trease finished with a 7-8 career post-season mark.

THE FARHAT AWARDS BALLOT

Well it's that time of year as the regular season is over where we look to naming some awards winners. This year the races for the respective Whitney, Allen, and Kellogg awards for each Association look to be more competitive than last season. We will start in the Federal Association.

As you can see there are many sluggers in the hitter happy FA who had amazing seasons and we have left off a few names from the top 6 above. St. Louis RF Al Tucker won the batting title with a 336 average and will likely pick up some votes. Also in that category will be Boston 2B Ben McCarty who led the FA with 44 doubles and hit 294/377/855 driving in 117 RBI’s and scoring 96 runs. He will also get some votes. Finally, I believe the CF Edwin Hackberry who won the 1947 Kellogg Rookie Award will someday earn himself a Whitney Award. This year the just turned 24-year-old had another outstanding season both at the plate and in the field. While he didn’t get a ton of offensive support from his teammates (more on that later), Hackberry hit 295/405/897 with 23 HR 77 RBI and 110 RS. While he won’t win it this year, he will also certainly receive some well deserved votes. This vote will be hard to limit to just 10, it was that type of offensive season in the FA. Also deserving a quick shout out are Detroit’s Dick Estes and Washington’s Rats McGonigle. That gives me 11 names so when I finalize my ballot someone will have to be left off.

While each of these guys have had great seasons and are worthy of serious consideration for the Whitney. Here is my player I put on the top of my ballot, and that is veteran C George Cleaves. It might surprise many that I went with the veteran catcher but he was 1st or 2nd in many of the newer stats that only brainiacs can understand. Plus he plays the toughest position on the field and has been doing it at a high level for many years. Cleaves last won the Whitney Award back in 1939 as a 25-year-old with the Pittsburgh Miners and is a 12-time All-Star. But the season he put up this year was amazing. Leading the FABL in OBP with a 429 mark, having the best WAR at 8.7. He was 2nd in the FA in OPS at 941, 5th in slugging at 513, and was also 4th in walks with 102. He just does all things well at a high level. For me this isn’t just about a home run hitting contest. Based on his all-around game and the impact he made for his team, he gets my vote as the Whitney Award Winner.

2nd on my ballot was Philadelphia 3B Hank Koblenz and 3rd was Chicago 1B Tim Hopkins.

Moving on to the Allen Award, many people feel this is a 1-horse race. I say it is a 2-horse race and it is as close to a photo finish as you can get. For my money, I truly believe last year’s winner, Detroit’s Carl Potter, despite losing 20 games is worthy of being in consideration for this award. Yes, Potter was only 13-20 on the season, but that was very much caused by the anemic Detroit offense. Especially on days that poor Potter took the mound. Potter finished the year with the most starts in the FABL and threw the most innings with 304.2 and struck out the most batters with 177. He also managed a sub 3.00 ERA finishing with a 2.87. He had the best WHIP at 1.15 and honestly if the Dynamo hitters could have generated a little more run support for Potter he would easily be 20-13 or better. But in today's game it is hard to overlook 20 losses.

In a decision for me that was much harder than one would think, I voted Potter 2nd behind what is the prohibitive favorite this year. That man is New York Gotham ace Ed Bowman who went 23-7 with a 2.82 ERA. The wins and the ERA were tops in the FABL this season. Bowman also had the fewest walks per 9 innings in the FABL with 1.9.

This is a very difficult choice between two rookie hitters. One played the whole season at the big league level and the other played roughly half a season. Both players had outstanding seasons.

Two players with very different games. Perkins is more of a speed player hitting doubles, triples and stealing bases while playing SS. While Minton is a good hitting slugger and can play either corner IF position. While Perkins has accumulated more stats pretty much across the board, Minton has the slashline advantage and also the home run advantage. Minton also has a huge gap on the futuristic stats that only the true mathematicians understand. For me, I’m old fashion and I like to give a slight edge to the guy who played all year instead of just half or ⅔ of the season. So while it might be controversial, my pick for FA Kellogg Rookie of the Year is Washington SS Tom Perkins, despite the futuristic stats. Minton was great, but we will never know if he could have been great for the whole season and playing 50-60 more games.

THE GEORGIA JOLTER WILL RETURN

Bobby Barrell has signed on for another year in Philadelphia. The 40-year-old Egypt, GA, native will be entering his 21st season on Broad Street and he stands among the all-time leaders in home runs (629, 2nd), runs batted in (2,293, 2nd), hits (3,728, 4th), doubles (588, 2nd), total bases (6,499, 2nd), runs scored (2,042, 2nd), games played (2,993, 3rd), and at-bats (12,004, 1st). Next season, Barrell can conceivably reach the RBI record (2,324) with 32, the doubles record (601) if he amasses 14 doubles, first place all-time in total bases (6,540) with 42 total bases and become the all-time leader in games played (3,025) with another 33 appearances.

ENTRIES SET FOR FABL DRAFT LOTTERY

With the completion of the FABL regular season we now know which teams will stand the best chance of claiming the first overall pick in the January phase of the baseball draft. A year ago, the New York Gothams won the lottery and ended up selecting a New York City product in high school outfielder Earl Howe with the first overall selection. By winning the Federal Association pennant, the Gothams assured themselves of having to wait for the 16th and final choice of the first round to make their pick from the 1951 class.

FABL uses a weighted system where the two pennant winners automatically select 15th and 16th. The other seven teams get entries in a draw based on the amount of improvement they showed over the previous season. The Fed and Continental also alternate even and odd picks with the Continental side getting the odd choices, including number one overall this time around.

The two teams with the greatest improve each earn 3 balls in the lottery. The next two with the greatest improvement (or least regression) each claim two entries while the remaining three teams get one chance each in the draw for the selection order.

We know this time around the Cincinnati Cannons will get 3 entries, but rookie FABL President Dan Barrell will have a tough decision to make for the second spot as both the Philadelphia Sailors and Brooklyn Kings showed a 9-game improvement. It is unknown at this time if Barrell will give both teams the same number of entries (either 2 or 3) or decide a tiebreaker using a different method. The New York Stars will gain two entries, while the Chicago Cougars, Montreal Saints and Toronto Wolves will each earn one ticket in the draw. The pennant winning Cleveland Foresters will select 15th.

The Philadelphia Keystones and Pittsburgh Miners are the co-favourites to claim the second overall selection as they should the biggest improvement among the seven non-pennant winning Federal Association clubs. Boston and Washington will each have two shots while St Louis, Detroit and the 1950 World Champion Chicago Chiefs will have one entry.

MELANSON RETIRES AGAIN

Says For Good This Time

Two-time Former World Middleweight Champion Frank 'The Tank" Melanson says his fighting days are behind him, and that we should believe him this time. The 33-year-old Pittsburgh native, who shocked the boxing establishment when he upset Archie Rees in Philadelphia in the spring of 1945 to win the world title while still working as a factory worker in his hometown, had come out of retirement to take one last chance at regaining the middleweight title by facing John Edmonds. Melanson acquainted himself well in the ring last weekend but came up just short and lost a tight but clear decision to Edmonds.

After the fight Melanson admitted rust was a factor and he may have run out of gas in the final couple of rounds, costing him a chance to beat Edmonds for the second time. The two first squared off when Melanson was the champ as Edmonds spoiled what was supposed to be a celebration of "the People's champ" when the challenger scored a 14th round TKO win over Melanson at Pittsburgh's Fitzpatrick Park. That was on Independence Day 1947 and Melanson, who had made 4 title defenses prior to that evening, would not wait long to reclaim the crown as he won a rematch with Edmonds in Chicago 5 months later.

Melanson's second stint as champ would be very brief as he fell to the late Edouard Desmarais in his first defense. He would take six months off and then return to the ring in January 1949 for a third bout with Desmarais - Melanson won their first meeting prior to his initial loss to Edmonds back in 1946. Desmarais was no longer champ at the time, losing the belt in a controversial scoring decision in Montreal against Adrian Petrie but there was still great anticipation at Bigsby Garden for the third meeting between the two former champs. Melanson fell in a tight split decision loss and a short time later announced his retirement, noting his passion for the sport was gone.

It was a mild surprise when he came out of retirement to face Edmonds but, despite a strong effort, Melanson says that is definitely the end of his days in the ring.



UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS

• Oct 11 - Vernon, CA.- Veteran Heavyweight Scott 'The Chef' Baker (23-5-3) meets Barry Scott (20-7)
• Oct 14- Atlanta, GA.- former heavyweight contender Pete Sanderson (41-11-2) faces Emmett Seals (25-16-2)
• Oct 15 - Dominion Gardens, Toronto - former middleweight champ Adrian Petrie (20-3-2) meets Jerry Roberts (25-10-2)
• Oct 18 - San Francisco, CA- Heavyweight contenders Cannon Cooper (31-6-1) and Tommy Cline (17-3) meet
• Oct 19- Denny Arena, Boston- Boston heavyweight Roy Crawford (32-6) faces Canadian Phil Easton (30-6-2)
• Oct 22 - Lewiston, ME.- Heavyweight Bill Sloan (19-3) meets Harvey Winter (22-6-1)
• Oct 26- Cincinnati, OH- Unbeaten heavyweight contender Joey Tierney (20-0) faces Mike McFarland (21-11-2)
• Oct 27- San Francisco, CA- middleweight contender Millard Shelton (29-5) faces Dan Atkin (28-11-2)
• Oct 28- Thompson Palladium, Detroit - welterweight veteran George Gibbs (27-6) meets William Stevens (10-3-1)
• Oct 31- Atlanta, GA.- former welterweight champion Mac Erickson (22-2) faces Brian Pierce (17-3)
• Oct 31- St. Paul, MN - middleweight contender Davis Owens (23-1) meets Henry Alder (36-24-5)
• Oct 31 - Lakeside Auditorium, Chicago: Middleweight contender Bill Boggs (21-3-1) faces Jack Rainey (29-10-1)

FIVE TEAMS REMAIN PERFECT AS AFA ENTERS WEEK FOUR

It seems like it just began but the American Football Association schedule is already barreling towards the quarter pole and even in this early going teams are beginning to separate. That is especially obvious in the American Conference where the Cleveland Finches and St Louis Ramblers are both 3-0 and two games ahead of third place Kansas City (1-2).

The Cowboys dominated the Continental Football Conference for its entire existence and there were some predictions they might been the same powerful force in the AFA but that has not been the case. The many weapons of the Cowboys' offense have struggled, at least in the early going. Quarterback Pat Chappell is a mere shadow of his CFC form with only 2 touchdown passes through three games and his two primary receivers in Ernie Orr and Bill Tammaro have seen their production drop accordingly.

Kansas City takes the week off as it is their turn for a bye in the 13-team AFA. The most anticipated matchup of the weekend will be at Pittsburgh's Fitzpatrick Park tomorrow evening as the Paladins host the Cleveland Finches in a battle of a pair of 3-0 teams. Cleveland will be looking to keep pace with St Louis atop the American Conference as the Ramblers are heavy favourites to win at home over winless New Orleans.

The surprise team this season has been the Los Angeles Tigers, winners of just 3 games total over the previous two seasons but have already equaled that number with their 3-0 start this season. The Tigers are tied with Pittsburgh for the National Conference lead and will face a tough test with a trip east to play Philadelphia Saturday afternoon.

FIVE FRIDAY GAMES TO KICK-OFF WEEKEND COLLEGE GRID SLATE

While most of the focus will be reserved for Saturday afternoon, there are five games involving major college football teams on the docket for this evening, highlighted by a South Atlantic Conference tilt between Columbia Military Acadamy (1-1) and Bulein (1-2). That is a mere appetizer for the Saturday feast with the main dishes being served in Latrobe, PA. and Rome GA. Those are the host sites as both St. Blane and Rome State go in search of their second straight victory. The Fighting Saints struggled with North Carolina Tech a week ago, needing a late score to prevail, and they will now look for a much better effort against a Whitney College eleven that the Fighting Saints blasted 48-3 in Gary, IN. a year ago. The Centurions had little difficulty in downing Empire State 45-7 last Saturday at home and next will host Liberty College tomorrow afternoon.

• General MacArthur's call for the North Korean communist forces to surrender was ignored, so 20,000 solely South Korean troops ripped 30 miles into Red Korea almost unopposed while United Nations troops remained south of Parallel 38. A third South Korean division of 10,000 remains poised to jump across the artificial border.
• South Korean forces advancing in North Korea will keep going until they reach the Manchurian border, a Republic of Korea staff officers stated.
• A South Korean statement estimates that 10,000 Seoul civilians were massacred by Communists before they fled the capital city.
• Soviet Foreign Minister Vishinsky charged that the United States had "flung a challenge at the United Nations and international law" by ignoring a four-power agreement on Korea. During debate in the UN on plans for the unification and rehabilitation of Korea, Vishinsky maintained that the US carried out illegal acts to influence the outcome of the South Korea election last May.
• Australia has called for occupation of all Korea by United Nations forces but not all are on board. India, for one, expressed grave doubts about the wisdom of such a course.
• On his 79th birthday Cordell Hull, who is known as the father of the United Nations, warned that "grave difficulties and dangers still confront us on all sides" despite the victory in Korea.
  
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October 9, 1950 : Games 3 and 4 of the World Championship Series
 

OCTOBER 9, 1950

GOTHAMS BLAST CLEVELAND 18-3 TO EVEN SERIES

The New York Gothams bats broke out in a big way yesterday as their bats exploded for 18 runs on 21 hits and pounded the Cleveland Foresters 18-3 to even the World Championship Series at two wins apiece. This after the Gothams dropped a 4-1 decision to the Foresters in the third game.

The Gothams 18-3 victory is the highest single team run total in a WCS game since the Cleveland Foresters won game seven of the 1934 World Championship Series over the Gothams by the exact same 18-3 score. The 21 runs combined by the two clubs matches that game and the total from the seventh game of the 1938 series when the Chicago Chiefs outscored the Brooklyn Kings 11-10.

Despite the blowout loss the Foresters suggest they are very happy to be tied in the series and confident in sending their ace Adrian Czerwinski to the hill today against Lefty Allen. Czerwinski won game two over Allen on three days rest and will be attempting to do the same to give the Foresters a stranglehold on the series as they return to Cleveland for the sixth and, if necessary, seventh games.

Saturday's third game saw Ducky Davis scatter 8 hits over 8 innings of work before handing the ball to reliever Ollie White. White, who had 3 saves in last year's WCS 7-game loss to the Chicago Chiefs, notched his first of this series but he did make it interesting in allowing two base runners in the bottom of the ninth before retiring Roosevelt Brewer and Walt Messer on outfield fly balls to preserve the 4-1 Cleveland victory. Davis had held the Gothams off the scoresheet until the 8th inning when their lone run came on a Flipper Robinson rbi single.

Joe Brown was a bit of a surprise choice to get the start for the Gothams ahead of Buddy Long, who had an impressive 16-5 regular season record. Brown could not be faulted for the loss - he only allowed 5 Cleveland hits in his seven innings of work but they included a 2-run homer off the bat of Jim Urquhart in the fifth frame after Eddie Morris had singled. For Urquhart, a 23-year-old rookie, it was just the second big league homer he has ever hit as he managed just one in 577 at bats for the Foresters this season. Morris and Urquhart combined on Cleveland's opening run in the third inning when Morris hit a lead-off triple and was plated by Urquhart's sacrifice fly.


Heading into game four the big concern in New York was the disappearance of the Gothams big bats. Walt Messer was 1-for-14, Red Johnson was 2-for-9 and George Cleaves, after going hitless in Cleveland, was 2-for-10 and Cleaves game three double was the only extra base hit the three could muster.

The narrative certainly changed following a game four that saw the Cleaves go 5-for-5 with a homer and 4 rbi's, Messer go 3-for-4 with a triple and 3 rbi's and Johnson get his first extra base hit of the series -a double- and score twice. Seeing second baseman Roosevelt Brewer add a homer and 5 rbi's on 4 hits and even starting pitcher Ed Bowman get into the act at the plate with a double and 2 singles ended the worry about the New York offense. The question now was could they do it again and could they get to Foresters ace Adrian Czerwinski in today's pivotal 5th game.

As for the Foresters, well, they said all the right things after the loss and how they were happy to be tied with their ace set to pitch the next game but one can't help but wonder what sort of impact it might have on the Cleveland psyche when you pile the worst WCS loss in 17 years with that awful collapse from last season when they blew a 3-games to none lead against the Chicago Chiefs to lose the series. It will be interesting to see how the Foresters respond today at Gothams Stadium.

• George Cleaves had 5 hits in game four, tying a record for most hits in a WCS game. Joining Cleaves with 5 in a contest are T.R. Goins, Danny James, Frank St. Pierre, Jimmy Whipple, John Oliver and John Cook.
• Roosevelt Brewer's 5 rbi's in the fourth game were one shy of the WCS record 6 set by Bernie Trumaine for the 1915 Boston Minutemen.

FIGHTING SAINTS SETTLE FOR TIE WITH WHITNEY COLLEGE

If last week's near miss against North Carolina Tech was not proof enough, a tie against a Whitney College eleven they hammered by 45 points a year ago should confirm that this year's edition of St Blane football is not up to par when compared with recent seasons. The sophomore-dominated Engineers deserve full credit for leaving St Blane Stadium with a 17-17 tie, causing most of the 56,748 fans on hand in Latrobe, Pa. to shake their heads in disbelief. It was no fluke. Whitney College, a 20-point underdog, simply outplayed the Saints in every category -including an overpowering fighting spirit and confidence.

The Fighting Saints did manage to crack the top ten in the first college poll of the season but just barely. Rome State, which used its size advantage on the line to overpower Liberty College 20-3 for its second triumph of the season and extended the unbeaten string of the Centurions to twenty-two straight games. The other service academy, Annapolis Maritime, also had a big game as the Navigators charted a course to a 17-3 victory over St. Magnus and evened their season record at 1-1.

Detroit City College improved to 2-0 and holds down the number two spot in the polls as the Knights, trying to bounce back from a disappointing 5-4 season a year ago, blanked Academia Alliance outfit Grafton 21-0. The grasping fingers of lanky end Marv Friederich led the Knights as the sophomore gave a dazzling display of pass catching, both from his and Grafton throwers. Friederich scored the opening touchdown on a 22-yard reception and later the glue-fingered Friederich broke the back of the Scholars offense with 3 interceptions- deep in Detroit City College territory- in the end zone, the DCC 5 yard and 25 yard lines.

Other games of note saw North Carolina Tech down Noble Jones College 19-6 despite a strong showing from Colonels junior quarterback Charlie Barrell. Cumberland improved to 3-0 with a 10-3 victory over Carolina Poly while another big passing day from Babe Parilli lifted Central Kentucky to its fourth straight victory, an easy outing in a 31-0 whitewashing of Cleveland. Out west the two northern California schools each improved to 3-0 with non-conference victories as Redwood shutout Minns College 21-0 while Northern Cal topped Sunnyvale 20-3.

PALADINS HOLD OFF FINCHES IN SHOWDOWN

A battle of a pair of unbeaten teams in American Football Association weekend action lived up to its billing as the Pittsburgh Paladins held off the Cleveland Finches, claiming a 20-16 victory on their home turf at Pittsburgh's Fitzpatrick Park. The game featured a pair of terrific quarterbacking performances with Dusty Sinclair continuing to be the difference since joining the Paladins this season from Los Angeles. The former Travis College star threw for 339 yards and 3 touchdowns to lead the Paladins to victory, overshadowing a solid day by Cleveland passer Rick McKowen, who threw a pair of touchdown strikes as part of his 258 yard passing day.

The Finches led 10-7 at the break but a pair of Cleveland turnovers late in the third period and early in the fourth led to pair of Pittsburgh scoring drives. The Finches, now trailing by 4 points as time wound down, had a promising drive for the winning score snuffed out in the final minute when Chris Marzella intercepted a McKowen pass at the Pittsburgh 17 yard line, allowing the Paladins to takeover possession and run out the clock.

Elsewhere, the St Louis Ramblers improved to 4-0 and moved a game up on Cleveland in the American Conference with a 38-7 drubbing of the New Orleans Crescents. The only other remaining undefeated team to join the Ramblers and Paladins are the Washington Wasps, who ran their record to 3-0 with a 34-24 victory over the struggling two-time defending AFA champions from Chicago. Speaking of struggling, the Detroit Maroons dropped to 1-3, falling 21-3 to the San Francisco Wings. The Maroons have been outscored 102-27 this season.

The Los Angeles Tigers lost for the first time this season, dropping a 14-10 road decision to the Frigates in Philadelphia. Finally, at Minutemen Stadium in Boston, Archie Rawlings threw for 212 yards and 3 scores to lead the visiting New York Stars to a 41-24 victory over the host Americans.

NAHC SET FOR SEASON OPENER

The North American Hockey Conferderation is just days away from lifting the curtain on its 42nd second. The loop -the oldest professional sports league this side of FABL- commences its 1950-51 campaign with a single game on Wednesday when the Toronto Dukes host the New York Shamrocks. The Dukes won back-to-back Challenge Cups in the spring of 1948 and 1949 but will have something to prove this time around after being knocked out in the semi-finals last season by the Montreal Valiants, who would go on to win their first Cup since 1927-28.

The Dukes head into the regular season on a roll as after a slow start to the preseason that saw Toronto earn just a single point from their first three outings, the Dukes reeled off four straight victories to finish with the best preseason record in the loop. Heading in the other direction, if exhibition games are any factor, are the Chicago Packers. The Packers began the preseason slate with four straight wins but then proceeded to lose each of their final three games including back-to-back lobsided losses to the Boston Bees.

***Ticket Drive in Motor City Pays Off ***

The Detroit Motors attendance has lagged behind other NAHC clubs in recent season but a push over the summer by club owner John Connelly Jr., coupled with what is hoped to be a bright future filled with plenty of young talent, saw the Motors sell a league-high 12,634 season tickets according to numbers released last week by the league. Thompson Palladium has a seating capacity of 15,000. The only team to sell less than 10,000 season ducats was the Boston Bees, a team that won five Challenge Cups in the past decade but has had its struggles of late and finished dead last in the league last season.


Dukes Begin Regular Season Next Week -- The icemen of Toronto have finished their tune-up games before beginning the regular campaign on Wednesday in New York against the Shamrocks. In seven preseason games the Dukes went 4-1-2 scoring 23 times while allowing 19.

After what was said to be spirited training camp in Porcupine, Ont., where players were fighting for jobs both figuratively and on the ice. Locals who showed up to the workouts and scrimmages said some the fisticuffs reached the level of the brawls between miners on Saturday nights in the numerous watering holes around the area.

Coach Barrell did not seem to mind the extracurricular activities on the ice saying it showed how valuable a job is in the NAHC along with some hangover from the early playoff exit in April. Barrell definitely wants his team to set the pace physically this season, there were times last season when the team was close to getting run out of the rink when the opposition took it to the Dukes.

The Dukes look like they will open the season, in which they play their first five on the road, with 2 goaltenders, 9 defensemen and 11 forwards with one open spot on the 23 man roster. Brett has learned that pairings on the back end will be headed by J.C. Martel and Tim Brooks who are expected to play big minutes against the other team's big line, followed by Clyde Lumsen and Chad Roy probably matching opponents second line. That leaves Charlie Brown, along with newcomer Miles Norman making up the third pairing. The biggest difference the fans will notice is that the tandem of men in between the pipes, Broadway will be joined by rookie Charlie Dell. The Dukes have severed ties with longtime backup Terry Russell who was instrumental in two Challenge Cup runs. The move was not unexpected as Broadway at 36 is not getting any younger, with Dell in Toronto along with Scott Renes in Cleveland the Dukes seem to set for a smooth transition in net.

Up front it looks like the lines with be:
Charette-Pollack-Carlson
Parker-Sauer-Cameron
Lavalliere-Brisebois-Zimmerman with Lou Galbraith and Phillipe Dubois serving as 10th forward, 7th defenseman.

The surprise there is Lou Galbraith coming off a 25 goal season not fitting into the top nine forwards. The Dukes look like putting the puck into the net will not be a problem. It also expected that Barrell will again stress keeping the puck out their net.

Coach Barrell "I know we can score, I have stressed since day one of camp our main focus has to be stopping the other team from scoring. I want to see a little more edge in our game, we got pushed around far too often last season. I want to play tough, hard hitting hockey, not dirty as some teams I will not mention here are known for in the NAHC. Guys in a Dukes uniform will finish every check. Funny how many times that causes the puck to turnover. We had a good camp, preseason I am looking forward to starting the games that count. We sent a couple of guys to Cleveland I will be keeping a close eye on."

SAWYER TO SET RECORD IN EPIC SHOWDOWN

The stage is set for a historic night in the annals of boxing as World Heavyweight Champion, Hector Sawyer, confirms his date with destiny at Lake Erie Arena in Cleveland on December 9th. This momentous occasion will mark Sawyer's 17th consecutive title defense, a feat that surpasses the legendary welterweight George Grainger's record of 16 defenses set in the 1920s.

Since his ascent to the heavyweight throne on January 15, 1940, Sawyer, known far and wide as "The Cajun Crusher", has been a force to be reckoned with in the ring. His dominance knows no bounds, with a professional record standing at an impressive 64-3-1. Even amidst the dark clouds of war, Sawyer's indomitable spirit shone bright, as he showcased his skills in countless military exhibitions.

Sawyer's journey to the record books reached its zenith on July 4th at Gothams Stadium, where he secured an emphatic 11th-round knockout victory over Cannon Cooper to equal Grainger's illustrious record. Now, with history beckoning, the 36-year-old Sawyer will step into the ring once more, aiming to etch his name in boxing folklore for eternity.

However, standing in Sawyer's path to immortality is a formidable challenger in the form of Brad Harris. At a youthful 22 years of age, Harris, hailing from Akron, Ohio, boasts an impressive record of 19-0-1. Despite his relative obscurity on the boxing scene -Harris cut his teeth earning most of his victories against fighters with little potential- but he has stepped up to face strong opponents recently including a 9th round TKO of Dan Miller a year ago and another TKO win over ring veteran Matt Price in the spring. The Miller result is the only common opponent for the pair, as Sawyer had an 8th round TKO win over Miller in January 1949 at Santa Ana Stadium, before what remains the largest crowd ever to witness a professional fight.

While Sawyer remains the favorite according to early odds, the specter of youth and ambition looms large. Harris's relentless drive and unwavering determination make him a formidable adversary, capable of delivering an upset of monumental proportions. As the countdown to December 9th begins, the world waits with bated breath to witness a clash of titans and the crowning of a new era in boxing history.


UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS

• Oct 11 - Vernon, CA.- Veteran Heavyweight Scott 'The Chef' Baker (23-5-3) meets Barry Scott (20-7)
• Oct 14- Atlanta, GA.- former heavyweight contender Pete Sanderson (41-11-2) faces Emmett Seals (25-16-2)
• Oct 15 - Dominion Gardens, Toronto - former middleweight champ Adrian Petrie (20-3-2) meets Jerry Roberts (25-10-2)
• Oct 18 - San Francisco, CA- Heavyweight contenders Cannon Cooper (31-6-1) and Tommy Cline (17-3) meet
• Oct 19- Denny Arena, Boston- Boston heavyweight Roy Crawford (32-6) faces Canadian Phil Easton (30-6-2)
• Oct 22 - Lewiston, ME.- Heavyweight Bill Sloan (19-3) meets Harvey Winter (22-6-1)
• Oct 26- Cincinnati, OH- Unbeaten heavyweight contender Joey Tierney (20-0) faces Mike McFarland (21-11-2)
• Oct 27- San Francisco, CA- middleweight contender Millard Shelton (29-5) faces Dan Atkin (28-11-2)
• Oct 28- Thompson Palladium, Detroit - welterweight veteran George Gibbs (27-6) meets William Stevens (10-3-1)
• Oct 31- Atlanta, GA.- former welterweight champion Mac Erickson (22-2) faces Brian Pierce (17-3)
• Oct 31- St.Paul, MN - middleweight contender Davis Owens (23-1) meets Henry Alder (36-24-5)
• Oct 31 - Lakeside Auditorium, Chicago: Middleweight contender Bill Boggs (21-3-1) faces Jack Rainey (29-10-1)
• Dec 9 - Lake Erie Arena, Cleveland: World Heavyweight Champion Hector Sawyer 64-3-1 defends his title against Brad Harris (19-0-1)

• The United Nations has given clearance for American troops to proceed across the 38th Parallel for final victory over the Korean Communists.
• As UN troops under the command of Gen. MacArthur cross the 38th, the United States and Britain assured Russia and Communist China that American forces moving through North Korea would not advance beyond the Korean border.
  
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• Panama's offer to turn over six military bases to the United Nations for military purposes is almost certain to be accepted if a U.N. Army is created. The bases were built by the United States during World War II.
• Defense department officials estimate the total outlay in military spending this year would run for $35 billion to $40 billion. Congress has already appropriated more than $26 billion to a defense department which is working for the first time since the last war with a budget that has no ceiling.
• Idaho, with two senators, two representatives and a governor to be elected this year, is a prize for which the Republicans and Democrats are fighting desperately.
• Senate Investigators suggest there is strong evidence that Al Capone's power did not die with him in 1947. "We think we have found strong evidence that the Capone syndicate is still operating (in Chicago) and in other parts of the country," said the Chairman of the Senate Crime Investigating Committee.
  
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October 12, 1950: Games Five and Six of the World Championship Series
 

OCTOBER 12, 1950 - Special Thursday WCS Edition

GOTHAMS WIN TO FORCE A SEVENTH GAME IN WCS

For the 19th time in its history dating back to 1893, the World Championship Series will need to go the full seven games in order to declare a winner. The New York Gothams, after dropping two of three games at home over the weekend, sent the series to its max with a 5-3 victory in Cleveland yesterday. It marks the second year in a row that that Foresters will play in a seventh game. Last year the Cleveland squad won the opening three games of the series before dropping four straight including a dramatic 7-6 loss in 11 innings to the Chicago Chiefs in game seven.

We are expected to see the first meeting between the two pitching aces as Eddie Bowman, the likely Federal Association Allen Award winner this season, is poised to take the hill against Adam Czerwinski, the reigning Continental Association Allen winner. Bowman won games one and four while Czerwinski, who pitched Cleveland's pennant winning victory in their regular season finale, was the winner in games two and five. Bowman will have the extra day rest, but Czerwinski will have the hometown crowd as the two are set to square off on the Forester Stadium mound today with a world title on the line.

Game five saw Czerwinski work his magic, tossing his second complete game victory of the series. The game two winner threw an 8-hitter and his afternoon was made much easier by the fact that the Foresters scored 4 runs off of Gothams starter Lefty Allen in the first inning.

Allen could not have asked for a worse start as the veteran lefthander, who is now 1-7 all-time in WCS play, allowed 4 extra base hits in the opening frame. Frenchy Sonntag, Sherry Doyal and Larry McClure all doubled before Lloyd Coulter delivered a homerun.

Czerwinski had his troubles in the opening inning as well with Red Johnson's second extra-base hit of the series being a two-run homer. The score remained 4-2 until the Foresters added a run in the fourth inning thanks to another double, this one by Eddie Morris, off of Allen. Two more Cleveland runs would be plated in the 7th after Buddy Long had replaced Allen on the Gothams mound and the Foresters would coast to an 8-3 victory.


The Foresters returned to Cleveland with their first chance to clinch the series but once more came up short. Cleveland has now gone 0-5 in series clinching games over the past two years after the Gothams remained alive with a 5-3 comeback victory.

The pitching matchup was a rehash of the third game with Joe Brown of the Gothams facing Ducky Davis, who pitched so well in Cleveland's victory five days prior. New York threatened right away when the first two batters of the game - Cecil LaBonte and Roosevelt Brewer- each singled but Davis got out of a potential jam by getting Walt Messer to fly out and Red Johnson to hit into a doubleplay.

Davis was not as fortunate in the second inning after allowing a lead-off single to George Cleaves. Cleaves would score the opening run on a two-out single off the bat of Chief Lewis, who is enjoying a terrific series despite being a relative unknown outside of Gothams Stadium.

The Foresters struck back with 3 runs of their own in the bottom of the third to go up 3-1 with the big blow being a 2-run double off the bat of Lorenzo Samuels. A lead-off hit in the fifth led to another New York run to cut the gap to 3-2 with Chief Lewis delivering the base knock and eventually scoring on a single by Brewer.

The score remained 3-2 for Cleveland until the top of the 7th inning when Lewis once more was the one to start things. The 24-year-old rookie outfielder led off the frame with a single -his third hit of the game. A sacrifice bunt from pitcher Joe Brown moved Lewis to second and he scored on Cecil LaBonte's base hit to tie the game. After a fielder's choice from Brewer, Walt Messer delivered his biggest hit of the series, a 2-out triple to plate Brewer with the go-ahead run. Cleaves would add a rbi single for insurance to make it 5-3.

The Foresters had their chance in the bottom of the 7th with runners on second and third and no one out but Brown wiggled his way out of the mess unscathed and then had little trouble closing out the victory over the final two innings to allow the Gothams to force a 7th game.

THE HISTORY OF 7TH GAMES

• 1949: Chicago Chiefs over Cleveland- The Chiefs overcome 3-0 deficit and rally from a 2-run deficit in the 8th inning to win game 7 by a 7-6 count on a Joe Rutherford RBI double in the bottom of the 11th inning.
• 1946: NY Stars over Washington- The Stars trailed 3 games to one but rallied by winning three straight games including a 4-2 victory in game 7. Eli Panneton pitches 8 strong innings for the winners to win the finale after being the losing pitcher in games one and four. Mack Sutton delivered the key hit, a 2-run homer in the opening inning.
• 1944: Cincinnati over Philadelphia Keystones- After winning game six by an 8-3 score thanks to Tom Barrell's heroics the Cannons get a complete game victory out of Butch Smith to win their second consecutive game seven, beating the Keystones 5-3 in the deciding game, led by a 2-run homer off the bat of Chuck Adams. It marks the fourth consecutive season the series went the distance.
• 1943: Cincinnati over Boston - A back and forth series that saw the home team prevail in each of the first six games. The Cannons break the trend with a 4-1 victory at Minutemen Stadium in the deciding game. Deuce Barrell spins a 2-hitter, and the game is tied at 1 until Denny Andrews hits a solo homerun in the top of the 8th. Sam Brown adds insurance for the Cannons with a 2-run double in the top of the 9th.
• 1942: Gothams over Stars- The Gothams win game six 5-3 on the road and then claim a dramatic win in the deciding game. Gus Goulding was outstanding on the hill for the Gothams in game 7 but Bill Riley was equally as good for the Stars through 9 innings with the game tied at 1. Walt Messer and Billy Dalton hit back-to-back rbi doubles off Riley in the top of the 10th to give the Gothams the series with a 3-1 victory in game seven.
• 1941: Boston over the Chicago Cougars- A wild series that sees the Minutemen hammered 11-0 and 9-2 at home in the opening two games but even it at two games apiece with a pair of 1-0 victories in the Windy City. Chicago takes game five on a Harry Parker shutout in a 4-0 win but the Minutemen force a 7th game by scoring a run in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game and another in the tenth to win 10-9. Game seven is a pitcher's duel in which Ed Wood beats Jim Lonardo for the second time in the series and the Minutemen prevail 2-1.
• 1938: Chicago Chiefs over Brooklyn- The Chiefs just seem to like their comebacks. Down 3 games to one this time, the Chiefs rallied with 3 straight wins to take the series. The seventh game was supposed to be a pitcher's duel between Rabbit Day and Tom Barrell but neither lasted beyond the fourth inning as the Chiefs won a slugfest 11-10 to beat Brooklyn in the WCS for the second time in three years.
• 1934: Cleveland over the New York Gothams- The Foresters overcame 3-1 deficit to beat Gothams. Roger Perry and reliever Frank Phillips combined on a 2-hitter to beat Jim Lonardo 4-0 in the fifth game. Game six saw the Foresters score 6 times in the bottom of the first inning and coast to an 8-3 victory but that was nothing compared to the dominant performance by Cleveland in the 7th game, an 18-3 thumping of the Gothams in which a 39-year-old Max Morris hit his third of three homers in the series.
• 1933: Philadelphia Keystones over Chicago Cougars- The visiting team won each of the first six games of the series, but the Keystones ended that trend with a 4-2 victory in a game seven that saw Bill Ross outduel Tommy Wilcox. Bobby Barrell's 6th inning two-run homer proved the difference.
• 1930: Philadelphia Sailors over New York Gothams- The series featured three 1-run games but also a couple of blowouts. The Gothams took game six 6-2 to force a 7th game on the road but fell 4-3 as the Sailors walked it off in bottom of 9th with run to win game 7 a year after losing a 7th game to Detroit.
• 1929: Detroit over the Philadelphia Sailors- Midseason pickup Wayne Robinson pitched a complete game 4-3 victory for Detroit in game six and the Dynamos completed the comeback when Roy Calfee won his third game of the series leading Detroit to an 8-3 victory.
• 1921: Montreal over St Louis- The Pioneers had a young Max Morris, who hit 3 homers in the series, but it was the Saints who prevailed in game seven.
• 1918: Detroit over the Chicago Cougars- With what would become known as the First World War serving as a backdrop, the Detroit Dynamos took 3 games to none lead in the series, but the Cougars battled back to force a 7th game at Detroit's Thompson Field. Don Benford was the hero, hitting the biggest homerun in Dynamos history, a 2-run shot in the bottom of the 8th inning to turn a 2-1 deficit into what would prove to be a 3-2 victory for Detroit.
• 1915: Montreal over Boston - The Saints overcame 3-1 deficit with a 1-0 win in a 7th game that would become known as the Johnston & Johnson affair with Montreal's Bob Johnston and Boston's Big George Johnson hooking up for the third time in the series. George won the first two but Bob got the last laugh as he tossed a seven-hit shutout in a 1-0 Montreal win.
• 1914: Baltimore over Washington- A rematch of the 1913 series won easily by the Eagles. The Clippers got their revenge when future Hall of Famers Powell Slocum and Mike Marner led Baltimore to a 7-2 victory in the seventh game.
• 1911 Toronto over Detroit- The Toronto Wolves dropped each of the first three games but staged an improbable rally with four straight victories: 3-1 in 11 innings, 3-2 in 10, 4-3 and finally a 5-0 victory behind a Charlie Sis shutout in the deciding game.
• 1908: Baltimore over Detroit - The Ford Motor Company debuted the Model T and the Dynamos won their first-ever Federal Association pennant but came up short in the World Championship Series. Mike Marner, who would later win a second game seven, outpitched Woody Trease in a 2-1 Clippers victory. The game had a dramatic conclusion when Clipper centerfielder Bill McCollum gunned down Detroit's Phil Thompson at the plate with what would have been the tying run for the final out and give Baltimore their second straight WCS title.
• 1896: New York Gothams over Chicago Cougars- The fourth WCS became the first to go to a 7th game as the New York Gothams beat the Chicago Cougars for the second year in a row. The 1895 series took six games, this one needed seven with the Gothams taking the finale by a 9-7 score at the old Bigsby Oval.

PLENTY TO LOOK FORWARD TO FOR FEDERAL 'LOSERS'

While only one team in each association gets to represent their group in the playoffs, the other seven teams are going to do whatever they can to ensure they're no longer looking in from the inside. Here's something each of this years "losers" can look forward to in 1951:

Boston Minutemen (4th, 76-78, .494, 20 GB)

The Young Guns are legit!: This might be the easiest one here, as no team can boast the collection of top-level youngsters the Boston Minutemen have. Not only do they have the #1 system, but they have two of the top three prospects and four in the top 20, even after seeing soon-to-be 23-year-old Yank Taylor graduating during the season. Ranked as high as 6th, the son of multi-champion and Whitney winner Tom Taylor held his own in 83 games, hitting .286/.351/.429 (105 OPS+) with 17 doubles, 7 homers, and 45 RBIs. Add in a 118 WRC+, 30-to-16 walk-to-strikeout ratio, and respectable defense in right, and you have an impressive young slugger who pairs perfectly in the opposite corner of extra-base machine Ben McCarty (.294, 18, 117) who's coming off back-to-back 5.5 WAR seasons. OSA thinks that Rick Masters (2nd), Joe Kleman (3rd), and Marshall Thomas (19th) are all ready for at bats in Boston next season, giving them an outstanding core of youth to work with. Masters is a corner outfielder and the other two are middle infielders, so there isn't an obvious spot in Boston for the trio yet, but trading someone like Bill Moore (.258, 9, 63), Harry Barrell (.293, 2, 60, 20), Buddy Schneider (.283, 6, 70, 8) or Billy Dalton (.321, 16, 62) for pitching could help speed up the rebuild.

Chicago Chiefs (6th, 72-82, .468, 24 GB)

Ed Bloom can be a keystone at the keystone: I could have also gone with "we won last year" or "John Stallings is going to be good for a long time", but those were both certainties coming into the season. What wasn't was the production of 22-year-old Ed Bloom, who needed a little more seasoning in the minors. After a 143 WRC+, 16 steals, and a 61-to-27 walk-to-strikeout ratio, he got a callup to Chicago, and pretty much kept the stellar production up. In a game shy of 100, Bloom hit an impressive .298/.409/.415 (120 OPS+) triple slash, improved by 27 extra base hits, 69 walks, and a 136 WRC+. For a team that doesn't have much in terms of youth, the emergence of Bloom has extended the Chiefs competitive window. I've written plenty about him around the draft, but another prospect to keep an eye on is Rod Shearer, a 2nd Rounder who's worked his way into the top 5 for prospects. The 22-year-old had just 64 PAs in A ball before an aggressive promotion to Chicago, where he went 7-for-21 with a double, RBI, and 3 walks. He'll be in camp looking to secure a starting job with Bloom, giving Chiefs fans two talented young hitters to watch for years to come.

Detroit Dynamos (5th, 74-80, .481, 22 GB)

The Core is in Place: I thought this season would be a big one for the Detroit Dynamos, but the offense could never get going, and the pitching wasn't quite as dominant as it could have been. Ace Carl Potter (13-20, 2.87, 177) pulled a Pete Papenfus, going from a league leading 20-game winner to a league leading 20-game loser, but the record is extremely deceptive. Potter is arguably the best pitcher in FABL, leading the Fed in starts (36), innings (304.2), strikeouts, and WHIP (1.14) while posting his 3rd consecutive 7+ WAR season. Oh yeah, and he's won 92 games before his 25th birthday. Potter should continue to lead the Dynamos rotation for years to come, and fellow 24-year-old Roy Schaub (7-10, 3.81, 58) has emerged as a quality #2 option if he can keep the walks in check.

On the offensive side, Edwin Hackberry (.295, 23, 77, 9), another 24-year-old, is arguably the best center fielder in the game, and first basemen Dick Estes (.316, 29, 105) came a single homer away from 30. Then there's a quality middle infield duo in Del Johnson (.278, 7, 66, 10) and Stan Kleminski (.279, 4, 37) while top 50 prospect Jim Gaiter (.303, 2, 12) looked good in his debut at the hot corner, while natural center fielder Bill Morrison (.310, 8, 47) will draw Kellogg consideration for his excellent season in right. It's easier said than done, but for the Dynamos they just may need to wait things out, as very few teams have as much young talent at the big leagues as they do, and they should be in the thick of things all next season.

Philadelphia Keystones (83-71, t-2nd, .539, 13 GB)

Bobby Barrell hasn't called it quits. Yet: If you ask anyone who the best player of the 1930s and 1940s was, and they don't say Bobby Barrell, you might have to question any snippet of information they've provided you since you first met. Simply put, this kid is the best, and even at 40 he finished the season with 24 homers, 90 RBIs, and a 123 WRC+. Sure, not quite Bobby Barrell level numbers, but this Keystone team has some major slug. Everyone knows about potentially Whitney Winner Hank Koblenz (.269, 48, 123), Roger Cleaves (.285, 30, 87), the half-brother of superstar catcher George Cleaves (.310, 21, 77) and Sailors Hall-of-Famer Jack Cleaves, and longtime second basemen Billy Woytek (.273, 21, 77), but the Keystones have started to add some more youth to supplement their grizzled vet. Despite starting just 63 games and making 314 trips to the plate, Rudy Minton (.336, 17, 56) somehow put together a Kellogg campaign, and #4 overall pick Don Berry (.269, 9, 46) had a successful rookie campaign himself. If Barrell stays in the lineup, its going to be one of the most powerful in the Fed, and it's no surprise that they were able to lead either circuit in runs scored. The Gothams are great, and there are a lot of contenders in the Fed, but give me one more season of Bobby Barrell and a little rotation help, and I think I'd be willing to call the Keystones the favorites for 1951.

Special shoutout though to 37-year-old converted reliever George M Brooks, who finished an impressive 11-1 with 18 saves, a 2.72 ERA, and 47 strikeouts in 96 innings pitched. Nice seeing some stoppers who aren't David Molina putting together some really impressive seasons!

Pittsburgh Miners (67-87, 7th, .435, 29 GB)

The youngsters got another year of experience: Another team with no shortage of young offensive talent, the Miners managed to get out of the cellar for this season, as they were held back by the worst FABL staff by a longshot. Sure, former first rounder Bill Traylor (17-9, 3.31, 107) but together a great season and Dave Low (10-7, 3.79, 64) was passable, but about every other arm they tried out fell flat on their face. The offense did a great job on the fly, and it's tough to realize just how important another full season against FABL pitching is for young bats. They got a big season from the now 25-year-old Jeep Erickson (.300, 14, 75) provided most of the power, while guys like Ernie Campbell (.324, 1, 54), Charlie Williams (.316, 7, 67), Paul Williams (.310, 9, 62), and Irv Clifford (.307, 1, 88, 21) focus more on getting on base then clearing them. The veteran of the lineup, Bob Lopez (.317, 4, 74), had his best offensive season to date, giving each of their top six hitters a WRC+ above 100. One thing that did go wrong offensively was Reid McLaughlin (.242, 61, 7), who saw his WRC+ plummet from 121 in 1948 to 61 this season. If he can even split the difference with his 95 last season, and the Miners find someone to give them quality innings in the rotation, Pittsburgh may surprise some and finish above .500 for the first time since 1944.

St. Louis Pioneers (65-89, 8th, .422, 31 GB)

It can't get any worse then this: I don't think anyone expected the St. Louis Pioneers to finish in last this season, as even though they did struggle last year, this was a team that won back-to-back World Championship Series on 90+ win seasons. The major downfall was the offense, as no Fed team scored fewer runs then them in 1950. Al Tucker (.336, 5, 72) still won the batting title in a "down" season by his measure, and aside from Larry Gregory (.300, 13, 100) he didn't have many people driving him in. That could change some next season, as consistent top ten prospect George Atkins came up for September and went 18-for-64 with 5 doubles, 2 steals, and a 110 WRC+. Center field has been an area of weakness for St. Louis, so the job is open for the taking. They have a lot of good young positional prospects that could displace other incumbents, and I can't see their staff allowing the second most runs again. Sure, the back of the rotation is a weakness, but the 3-H's all had an average or lower ERA+. The thing is, down seasons for Hiram Steinberg (14-11, 4.10, 102) and Danny Hern (14-18, 4.06, 90) are still pretty good, but Hal Hackney (9-19, 4.71, 144) could not keep runs off the board. He should preform much better next season, and if Tom Buchanan (11-14, 4.43, 87) pitches more like a former 2nd Overall Pick, the Pioneers could be the league leaders in more then just strikeouts (606) next season.

COUGARS EXTEND MAX WILDER

It didn't become official until after game five of the World Championship Series had finished, but the Chicago Cougars announced that they would be retaining skipper Max Wilder for the 1951 and potentially 1952 season. With all the missed expectations, there was a lot of uncertainty over Wilder's job security, but the Cougars decided a fourth season was still warranted. After two second place finishes, an up-and-down campaign saw the Cougars slip to third, but the former pitcher and 1931 FABL Champion put together his third consecutive season with 80 or more wins, improving to 247-215 as manager of the Cougars.

Those around the organization view this deal as more of a 1-year deal with an option for 1952, leaving their manager's seat warm for the coming season. Despite eleven 80-win seasons in the past twelve years, the Continental Cats have just one pennant to show for it, coming in a 97-win 1941 season where they fell to the Boston Minutemen in seven games. Since the pennant they have finished in second or third seven of nine seasons, continuously falling short in a competitive Continental Association.

Wilder himself is aware of the criticism, and he doesn't seem to be shying away from it. "Listen, no one is as disappointed as I am with all the close calls," Wilder explained in his press conference announcing the extension. "We have all the talent, but can't get it to produce with any consistency. And that starts with me. I believe I'm the right man for the job, but I have to look at myself to make changes on what is not working."

Part of that could be an increase in usage of stopper David Molina (10-7, 20, 2.59, 35), who at times Wilder seemed adverse to using. It makes sense that a former starting pitcher would want to allow his innings eaters to go late in games, but when you have the best late game weapon in the league, you have to take advantage of it. Wilder noted that an increase in the stoppers usage is something he will be working on during the offseason, and he hopes to have the same core intact for next season, which marks the 20th anniversary of the Cougars last title and the 10th anniversary of the last pennant.

TALES FROM THE LAIR

Kirby Copeland's Case For Rookie of the Year - Brett usually does not weigh in on post season awards. He leaves that to his older, more established colleagues who write columns regarding the entire FABL. Writers like Percy Pringle Sr., Freddie Farhat, Bob Murphy and Archie Irwin have more years on the scene along with tending to give readers insight league wide rather than Brett who concentrates on the Wolves. Brett has decided to do something different this year, advocate for a Wolves' player. Despite the lost season in Toronto losing 100 games there is one player Brett feels deserves league wide recognition for his 1950 play. This column will concentrate on reasons that OF Kirby Copeland should be awarded Rookie of the Year honours for the CA.

Copeland was drafted from Topeka State in the fifth round of the 1947 draft with the 69th overall selection. He reported to Vancouver skipping rookie league time at Tuscaloosa in July of '47 where spent just over a month after signing for a $1200 bonus tearing up Class B pitching to the tune of .447/.508/.641 with an OPS of 1.149 (223 OPS+). On to Davenport for the balance of the season, in 31 games he proved that Vancouver was no fluke with a line of .333/.392/.470 (132 OPS+). Over the winter the team made a decision that Kirby would move up Chattanooga to face AA pitching. During 1948 in which he split time starting in the field he had successful year in 116 games, starting 80, posting .281/.342/.363 in 387 trips to the plate further opening eyes in the scouting department. Starting every day last season in Chattanooga he proved he was ready for the next level by mid-summer moving onto Buffalo in August where he again split time but still ended up hitting over .300 in over 100 AB. The was some discussion as whether or not he was ready to be invited to spring camp. He was not invited but then Hank Giordano tore his groin on April 30th, and Copeland received the call after starting 8 games in AAA putting together a line of .366/.447/.585 with OPS 72% above league average.

The 24 year old was immediately inserted to the starting lineup by Fred Barrell, a sort of trial by ordeal, in which he proved that he could handle anything FABL pitchers tried to throw by him. On a struggling team Copeland had the second best batting average in the CA, .337 trailing only Marion Boismenu among qualified hitters, along with longest hitting streak in the FABL at 21 games tied with Cecil LaBonte of the Gothams. He led the Wolves in many offensive categories including hts, HR, RBI, and all three slash line categories, posting a WAR rating of 3.5. Leading a team with Fred McCormick present in that many offensive categories is indeed impressive work. Yes the Wolves struggled, but without Kirby's contributions a dismal season may have been much, much worse in southern Ontario.

One thing noticeable about Copeland's performance is how he picked up his game in clutch time late in contests. In early innings (1-3) he had a line of .286/.336/.386 with 22 RBI in 150 PA, move to middle innings (4-6) he improved .321/.379/.434 25 RBI in 159 PA. In the late innings when the the Wolves were trying to comeback (often) or secure a lead (not so often) he again picked up his game to .391/.446/.543 driving in 22 going to the plate 138 times. Hitting in a pinch Kirby went 5 for 11 with a 2B, HR further proving the moment is not too big for him. As much as the scouting department has been maligned by the fans, Copeland has proven thus far to be quite a find in the fifth round.

Fred Barrell "In a season full of disappointments the progression of Copeland, Finney, DeMott, Wells gives us something to build around going into the future. Other rookies like Charlie Rogers and Ron Berry has good seasons although I think Kirby's was better, he brought his game day in, day out. He played all three outfield positions...did everything that was ask of him during a trying season."

Brett's only knock on Copeland for this season is the same as Wells, DeMott the need for improvement defensively which hopefully will come with time. Brett thinks the fans may be in for another lean season in 1951 while the youngsters get further grounded in the FABL. If the brain trust can solve the pitching riddle the Wolves can turn the corner to return to respectability in the CA.

CRESCENTS HOST WINGS IN THURSDAY NIGHT AFA CONTEST

A pair of survivors from the Continental Football Conference will face each other for the second time in this young season as the New Orleans Crescents entertain the San Francisco Wings in a rare Thursday night American Football Association tilt. The two clubs played to a 14-14 tie in the season opener at Golden Gate Stadium.

New Orleans, which joined San Francisco and the Kansas City Cowboys in the shift to the AFA when the Continental loop closed up shop last winter, is still searching for its first win in the established league. The Crescents have lost three straight games including a pair of lobsided defeats at the hands of the Los Angeles Tigers (63-13) and St Louis Ramblers (38-7). New Orleans fared much better in its lone home game, narrowly losing by a point to Detroit, and tonight's contest marks the first of three straight games at Crescent City Stadium. The Wings record is 1-2-1 after they won at home over Detroit last weekend.

ROME STATE AIR DEFENSE PUT TO LONG TEST

If yesterday's practice session, the final one in Rome, Ga. before the Rome State Centurions make the trek north to the Big Apple for their Saturday contest at Gothams Stadium, is any indication, the Centurions are expecting nothing less than an aerial barrage from Mel Gorsky and his Detroit City College teammates.

Fully forty minutes were devoted to covering receivers as the junior varsity team, dressed in red and black jerseys of Detroit City College, emulated the pass patterns of the Knights. The cadets ended the ninety-minute practice session with a brief but full-speed scrimmage against the junior varisty.

The neutral site game at a Gothams Stadium still adorned with red, white and blue bunting for the World Championship Series is the highlight of the weekend slate of games. It sends the Centurions, who ranked at the top of the recently released first college football poll of the season, in to battle against the Knights, who hold down the number two spot. Both schools enter the game with 2-0 records.


RECENT KEY RESULTS

• Scott 'The Chef' Baker's first trip to the west coast for a fight did not end well for the 30-year-old Philadelphia born fighter. Baker saw his record dip to 23-6-3 in absorbing his second consecutive defeat, this one a narrow but unanimous 10-round decision at the hands of Barry Scott.

UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS

• Oct 14- Atlanta, GA.- former heavyweight contender Pete Sanderson (41-11-2) faces Emmett Seals (25-16-2)
• Oct 15 - Dominion Gardens, Toronto - former middleweight champ Adrian Petrie (20-3-2) meets Jerry Roberts (25-10-2)
• Oct 18 - San Francisco, CA- Heavyweight contenders Cannon Cooper (31-6-1) and Tommy Cline (17-3) meet
• Oct 19- Denny Arena, Boston- Boston heavyweight Roy Crawford (32-6) faces Canadian Phil Easton (30-6-2)
• Oct 22 - Lewiston, ME.- Heavyweight Bill Sloan (19-3) meets Harvey Winter (22-6-1)
• Oct 26- Cincinnati, OH- Unbeaten heavyweight contender Joey Tierney (20-0) faces Mike McFarland (21-11-2)
• Oct 27- San Francisco, CA- middleweight contender Millard Shelton (29-5) faces Dan Atkin (28-11-2)
• Oct 28- Thompson Palladium, Detroit - welterweight veteran George Gibbs (27-6) meets William Stevens (10-3-1)
• Oct 31- Atlanta, GA.- former welterweight champion Mac Erickson (22-2) faces Brian Pierce (17-3)
• Oct 31- St.Paul, MN - middleweight contender Davis Owens (23-1) meets Henry Alder (36-24-5)
• Oct 31 - Lakeside Auditorium, Chicago: Middleweight contender Bill Boggs (21-3-1) faces Jack Rainey (29-10-1)
• Dec 9 - Lake Erie Arena, Cleveland: World Heavyweight Champion Hector Sawyer 64-3-1 defends his title against Brad Harris (19-0-1)

• https://i.imgur.com/Xm0XMJZ.jpeg
• The fighting in North Korea continues after the Communist forces refused to surrender. UN Armies have broken through North Korean lines in three sectors and are driving towards Pyongyang. British and Australian ground forces have also joined in the advance with support from British and Canadian destroyers and carriers.
• The United States presented a sweeping program to give the United Nations General Assembly emergency powers to combat aggression and Russia caused a surprise by promptly supporting some points of it.
• President Truman will address the UN General Assembly on October 24, is expected to be a major foreign policy speech.
• The French cabinet, torn bitterly within itself over the issue of rearming the Germans, will shortly present the Allies a deadlock-breaking formula to create a single European Army to defend all of Western Europe. The plan calls for abolishing all national armies in Western Europe for good and integrating the war-making industries of Germany with France and Italy.
• A tidal wave and violent earthquake struck the Indonesian island of Amboina, prompting an appeal for outside assistance.
  
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October 13, 1950: Game Seven of the World Championship Series
 

OCTOBER 13, 1950 - SPECIAL WCS EDITION

FORESTERS WIN GAME SEVEN TO TAKE SERIES

Czerwinski, Doyal Lead Cleveland Past Mighty Gothams

It took them six tries but the Cleveland Foresters finally won a World Championship Series clinching game, downing the New York Gothams 5-3 in game seven to win their first WCS title since 1934, when they also defeated the Gothams. It ends a five game losing streak in games the Foresters could have celebrated a title after they surrendered a 3-0 series lead and lost four straight games to the Chicago Chiefs a year ago and missed out on a chance to clinch this year's series with a game six loss at home.

Foresters outfielder Sherry Doyal had a tremendous series and was named its Most Valuable Player. Doyal hit .346 during the series with 6 rbi's but support for him was certainly divided as Czerwinski, with 3 complete game victories, was the choice of many seated in press row.

The Series capped just an incredible month and a half for the 25-year-old Pittsburgh native. In 11 starts since losing 5-2 to the Chicago Cougars on August 25, Czerwinski went 10-0 and pitched a complete game in each of those ten victories. The lone no-decision was a 14 inning 4-3 loss to Toronto in which he went the first 10 innings. He had a 1.82 era during those 11 starts and really is the primary reason the Foresters went from 7th place and 8.5 games out on the morning of August 30 to clinching the pennant on the final day of the regular season.

*** Another Master Class in Pitching Taught by The Professor ***

Pitching on short rest after throwing complete game victories in games two and five, 'The Professor' Adrian Czerwinski was back on the mound for the seventh game but he had his struggles early. Cecil LaBonte, who tied for the Gothams lead in hits in the series with Roosevelt Brewer, led off the first inning with a single and Red Johnson, who had his problems in the series, delivered a two out base hit but Czerwinski escaped without damaging catching George Cleaves looking on a full count pitch.

Ed Bowman, who won games one and four for the Gothams, also had troubles in the opening frame but his became much more acute as the Foresters strung together four hits to take a quick 2-0 lead. Doyal and rookie catcher Larry McClure, who is gaining plenty of support for the Kellogg Award, each singled in a run.

Czerwinski, clearly not working with his best stuff, allowed base runners each of the next two innings but kept the Gothams off the scoresheet. That changed in the fourth when Cleaves worked the Foresters ace for a one-out walk and raced home on a triple off the bat of Flipper Robinson to cut the Foresters lead to 2-1. Czerwinski then uncorked a wild pitch to Tom Jeffries allowing Robinson to score the tying run.

Czerwinski would settle down and allow just one New York hit over the next 4 innings. Bowman, on the other hand, would run into more trouble in the fifth when a Jim Urquhart single followed by an error put two men on base for Doyal. The young outfielder delivered a 2-run triple and then would score the third Cleveland run of the inning when Lorenzo Samuels singled to put the Foresters back in front, by a 5-2 count.

Lou Eaker took over in relief of Bowman in the seventh inning after the Gothams ace was lifted for a pinch-hitter. It was near disaster as Eaker quickly walked the bases with one out. Lloyd Coulter hit a fly ball to leftfielder Ward Messer, and the outfielder gunned down the tagging Doyal at the plate to end the inning without any serious damage.

The Gothams had one last gasp in the top of the ninth when Red Johnson tripled off a clearly laboring Czerwinski. The Professor regrouped quickly in fanning Cleaves on three pitches and then getting an infield fly out from Robinson. Johnson did score to make it 5-3 when Tom Jeffries grounder was misplayed by Cleveland third baseman Lloyd Coulter but that would be as close as the Gothams would get after Chet Lewis flew out to centerfielder Doyal to end the series and set off a wild celebration for a long-suffering Foresters Stadium crowd.

A LOOK AT CONTINENTAL ASSOCIATION 1951 HOPES

Following up on yesterday's look at the Federal Association clubs that fell short of the pennant, here are some things the Continental Association non-winners can use to build on going forward.

Brooklyn Kings (81-73, t-3rd, .526, 4 GB)

Everyone was wrong about the John Moss trade: There were a lot of pundits that didn't quite understand what the Brooklyn Kings were doing by shipping John Moss to the rival Chicago Cougars. Turns out, the move might have been perfectly timed. Moss had his worst season to date, hitting just .219/.317/.298 (66 OPS+) with and 11.4 zone rating and 1.034 efficiency, all worsts since he became Brooklyn's everyday center fielder in 1947. His replacement, Charlie Rogers, was way better at 21, leading the CA in PAs (689), hits (213), and triples (16) while slashing .309/.343/.549 (107 OPS+) with 47 doubles, 8 homers, 64 RBIs, 106 runs, and 18 steals. The real kicker, however, was the centerpiece of the Moss trade: Ron Berry. The Kings found their new ace, as the potential Kellogg Winner led the Continental with a 20-win season as a 24-year-old rookie, finishing with a 3.12 ERA (130 ERA+) and 149 strikeouts in 271.1 innings. Sure, he'll walk more then his share of guys (120 and 10.6 BB%), but the stuff is elite, he keeps the ball on the ground, and threw triple digit pitches in all but one of his 33 starts, going 140 or more on six separate occasions. With Ralph Johnson leading the lineup, and Berry anchoring the rotation, the Kings have positioned themself as a legit contender for 1951.

Chicago Cougars (80-74, t-5th, .519, 5 GB)

There's always next year: Now if you said those four words to a Cougar fan, they might chomp your hand off, but the old adage still rings true for the Windy City Kitties today. There's always next year. The Cougars seem allergic to both titles and losing seasons, as since the 1930 season, they have the same amount as pennants (3) as losing seasons (3), though they've managed to be victorious just once as they are also allergic to playoff game sevens (0-4). But here's the thing: if you're winning all these games and have one of the most talented rosters year in and year out, eventually you're going to come out on top. The roster boasts 33 All-Star selections in the projected lineup, with just George Sutterfield (.275, 7, 54, 13) lacking a selection, though the bench has eight more selections, including second basemen like Sutterfield in Charlie Woodbury (2; .320, 6, 32) and Billy Hunter (1; .268, 1, 17). The rotation is even better, led by a pair of Allen Winners, and despite a much smaller pool of All-Star spots, the five members of the rotation that finished the season have all been selected. If that's not enough, the Cougars also have the 2nd best farm system, headlined by three top 20 prospects and nine of the top 100. Titles are elusive, but the Cougars organization has and should continue to develop quality FABL players for the rest of the league to take advantage of.

But the best part? The Cougars shouldn't be the favorite for 1951. Honestly, maybe not even top three. Give me a healthy Saints squad, the Foresters, and the Kings. Maybe even the Stars. Perhaps a step back in expectations could make the difference for a team that can't get over the hump? Wouldn't that be fun!

Cincinnati Cannons (81-73, t-3rd, .526, 4 GB0

Anyone can pitch in the Queen City: I want to clarify that this is not a knock on Mickey Mills (16-8, 3.15, 116). I'm one of his biggest supporters. But it has to be comforting to Cannons fans to know that the organization has excelled at getting quality starts from undervalued and overlooked pitchers. In terms of ERA, their "worst" pitcher was Tony Britten (11-15, 3.95, 87), and his ERA+ was still two percent better than average. And he's a former top ten prospect that has been lauded by many as a future ace. They've gotten success from lesser ranked prospects like former 11th Rounder Jim Anderson (16-8, 3.31, 107) and former 10th Rounder Charlie Griffith (17-14, 3.80, 91). Not everyone has to be a Rufus Barrell (15-14, 3.02, 117) who's had a FIP- above 80 just once in the eight seasons, which spoiler alert, is beyond elite. He was one of just five pitchers this season to have a FIP- below 80, so the frequency he can do it puts him in truly elite company. With a guy like that atop the rotation, you can worry a lot less about the rest of the staff, so if Cincinnati can find some bats to support their top rotation in the offseason, ideally someone else who can hit double digit homers, the CA might have to get used to looking up at the Cannons once (or twice or three times) more.

Montreal Saints (80-74, t-5th, .519, 5 GB)

Just stay healthy: It's as simple as that. If the Montreal Saints can stay healthy, they're going to win the Continental. This was supposed to be the season the painstaking 28 year pennant drought was snapped, but now they'll have to win next season to prevent it from growing to 30. Montreal was well on their way, but then Joe Austin (.234, 6, 44, 29) got hurt. And then Luke Weaver (.290, 8, 48). Then Maurice Carter (.267, 24, 86). And finally, Wally Doyle (10-13, 3.98, 135). Plus Gordie Perkins (.284, 8, 56) made his yearly IL trip in June and wasn't nearly the same after. Montreal is the most complete team, they can hit and pitch, but the completeness ends on their active roster. Their lack of minor league depth was exposed, as their replacements were not up to snuff. They stopped scoring runs in September, so if there is an area of improvement, it's to add a starting quality hitter to their bench. They have versatility with SS/OF Bill Elkins (.251, 2, 55), while the speedy Austin can line up anywhere, so Montreal doesn't need to focus on a specific position, allowing them to peruse all the veterans that will surely be available at a discount in the offseason.

New York Stars (84-70, 2nd, .545, 1 GB)

Bill Barrett wasn't his best and they still finished second: The Stars, who were so close to pulling away with the 1950 pennant, fell just a single game short, and a merely average June from superstar slugger Bill Barrett (.259, 3, 14; .316, 20, 94) (and even worse June from Vern Hubbard; 1-5, 11.45, 9; 12-12, 4.62, 73)) ended up being the difference in a razor thin pennant race. June was the only month New York finished below .500 (13-16), and that level of consistency bodes well for 1951. They can outslug anyone, as along with Barrett, they had three 25+ home run sluggers in Bill Barnett (.281, 33, 93), Mack Sutton (.251, 30, 106), and Jack Welch (.267, 29, 85). The pitching is solid too, so if Hubbard's luck shifts (he had matching ERA+ and FIP- of 87), Ed Cornett's (11-10, 3.62, 75) emergence is legit, and perhaps a breakout from former #1 prospect Ralph Hanson (.331, 16, 4), and the Stars can soar atop the association next season as they continue to be a regular entrant in the first division.

Philadelphia Sailors (71-83, 7th, .461, 14 GB)

Billy Forbes is back!: After a miserable 1950 where he hit just .246/.304/.338 (78 OPS+) and his season ended with a torn UCL in early June after just 48 games. There were some concerns that a serious arm injury would hamper his offense or defense, but the now 25-year-old quickly alleviated those concerns with a near 7 WAR (6.9) season. Forbes led all players with 50 doubles, slashing .304/.374/.468 (117 OPS+) with 8 triples, 12 homers, 23 steals, 70 walks, 81 RBIs, and 107 runs scored. Not only is he an impressive hitter, producing a 133 WRC+ in 701 trips to the plate, but his 10.0 zone rating and 1.030 efficiency trailed just defensive superstars Edwin Hackberry (14.1, 1.044) and John Moss (11.4, 1.034) among center fielders. Having a quality player like that is something most teams can only dream about, and for Sailors fans, it's something they might have to get used to. OSA ranks him among the league's top twenty hitters, so if they can surround him with talent, they can be a contender next season.

One guy in line for a season could be George Rutter (.292, 9, 46), a rookie outfielder who graduated as the 18th ranked prospect in FABL. A natural center fielder, having him in left is a huge boost to Al Duster (17-10, 3.20, 115) and Win Lewis (7-14, 3.37, 120). Always a contender, this is just the second time in the past twenty five years the Sailors have suffered back-to-back losing seasons. Even with 8th and 7th place finishes, it's hard to bet on them being down in the basement for long.

Toronto Wolves (54-100, 8th, .351, 31 GB)

John Wells and Les Ledbetter: Don't feel too bad for the Toronto Wolves. Sure, they lost a lot of games. 100 to be exact. But there was a time that Wolves fans were worried they might do that every season, so they can probably stomach a season like this. It's even easier knowing that they're the only team that gets to employ John Wells and Les Ledbetter. A pair of first overall picks, this could be the most talented duo FABL has ever seen, as there's a chance that these two could win a Whitney and Allen in the same season.

Wolves fans got to see a little of Wells this season, as the then 19-year-old appeared in 54 games. He looked his age, hitting . 269/.302/.339 (66 OPS+) in his first 183 plate appearances, but if they can be patient he could develop into one of the best players in the game. His athleticism is off the charts and his amateur numbers were off the charts. If there is a knock, it's defense, as he hasn't been the greatest shortstop, but when the bat comes around it will be good enough for wherever the glove puts him. Then with Ledbetter, a month away from 22-year-old southpaw, they have the topped ranked pitching prospect waiting in AAA. He's probably not ready for the Wolves rotation by Opening Day, but if he starts off hot he could join what profiles to be a wide open rotation. More spots could open if Toronto decides to move on from one of George Garrison (12-19, 3.80, 102) and Joe Hancock (13-9, 3.04, 114), who would fetch quite the haul in an offseason or deadline trade, improving the core that will be built on these two future stars.

THE FARHAT AWARDS BALLOT: PART TWO - THE CA

Let's begin our look at the Continental Association Awards with the Kellogg Trophy, presented to the rookie of the year.

For the most part this is really a two horse race between Brooklyn hurler Ron Berry (24) and Cleveland catcher Larry McClure (23). But we will give proper kudos to some other guys on some very fine rookie seasons.
These 3 guys could all be argued to be anywhere from the #3-#5 rookies in the CA this season. Copeland is 24, Urquhart is 23 and Rogers is just 21, they will all be big players in this league for many years to come.
[center]
Here are the front runners for the award
Ron Berry LHSP Brooklyn (24) 20-11 3.12 ERA 271.1 232HA 149K BAVG 233 WHIP 1.30
Larry McClure C Cleveland (23) 337/394/944 13HR 83RBI 58R 42D 3T[/cemter]

The CA Kellogg comes down to these two guys. One a left handed pitcher and the other a catcher. Both had great seasons and both played well down the stretch for their teams as they battled for the CA crown. Hard to argue with either of them except for this. One of these guys will be in the top 3 in his respective award category for all players and one will not likely be in the top 5. Berry will be the guy that is in the mix for the Allen and despite a great season, McClure is not in that same argument for the Whitney. Its close, but I got to go with the pitcher here.
The first thing you will notice is that the stats are not as inflated in the CA as they are in the Federal Association. Some of this is because the biggest sluggers are in the FA and some of it is because the CA has much larger ballparks and probably more quality starting pitching depth. To show that point one doesn’t have to look any farther than the RBI's leaders of the FA vs the CA. The FA had 10 players with over 100 RBI’s and the CA had 3. The FA had 7 players with 30+ home runs, and the CA had 3. The FA had 15 players with over a 300+ batting average (with 500 PA’s) and the CA only had 11.

Brooklyn’s Ralph Johnson has won this award twice, winning in 1947 and 1949. He leads the Association in most of the major “future stats” but he is hurt by his teams offense that spread out the run production. The Kings had 6 players place in the top 18 in RBI’s (Stars had 3 in the top 5). Some will vote for him since he is arguably the best hitter in the CA for the last 4 seasons, but I think he keeps his odd year streak going in winning the award.

So who gets Farhat’s vote for the top spot? Well that is going to fall on to 2nd year player Cleveland OF Sherry Doyal. Doyal had some help from the 2 rookies, but is clearly the top hitter on the Cleveland team, the one opposing pitchers most fear. I just think with his numbers nad balance this season, he gets my vote over Johnson. Adams, Barnett, and Barrett will fill in the top 5 (in no particular order).

Honestly this might be the toughest vote of them all. There are a lot of good pitchers in the CA who had solid seasons based on ERA and other metrics. One can never count out Cincinnati’s Rufus Barrell II but he was only 15-14. Toronto’s Joe Hancock had a great season considering the club he was playing on struggled so badly. Going 13-9 with a 3.04 ERA is probably a miracle. The Jones boys in Chicago went 1-2 in ERA with both logging under 3.00 (Johnnie 16-8 2.95 and Donnie 16-12 2.97). They were the only qualified starters that were under 3.00. Philadelphia’s Al Duster was a bright spot in the rotation for the Sailors going 17-10 with a 3.20 ERA. Cincinnati’s Mickey Mills 16-8 3.15 ERA came out of nowhere with his season that has Cannon fans looking forward to next year. New York Stars SP Jack Wood (37) 17-7 3.28 ERA showed he had a little more left in the tank and if he had gotten a little more help, the Stars might be in a crosstown World Series with the Gothams. Finally Montreal’s Wally Reif put together a very good a year after going 5-15 with over a 7+ ERA. Reif (31) remembered how to pitch and pitched well going 16-14 3.12 ERA.

One more pitcher deserves a nod but missed my cut because of a Farhat self imposed rule. Montreal’s Pat Weakley led the CA in ERA with a 2.81 season, but only threw 198 innings due to 2 injuries that kept him out around 6 weeks.

So who does Farhat like in this race? Well it is for me down to 2 guys at the top. My rookie of the year out of Brooklyn Ron Berry won 20 games going 20-11 with a 3.12 ERA in 271 innings. That is a hell of a season for a rookie and the Kings have to be hoping that he doesn’t run into the sophomore (and maybe career mid-level slump) that former rookie of the year King’s P Leo Hayden has run into. Berry has great numbers including 21 quality starts, 4 shutouts (only Reif had more with 7) and he was near the top in strikeouts (2nd to teammate Bob Arman who had 155 compared to Berry’s 149).

Last year’s winner came back to earth a bit from his outstanding season last year. Cleveland’s Mad Professor Adrian Czerwinski went 19-13 with a 3.31 ERA over 304 innings pitched. He lead the league with that innings pitched number and while he started a league leading 36 games, he also completed a league leading 24. He had a great end of season run after a middling first 5 months of the season. Czerwinski was 5-0 with a 1.12 ERA in September while Berry was 5-1 1.54 ERA for the Kings. Before September Czerwinksi was 13-13 with a 3.80 ERA April through August. Czerwinski was definitely pitcher of the month in September and while he is 2-0 in the World Series those games shouldn’t factor into the debate. Honestly it is a very tough call for me as they certainly both take some of the futuristic stats.

Who would you pick? My top 6 has Duster at #6, followed by the Rufus Barrell II and then probably Donnie and Jonnie Jones. Honestly some of the other names could fit in their but one stat that I don’t pay any attention to for a pitcher is that WAR stat. Overvalues certain stats way too much in my opinion.

So who do you pick? My vote will be revealed tomorrow.

CZERWINSKI, FORESTERS MAY BE CA FORCE FOR YEARS

This will be an interesting Allen vote in the Continental Association. Every potential contending pitcher has something on which you can ding them this season and there's no clear-cut candidate. Then you have the candidate who clearly put his team on his back and carried them to the pennant.

As for World Championship Series MVP, yes, it should have been Adrian Czerwinski. Could also have been Larry McClure too. In fact, the young Foresters all put on a pretty solid show: McClure (23 y/o) slashed 417/500/542; Eddie Morris (25): 348/375/522; Doyal (22) who won MVP: 346/414/577; Sonntag (21): 333/355/400; Coulter (22): 320/320/440; and Urquhart (23): 281/294/500. Pretty solid for a team missing leader Jim Adams Jr. and suffering through a middling performance from Lorenzo Samuels. Oh, and Czerwinski? He's only 25. The Foresters could be a factor for long time.


Now that the season is over for the Brooklyn Kings, a season where they finished just 4 games out of 1st place. One tends to look back on games that maybe got away from the team or even more so the deal that got away.

In the spring Brooklyn GM DD Martin was feeling pretty good about his team, but felt there was 1 key piece missing. It ended up being 2 key pieces with one being the continued slump of first baseman Chuck Collins, but the other was the deal that was never made. It was heavily rumored that the Kings were in contact with the Philadlephia Sailors and the target was primarily starting pitcher Al Duster, but the Kings also inquired about veteran shortstop Rip Lee. Going into the season the Kings GM was not confident that he had 5 quality starters who were all ready for the big league season. Sure there was excitement about rookie hurler Ron Berry, but he had never thrown a regular season pitch in the big leagues. There was also Paul Byler who has battled control issues throughout his career. Martin was looking to secure the veteran Duster as the key piece that might have been missing in the puzzle and looking out how the season played out, he might have been right.

Duster went 17-10 with a 3.20 ERA for the 7th place Sailors and his addition to the Kings to be a mid-rotation pitcher might have been enough to propel the Kings to the top of the very wide open Continental Association. But the Kings didn’t appear to have the pieces for the just turned 31-year-old (start of season age) so talks broke off. The Kings were willing to likely part with young former rookie of the year OF/1B Pat Petty and some other prospects, but they were not able to put together enough for the Sailors to make the deal. The Sailors were under the impression that the '49 season was just a bump in the road and that they would be back in the thick of things, which of course that didn’t happen.

If the Kings have been able to make the deal happen, would we now be in a World Series here in Brooklyn? Hard to say but Duster and his consistent pitching would have fit into a playoff contender a lot better than Byler’s very sub-par 6-6 5.49 ERA in 17 starts. The young pitchers that are in the Brooklyn system seem to be at least another year if not two away. Do the Kings continue to bank on Blyer finding his control and being able to harness the talent that many pegged him with when he was brought over in the trade from the Chiefs in the summer of 46? My guess is Brooklyn will be again looking for that established veteran pitcher and while some say pitching is not scarce in the FABL, there sure doesn’t seem to be many who want to deal it for eligible prospects.

ROY TO DEFEND WELTER CROWN NEXT MONTH

World Welterweight champion Dale Roy will return to the ring Friday November 24 to make his first title defense since upsetting Mark Westlake to win the belt in June. The 33-year-old Binghamton, NY native will defend his title against Ira Mitchell in what will be Roy's first fight in the boxing mecca that is the Bigsby Garden in more than a year and a half.

Roy, who turned pro in 1936, is 37-7-1 with 22 stoppages as a pro and pulled off a mild upset in defeating Westlake in Detroit in June to claim the crown. It marked the second time in his career that Westlake had held the title only to fall in his first defense. Roy has only lost twice since 1943, when he fell to Westlake. Since then, he has gone 22-2-1 with the losses coming to Artie Neal and Mac Erickson.

Mitchell, a Chicago born fighter who will turn 31 next week, is a mild surprise to be getting his second shot at the title -he lost to Harold Stephens in 1948- and is only facing Roy because he scored an upset knockout of Danny Julian at Bigsby Garden early last month. Julian, the British star who had been unbeaten entering the bout including wins in his first two fights on American soil, was set to face Roy but plans changed quickly when Mitchell knocked out the Englishman in a dominating performance on September 2.

UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS

• Oct 18 - San Francisco, CA- Heavyweight contenders Cannon Cooper (31-6-1) and Tommy Cline (17-3) meet
• Oct 19- Denny Arena, Boston- Boston heavyweight Roy Crawford (32-6) faces Canadian Phil Easton (30-6-2)
• Oct 22 - Lewiston, ME.- Heavyweight Bill Sloan (19-3) meets Harvey Winter (22-6-1)
• Oct 26- Cincinnati, OH- Unbeaten heavyweight contender Joey Tierney (20-0) faces Mike McFarland (21-11-2)
• Oct 27- San Francisco, CA- middleweight contender Millard Shelton (29-5) faces Dan Atkin (28-11-2)
• Oct 28- Thompson Palladium, Detroit - welterweight veteran George Gibbs (27-6) meets William Stevens (10-3-1)
• Oct 31- Atlanta, GA.- former welterweight champion Mac Erickson (22-2) faces Brian Pierce (17-3)
• Oct 31- St.Paul, MN - middleweight contender Davis Owens (23-1) meets Henry Alder (36-24-5)
• Oct 31 - Lakeside Auditorium, Chicago: Middleweight contender Bill Boggs (21-3-1) faces Jack Rainey (29-10-1)
• Nov 24- Bigsby Garden, New York: World Welterweight Champion Dale Roy (37-7-1) defends his title against Ira Mitchell (26-5)
• Dec 9 - Lake Erie Arena, Cleveland: World Heavyweight Champion Hector Sawyer 64-3-1 defends his title against Brad Harris (19-0-1)

• The position of the top aide to the United Nations is thrust into uncertainty after the Soviet Union casted a veto to kill a UN Security Council recommendation that Trygve Lie serve as Secretary General of the organization for another five years. The Norwegian's current term expires in February.
• President Truman left California to fly across the Pacific en route to his rendezvous with Gen. Douglas MacArthur.
• In Korea, US troops in a twelve-mile advance, struck deep behind the Communist front on the 38th Parallel, cutting the main escape route for enemy forces dug in deeply south of Kumchon. On the east coast, a large United Nations naval task force struck far to the north, pouring shells on Chongjin, an important industrial and railroad center just below the forty-second parallel.
• The director of the Selective Service is "seriously considering" asking Congress to lower the draft age from 19 to 18.
• Nearly half the voters in Berlin's Soviet sector have voiced opposition to Sunday's single-list election.
  
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FABL IS NOW ACCEPTING RESUMES

We are just on a brief break as our commissioner moves the baseball section of the Figment Universe across to OOTP25. There are a couple of openings for GMs in the baseball portion of this multi-sport online league and just about to begin the off-season. That, along with the switch to v25, makes this is a perfect time to join if you are interested as you can prepare for the January draft while also watching some of your young talent show its stuff in the Cuban Winter League.

If interested in taking a team, you can either message me or send a message directly to our commissioner

We are a long running league that has just completed the 1950 season and been active as an online league since human GMs took over in 1925 after a lengthy pre-play to build up history.

Great group of active GMs and (while I may be biased) the best weekly sports newspaper seen in any online league.

October 15, 1950
 

As we wait for the transition to OOTP 25 to be completed (Expectations are the universe will be ready to advance tomorrow morning) here are a couple of articles that arrived at the TWIFS offices from local newspapers over the past day or two.

OCTOBER 15, 1950

TALES FROM THE LAIR

Brett Sits Down With Fred Barrell - During the World Series Brett had an opportunity to sit down with Manager Fred Barrell before the NAHC season starts in a wide-ranging interview on the many subjects. Here are some excerpts from that conversation.

Mail & Empire: Can you give me a summary of the 1950 season? I know it is early with the season only ending two weeks ago, Foresters just winning the World Series, just give your initial impressions.

Fred Barrell: I can sum it up in one word "Disastrous", we just never got going, being on the losing side of 100 games is never good. The team only had one winning month, April at 7-5, things went downhill fast starting in May.

At beginning of July we thought we might be able to salvage something from the season, that quickly proved to be wrong, so a decision was made to deal some veterans Hal Wood, Chink Stickels for prospects with a view to the future. Those are extremely tough decisions to make for the organization to make, they also affect the fans. It was evident that the Wolves were going nowhere in 1950 so it was time to go with the future rather than the past.

When Harry Finney got hurt a gutsy call was made to callup John Wells who was only 19, he has since turned 20, to man SS. He had just over one year in pro ball at the time with a total of 139 games with 418 plate appearances in the minors in addition to 29 games 105 times to the plate in Cuba over the winter. We all knew he was going to be the SS going forward, the fear was trying to push him too far too fast. It came down to "What have we got lose? Lets at least try an infield of Finney, Wells, DeMott to see if they play together going forward." John did everything we ask of him at the FABL level at 19, it is no secret that he along the rest of the team needs to work on their fielding abilities to improve our league worst, by far, defensive performance in 1950.

The pitching last season was at or near the bottom in almost every category although some of that can be attributed to shoddy defensive play. The only place we exceed my expectations was at the plate, I thought we would have to win a pile games 3-2 or 2-1, we would have pitch, defend our way to victories. That obviously did not happen, we were basically the only team without pennant hopes in September finishing an embarrassing 17 games out of seventh place. Led by, surprisingly, Kirby Copeland who I believe should receive solid support for Rookie of the Year in a tough field, we were not as bad as I feared offensively during the season. That being said we scored the least runs in the CA 602. 28 fewer than the Cougars who allowed 163 less runs than the Wolves.


Mail & Empire: What is your message to the fans?

Fred Barrell: My main message would be to not lose faith in the team, I believe we started to turn the corner in September. From the top down the organization is committed to fielding an exciting team for the fans. Owner Bernie Millard is in support with his staff, we have a longer-term plan. Most fans, media are surprised that he did not lose his temper start dismissing people after our performance. Believe me he has lost none of his fire, passion for the team. He is demanding, results driven owner he has told everyone that there must be improvement in 1951 or changes will be made. he will not suffer through another 100-loss season.

I believe we have the making of a contender with the young guys who gained invaluable experience this year. The owner is trying to help our development of Wells by seeking special dispensation for him to play in Cuba in December as he just turned 20. We a currently meeting about our system in order to provide help, when needed, to the big club. Expect the team to active in acquiring players over the winter. We still have not heard whether or not some our older players in particular McCormick, Hancock will return next season, That could change our plans although we have tentative plans for retirements. When we gather for spring training the focus will be on run prevention from both mound and in the field. I will see you at hockey games over the winter. Hopefully John we provide Toronto fans a winning hockey team over the winter.

AWARDS TIME

Congratulations to our neighbors in northern Ohio for doing something no one in the Federal Association could do this year: stop the Gothams. Adam Czerwinski and the Cleveland Foresters officially brought the 1950 baseball campaign to a close with a thrilling 7-game World Championship Series victory over the mighty New York Gothams.

All that is left before the book is closed on yet another disappointing season for the local nine is to hand out the yearly awards. Writers from around the league, including yours truly, each cast a vote for those that they might feel are deserving candidates and I thought I would share with you, dear reader, the contents of my Federal Association ballot.

Let's start with the babe in the woods, the Kellogg Award, which only celebrates its fifth anniversary this season. Three of the previous four winners have been Dynamos with Jack Miller claiming the trophy a year ago, following in the footsteps of Wally Hunter and Edwin Hackberry.

The Dynamos have a viable candidate again this season in 1949 second round draft choice Bill Morrison. The 23-year-old outfielder hit .310 with 8 homers and 47 rbi's in 124 games. He started the season on the bench but by June was an everyday players, slashing .310/.373/.430 on the year.

Morrison has competition from the Keystones outfielder Don Berry, also a 1949 draft pick, who slashed .269/.336/.368 with 9 homers in 113 games with Philadelphia and also Ed Bloom of the Chicago Chiefs. A third baseman, who was a first round selection in 1949, Bloom suited up for 99 games and slashed .298/.409/.415 for Chicago. There is also Rudy Minton of the Keystones, but the 25 year old only started 63 games so despite his .336 batting average and 17 homers, in my mind Minton did not play enough to warrant selection. On the mound we have Johnny Duncan, a 25-year-old Chicago Chiefs pitcher who went 9-13 and Washington's Dick Greenhalgh, who posted an 8-5 record. We also have the Dynamos Roy Schaub (7-10) in the running, but he won't make my top three.

Call me a homer but I am giving Morrison the edge and, in my mind, it should be 4 Kellogg Awards for the Dynamos in five years.

The Allen Award ballot might be one of the easiest I have ever had to fill out. While, ardent Detroit supporters can argue all they want about Carl Potter's 2.87 era, FABL best 177 strikeouts and 304.2 innings pitched -surpassing WCS hero Czerwinski by a mere one-third of an inning- run support let the Dynamos ace down this year and his 13-20 record, while very misleading of his true value, is simply not good enough to win a second straight Allen Award.

The choice, as mentioned, is easy. Gothams ace Ed Bowman, who finished second behind Potter a year ago, will lay claim to his second career Allen Award after the 30-year-old led the Federal Asssociation with a 23-7 record and a 2.82 era. Numbers, by the way that are nearly identical to his rookie season of 1942 when he won his first Allen. Talk about Lefty Allen, Jim Whitely or even our beloved Potter all you want, but the obvious choice is Bowman.

That leaves the Whitney Award, presented annually to the top hitter in FABL. It might be the toughest decision I have had to make on a ballot in quite some time.
Here are the candidates in my mind:

• C Pete Casstevens Chicago Chiefs - .264/.337/.523 38HR, 113 RBI
• C George Cleaves NY Gothams - .310/.429/513 21 HR, 77 RBI
• 1B Dick Estes, Detroit Dynamos - .316/.400/.512 29 HR, 105 RBI
• CF Edwin Hackberry, Detroit Dynamos - .295/.405/.492 23 HR, 77 RBI
• 1B Tim Hopkins Chicago Chiefs - .264/.369/.535 42 HR, 123 RBI
• 1B Red Johnson NY Gothams - .259/.366/.497 39 HR, 109 RBI
• 3B Hank Koblenz Philadelphia Keystones - .269/.350/,606 48 HR, 123 RBI
• LF Walt Messer NY Gothams - .290/.360/.521 38 HR, 122 RBI
• RF Al Tucker, St Louis Pioneers - .336/.396/.415 5 HR, 72 RBI

I would love to vote for Hackberry, as anyone who follows the Dynamos regularly knows he is the heart and soul of the club and Dick Estes also deserves inclusion on my ballot -which is allowed 10 names- for a breakout season at age 26. It really is a tough call as compelling arguments can be made for a number of players but my ballot will be headed by Hank Koblenz. The Keystones slugger led the Fed in homers and extra-base hits and tied for the RBI lead so he gets top spot. As I write this I am still undecided what order to put Red Johnson, Hopkins, Cleaves, Casstevens, Hackberry, Messer and Estes but they will hold down spots two thru eight on my ballot.

Interesting to note that out of the top 8 names that will appear on my ballot, half of them were Detroit Dynamos draft picks in Red Johnson, Hank Koblenz along with Hackberry and Estes. What a team that could have been had we hung on to Red and Hank.

MAD PROFESSER HAD A LONG WAIT IN THE '46 DRAFT

Adrian Czerwinski may well win his second straight Allen Award in just his third big league season. Quite an accomplishment when you consider that the 25-year-old was not a first-round pick. 25 other players were drafted, including seven pitchers before the Foresters called the name of the Whitney College star. He was a second team All-American selection (behind John Stallings) as a sophomore in 1945 when Czerwinski went 12-3, 2.90 but did not make the grade in his draft year as a junior, as he struggled to a 6-5, 3.59 season for the Engineers that year.

It was about the only grade he did not make as the cerebral Czerwinski, son of a Polish immigrant physicist whose work contributed to the development of the Atom Bomb that ended WWII, is nicknamed 'The Mad Professor' and clearly inherited his father's intelligence.

It would be easy to justify why Czerwinski lasted until the second round if the draft was held after his rough junior season but it, of course, takes place in January before the collegiate and high school campaigns begin so The Professor was coming off a terrific sophomore campaign. The talk instead was all about John Stallings, who would go first overall after a trade between the Chicago Chiefs and Detroit, along with high school outfielder Sherry Doyal, who went fifth to St Louis and is now a World Championship Series winner as a teammate of Czerwinski in Cleveland. Clearly both Stallings and Doyal panned out but so far at least, aside from Stallings, no pitcher can compare to The Professor.

Czerwinski is 49-34 with a 3.64 era through two and a half big league seasons. He won 26 games in 1949 and was a clear choice for the Allen Award. This year he struggled early but thanks to a dominant stretch to end the season when he won his last 10 starts, including 3 in the WCS, Stallings finished the regular season with a 19-13 record.

So, who were the pitchers selected ahead of him in the '46 draft and how have they progressed?

JOHN STALLINGS - 1st overall, Chicago Chiefs: Stallings is 62-43 after going straight from the campus at Piedmont University to Whitney Park and is clearly worthy of being the first overall selection. A two-time first team All-American and winner of the 1946 Frank Christian Trophy as the top player in collegiate baseball, at this stage both Stallings and Czerwinski look like they are in the early stages of Hall of Fame careers.

GEORGE REYNOLDS- 2nd overall, Philadelphia Sailors: The jury is still out on the 22-year-old who made his big league debut in September. OSA feels Reynolds, who was a High School All-American as a junior, could be a middle of the rotation arm once he fully matures. In April he reached #15 on the OSA prospect pipeline.

LARRY BEEBE- 4th overall, Cleveland Foresters: A teammate of Czerwinski, the 22-year-old was a high school All-American as a senior and was promoted to Cleveland midway through last season. He went 7-9, 3.60 in 18 starts and saw a little action in the WCS. OSA suggests Beebe has the talent to be a number one starter, which adds to the incredible collection of young talent in Cleveland. He was #11 on the OSA prospect pipeline in April.

CYRUS GOODMAN- 8th overall, Toronto Wolves: A pick the Wolves might want a redo on as Goodman is still in Class B at age 22 and has never cracked the OSA top 100 prospects - he currently sits at #431. In its draft preview, Goodman did not crack the top ten high school pitchers in the OSA list. He is still young so there is time but at this point OSA sees Goodman's ceiling as that of an emergency call-up or spot starter.

BOB ALLEN- 10th overall, Chicago Cougars: The run on pitchers continued as the Cougars take another high school arm in Allen who would go on to be an All-American after a 10-0, 0.36 senior season that also saw him nominated as a finalist for the Adwell Award, which went to a junior pitcher named Les Ledbetter. Ledbetter would win it again the following season before being selected first overall by Toronto in the 1947 draft. As for Allen, he peaked at #2 on the OSA prospect pipeline and currently is 8th after splitting last season between A and AA. With the Cougars pitching depth they have no need to rush him to the majors and OSA feels he is a solid #3 starter, or perhaps a little better.

FRED WASHINGTON- 17th overall, Detroit Dynamos: Boom-Boom Washington was the first pick of the second round and peaked at #30 on the OSA prospect pipeline. OSA feels he is a spot starter or long reliever at best but the 22-year-old showed well between AA and AAA last season, well enough to earn a couple of September starts in the Motor City.

CLINT ROGERS - 23rd overall, Pittsburgh Miners: The 22-year-old Georgia lefthander went three picks ahead of Czerwinski but for some reason has been stalled in A ball by the Miners, have debuted at that level in 1947 but not moved since. OSA sees him as a bullpen piece, citing his limited two-pitch arsenal and he has become an afterthought in the Miners organization with OSA slotting 21 Pittsburgh pitching prospects ahead of Rogers, who is #497 on the scouting service list.

The verdict is still out on many of them but it is clear that aside from the Chicago Chiefs, each of the clubs that selected pitchers in the 1946 draft before Czerwinski would make an immediate swap in hindsight. Now perhaps one or more of Reynolds, Beebe, Allen or Washington go to have a stellar career but Czerwinski certainly has a huge head start -although being drafted out of college he is 3 years older- on the quartet.

October 16, 1950
 

OCTOBER 16, 1950

MANAGER JOE WARD RETIRES AS CHIEFS SHAKE-UP COACHING STAFF

After 21 FABL seasons, including the past 14 at the helm of the Chicago Chiefs, and 3 World Championship Series titles, Joe Ward has decided to step down as the 61-year-old announced his resignation. All told, Ward spent 41 seasons in the big leagues including 20 years as a Hall of Fame player. He leaves the game sixth all-time among managers with 1,520 career victories and only Hall of Famers Ossie Julious and George Theobald along with Walter Love and George Merritt managed more FABL games than the 3,105 that Ward was in the dugout for between 1928-1950.

Ward's entire big league career was spent in Montreal and Chicago. He played all but 36 of his 2,534 career games with the Saints during a career that began in 1908 at the age of 19 and ended following the 1927 season. The lone exception was a brief stint with the Chicago Cougars in 1925 before returning to Quebec to finish out his playing career while doubling as the Saints bench coach. His 3,127 career hits earned him a spot in the Boone County baseball museum as part of the 1939 Hall of Fame class.

He took over in the Montreal dugout as manager in 1928 and would hold that role for a little over six seasons before he was relieved of his duties early in the 1934 campaign. Ward quickly caught on with Hollywood of the Great Western League and managed that club for the remainder of the 1934 campaign before the other Chicago team -the Chiefs- came calling. Ward was the Chiefs bench coach in 1936 when they won the World Championship Series under Jim Gentry. Gentry would retire that off-season and Ward stepped into the managerial seat in 1937 and had been there ever since. He guided the Chiefs to two more World Championship Series titles in 1938 and again 1949 before calling it quits last week.

Ward's departure bring on a wholesale change for the Chiefs who opted to start fresh after falling to sixth place and 24 games back of the pennant winning New York Gothams a year after winning it all. Only the Chiefs general manager remains, as the Chiefs have decided to start fresh from the scouting director, thru the entire coaching staff and even opting to search for a new club trainer.

• Earl Howe of the Federal Association champion New York Gothams remains at the top of the list as OSA released its post-season update of the top prospects in the game. The 18-year-old centerfielder, selected first overall out of a Bronx high school last January, hit .260 with 9 homers in 70 games at Class A following the conclusion of his senior year of high school. Boston and Detroit led the way as each placed two players on the top ten list.
  
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• The St. Louis Pioneers quietly announced they have signed a new General Manager. The hope is the newcomer will bring stability to an organization that has been a yo-yo in the Federal Association standings the past half decade. The Pioneers were dead last for the third in the past seven years this past season but also won a pair of World Championship Series during that span.
• No major surprises among the retirement announcements as most of the big names had been released at some point in the past year. Those included pitcher Dixie Lee, outfielders Pete Day, Hal Sharp and Pinky Pierce. Others to retire where pitchers Harry Parker, who won 128 games for the Cougars, and Butch Smith, winner of an Allan Award and two WCS titles with the Cincinnati Cannons and owner of a 138-116 record. Smith finished out his career with the Philadelphia Sailors after more than a decade with the Cannons organization. Outfielder Chink Stickels, who was dealt from Toronto to Montreal at the deadline and played in 1,884 FABL games with 4 Continental Association clubs, also announced his retirement.

HOT START FOR DEFENDING CHAMPS AS ICE SEASON COMMENCES

The Montreal Valiants picked up right where they left off as the defending Challenge Cup champions opened the current campaign with 2 victories and a draw in their first week of action. The league's 42nd season commenced with hot starts by both the Vals and the team they defeated in the finals to win their first Cup in 22 years as the New York Shamrocks also began their season with a pair of wins. At the other end of the spectrum are the two teams that were eliminated in the semi-finals as both the Toronto Dukes and Chicago Packers began with back to back losses.

According to OSA, the league scouting service, it will be the Boston Bees holding the silver chalice when the season comes to an end in the spring. The Bees finished dead last a year ago after a season full of struggles and injuries but Boston was the team to beat for most of the last decade. OSA suggests the Bees are the favourites but will need a full season out of star pivot Wilbur Chandler, but that might be too much to ask as the 32-year-old three time McDaniels Trophy winner has had a tough time staying healthy in recent years including last season where he missed 15 games. The scouting service lists the Chicago Packers and Toronto Dukes as the other contenders for the title. The Dukes won back to back Cups in the spring of 1948 and 1949 before being ousted by Montreal in the semi-finals a year ago.

Other suggestions from the OSA call for the scoring race to be a battle between Tommy Burns of the Packers, Toronto's Quinton Pollack and the Bees Chandler. Burns owns a pair of scoring titles while Pollack led the loop two years ago. Last season the top scorer was Pollack's Toronto linemate Les Carlson.

OSA calls for veteran Chicago blueliner Bert McColley along with a pair of Boston Bees in Micky Bedard and Conn Cundiff to battle for first team All-Star berths on defense while naming Detroit's Millard Touhey, Boston's Oscar James and Gordie Broadway of Toronto the top netminders.

NAHC RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 11

Toronto 4 at New York 5: Quinton Pollack had a hat trick for the Dukes in the season opener but it wasn't enough as the hometown Shamrocks prevailed 5-4 thanks to four point night's from New York linemates Orval Cabbell (1G-3A) and Simon Savard (26-2A).

THURSDAY OCTOBER 12

Montreal 3 at Boston 3: Brett Lanceleve's second goal of the game, with less than 5 minutes remaining in the third period, allowed the Valiants to leave Denny Arena with a point. Lanceleve scored on a power play just over a minute into the game to open the scoring and closed it with his even strength tally in a game that saw Boston outshot the visitors 33-21.

SATURDAY OCTOBER 14

Detroit 1 at Boston 2: John Bentley scored just 4 times last season but the 24-year-old Boston winger had two goals in the second period of this game after notching one in the season opener for the Bees as well. Those two goals erased Tyson Beddoes first period marker and gave the Bees the win over Detroit.

Montreal 5 at Chicago 1: Clarence Skinner scored twice while Paulie Mosca and Ian Doyle each had a goal and a helper to lead the Valiants past the Chicago Packers 5-1.

SUNDAY OCTOBER 15

Boston 2 at Detroit 5: Moe Treadwell scored once and added two assists to lead the Motors past Boston 5-2 and earn a split of their weekend home and home series. The news was not all good for Treadwell who broke a bone in his foot and left the game late in the second period. He is expected to miss the next month or two.

Toronto 1 at Montreal 3: After hoisting the Challenge Cup banner to the Montreal Arena rafters the Valiants, led by some fine goaltending from Tom Brockers, downed visiting Toronto 3-1. Brockers made 38 saves as Clarence Skinner, Rey Sclisizzi and Arden Doherty were the Montreal marksmen. Quinton Pollack, with his 4th of the season, replied for Jack Barrell's Dukes.

Chicago 3 at New York 4: Tommy Burns had a goal and two assists for the Packers but it was in a losing effort as his club fell 4-3 to the Shamrocks at Bigsby Gardens. A pair of first period goals from Jocko Gregg helped the hosts build 3-1 first period lead and the hold on for the victory.

DUKES DROP TWO ON ROAD TO OPEN SEASON

The Toronto Dukes begin their 1950-51 campaign with five straight games away from Dominion Gardens due to delays in replacing the ice-making compressor. The Dukes dropped a 5-4 decision on Opening Night to the Shamrocks then lose 3-1 to the reigning champions Montreal Valiants on Sunday.

At Bigsby Gardens on Wednesday the Dukes got off to a quick start before 12,094 Shamrock supporters when Quinton Pollack scored a half minute into the game from Rob Painchaud and Luke Brisebois on a seemingly harmless shot from the left circle that fooled Etienne Tremblay. The home team responded quickly scoring two minutes later when Jerry Finch tipped in a shot from Orval Cabell that Gordie Broadway let slip through his pads then took a 2-1 lead at 6:42 when Simon Savard was left alone to tip home the puck on passes from Finch and Cabell. It was a wild opening 10 minutes punctuated by a fight between Joe Martin and Clyde Lumsen just before Savard's goal. The Shamrocks held most of the play in the first out shooting the Dukes 14-7 holding on to the one goal lead.

Toronto turned the tables in the second testing Tremblay 17 times. Pollack knotted the score at 2 from Trevor Parker before Savard's second of the night restored New York's lead on one of only 8 shots on Broadway faced in a chippy second period. The Dukes downfall came with two quick goals in the third. Samuel Coates scored at 7:05 from the slot on passes from Cabell and Savard then 55 seconds later Cabell made it 5-2 on the power play with Alex Lavalliere off for running Tremblay in his crease, from Savard, Jocko Gregg.

Pollack completed his hattrick deflecting home a Les Carlson shot with a man advantage at 13:43. That goal seemed to give Toronto a boost, they narrowed the margin to one goal when Trevor Parker scored on a goal mouth scramble from Lumsen, Painchaud at 15:51. That was as close as they would get as the Shamrocks hung on for a 5-4 victory.

Into Montreal Sunday night to face the team that knocked them out in the semis this past spring. Arlen Doherty opened the scoring less than 4 minutes in to the game after Wayne Augustin's shot rebounded onto his stick for an easy tap in to the open cage. Pollack continued his hot start netting his fourth of the young season on a 5 on 3 power play at 17:29 with helpers from veteran Bobby Sauer and Painchaud.

The middle frame was a fast paced affair with no scoring even though there was a total of 29 shots on goal. Tom Brockers turned away 18 in the Vals cage while Broadway was equal to all 11 he faced from Montreal shooters. The teams played a tighter checking game in the third. Clarence Skinner's 3rd of the season proved to be the eventual game winner from Shel Herron and Adam Sanford when he banked one in off a J.C. Martel on what appeared to be a pass attempt from below the goal line at 8:33. Rey Sclisizzi's 2nd of the year put icing on the cake allowing the Vals to remain undefeated thus far at 2-0-1 with less than 2 minutes remaining in the game.

Coach Barrell: "Happier with the game in Montreal than I was with the effort in NYC. We were far too sloppy with puck against the Shamrocks, turned it over in our zone that led to scoring chances for them. We tightened that up against the Vals, if that shot hadn't bounced off Martel I think we would have found a way to win the game. I hope they get the ice into our home rink soon, it is a bit of a nightmare for the players and staff to bounce around rinks for practice time. We have three more on the road going into Boston, Chicago and Detroit this week. I have given the team a goal of a minimum of 4 points in these three games."

AROUND THE LEAGUE

• Finn LeBec in his column in the Boston Globe: The Bees start 1-1-1 with a tie against Montreal and a split in a home-and-home with Detroit. The Season Preview has Boston as the favorites, which means at least one of the following three things: health is assumed, there is a lot of parity in this league, or there is a lack of recency bias. I would love it to be true, but I don't see it, mainly because of health.
• Speaking of injuries, losing Moe Treadwell after he had three points in a game and a half before breaking his foot, is a tough blow to the Detroit Motors. The Motors have solid goaltending but may struggle to put the puck in the net unless some of their young players take a big step forward this season.
• The Toronto Dukes signed 20-year-old winger Kenny Woolley to a contract. The Winnipeg native was New York's second round choice in the draft but the Shamrocks released him during training camp. He had 46 goals and 100 points for St Thomas of the Canadian Junior League last season.

Still nicely decorated from its spell of hosting the World Championship Series, New York's Gotham Stadium played host to another fall classic as the number one ranked Rome State Centurions ran their unbeaten streak to twenty-three games with a hard fought 9-6 victory over the #2 ranked Detroit City College Knights in what may go down as one of the most hotly contested football games of the season. It marked the fourth straight victory for the Centurions over DCC going back to 1945.

The capacity crowd at Gothams Stadium, among whom was Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, could scarcely believe their eyes for most of the first half of this bruising, violently waged battle, so overwhelming was the superiority of Detroit City College. Led magnificently by Mel Gorski, who had been laid low and carried off the field on the first scrimmage of last year's game with Rome State at Detroit's Thompson Field, the Knights in red and black smothered the renowned Rome State backs, knocked the ball loose from their hands with the fierceness of their tackling and threatened over and over to add to the 3-points they scored midway through the first quarter. In short, DCC did everything but put the ball in the endzone and it came back to haunt them in the second half when the Centurions, after the Knights had added a second field goal, pulled even late in the third period on a 17-yard touchdown reception by Johnny Bonwell. The extra point failed but the Rome State kicking game atoned with a field goal midway through the final frame and then held on for the 9-6 victory.

The loss drops the Knights from second to fourth in the polls as a pair of Deep South Conference schools in Central Kentucky and Cumberland leapfrogged the Detroit City College eleven. The Tigers, led brilliantly once more by senior quarterback Pete Capizzi, improved to 5-0 with 55-3 drubbing of Queen City while the Explorers blanked in-state rival Western Tennessee 41-0.

Elsewhere

• A week after a surprising tie with St. Blane, Whitney College came back down to earth with a 17-3 loss to Miami State.
• The Fighting Saints endured their second straight tie as this time Bayou State, a 13-point underdog, fought St. Blane to a 13-13 stalemate.
• Sadler sank Annapolis Maritime 44-6, getting revenge for a tough last-minute loss at the hands of the Navigators a year ago.
• Brunswick is 3-0 after the Knights had an easy time with Academia Alliance rival Dickson, dropping the Maroons by a 31-13 score.
• Defending national champion Oklahoma City State got back on track after being outscored by Darnell State a week ago. The Wranglers downed Travis College 27-14 behind the running of bruising fullback Ned Hanshaw.
• Indiana A&M may be the surprise team to watch in the Great Lakes Alliance after the Reapers ran their section record to 2-0 with a 16-14 upset victory over Central Ohio.
• Charlie Barrell and the Noble Jones College Colonels continue to struggle, dropping to 0-3-1 on the campaign with a 19-6 loss at home to Northern Mississippi.
• In the West Northern California, Rainier College and Idaho A&M all secured section wins while CC Los Angeles ran its record to 3-1 with a 14-0 shutout win at home over Lincoln College

SINCLAIR LEADS PALADINS PAST NEW YORK 24-3

The Pittsburgh Paladins went just 5-7 a year ago, but just 5 weeks into the 1950 campaign have equaled that victory total as the club, at 5-0, is the only American Football Association club still sporting a perfect record. The latest win for the surprising Paladins was a convincing 24-3 victory on the road in New York over the Stars.

Dusty Sinclair, who was let go by the Los Angeles Tigers, continues his impressive aerial display as the Paladins passer threw for 259 yards and a pair of second quarter touchdowns in the victory. The Stars held a solid advantage on the ground, picking up 154 yards rushing led by 52 from Dan Cole and outgaining the Pittsburgh eleven by nearly 100 yards on the afternoon but it was in the air where the Paladins did all of their damage. Sinclair's favourite target was Jake Bell, who had 6 catches for 92 yards and he found Ike Richards and Wally Dotson for scoring catches in a span of just over a minute late in the second period.

Meanwhile Dick Metcalf completed just 4 of 20 pass attempts for 31 yards and when you factor in the five times the New York quarterback was sacked, the Stars ended up with negative yardage through their passing game. Next up for the 5-0 Paladins will be a date at Fitzpatrick Park with the 1-3 Philadelphia Frigates. The Stars also see their record dip to 1-3.

The St. Louis Ramblers have yet to lose but their 4 game winning streak to start the season came to an end when the Ramblers battled the Chicago Wildcats to a 13-13 draw at Cougars Park. The two-time defending league champion Wildcats had two long field goal attempts in the final minute but Fred Wilhelm missed them both to leave Chicago with a 1-3-1 record.

An aerial battle in Cleveland saw the hometown Finches come out on top with a 45-30 victory over the Washington Wasps. The Finches, who are a half game back of St. Louis for the American Conference lead at 4-1, scored 28 unanswered points to rally from a 30-17 deficit midway through the third period. Dane Sutherland threw for 270 yards and 2 touchdowns while backs Tommy Thompson, Kyle Landry and Mark Ravellette combined for 4 rushing scores and 179 yards on the ground for the Finches to nullify a 311 yard passing day by Wasps quarterback Tommy Norwood.

Pat Chappell was known for his late magic in the Continental Football Conference and the Kansas City Cowboys quarterback engineered his first dramatic finish in the AFA as Chappell found Bill Tammaro in the end zone with 57 seconds left on the clock to lift the Cowboys to a 28-21 victory over the Philadelphia Frigates. It was one of two touchdown tosses for the former St. Magnus 3-sport star but the big story at Packer Park was Mason Matthews. The Cowboys fullback had a dominant afternoon, rushing for 136 yards on 14 carries.

In Detroit the struggling Maroons continued to do just that, being blasted 49-7 by the visiting Los Angeles Tigers as Mark Monday, the former CFC star with Buffalo, threw for 5 touchdowns and 264 yards in the rout. The 1-4 Maroons have been outscored 151-34 under new head coach Tom Bowens, putting plenty of pressure on Maroons owner Rollie Barrell, who hired Bowens, who happens to be Barrell's brother-in-law, to replace legendary coach Frank Yurik after back to back 2-10 seasons.

The early game last weekend was in New Orleans on Thursday evening and was a match of former CFC teams with the San Francisco Wings outscoring the hometown Crescents 34-14 behind the golden arm of Sam Metcalf, who threw for 238 yards and two scores.

CAGE FRIEDLIES TIP OFF THIS WEEK

Preseason games in preparation for what will be the fifth campaign of the Federal Basketball League get underway this week before the action begins for real on Halloween evening. The ever changing league has had a sizeable reduction in teams, dropping from 17 entries a year ago to just 11 this time around. Among the casualties, most gone due to financial difficulties, are the Brooklyn Red Caps - a club that won the league title just two years ago.

Red Caps owner Daniel Prescott did have challenges and a long battle with the city of Brooklyn over a replacement for an outdated Flatbush Gardens, and his team -despite tremendous on the court success- did have its troubles trying to fill the dilapidated arena but the owner himself has already admitted that his decision to pull the Red Caps out of the league had more to do with his conflict with FBL founder Rollie Barrell, owner of the Detroit Mustangs franchise and also the American Football Association's Detroit Maroons, than financial problems. Prescott, and rightly so, blamed Barrell and several other club owners for the destruction of his American Basketball Association three years ago and said he had lost all desire to compete in a league with those teams.

The Red Caps will survive, but a returning to the sport's roots and will play as a touring club, barnstorming the nation and staging a series of exhibitions. Prescott also purchased the contracts of nearly all the key players from the five other FBL clubs that folded and will employ them in similar endeavors this season.

As a result that leaves the 11 Federal loop survivors rosters virtually unchanged from a year ago. That is likely good news for the Washington Statesmen, long-time second banana to Prescott's Red Caps, first in the ABA and more recently in the FBL's East Division. The Statesmen did prevail as league champions last spring, but only after the New York Knights upset the Red Caps in the opening round of the playoff thereby removing the Statesmen's long-time nemesis. Washington would be an injury-riddled Toronto Falcons in a thrilling title series that went the full seven games.

The Washington quintet, led by playoff MVP Ivan Sisco, have to be considered the team to beat in the East while the Falcons, finally healthy again, will face stiff competition in the West Division. That will begin with the Detroit Mustangs, league finalists two years ago and West Division regular season champs last season before being upset by Toronto in a semi-final series that went the full seven games. The Mustangs, led by the duo of league MVP Ward Messer and local product Jack Kurtz, who starred at Detroit City College before joining Barrell's bunch when the FBL debut, are a team to fear but both Toronto and Detroit may be shaking at the prospects of facing the Chicago Wildcats.

The Wildcats won the inaugural FBL title in the spring of 1947 but have had their struggles since then including posting the worst record of the eleven returning clubs a season ago. That long-season, which saw the Panthers struggle to a 24-43 record, did pay dividends in the form of the first overall draft pick. It was no secret that selection would be Luther Gordon, who rewrote a number of AIAA scoring records during his two years at Liberty College, and is perhaps the most highly anticipated newcomer in FBL history. The prospects of Gordon and high-scoring veteran Richard Campbell in the same lineup is likely causing some sleepless nights for coaches of West Division rivals and when you add 5th year guard Joe Hampton to the mix the Panthers roster may be downright scary. The Luther Gordon era will begin in Chicago on Wednesday when the Panthers host the Boston Centurions in their preseason opener, a day after Toronto visits Detroit in one of five contests on the docket to start the preseason slate.

FBN LIKES CENTURIONS AND ROCKETS FOR UPCOMING CAGE CAMPAIGN

Plenty of unexpected choices as Fast Break News released its predictions for the upcoming Federal Basketball Association. While TWIFS likes the Washington Statesmen to lead the way in the Eastern Division, the staff at FBN feel the Boston Centurions will be the team to beat and the Statesmen will go from league champions to the bottom of the division. It is no less surprising that the call from the basketball newspaper in the Western Division is the Rochester Rockets. With the league dropping from 17 to 11 clubs the Rockets have been shifted from the Eastern Division, where they finished 7th among the nine teams and posted a 32-36 record. Like in the East, the FBN is picking the club that represented the West in the finals just six months ago -the Toronto Falcons- to finish last. We at TWIFS are feeling it will be a battle between Detroit, Toronto and Chicago for top spot in the Western Division this season.

Here are the Fast Break News predictions for the final standings as well as its projected All-League and All-Rookie teams for the 1950-51 campaign.
RECENT KEY RESULTS

• Heavyweight Pete Sanderson, the pride of Scranton, Pa., scored a split decision victory over Emmett Seals in Atlanta Saturday evening. The 33-year-old, who had a title shot against Hector Sawyer in 1945, snapped a two-fight losing streak with the win on points to run his record to 42-11-2.
• In Toronto over the weekend, former World Middleweight champion Adrian Petrie claimed a 5th round TKO win over Jerry Roberts. Petrie is the Montreal born fighter who took the title from the late Edouard Desmarais in a controversial scoring decision before losing the rematch to Desmarais eight months later. Now 27, Petrie owns a 21-3-2 career mark.

UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS

• Oct 18 - San Francisco, CA- Heavyweight contenders Cannon Cooper (31-6-1) and Tommy Cline (17-3) meet
• Oct 19- Denny Arena, Boston- Boston heavyweight Roy Crawford (32-6) faces Canadian Phil Easton (30-6-2)
• Oct 22 - Lewiston, ME.- Heavyweight Bill Sloan (19-3) meets Harvey Winter (22-6-1)
• Oct 26- Cincinnati, OH- Unbeaten heavyweight contender Joey Tierney (20-0) faces Mike McFarland (21-11-2)
• Oct 27- San Francisco, CA- middleweight contender Millard Shelton (29-5) faces Dan Atkin (28-11-2)
• Oct 28- Thompson Palladium, Detroit - welterweight veteran George Gibbs (27-6) meets William Stevens (10-3-1)
• Oct 31- Atlanta, GA.- former welterweight champion Mac Erickson (22-2) faces Brian Pierce (17-3)
• Oct 31- St. Paul, MN - middleweight contender Davis Owens (23-1) meets Henry Alder (36-24-5)
• Oct 31 - Lakeside Auditorium, Chicago: Middleweight contender Bill Boggs (21-3-1) faces Jack Rainey (29-10-1)
• Nov 24- Bigsby Garden, New York: World Welterweight Champion Dale Roy (37-7-1) defends his title against Ira Mitchell (26-5)
• Dec 9 - Lake Erie Arena, Cleveland: World Heavyweight Champion Hector Sawyer 64-3-1 defends his title against Brad Harris (19-0-1)

• 37 bombarding warships, South Korean ground forces and Allied planes hacked away at Red Korean supply lines from Soviet Siberia on the blazing new Northeastern coastal fighting front.
• President Truman winged to Wake Island in the middle of the Pacific for a momentous meeting with Gen. MacArthur to discuss the Red menace in Asia and world peace in general.
• France announced abandonment of the key Bastion of Thatkhe, opening another gap in their weaking defense line along the China-Indo-China frontier. It was third post abandoned by the French within a month and left some 300 miles of the frontier open to Viet Minh guerrillas of Communist Leader Ho Chi Minh.
• The Federal Reserve Board has announced tighter curbs on installment buying, a move that took merchants by surprise. The tighter restrictions call for higher down payment, except in the case of automobiles, and cut the period for completing payments to a uniform 15 months. Down payments for television sets and appliances in general are raised to 25 percent and for household furnishing to 15%
  
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October 16, 1950: part two
 

No calendar advance today as we ensure all of the General Managers in the baseball league are up and running on v25. Easier said than done this year for many, including yours truly who had more issues than I ever remember converting before but seem to finally be all set. With no calendar advance, there is no progression in any of the other sports either, so this update is strictly a FABL award preview as This Week in Figment Sports baseball editor and Chicago Daily News senior columnist Archie Irwin reveals his top choices for each of the six individual FABL awards.

OCTOBER 16, 1950

MY CHOICES FOR FABL AWARDS WINNERS

There are some among us that have issues voting catchers for awards. As you'll see, I'm not one of them. The Fed's leader in OBP, WRC+, wOBA (.432), and WAR, George Cleaves was the best hitter on the best team, outperforming even his star studded teammates in Walt Messer (.290, 38, 122) and Red Johnson (.259, 39, 109). Even at 36 (he turns 37 later this month), "King George The Third" was an absolute force at the plate, but what's most important might be the work he did behind it. He produced a well above average framing score (2.4) and threw out nearly 60% of the runners trying to steal on him (58.5%). If selected as the Whitney, it will be his second selection, but he'll have plenty of competition from Hank Koblenz (.269, 48, 123), Edwin Hackberry (.295, 23, 77, 9), and many more deserving candidates.

I'm not sure if it will be unanimous, but to me, the clear Allen Winner in the Fed is Ed Bowman. Sure, Carl Potter (13-20, 2.87, 177) was great, leading the association in starts (36), innings (304.2), strikeouts, and WHIP (1.15), but Bowman was just on another level. The former 3rd Rounder decorated the leaderboards, winning 23 games for the second time in his career, and leading the association in wins, ERA, HR/9 (0.2), K/BB, FIP-, and WAR. Bowman has been one of the greatest FABL pitchers we've seen, selected to 8-All Star Games in 9 seasons, and he should be adding his second Allen Award to this trophy cabinet. There isn't a more talented pitcher out there, and he has to be one of the favorites for the 1951 seasons, and a big reason the Gothams will once again cause problems for the Fed.

Sorry Bill Morrison (.310, 8, 47), I'm a quality over quantity guy.

Rudy Minton may have only started 63 games and made 314 trips to the plate, but he made each and every one count. The Keystones former 2nd Rounder hit an elite .336/.436/.592 (176 OPS+), somehow managing 57 runs, 17 homers, and 56 RBIs in the pretty much half a full season. His 3.3 WAR was second to just Morrison (3.6), who made over 100 more trips to the plate, and as a natural center fielder in right, was able to produce a ton of dWAR compared to a first basemen. Minton led the duo in doubles, homers, runs, RBIs, walks, OPS+, WRC+, wOBA, and WPA (Morrison was surprisingly negative), but the most impressive difference was how much more advanced of a hitter Minton is. He struck out just 18 times, good for an outstanding 5.7 K%. This laps Morrison's 17% three times, and makes me believe that Minton will have a far more productive 1951 season. It's not his fault slugger Nate Power (.252, 4, 16) started the season as the starter due to his huge power, former prospect pedigree, and strong start to his career, and it will now be Minton who holds a key spot in a deep lineup.

With no real standout candidate for the Whitney, I'm expecting a lot of players with a lot of votes. It took awhile to select this winner, but after narrowing it down to Johnson and champion Sherry Doyal (.312, 27, 111), I went with the Kings superstar for a chance at a repeat. One of the top players in the game, it's hard to believe Johnson is just 26, as he's been to four All-Star games in four seasons, each time leading the CA in WAR. This is the first season he didn't lead in runs, just 92 this time, and along with WAR he led in OBP, OPS (.910), WRC+, and wOBA (.410). The type of player where you really can't find a flaw with his game, Johnson is as good as it gets, and even though Doyal's team finished atop the standings, baseball is a team sport where the top players shine through. Johnson is one of those, and between his pedigree and statistical output, he gets the edge in what should be a tightly contested race.

Call me a home if you must, but in an Allen Race with no Ed Bowman-type standout, I'm going with the Cougar Ace and 1947 Allen Winner Donnie Jones. I'm sure a lot of first place votes will be cast on last year's winner Adrian Czerwinski (19-13, 3.31, 111), who shook off a rough May and dominated the last month plus of the season, but this is a regular season award, and he shouldn't get credit for three complete game wins in the WCS. And when you compare the two, Jones leads in ERA, strikeouts, WHIP, ERA+, and K/BB, and with 30 fewer innings his counting stats are generally comparable if not better. For what it's worth, I'd go Ron Berry (20-11, 3.12, 149) over Czerwinski too, but Jones in my mind has the edge on both. He threw four shutouts and gave the Cougars a chance to win every game, even if the offense didn't give him the support he deserved, but with so many worthy selections here, I don't think he comes away with it.

There were four worthy candidates of a Kellogg Award this year, so while the league can be excited by all the young talent, a few guys are going to feel quite snubbed when the award is announced. Sticking with quality over quantity, I don't see any way to not give the award to Larry McClure, who could help the Foresters sweep the awards with Doyal and Czerwinski. Acquired in the deal that sent Richie Hughes to the Stars, McClure never hit above A ball before the season, and entered the year as the backup behind last year's All-Star starter Mark Smith (.209, 1, 20). He now ends the season as arguably the best catcher in the CA. Appearing in 118 games, McClure hit a robust .337/.394/.550 (142 OPS+) and tallied an impressive 42 doubles, 13 homers, and 83 RBIs. He led CA rookies in homers, RBIs, and WPA (4.33), but his 454 PAs came just shy of qualification for rate stats. His 154 WRC+ would have been third among all qualified players, leading the potential Whitney Winner Ralph Johnson by eight points for the association lead. With everything he did, he outpaces quality options like Ron Berry (20-11, 3.12, 149) and Kirby Copeland (.334, 10, 69), who just picked the wrong year to be rookies.

October 23, 1950
 

OCTOBER 23, 1950

CZERWISKI CAPS DREAM SEASON WITH SECOND ALLEN AWARD

Things could not have gone much better for Cleveland Foresters ace righthander Adrian Czerwinski over the past couple of months. The 25-year-old righthander won his last 10 decisions, including three in the World Championship Series to lead his club to its first FABL title since 1934, and his lights out performance down the stretch was the major reason the Foresters rallied from an 8.5 game deficit in August to win the pennant. Last week, the cerebral righthander who graduated from Whitney College added his the Allen Award to his collection. Presented annually to the top pitcher in each loop and named after Hall of Famer Allan Allen, or Double Al as he was known, Czerwinski now has two Allen Awards to show for his less than three seasons as a big league pitcher.

Czerwinski, who posted a 19-13 record with a 3.31 era and led the Continental loop with 304 innings pitched, received 12 of the 16 first place votes. Brooklyn rookie Ron Berry, who was the only pitcher in the CA to win 20 games this season, finished second and captured two first place votes while the Chicago Cougars Donnie Jones and Joe Hancock of Toronto each garnered a single vote at the top of one of the ballots.

Like Czerwinski, the Federal Association Allen Award recipient was also a two-time winner as Ed Bowman, who went 23-7 with a 2.82 era to lead the New York Gothams to the Federal Association pennant, was the unanimous choice. Bowman topped the Fed in wins and had the lowest era in the loop, to help him claim his first Allen Award since his dominant rookie campaign of 1942.

Another Cleveland Foresters celebrated recently as catcher Larry McClure was named the top rookie in the Continental Association. The 23-year-old Arkansas native was originally a 1945 draft pick of the New York Stars but in 1947 was a part of a major deadline deal that saw the Stars acquire pitcher Richie Hughes from Cleveland. McClure singled against Cincinnati in his big league debut last April and never looked back, hitting .337 with 13 homers and solidifying the catcher position for the Foresters, who seem ready to compete for many more Continental Association pennants. The choice was far from unanimous as McClure topped 11 of the ballots while Brooklyn's Ron Berry, who led the CA with 20 wins, earned the other five and finished second in the Kellogg Award voting, just as he did in the balloting for the Allen Award.

The Kellogg Award is named after Hall of Fame Philadelphia Keystones slugger Rankin Kellogg, whose career was cut short by a debilitating illness but not until after he hit 475 homeruns, a number that still ranks fourth most of all-time. For the first time a member of Kellogg's former team will hoist the award named after him, as Philadelphia third baseman Rudy Minton narrowly outpointed Detroit Dynamos outfielder Bill Morrison to top the voting.

The only possible knock on Minton for those who did not place him at the top of the ballot was the fact he did not make his big league debut until May 30 and played in less than 100 games, starting only 63. The 25-year-old Illinois native who was a second round selection of the Keystones in the 1943 draft, made the most of his limited playing time by batting .336 and fitting right into a power-laden Keystones lineup by bashing 17 homers in his 262 at bats.

The Whitney Award winners, presented to the top hitter in each league, will be announced later this week with the World Championship Series winning Foresters looking for a clean sweep of the CA awards as outfielder Sherry Doyal is one of the favourites for that loop's Whitney Award.

NORWOOD TIES TD RECORD AS WASPS STING BOSTON

Second year quarterback Tommy Norwood is quickly establishing himself as a potential candidate for the American Football Association post-season All-Star Team. Not bad for a player who was expected to spend another season caddying for veteran Wasps star Bob Krohn, but Norwood won the job in training camp and has been outstanding in helping Washington get off to a 4-1 start to the season. At no time was the former Portland State Magpie any better than he was yesterday as Norwood threw for 7 touchdown passes to pace the Wasps to a 49-17 drubbing of Boston.

Each of the Wasps first three possessions culminated in Norwood touchdown throws and the native of Boise, ID. added three more scoring tosses in the second period to put Washington up 42-14 at the break. Norwood would make one more touchdown pass in the second half to give him seven in the game, tying an AFA record set by his current teammate and fellow West Coast Athletic Association alum Krohn a year ago.

Norwood played sparingly as a rookie after an All-American season at Portland Tech which included a trip to the Lone Star Classic, for the Magpies first New Year's Day appearance since playing in the 1920 East-West Classic. Krohn, who played his college ball at CC Los Angeles in the early 1940s, had an all-star season of his own last year, establishing an AFA single-season record by throwing 33 touchdown passes including a 7 score effort against the same Boston Americans club Norwood torched yesterday. This season Krohn, despite his impressive resume that includes leading the Wasps to their only appearance in the AFA championship game three seasons ago, has been restricted to handling the kicking and punting duties as Norwood took center stage.

While the quarterback may have changed, those catching the ball for Washington have remained constant. The big name for the Wasps fine group of ends is Monte Harriman, who rewrote the AFA record book last season by setting single season high-water marks in receptions, yards and touchdown grabs. Harriman is again leading the way in all three of those categories this season, with his total boosted by a big afternoon in Beantown in which last season's AFA Offensive MVP caught 4 touchdown passes and finished with 98 receiving yards on the day.

*** LATE DRIVE LIFTS PALADINS PAST PHILADELPHIA 24-17 ***

The victory improves Washington's record to 4-1 on the year, good enough for second place in the National Conference, but the Wasps are still waiting for the Pittsburgh Paladins to stumble. The Paladins are a perfect 6-0 with another impressive young quarterback at the helm. That would be Dusty Sinclair, who lost his job in Los Angeles when Mark Monday arrived from the Continental Football Conference. The former Travis College star hit the ground running -and throwing- in Pittsburgh and leads the AFA in passing yardage this season with 1,491 through six games.

Two hundred and nineteen of those yards came yesterday before a delighted Fitzpatrick Park crowd the witness the Paladins reached six victories at the midway point of the campaign, ensuring they will finish with at least a .500 record for the first time since 1944. The final 44 yards thrown by Sinclair came in an impressive 69 yard drive in the last two minutes of the ballgame that culminated in a 3-yard touchdown toss to Bobby Leonard with just 33 ticks remaining on the clock. That proved the difference and gave the Paladins a 24-17 victory over their in-state rivals from Philadelphia. It is early, but Sinclair's success has sparked talk in the Steel City of an appearance in the December championship game, something that has not happened since the 1938 Paladins completed a stretch of 4 title game appearances over a five year period.

Elsewhere the St. Louis Ramblers remained unbeaten, running their record to 5-0-1 with a 31-9 victory over New Orleans in a game played last Thursday in the Crescent City. The Ramblers were paced by a big day from quarterback Tom Berryman, who threw for 230 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 72 yards and another score. If that wasn't enough, Berryman was also successful on a 40-yard field goal attempt.

Pat Chappell ran for two touchdowns and Dick Sorensen intercepted 3 Los Angeles passes to pace the Kansas City Cowboys to a 31-14 victory over the Tigers on the road at Bigsby Stadium. The victory, the second in a row for the former CFC powerhouse, improves the Cowboys record to 3-2 as the prepare for another trip to the coast next weekend to race their old Continental Conference rivals from San Francisco.

The Wings fell at home to Detroit by a 42-28 count yesterday. It marked a rare offensive outburst for the Maroons who had entered the game scoring only 34 points in their first five games combined including a 21-3 loss at home to the San Francisco Wings just two weeks earlier. The Maroons were aided by their special teams and defense as Darrell Beaulieu returned a blocked punt 40 yards for the opening score and Rip Tompkins ran an interception back 26 yards for another first period score that staked the visitors to an early 21-0 lead. San Francisco had the better of most offensive categories and dominated time of possession but it was a sloppy, turnover filled game and the Maroons took full advantage of their opportunities.

Cleveland won a defensive struggle at Gothams Stadium, nipping the New York Stars 7-6, despite managing just 166 net yards - less than half the total accumulated by the hosts. Dane Sutherland found Ben Starry for a 5-yard touchdown pass late in the first quarter, six plays after the Stars fumbled on their own 32 yard line, to give the Finches an early lead. In their most impressive drive of the game New York marched 95 yards on 9 plays early in the third quarter with a Archie Rawlings to Scooter Beaumont pass for 67 yards accounting for most of. The drive concluded when Dan Cole plowed through from the 2-yard-line to cut the Finches lead to 7-6 but it stayed that way after George Grasman missed the extra point. Grasman also missed two field goals on the day including a 39 yarder in the closing seconds that, had it been successful, would have given New York the victory.

ROME STATE WINS IN A ROUT, ST BLANE BARELY ESCAPES WITH VICTORY

It could have been worse -much worse- if the Rome State coaching staff were of mind to run it up, but the Centurions opened the gates of mercy Saturday and the unconquered cadets had to be content with a mere 34-0 decision over victory starved and outclassed Dickson. As figured, Rome State, in bagging its fourth straight of 1950 and the twenty-fourth in a row without a loss, had simply too many weapons for the outclassed Academia Alliance eleven. The Rome Staters possessed the speed and depth and proceeded to prove it, scoring early and often in the opening half before slowing down after the break when a parade of backups took their turn on the field.

The other service academy also had an impressive victory on the weekend as Coastal California discovered very quickly reports of a weak Annapolis Maritime football team had been greatly exaggerated. The Navigators, who were felled by Maryland State and Sadler in early season matchups, stopped the bleeding and improved to 2-2 with a dominant 35-7 victory over a disappointing Dolphins eleven that is still searching for its first victory of 1950 after 4 games.

Stumbling St. Blane, forced to settle for two ties in its opening three games, was lucky to escape Terre Haute with a victory as the Fighting Saints needed a late field goal to avert defeat and pull out a 16-14 victory over by all accounts a merely average Great Lakes Alliance club in Indiana A&M.

Detroit City College bounced back from its tough loss to Rome State last week with another tight game, narrowly edging Wisconsin State 7-6. Central Ohio found the offense that was absent in Detroit as the Aviators ran up the score on Minnesota Tech, thumping the Lakers 52-7. Lincoln College, another GLA squad, won a hard fought battle with west coast outfit Rainier College, prevailing by a 20-7 score.

Central Kentucky and Cumberland continue to roll in the south. The Tigers improved to 6-0 with a 30-6 victory over an overmatched Penn Catholic eleven thanks to another big game from Pete Capizzi, a sharpshooter passer who can fake and twist his way out of almost any situation. The Brooklyn native's passes, some of them completed after he seemed hopelessly trapped, were directly responsible for three of the four Central Kentucky touchdowns. Cumberland ran its record to 5-0 with an overwhelming offensive display in Knoxville, blasting Deep South Conference rival Alabama Baptist 41-3. Other Deep South section matches say Georgia Baptist dump Opelika State 24-3 and Bayou State shutout winless Noble Jones College 21-0.

Heading west, Lubbock State ran its record to 5-0 and cracked the top five in the weekly poll with a 29-10 win over College of Waco while last year's top ranked team, the Oklahoma City State Wranglers continue to make up for an early stumble against Darnell State by pounding Eastern Kansas 51-6.

Redwood and Northern California are both 5-0 and firmly entrenched in the top ten as the most impressive outfits on the coast. The 4th ranked Mammoths blanked CC Los Angeles 21-0 while the Miners are now 9th in the polls following their 31-3 dismantling of Lane State.

SIGNS OF LIFE FROM MAROONS OR JUST A LUCKY BREAK

After the Detroit Maroons were held to just 3 points and barely 100 yards of total offense two weeks ago at Thompson Field by the San Francisco Wings, you can be forgiven for expecting another blowout when Barrell eleven took their travelling circus act west for a rematch with the Wings. I mean let's face it. The Maroons are awful. The embarrassment of being shutout twice, held to three points once and outscored 155-34 over the first five games of his coaching career accounted for much of the baggage that accompanied rookie Detroit coach Tom Bowens and his charges on their trek to the coast.

Bowens was an assistant under the final few years of Frank Yurik's long stay in Detroit, and had a front row seat to the debacle that Yurik tried to pass off as an American Football Association offense over the past two seasons - a stretch that saw the once proud Maroons lose twenty of 24 games.

Yurik is gone, taking his so-called outdated coaching style to Cleveland but seemingly has found a fountain of coaching genius youth on the south shore of Lake Erie where he has the Finches off to a 5-1 start. That certainly lends credence to the thought by many that it was the Maroons personnel, and not the old school run first, second and third mentality of Yurik that doomed the team the past few seasons. The way things were going this season, about the only thing Bowens was probably feeling good about was likely the fact that his Maroons will avoid squaring off against his mentor and the Finches this season, one of the benefits of a league expanded with 3 imports from the old Continental Conference.

The Wings were one of those imports and were supposed to be a win for the good guys to mark on their schedule two weeks ago, as San Francisco's only other positive results had come against fellow Continental survivor New Orleans and they were the only team to lose to the suddenly bad Chicago Wildcats.

That did not happen as the Maroons, with the worst offense in the league, fell 21-3 on their home turf in a game that saw them only accumulate 107 yards of total offense. But that was more than two weeks ago now and suddenly, after an improbable game that saw the Maroons score more points in one game than they had accumulated in the previous five combined enroute to a 42-28 victory, the mood around town is certainly a little less hostile towards the local eleven than it was the past couple of weeks.

Bowens boys still own the least productive offense in the loop, but they are now 2-4 and equaled their victory total from each of the past two seasons. While the victory is worth celebrating -and there have been far too few positive moments around Thompson Field the past few falls- it is important to note that the Maroons were the beneficiary of a lot of breaks yesterday.

The first nine minutes alone saw Detroit go up 21-0 because they blocked a punt which was returned by Darrell Beaulieu for a score, recovered two San Francisco fumbles the second of which gave them the ball at the Wings 31 yard line setting up short field that led to a rare Dan Andrews completed pass for a score and then Rip Tompkins ran back an interception for the third Detroit touchdown. Detroit might not be a very good football team, and don't let this result change your mind on that, but the Wings proved to be worse on this day.

There is still a lot of work to be done and a trip to Los Angeles next weekend feels like a nightmare waiting to happen when you consider the Tigers mauled the Maroons in the Motor City 49-7 just 8 days ago. That was a low point for a Detroit defense that really is not as bad as a couple of those lobsided losses might indicate. They have spent an awful lot of the time on the field and with poor field position because the offense has been so dysfunctional.

It is the offense that remains the big worry. Detroit has not had a decent quarterback since Dewey Burnett retired in 1942 and left to coach Whitney College. They wasted much of the final few years of legendary end Stan Vaught's careers because of the inability to find a decent thrower. This year they brought in Cleveland castoff Phil Colvin to compete with rookie Dan Andrews. Andrews, who led Red River State to a 9-2 season followed by a win over Carolina Poly in the Cajun Classic on New Year's Day, has found the pro game much more challenging. To be fair Andrews is just 22 years old and while it is not saying much, the Texn is already an improvement on Dutch Van Houten, who stumbled through an awful season after he replaced an equally inept Mike Beard, but at this stage Andrews is simply not good enough to lead a successful AFA team.

And it does not matter how good of a coach Tom Bowens just might be, until he gets a serviceable quarterback victories like the one in San Francisco last week will be few and far between. The best the Maroons can hope for next weekend in Los Angeles is to get the same sort of breaks they received yesterday. However, it seems unlikely even the most creative of Hollywood screenwriters can dream a story that grand.

ANOTHER SLOW START FOR THE CHICAGO PACKERS

But Not For Star Forward Tommy Burns

It not how you start, its how you finish. That is what Chicago Packers fans should be reminding themselves of this morning. There is just something about the early portion of the season that brings out the worst in the Chicago squad. Two years ago they began the season with an 0-7-1 start but battled back to finish in second place. They fared much better in October last year, with a 3-0-3 start but then hit a slump in late October that saw them win just once in their next nine outings. They did rally to make the playoffs so perhaps there should not be any concern that the Packers have lost each of their first five games this time around.

While there is not a lot to get excited about at Lakeside Auditorium, one thing that should help Packers fans is the fact that Tommy Burns is one of the few Chicago skaters off to a good start to the season. Burns, who had injury troubles early last season after suffering a broken jaw in exhibition action, has been in perfect health and at the top of his game this time around. The 30-year-old, who won three straight McDaniels Trophies from 1946-48, is pacing the NAHC with 5 goals in his first 5 outings this season and notched his 500th career NAHC point in Toronto on Saturday.

After collecting two more points last night Burns now sits at 502 for his career and in all likelihood is just days away from becoming the active career scoring leader. Burns is one point behind Toronto's Bobbie Sauer and just 3 points back of the leader, Boston's Tommy Hart. Both are still playing but each has accumulated just a single point this season.

NAHC RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK

Chicago 1 at 3 Detroit First period goals less than a minute apart from Bob Pilon and Graham Comeau proved enough to lead the Detroit Motors to a 3-1 victory on home ice over the winless Chicago Packers. The Motors were outshot 42-24 but Millard Touhey was the difference, making 41 saves in the Detroit net.

Toronto 1 at 0 Boston Gordie Broadway stopped all 38 shots he faced for his first shutout of the season and 52nd of his career to help the Dukes win on the road at Denny Arena. Les Carlson first goal of the season, on the powerplay midway through the middle frame, accounted for all of the offense.

New York 3 at 6 Boston Four first period goals, including a pair from Jacob Gron, put the Boston Bees on a winning path as they doubled the Shamrocks 6-3. Mike Brunell also scored twice for Boston while adding a pair of helpers to send New York to its first loss of the season.
Toronto 5 at 3 Chicago Last season's scoring leader Les Carlson followed up notching his first goal of this campaign on Thursday night by lighting the lamp three times in this one while linemate Quinton Pollack had three helpers in a 5-3 Toronto victory in Chicago. Tommy Burns scored twice while Marty Mahoney assisted on all 3 Packers markers in losing cause.

Toronto 2 at 2 Detroit :The Dukes and Motors traded goals in the first and third periods as the two long time rivals skated to a 2-2 draw at Thompson Palladium. Detroit took the lead each time with Lou Barber scoring both Detroit goals but Doug Zimmerman tied it for Toronto late in the first and then it was Rob Painchaud netting the equalizer with less than six minutes remaining in the game after Barber scored his second of the night six minutes earlier.
Chicago 3 at 4 Montreal : The Packers surged out to a 3-0 lead on two goals from Tommy Burns and one from Tom Brescia but they still failed to get their first win of the season as Montreal roared back with four goals including 3 unanswered markers in the final 18 minutes of the contest to claim a 4-3 victory. Jimmy Backus, Adam Sandford, Paulie Mosca and Clarence Skinner were the Montreal scorers as the Vals remain unbeaten on the young campaign at 3-0-1. The Packers are now 0-5-0.
Boston 2 at 4 New York : The Shamrocks earn a split of their weekend home and home series with the Bees, downing the visitors by a 4-2 score on this evening. Joe Martin and Geoff Hartnell each had a goal and an assist to lead the Greenshirts, who outshot the Bees 37-21.

DUKES FINISH SEASON OPENING ROAD TRIP ON HIGH NOTE

After starting the 1950-51 season with two road losses the Dukes finished their time on the road, due to mechanical issues with the ice making plant at Dominion Stadium, with two wins and tie. The team now sits at 2-2-1 for the season before their home opener Wednesday night hosting the Motors.

The week began at Denny Arena against the Bees in a hard hitting, tight checking match as is normal for these two bitter rivals. The first period of this chippy affair was dominated by the home squad with the shots on goal being 13-7 for the Bs, forcing Gordie Broadway in the Toronto cage into a number of saves that could be called highway robbery leaving Boston players shaking their heads. The referee seemed content to let the players play, their were many close penalties not called until the animosity finally boiled over at the midway point when John Bentley and Les Carlson dropped the gloves to square off in lengthy battle with both landing a number of shots. That fight seemed to settle the teams down as their was less stickwork in the second half of the period which ended scoreless.

Boston's domination of the puck continued into the second frame when they tested Broadway 19 times without lighting the lamp. Oscar James was much less busy in the Boston cage only facing 4 shots in the second for a two period total of 11 as opposed to Broadway's 32. Les Carlson, who had to retreat to the dressing room for repairs after the fight, scored his first of the year on the power play on a setup from Lou Galbraith and Quinton Pollack with Maxime Rheault in the box. After firing everything, including the kitchen sink, at the Toronto net for 40 minutes the Dukes stiffened defensively in the final 20 allowing only 6 shots, all turned away, in a 1-0 Broadway shutout.

On to Chicago to face the Packers for the first time this season in Lakeside Aud before 15,242 on Saturday night. The Dukes ambushed the home team with a goal by Carlson only 6 seconds after the opening puck drop. After Chad Painchaud scored at 13:17 when he rushed in from the point Carlson made it 3-0 at 14:16 with the man advantage. Quinton Pollack had a helper on all three goals in the first.

Carlson completed his hattrick less than minute into the second. Packers finally solved Broadway when Jesse Santoro beat hit on the PP from Tommy Burns, Marty Mahoney at 8:26. Leading 4-1 with 20 minutes remaining the Packers made a game of it when Burns notched 2 in less than a half minute to make it 4-3 with under 8 minutes remaining in the game. Charlie Brown salted the game away with his first into an empty Chicago goal at 19:55, in another game in which the Dukes were outshot 36-29.

Onto Detroit to face the Motors on Sunday afternoon to complete the road trip. If short rest was going to a problem for the visitors the Dukes proved that to be wrong in a wide open, up and down the ice first in which the teams had a total of 33 hots on goal.

The Motors open the scoring at 8:36 while up a man when Lou Barber completed a tic-tac-toe passing play from Nick Tardif, Joe Todd. Doug Zimmerman knotted the score at 17:31 with help from Maurice Charette and Luke Brisebois before the teams headed off to their dressing rooms. The message from the coaches seemed to be "tighten up defensively" as the second period turned into a dump and chase affair with no scoring along with very few quality chances. The third period style was halfway between the first and second: a little more wide open but not up and down the ice. Barber with his second of the game gave the Motors the lead at 8:39 from Vincent Arsenault, Bob Pilon. Toronto rallied to tie on the PP when Painchaud scored at 14:16 from Galbraith, Carlson with Spencer Larocque serving time for a dirty head shot. The game finished tied but there were some tense moments for the Dukes when Trevor Parker was sent off with less 5 minute to go for hooking. Parker then was assessed a misconduct for arguing his innocence with the ref a bit too vociferously, in game that ended deadlocked at 2.

Coach Barrell- "Better, but we have to tighten up without the puck. Gordie was fantastic between the pipes, basically stealing the game in Boston. It will be nice to have the fans on our side Thursday night. Need a few good practices to get used to the new ice at Dominion. With the new plant the ice with be a little different in subtle ways that is why we need to get a few practices in, along with working on our defensive responsibilities.

COUGARS FILL PITCHING COACH VACANCY

The Cougars filled one of their two coaching vacancies this week, agreeing to a 2-year, $13,735 per-year contract with former Gothams pitching coach Alex Modglin. Modglin, a 55-year-old from New York, held the role with the Gothams for their 2nd place finishes in 1948 and 1949, spending 1945-1947 and the 1950 season with their Class A affiliate, the Albany Knickerbockers. Modglin himself pitched four seasons in the big leagues, with 170.2 of his 203.2 innings coming in 1921 with the Montreal Saints. The former Eagles 6th Rounder started 23 of his 27 appearances, going 7-12 with a 6.28 ERA (67 ERA+), 1.83 WHIP, 80 walks, and 46 strikeouts. That got him banished to AAA, where he pitched 3,389 innings from 1918 to 1937, where he won 212 games with a 4.13 ERA (105 ERA+), 1.29 WHIP, and 2,283 strikeouts. There was a small interruption in 1925, where a 30-year-old Modglin got two outs for the Saints, but after the 1921 season he spent sixteen years at the top rung of the affiliated ladder.

The new pitching coach works well with power pitchers, something the Cougars have no shortage of, and receives "Excellent" marks for his pitching talents and he's "Outstanding" when it comes to helping veterans stay sharp as they climb up in years. Both are good attributes for the Cougars staff, which featured three pitchers who struck out 100 or more hitters and a fourth with 95. Aside from FABL's top pitching prospect Bob Allen, all expected starters for the Cougars are 27 or older, with four members featuring a "3" to lead off their age.

Still vacant is the first base coach role, as top target Art Newton signed with the St. Louis Pioneers to be their Hitting Coach. Newton, a rookie coach who was once a 9th Round selection of the Foresters, is an all-around coach who can help you with almost anything other then baserunning. Sources close to the organization say they have two names on their shortlist, with hopes that the position will be filled by week's end.

VET MELCHER, ROOKIE GORDON SHINE IN PRESEASON CAGE ACTION

It is only preseason action, but the Boston Centurions look ready to show the rest of the Federal Basketball League that they are a team to be reckoned with. The Centurions, tabbed by OSA as the team to beat in the Eastern Division this season despite finishing with a .500 record and missing the playoffs a year ago, went 4-0 during a busy week of preseason play in preparation for their October 31 regular season opener in Washington against the Statesmen.

Led by all-star guard Morgan Melcher, who averaged over 20 points per game each of the past two seasons, the Centurions opened with wins over Rochester, Buffalo, Chicago and Philadelphia over a busy five day stretch last week. The 28-year-old Melcher, a former college scoring star at Coastal California, played significant minutes in all four games and, led by a 31 point night against Buffalo, averaged 25.8 points for the week. Boston is not the only 4-0 team in the Eastern Division as the Baltimore Barons, who narrowly missed the playoffs a year ago, also got off to a quick 4-0 start.

All the anticipation in the Western Division was centered around the debut of Luther Gordon. The first overall selection of the Chicago Wildcats won back to back Barrette Trophies as the Most Valuable Player in collegiate basketball and broke his own single season AIAA scoring record as a senior at Liberty College. Gordon looked right at home in his debut, scoring 28 points and collecting 21 rebounds but it was not enough as he and the Wildcats fell 87-78 to Melcher's Centurions. A day later in a 93-78 loss to Toronto Gordon had another big night, scoring 25 points and adding 22 rebounds. He managed just 8 points and struggled with his shooting in a 79-71 loss in Baltimore on Saturday but last night at the Lakeside Auditorium in Chicago, Gordon bounced back with 26 points to pace the Panthers to their first preseason win, 97-94 over Cleveland.
RECENT KEY RESULTS

• In San Francisco on Wednesday night, ring veteran Cannon Cooper barely had time to break a sweat as the heavyweight contender from Rockford, IL., need just two and a half minutes to knock out Tommy Cline. Cooper, 32-6-1, was making his ring return after being knocked out by Hector Sawyer in July in what was Cooper's first shot at the title that has been the exclusive domain of Sawyer for a decade.
  
  Cline, a Tennessean once thought to be on a quick path to a title shot when he began his pro career with 12 straight victories including impressive showings against Pete Sanderson and Mike McFarland, fell on hard times with back to back losses to Roy Crawford and Mark Fountain. The 25-year-old seemed to get back on track with a 4-win streak but then lost a decision to Harry Sweetland in June.
  
  This effort against Cooper drops Cline to 17-4 and likely ends all talk of a title shot for Cline. Cline had a couple of solid scoring blows early but made the cardinal mistake of leaving himself open after missing with his left hand at the one minute mark. Cooper pounced, dropping a right flush on Cline's chin that staggered Cline and then he pummelled his younger opponent with a flurry of blows that had Cline staggering like a drunken sailor. One more thunderous blow to the head had Cline out on his feet and veteran referee Bill Clancy jumped in to stop the bout.
• Thursday in his hometown, Boston heavyweight Roy Crawford (32-7) was upset by Phil Easton (31-6-2) as the Canadian scored a unanimous decision in their 10 rounder at Denny Arena.
• New England was the site of another weekend upset as Detroit heavyweight Bill Sloan lost for the third time in four outings, falling to 19-4 after dropping a decision to Harvey Winter.

UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS

• Oct 26- Cincinnati, OH- Unbeaten heavyweight contender Joey Tierney (20-0) faces Mike McFarland (21-11-2)
• Oct 27- San Francisco, CA- middleweight contender Millard Shelton (29-5) faces Dan Atkin (28-11-2)
• Oct 28- Thompson Palladium, Detroit - welterweight veteran George Gibbs (27-6) meets William Stevens (10-3-1)
• Oct 31- Atlanta, GA.- former welterweight champion Mac Erickson (22-2) faces Brian Pierce (17-3)
• Oct 31- St. Paul, MN - middleweight contender Davis Owens (23-1) meets Henry Alder (36-24-5)
• Oct 31 - Lakeside Auditorium, Chicago: Middleweight contender Bill Boggs (21-3-1) faces Jack Rainey (29-10-1)
• Nov 24- Bigsby Garden, New York: World Welterweight Champion Dale Roy (37-7-1) defends his title against Ira Mitchell (26-5)
• Dec 9 - Lake Erie Arena, Cleveland: World Heavyweight Champion Hector Sawyer 64-3-1 defends his title against Brad Harris (19-0-1)

• https://i.imgur.com/jF2GQ5g.jpeg
• Republic of Korea officials have been asked to investigate two reported atomic energy installations on North Korea's east coast.
• A top atomic scientist is missing in Europe amidst mystery. The Italian-born British scientist Bruno Pontevecorvo arrived in Helsinki September 2 with his wife and three children but has not been heard from since. There is growing suspicion he has defected to the Soviet Union.
• Against the background of fresh Russian truculence, a historic and revolutionary 12 nation master plan for the defense of Western Europe with possible German help and an overall American commander will be mapped at meetings this week. The biggest problem facing the military leaders is that of rearming Western Germany, an idea supported by Britain but leaves France wary.
• The French have abandoned another fortress on the Indo-China frontier, signaling the fall of the area, which borders on China, to the Communist led Viet Minh nationalists of Ho Chi Minh.
• The Federal Government entered this year deeper in debt than all the private firms and individuals in the United States combined, the Commerce Department revealed last night. The Federal Government's "total net debt" was put at $218 billion. The total of private firms and individuals at $205 billion.
  
  https://i.imgur.com/R4uuODY.jpeg

October 30, 1950
 

OCTOBER 30, 1950

JOHNSON, CLEAVES CELEBRATE WHITNEY WINS

Ralph Johnson of the Brooklyn Kings is celebrating his third Whitney Award win in the past four seasons while George Cleaves collects his second Federal Association Most Valuable Player award. The two were named winners of the oldest trophy in FABL after voting was released last week.

Johnson, a 26-year-old outfielder who pulled off a double in 1947 when he won both the Whitney Award and the Kellogg Award as the top rookie in the Continental Association and then collected a second Whitney a year ago, added a third to his trophy mantle but it was a narrow victory over Cleveland outfielder Sherry Doyal. Johnson paced the field with 226 points including 9 first place ballots while Doyal, who was hoping to give the Cleveland Foresters a clean sweep of the awards after Adam Czerwinski won the Allen Award and Larry McClure the Kellogg, finished 20 points behind Johnson but did gather the other 7 first place votes.

Johnson only led the Continental Association in one major offensive category as his .410 on-base percentage topped the loop but he was very strong across the board with a .320 batting average, 186 hits including 36 doubles and 19 homers along with 89 rbi's and 92 runs scored.

Cleaves, who also won the Whitney Award in 1939 while with the Pittsburgh Miners, joins T.R. Goins as the only catcher to win the Whitney Award twice. The 12-time all-star was a key cog in a powerful, veteran fueled New York Gothams offense that won the Federal Association pennant. He hit .310 with 21 homers while scoring 90 times and driving in 77 runs. He collected 12 first place votes and won by a much larger margin than expected as it was deemed by many to be a wide open race that had plenty of big time performers but no clear standout amongst them. Detroit's Edwin Hackberry finished second in the balloting despite not receiving a single first place vote. Hank Koblenz of the Philadelphia Keystones, who led FABL in homers and tied for the rbi lead, was third in the voting with 3 first place votes while Tim Hopkins of Chicago, who finished fourth, collected the other first place selection.

CHIEFS HIRE HOWARD AS NEW BENCH BOSS

Sailors Also Solve Skipper Search

The Joe Ward era is in Chicago and the Chiefs hope they have found another long-time manager as Irv Howard was tabbed to replace the retiring Hall of Famer. It will be the first big league job for Howard, 48, who spent the past eight seasons managing in the Philadelphia Sailors highly respected system. Howard skippered clubs won five pennants over that eight year span.

Howard had limited experience as a player - his playing career consisted of three seasons of high school ball in the old feeder system where he quickly realized there was no future for a third baseman with a .192 batting average in schoolboy ball. He quickly turned his focus to coaching and spent nearly two decades in the high school and college ranks before getting his first pro shot with the Sailors Class C affiliate in Miami. He won a pennant his first year and has not looked back.

Howard preferred playing style is small-ball but feels he can quickly adapt to a Chiefs club that has some big bats. A Chiefs spokesman noted that Howard, who enjoys working with prospects, would be "a good manager for a roster that has been getting younger."

The Chiefs are still searching for a several coaches to round out Howard's staff including a bench coach.

*** Sailors Promote From Within ***

The Philadelphia Sailors, perhaps concerned that another of their fine collection of minor league managerial talent will be scooped up but a rival organization, reached into their own system to hire their new bench boss. Billy Rose, who spent the past seven seasons at the helm of the San Francisco Hawks, both as a Sailors affiliate and as an big league club during the ill-fated major league experiment for the coast league, has been promoted to Philadelphia and will replace Ernie Sprenkle, who was let go after six seasons. Sprenkle guided the Sailors to back to back pennants in 1947 and 1948 but the club sank to last place in 1949 and finished 7th in the season just completed.

As for Rose, he won a pair of GWL titles including the first-ever Bigsby Cup championship. Prior to getting into coach, Rose played college ball for Henry Hudson University.

*** Shake Up Coming in St. Louis? ***

While the hirings of Howard and Rose, along with Bud Jameson reupping with the Federal Association pennant winning New York Gothams leave all sixteen FABL clubs with a manager under contract there are growing rumours that is about to change. Nothing official yet but there are smoldering's out of St Louis that the Pioneers are poised to fire Cliff Everett after a dreadful 65-89 season in his big league managerial debut. The 57-year-old, who spent a decade in the big leagues with Detroit and the Chicago Cougars, was getting his first taste of being a manager with the Pioneers but had a very successful run through the 1940s as the third base coach of the Cincinnati Cannons, winning 3 Continental Association flags and two World Championship Series during that stretch.

No word yet on a potential replacement should the rumours of Everett's ousting prove correct.

NO STOPPING PALADINS

Pittsburgh Slays Cleveland For 7th Win

Combining their characteristic speed and aerial artistry Dusty Sinclair and Pittsburgh Paladins once more completed the week with a victory. The Paladins ran their record to a perfect 7-0 with relative ease, dumping the second best team in the American Conference by a 31-7 score. That would be the Cleveland Finches, who missed out on a glorious opportunity to put some pressure on the front-runners in their division, the idle St Louis Ramblers.

The Pittsburgh eleven built a 21-0 lead on the enemy battlefield of Forester Field in the opening half and never slowed down. Dusty Sinclair, who failed to find steady employment in either Chicago or Los Angeles, did not have one of his better games, but despite completing just 4 of 13 tosses when they day was down he still had thrown a pair of touchdown scores including a 27-yard catch and run pairing with Tom Tisdale late in the opening frame that put the Paladins up 14-0 and broke the wings of the Finches.

The Paladins lead atop the National Conference is now two and a half games on the second place Washington Wasps after New York waltzed into Columbia Stadium and upended the locals by a 24-13 count. Dan Cole scored a pair of second half touchdowns to prove the difference including a spectacular 64 yard scamper around the outside midway through the third quarter to put the Stars ahead for good less than a minute after Bob Krohn's 38-yard field goal snapped a 10-10 and gave Washington a brief lead.

In other action the Detroit Maroons won on the west coast for the second week in a row as the Motor City eleven held off the Los Angeles Tigers 28-27. Kansas City had no troubles winning in San Francisco for a change as the clash between the two old CFC rivals was a lobsided 30-0 rout in favour of the Cowboys. Fullback Mason Matthews led the Kansas City charge with 84 yards on the ground.

The Chicago Wildcats won for just the second time this season as they nipped winless New Orleans 21-17 behind a 204 yard passing day from Gus Brown and a pair of George Meyer touchdown runs. Three second period touchdowns and a last minute field goal lifted the Philadelphia Frigates to a 24-17 win at home over the visiting Boston Americans. Jim Taylor threw three completions totaling 51 yards in the final 63 seconds to set up Frank Ellison's game winning 32-yard field goal with just 11 seconds to go in the contest.

CAPIZZI AND TRICKLE PACE CENTRAL KENTUCKY PAST GATORS

Clever Tigers Passer and Hard-Charging Line Tame Georgia Baptist
Pete Capizzi, a ball hiding Houdini, scattered Georgia Baptist with short, flashing passes, then ordered Central Kentucky's line-breaking brigade into the breach as the Tigers beat the Gators 24-9 to remain unbeaten. The victory for the second ranked team in the nation was No. 7 and by far Central Kentucky's most impressive. The Tigers came down to Georgia feeling the sting of criticism for a slightly mild schedule and they were out to demolish Georgia Tech. What Capizzi was on offense, lineman Gene Trickle was on defense. On approximately three out of every five Baptist plays, All-American candidate Trickle charged far into the Tech secondary and often ended the rush in the Gators backfield with a hard, low tackle. Observers called Trickle's performance one of the great games for a tackle ever played on the Athens, GA., campus.

The news was not all bad for the state of Georgia as Charlie Barrell led the Noble Jones College Colonels to their first victory in what has been a very trying season. The three sport star, who helped the Colonels win the AIAA cage crown last spring, ran for one touchdown and threw for another in a 17-0 shutout of winless Commonwealth Catholic.

Other games of note

• Rome State's long-range firepower overcame Henry Hudson University's stubborn resistance in a fiercely fought battle that provided unexpectedly rousing entertainment. The final score of 29-13 was much closer than it was expected to be, but the victory keeps the Centurions at the top of the collegiate rankings as they chase their third grid title in the past seven years.
• The woes continue for St. Blane as the preseason favourite Fighting Saints, twice-tied already this season, tasted defeat for the first time in the campaign, falling 9-6 at home to St. Ignatius in a defensive struggle.
• Coastal California's Dolphins beat Portland Tech 23-7 for their first victory of the season, snapping a 4-game losing skid.
• Detroit City College struggled through the opening 30 minutes before finding the endzone twice in the third quarter and rolling to a 20-3 victory over winless Minnesota Tech.
• Pierpont's alert football team with Jimmie Hamilton in the starring role, sank the hopes of Annapolis Maritime with a 21-7 victory over the Navigators at Sailors Memorial Stadium in Philadelphia. The Purple improve to 4-1 on the season.
• San Francisco Tech improved to 5-1 with a 30-12 victory at Kings County Stadium in a game that was hardly an exhibition of football at its best in a turnover filled game that saw both clubs alternating at committing misplays of the most gregarious nature.
• Cumberland had a dominant showing once more as the Explorers ran their record to 6-0 with a 48-0 shutout of Lexington State.

VALIANTS REMAIN UNBEATEN

Cup Champs Improve to 5-0-2 on Season

The Montreal Valiants are doing their best to prove that last season's playoff run to their first Challenge Cup win in twenty-one years was no fluke as the club continues to set the pace in the early stages of the current North American Hockey Confederation campaign. The Valiants are 5-0-2 on the young season including a perfect 4-0 mark to start the season on home ice. Cups are certainly not won or lost in October but the quick start certainly builds on confidence gained with surprise upsets of Toronto and New York in last year's playoffs.

The Vals may not have a star scorer like Tommy Burns in Chicago or Quinton Pollack in Toronto but they do have a balanced attack led by strong starts from Wayne Augustin, Clarence Skinner and defenseman Shel Herron, each of whom is averaging a point a game to pace an offense that leads the league with 24 goals this season.

The real strength in Montreal is its stingy defense led by a return to form from veteran netminder Tom Brockers. The 35-year-old was brought to Montreal to solidify a position that had given the club fits because of inconsistent play from his predecessors. Brockers had a proven track record of success, leading Boston to three straight Cup wins in the early 1940s. Brockers endured some lean seasons with a bad Brooklyn team and after the Eagles folded he returned to Boston but failed to establish himself as the number one netminder for the Bees. The trade to Montreal looked bad for the Valiants it's first season as the four-time Juneau Trophy winner looked far removed from his early form but he was terrific down the stretch and in the playoffs last season and has shown no signs of letting up in the early goings of the current campaign.

NAHC RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 25

Detroit 7 at 4 Toronto :The Motors spoiled Toronto's much delayed home opener as Francis McKenzie had a 3-point night in a game that saw seven different Detroit players beat Gordie Broadway as the Motors dumped Toronto 7-4.
New York 0 at 1 Chicago : After opening the season with five straight losses the Chicago Packers finally got one in the win column. David Rankin scored shorthanded in the first period and Norm Hanson took care of the rest as the veteran Chicago netminder stopped all 24 New York shots for his first shutout of the season.

THURSDAY OCTOBER 26

Boston 2 at 5 Montreal :The defending Cup champs continue to impress as the Valiants improved their season mark to 4-0-1 following a 5-2 victory at the Montreal Arena over visiting Boston. The Bees scored the only goal of the opening period but second stanza tallies from John McDonald, Ed McRae and Arlen Doherty put the Vals ahead to stay.

SATURDAY OCTOBER 28

Montreal 2 at 2 New York :A rematch of last season's Challenge Cup Final saw the Vals take a 2-0 lead after twenty minutes on goals from Isaac Finnson and Wayne Augustin but the Shamrocks answered with two of their own in the second frame. Jim Macek and Mark Theriault were the Greenshirts goalscorers. A tight checking third period decided nothing and the game ended in a deadlock 2-2.
Toronto 2 at 2 Boston : A 2-2 tie was also in the cards in Boston with Jacob Gron and Garrett Kauffeldt bookending Toronto goals off the sticks of Bobbie Sauer and Rob Painchaud in a game that saw both netminders - Gordie Broadway of Toronto and Boston's Oscar James- kept very busy.
Detroit 3 at 2 Chicago : Detroit did all its damage in the opening nine minutes of the game when Hank Walsh, Nick Tardif and Louis Rocheleau staked the visitors to a quick 3-0. Mac Ducharme got one back on the powerplay for the Packers in the middle period and Tommy Burns scored late in the third but the Motors held on for the 3-2 victory.

SUNDAY OCTOBER 29

Chicago 1 at 2 Montreal :The struggles continue for the Packers, who are outshot 31-20 and fall 2-1 in Montreal for their 7th loss in 8 games this season. The Vals, who were led by 2-point nights from Wayne Augustin and Isaac Finnson, remain unbeaten.
Detroit 2 at 4 New York : Alfie Dennis scored his first two goals of the season, both in the third period, to help the Shamrocks double visiting Detroit 4-2 at Bigsby Gardens. The result leaves both clubs with identical 4-2-1 records.
Boston 2 at 4 Toronto: Quinton Pollack had a goal and an assist and Gordie Broadway turned aside 35 of the 37 Boston shots he faced to help the Dukes down the Bees 4-2.

DUKES POUNDED IN HOME OPENER

Toronto hockey fans much anticipated and long delayed home opener finally came on Thursday night before 13,153 hockey starved in attendance. The evening ended in disappointment with the visitors from Detroit leaving town with a 7-4 victory.

The Motors opened the scoring while many fans were still getting comfortable when Hank Walsh beat Gordie Broadway just 92 seconds in to the game on a rebound off of a point shot from Brock Ternovatsky. A minute later Doug Zimmerman brought the fans to their feet on a long shot that seemed to dip on Millard Touhey in the Motors net. Bob Pilon put the Motors ahead 2-1 when he knocked in another juicy rebound off Broadway's pads. The fast paced game continue in the second, Detroit built the lead to 4-1 with the only two goals of the period. Francis McKenzie was found unmarked in the slot on passes from Harry Remington and Nick Tardif then zipped a quick wrist shot into the top corner of the Dukes goal. Things got worse when Adam Vanderbilt found a loose puck in wild goalmouth scramble to build the lead to 3 at 17:32.

Fans began to voice their displeasure, reigning down boos from the stands when Lou Barber scored his third of the year from Vincent Arsenault 2:25 into the final frame. The fans' reaction seemed to light a momentary spark in the Dukes. Alex Lavalliere and Maurice Charette scored 17 seconds apart just past the 5 minute mark then Trevor Parker close the gap to one when he was sprung on the kill by Mike Navarro. Gil Corbeil's marker, again on the rebound, seemed to take all the wind out of the Dukes' sails 95 seconds after Parker's goal. Lou Barber scored with just over 3 minutes remaining to make the final 7-4.

The Dukes returned to Denny Arena Saturday night for their second visit of the season. In another high spirited, with little attention paid to defense, affair the Bs finally beat Broadway when Jacob Gron's shot from the right face off circle when behind a screened Toronto tender. Bobby Sauer ended his scoring drought with a shot that eluded Boston netminder Oscar James at 16:13 then Rob Painchaud's seeing eye shot after coming in from point gave the Dukes the lead 91 seconds later while up a man. The first period ended 2-1 Toronto although not for lack of chances, Dukes tested James 17 times while Broadway turned away 13 of 14 at the other end.

Boston continued to fire rubber at the Dukes net in the second though coming up empty, Toronto was hemmed in their own zone for long stretches only managing 6 shots in a scoreless period. The Dukes seemed to get their skating legs under them in the third trying to open a two goal lead. James stood tall in the Bs cage turning aside all 12 shots. Toronto appeared on their way to taking home two points until Garrett Kauffeldt found twine at 15:30 on a shot that appeared to change direction off a Dukes defender. Boston, Toronto each left the ice with a point in the 2-2 tie.

The teams boarded the train for a return match in Toronto Sunday afternoon. Many amongst the 13,534 on hand were still disgruntled after the weak showing against the Motors, A power play marker by Quinton Pollack from Les Carlson livened up a silent crowd. Things began to get louder when Zimmerman increased the lead at 13:53 with Brisebois, Parker earning helpers. Wilbur Chandler cut the lead in half before the end of the period when he was sent in alone by Godin at 17:28. The second 20 played out much like the first 20 with the Dukes scoring twice, Carlson made it 3-1 with his fifth at 3:02 then Tim Brooks got his first on a feed form Pollack just over 2 minutes later. Mickey Bedard gave the visitors some life with his first of the year making 4-2 with just over a minute to play in the second. Boston carried the play in the third while the Dukes seemed satisfied to thwart attacks then dump the puck out of their zone, Broadway did not let anything by him securing a 4-2 for the home side.

Coach Barrell- "After the embarrassing performance during the home opener thankfully we played better at home against Boston. Fans, teams had better pay attention to the Motors they are fast paced, smooth skating club who will lure you into their firewagon brand of hockey. We are a good skating team but I still want to stress defensive play over running and gunning. Being sound defensively is winning hockey, it is more important what you do without the puck than what you do when have possession of the disc. We show signs of understanding our system without puck then for some reason guys start running around like headless chickens, that has to stop. We will be working on that aspect of our system."

Brett ask Barrell about rumoured trouble in the dressing room, along with when fans could expect to see Charlie Dell tending goal. Barrell appeared to not hear either question from Bing as there was no response.

FEDERAL CAGE CAMPAIGN TIPS OFF TOMORROW

A Halloween treat for cage fans as the Federal Basketball League officially begins its fifth campaign with action on three fronts October 31. Opening night will include a championship banner unfurling at Washington's National Auditorium prior to the season opener for the Statesmen against the visiting Boston Centurions. Washington won its first Federal loop crown last season by defeating an inspired but injury-depleted Toronto Falcons squad in game seven of a dramatic championship series.

Game sevens have become something the league founded by Rollie Barrell in 1946 has become known for. Three of the four league title series have gone the distance with the lone exception being two years ago when the now-defunct Brooklyn Red Caps swept Barrell's Detroit Mustangs four straight. The previous FBL champions were the Baltimore Barons in 1947-48 and the Chicago Panthers a year earlier to cap the inaugural season for the league.

The Federal League has certainly had its ups and downs over it short history. Envisioned by Barrell as a loop with a primary focus in the Midwest designed to compete with the east coast based American Basketball Conference, which was celebrating its 10th season in 1946-47, the Federal loop debuted with 8 teams. Three years later it forced the closure of the ABC and absorbed its clubs' swelling the Federal loop to 16 franchises and they expanded to 17 with the addition of St Louis a year ago.

With inflation, strikes across the nation and wage concerns throwing the economy into chaos and now the war in Korea to contend with, many of the teams suffered at the box office with the few cage fans in many cities more interested in supporting their local college outfit rather than a pro club the league had more than its share of problems. The result saw six teams fold up shop over the winter including the Red Caps, owned by ABC founder Daniel Prescott, and as a result there are high hopes for the survivors in the upcoming season. With visions of a financially stable loop, the Federal League has been pared down to eleven teams and is expected to be a very competitive collection of clubs.

Gone are the least successful teams on the court, including woeful entries from Syracuse and St Louis which combined to go 25-111 a year ago. Great battles are anticipated for each of the division titles and there is plenty of excitement, perhaps nowhere more so than in the Windy City where the Chicago Panthers welcome AIAA scoring legend Luther Gordon. The first overall pick in the FBL draft, who won back to back college player of the year awards, looked very good in preseason play and will get his first taste of regular season action tomorrow when the Panthers visit Philadelphia to take on the Phantoms. The other game on the opening night slate sends Barrell's Mustangs to Cleveland to face the Crushers.

While the Packers scuffle through a slow start, the Wildcats suffering a bit of a championship hangover, and the Cougars continue to look to the next season, there is an air of excitement for Panthers fans as Chicago's basketball team will sure to bring excitement. The Panthers season opens on the 18th against the Boston Centurions, where all eyes will be on college basketball Luther Gordon.

Gordon, age 22, was taken first overall by the Panthers in the FBL draft, joining star center Richard Campbell (21.7, 13.4, 1.1) and point guard Joe Hampton (10.8, 10.1, 8.8) on what should be one of the top teams in the FBL. With Gordon filling in at power forward, Cory Myers (10.9, 13.8, 0.9) will be giving it a go at small forward, with Larry Serrano (13.4, 4.6, 1.7) rounds out the starting five. Aside from Gordon, this group has spent most of the past three seasons together, as the Panthers starting five was on a nice postseason streak before an injury filled season saw them end up with a potential star.

It may just be preseason, but Gordon was already dominating the opposition, with multiple 20 point and 20 rebound showings from the 6'9'' Liberty College alum. A guy who can do almost anything except shoot threes, Gordon is an excellent inside scorer, but what makes him so impressive is how he can fight through contact, earn the foul, and then sink the free throw. He might be the game's best free throw shooter already, something that is usually saved for smaller guards. On the other side of the court, he's an outstanding rebounder, and even if you take him outside the paint he can guard on the perimeter. While that's still an area of improvement, he has the athleticism to contain gifted ball handers, and with his strength and stamina, he's not one of those big guys you can tire out by running around him. It may be too early to declare him the FBL's best star already, but based on how he dominated the college game, and how ready to go he looked in the preseason, all eyes will be on Gordon as he looks to restore greatness to Chicago basketball.

1950-51 AIAA BASKETBALL PREVIEW

The 1950-51 collegiate cage season tips-off on November 5 as the Noble Jones College Colonels attempt to defend not only the first national basketball title in school history but also look to build upon the first undefeated season ever recorded since the dawn of the AIAA in 1909. No other school can match the 34-0 season of the Colonels that culminated in a 65-60 victory over Luther Gordon and Liberty College, which also entered the title game with a perfect 33-0 mark before coming up just short in the championship contest at Bigsby Garden.

This might be a retooling year for the Bells as the Philadelphia school lost not only Gordon, who was the number one pick in the Federal Basketball League draft, but also guard Scott Basile and forward Edgar Stillwell (drafted by Toronto in round two) to graduation. The Colonels, on the other hand, lost just one key piece in center Mike Miller, who was the Chicago Panthers second round selection in the July FBL draft. Noble Jones College is expected to be a contender as long as senior backup Tod Fee can do even a moderate job as the new center and even if Fee struggles the Colonels might still be in great shape as junior guard Charlie Barrell and sophomore forward Jim Graybeal are expected to build on outstanding seasons a year ago.

The Colonels will have plenty of competition as they attempt to become just the third team to repeat as AIAA basketball tournament champions since 1924. One of those schools is Rainier College -the Majestics won back to back titles in the spring of 1943 and 1944- who are TWIFS pick to win it all this season.

Here are the preseason top ten from This Week in Figment Sports as well as our picks for the post-season All-American team.

TWIFS PRESEASON TOP TEN

#1 RAINIER COLLEGE MAJESTICS

The Majestics had a very good season a year ago, winning the West Coast Athletic Association section title with a 14-2 conference mark, but they made an early exit from the tournament after falling in the second round to Lubbock State. The did lose starting guard Joe Simpson, who averaged a team high 11.6 ppg a year ago, to graduation but look to be loaded with senior guard Don Higgins leading the way followed closely by a trio of sophomores in forward Doc Daniels and Ed Kosanovich along with guard T.J. Grimm. The Majestics have plenty of depth and are young. In fact they will likely be an even bigger threat to win it all in 1951-52.

#2 CAROLINA POLY CARDINALS

Two-time All-American guard James Halle is gone but look for Mel Turcotte to have a big year in his senior season. Turcotte was a third team All-American selection last year and may be the early favourite to go first overall in next year's Federal Basketball League draft. The Cardinals are the defending South Atlantic Conference champions and have plenty of supplementary support for Turcotte. Highlighting that support is Bill Florence, a senior forward who averaged more than 9 points per game a year ago, and a pair of junior guards in Art Radcliff and George Bertram. The wildcard might be freshman guard Charlie Glidewell, a Charlotte native who was a top five recruit.

#3 NOBLE JONES COLLEGE COLONELS

We know Charlie Barrell can play baseball and he proved last season that it may not be his best sport. Stuck on the bench for the first half of the season, Barrell made the most of his chance when senior guard Carrol Lakin went down with injury and he was at his best on the biggest stage, scoring a game high 15 points in the championship game win over Liberty College that completed the perfect season for the Colonels. There may be a lot of outside pressure on Barrell this season, as FABL clubs are sure to be pressing the junior to declare for the baseball draft and he has to survive the rest of the season as the quarterback of the Colonels football team unscathed, but based on his performance a year ago we feel Barrell may be a candidate for national collegiate basketball player of the year.

The supporting cast is terrific as well with forward Jim Graybeal, who was very impressive as a freshman a year ago, having a year of college experience under his belt, along with senior forward Carlton Hicks and guard Artie Noonan to help shoulder the load. Back-to-back national titles may be too much to ask for - and remember Noble Jones College played in the title game two years ago as well- but the Colonels will likely be in the mix.

#4 WESTERN IOWA CANARIES

The Canaries dominated the tough Great Lakes Alliance a year ago and only Liberty College in the national semi-finals stopped their tournament run. Western Iowa does lose its top two scorers in forwards Slim Barner (drafted 10th overall by Detroit) and Chris Saltzer to graduation but expect center Darryl Baugher, one of our preseason All-American team selections, to have a big season in his FBL draft year. Sophomore guard Tim Jacobus was a key contributor a year ago and his role will grow, as will that of fellow sophomore Dick Landry, who finally gets a chance to start. Add in the best recruiting class in the nation keyed by top tens Leo Beck, a center from Milwaukee, and Hank Ledet, a forward out of Denver, Co., and the Canaries should remain a title threat.

#5 COASTAL CALIFORNIA DOLPHINS

The West Coast Athletic Association is so deep we could easily have included four of its members on our top ten list. The Dolphins were 23-7 overall a year ago and despite a rich history still have never won the AIAA championship but perhaps this is the year. Chris Martines is their top player and a senior now. The Torrance, Ca. native averaged a career best 15.7 ppg a year ago and may top that mark this season. While Martines, who was named to our preseason All-American team, is the key to the Dolphins success, he does have plenty of supplemental support from the likes of juniors Tookie Brown and Rankin Egbert as well as sophomore Gary Moore.

#6 FRANKFORD STATE OWLS

The Owls, an independent, went 23-6 last year and will go as far as senior guard Rod Bookman can carry them this time around. Bookman, a preseason All-American, is their outside scoring threat and complimented nicely by sophomore center Rick Sims, who took over the starting job mid-season last year. Seniors Dallas Aruba and Von Murray add scoring depth.

#7 WHITNEY COLLEGE ENGINEERS

The Engineers did lose their star guard Don Rosenfield to graduation, and he was selected in the second round of the FBL draft by the Detroit Mustangs. Surviving the grueling Great Lakes Alliance slate is always a challenge but the Engineers, who went 25-7 overall a year ago, have the potential to go a long way if junior Solly Morris plays up to his potential. The former freshman All-American from Tennessee is part of a deep collection of talent that includes center Edd Petty, senior forward David Griffin and guards Sam Doane and Bill McCaffrey. In Morris and Petty, both juniors, Whitney College may well end up producing the top two picks in the 1952 Federal Basketball League draft. The Engineers, with two national titles including one four years ago, remain the only GLA school to win the national cage tournament.

#8 MARYLAND STATE BENGALS

Bengals basketball is on the rise as after years of being overshadowed by South Atlantic Conference rivals Carolina Poly and NC Tech, Maryland State has made the AIAA tournament in back-to-back seasons for the first time in school history and is coming off a school record 23 win season that resulted in their first-ever conference title. Four starters return from that team including top scorer Joshua Robertson. The SAC is improving every year and there will be plenty of challengers this season, but in Robertson and center Dumpy Kraus the Bengals have one of the best big men duos in the AIAA.

#9 UTAH A&M AGGIES

We always like to look for a smaller conference school that might surprise and Utah A&M seems like a good choice. They have won Rocky Mountain Conference crown each of the past five seasons but are 1-16 overall in tournament action. Still, the Aggies return 4 starters including senior forward David Campbell, who was Rocky Mountain Athletic Association player of the year last season and may end up being among the AIAA scoring leaders this season.

#10 INDIANA A&M REAPERS

The Reapers had more than a decade of struggles but have reached the tournament three straight seasons including a first-ever trip to the National semi-finals last year. There will be plenty of competition in the Great Lakes Alliance this season with Western Iowa and Whitney College also cracking our preseason top ten. Indiana A&M, which went 28-5 overall last season and finished second to the Canaries in the GLA, lost J.C. Mitchell, a forward who was selected third overall by the Philadelphia Phantoms in the FBL draft, but the rest of the cast returns led by junior forward Ollie Courville, who averaged more than 10 points per game a year ago. The Reapers also landed two of the top eleven high school seniors including guard Sherman Burkhalter, a Minneapolis native, who was the number two recruit in the nation and is expected to have an impact as a freshman.
RECENT KEY RESULTS

• A busy weekend of boxing action was off to an early start Thursday in Cincinnati when young Joey Tierney took another step towards a shot at the heavyweight title as the Detroit born fighter knocked out Mike McFarland in the fifth round of their tussle that was schedule for 10. Tierney, who is managed by Chester Conley, is now 20-0 and has looked dominant in his last two outings, making many think the fighter who turned 23 the day before the bout with McFarland, will be granted a shot at Conley's top client, world champion Hector Sawyer, sometime in the new year.
• Friday on the west coast, 30-year-old middleweight Memphis Millard Shelton won for the 30th time as a professional, scoring a unanimous decision over Dan Atkin.
• Saturday at Detroit's Thompson Palladium, ring vet George Gibbs rebounded from a loss to Danny Julian with a 7th round TKO win over William Stevens. Gibbs, 28-6, won the first 15 decisions of his career with all but one coming by knockout, and seemed destined to become the next big thing in the welterweight division but most of those wins were before the war and he was not the same fighter after returning from seeing action as a Marine in the Pacific.

UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS

• Oct 31- Atlanta, GA.- former welterweight champion Mac Erickson (22-2) faces Brian Pierce (17-3)
• Oct 31- St. Paul, MN - middleweight contender Davis Owens (23-1) meets Henry Alder (36-24-5)
• Oct 31 - Lakeside Auditorium, Chicago: Middleweight contender Bill Boggs (21-3-1) faces Jack Rainey (29-10-1)
• Nov 3- Denny Arena, Boston: Veteran heavyweights Allen Bailey (44-7-2) and Steve Case (21-5-3) meet
• Nov 11- Thompson Palladium, Detroit: Heavyweight Evan Rivers (18-1-3) vs Lyle Wilson (27-8)
• Nov 18- Bigsby Garden, New York: British welterweight Danny Julian (29-2-1) vs Rudy Perry (29-6-1)
• Nov 24- Bigsby Garden, New York: World Welterweight Champion Dale Roy (37-7-1) defends his title against Ira Mitchell (26-5)
• Nov 25- Keystone Arena, Philadelphia: Welterweight contenders Danny Rutledge (21-1-1) vs Mark Westlake (28-7-1)
• Dec 9 - Lake Erie Arena, Cleveland: World Heavyweight Champion Hector Sawyer 64-3-1 defends his title against Brad Harris (19-0-1)

• President Truman set up the new Subversive Activities Control Board provided by the Internal Security Act, naming its 5-member board. The Justice Department immediately rounded up 10 persons considered top alien Communists in the United States. Those already in custody were described as the "most important" of about 86 persons scheduled for prompt pickup and deportation.
• Addressing the United Nations, Truman urged adoption of a "foolproof" plan for world disarmament "based on safeguards which will ensure the compliance of all nations." Until that happens, Truman said "the only course the peace-loving nations can take in the present situation is to create the armaments needed to make the world secure against aggression. That is the course to which the United States is now fully committed."
  
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• Russia has announced that Chinese Communist forces had crossed Tibet's frontier and captured several towns. As many as 30,000 Chinese troops are also reported to be fighting alongside North Koreans, in an attempt to hold off UN forces.
• Jazz singer Al Jolson, who the first United States star to entertain troops overseas in WWII, died unexpectedly when he suffered a heart attack at age 64.
  
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November 6, 1950
 

NOVEMBER 6, 1950

UNBEATEN STREAK ENDS FOR CENTURIONS WITH LOSS TO PIERPONT

A string of 25 games without a loss and their chances at a National Collegiate Football title came crashing down in Philadelphia Saturday afternoon when the Rome State Centurions were upset 21-14 by the Pierpont Purple. The victory, perhaps the greatest win in Pierpont football history, came after Pierpont rallied for a pair of fourth period touchdowns. Senior halfback Jimmie Hamilton was instrumental in both scores, galloping for a 43-yard scoring drive to tie the game and then on the winning drive when he had three big carries to push the Purple down the field. Back Herb Fahnestock, Pierpont's other big threat, carried over the goal line for 4 yards out with less than 5 minutes remaining in the contest to provide the margin of victory in the upset win.

It was a weekend of upset as the top two teams in the preseason rankings -St. Blane and Detroit City College- also ended up on the wrong end of scores Saturday. The Fighting Saints, who have had an awful go of things this season, are now just 2-2-2 on the campaign following a 21-14 loss to Annapolis Maritime. The Knights hopes of a Great Lakes Alliance section crown were dealt a crushing blow when Detroit City College was downed 13-9 by Lincoln. The Presidents are 3-0 in GLA play and now are in the driver's seat for a chance to head to Santa Ana on New Year's Day for the first time in school history. The Presidents do still have work to do, including November 18 meeting with Central Ohio. The Aviators improved to 3-1 in section play and 5-1 overall with a 38-7 drubbing of St. Magnus in St. Paul, MN.

Redwood, which has not played in the East-West Classic since New Year's Day 1937, moved a step closer to ending rival Northern California's two year hold on the West Coast Athletic Association title after the Mammoths won while the Miners had to settle for a tie in their conference game. Redwood is 4-0 in WCAA play and 7-0 overall following a 34-0 rampage over an uncharacteristically bad Coastal California team, which fell to 1-5 overall. Northern Cal had to settle for a 13-13 tie with Rainier College but the conference championship likely still hinges on the outcome of their meeting November 25 in Sacramento.

The Deep South Conference leads the way at the moment with Central Kentucky replacing Rome State as the number one ranked team in the nation, followed closely by Cumberland. The Tigers downed Western Florida 20-3 in section play to improve to 8-0 while the Explorers remained perfect at 7-0 with a dominant defensive showing in a 17-0 shutout win over North Carolina Tech.

Lubbock State, Oklahoma City State, Sadler College and Wyoming A&I all held strong in the top ten with Lawrence State jumping in to join them after the 7-0 Chippewa dumped Provo Tech 47-29.

CHAPPELL, MATTHEWS LEAD WAY AS COWBOYS CORRAL RAMBLERS

This season has not been quite the result the Kansas City Cowboys have been used to but a 31-10 drubbing of St. Louis in the first professional sports contest involving two Missouri teams certainly is a step in the right direction. The Cowboys completely dominated their Continental Football Conference opposition for the past four seasons but dropped two of their first three games against teams in their new home in the American Football Association. Since those losses at home to Cleveland and in Washington that lowered the Cowboys record to 1-2, they have reeled off four straight victories including the win at home against the American Conference leading Ramblers yesterday.

The big story, as it has so often been when discussing the Kansas City offense, revolved around quarterback Pat Chappell and fullback Mason Matthews. Chappell threw for 240 yards and a pair of touchdown passes while Matthews, who was always dominant in the CFC but seems to have found another gear this season, caught the two Chappell touchdown throws, ran for two more touchdowns and had a combined 200 yards from scrimmage rushing and receiving. The loss is the first of the season for St Louis, and dips the Ramblers record to 5-1-1, opening the door for both Cleveland and Kansas City in the battle for the American Conference title and a berth in the AFA championship game.

The Cleveland Finches improved to 6-2 with a hard fought 24-21 victory over Washington that required a 22 yard Kyle Landry with just over a minute remaining in the contest to secure the victory. The Wasps had tied the game at 21 with four minutes remaining before Landry completed a game winning drive with his field goal.

Chris Marzella returned an interception 82-yards for a touchdown to help the Pittsburgh Paladins remain perfect, improving to 8-0 following a 21-14 victory over the Philadelphia Frigates. Los Angeles snapped a two-game losing streak with a 38-21 victory over the visiting San Francisco Wings in a game that saw Mark Monday throw four touchdown passes and for 234 yards to lead the Tigers charge. The Chicago Wildcats evened their record at 3-3-1 with a 24-6 road win in Detroit in a game that saw Chicago quarterback Ricky McCallister run for one touchdown, pass for another and kick a 27-yard field goal. Finally, in New York the hometown Stars handed winless Boston its 7th straight defeat, thumping the Americans 35-6.

VALIANTS FINALLY LOSE A GAME, BUT STILL LEAD WAY IN NAHC

The Montreal Valiants followed up their surprising Challenge Cup win last spring with by not losing a game in October as they surged to the early lead in the NAHC standings. The clock finally struck midnight on the Vals when they dropped a 2-1 decision on home ice to Detroit on November 2nd but they quickly got back on track with a 5-2 win over Toronto yesterday. The result has Norb Hickey's squad leading the league with a 6-1-2 record, good 14 points although just a single point ahead of another team off to a surprising start in the Detroit Motors.

Despite coming away empty on 21 third period shots in the loss to Detroit, Montreal Star hockey columnist Red Bookman notes that Valiants have been extremely accurate with their shooting in the early going this season. Bookman passed along this interesting tidbit to his readers recently: "Montreal and New York are tied for the most goals/game with 3.33. New York has averaged the most shots/game with 33.0. Meanwhile, Montreal has taken the fewest shots/game with 28.2."

NAHC RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 1

Boston 5 at Chicago 2: After Derek Gubb gave the struggling Packers a 2-0 lead the Boston Bees exploded for five third period goals to dump the Packers by a 5-2 score. Mike Brunell led with way with a pair for the winners.

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 2

Detroit 2 at Montreal 1: With starting goaltender and former Val Millard Touhey sidelined with an injury, Henri Chasse used the moment as an opportunity to shine in the Motors cage. The Detroit goaltender turned aside 34 of the 35 shots he faced to lead the Motors to a 2-1 victory, handing Montreal its first loss of the season. Brett Lanceleve beat Chasse just 39 seconds into the game for the only Vals goal. Lou Barber and Mike Schlegel were the Detroit marksmen.
Toronto 2 at New York 2: Quinton Pollack, who was the NAHC's player of the month for October, set up the first Toronto goal and then scored the second with just 1:21 remaining in the game to earn the visiting Dukes a point. Orval Cabbell and Simon Savard scored the Shamrocks goals.
Chicago 3 at Boston 6: The Bees outscore Chicago for the second game in a row. This time it was a big first period that saw Boston take a 4-1 lead before rolling to victory. Mike Brunell, who scored twice in the previous night's meeting, had a goal and two assists to once more pace the Boston offense.

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 4

Detroit 3 at Boston 2: The Motors continue to exceed expectations, improving to 6-2-1 with a 3-2 victory in Boston. All of the Motors offense came in the opening twenty minutes with Nick Tardif, Lou Barber and Adam Vanderbilt staking the visitors to 3-1 lead and Henri Chasse did enough to get his second win in place of Millard Touhey between the pipes for the Motors.
Toronto 3 at Chicago 3: Third period goals from Rob Painchaud and 19-year-old Kenny Woolley, with the first of his career, helped the Dukes overcome a 3-0 deficit and escape the Windy City with a point.

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 5

Toronto 2 at Montreal 5: After falling to Detroit on Thursday for their first loss of the season, the Montreal Valiants quickly got back in the winning column with a 5-2 win over the visiting Toronto Dukes. Montreal broke open a tight game with two goals in just over 4 minutes early in the third period to go up 4-2 before sealing the win with an empty netter from Ian Doyle. It was Doyle's second goal of the night. Tom Brockers was exceptional in the Montreal net, stopping 37 of the 39 shots he faced. The Vals had only 17 shots on Toronto netminder Gordie Broadway, who looks like he could use a night off after playing all 11 of the Dukes games this season.
Detroit 1 at New York 6: Millard Touhey returned to the Detroit net after missing two games with an injury and faced a 42 shot barrage from the New York Shamrocks in a wide open game. It was a one-sided result, a 6-1 New York victory, thanks in no small part to the play of Alex Sorrell in the New York cage. The 24-year-old stopped 32 of the 33 shots fired at him. Defenseman Jerry Finch and Simon Savard each scored twice for the Greenshirts.

MOTORS RACE OUT TO HOT START

The Detroit Motors might be using smoke and mirrors, but they are off to a surprisingly good start - of course they did the same last year before fading after Christmas and missing the playoffs. Detroit is 6-3-1 despite playing 7 of their first 10 games on the road and is in second place, just 1 point back of the Montreal Valiants.

The Motors became the first team to beat the defending Challenge Cup champions when they downed the Vals 2-1 at the Montreal Arena on Thursday. Most of the credit for that win goes to Henri Chasse and rightfully so after the 27-year-old netminder had a very impressive debut. A forgotten man this season as Millard Touhey had been tapped on the shoulder to start each of the first seven games of the season before a groin injury left Touhey unable to go against the his former club. In stepped Chasse, who had been biding his time on the bench.

It did not start well as the first Montreal shot of the game, a Brett Lanceleve wrister from the top of the left circle, handcuffed the rusty Detroit netminder. It also clearly dislodged any remnants of rust off of Chasse as he proceeded to turn aside the remaining 35 Montreal shots, including 21 in the final frame, as the Motors hung on for a 2-1 victory and dealt the Vals their first defeat.

Detroit beat Boston two nights later but last night the problems with the New York Shamrocks continued as the Greenshirts dumped Detroit badly, crushing the Motors 6-1 to become the only team to beat Detroit twice so far this season. The local outfit will hope that trend changes Wednesday evening when the two square of at the Palladium.

I say smoke and mirrors because the Motors are enjoying success despite sitting fifth in goals scored with 29 and middle of the pack in goals against. Detroit does not have a point producer in the top ten and the club clearly still lacks a dominant superstar like the type you find up front for most of their rivals. There is some hope that 24-year-old Nick Tardif will eventually assume that role and Tardif, who was named captain recently, does lead the team in scoring with 8 points through 10 games.
Like our local ballclub, the Motors have dominated the rookie award over the past few years. Each of the last three winners of the McDaniels Trophy have been Motors forwards, starting with Tardif three years ago and continuing with Louis Rocheleau two season back and last year it was Lou Barber.

The Dynamos have had much the same story with Bill Morrison finishing second this season in the Federal Association Kellogg Award voting while in the past five seasons Wally Hunter, Edwin Hackberry and Jack Miller have all claimed Kellogg's. The talent is clearly there, for both Detroit entries, but so far neither has been able to take the next step and make a serious run at a championship. It is probably far too much to ask for that from the Motors this season, but the Valiants playoff run of a year ago maybe gives us some hope for a similar spring showing out of the local ice outfit. Of course we need to make the playoffs first, and that requires a strong finish not just the quick start that has been a recent trademark of the Motors.

DUKES SECURE ONLY TWO OF A POSSIBLE SIX POINTS

Toronto's men of the ice continue their tepid start to the season with just two points to show for their three games last week.

On Thursday they were lucky to escape Bigsby Gardens with a point in a 2-2 deadlock with the Shamrocks. New York dominated the game after Les Carlson put the Dukes ahead on the powerplay just past 11 minute mark. Orval Cabbell tied the score before the teams headed to the first period intermission. The Shamrocks carried most of the play in the second, which was tight checking, doubling the Dukes in shots 10 to 5. The Shamrocks got a go ahead goal at 14:17 from Simon Savard in a third period in which Broadway made 14 save. The Dukes managed the tie with only 81 seconds remaining when Quinton Pollack knocked home a Lou Galbraith rebound, one of only 3 shots by Toronto in the final frame.

Into Chicago for a Saturday night affair with the Packers. The Dukes rallied from a 3-0 deficit to earn the tie. The first Toronto goal came off the stick of Doug Zimmerman in the middle frame and then two goals in 13 seconds by Chad Painchaud and rookie Kenny Wooley just past the 6 minute mark in the third allowed Toronto to pull even. The Dukes were more competitive in this game although they continue to seem to be a step slower than the opposition in games of late. At times the team seems to be thinking too much instead of reacting to the play.

On Sunday the Dukes entered the final period tied at 2 with the league leading Montreal Valiants only to surrender 3 in a game in which they dominated the shot totals 39-17. They could not beat Tom Brockers who has been outstanding so far this season in the Montreal cage with a goals against average of 1.84 stopping almost 19 of every 20 shots he has faced from opponents.

Coach Barrell- "We are just struggling a little at the moment. Some games we cannot seem to get the puck out of our end, the next game we cannot find the back of the net. Remember we have played 9 of our first 11 on the road. We have two home games this week, 7 of our next 10 are in the Gardens. We have things to sort out."

Brett is hearing that the team is having internal disputes which no one will confirm but more importantly deny.

BARRELL SCORES 18 IN COLONELS WIN AT BOSTON

The collegiate cage campaign tipped off yesterday with preseason tournament action from across the country. There were no major upsets but there was nearly one in the opening game of the eight team Jack Easton Tip-Off Classic in Boston. Noble Jones College, the defending national champions who posted the first-ever perfect season in AIAA history, nearly began the season 0-1 before recovering to nip the Brookland Bears 50-48 in overtime. Charlie Barrell, the three sport star who was the starting quarterback Saturday in the Colonels football loss to Alabama Baptist, arrived in Boston shortly before the 7pm tip-off and it was a good thing he did as Barrell scored 18 points to lead all scorers in the win. The Colonels will play Central Ohio, which had little trouble with Elyria, winning 68-39 in Sunday's tournament opener. The Northern California Miners will face host Commonwealth Catholic in the other semi-final of the Easton tournament, named after 19th century FABL player and long-time college basketball coach Jack Easton, who is credited as the founder of collegiate basketball.

The championship game of the Preseason AIAA tournament will feature Carolina Poly against Lane State. The Cardinals, behind 19 points from freshman guard Charlie Glidewell in his college debut, had no trouble with Garden State in the opening round of the four team event, prevailing 72-43. Clarence Tutt had 25 points to lead the Emeralds to a 73-63 win over Texas Gulf Coast in the other semi-final.

New York City's Tournament of Champions will see CC Los Angeles and Lexington State meet in the title game tomorrow evening. The Coyotes held off Annapolis Maritime 49-34 with Henry Piercy (18 pts) and Tripp Ruby (16) leading the way for the west coast outfit. Kevin Hayes tipped in a rebound with 4 seconds remaining in the game to give the Colonials a 63-62 victory over Detroit City College in the other semi-final.

CANARIES TOP THE POLLS

The Western Iowa Canaries lead the way in the first collegiate basketball top twenty-five ranking of the season. Western Iowa, which won the Great Lakes Alliance conference title and reached the National semi-finals with a 29-4 overall record a year ago, opened their season yesterday with a 58-29 win over the Holland Dutchmen in the opening round of the King of the South tournament.

BIG DECISION LOOMS FOR BARRELL

Charlie Barrell's odds of opting out of the FABL draft for a second time seem to grow more likely every day. In his college basketball debut yesterday Barrell had 18 points as Noble Jones College barely survived to win its opening round game in the preseason Jack Easton Tip-Off Classic in Boston. Barrell had to be exhausted as he took the train overnight from Atlanta after quarterbacking the Colonels football team in another loss -this one by a 24-7 score to Alabama Baptist that drops the Noble Jones College eleven to 1-5-1 on the season.

So football may not be enough of a lure to keep Charlie in school for his senior season but basketball, where he is presently projected to be the third best collegiate player eligible for the 1952 Federal Basketball League draft, may be enough for him to put FABL off for another season. Barrell also opted out of the 1948 draft when he committed to Noble Jones College following his high school career that saw him as a 3-time Prep All-American in baseball but also a highly touted basketball and football recruit. Barrell is also a 2-time All-American collegiate baseball player and was a finalist for baseball's Christian Trophy each of his first two seasons at Noble Jones College. He also helped lead the Colonels to a national cage title and the first undefeated season in college basketball history last spring. He was also recently named to the This Week in Figment Sports preseason All-American basketball quintet.

Barrell will need to decide if he is going to turn pro in baseball, as FABL drafts players as college juniors, or stay one more year at Noble Jones College and be eligible for the pro basketball and football drafts as well. Barring a sensational senior campaign -should he stay- next fall Barrell is not expected to be a viable American Football Association prospect but is already drawing attention from basketball teams including the Detroit Mustangs, who are owned by his uncle Rollie Barrell.

TORONTO TALES

Brett is going to continue his updates on the Toronto professional teams with baseball preparing for 1951, Dukes in the NAHC beginning their 6 month 70 game schedule, and the Falcons about to begin the Federal schedule in which they made it to league final last season.

Tales From the Lair: The Wolves, as with all FABL teams, have established an off-season training center in their spring training facility complete with living quarters for players along with families. A few teams began these team controlled, financed facilities after the war to hasten the progress of their top prospects. Bernie Millard had his staff preparing for this off-season training location immediately after the team headed north in the spring. The center can now accommodate a half dozen player in comfort rather have players doing their own preparation over the winter.

There are already talks and plans being discussed in Toronto, along with other teams. about expanding these facilities if they prove worthwhile in developing players. Some of the Wolves coaches already spend the off-season in their homes near the club's spring facility as Dick Dennis, Johnny Franklin, Lloyd McGowan and Huck Monahan all reside in the area, escaping the winter ravages near Lake Ontario.

Currently housed at the facility are SS John Wells working on his fielding, P Les Ledbetter, P Charlie Zimmerman both working with Franklin on their ability to throw strikes, 1B Tony Balinger is concentrating on trying to improve his power numbers, 3B Pat Todd is being tutored on making contact more often at the plate, Ralph Miller is working on defensive abilities in OF.

All players are excited about the structured way the training is set out. Fred Barrell has already been to the site, he was seen catching both Ledbetter and Zimmerman during one session, He believes that it a big step forward for the club, much better than letting players ad hoc work out their training schedule. It is not known yet if any or all these players will be heading to Camaguey for the Cuban Winter League.

The Wolves are setting plans for their return to respectability in the Continental Association. The team has a lot of work in front of them to reach that goal and Brett expects the team to be active before spring training. The team needs help desperately in the bullpen along with a big bat at the plate. Question is how will they address these two needs. Will it be through development, promotion, or trades?

Tales From the Manor: Jack Barrell's charges are off to a 3-3-2 start in early season action. Six of the first eight games have been away from Dominion Gardens due to some mechanical issues with the ice making plant. The team has not been as sound defensively as fans would expect from a Barrell coached hockey team. So far the Dukes has given up one more goal than they have scored, giving up on average 3 goals per game.

This is not a trademark of a Barrell team, generally goals against is well under 3 per game. The team is being led, as expected, offensively by Quinton Pollack and Les Carlson but need more secondary scoring from the likes of Bobby Sauer and Lou Galbraith, who is goalless so far this season. The other big question is in net. Gordie Broadway has played every minute so far, but can the 36 year old carry that much work over the winter? Charlie Dell, 22, is said to be ready for the NAHC. When will Barrell give Broadway a night off? The Dukes enter November with many questions to be answered for the fans.

Tales From The Nest: The team begins it schedule on November 1 in Chicago against the Panthers. The Falcons, surprising to many as league finalists last season, split their six preseason games. The biggest surprise has been the early return from a ruptured achilles tendon by PG Major Belk. Initial reports were that he not return until early 1951, but Belk looked fine during the tune-up games. Falcon fans should have an exciting team to watch in a contracted 11 team league. With less teams, the league as a whole will be much stronger and there will be no pushovers in the FBL.

• The St. Louis Pioneers vehemently denied recent rumours that manager Cliff Everett was on his way out. Pioneers Assistant General Manager Johnny Robards conceded that he, and the club's new General Manager, were evaluating all on-field staff but insisted that they have given a vote of confidence to the 57-year-old Everett, who joined the club last year after a decade as a coach with the Cincinnati Cannons.
• The Philadelphia Sailors have a new General Manager and one who has enjoyed some recent success. Buzz Barton, 55, who ran the show in Cleveland for each of the past four seasons including pennant winning campaigns the past two seasons, opted not to resign with the Foresters and has joined the Sailors as their head executive. Barton, who was a minor league pitcher in the early 1920s after playing his college ball at Frankford State, got his start as a GM with Austin of the Lone Star Association and won a pair of titles in his decade in that loop. His biggest move in Cleveland was likely the big 1947 deadline deal with St Louis when he sent Hiram Steinberg to the Pioneers for Sherry Doyal.
• The Cuban Winter League rosters should be unveiled in the near future. Opening day for the fifth season of the development league for top FABL prospects is set for two weeks from tomorrow.

RECENT KEY RESULTS

• Halloween had some treats in store for boxing fans as it was a very busy night on the fight calendar with three bouts including former welterweight champion Mac Erickson facing Brian Pierce in Atlanta. It turned out to be a treat for fans of the 24-year-old Pierce, who improved to 18-3 with a surprisingly strong showing in scoring a unanimous decision over the reeling Erickson. Erickson has now dropped 3 of his last four bouts since losing the title to Mark Westlake, which marked the first defeat of the 29-year-olds career.
• In St. Paul, MN., which is the hometown of Erickson, fight fans were treated to a fine showing from top middleweight contender Davis Owens, who ran his record to 24-1 with an 8th round TKO victory over Henry Adler.
• At Chicago's Lakeside Auditorium there was an upset as journeyman Jack Rainey, despite being knocked down twice in the early rounds of their bout, rose to score a majority decision over Bill Boggs in their 10 rounder. Two of the judges gave Rainey a 2-point victory while the third scored the bout even. After being knocked down for the second time in the fifth round, Rainey took over the bout and was a clear winner in each of the final five stanzas.
• Friday night in Boston heavyweight Allen Bailey (45-7-2) claimed a unanimous decision over Steve Case (21-6-3). It marks the fourth straight loss for Case, who had a title shot against Hector Sawyer two and a half years ago.

UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS

• Nov 11- Thompson Palladium, Detroit: Heavyweight Evan Rivers (18-1-3) vs Lyle Wilson (27-8)
• Nov 18- Bigsby Garden, New York: British welterweight Danny Julian (29-2-1) vs Rudy Perry (29-6-1)
• Nov 24- Bigsby Garden, New York: World Welterweight Champion Dale Roy (37-7-1) defends his title against Ira Mitchell (26-5)
• Nov 25- Keystone Arena, Philadelphia: Welterweight contenders Danny Rutledge (21-1-1) vs Mark Westlake (28-7-1)
• Dec 9 - Lake Erie Arena, Cleveland: World Heavyweight Champion Hector Sawyer 64-3-1 defends his title against Brad Harris (19-0-1)

• An attempt was made on the life of President Truman Wednesday with one of his guards shot to death and two others wounded. One of the two gunmen in the two-man plot to assassinate the President was killed by Secret Service agents and the other survived after being shot in the chest. The would-be assassins, both Puerto Ricans, are said to be tied to a revolutionary group that has rioted in Puerto Rico the past week. The survivor denied he was a Communist.
• On Friday, after attending the funeral for the slain Secret Service agent, President Truman warned the American people against committing "national suicide" by election isolationists Tuesday. Truman reiterated his belief that intervention in Korea represented "the greatest step toward world peace that has been taken in my lifetime."
  
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• East Germany's militarized police dug trenches and laid barbed wire at four places near the border of West Berlin.
• The French Defense Minister say the Atlantic pact nations plan to have 40 divisions on "the Western front" in Europe by 1953.
• At an international trade meeting, Russia informed the United States that it is no longer attempting to dominate the world, and at the same time the Soviet delegation expressed an eagerness to work out an agreement whereby it could trade more extensively with the United States. US sources are taking a wait and see attitude to determine if the statements are anything more than Russia trying to maneuver its way out of the box it got into with the Korean war.
• Sweden has a new King as Gustaf VI succeeded his father, 92-year-old King Gustaf V, whose death last week after a reign of nearly 43 years plunged the nation into deepest mourning.
• Higher food prices, perhaps the highest ever, are in prospect for next year according to the US Agriculture Department.
  
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November 13, 1950
 

NOVEMBER 13, 1950

WILD SCRAMBLE SHAPING UP IN AFA AMERICAN CONFERENCE

With only a month of the season remaining, the American Football Association found itself somewhat scrambled up today, with the American Conference playoff berth becoming very murky after a pair of upsets yesterday. The first occurred in Pittsburgh, where the Kansas City Cowboys, led by bruising fullback Mason Matthews, ran all over the host Paladins 24-10, handing the Steel City eleven its first loss of the season. The second happened in St. Louis where the Ramblers were picked apart in the fourth quarter by Los Angeles backup quarterback Charlie Thomas, who threw four touchdown passes in a span of less than ten minutes to propel the Tigers to a 35-28 victory.

The Cleveland Finches, at 7-2 after holding off San Francisco 27-21 yesterday, are now the top dog in the American Conference, but only half game ahead of the 6-2 Cowboys, winners of five straight and suddenly looking like the powerhouse they were in the old Continental loop. Meanwhile, the Ramblers -who seemed in complete control of things just two weeks ago- are now third after back to back losses in Kansas City and yesterday at home to the Tigers.

Speaking of the Tigers, there is even a glimmer of hope for Los Angeles in the National Conference as they are now within 2 games of the front-running Paladins after Pittsburgh was gunned down by the Cowboys yesterday. By a quirk of the scheduling in the first season of a 13 team league, the Tigers and Paladins, despite being division rivals, will not face each other this season but each has three games remaining. Pittsburgh has a home and home series with Washington sandwiched between a trip to Boston while the second place Tigers are on the road against New Orleans and Chicago before ending the season at home against St. Louis.

The American Conference will see the first place Finches host Boston next week and then after a bye week will finish with a home game against Philadelphia and a trip to Boston. Kansas City, which lost to Cleveland early in the season has 4 games remaining: home to New York and Detroit and on the road in Boston and New Orleans. St Louis also has four remaining but three are on the road with stops in Detroit, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The Ramblers lone remaining home contest is two weeks from now against the Wings.

*** Matthews Leading Cowboys Charge ***

The Kansas City Cowboys used to dominate through the air but they have found the ground approach has proven much more successful in the AFA. No wonder when you have a powerfully built bull in the backfield by the name of Mason Matthews. Matthews is more than pure power as the big back has plenty of speed once he hits open field and he proved that at Fitzpatrick Park yesterday with first quarter touchdown runs of 52 and 48 yards to stake the visiting Cowboys to an early lead. In all, the AFA rushing leader this season churned up 124 yards on the ground while also chipping in 84 more on catches from Pat Chappell. Chappell may not be the overwhelming force he was in the CFC but the cagey quarterback still rang up 201 yards passing against Pittsburgh and did not count an interception among his 23 pass attempts. The Paladins have been the class of the AFA up until now and they still have plenty left in the tank, led by an impressive back of their own in John Mecham, who carried the ball 21 times for 154 yards yesterday. One can't help but feel those in attendance may have just be watching a sneak preview of next month's AFA title game.

The St Louis Ramblers have to be wondering what happened. The hosts were up 28-7 in the final minute of the third quarter and Los Angeles quarterback Mark Monday was knocked out of the game. It seemed another certain victory for the Ramblers but someone forgot to tell that to Charlie Thomas. Pressed into action after Monday was injured, all Thomas did was throw 4 touchdown passes in the final 16 minutes of the game, three of them to Rod Hamilton, to lead the Los Angeles Tigers to a 35-28 comeback win and keep their title game hopes alive.

At Forester Field in Cleveland Dane Sutherland and Ben Starry combined on a pair of touchdown passes and the Cleveland Finches, thanks to a late interception in his own endzone by Bill McTigue, held off the San Francisco Wings 27-21. After a slow start the two-time defending league champion Chicago Wildcats extended their winning streak to 3 games as Ricky McCallister passed for 283 yards and two touchdowns while adding an interception and a forced fumble on defense to pace the Wildcats past winless New Orleans 42-7. Long touchdown runs in the final five minutes of the game from Walt Michos an Jackie Charles lifted the Boston Americans to a come from behind 21-10 victory over Philadelphia while in New York the Stars beat Washington by the same 24-13 count that the New Yorkers prevailed by in the Nation's Capital two weeks ago.

TIGERS PATH TO NATIONAL TITLE LOOKS CLEAR

Led by All-American candidates Pete Capizzi and Gene Trickle the Central Kentucky Tigers football squad can see the finish line in its pursuit of the first national title for the Lexington, KY. school in any of the three major school sports. The Tigers still have plenty of work to do but an impressive 21-6 victory over Northern Mississippi on Saturday improved their record to 9-0 and secured their hold on the top ranking. Standing in their way will be a pair of conference games including the crucial showdown with second ranked Cumberland in Knoxville the day after Thanksgiving. Like the Tigers, the Cumberland Explorers are also in search of their first National title in any major sport and it will likely be decided, along with the Deep South Conference title in just under two weeks time during that game.

Capizzi threw two touchdown passes in the Tigers win over the Mavericks on Saturday while at the same time Cumberland was routing Cookeville State by a score of 43-0 to retain the number two ranking in the poll. Central Kentucky should have an easy time next weekend against non-conference opponent Dakota State while Cumberland will need a win over Mississippi A&M next weekend to keep its title hopes alive.

Should both of the Deep South Conference powers stumble a pair of 8-0 schools in Redwood and Lubbock State are waiting in the wings. The Mammoths blasted Spokane State 51-14 but have a pair of tough games on the horizon with visit from Rome State next weekend followed by their annual showdown with Northern California, 13-10 winners over CC Los Angeles Saturday, set to likely decide a berth in the East-West Classic. Lubbock State moved a step closer to claiming the Southwestern Alliance title with a 17-10 victory over Travis College. The Hawks are off next week but could clinch the section title the following weekend with a win over Red River State.

The Great Lakes Alliance crown is on the line next week when Lincoln College hosts Central Ohio. The Presidents blanked Western Iowa 23-0 to improve to 4-0 in GLA play. The Aviators are 4-1 after downing Wisconsin State 20-14. One other result of note over the weekend was Pittsburgh State won its first game of the season. What was notable was who the Finches beat. They edged St. Blane 14-13 as the Fighting Saints have hit rock bottom and at 2-3-2 are in the midst of their worst season in ages.

MOTORS OVERTAKE SLUMPING VALIANTS

After finishing October on a seven game unbeaten streak the Montreal Valiants have had their struggles once the calendar flipped to November. The Vals have just one win to show for five outings this month and count a pair of low scoring losses to the Detroit Motors among their November woes. The Motors, after back to back wins over Montreal and Chicago on the weekend, find themselves in the unusual position of looking down at everyone else in the standings. Detroit, which missed the playoffs a year ago, is a point ahead of second place New York in a very tight battle for top spot in the loop.

The Shamrocks are about the only team that has had success against Detroit in the early going and the New Yorkers have dominated their Motor City foes, winning all 3 meetings between the two. Detroit is 0-3 against the Shamrocks but 8-1-1 against the rest of the NAHC.

New York 3 at 2 Detroit: The Shamrocks improved to 3-0 against Detroit this season with a 3-2 victory secured by third period goals from Simon Savard and Jocko Gregg after the Motors had taken a 2-1 lead in the opening twenty minutes.
Chicago 1 at 1 Toronto: Max Ducharme's first period powerplay goal held up until six minutes into the third when Quinton Pollack, with his 7th of the campaign, evened things for the Dukes.

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 9

Boston 5 at 2 Montreal: Tommy Hart scored once and added two assists while the Bees outshot the Vals 40-23 in a 5-2 Boston victory. Backup Brad Carter got the start for the hosts in place of Tom Brockers.

Montreal 0 at 2 Detroit: Millard Touhey shut out his former club as the Valiants fell for the third time in four games. Defenseman Spencer Larocque scored the opening goal for Detroit in the second stanza and assisted in Vincent Arsenault's third period insurance marker.
Toronto 3 at 1 Boston: The Dukes have earned at least a point out of six of their last seven games after Quinton Pollack scored twice -his 8th and 9th of the season- to lead Toronto past Boston 3-1.
New York 0 at 1 Chicago: Wes Burns scored his first goal of the season, assisted by his brother Tommy, and that was enough for Norm Hanson, who stopped all 27 Greenshirts shots in a 1-0 Chicago victory. It was just the second win in 13 games this season for the Packers

Chicago 1 at 2 Detroit: Gil Corbeil scored twice and Millard Touhey stopped 20 of 21 Chicago shots in a 2-1 victory for the Motors, which moved them to the top of the NAHC standings.
Boston 1 at 4 New York: Orval Cabbell scored twice while Jim Macek and Simon Savard each had a goal and 2 assists in the Shamrocks 4-1 win over the visiting Bees.
Montreal 3 at 3 Toronto: Trevor Parker's goal midway through the third period allowed Toronto to salvage a point in a 3-3 draw with Montreal. The Valiants outshot the Dukes 37-24 but veteran Toronto netminder Gordie Broadway had a strong game between the pipes.

DUKES STRUGGLE BACK TO .500

The Toronto Dukes went undefeated for the week, although it was only one win and two ties to now sit at 4-4-6 in fourth place.

On Wednesday night 13,654 were treated to quite a display of tending goal by Gordie Broadway and Ned Hanson in a battle against the Chicago Packers. Broadway faced 27 shots only getting beat once when Max Ducharme's wrist shot on the power play lit the lamp behind the Dukes cage just past the five minute mark of period one. The Packers would enjoy 4 more man advantages during the game with no success. Toronto again had lots of chances to beat Hanson, who turned aside 31 of 32, but only Pollack, with his 7th of the season, beat him in the third in a 1-1 tie. The Dukes seemed to step up their hitting game doling out 31 during the game. Every Packer player knew a hit was coming when they touched the puck.

Into Denny Arena for the third time this season to face the Bs on Saturday night. These two teams played their regular game: tight checking, hard hitting with no quarter given by either team. All four goals of the game were scored in the middle period. Dukes got 3 of the 4 including 2 more by Pollack along with Bobby Sauer's 2nd of the season in a 3-1 win. It again was chippy affair with stick penalties galore. Broadway outdueled Oscar James in the Boston net for his 4th win of the season. Broadway has played every minute in the Dukes crease leaving fans still awaiting Charlie Dell's NAHC debut.

Back home Sunday to host the high flying Vals from Montreal. If the fans thought that this would be a game for Dell were probably glad Barrell did not start him. The Dukes brought out their hitting game again but were not able to slow the visitors. Broadway was spectacular in net making 34 saves in a 3-3 tie. Dukes again came from behind in the third to tie the game on a goal from Trevor Parker, who was sent alone by Pollack on Brad Carter with less than ten minutes remaining in the game.

Coach Barrell- "Better week defensively, but we are really snake bit with the puck. I cannot tell how may times this season I have said "That's in" only to have a pad, stick, or glove rob one of our shooters. I am a little concerned that we still have given more goals than we have scored even with Gordie stopping better than 9 of 10 shots. He has stopped over 400 pucks in only 14 games. The offense will come, we have too many natural goal scorers to be denied going forward. We do need some secondary scoring. We will work on few new offensive zone wrinkles this week in practice. We usually spend very little time working on attacking zone plays, it seems to be time to change that philosophy."

ROCKETS BLAST TO TOP OF WESTERN DIVISION

The Rochester Rockets are certainly enjoy life in the Western Division of the Federal Basketball League. It is very early of course, but the Rockets -who finished 7th in a crowded and talented Eastern Division a year ago- are off to a 3-1 start after switching allegiances to the Western group this time around.

The Rockets opened the season against new regional rivals Buffalo and Toronto and came away with three wins in four outings against their new division mates. The opened in Buffalo and rookie Carl Casswell used that evening to prove that there was far more than just Luther Gordon to come out of last year's draft. The second overall selection, an All-American at Lane State, was overshadowed by the larger than life Gordon in college and on draft day, but he scored 19 points and added 10 boards in his pro debut to help the Rockets past the Brawlers 84-74. Rochester fell to league finalists Toronto in the Rockets home opener at the Rochester Auditorium but responded with wins over Buffalo and Toronto to end the week and find themselves leading the west.

Gordon, who may have been the most anticipated debut in FBL history, did not disappoint in his first pro game. The two-time collegiate player of the year had 15 points and 18 rebounds but it was hardly enough as his Chicago Panthers were tamed 80-60 by the Philadelphia Phantoms. The Panthers began with 4 straight losses before finally getting in the win column with a 98-75 victory over Buffalo yesterday, a game in which Gordon -who leads the FBL in scoring average after two weeks as a pro- had 32 points. That was not even Gordon's high water mark as the former Liberty College star had 35 in a loss to Toronto earlier in the week.

LIBERTY COLLEGE WINS WEST COAST CLASSIC

They are certainly not the Liberty College Bells teams of recent years. The ones that relied on either Ward Messer or Luther Gordon, who claimed 3 Barrette Trophy's as AIAA national player of the year between them. No one will ever mistake Kenny Pieper, the senior tasked with taking over as the Bells big man in the middle after six seasons of Messer and Gordon carrying the mail, as an All-American candidate but Pieper and the Bells are off to an impressive 4-0 star in this new era thanks to hard work and a much more balanced game.

The Bells went to California to start the post-Gordon era came back with some hardware in the form of a West Coast Classic preseason tournament title. They opened the 8-team field with an impressive 57-36 victory over host Redwood University in a game that saw 3 Bells score in double figures with guard Billy Phillips and forward Ole Avery leading the way with 14 each. Avery took charge of the offense once more with a game high 13 points in a 52-44 win over Hampden in the second round. The tournament final put them up against Mississippi Tech and it was Pieper who displayed some of the skills he may have absorbed watching Messer and Gordon over the past three seasons as the senior, who had never started a game before the West Coast Classic, scored a career best 20 points in a 56-48 victory over the Cougars.

Before returning home with the championship trophy the Bells made a quick stop in New Jersey where, despite looking tired from their cross-country trek, the Bells beat Sadler 54-50 with yet another player stepping up to lead the offense. That would be Bernie Stainbrook, a sophomore who is also new to the starting lineup. Stainbrook, who played sparingly and averaged just a point a game a year ago, had a career best 16 to lead the charge against the Bluecoats.

With a schedule that includes just a pair of teams presently ranked in the top 25, the Bells may just get enough wins to start their new era with another berth in the tournament that matters most and keep a streak of AIAA tournament appearances that goes back to 1934 alive.

NO PERFECT SEASON FOR COLONELS THIS TIME

Noble Jones College will not duplicate its perfect season - a first in the four-and-a-half-decade history of AIAA basketball- after the Colonels lost to Central Ohio in the second round of the Jack Easton Tip-Off Classic. They needed overtime to beat lightly regarded Brookland in the opening round and were simply overwhelmed by a deep Aviators attack that saw four members of the Great Lakes Alliance squad hitting double-digits in points led by sophomore Lee Woolridge's 18 in a 67-59 Aviators victory. Charlie Barrell, who was back at guard after playing forward in the opener, led the Colonels scoring parade for the second game in row with 15 points.

The Colonels did hang around New England after being eliminated from the Boston tournament, nipping host Commonwealth Catholic 61-59 after Carlton Hicks scored the winning bucket late in the game. Hicks had 14 points while sophomore Jim Graybeal led the way with 19 for the Colonels, who dip from 6th in the opening AIAA poll to 11th this week.

MAJESTICS TOP CANARIES IN SOUTHERN TOURNAMENT FINALE

The King of the South proved to be from the west coast as Rainier College wore down Western Iowa 44-40 in the championship game of the Atlanta tournament that saw a pair of top ranked teams square off. The Majestics, behind 15 points from T.J. Grimm and 10 from Don Higgins won a tight defense struggle over the Great Lakes Alliance reigning champions. Darryl Baugher, a preseason All-American candidate, led Western Iowa with 9 points and 10 rebounds.

The Majestics dominated the opening round game of the 4-team field, blasting Central Maryland 81-36 behind 22 points from Grimm and 16 from Doc Daniels. Western Iowa had an equally easy time with Holland, dumping the Dutchmen 56-39 with Baugher, Leo Beck and Dick Landry all reaching double figures in points. The Majestics are number one in the current collegiate poll with the Canaries falling to 9th with the loss to Rainier College after being number one a week ago.

WINTER LEAGUE ROSTERS UNVEILED

Opening pitch in the Cuban Winter League looms closer with the news today of the rosters for each of the eight teams that will compete beginning next week for the title in the fifth season of the loop. FABL clubs partner up with one Federal Association team and one Continental Association club each providing prospects to one of the eight Cuban organizations. There were a few changes in the partner agreements this time around but the same eight Cuban clubs will compete to dethrone the Manzanillo Palms, who won the East Division for the third time and finally beat the Havana Sharks for the league title. The Sharks had claimed three of the four previous West Division titles and won the first two Cuban Championship games.

Here is a look at some of the top FABL prospects on each of the eight Cuban entries this winter:

EASTERN DIVISION

Camaguey Coyotes: (Boston & Brooklyn)-The Boston Minutemen have the top farm system in FABL these days and many of those top prospects will be on display in Cuba over the next couple of months including OSA's #1 overall Rick Masters. OSA pegs Masters as FABL ready in 1952 so this will be a good test for him and fellow 20-year-old top ten prospect Joe Kleman. The shortstop's doubleplay partner will be another highly touted Minutemen prospect in Marshall Thomas, a 22-year-old second baseman who will likely get a good look in spring training from the Minutemen. There is also outfielder Danny Taylor but the 23-year-old who is also a top twenty OSA prospect appears likely to play first base in Camaguey. The big name for Brooklyn fans to watch is Jackson Scott, a 25-year-old lefthander who had a brief taste of big league action in 1949.

Holguin Hawks: (Keystones & Sailors)- 1948 fifth overall selection Buddy Miller is a top twenty OSA prospect and the centerfielder will be looking to make a good impression on the Keystones after enduring some struggles at Class A last season. George Reynolds and Gordon McDonald are both former first round picks by the Philadelphia Sailors. Reynolds made his big league debut last season.

Manzanillo Palms: (Gothams & Stars)- 18-year-old Earl Howe, the Gothams top prospect, is not here but likely will be next season. Gothams fans will still want to keep an eye on their other prize youngster. That would be 23-year-old third baseman Hank Estill, a 1948 first rounder, who spent last season in Class A but looks to have a very bright future, and may even challenge for a job with the defending Federal Association pennant winners next season. The other name to watch is Chief Lewis. The 24-year-old outfielder hit .343 after a late season promotion and started all 7 WCS games for the Gothams. For the Stars, keep an eye on top seventy prospects Gene Curtis and Paul Anderson. Curtis is a 20-year-old third baseman who will likely be forced to play shortstop because of Estill's presence while Anderson is a 24-year-old lefthander.

Santiago Scorpions: (Cincinnati & St Louis)- The Cannons had plenty of success when affiliated with Havana but now move to Santiago. There is some pretty good talent coming along including second baseman Nick Remillard and outfielder Max Conrad. The other Cannons prospect to watch is Tommy Allenby. The third overall selection in 1946 is best known as the player the Detroit Dynamos drafted after they traded away the right to select John Stallings. Allenby never found his way to the Motor City and was dispatched to Cincinnati in the Adam Mullins deal a year and a half ago. He had a ton of potential out of high school but, so far at least, has failed to live up to it. For St Louis, a team desperate for offense at the big league level, it is actually a pitcher we are most interested in following. That would be Ralphie Spires, who is now 25 years old and maybe showed signs of being a late bloomer with a strong season at AAA Oakland last year. Also watch for 1947 second round pick George Atkins to show what he can do. The 21-year-old centerfielder spent some time in Santiago two years ago and made his big league debut for the Pioneers in September, hitting a respectable .281. He is ranked #4 by OSA and the Pioneers are hoping he can help fans forget that the club dealt Sherry Doyal to the Cleveland Foresters.

WESTERN DIVISION

Cienfuegos Crocodiles: (Chiefs & Cougars)- The two Chicago clubs combined on the 1948 Western Division championship squad; the only time Havana failed to win the division. The focus here will be squarely on Bob Allen as the 22-year-old Cougars pitching phenom makes his first appearance in Cuba and is looking to prove to Cougars brass that they need to make a place for him on a loaded big league pitching staff. 22-year-old centerfielder Jerry Smith is another Cougars top ten prospect and a 1947 first rounder. He debuted at AA midway through last season and will be watched closely in Cuba. Rod Shearer heads the list of Chiefs prospects as the 22-year-old outfielder, who was a second round pick in June and hit .412 in a brief September stint in the Windy City, will be one to keep an eye on. Shearer is listed #3 on the latest OSA prospect report. The top Chiefs pitching prospect on the club will be Bobby Crooks, a second round selection 1949 who is just 19 years old and slides in near the bottom of the OSA top 100.

Havana Sharks: (Detroit & Toronto)- Under a partnership between Detroit and Cincinnati the Sharks enjoyed great success with 3 division titles and a pair of pennants in the past four years but the Cannons have switched their base to Santiago and the Toronto Wolves have taken over. There is some talent in this group but maybe a lack of depth. The high end names are shortstop John Wells, who made his debut at 19 with the Wolves last summer and will be concentrating on improving his work in the field. Les Ledbetter is, like Wells, a former first overall draft pick but development has been slower than the Wolves have hoped for from the 22-year-old who struggled in AAA last season. Detroit provides a trio of highly touted pitchers led by Cuban loop veteran Fred Washington, who made his FABL debut in September, and also includes 18-year-old Beau McClellan. 21-year-old third baseman Jim Gaiter looked very good as a late season callup at third base by the Dynamos and he will play regularly for the Sharks.

Matanzas Buccaneers: (Montreal & Pittsburgh)- The Miners rebuild is coming along and three of their prize prospects will be on display for the Buccaneers. They include outfielders Roy Snedden and Bill Newhall and first baseman George Scott, each of whom is listed in the twenties on the OSA prospect pipeline. The big name for Montreal fans is Ted Coffin, a 1944 first rounder who made his big league debut on the mound for the Saints in September.

Santa Clara Stallions: (Cleveland & Washington)- It will be interesting to see if Dick Greenhalgh can dominate in this league. The 24-year-old is making his third appearance in Cuba and has pitched in Washington each of the past two seasons. The Eagles are desperately hoping he takes a big step forward this season and Cuba would be a great place to start. The Foresters, winners of the last two Continental Association flags, are loaded with youth at the big league level but there is even more on the way including outfielders Joe Wood and Stump Patterson, both top 25 OSA prospects. Keep an eye on George Brown, a 24-year-old first baseman whose path to the big leagues is likely blocked by Lorenzo Samuels but had a breakout season in AAA with 22 homers and may draw some interest on the trade market if there is no room for him with the Foresters.

TALES FROM THE LAIR

Selections Made For Players Going to Cuba :The Toronto Wolves have announced the players that will be going to the Cuban Winter League to further their development. The Wolves have changed their partner along with location for this season beginning the third week of November. Prior to this season the Wolves have shared a team in Camaguey with Boston Minutemen. Now they will partner with the Detroit Dynamos on a club based in the capital, Havana, on a team known as the Sharks. The players who will be members of the Sharks from the Toronto system are:

Tony Ballinger 1B- He has been working on his power stroke in Florida after being a September callup. He will probably play in 1951 at Buffalo given the fact McCormick will return to the Wolves. At 23 he projects to be the 1B going forward in Toronto.

Roy Demonbreun 2B- After being acquired in a trade with the Kings in '47 he has been a good fielding at 2B. 3B player with a lackluster bat. A bit of a surprise selection Demonbreun is rumoured to be going to the OF to improve his versatility, this will be a big test for his future.

Ralph Miller OF- Draft in the fifth round in June Miller has had a very impressive start to his pro career. Cruised through three levels during the summer. Hit .409/.533/1.000 in just 6 games in Alabama before heading to Vancouver where 17 games was enough for a move to Davenport after slashing .315/.479/.463. He proved he could hit a A ball putting up .315/.431/.476 in 40 games. He is destined for Chattanooga to start next spring at AA.

Bob Mills OF- Another selection that was bit of a surprise, Mills has been in the organization since being taken 288th in the 1945 draft. He has yet progress past A ball although he shown both a good glove and bat. Brett thinks this signals that the Wolves scouting staff has convinced the GM that Mills should move up the organization.

John Wells SS- Enough has been written about Wells. The Wolves made an "on paper" roster move with Wells transferring to the Buffalo roster to insure he could go Cuba for a second winter.

Cal Yeager C- A first round pick in 1944 Brett fells that this is an audition for the backup role behind Harry Pomeroy. At 24 Yeager will battle Randy Hendrix in the spring for trip to Toronto.

Lou Burrows P- This will be his second trip to Cuba the first being in 1946. Burrows, like Mills, is probably playing for a spot on the 40-man roster as he eligible in Rule 5.

George Carter P- Part of the Hal Wood trade to the Cougars last summer Carter was impressive in Buffalo. Another 24 year old general consensus is that he will probably at least start next summer in Buffalo.

Les Ledbetter P- Another player who has received plenty of ink in the Mail & Empire Brett is told that he may start in the bullpen. Could this be a pathway to Toronto as a fireman in the dumpster fire 'pen at Dominion Stadium?

Charlie Zimmerman P- Another deadline acquisition Zimmerman was selected 34th in 1948. An impressive winter along with ST could see him in Toronto next summer.

Brett has also been told the Wolves are considering a number of players that may be designated for assignment therefore removed from the 40-man roster, Winds of change are blowing in Toronto


RECENT KEY RESULTS

• A quiet week with only one fight of moderate note. That would be in Detroit where Evan Rivers, a 21-year-old from Oklahoma, ran his record to 17-1-3 with a unanimous decision over Lyle Wilson

UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS

• Nov 18- Bigsby Garden, New York: British welterweight Danny Julian (29-2-1) vs Rudy Perry (29-6-1)
• Nov 24- Bigsby Garden, New York: World Welterweight Champion Dale Roy (37-7-1) defends his title against Ira Mitchell (26-5)
• Nov 25- Keystone Arena, Philadelphia: Welterweight contenders Danny Rutledge (21-1-1) vs Mark Westlake (28-7-1)
• Dec 2 - Vancouver, BC: Canadian heavyweight Ken Yetman (19-2-5) vs Bruce Kendall (9-9
• Dec 9 - Lake Erie Arena, Cleveland: World Heavyweight Champion Hector Sawyer 64-3-1 defends his title against Brad Harris (19-0-1)
• Dec 16- Cincinnati, OH: British heavyweight Ben Budgeford (22-3) vs contender Lewis Jones (23-3-1)
• Dec 19- Thompson Palladium, Detroit: Rising Detroit born heavyweight Joey Tierney (21-0) faces Dick Martin (20-12-3)
• Dec 20- Dominion Gardens, Toronto: Canadian middleweight champ Kevin Rawlings (25-6) defends his national title against Larry Barry (22-9-1)
• Dec 22- Flatbush Gardens, Brooklyn: Italian middleweight Hugo Canio (18-1-2) faces Denny Palmer (29-9)
• Dec 23- Baltimore, MD: welterweight contenders Willis May (25-7-2) and Heinie Verplanck (21-6-1) meet.
• Dec 23- Los Angeles, CA: unbeaten welterweight Ben Burns (18-0) faces ring veteran Steve Landry (46-19-4)

• Hot contests in the big population States brought out a heavy early vote and pointed to a record pileup of ballots. When the dust settled the Democrats barely held the Senate 49-47. The Democrats will continue to control the House of Representatives despite Republican gains of at least 25 seats.
• In his victory speech, Republican Senator Taft of Ohio, demanded a thorough look at American commitments to defend Western Europe. Taft said one question to be answered is whether Western Europe "can really be defended" against Russian atomic attacks which might destroy ports and cut off American armies from their supplies.
• The United States has called for the United Nations Security Council to require the Mao Tze-Tung regime of Red China to withdraw its forces from Korea. This after Gen. MacArthur formally reported to the Council that Chinese Communist troops had crossed into Korea and were fighting UN troops.
• China's increased presence in Korea gave Wall Street a bad case of war nerves as stock prices took a heavy plunge and major commodities for future delivery shot ahead on the Nation's various exchanges.
• As the week drew to a close, Korean fighting fronts were ominously quiet as attention shifted to diplomatic fronts. The UN Security Council has asked China to respond to charges of throwing tens of thousands of troops into the war in its final stages and those troops seemed to have pulled back to await further orders.
• Tibet has appealed to the United Nations for aid and intervention against the invading Chinese Communists.
• Japan is being quietly rearmed by America to meet the challenge of Communist expansion in Asia.
  
  https://i.imgur.com/3NSaGI7.jpeg

November 20, 1950
 

GAME OF YEAR!
CENTRAL KENTUCKY AND CUMBERLAND DUEL FOR NATIONAL TITLE

College football fans could not ask for much more than the showdown that looms in Knoxville next week when #2 ranked Cumberland hosts #1 Central Kentucky in the game that will decide the national title. While some, especially those in Texas, might complain that 9-0 Lubbock State has had the more difficult schedule, the winner of Saturday's game between the 10-0 Tigers and 9-0 Explorers will surely be crowned champion of the 1950 grid campaign. There will be a few straggling games in December and of course the Classic contests on and around New Year's Day but the final Top Ten poll will be released at the conclusion of next weekend's contests.

Central Kentucky ran its perfect win total to 10 with a 52-0 laugher over Dakota State in a game that saw Tigers quarterback Pete Capizzi throw five touchdown passes and run for a sixth -all in the first half- to likely cement the junior's status as an All-American selection. The Brooklyn, NY native established a new national collegiate record with 23 touchdown passes this season. Cumberland had a much tougher time against Deep South Conference rival Mississippi A&M but the Explorers prevailed by a 16-3 count setting the stage for next weekend's showdown. Neither school has ever won a national championship in any of the three major team sports.

In other action the Lubbock State Hawks moved up one spot to #3 in the polls without taking the field. The 9-0 Hawks had the week off but were boosted to #3 when Redwood University lost for the first time this season. The Mammoths fell 31-16 to Rome State in a game that left the players and some 40,000 fans on the west coast soaked by a steady downpour. Their slim national title hopes dashed, Redwood now must turn its attention to ending Northern California's two year hold on the West Coast Athletic Association's berth in the East-West Classic. The Mammoths are 5-0 in section play while the Miners, who beat San Francisco Tech 26-7 in a non-section matchup Saturday, are 4-0-1. The winner of the game in Sacramento next Saturday will win the conference title.

Central Ohio moved a step closer to punching its ticket for Santa Ana on New Year's Day as the Aviators beat Lincoln 14-6 in a showdown between the top two teams in the Great Lakes Alliance. The Aviators still have work to do as they need to either beat Detroit City College next Saturday or see the Presidents stumble in Minnesota against St. Magnus. Detroit City College saw its hopes for a section title extinguished with a 19-17 loss to the Vikings on Saturday.

Academia Alliance outfit Sadler remained perfect as the Bluecoats ran their record to 8-0 with a 26-6 victory over George Fox University. Sadler, ranked 4th in the latest collegiate poll, completes its season next weekend against Grafton.

COWBOYS TOPPLED AT HOME, FINCHES & RAMBLERS WIN

The Kansas City Cowboys brief moment at the top of the American Football Association's American Conference was short-lived as Pat Chappell and the Cowboys offense picked the most inopportune time to take a day off and were dominated by a suddenly inspired New York Stars defense in a 16-3 victory before 15,000 disbelieving fans at tiny Packer Park. The loss, in a game where the vaunted Kansas City offense accumulated just 99 yards, leaves the Cowboys hopes of reaching the AFA title game in grave danger.

Give the football Stars defense its due, and the New York team has been much different from the club that began the season with 4 losses in its first five games. The Stars have now won each of their last four games and boast a defense that is perhaps only surpassed by the St Louis Ramblers.

How dominant was that defense on this day? Pat Chappell, the star of the old Continental loop and considered by many to be the best quarterback in the game the last four years, threw more interceptions (2) than completed passes (1) in the opening half and finished the day with just 25 passing yards. Mason Matthews, the AFA rushing leader this season, had one big run - a 26-yard carry in the opening quarter but would gain just 23 yards the rest of the game. The Cowboys managed just 6 first downs all afternoon and their only score - a 22 yard field goal just before the half was only made possible because the Stars fumbled on their own 20-yard line three plays before. It was only fitting the game ended with Chappell being tackled in his own end zone for the final two New York points of the afternoon.

The New York offense was hardly world beaters, but it did benefit from a first period draw play on a 3rd and nine that Dan Cole broke for a 69-yard touchdown to open the scoring and a 50-yard inside run late in the third quarter from Andy Durante that set up the second Stars touchdown.

With the loss the Cowboys five game winning streak disappears and more importantly their record dips to 6-3, putting them in third place in the American Conference with three games remaining. The front runners are now the Cleveland Finches, looking to return to the title game for the first time since they won the championship three years ago.

The Finches ran their record to 8-2 with a 48-10 drubbing of Boston at Forester Field in a game that was over nearly before it began. Cleveland's first three drives resulted in touchdowns and the Finches led 35-0 at the break. They added two more third period scores to go up by 48 before calling off the dogs and allowing the Americans to finally get on the scoresheet. Ben Starry had 7 catches, including 3 scoring grabs, for 125 yards to lead the Cleveland offense.

St Louis is 6-2-1 and perhaps still has a faint hope of derailing the Finches but the Ramblers looked resigned to the fate of a team that will miss the title game after an uninspired, albeit winning effort in a 6-0 victory over Detroit. Tom Berryman's two field goals handled all the scoring at Thompson Field despite the fact that the Ramblers had numerous chances to put the ball in the end zone. Twice St Louis had promising drives snuffed out by turnovers including an opening quarter march that came up short when Berryman coughed up the ball on the Detroit ten yard line and a six-minute foray that ended when Berryman overshot receiver Dave Smith in the Detroit endzone and instead the ball found its way into the hands of Detroit defender Henry Mills. The Ramblers got away with mistakes against Detroit that teams do not get away with against quality opposition.

Continental Conference leading Pittsburgh had the day off to lick the wounds suffered when they absorbed their first defeat a week ago, falling to Kansas City. That gave the second place Los Angeles Tigers a chance to creep closer and the Tigers moved to within a game and a half of the leaders with a 41-21 victory in New Orleans. Mark Monday, who was knocked out of the game last week with an injury, returned for the Tigers and had a field day against a defense he knew well from his CFC days with the Buffalo Bulls. The new Tigers quarterback threw for 288 yards and a pair of touchdowns with Rod Hamilton once more being his favourite target. Hamilton, who leads the AFA in receiving yardage adding 130 to his total on 6 catches including his league best 11th touchdown grab of the campaign.

Elsewhere Greg LePage bulled his way for 116 yards on the ground but it was not enough as his Philadelphia Frigates fell 23-17 at home to Washington. The Wasps scored the final 13 points of the game on a pair of Bob Krohn field goals sandwiched around a 5-yard Krohn to Gus Thompson scoring pass. The two-time defending champion Chicago Wildcats are working their way back to respectability after winning for the fourth straight Sunday. This one was a 28-7 victory at home over San Francisco keyed by George Meyer. The back ran for two touchdowns, caught a 4-yard scoring pass from Ricky McCallister and had a 55-yard interception return to account for 24 of the Wildcats 28 points on the day.

Looking ahead to next week the big games are in Washington and St Louis. The Paladins can move a step closer to securing their first trip to the AFA title game since 1938 with a win in the nation's capital while the Ramblers need a victory at home over San Francisco to keep their slim chances of catching Cleveland alive. The Finches have the bye next weekend.




Detroit 1 at 2 Toronto : Luke Brisebois scored his first of the season, on the powerplay, early in the third period to lift the Dukes to a 2-1 win over Detroit. Lou Galbraith gave Toronto the early lead when he beat Detroit netminder Millard Touhey just 24 seconds into the game but Graham Comeau evened things for the Motors in the second period. The game marked the debut of Toronto rookie goaltender Charlie Dell and the 22-year-old was more than up to the task, turning aside 37 of the 38 shots he faced.

New York 4 at 3 Montreal: Jocko Gregg scored a pair of first period goals to help pace the Shamrocks to a 4-3 victory over the Montreal Vals. The win temporarily moved New York to the top of the NAHC standings, a point up on Detroit.
Chicago 6 at 6 Boston: A wild penalty filled contest that saw David Rankin and Tommy Brescia each score twice for the Packers while Craig Simpson, Garrett Kauffeldt and Jacob Gron all had two goal games for Boston.

New York 2 at 3 Detroit :The Motors snapped a 3-game losing streak against New York thanks to a 3-2 victory on home ice that put the Motors back in first place. Nick Tardif, Adam Vanderbilt and Francis McKenzie where the Detroit goal scorers while Robert Sharpley and Jim Macek were the New York lamplighters.
Montreal 2 at 1 Boston : First period goals from Brett Lanceleve and Jimmy Backus held up as Tom Brockers made 30 saves in a 2-1 Montreal victory.
Toronto 1 at 0 Chicago : Gordie Broadway was the difference with a 40 save shutout to carry Toronto to a 1-0 road win. Norm Hanson was nearly as good in the Chicago cage, with only Trevor Parker's first period powerplay goal eluding the Packers netminder.

Chicago 1 at 3 Detroit : Another loss for the Packers who fall to 2-12-3 on the season. Brock Ternovatsky, Spencer Larocque and Ben Witt scored for Detroit while Chris Broeke had the lone Chicago marker.
Boston 6 at 1 Montreal : For the second time in 3 games the Bees score six times in a game. Last time was only good enough for a tie but this one was a convincing 6-1 victory as the Bees were all over Montreal backup netminder Brad Carter, who got the call to spell Tom Brockers. The slumping Valiants have won just one of their last six games.
New York 3 at 3 Toronto : Third period goals from Maurice Charette and Bobbie Sauer less than two minutes apart lifted the Dukes to a 3-3 tie with the Shamrocks and leaves the two clubs tied for second with 19 points, two shy of the front-running Detroit Motors. The Dukes are hitting their stride, unbeaten in their last six and have lost just once in their last 11 outings.

TORONTO STRETCHES UNBEATEN STREAK TO SIX ON THE ICE

The Dukes ran their streak of games without a loss to six with 2 wins along with a deadlock over the past week.

Action started Wednesday night as almost 15,000 crowded into Dominion Gardens on cool night with snow flurries in the air to watch the Dukes take on the league leaders from Detroit. The fans were buzzing when Charlie Dell led the team onto the ice for his first NAHC start after backing up Gordie Broadway for the first 14 games of the season. The crowd's excitement seem to give the Dukes a little extra jump, that was converted into a 1-0 lead when Lou Galbraith deked Millard Touhey on a fine individual effort only 24 seconds after the opening puck drop.

That would be the only goal until Motors' Graham Comeau finally beat Dell from Joe Todd and Ben Witt at 5:53 of the second. The first two periods were fire wagon hockey, up and down the ice with both netminders forced to make saves on many high quality scoring chances. Dell looked not to be phased by the moment repeatedly robbing Motors' shooters. Shots on goal were relatively even through 40 minutes with the visitors holding a 23-22 edge.

Detroit took two penalties early in the third allowing the Dukes to grab a 2-1 lead when Luke Brisebois scored his first of the year on the two-man advantage at 2:49. Toronto then ran into penalty woes being almost constantly shorthanded from the 4:00 minute mark until the period was 12 minutes old. They also killed off a two-man disadvantage for 1:18 thanks in no small part to Dell who made 15 saves in the third to hold on to a 2-1 Dukes win. Motors were 0 for 7 on the power play for the night Dell was given the third star of the game in which many felt he should have skated out first when the 3 stars were named at the conclusion of the game.

Toronto visited Lakeside Auditorium on Saturday to take on the increasing desperate Packers, who are off to miserable start. Many thought that Barrell would go back to Dell against the cellar dwellers from Chicago but Broadway was given the starting assignment. He got all the support he would need when Trevor Parker scored 4:06 in while on the man advantage. Broadway looked like a man on a mission as that was the only goal of the game, he made 40 stops many of which had Chicago players gazing skyward in a 1-0 victory. Ned Hanson was no slouched making 33 saves in the Packers' cage.

Returning to home ice on Sunday afternoon the team dominated puck possession but not he score hosting the Shamrocks. Dukes came back with two in the final 20 to gain a another tie, the team's seventh of the year, 3-3. As hot as Broadway was in Chicago he seemed to battle the puck giving up 3 on only 15 shots. The story of the game was New York's backup goalie Freddy Hubbs, recently recalled from Philly, who stymied the Dukes time and again with seeming miraculous saves. Bobby Sauer managed to beat Hubbs with Jocko Gregg in the sin bin with under 7 minutes to go allowing the Dukes to maintain their unbeaten streak.

Coach Barrell- "We are currently riding a nice streak of getting at least a point in every game but there are many areas in which we need to improve quickly in a substantial way. The two wins we only allowed 1 goal mainly due to the guys in net. We also killed off 13 man disadvantages in those two games, Dell was brilliant against Detroit, Broadway proved he is still top tier in Chicago. Gordie struggled Sunday, that happens, we are now even in goals far, goal against for the year. Only allowing 2 1/2 goals a game is nice, I would have bet we would score more that 2 1/2 a game. Quinton was held off the score sheet two straight games for the first time in a long, long time. I am starting to worry about the lack of goal scoring, I keep telling the team it will come stressing not to cheat on their defensive assignments. I think guys are pressing in the attacking zone, I am more concerned with number of lazy penalties we taking lately for hooking, tripping. The guys have to hustle into position rather than using the stick to make up ground."

SCOUTING THE CUBAN WINTER LEAGUE

Yesterday, here at TWIFS we looked at some of the highest ranked prospects that are making their way to Cuba for this weeks CWL Opening Day. Today, we'll highlight one prospect on each of the eight teams competing for the crown who at print ranks outside the league's top 100 prospect list:
On a team with Danny Taylor, Marshall Thomas, Joe Kleman, and Rick Masters, it can be quite hard to stand out. The Kings are hoping one of their higher ranked prospects is one who can accomplish that tough feat. A 2nd Rounder back in 1944, Scott debuted for the Kings last season, making two starts down the stretch. This year, his entire season was spent in AAA Jersey City, where "Jumpy Jack" was quite effective in 28 starts. He passed the 200 inning mark after coming an out short last year, going 11-8 with a 3.41 ERA (122 ERA+), and his 3.25 FIP (78 FIP-) suggests his ERA should have been even lower. With such impressive numbers, another strong showing in the CWL could push him into the fifth spot in the rotation, as sources close to the Kings organization spoke about a willingness to upgrade over current rotation end Paul Byler (6-6, 5.49, 78) who has had huge control issues. Working in Scott's favor is his experience in the CWL last season, as he made a league high 11 starts (along with one relief outing), going 4-6 with a 4.06 ERA (115 ERA+) and league leading 1.26 WHIP. Scouts like the off-speed pitches in his quality four pitch mix, and in a high offense environment like we've seen in years past, the ability to keep the ball on the ground should help the southpaw find success.
Another team with a ton of high-octane prospects, the combination Chicago team features seven position players and three pitchers in the top 100 prospect list, led by #3 prospect Rod Shearer, #8 prospect Jerry Smith, and the highest ranked pitching prospect (11th overall) Bob Allen. But one of the lesser known guys worth knowing is another Cougar pitching prospect: Jim Williams. Few pitchers had a better 1950 then Williams, who won each of his last nine decisions, allowing three or fewer runs each time out. This dropped his ERA from 2.96 to 2.33 (172 ERA+), finishing 16-6 with 75 strikeouts and a 1.34 WHIP in 209 innings pitched. Williams completed 19 of his 24 starts, including five shutouts and a huge 12 inning complete game where he allowed just a single run on 5 hits and 3 walks. Recently turned 24, the Cougars protected Williams by adding him to the 40-man roster, but the North Siders don't have much room for him on the active roster. The sinker-baller could be a hot commodity on the market if he dominates the CWL like he did the Dixie League. Sitting comfortably in the low-to-mid 90s, Williams excels at producing weak contact, but for really the first time in his pro career he dealt with command problems. He allowed free passes in 11.1% of his plate appearances, his highest mark for a season yet. If he fixes the command, scouts think he could be a back-end starter, and he has a great chance to prove himself down south this winter.
It was a rough 1950 season for Roy Demonbreun. He can make everyone forget about that with a strong winter.

The former 3rd Round pick started the season in AA after an average triple slash in A ball last season (.290/.338/.404; 101 OPS+), but the now 22-year-old looked overmatched. He hit just .229/.296/.287 (59 OPS+), and after 57 games he was sent back down to Class A Davenport. Unfortunately, the former top 100 prospect didn't do much better there, hitting just .223/.303/.371 (74 OPS+), though after no homers with Chattanooga, he deposited three into the seats with the Dusters. Acquired three seasons back in a trade that sent Juan Pomales to the Kings, scouts are still high on "The Devil's Own," who despite the low averages projects to hit above .300. Not .340+ batting title level, but a comfortable .310-.320 type hitter with a good eye who puts the ball in play. Naturally an infielder, with all his time split between second (293, 2,158) and third (162, 1,232), Sharks manager Jack Ferguson has given Demonbreun an outfield glove, asking him to take reps in left with some real talent in the infield. If he can handle the position well, it gives him three plus positions to fit in, and with the struggles an injuries of current Wolves left fielder Hank Giordano (.253, 9), Demonbreun could take over once the bat catches up.
No longer a prospect, the Keystones will be hoping for a strong winter from Red Ellis, who made his debut with Philly this season and appeared in 48 games. Making 154 trips to the plate, Ellis struggled hitting the ball with any authority, slashing just .239/.325/.276 (63 OPS+). It's not every day you see an OBP nearly 50 points lower then slugging, but Ellis had just five extra base hits - all doubles - and with his excellent eye he drew 18 walks (11.7 BB%). It did come with 21 strikeouts (13.6%), but in four less PAs he struck out just 15 times in AAA, which helped contribute to a much better .237/.333/.405 (98 OPS+) batting line. Making contact has been an issue for Ellis, who's known more for his glove then bat, as he has to make better decisions when swinging the bat. It's not so much that he's constantly chasing, but he swings like he thinks he's one of the Keystones big boppers. More reliable as a table setter, he needs to work on putting the ball in play, and with his ability to draw walks even a .260 average could produce an above average WRC+. After moving on from longtime shortstop Frank Davis (.139, 7) midseason, the position is wide open, as Philly will hope the recent 2nd Rounder can wrestle the job away from waiver claim Ted Stacy (.278, 3, 47, 8). A third time selection to the CWL, this is likely the last trip for Ellis, who hit .258/.392/.336 (86 OPS+) in 85 games for the Manzanillo Palms. He did post a 112 WRC+ as a 22-year-old last season, and a similar or better performance could push him to the favorite for the shortstop position next spring. (edited)
Formerly a 2nd Round pick of the Cougars in 1944, Tom Jovin joined the Gothams with former FABL and GWL starter Harl Haines in exchange for two draft picks in 1946. Two years later, he left the Gothams organization when the Detroit Dynamos took him in the Rule-5 draft, but they released him before the season started and he remained in the Gothams organization. Undrafted last season, he'll be eligible again this year, and it may be tough for the Gothams to keep him unprotected if he hits well this winter. The 24-year-old spent most of his time in AA, where he hit an above average .291/.364/.451 (118 OPS+) with 13 homers and 67 RBIs. Along with the one he hit in A ball, he set a new personal best with 14 homers, reaching double digits for just the second time as a professional. Originally not thought of as much of a power threat, Jovin spent each of the last two offseasons working diligently on his strength, and with his pitch recognition skills he's gotten quite good at punishing mistakes. A natural outfielder, he's spent a lot of time recently at first, and that's a position where you need to hit the ball hard to stick. What helps him is he hits the ball hard and on a line, so if he can adjust to tougher pitching, he could be a useful supplemental piece on a stacked Gothams roster.
Very few players selected after the tenth round come close to sniffing a AAA roster, let alone a FABL one. Ray Words is looking to become the exception.

Taken with the 326th pick in the 1944 draft, Words never made more then 200 PAs in a season until 1949, but he crushed those 206 PAs with the Mobile Monarchs this season. Starting with Mobile down in Class B this season, he followed up a 140 WRC+ with a 161 in six fewer PAs, slashing a robust .339/.435/.538 (155 OPS+) with 8 homers and 33 RBIs. That earned him a promotion to A ball, where he hit a more pedestrian .267/.374/.425 (115 OPS+), but after 174 PAs he was on his way up again. Now common sense would expect AA Nashville to be a wake up call for Words, who took almost five seasons to get out of C ball, but insanity prevailed once again. Words' WRC+ shot up from 115 to 142, as the organizational shortstop hit .316/.376/.500 (135 OPS+) with 6 doubles, 4 triples, 5 homers, and 23 RBIs. He finished off his season with a wide variety of counting stats, accumulating 72 runs, 23 doubles, 8 triples, 17 homers, 75 RBIs, 6 steals, and 4.5 wins above replacement. Words spent all his time at short, where he's not the greatest defender, but when you can do all that and maintain a 71-to-42 walk-to-strikeout ratio, it's excused. A move off short may be in the cards, and with Miners shortstop Gary Burgess penciled in at short to start the winter, Words will get a chance at the hot corner. Aside from one out in a AA game at first this year, he's only spent time at short, but when you're this late of a draft pick and this close to the show, you fill in wherever you're asked. Eligible for the Rule-5 draft, a strong winter could get him selected, fulfilling his big league dream that seemed like such a longshot even this day last year.
Taken in the 11th Round last season, Western Florida alum Pete Sipe has quickly risen up both the Eagles system and prospect ranks, finishing in AA as the current 166th ranked prospect. It was a spit season between AA and A for Sipe, where he impressed at both levels. In 80 games with Trenton he hit .287/.372/.483 (139 OPS+) and in 58 with Harrisburg to finish the season he slashed .305/.373/.511 (133 OPS+). The OBP's were almost identical, as in both levels he walked (43, 26) more then he struck out (29, 24). The differences came more in the league's offensive environment, as his AA time saw more singles and doubles while the triples were most common in A ball. Between the stops, he tallied 81 runs, 39 doubles, 16 steals, 13 homers, 78 RBIs, and 15 steals, completing an impressive first full season as a professional. He just turned 23 in September, but there's an outside shot we see him at some point next season in the capital. Sipe is a strong switch hitter who attacks the ball, able to generate solid contact even with subpar swings. He gets good grades in the outfield, and is projected to bat leadoff and man center for the Stallions, who again host the Eagles prospects. Sources in the organization mention Washington is considering moving 5-Time All-Star Rats McGonigle (.266, 31, 109, 8) from center to right, which opens the way for Sipe to make his claim on center. 26-year-old Mickey Holloway (.302, 3) has been a bit below average (91 OPS+, 94 WRC+) at the plate in 189 FABL games, a much easier bar for Sipe to surpass. A lot of that rides on a good winter, but even if he's not on the roster for 1951, he seems like a guy who could force his way into the picture the season after.
The ultimate CWL veteran, Ralphie Spires is set to pitch in four consecutive seasons for the Santiago Scorpions, entering the year 16-13 with 3 saves, a 3.68 ERA (136 ERA+), and 1.38 WHIP in 232.1 innings pitched. His 3.90 FIP (78 FIP-) is well above average too, as he's walked 92 and struck out 101 with 19 homers in 232.1 innings pitched. After pitching in St. Louis for each of the previous two seasons, Spires spent his entire season in AAA despite the struggles of the back of the Pioneers rotation. With the Pioneer's new AAA affiliate, the Oakland Grays who were the class of the now defunct GWL, Spires threw 237.2 innings across 30 starts, going 17-11 with a 3.79 ERA (106 ERA+) and 1.29 WHIP. His 3.21 FIP (79 FIP-) has a FIP- almost identical to his CWL career, as he showcased excellent command in the once again affiliated Great Western League. He struck out 113 batters with just 58 walks, and he earned 5.8 wins above replacement for his overall effort. The top three in the Pioneers rotation seems set, but the back two spots are wide open, and when you have a highly touted prospect like Spires as an option you could be in good shape. While not a fourth ace, he's more of a fourth starter, effectively using his middling four pitch mix on the corners instead of the middle of the plate. If all goes well this winter, I can see him taking the fifth spot behind former 2nd Pick Tom Buchanan (11-14, 4.43, 87), though Ben Fiskars (8-10, 3.49, 85) may have earned a spot with a solid campaign.

COUGARS ADD FORMER WHITNEY WINNER

No, you didn't miss a big trade for Red Johnson or Bill Barrett. Or a smaller trade for Marion Boismenu or Adam Mullins. Or anything else crazy like that.

It's just the Cougars finally filled their first base vacancy!

After missing out on their top targets, the Cougars added former San Diego Conquistadores manager and Cincinnati Cannons bench coach Danny Clark on a 1-year, $5,765 deal. A coach of sixteen seasons, the Cougars will be the seventh team Clark has worked for in his post-playing days, getting his start way back in 1933 as bench coach as the Denver Plainsmen. He didn't coach this year, most recently with the Cannons in 1947 and 1948, but the Charlotte native will return to FABL after a two year absence.

Known best for his time as a player, Clark had a productive 11 year career with the Cleveland Foresters, hitting .308/.362/.446 (121 OPS+) with 236 doubles, 176 triples, 19 homers, 568 RBIs, and 254 steals. A speedy outfielder, Clark played sparingly his first three seasons before surpassing the 300 PA mark as a 26-year-old in 1920. He quickly made an impact, hitting an outstanding .350/.399/.522 (155 OPS+) with 31 doubles, 34 triples, 108 runs, 88 RBIs, 34 steals, and a single homer. Despite just a single longball, his .522 slugging led the Continental Association, as did his 153 WRC+, .419 wOBA, and 7.9 WAR in 142 games. The impressive campaign was awarded with the 1920 Whitney Award, the clear peak and highlight of his FABL career.

Despite never reaching that level of greatness again, Clark was a reliable hitter for the Foresters, producing a WRC+ above 100 in 650 or more PAs for each of the next five seasons. He led the league in PAs (719) and at bats (644) in 1922, just at bats in 1923 (666), and then steals in 1924 (45). Despite hitting .328/.372/.468 (122 OPS+) in 1925, Clark was relegated to a part-time role the next two seasons, and after being outrighted and kept in the minors in 1928, he retired to pursue coaching.

Now with the Cougars, Clark is expected to take the lead on work with the catchers, something he's done quite well with in the past. He doesn't have the best reputation as a base coach, but the Cougars front office will give him a chance to earn a long-term role in the organization. It's hard to replace a quality base coach like Dick Anderson, who spent the past five seasons with Clark's new role in Chicago, but the journeyman coach is reportedly excited for his new opportunity and is ready to prove to the front office that he belongs in the long-term.

• Baseball has its first $100,000 player. Bobby Barrell came close when he was paid $97,000 from the Keystones a couple of years back and Woody Stone bamboozled half the old Great Western League into a bidding war and pocketed $98,000 per season for two years of mediocre baseball with the San Francisco Hawks but the first player to earn six figures in a season will be George Cleaves.
• The 37-year-old catcher may well be worth every penny of the new $103,275 deal he signed for the 1951 campaign with the New York Gothams. Cleaves is coming off a Whitney Award winning season in which he helped the Gothams win the Federal Association flag.
• Unless someone else signs a big deal three of the top four contracts in 1951 will belong to the Gothams with Ed Bowman and Red Johnson each set to collect $81,250. Brooklyn's Ralph Johnson, who at age 26 already owns three Whitney Awards, breaks up the Gothams group with his $83,000 deal.
• Al Miller is getting near the top of the leader boards for the Chiefs. He is currently 2nd in wins, innings pitched, and strikeouts. He needs 8 strikeouts to pass Joe Ballman (1447), and 20 wins to pass Denny Wren (218). He has thrown 490 fewer innings than Wren, so that will take a couple more seasons.
• Denny Wren pitched for the Chiefs from 1915 - 1926. In 1926--the first season of human GMs--Wren was coming off a season in which he led the Fed in wins (24). In July of 1926, he was traded to the Sailors for outfielder Bill Smith. Wren won 30 games over parts of 4 seasons for the Sailors and then won 2 more for the Saints before retiring in 1929.

• The Boston Centurions have higher hopes for the 1950-51 season, but the Cents started the season 0-3. After a win on the road at the National Auditorium against divisional foe Washington, 78-70, Boston has not looked back. The winning streak is now five and the Centurions are tied with Philadelphia and Washington for first place with a 5-3 record. Everyone knows SG Morgan Melcher and he has excelled, scoring 20.1 points a game and adding 10.0 rebounds per contest. But, SF Gerald Carter has been a great number two, as the seven-year Centurion is pouring in 16.1 a game.
• Speaking of new stars, what about PF Millard Caldwell? The forward has been dynamite for the Philadelphia Phantoms and the 26-year-old has been a relative unknown in the pro ranks up until last year. After a rookie season in Cleveland four years ago, he was a part-time bench-warmer in his first two years in Philadelphia. However, when he took hold of a starting spot last season, he did not let go. Caldwell started 38 of 68 games and averaged 15.6 points a game in 1949-50, but he has taken it to another level this season. Caldwell has averaged 23.3 points a game while adding 9.6 rebounds a game. With five-time All-Star Jerry Hubbard and his 11.4 assists per game, Philadelphia has the star power to stick at the top of the East.
• The Western Division has been the Wild West with defense coming at a premium through the first few weeks of the season. Last year's league finalist Toronto leads the way at 6-3 with Rochester (4-2) a half-game behind and Cleveland (4-3) a single game back. All three teams are 1-2-3 in scoring, with Cleveland the only team to top 90 points a game (90.3). Consequently, Toronto (89.3) and Cleveland (86.1) are two of the top three teams in points allowed. Rochester leads the trio in point differential (+8.7 per game) and the Rockets are also 3-0 on the road during the young season.
• Despite leading the West, the Falcons have allowed more points than they have scored, but they have been feast or famine. Toronto started the year 4-0 with four high-scoring games where the Falcons topped 90 points each game, but followed up with a three-game losing spell where they could not break 80 points. The game of the week was this past Thursday night at Dominion Gardens where the Falcons came back from a 14-point halftime deficit in front of the home crowd to defeat Cleveland, 95-94. All Toronto starters were in double-figures, led by Max Lucia's 22 points and four blocked shots.

ROY TO DEFEND WELTER CROWN VS MITCHELL FRIDAY AT GARDEN

World Welterweight champion Dale Roy will return to the ring Friday to make his first title defense since upsetting Mark Westlake to win the belt in June. The 33-year-old Binghamton, NY native will defend his title against Ira Mitchell in what will be Roy's first fight in the boxing mecca that is the Bigsby Garden in more than a year and a half.

Roy, who turned pro in 1936, is 37-7-1 with 22 stoppages as a pro and pulled off a mild upset in defeating Westlake in Detroit in June to claim the crown. It marked the second time in his career that Westlake had held the title only to fall in his first defense. Roy has only lost twice since 1943, when he fell to Westlake. Since then he has gone 22-2-1 with the losses coming to Artie Neal and Mac Erickson.

Mitchell, a 31-year-old Chicago native, is a mild surprise to be getting his second shot at the title -he lost to Harold Stephens in 1948- and is only facing Roy because he scored an upset knockout of Danny Julian at Bigsby Garden in September. Julian, the British star who had been unbeaten entering the bout including wins in his first two fights on American soil, was set to face Roy but plans changed quickly when Mitchell knocked out the Englishman in a dominating performance on September 2.

RECENT KEY RESULTS

• British import Danny Julian, who was expecting to have fought for the world title by now, continues to be exposed by American competition. The 31-year-old stumbled in early September, getting knocked out by Ira Mitchell which set the stage for Mitchell to face world champion Dale Roy next week in the same Bigsby Garden venue that witness Julian lose again last Friday night. Rudy Perry, who once had a title shot when Max Erickson ruled the welterweight division, improved his career mark to 30-6-1 when the Philadelphia born fighter scored a majority decision in an entertaining bout with Julian, who now sports a 29-3-1 mark.

UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS

• Nov 24- Bigsby Garden, New York: World Welterweight Champion Dale Roy (37-7-1) defends his title against Ira Mitchell (26-5)
• Nov 25- Keystone Arena, Philadelphia: Welterweight contenders Danny Rutledge (21-1-1) vs Mark Westlake (28-7-1)
• Dec 2 - Vancouver, BC: Canadian heavyweight Ken Yetman (19-2-5) vs Bruce Kendall (9-9
• Dec 9 - Lake Erie Arena, Cleveland: World Heavyweight Champion Hector Sawyer 64-3-1 defends his title against Brad Harris (19-0-1)
• Dec 16- Cincinnati, OH: British heavyweight Ben Budgeford (22-3) vs contender Lewis Jones (23-3-1)
• Dec 19- Thompson Palladium, Detroit: Rising Detroit born heavyweight Joey Tierney (21-0) faces Dick Martin (20-12-3)
• Dec 20- Dominion Gardens, Toronto: Canadian middleweight champ Kevin Rawlings (25-6) defends his national title against Larry Barry (22-9-1)
• Dec 22- Flatbush Gardens, Brooklyn: Italian middleweight Hugo Canio (18-1-2) faces Denny Palmer (29-9)
• Dec 23- Baltimore, MD: welterweight contenders Willis May (25-7-2) and Heinie Verplanck (21-6-1) meet.
• Dec 23- Los Angeles, CA: unbeaten welterweight Ben Burns (18-0) faces ring veteran Steve Landry (46-19-4)

• The Army issued a call for 40,000 draftees for January, bringing the total draft requests to date this year to 250,000.
• The Secretary of the Treasury proposed an excess profits levy of 75% on corporate earnings as part of a broad tax program for financing the country's retirement program. The proposal set off quite a debate in the House with business interest warning such a tax would be inflationary, unfair and discriminatory against many business
• The Pentagon is said to be seeking an additional $10 billion, which would boost defense spending for the fiscal year ending next June to $35 billion.
• With temperatures hoovering below the freezing mark in North Korea early in the week there are worries that American soldiers may lack sufficient cold-weather clothing.
  
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• The Western powers brought British tanks and American troop reinforcements to Berlin this week and announced they will arm German police in Berlin with submachine guns, noting it was in the interest of security.
• Doctors have announced a new atomic device that may "revolutionize" the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid disease, including thyroid cancer.
• The latest round of strikes is hitting the entertainment industry where television performers have announced they will strike against three of the Nation's biggest television networks, CBS, ABC and the DuMont Television Network.
  
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November 27, 1950
 

CENTRAL KENTUCKY WINS NATIONAL TITLE
TIGERS TIE ON ROAD AT #2 CUMBERLAND

Saturday's showdown in Knoxville between the two collegiate grid squads judged to be the best in the nation lived up to its lofty expectations as Central Kentucky and Cumberland battled to a 21-21 tie. The two teams each remain undefeated with the Tigers named the national champion by the slimmest of margins in the final collegiate grid poll of the year.

Central Kentucky ends its season with a 10-0-1 record and its first national title ever in any major team sport. The Tigers have accepted an invitation to play in the Cajun Classic on New Year's Day in New Orleans with last year's national champion Oklahoma City State expected to provide the opposition. The 9-0-1 Explorers are likely off to the Lone Star Classic but they still have one more regular season game remaining as they face Bluegrass State next Saturday.


As for the game itself, it was a back and forth affair that saw neither team ever lead by more than 7 points. The Explorers did prevent Central Kentucky star quarterback Pete Capilli from adding to his record touchdown pass total for the season, but they were overwhelmed by Gene Trickle, the Tigers other All-American candidate, who spent most of his day on defense in the Cumberland backfield and forced 3 fumbles, two of which led to Central Kentucky touchdowns.

Elsewhere, Northern California blanked rival Redwood 17-0 to win the West Coast Athletic Association title but learned a day later they would not be selected to play in a third straight East-West Classic as the selection committee opted to invite Rainier College, which finished at 5-1-1 in conference play but had tied the Miners earlier in the season. Northern California was then given invitations to several other Classic games but declined them all in protest of the decision to deny them a third straight trip to Santa Ana.

Central Ohio earned the other berth in the East-West Classic after backing into the Great Lakes Alliance crown. The Aviators lost their rivalry game with Detroit City College by a 15-13 score but finished at the top of the GLA because Lincoln also lost, falling 13-10 to St. Magnus on a late field goal.

RAMBLERS LOSS PAVES WAY FOR CLEVELAND TO WIN AMERICAN DIVISION

The St Louis Ramblers hopes of making their first ever appearance in the American Football Association championship game flew out the window yesterday after the struggling squad fell for the third time in its last four outings, dropping a 14-10 decision at home to San Francisco. The season started with great promise for long suffering local grid fans when the Ramblers burst out of the gate by going 5-0-1 but the loss to the Wings leaves the Ramblers at 6-3-1 and with no chance of winning their division.

A pair of missed field goals and three turnovers including one that Wings end Tom Dreps scooped up on the run and galloped 14 yards for a touchdown left the St Louis club trailing 14-0 at the break. They had a little more success in the second half but it was not enough to keep the Ramblers title hopes alive.

The Cleveland Finches, who had the weekend off, are 8-2 with games remaining at home against Philadelphia next Sunday and in Boston two weeks from now. Only 7-3 Kansas City has a chance to spoil a Cleveland championship game appearance. The Cowboys finish by entertaining Detroit before heading to New Orleans the final weekend.

Kansas City, whose stumble in New York last week now looms even larger, got back on track with a 23-7 victory over what looked like a disinterested Boston team just playing out the string. The game was a contrast in styles as the Cowboys, in a rare showing for them, elected to have Pat Chappell only attempt 6 passes all afternoon, choosing instead to let Mason Matthews - 20 carries for 138 yards- run over the Americans while Pat Hill (10 carries, 92 yards) ran around them. Boston's Del Thomas was left with little choice but to make 36 pass attempts as the Boston running game was almost non-existent against the Cowboys defense. The Americans carried the ball 31 times but gained just 56 yards rushing.

Pittsburgh has already locked up the Continental Division title and their first appearance in the championship game since 1938 so one can likely excuse the Paladins for a less than stellar effort in a 38-21 loss in Washington. Bob Krohn, back as the starting quarterback after rookie Tommy Norwood's injury, showed he still has plenty left to give as the Wasps signal caller threw for 309 yards and 4 touchdowns in the win.

Elsewhere the Chicago Wildcats run of two straight AFA titles is over but the Wildcats continue to rebound from their terrible 1-3-1 start with their fifth straight victory, this one a 21-16 triumph over Los Angeles keyed by the passing and running exploits of Ricky McCallister. The former St Blane star threw for a pair of touchdowns while also topping all ground gainers with 89 yards rushing. In New York, George Grasman's second field goal of the game, early in the fourth period, proved the difference and lifted the Stars past the Philadelphia Frigates 13-10 while on Thanksgiving Day in Detroit the Maroons held off winless New Orleans 24-21.

MITCHELL HOISTS WELTER BELT THREE YEARS AFTER FIRST TITLE BOUT IN WIN OVER ROY

Bigsby Garden, New York, N.Y. – Dale Roy finally added the words “Welterweight Champion” to his resume after a long career, as the 33-year-old native of Binghamton in upstate New York is defending his title for the first time in the center of it all, Bigsby Garden, in New York City. Roy was relatively anonymous before his win, but he is no longer anonymous, even in a big city like New York.

Ira Mitchell is trying to duplicate Roy’s recent feat of defeating the champ and denying a first title defense. Mitchell has been around the block, but boxing fans have waited a long time to see Mitchell reappear on the welterweight division’s biggest stage. Mitchell made a title fight appearance almost three years ago in January of 1948. Pundits said Mitchell’s title shot may have been a little premature and while he went the distance in that loss to Harold Stephens, the book on Mitchell was that he was a wild puncher that missed the mark too often.

Since Mitchell’s loss to Stephens, he has suffered three losses in ten fights, which is hardly a sterling record that begged for another look. In fact, he was a relatively late entry, as Danny Julian was expected to be the challenger on this night. Julian was undefeated before meeting Mitchell in September and Mitchell pulled off the unexpected victory. So, it is Mitchell who will try to win a title on his second try.

Both combatants came out flying with big punches, looking to make a statement. Roy met Mitchell at the center of the ring and brought with him a right cross and an uppercut that set the tone. Mitchell countered quickly with a hook upstairs that sent Roy backward. There was enough action to fill a few rounds and the crowd was quickly on their feet, cheering both men.

Roy had the edge in the early rounds, only prone to a couple of effective punches that broke through. Mitchell was issued a warning by referee Jimmy Hooper for some low punches late in the third round, which seemed to be by design. Mitchell looked willing to skirt the rules to get to Roy and gain an upper hand.

In the fourth round, Mitchell made a push about halfway through the round, as Roy retreated and tried to stay out of the range of Mitchell’s reach. Mitchell found him, however, and unleashed a combination that almost pinned Roy in a neutral corner. A big uppercut elicited a response from Roy, a cross that found the mark as the round came to a close.

Roy built on that momentum in the fifth round after Mitchell threw the first punch in the round, using several different punches from his arsenal. Roy went on the offensive, throwing a right hand, adding a hook, switching to his left hand, and finishing with a right cross.

Up until this point in the fight, Roy had a slight lead and a head of steam. However, in the sixth round, Mitchell took control of the entire bout. It started with an uppercut about 45 seconds into the round that drew blood from the right eyelid of the champion. Mitchell tried to capitalize, but he retreated to his old ways of wild swinging and missing. A minute later, Mitchell caught Roy with a combination and Roy had nowhere to go but down to the canvas. Referee Hooper began counting, but Roy reached his feet after a four-count. It was clear that Mitchell was looking to end the festivities and Roy’s cut eyelid was concerning the champion’s corner. Mitchell went to the well with another combination with seconds left in the round and Roy went down again. This time, Roy stayed down a bit longer, but managed to satisfy Hooper at a count of seven.

When Roy stood up, blood was pouring again from his right eye, which caused a stoppage for the ringside physician to take a look. The bout was permitted to continue as both fighters geared up for Round Seven.

Mitchell targeted the right side of Roy’s face and scored big points with hooks and combinations. The added bonus of Mitchell’s onslaught was a reopening and deepening of Roy’s cut. Roy went into a defensive posture and tried to stay away from Mitchell in Round Eight, but he could not run forever.

The bell to start Round Nine sounded like a death knell for Roy. Mitchell was undeterred after Roy to offer a half-hearted cross and steamrolled towards victory. The challenger offered an uppercut that reopened the troublesome gash and Hooper had seen enough. Hooper awarded a technical knockout to Mitchell.

In his second attempt and 34 months of waiting to get another title shot, Mitchell (27-5-0) finally owns the belt as the World Welterweight Champion. Roy (37-8-1) felt he was in a good position a few rounds in, but he could not match Mitchell’s fortitude once the bout tilted and could not right his own ship. The future looks murky for Roy, as he is up in age (33) and he will need to fight to get another chance. There was no avenue for Roy to demand a rematch. This is now Mitchell’s time and his opportunity to pick his next opponent.

But if Roy has learned anything over the last few months, it is worth scratching and clawing your way through anonymity and smaller circuits to come back. Just ask Ira Mitchell.

RECENT KEY RESULTS

• Former welterweight champion Mark Westlake -who actually held the title on two separate occasions- suffered his third straight loss and second in a row to Danny Rutledge after the Louisville, KY. fight scored a second straight unanimous decision over Westlake. The 33-year-old Westlake briefly held the welterweight crown in 1946, beating Jackhammer O'Keefe for the belt but fell to Harold Stephens in his first defense. He then regained the title eight months ago when he upset Mac Erickson, after losing to Erickson five months earlier in a fight stopped due to a cut over Westlake's eye that impeded his vision. However, the Mississippi born Westlake would once again drop his first title defense, when Dale Roy scored a unanimous decision over Westlake in June. The 26-year-old Rutledge (22-1-1) only defeat came in a title fight against Erickson a year and a half ago.

UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS

• Dec 2 - Vancouver, BC: Canadian heavyweight Ken Yetman (19-2-5) vs Bruce Kendall (9-9
• Dec 9 - Lake Erie Arena, Cleveland: World Heavyweight Champion Hector Sawyer 64-3-1 defends his title against Brad Harris (19-0-1)
• Dec 16- Cincinnati, OH: British heavyweight Ben Budgeford (22-3) vs contender Lewis Jones (23-3-1)
• Dec 19- Thompson Palladium, Detroit: Rising Detroit born heavyweight Joey Tierney (21-0) faces Dick Martin (20-12-3)
• Dec 20- Dominion Gardens, Toronto: Canadian middleweight champ Kevin Rawlings (25-6) defends his national title against Larry Barry (22-9-1)
• Dec 22- Flatbush Gardens, Brooklyn: Italian middleweight Hugo Canio (18-1-2) faces Denny Palmer (29-9)
• Dec 23- Baltimore, MD: welterweight contenders Willis May (25-7-2) and Heinie Verplanck (21-6-1) meet.
• Dec 23- Los Angeles, CA: unbeaten welterweight Ben Burns (18-0) faces ring veteran Steve Landry (46-19-4)

Boston 1 at 3 Toronto : Toronto scored once each period with Charlie Brown, Trevor Parker and Lou Galbraith doing the honours in a 3-1 victory over the Boston Bees. Tommy Hart had the lone Boston goal, leaving the Bees with just one victory in their last six games. The Dukes have lost just once in their last 12 games.
Montreal 1 at 1 Chicago : The Packers Max Ducharme scored midway through the third period, less than two minutes after Ed McRae had given Montreal the lead in a 1-1 tie at the Lakeside Auditorium.

Detroit 1 at 2 Montreal : A tired Montreal club, just off the train from Chicago, got a last minute goal from Clarence Skinner to scratch out a 2-1 win over the visiting Detroit Motors.
Chicago 2 at 6 New York : Orval Cabbell had 3 goals and an assist while defenseman Paul Tetreault had 3 helpers to lead the Shamrocks to a 6-2 win over the underachieving Packers.

Toronto 1 at 3 Detroit : Detroit did all its damage in the opening stanza and Lou Barber, Vincent Arsenault and Tyson Beddoes staked the Motors to an early 3-0 lead and Millard Touhey took care of the rest, allowing only J.C. Martel to beat him in the middle period.
Montreal 3 at 2 New York : A second straight dramatic finish for the Valiants. This time it was Adam Sandford with the game winner with just over 6 minutes remaining to lift the defending Challenge Cup champions to a 3-2 victory at Bigsby Garden.
Boston 2 at 2 Chicago : Ed Delarue scored twice in the third period to allow the Packers to salvage a point against Boston. While things may like dour for the Chicago club, it should be noted that two years ago the Packers ended November with 9 points -the same total they have presently- but still managed to finish in second place.

Boston 3 at 4 Detroit : Graham Comeau and Bob Pilon each had 3 points to lead the first place Motors past Boston. Hank Walsh got the game winner with 3:05 left to play. Millard Touhey notched his league leading 10th victory in the Detroit net.
New York 2 at 2 Montreal : Orval Cabbell scored his 10th goal of the season, with just over a minute remaining, to secure a point on the road for the Shamrocks.
Chicago 2 at 5 Toronto : Trevor Parker's two goals and an assist helped propel the Dukes to a 5-2 victory over the last place Packers.

DUKES STREAK COMES TO AN END

Toronto extended their undefeated to seven on Wednesday evening while entertaining the Bees of Boston. The game started as a typical Dukes, Bs matchup with bone crunching body checks along with plenty of stickwork right on the edge of a penalty. With little room to move the home side opened the scoring at 6:27 with Wilbur Chandler off for roughing when Charlie Brown converted for his second of the year from Les Carlson and Quinton Pollack. The chippy play continued until the last minute of the first when Alex Lavalliere and John Bentley squared off in front of Boston goaltender Oscar James after Bentley was seen laying the lumber to Lavalliere near the crease area.

The fight seemed to settle down both side as there was less action behind the play during the final 40 minutes. Boston had a strong second period trapping Toronto in their own end for extended periods. They were rewarded with the tying goal at 1:09 when Tommy Hart deflected a cross ice pass from Chandler into the open net behind Gordie Broadway. That was the only one of the seventeen shots on net in period by the Bs that crossed the goal line. Trevor Parker's 5th restored the lead with the Dukes second PP goal of the game. The game became listless after Lou Galbraith scored less than three minutes into the third. Toronto skated away with a 3-1 win.

The streak without a loss came to an end in the Thompson Palladium Saturday night when the Motors rode a strong first period to a 3-1 victory. Detroit scored all three of their goals over a span of just under 5 minutes in the first. Lou Barber opened the scoring parade at 13:36 followed by Vincent Arsenault at 17:28, then Tyson Beddoes with a seeing eye shot from the shot exactly a minute later. J.C Martel narrowed the gap to tow when his centering pass deflected off a Motors' defender past Millard Touhey at 13:58 of the second. That would be all the goal scoring in the game. It was not for lack of chances witnessed by the 16,670 on hand. Both Broadway and Touhey turned around high quality scoring chances, Touhey made 30 saves for the game while Broadway stopped 33 shots. Some fans were surprised that Barrell did not go back to Charlie Dell after his strong showing against the Motors last week.

Back to Dominion Gardens to take on the hapless Chicago Packers, off to a 2-14-5 start, on Sunday. Toronto was the far superior team this game. Netminder Cole Foster making his first start of the season for Chicago would have a case to sue his teammates for lack of support. Foster faced 48 shots in 5-2 loss, a game in which the Packers seemed to lose interest in after the second period. Toronto beat Foster with their first shot just 15 seconds after the opening faceoff when Rob Painchaud scored his 5th from Carlson and Trevor Parker. Parker added a power play goal at 13:22 after Foster seemed to shake off the jitters, he made 20 saves in the first.

The Packers showed some signs of life when Bert McColley squared off with Luke Brisebois in a spirited battle in which both landed more than one solid shot. That fight seemed to give Chicago some life as Marty Mahoney tallied for the first time this season just past the two minute mark of the second frame. Parker, who has been on a hot streak lately, restored the two goal lead at 15:50 with his 7th from Martel. Ed Delarue brought the visitors back to within one at 17:31 in a game in which Broadway seemed bored only being tested 17 times in 60 minutes. Toronto was all over the Packers in the final 20, keeping Foster under siege for most of the period. Of the 16 shots on goal two found the twine off the sticks of Galbraith and Maurice Charette in a game that most fans founded boring in the last 20.

Coach Barrell- "Except for the Detroit games where they controlled all facets of the game we played well, Chicago seems to have trouble. We put up five which was nice too see, first time we have scored more than 4 this season. It is still early but there is separation between the top 4 and bottom 2. Don't let that fool you, teams can turn it around quickly in the NAHC. I have to come up with something different for the Motors, they have dictated the games in our last two meetings, Dell stood on his head in our win. We cannot have them control the pace of play, we have to control the pace. They had a strong first half last season then faded with the turn of the calendar. I cannot see that happening again they have too much depth, talent to go on an extended losing streak. I want to finish November with a strong performance at home against Montreal."

QUICK TOUR OF THE WINDY CITY SPORTS SCENE IS A GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS SITUATION

Have you caught Panthers fever yet? The biggest story in the Windy City right now has to be Luther Gordon.

After losing their first five games, the Luther Gordon led Panthers have won five straight to return to .500. Him and Richard Campbell both dropped 27 in a 100-76 crushing of Cleveland, before beating them 84-75 four days later. This time Gordon dropped 30, the third time he's done so this season, with 25 rebounds in back-to-back games. Already looking like a star, Gordon is averaging almost 44 minutes per game, scoring 25.1 points and gaining 18.5 rebounds on average. He's first in points and third in rebounds per game, and has been just as advertised as he starts his professional career.

*** Packers Continue to Look Lost ***

No team has scored fewer goals (40) or allowed more goals (67) then the Packers. There -27 goal differential is 24 goals lower then the next closest team, and they have yet to win any of their 11 road games. Making matters worse, starting goalie Norm Hanson will miss the 1-2 weeks with a strained foot. Currently, only two Packers have more then ten points on the season, while every other team has at least four.

As bad as the news from the ice has been of late, it is heartening to see the Chicago Wildcats back on track. The local eleven, which won back to back AFA championships, was named This Week in Figment Sports team of the decade in the 1940s and has never finished below .500 since the dawn of the divisional format in 1932, had an awful start to this decade. The Wildcats began the season 1-3-1, immediately ending all hope of a third straight title. The title won't happen, Pittsburgh has clinched the division, but give the Wildcats their due. Instead of folding up shop and looking to next year, legendary coach Carl Boon inspired his club to five straight victories and now they stand a very good chance of finishing second in the Continental Division and could go 8-3-1 on the year.

*** Cougars Cool in Cuban Commencement ***

Cougars prospects struggled a bit in the opening week of the Cuban Winter League, most notably with the debut of FABL's top pitching prospect Bob Allen. Currently ranked 7th overall, Allen couldn't get out of the 5th, allowing 6 hits, 5 runs, and 3 walks with 3 strikeouts. He left with two outs in the 5th, and allowed two homers in his first winter outing. Former first rounder Tommy Seymour wasn't sharp either (6 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 4 K), but the Crocs picked up their first win in his start, as Henry Norman (3-6, R, RBI), Elmer Grace (1-4, 2 R, 4 RBI, 2 BB, HR), and Frank Reece (1-3, R, 3 BB, 2B) contributed to the scoring. Jerry Smith, the 9th ranked prospect and natural outfielder, has seen two of his three appearances at first base, is just 2-for-11, but with those two hits being a triple and homer, he's been able to make an impact in short bursts. He picked up a pair of walks and struck out five times during the week.

• Cuban Winter League action got underway last week and here are a few thoughts on early action.
• Everyone knows about Yank Taylor, son of the former Whitney Award winner Tom Taylor, who made his debut in the Boston outfield last season. There is another Taylor who may just join Yank in the Minutemen outfield. That would be Danny, who is no relation, but like Yank was taken in the first round of the 1946 draft. Danny is a top fifteen OSA prospect and made his AAA debut late last season. He is making his case for a big league job come April with a dominant opening week in Cuba. The 23-year-old hit 4 homers, drove in 10 and batted .385 in 3 games.
• Boston also has the middle infield duo of Joe Kleman and Marshall Thomas playing alongside Taylor in Camaguay. Both are top ten prospects and part of the best minor league system in the sport according to OSA. Thomas looked to good for AAA last season despite having recently just turned 22 and kept up the hot stick in Cuba, with six hits in his first 12 at bats. Kleman is just 20 years old so maybe another year or two away from Boston but he is getting valuable experience in his first taste of Cuban League action.
• The St Louis Pioneers are happy to report that top prospects CF George Atkins & SS Herbert Crawford, Jr. are both off to great starts in the CWL. Atkins will open the season as the Pioneers starting CF & leadoff man. Crawford, Jr. is making the Pioneers brass give him strong consideration for the SS job despite his lack of experience.
• After a 20-8 season at two levels and winning Keystones Minor League Player of the Year honors, Sam Ivey made his first start in over two months and it was for Holguin, where he threw 7-1/3 innings of two-hit shutout ball in a 1-0 win over Cienfuegos.
• Stars youngster Bobby Crow enjoyed a 5-hit game for the Manzanillo Palms. The 23-year-old catcher is batting .667 (8 for 12). He hit .287 in a 58 game trial at AAA Los Angeles last year but is not on OSA's top 500 prospect list.
• Saints 1945 4th rounder Tom Fisher had an impressive debut on the mound for Matanzas, tossing a complete game 4-hitter in a 4-1 victory over Santa Clara.
• Watch out for the Santiago Scorpions. The affiliate of Cincinnati and St Louis scored 38 runs in three games last week but still managed to lose one. The Scorpions hammered Manzanillo 13-2, thumped Mantanzas 7-2 but finished the week by allowing a 3-run homer to Danny Taylor in the bottom of the ninth to fall 9-8 to Camaguay.
• The Toronto Wolves may not be thrilled that Les Ledbetter is pitching out of the pen for Havana, but the 1947 first overall pick appeared in all 3 games last week and was credited with 2 victories.

• Rochester continues their undefeated streak on the road, as the Rockets are 3-0 on their current five-game road trip. Milford Layton went for 23 points in the first win at Buffalo, 84-76, Billy Bob McCright led Rochester with 24 points in the second win at Buffalo, 92-69, and Marlin Patterson took his star turn with 27 points and 19 rebounds in a 94-59 romp at Toronto. Patterson had to defend Buffalo star Larry Yim in the first two games and was finally free to show his offensive side north of the border.
• The longest current winning streak in the league belongs to a team which started 0-5 and has leveled its record. The Chicago Panthers were a team to watch this season because of impact rookie Luther Gordon, who had a reputation as a generational talent because of his 19.9 point scoring average in his senior season at Liberty College and back to back Barrette Awards as AIAA national player of the year. Gordon has held up his end of the bargain, leading the league in scoring at 25.1 points a game and stands third in the league with 18.5 rebounds a game. In the five-game streak, Gordon has upped his game, scoring 25.8 points and adding 19.4 rebounds per contest.
• The Statesmen had come out of the three-way tie in the East as the only team between Washington, Philadelphia, and Boston to win both its games last week. Washington has started the season with a balanced attack with four players averaging in double figures, led by Ivan Cisco's rather modest 14.7 points a game. That balanced attack continued against New York in a 97-82 win, as six Statesmen crossed ten points, while four players turned the trick (with two others scoring eight points) in a 94-78 win at Boston.

• U.N. intelligence officers predict the Korean war will continue well into next spring, with the feeling that inaccessible mountains and head-high snow drifts will delay the U.N. victory.
  
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• Russia is said to be surveying land in Western Tibet to chose sites for airbases to be used as an eventual threat against India and adjacent countries.
• A Federal grand jury returned contempt of Congress indictments against 12 people, including two high ranking members of the Electrical Union for refusing to answer certain questions from the House Committee on Un-American Activities.
• A Senate subcommittee blasted government officials for "blunders" in the disposal of surplus War Plants and for poor handling for the rubber program and industrial alcohol facilities. The 37-page report was issued by a group which in general resembles the old war investigating committee. President Truman, then a Senator, was chairman of the wartime committee.
• The United States Chamber of Commerce called for a $6 billion slash in Government spending for non-military purposes as "the first-step" in the Nation's rearmament program instead of stiff excess profit tax now being considered by the House Ways and Means Committee.
• A state of emergency has been declared in Central California in the wake of raging floods that have killed at least 9. In the Eastern half of the nation, a great storm hit bringing the heaviest continuous snowfall in history to Pittsburgh, paralyzing transportation in Northern Ohio and raking the New York City area with hurricane force winds.
  
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December 4, 1950
 

DECEMBER 4, 1950

FINCHES FAIL AGAINST FRIGATES

Sets Up Wild Final Sunday in AFA American Division

The Cleveland Finches have been down this road before. In 1946, with the American Football Association West Division title firmly in their grasp, the Finches lost two of their final three games and had to settle for second place behind Chicago. Two years later, history repeated itself when the Cleveland eleven started the season 9-0 but lost two of its final three and once more was left watching the Wildcats celebrate a division title. Here we are two years later and the Finches, after being pummeled on their home turf 35-6 by the Philadelphia Frigates, are once again in danger of losing a chance at a division title in the closing weeks of the season.

Thanks to absorbing three teams from the old Continental league the divisions are no longer called East and West but rather American and Continental. The results, at least for the Finches, do not look any different as the Cleveland loss to Philadelphia sets up a wild weekend were any one of four teams could win the division should events break the right way.

For the Finches it is simple. They are tied with Kansas City for top spot but hold a tie-breaker based on their 34-21 victory over the Cowboys early in the season. If the Finches can win in Boston over the sad-sack 1-10 Americans, the division title and the right to face the Pittsburgh Paladins in the AFA championship game is theirs. Should Cleveland lose or tie and the Cowboys win against a New Orleans club that, at 0-10-1, is even more inept than Boston it will be the Cowboys who will go on to face the Paladins.

Should both Cleveland and Kansas City lose, as impossible as it might seem given their opponents next weekend, the St Louis Ramblers could squeeze past them both with a win in San Francisco. Finally, should all three of the above mentioned clubs lose the New York Stars could force a 3-way tie for first place with a victory on the road in Philadelphia. It would then come down to a series of tiebreakers between Cleveland, Kansas City and New York to determine the American Division winner.

*** Frigates Take Advantage of Cleveland Miscues ***

The Finches gave the game away to Philadelphia yesterday...literally. Cleveland turned the ball over 8 times including a 22-yard interception return for a touchdown from the Frigates Mike Shutes. The Finches trailed 21-3 at the break and Philadelphia never let up in rolling to a 35-6 victory. Kansas City kept the pressure on the Finches with an easy 31-3 victory over a Detroit team that managed just 87 yards of total offense on the day. Cowboys quarterback Pat Chappell threw for nearly double that while the Kansas City running game, led as always by Mason Matthews, pounded its way for 206 yards.

It really is a longshot for the St Louis Ramblers to win the division but they did what they needed to do to keep their slim hopes alive - outscoring Los Angeles 41-35 in a wild game at Bigsby Stadium. The lead changed hands three times in the fourth quarter including twice in the final 1:16. Los Angeles thought they had it won when Mark Monday and Jim Rose completed 5 play, 80 yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown pass but the Ramblers Tom Berryman took matters into his own hands. With just 1:16 on the clock and trailing 35-34, Berryman completed passes of 39 and 36 yards to Dave Smith and Arnold Lavoie before finding Stu Hubbard for a 13-yard game winning score.

Pittsburgh, which has clinched the Continental Division crown, had an easy time with Boston, blasting the Americans 48-7 behind a 4 touchdown, 198 yard passing day from Dusty Sinclair. New York thumped winless New Orleans 51-13 as Dan Cole ran for 82 yards and two scores while also catching a 47-yard touchdown pass. In the final game of the weekend the Washington Wasps nipped the Chicago Wildcats 21-18.

FIELD SET FOR NEW YEARS CLASSIC GAMES

The matchups for what promises to be an entertaining New Years Day in collegiate football have been finalized with the highlight of the day taking place in New Orleans. The Cajun Classic will play host to this year's number one team in the nation as the Central Kentucky Tigers (10-0-1) square off against last years National Champions in the Oklahoma City State Wranglers (9-1). The Tigers are led by a pair of likely All-Americans in senior tackle Gene Trickle and junior quarterback Pete Capizzi, who established a new single season touchdown pass record with 23 this season. The lone blemish on the Tigers otherwise perfect record was a 21-21 tie with #2 ranked Cumberland two weeks ago.

Oklahoma City State will be no pushover as the Wranglers have been on a tear, winning 21 of their last 22 games including a New Years victory over Bayou State in last year's Lone Star Classic. The Wranglers lone loss came in early October this year when Darnell State outscored them 43-34 and Oklahoma City State has a big weapon of its own in senior fullback Ned Hanshaw, another likely All-American selection.

The big game in Santa Ana, Ca., which will be contested before a crowd expected to top 100,000 will feature Great Lakes Alliance champion Central Ohio against Rainier College. There was some minor controversy after the Majestics were tabbed to represent the coast in the East-West Classic as many felt Northern California, which won each of the last two East-West Classics, should have been the selection. Instead it is a Majestics squad that owns a 2-1 record at Santa Ana but is making its first appearance since New Years Day in 1941 when they beat Daniel Boone College.

The Aviators downed Coastal California 24-17 on January 1, 1945 in what was just their second appearance in the game. Central Ohio's first came in 1922 and was one they would rather forget after being pounded 61-7 by Northern Cal. If Central Ohio is going to win this time it will be on the back of Jack Kress, a junior halfback who also plays catcher for the Aviators baseball team and is considered the favourite to win the Christian Trophy as the AIAA's Most Outstanding Player.

The third game with plenty of excitement surrounding it is the Lone Star Classic but it has plenty of controversy surrounding it as well. Cumberland, which was 10-0-1 and tied national champion Central Kentucky, feels that at the very list the Explorers should be considered co-National Champions and point to a tougher non-conference schedule that included wins over North Carolina Tech and Carolina Poly as proof. Meanwhile, Lubbock State, which won the Southwestern Alliance and were a perfect 10-0 feel they also have a claim on the number one ranking. To make matters worse, the Hawks were overlooked for the Lone Star Classic when a deal was made in early November to invite Darnell State to the event, despite the fact the Legislators finished third in the Southwestern Alliance behind both the Hawks and Travis College. Lubbock State had other invitations after the Lone Star snub but elected to turn them down.

There are also a couple of Classic games later this month in Hawaii and one this weekend in Washington DC, although the inaugural Capital Classic is really a classic game in name only since it features a team that went 3-7-1 during the season. That would be the Noble Jones College Colonels, who capped a dismal season with a 21-10 loss to rival Georgia Baptist in one of the games on a light schedule over the weekend. The big draw for the Capital Classic will be the return of the local high school legend with the famous last name as Charlie Barrell is the quarterback for the Colonels, who will face Southern Border Association champion Abilene Baptist (7-2-1) on Saturday. Barrell, now a junior at Noble Jones College, is a three-sport star for the Colonels and while he may not quite be a pro grid prospect, he is an elite talent on both the baseball diamond and the basketball court.

Among the other results last week it is worth noting that Rome State finished off its season at 8-1 after the Centurions won their annual showdown with Annapolis Maritime, getting revenge for the surprising tie orchestrated by the Navigators a season ago with a 13-3 win at Sailors Memorial Stadium in Philadelphia. The season went from bad to worse for the St. Blane Fighting Saints as the preseason number one ended up with a losing record on the year, falling to 3-4-2 after losing in Los Angeles to an equally disappointing Coastal California eleven by a 21-14 score. The Dolphins won just twice in nine outings this season. A school that might have a claim at a top ten berth but was overlooked is California Catholic as the Crusaders completed a perfect 9-0 season with an impressive 21-13 victory over San Francisco Tech, which finished at 8-3. Miami State was another independent school bidding for an unbeaten campaign but the Gulls slipped in their season finale and fell 17-14 to Daniel Boone College to end the year with an 8-1-1 record but it was good enough to still allow them to participate in their hometown Classic game as the Gulls will host Coastal State in the Sunshine Classic. It will mark the first New Years game for Miami State since they upset St Blane five years ago.

RECORD-SETTING NIGHT MAY BE SAWYER'S TOUGHEST TEST IN YEARS

Cleveland -As the stage is set for Saturday night's heavyweight clash at Cleveland's Lake Erie Arena, boxing enthusiasts are bracing themselves for what may be a watershed moment in pugilistic history. Hector Sawyer, the venerable World Heavyweight Champion, is poised to etch his name in the annals of boxing folklore as the first pugilist to achieve 17 consecutive title defenses. Yet, amidst the fanfare and anticipation, a palpable air of uncertainty lingers, casting doubt on Sawyer's unassailable reign.

For years, Sawyer has stood unchallenged, his dominance in the ring an indomitable force to be reckoned with. However, Saturday night's showdown against Akron's own Brad Harris threatens to upend the status quo. At 36 years of age, Sawyer finds himself confronting the inexorable march of time, with whispers of his waning prowess swirling in the air.

The bout promises to be a clash of generations, pitting the seasoned veteran against the youthful vigor of Harris, a 22-year-old prodigy whose meteoric rise through the ranks has captivated the boxing world. With an unblemished record of 19-0-1, Harris stands as a formidable challenger, undeterred by the daunting prospect of facing a heavyweight titan like Sawyer.

While Sawyer's illustrious career has been defined by his mastery in the ring, his encounter with Harris presents a challenge unlike any other. The Akron native's resounding victory over Dan Miller—a shared opponent with Sawyer—underscores his prowess and sets the stage for a riveting showdown. Sawyer's previous triumph over Miller remains a testament to his enduring skill, but whether he can withstand the onslaught of Harris's youthful exuberance remains to be seen.

As the countdown to Saturday night's clash commences, boxing aficionados are bracing themselves for an unforgettable spectacle, one that may see the passing of the torch or the reaffirmation of a heavyweight legend's indomitable spirit.


RECENT KEY RESULTS

• In Vancouver, BC, a pair of Canadian heavyweights duked it out Saturday evening with Toronto native Ken Yetman (20-2-5) knocking out the hometown favourite Bruce Kendall in the 5th round of their bout that was slated for ten. The 23-year-old Yetman has had some success in the ring, counting wins over Pete Sanderson and Mark Fountain on his resume.

UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS

• Dec 9 - Lake Erie Arena, Cleveland: World Heavyweight Champion Hector Sawyer 64-3-1 defends his title against Brad Harris (19-0-1)
• Dec 16- Cincinnati, OH: British heavyweight Ben Budgeford (22-3) vs contender Lewis Jones (23-3-1)
• Dec 19- Thompson Palladium, Detroit: Rising Detroit born heavyweight Joey Tierney (21-0) faces Dick Martin (20-12-3)
• Dec 20- Dominion Gardens, Toronto: Canadian middleweight champ Kevin Rawlings (25-6) defends his national title against Larry Barry (22-9-1)
• Dec 22- Flatbush Gardens, Brooklyn: Italian middleweight Hugo Canio (18-1-2) faces Denny Palmer (29-9)
• Dec 23- Baltimore, MD: welterweight contenders Willis May (25-7-2) and Heinie Verplanck (21-6-1) meet.
• Dec 23- Los Angeles, CA: unbeaten welterweight Ben Burns (18-0) faces ring veteran Steve Landry (46-19-4)

DUKES CHARGE TO TOP OF NAHC STANDINGS

The Toronto Dukes are the hottest team in the NAHC, adding 5 of a possible six points last week to give the Toronto club an NAHC leading 28 on the season. Toronto has gone 7-1-4 over its last dozen games and has lost just twice since October 25. The Dukes have only scored 6 more goals than they have surrendered this season but have been getting key goals and timely saves to generate plenty of positive results.

The weekend home and home series with Detroit is a perfect example. The Dukes won 3-2 in Detroit on Saturday but credit fully goes to veteran goaltender Gordie Broadway. Toronto built a 3-0 lead after two periods but saw Detroit pepper Broadway with 17 shots in the final twenty minutes. Broadway bent, allowing two goals, but did not break, making timely saves in the closing minute with the Detroit net empty to preserve the victory. A day later in the rematch it was timely scoring that secured a point for the Dukes. Just 12 seconds after Moe Treadwell scored Detroit scored Detroit's 3rd goal in the third period to take a 3-1 lead, the Dukes answered with a Bobbie Sauer marker and then 23 seconds after that Toronto pulled even on Trevor Parker's 8th goal of the season to extend the Dukes latest unbeaten streak to 4 games.

Toronto's big three of Quinton Pollack flanked by Lou Galbraith and Les Carlson continues to do most of the heavy lifting but the Dukes have been getting secondary scoring from the likes of Trevor Parker and playmaking second line center Luke Brisebois. The result makes Toronto much more than the one dimensional team that overwhelmed opponents in winning back to back Challenge Cups in 1948 and 1949. A strong defense anchored by Rob Painchaud and J.C. Martel along with all-world goaltending from Gordie Broadway makes Toronto a tough team to bet against.
New York 2 at 0 Detroit: The Shamrocks continue their dominance of the Motors this season, winning for the fourth time in five meetings between the two clubs. Alex Sorrell stopped 27 shots for his first shutout of the season while Ryan Kennedy and Geoff Hartnell handled the offense for the Greenshirts.
Montreal 1 at 3 Toronto: Lou Galbraith scored twice and Gordie Broadway was solid in net leading the Dukes to a 3-1 win.

Chicago 3 at 3 Boston: Jeremy MacLean of Chicago and Boston's Robert Walker traded third period goals in a 3-3 tie between the bottom two clubs in the standings. The Packers have not had much to cheer about this season but they do have 3 ties in their last five games.

Toronto 3 at 2 Detroit: Quinton Pollack had a goal and an assist as Toronto outshot the Motors 47-33 and hung on for a 3-2 victory. The Dukes dominated the opening two periods outshooting Detroit 35-16 and leading 3-0 before the Motors tried to stage a third period comeback.
New York 5 at 2 Boston: Jocko Gregg had a hat trick to take a share of the NAHC goal scoring lead with 11, with Michael Di Giuseppe assisted on all three in a 5-2 New York victory.
Montreal 4 at 5 Chicago: A rare streak for the Packers who are unbeaten in two games after getting a game winner with five and a half minutes remaining in the third period from Stanley Royce. The Vals are winless in three.

Chicago 1 at 2 Montreal: Goals by Jimmy Backus and Brett Lanceleve lifted Montreal to a 2-1 victory on home ice over the Packers and allowed the Valiants to salvage a split of their weekend home and home series.
Boston 2 at 2 New York: Jocko Gregg scored his league leading 12th goal of the season and set up Orval Cabbell's 11th to give the Shamrocks a 2-2 tie with Boston. The Bees, who got goals from Connor Mikaelsen and Garrett Kauffeldt, led 2-0 until late in the second period despite being outshot 33-14 on the evening.
Detroit 3 at 3 Toronto: Lou Galbraith set up all three Toronto goals as the Dukes rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the closing minutes to earn a tie with the Motors. The single point kept the Dukes in first place, one point up on the second place New York Shamrocks.

DUKES VAULT INTO FIRST PLACE

Toronto now sits in first place in the NAHC mainly due to have played more games, 23, than any of the four teams currently sitting in playoff positions. The Dukes lead the New York Shamrocks, who have 2 games in hand, by one point and Detroit is another point behind having played one less game than the Dukes. Montreal is in fourth a point in arrears of the Motors meaning the top four are separated by only 3 points.

The Dukes finished November with a 3-1 win over the visitors from Montreal. The Valiants opened the scoring before all the fans had taken their seats when Ed McRae beat Gordie Broadway on an innocent looking shot at the 27 second mark. That would be the only shot that eluded Broadway in the game. Lou Galbraith tied the game at 6:08 on a centering pass that deflected off a Vals defender past Tom Brockers. Galbraith scored the eventual game winner notching his 7th of the season on a 2 man advantage from Pollack at 7:47 of the second. A minute later, while still up a man, Kenny Wooley scored his 2nd from Parker, Lavalliere. The home team then checked the visitors into submission, Broadway was only tested 25 time in the game - far less than Tom Brockers in the Vals cage who faced 41 shots from the Dukes.

A trip over the Ambassador Bridge to the Thompson Palladium to face the Motors on the front end of a back to back Saturday night. Toronto jumped out to 3-0 lead early in the second period on goals by Brisebois, Galbraith -who has found his scoring touch of late- and Pollack then hung on for 3-2 win. Detroit made it interesting in the third when Tyson Beddoes scored at 00:09 then Louis Rocheleau narrowed the gap to one with just over six minutes to play. The final score could have been much more lopsided if it were not for Millard Touhey who made 44 saves, many of them on high quality scoring chances. Dukes kept the Motors' attackers to outside most the game clearing the slot area effectively not allowing Broadway to face shots in which he was screened by a Motor.

The teams renewed their battle less than 24 hours later in Dominion Gardens. In a fairly tame first 40 minutes the Dukes left the ice with 1-0 lead. The 13,042 fans would witness a wild third period. Adam Vanderbilt tied the game in the first minute of the third. The score remained tied until the Motors scored twice in 92 seconds, Lou Barber at 12:32 followed by Moe Treadwell at 14:14 to give Detroit a 3-1 lead. In one of the wildest comebacks Brett has seen in the Gardens the Dukes came back to tie the game in only 33 seconds after going down by two. Bobby Sauer scored 10 seconds after Treadwell's goal then Trevor Parker made it 3-3 on the same shift at 14:47. The fans, who saw 4 goals in 2:15 would not see the redlight lit again in a 3-3 tie.

Coach Barrell- "You have to be happy when you get 5 of 6 possible points off Montreal, Detroit. The first two games we played very well defensively, actually carried that through the first 40 of Sunday's game. On Saturday we controlled a game against Detroit for the first time this season. The last 20 of the rematch was as wild as I have seen in a long, long time, 4 goals in two minutes! Scoring appears to be down league wide, the goaltending league wide has reached new heights. Some credit should go to the players in front of the puck stoppers, you do not see many guys especially wingers not working as hard without the puck as they do when they have possession. The days of mailing it in on defense seem to be gone. With 3 points between first and fourth shows how close all teams are, it will be a battle all year. We are about one third of the way through the schedule I expect either Chicago or Boston to join the battle for a playoff spot. We have more work to do on picking up, passing off our checks in our zone there seems to be confusion on when to pass a guy off in our system. Too many times we are leaving a guy wide open then paying for the mistake, it will be corrected sooner rather than later."

GORDON NAMED TOP CAGE NEWCOMER

First of Many Awards For Rising Panthers Star

It should be of no surprise to anyone, that when the FBL announced their Rookie of the Month award that Luther Gordon was the winner. In fact, you can probably write his name in for the rest of the months too. No need for pencil, a nice pen will do!

The recent #1 pick and college's leading scorer averaged 27.1 points, 17.5 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game in his first month as a professional, shattering even the loftiest of expectations. During the month of November, Gordon posted five 30+ point games, including each of the last three, and he recorded 20 or more rebounds on three separate occasions. What's most impressive, however, was his performance against Toronto to start December where he dropped a potentially long lasting career high of 47 points, shooting 14-for-29 from the field and a near perfect 19-of-20 from the free throws line. That aspect of his game might be what separates him from the rest, as not only is he an imposing figure in the paint, but he's almost automatic from the stripe. His 88% free throw percentage is best among players averaging at least three free throws per game, while the only qualified player with a higher percentage is New York's Gary Harrison, who has just 33 free throw attempts to Gordon's even 100.

Along with the Rookie of the Month selection, Gordon was later named Player of the Week, averaging 36.3 points and 13.7 rebounds in the Panthers 2-1 week. Gordon is now averaging 27.7 points and 17.4 rebounds on the season, still leading in points per game while down to fourth in rebounds. He's the main reason Chicago is within a game and a half of first, and with Gordon leading the charge, it seems like the Panthers will return to the postseason after an injury-filled season that netted them Gordon atop the draft.

• Washington is at it again. The defending champions have asserted themselves to the tune of a seven-game winning streak and counting. The Statesmen have suddenly broken out to a 2-1/2 game lead on New York in the Eastern Division. Two weeks ago, Washington, Philadelphia, and Boston were tied for first place, but the Phantoms and Centurions have gone 2-3 and 1-3, respectively since their 5-3 starts. Washington has not only taken over first, but the old adage is true once again: "First in War, First in Peace, First in the Eastern Division".
• Washington leads the league in scoring at 88.1 points per game, less than a point ahead of Cleveland (87.9) and Rochester (87.7), and only trails Detroit (77.7) in scoring defense at 78.8 points allowed per game, making for a league-leading point differential of +9.3 per contest. The Statesmen's sterling 3-0 record this week came at him against Toronto (94-86) in a rematch of last year's league final, Rochester (100-65) in a battle of first-place teams, and on the road against divisional foe Philadelphia (86-74). In other words, no pushovers. The most impressive win was against Rochester, where Rockets big men Marlin Patterson an Billy Bob McCright got into early foul trouble and each played less than 10 minutes and each scored only two points.
• As great as Washington has been, the league has not been able to stop talking about rookie Luther Gordon. The Chicago forward played every minute of a 85-74 loss to Cleveland and scored 30 points, but put up 32 points in a 99-83 win against Toronto and mystified everyone on the back-end of the home-and-home in Toronto with 47 points, including an amazing 19-for-20 from the free throw line, in a 98-89 win. Gordon leads Cleveland forward Ziggy Rickard by 2.4 points in the scoring race (27.7 to 25.3), stands fourth in rebounding at 17.4 a game, and he is the league's second-best free throw shooter at 88% (88-for-100). Gordon's 19 successful free throws tied an FBL record established by Norm Yates in 1948 and his 47 points were tied for the fourth highest in league history, and that includes the old American Basketball Conference as well as the Federal League.
  
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SOUTH ATLANTIC CONFERENCE FLYING HIGH IN CAGE ACTION

Often overshadowed by other sections, the South Atlantic Conference has been making a statement in recent years but none were announced as loudly as they have to start this season where four of the top ten ranked schools are from the SAC. While much of the attention goes to the Great Lakes Alliance, West Coast Athletic Association and the Deep South Conference, the South Atlantic has produced two national champions over the past half dozen years in the 1944-45 Carolina Poly Cardinals and the Lexington State Colonials from two years ago.

By far the largest conference -the SAC boasts 16 members for basketball- there has always been plenty of high end talent but the lack of quality at the bottom of the group has often been why it is taken so lightly. That is improving but there are clearly a half dozen programs that stand out in the section. They are headed by the two Carolina schools in North Carolina Tech and Carolina Poly, but Coastal State, Chesapeake State, Charleston Tech and Columbia Military Academy have all built solid programs.

It is the Carolina Poly Cardinals that lead the way this season with a perfect 5-0 record that includes a convincing 19 point victory over Lane State early in the season and continued with a dominant 66-40 victory over St. Patrick's last week. The Cardinals have history of success, making it to the National Semi-Finals 7 times and they won it all on three occasions. They are on the short list of favourites to claim another title next April with Mel Turcotte leading the charge. The senior forward out of New York City is expected to be a high first round selection in the FBL draft next June and is off to a strong start, averaging 15.4 points per game including 18 in the win over the Shamrocks last week.

Carolina Poly is ranked number one in the latest poll after Rainier College was upset at Oklahoma City State. Chesapeake State is 4-0 and ranked #3 this week while North Carolina Tech (3-0) and Coastal State (5-0) also crack the top ten. Add in #14 Columbia Military Academy, #17 Mobile Maritime and #24 Charleston Tech and the South Atlantic Conference is well represented in the polls. With six teams in the top twenty-five the SAC has more than any other conference: The West Coast Athletic Association and the Great Lakes Alliance have 4 each while the Deep South only can boast of Noble Jones College and Alabama Baptist among the top twenty-five.

• FABL's 16 clubs are busy this week finalizing their secondary rosters in advance of the December 11 Rule Five draft. The Toronto Wolves are expected to make the first selection in the draft.
• Chet Tinsley, a 24-year-old catcher who has appeared in 7 games for the Pittsburgh Miners over the past two seasons, is off to a hot start in Cuba. The 1945 second round selection leads all qualified hitters with a .588 batting average in 6 games for the Mantanzas Buccaneers. Tinsley is also tied with Cleveland prospect Joe Wood for the homerun lead with 5 and is second behind Happy Wright, Cincinnati Cannons property, for the RBI lead.
• The youngest player in the Cuban Winter League this season is 18-year-ol Beau McClellan, a pitcher selected out of high school in the second round last year by Detroit. After a strong showing in AA last year the Dynamos are likely to invite the youngster to main camp and may even give him a chance to win a big league job. He passed his first test nicely in Cuba even though he was tagged with a 4-1 loss. McClellan went the distance against Manzanillo last week, allowing 7 hits and 2 earned runs. He fanned 1 and walked one and did nothing to dissuade the Dynamos from plans to invite him to main camp in Lakeland come March.
• The only other teenager playing in the Cuban loop this season is Bobby Crooks. A Detroit native, the righthander turned 19 in October and was a 2nd round selection of the Chicago Chiefs in the 1949 draft. He spent each of the past two seasons in Class C.
• While McClelland had a decent outing for Havana, the Sharks got destroyed by Matanzas 16-6 a game in which a couple of Wolves prospects got bombed, Les Burrows got touched up for 5 earned in 2/3 of inning when called on to try and bail out Charlie Zimmerman, who also allowed 5 earned runs but over 4 innings. This a day after Detroit pitching prospect Jack Entinger was shelled by Cienfuegos in an 8-3 loss.

• As Congress opened, President Truman handed Congress a list of 5 "must" measures for action in the session, topped by statehood for Alaska and Hawaii, which he says should get "the highest priority."
• Complete collapse of the United Nations end-the-war offensive was threatened by heavy new Chinese attacks on the frozen northwest Korean front, which forced American forces to withdraw and cost heavy casualties.
• Gen. MacArthur, who a week ago suggested American forces in Korea may be "home by Christmas" now says it is an "entire new war" after a tidal wave Chinese counteroffensive.
• Truman has asked Congress for $17 billion more for the war effort in light of recent changes in the situation due to increased Chinese involvement. The war crisis has "taken the heart" out of opposition to the enactment of the excess profits tax bill.
• In a national address Truman warned that United Nations forces in Korea were determined to fight to the bitter end for justice and world peace and warned we would us the atomic bomb, if necessary, to assure victory.
• The Communist China delegation made its debut at the United Nations. Meanwhile, a resolution calling for the withdrawal of Chinese Communist troops from Korea was vetoed by the Soviet representative on the United Nations Security Council.
• The death toll from the storm that ripped through the Northeast a week ago has risen to 236, while damage, primarily in the Atlantic coastal areas whipped by winds at $100 million.
  
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December 11, 1950
 

SAWYER’S THE GREATEST: HISTORICAL DEFENSE IN 8th ROUND KNOCKOUT

Lake Erie Arena, Cleveland, Ohio – We have seen Hector Sawyer in all his professional phases. Sawyer as a young champion. Sawyer as a dominating force. Sawyer as a world ambassador. Sawyer as a conquering hero. Sawyer as an all-time champion. We are in this most recent phase with no particular end date in sight. Pundits wait for Sawyer’s next phase, with some experts expecting Sawyer to make it retirement as the Heavyweight Champion and others predicting Sawyer to finally be vanquished by the next great heavyweight.
Sawyer has successfully defended his belt 16 times, a record he currently shares with boxing great George Grainger. With Sawyer at the ripe old age of 36, you would never know it. His punches carry as much weight as ever. His presence is just as fierce and intimidating as a decade ago.

Brad Harris presents a new challenge, as a young, confident 22-year-old fighter with an undefeated record. Harris is a fast-riser and unlike others with title shots in the past, he is not getting his shot too early. Harris is ready, willing, and able to fight a legend. Also working in Harris’s favor is the location of the bout, which was staged in Cleveland, about 40 miles north of Harris’s hometown of Akron.

Harris is known as a fast starter and Sawyer’s prowess is in the middle rounds of his fights. This bout went exactly according to type. Harris confronted Sawyer quickly after the opening bell, almost as if he planned his first few moves. Harris faked a body shot and went upstairs with hook to Sawyer’s jaw, then quickly bobbed to avoid a right hand from the champion. It was almost two minutes into the round until Sawyer was able to manage anything more than a parry to defend Harris’s shots.

The second round was a good round for Sawyer, as he rebounded to control the action. Harris could not get loose because Sawyer had him on the run and on the defensive for most of the round. Harris had one chance to punch and could not double up because of Sawyer’s quickness and his veteran ability to stifle offense.

While both boxers could legitimately claim a round, the third round had a great back-and-forth between the two fighters. The challenger threw a cross that connected with Sawyer and the champion countered with a devastating uppercut. Late in the round, Harris managed to connect with his right and his left, leaving Sawyer hurt and in a position where he had to clinch to stop the momentum.

Sawyer gathered himself as the action carried to the fourth round and began his onslaught. He began to get loose to unleash hard shots upstairs. Harris tried to do the same and connected on an uppercut, but Harris had a little more success working the body. Sawyer was beginning to tilt the fight in his favor. The body blows from Harris would be the last punches of the fight that seemed to have any effect on Sawyer.

From the start of Round Five, Sawyer stuck and moved, zigged and zagged. He was very effective at throwing a scoring punch and moving away before the response from Harris was fired. It was like the bout slowed down for Sawyer. He had time to figure out Harris’s next move. He stalked Harris while he recovered and strategized on the fly. At this point, there was swelling evident under Harris’s right eye and Sawyer clearly targeted the eye with crosses and hooks.

When Harris was able to make hay with a scoring punch on Sawyer in Round 6, he was cornered and could not move away from Sawyer retaliatory right cross. Now, it was Harris trying to hold on to Sawyer for a respite. Referee Ernest Byrd, officiating his first heavyweight title fight, had to work hard to pry apart the big men.

The scene was set for Sawyer to continue his middle round domination, but Sawyer was content to stalk Harris, wait for him to act so that he could react. Harris cut Sawyer’s escape route and had him cornered, but missed on his attempts while Sawyer went directly at Harris late in the seventh round. Sawyer had Harris up against the ropes and took the wind out of Harris with a tremendous body shot. Harris crumpled up in a ball and fell to the floor. After dropping to his knees on his first attempt to stand, Harris was given a chance by the referee to catch his breath after Harris stood up on the count of eight. Byrd allowed the fight to continue, and the bell rang seconds later to end the round.

Sawyer’s corner was in his ear throughout the stoppage between rounds and the champion knew this was the time to put Harris away. Sawyer had momentum, his punches were marking Harris and the swelling under Harris’s right eye compromised the quickness of the challenger. Harris’s corner could not reduce the swelling under his eye. Sawyer started moving quickly, landing a right hand square on Harris’s chin, followed by a cross that caused Harris to backpedal to the corner. Sawyer continued on and finished him off with a crushing hook. Harris barely moved until the referee was halfway to ten. Harris got to a knee, but collapsed to the canvas, ending the fight.

Sawyer (65-3-1) had his record, an achievement unmatched in boxing history. He stood alone at the summit with his 17th win as champion, his 65th win and his 57th knockout. Harris (19-1-1) was a game challenger and probably represents the best of the heavyweights aiming for the belt at the young age of 22, but there is still a sizable gap between those heavyweights and the greatest of all time. Harris will almost certainly get another chance, but likely not while Sawyer is champion. It was a movie not in need of a sequel.

The typical questions will be asked, and no one knows whether Sawyer will ride off into the sunset after this fight. In the opinion of this intrepid reporter, there is nothing left to fight for, no one left to convince. Will he suit up for a 70th fight, will he enter his 12th year as champion? Only Sawyer and maybe his promoter, Chester Conley, know for sure. Sawyer has fought the old, the young, the ally, the enemy, and he has passed each test with flying colors. The score has been settled for quite some time that Sawyer is the greatest and it will be a long time until anyone dares to think otherwise.

UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS

• Dec 16- Cincinnati, OH: British heavyweight Ben Budgeford (22-3) vs contender Lewis Jones (23-3-1)
• Dec 19- Thompson Palladium, Detroit: Rising Detroit born heavyweight Joey Tierney (21-0) faces Dick Martin (20-12-3)
• Dec 20- Dominion Gardens, Toronto: Canadian middleweight champ Kevin Rawlings (25-6) defends his national title against Larry Barry (22-9-1)
• Dec 22- Flatbush Gardens, Brooklyn: Italian middleweight Hugo Canio (18-1-2) faces Denny Palmer (29-9)
• Dec 23- Baltimore, MD: welterweight contenders Willis May (25-7-2) and Heinie Verplanck (21-6-1) meet.
• Dec 23- Los Angeles, CA: unbeaten welterweight Ben Burns (18-0) faces ring veteran Steve Landry (46-19-4)

COWBOYS WILL FACE PALADINS IN PRO GRID TITLE GAME

It is a year too late but finally we will see the best of the Continental Football Conference against the best of the American Football Association. Such an exhibition had been demanded by fans for the past couple of years as they wanted to see just how good the kingpins of the Continental loop - namely Pat Chappell and the Kansas City Cowboys- really were. The CFC is no longer, with its 3 survivors, including the aforementioned Cowboys, carrying on by joining the established American circuit and now, after a dramatic conclusion to the regular season we will find out next week who really is the top dog in professional football as the Cowboys will square off with the Pittsburgh Paladins in a winner take all match that will feature sudden death overtime if necessary.

The Cowboys had a rough introduction to the new league, as coach Pete Walsh was forced to fine-tune his offensive approach after a 1-2 start, but Walsh's changes -introducing more of a reliance on Mason Matthews and the running game- quickly paid dividends and the Cowboys reeled off eight victories in their final nine games to claim the American Division title by half a game over the St Louis Ramblers.

**Finches Fly South In Standings For Yet Another December ***

Heading into the final day of action Sunday the Cowboys needed a win of their own but also a loss by the Cleveland Finches, who were tied with Kansas City for top spot after the Finches were upset the previous weekend. Cleveland, which has led its division in the late stages only to collapse three times in the past five years, had another colossal meltdown losing to division cellar dweller Boston 49-42 a week after falling to Philadelphia.

The result dropped the Finches from first to a tie for third place as their 8-4 record was equal to New York and ended up behind both 8-3-1 St Louis and the 9-3 division winners from Kansas City. Cleveland sportswriters will have a full winter trying to dissect why the local eleven could have first place in its grasp and simply need a win in the final weekend in 1946, 1948 and 1950 but fall short each time.

*** Matthews Leads Rushing Parade ***

The Cowboys made sure the opportunity was not going to slip through their fingers as Mason Matthews bulled his way for 81 yards to put him over the 1,000 mark for the season and the Cowboys manhandled the winless New Orleans Crescents 56-14. Matthews ran for two touchdowns, giving the big fullback 10 rushing scores to go with his loop topping 1,051 yards on the ground. Pat Chappell was not the passing machine we came to expect from four seasons of tearing up secondaries in the Continental loop as the Kansas City quarterback cut back on his pass attempts as the club relied more on Matthews and halfback Pat Hill. The results made Chappell a better quarterback despite season numbers of 1,748 throwing yards, 12 touchdown passes that paled in comparison to his Continental exploits.

The question now is how will the Cowboys stack up against a Pittsburgh eleven that was a league best 10-2. One of the Paladins two losses came at the hands of the Cowboys in a game that saw Matthews reel off two long first quarter touchdown runs. The Paladins are sure to be focused on the Cowboys fullback this time around but this one has the makings of what could be quite a football game as the best of the American Division and best of the Continental Division square off, although a couple years later than had been hoped for.

FINCHES COLLAPSE AGAIN

There is something about even numbered years that does not seem to agree with the Cleveland Finches. In 1946 the Finches entered their 10th game with a 5-2-1 record and leading the old West Division over the second place Chicago Wildcats who were 4-4. Cleveland lost two of its final three games including a season ending 28-24 defeat in Chicago in which the Finches led by 10 points with less than 9 minutes remaining to lose the division to the Wildcats.

Two years later in 1948 the Finches were a perfect 10-0 but lost 28-27 on a late touchdown to Pittsburgh and, after beating Detroit, were 10-1 and tied with a Chicago team that had lost its opening game of the season in Cleveland but had not fallen since. The two clubs met in the Windy City with the division title on the line for the second time in three years and once more the Finches came up short, falling 21-0 and once more missing out on the title game.

Fast forward to this season and the Finches were in first place with 2 games remaining. Those two games would be against a pair of teams in Philadelphia and Boston that would finish the season a combined 5-19 but Cleveland tripped up twice at home. First the Finches were hammered by the Frigates 35-6 and then, needing only a win against a bad Boston club, they came up short in a 49-42 slugfest that left them battered and bruised and sitting on the sidelines once more. It was not Chicago, but rather the Kansas City Cowboys who would take their place in the championship game this time around.

PALADINS VS COWBOYS FOR AFA TITLE

The Pittsburgh Paladins will be seeking revenge for their 24-10 loss to the Kansas City Cowboys earlier in the season when they meet at Fitzpatrick Park in Pittsburgh next Sunday. The Paladins entered that November 12 contest with a perfect 8-0 record but limped out with their first loss after Mason Matthews ran for 124 yards and two scores while Pat Chappell threw for over 200 yards in the Cowboys victory.

Pittsburgh actually limped into the game as well as it was played with Paladins quarterback Dusty Sinclair, who led the AFA in passing yards and touchdown throws this season, on the sidelines nursing an injury. Sinclair returned the following game and says he is ready this time around.

For the Paladins it will be their first appearance in the championship game since 1938, which was the last hurrah of a dominant Pittsburgh eleven that played in four titles games (winning two) over a five year span. The Kansas City Cowboys are making their first appearance in the AFA title game but have plenty of playoff experience with 3 wins from appearances in each of the four Continental Football Conference championship games.

GRID ALL-AMERICAN TEAM UNVEILED

It comes as little surprise that Pete Capizzi, who established a new single season collegiate passing record when he threw for 23 touchdowns, heads the list of 1950 All-American selections. Joining Capizzi on the elite eleven, is his Central Kentucky Tigers teammate Gene Trickle. Capizzi, Trickle and the rest of the Tigers finished the season 10-0-1 and ranked number one in the nation. They will tussle with Oklahoma City State on New Year's Day in a meeting between this year's champion and the top school from last season. The Wranglers, who are led by a pair of All-Americans of their own in halfback Philo Bennett and tackle Preston Rich, posted a 9-1 record this season to finish 5th in the final poll. The two schools will meet in the Cajun Classic on New Year's Day in New Orleans.

HILL LEADS ABILENE BAPTIST TO WIN OVER NOBLE JONES COLLEGE IN CAPITAL CLASSIC

Ace Back Returns Opening Kickoff 100 Yards For Score

The Capital Classic football game was 20 minutes late starting Saturday, and 20 seconds later Abilene Baptist had the first of four touchdowns that helped them to a 24-17 victory over Noble Jones College before a crowd of 12,245 at Maryland State's Bengals Stadium.

Eddie Hill, the Chapparals All-Southern Border Association fullback, momentarily fumbled the kickoff on the goal line, but once he recovered possession he didn't let go until he sped past the Colonels defenders and took off up the sidelines at such a pace that he wasn't even chased for the last 40 yards.

On a day that much of the focus was on Charlie Barrell, the local three-sport star signal caller for Noble Jones College, it was Hill that stole the show. Before the first period was over, Hill, who mixes speed and deception with bull strength, also had an 81-yard touchdown gallop to his credit. For the day, his yardage total was 306, in running, pass and punt receiving and a short pass he threw set up a touchdown.

Barrell did look good when he had a chance to shine, passing for 170 yards and a pair of touchdowns, but the issue was the Colonels seemed to rarely have the ball as Abilene Baptist dominated the time of possession including running the final four and half minutes of the game off the clock, denying Barrell and the Colonels a chance for a last-ditched effort to try and tie the contest.

It ends a dreadful season for the Colonels, who finished 3-8-1 on the year just two seasons after a 10-1 campaign had them ranked 5th in the nation. The Chapparals, who won their first Southern Border Association title since 1942 with a 5-0-1 section record, finish 8-2-1 overall.

In the only other collegiate game this weekend the Travis College Bucks scored both of their touchdowns in the second quarter and went on to beat the Bayou State Cougars 14-3. Fullback Sammy Vint smashed through the Bayou State line twice from the 1-yard line to account for both of the Bucks touchdowns. Travis College, which now boasts an 8-2 record, will meet Detroit City College New Year's Day in El Paso when they tangle in the Desert Classic.

COLLEGE SURVEY RAPS TELEVISION

Holding to the opinion that telecasting presents a threat to intercollegiate athletics, the television committee of the Academia Alliance recommended this week that no television commitments be made for next year by its members until after the American Intercollegiate Athletic Association convention at Dallas next month.

The committee announced that a special meeting of the Academia Alliance would be called to make a final decision on the controversial subject after the Dallas convention. The report, which was adopted, was one of the highlights of the annual meeting of the Alliance members and brought to an end four days of schedule making and conferences at the Hotel Biltmore in New York City.

The report:
"The television committee of the Academia Alliance has continued its study of all types of athletic telecasting during the past year, and still is of the opinion that live telecasting of sports events presents a threat to the institution of intercollegiate athletics. It is, however, also of the opinion, that independent action by regional groups should be held in abeyance pending the A.I.A.A. convention at Dallas, Tex., on Jan 12 and 13."

An echo of discord of AIAA enforcement of the "sanity code" was also heard when the executive council proposed a resolution to urge the national body to return to its former status as an administrative body and abandon its enforcement duties. However, that bombshell did not burst as Academia Alliance athletic directors narrowly defeated the proposal.

SHAMROCKS RIDING SEVEN GAME UNBEATEN STREAK

It is the New York Shamrocks turn to take over top spot as the NAHC standings are finally getting a little separation. The Shamrocks, who have not lost in their last seven games, have yet to shake the pesky Detroit Motors who remain just a point back of New York's league leading 33, but the rest of the pack has faded slightly.

The Toronto Dukes, who have lost 3 straight and are winless in their last four games, suddenly find themselves five points behind the front-runners from Broadway and now in third place. Meanwhile, the defending Challenge Cup champion Montreal Valiants are fourth place, six points off the lead after the Vals struggled recently with 4 losses in five games before righting the ship last night with a 6-3 victory over Toronto.

After some good health throughout the league in the early going the injury bug bit hard last week and few teams were exempt. The Montreal Valiants lost defenseman Isaac Finnson for a month with a lower body injury. The 27-year-old had 6 points in 27 games. Toronto will be without veteran center Bobbie Sauer for at least as long after the 36-year-old suffered a shoulder injury. It has been a tough start to the season for Sauer, who only had 4 goals and 7 points in 23 games after collecting 61 points in 65 games a year ago. Boston rearguard Conn Cundiff (1-4-5 in 24 games) and Detroit forward Lou Barber (7-5-12 in 24 games) will each miss the next week or so with injuries sustained last week.

*** Burns Extends Deal With Packers ***

A rare bit of good news out of Chicago this season as star center Tommy Burns will remain a Chicago Packer for likely the rest of his career after the 30-year-old agreed to a six year contract extension that will keep him in green and red through the 1956-57 season. The active all-time scoring leader in the NAHC will collect $23,500 each of the next six years after his current deal -which pays Burns a reported $21,500 runs out at the end of this season. Burns leads the Packers will 9 goals and 20 points in 24 games this season.

Montreal 0 at 1 Detroit : Francis McKenzie scored in the first period and Millard Touhey took care of the rest by stopping all 25 Montreal shots in a 1-0 win at the Thompson Palladium for the Motors.
New York 2 at 1 Toronto : Alex Sorrell stopped 35 of 36 Toronto shots and George Collingsworth scored early in the third period to snap a 1-1 tie and lead the Shamrocks to victory.
Boston 5 at 2 Chicago : Tommy Hart scored twice while Robert Walker and Jamie Nargang each had 2 helpers as the Bees dumped the struggling Packers 5-2.

Detroit 6 at 2 Boston: Six goals is the most the Motors have scored in a game since October 25 when they beat Toronto 7-4. Louis Rocheleau and Vincent Arsenault led the way for Detroit on this night with Rocheleau scoring twice and adding an assist while Arsenault had three helpers. Graham Comeau also scored twice for the winners.

Toronto 0 at 2 New York : Alex Sorrell proves too much for the Dukes for a second straight game. This time the Shamrocks netminder was perfect, stopping all 28 Toronto shots in a 2-0 Greenshirts victory. Orval Cabbell, who leads the NAHC in points, and Jim Macek scored for New York as the Shamrocks fired 39 shots on Toronto goaltender Gordie Broadway.
Montreal 0 at 2 Boston : Montreal is shutout for the second consecutive game. This time it is Oscar James making 25 saves in the Boston net. Second period goals from Ray Gustafson and Jamie Nargang provided the offense for the Bees.
Detroit 2 at 2 Chicago : Ed Delarue scored with a little over 5 minutes remaining in the game after the Motors had scored twice earlier in the third period as Chicago rallied for a rare point in earning a 2-2 tie against Detroit. Stanley Royce was the other Chicago marksmen while Vincent Arsenault and Graham Comeau had the Detroit goals.

Boston 5 at 5 Detroit : A second straight tie for the Motors thanks to a late goal from Moe Treadwell. The defenseman took center stage on offense with Jamie Nargang scoring twice for the Bees and Brock Ternovatsky notching three assists for Detroit.
Toronto 3 at 6 Montreal : Toronto never recovered from an awful first period and lost for the third straight game. Montreal scored four times in the opening eleven minutes with six different Vals beating rookie Toronto goaltender Charlie Dell on the night. It was just Dell's second career appearance and the former first round pick had a much rougher go of things than he did in his November debut, a 2-1 win over Detroit.
Chicago 1 at 2 New York : John Beaudoin's first career NAHC goal and Orval Cabbell's league leading 13th of the season staked the New York Shamrocks to a 2-1 win over Chicago in a game that could have been much worse for the Packers had Norm Hanson not made 42 saves. Packers fans have to be wondering what is wrong with Tommy Burns. The center, who just inked a six-year contract extension, is pointless in his last four games and has scored just once in his last nine outings.

DUKES ON WRONG END OF THREE STRAIGHT

The Toronto Dukes dropped from first to third place in the NAHC thanks to three losses during the week including two to the front-running Shamrocks and the other one to Montreal.

The rough week started on Wednesday in Dominion Gardens hosting New York. The first period ended scoreless with both teams feeling each other out looking for openings in the other team's defensive armour. Toronto turned up the offensive heat in the second testing Alex Sorrell 16 times in 20 minutes. Sorrell was only beaten once when Lou Galbraith scored at 8:49 from Bobby Sauer and Quinton Pollack on the powerplay while Ryan Kennedy was serving time for interference. The Dukes could have easily been up 2 or 3 had Sorrell not robbed them continually before Jocko Gregg beat Broadway on a feed from Jim Macek at 11:27 to even the contest. Through two periods Sorrell made 23 saves, while Broadway kicked away 15 of 16 NY shots.

The final twenty was a wide open affair as the Dukes tried to get the equalizer after George Collingsworth scored his first of the year off a rebound from a Jack Watkins shot at 3:30. Dukes pressed on, at times turning over the puck that led to a Shamrocks counter attack, but were not able to put another puck into the New York cage. Sorrell backstopped the visitors to 2-1 win with 36 saves in game that left many players and fans shaking their heads over missed opportunities in the NY end.

The same two teams met in Bigsby Gardens Saturday in another goaltending duel between Sorrell and Broadway. The home side took 41 of the 69 total shots on goal for the game. Shamrocks scored the only two goals of the game, one in the first by sniper Orval Cabbell his 12th of the season then second by Jim Macek with just under 9 minutes remaining in the game. Sorrell continued to befuddle the Dukes as he turned away all 28 shots on goal in a 2-0 whitewash. Sorrell made 54 saves on 55 Duke shots over two games. Broadway was almost his equal with 55 saves out of 59 shots.

Toronto took the overnight train into Montreal to face the Vals Sunday. Charlie Dell got his second start between the pipes. It did not go nearly as well as his debut. Toronto came out flying when Lou Galbraith got to double digits in goals at 00:37 after Clarence Skinner was caught holding after the opening puck drop. The walls quickly caved in on the Dukes and Dell as Pat Coulter tied the game at 1:01 then goals by Wayne Augustin, Brett Lanceleve and Arlen Doherty put the home side up 4-1 before the game was 11 minutes old. Quinton Pollack pulled the Dukes back to within two at 13:01 in a wild six goal opening frame.

Toronto fired 25 shots at Tom Brockers in the second but beat the veteran Montreal netminder just once when Doug Zimmerman tallied his 5th on the power play to trim the Vals lead to 4-3. However Ray Sclisizzi restored the two goal Montreal lead with just over a minute to play in second. Both teams tightened a little defensively in the third with the Dukes being held to 9 shots on goal trying to get back into the game. They got caught pressing when Ed McRae was sent in alone on Dell to score the final marker of the game at 17:41 making the final 6-3 Montreal.

Coach Barrell- "We lost all three games but there is no need for the fans to panic over the losses. The two the Shamrocks were basically Sorrell giving them both victories. We win at least one, if not both, of those had he not stoned us twice in three days. Broadway wins most of the games in which he only allows two to get behind him.

We are still snake bit far too often on the attack but we have a bigger issue to deal with at present. Bobby Sauer will be out until sometime in January with a separated shoulder, Ken Jamieson will start his NAHC career next week between Lavalliere, Cameron. Trevor will move to the middle with wingers Charette, Navarro. We were hoping to give Jamieson a full season in the minors, he will have mature a little quicker, he will spending extra time with the coaches before and after our practices with the Black Aces. Painchaud is also out with groin strain, although he should be back soon. We have been lucky with injuries thus far, every team goes through hard times, hopefully we can recover quickly from these losses, injuries."

• Luther Gordon tamed the Washington Statesmen. The Chicago Panthers ran their winning streak to four and snapped Washington's seven-game streak of its own in a 75-68 Chicago triumph. Gordon naturally led Chicago with 28 points, but only went to the free-throw line twice (he hit both shots, by the way). Entering the fourth quarter, Washington was up 60-51, but Chicago pulled in front with a 24-8 final stanza. Gordon put Chicago up 65-64 with 3:46 remaining and up for good at 67-66 with 2:40 left.
• The first game of the week was an appetizer for Gordon, setting up for the main course. After home-and-home wins last week against Toronto and the win at Washington early in the week, the Panthers came home to Lakeside for a big matchup with first-place Rochester. Chicago came all the way back from a 30-12 first quarter deficit to force overtime and win, 112-108. Gordon exploded for 46 points, one shy of his career high set only last week, hoisting up 45 shots, exactly one-third of the shots Chicago offered. Gordon was 15-for-45 from the field and made 16 of 18 foul shots, adding 22 rebounds. Chicago moved to within a half-game of Rochester with the victory.
• Just one loss and Washington is looking over their shoulder at the surging New York Knights. The Knights have used a 6-1 home record to get to 10-5 for the season, one-half game behind the Statesmen in the East. Sam Bigsby, the owner of the Knights, is hoping to goose the attendance at his Gardens, but the team is averaging less than 3,000 fans a game. Four players average in double figures for the top scoring team in the East at 86.9 points per game. The Knights won all three of their home games this week with wins against Boston (107-77), Baltimore (103-95), and Philadelphia (82-70), but could not pierce the 3,500 attendance barrier. The five-game homestand continues tonight with a chance to take over first place in the East as the Knights will face the Statesmen.

NOTES FROM AROUND THE FEDERAL BASKETBALL LEAGUE

Bob Murphy of the Detroit Times: Mustangs Coach James Williams needs to have a talk with Jack Kurtz. The star center has always been a complainer -never seems happy since we added Ward Messer to the mix- but he is taking out his frustrations on the court. Kurtz has collected at least 5 fouls and been forced to spend extended time on the bench in 11 of his last 12 games and fouled out four times in that span. None worse than this week where on Wednesday Kurtz played just 9 minutes and was pointless in a loss to Buffalo and then was limited to 18 minutes -but he did score 18 points- because of foul trouble in a win over Cleveland Thursday. Kurtz already has 4 games this season in which he scored in just single digits including the goose egg against Buffalo. This from a player who averaged at least 16.5 ppg each of the past four seasons.

Archie Irwin of the Chicago Daily News: The Panthers starting to heat up, winning four straight to improve to 9-6, now just a half game behind the first place Rockets. Just two games after scoring 47, superstar Luther Gordon dropped 46 in a 112-108 overtime win over first place Rochester. Gordon continues to lead the league in points per game (28.9) and is holding steady with the 4th most rebounds (17.6)

CHECK IN ON THE TOP FIVE PRO PROSPECTS

Here is a look at how each of the players OSA projects as the top five eligible for the summer Federal Basketball League draft are performing.

1: MEL TURCOTTE - Forward, Carolina Poly: The senior from New York City is a big reason why the Cardinals are 6-0 and ranked number one in the nation. Turcotte leads the team in points, averaging 14.0 per game, and rebounds with 9.3 which places him in the top ten in the nation in that category. He had a season high 24 points in a win over Sadler a couple of weeks ago and scored 18 recently against St. Patrick's but is coming off his least productive game of the season, tallying just 7 points although he did also have 7 boards, in a 51-41 victory over St. Martin's College on Friday.

2: DARRYL BAUGHER - Center, Western Iowa: The Canaries are a top ten school and expected to challenge for their third straight Great Lakes Alliance conference championship. Baugher is averaging 9 points per games and a team high 8.3 rebounds. The Canaries have a long break in their schedule, with their last game a 68-52 win over Custer College on November 21 and they do not play again until they face Colorado Poly this weekend.

3: ROD BOOKMAN - Guard, Frankford State: Bookman is far and away the top guard available in a draft full of big men. The New Jersey native is scoring at a 14.8 ppg clip, which is on a pace to smash his career high. He is just outside the top ten nationally with his 4.6 assists per game average. A tremendous defender, Bookman is also among the AIAA leaders in steals. Considering the shortage of high end guards in the upcoming draft, Bookman may just be the first name called by FBL general managers in June.

The one knock on him may be that he does not see top competition, at least not until the year end tournament. Frankford State is an independent and presently owns an 8-1 record including 3 wins last week but over smaller schools such as Allentown State, Adirondack State and Alabama Gulf Coast. Bookman had 21 points to start the week in a 52-42 win over the Ironmen and finished it with 18 points in a 50-32 victory over the Privateers.

4: DUMPY KRAUS - Center, Maryland State: The center from Lexington, VA., is often overshadowed by South Atlantic Conference rival Turcotte but has all the attributes that should make him a very strong post player in the pros. Kraus is averaging over 11 points a game and nearly 9 rebounds for the Bengals, who are 3-1 on the year following a 54-34 victory over Commonwealth Catholic early last week. Kraus went 5-for-11 from the field with 11 points and a game high 9 rebounds.

5: CHRIS CORBETT - Forward, Detroit City College The Knights have struggled in the early going this season and may be challenged to make the AIAA tournament, which might hurt Corbett's draft stock. A Los Angeles native who was a High School All-American but has been slow to shine in college ball. While he does not stand out in any one aspect, OSA feels he can be a very solid all-around pro player. Corbett is averaging 9.5 points per game and 4.5 rebounds for the 1-3 Knights who were upset by tiny Granville College 45-44 in their lone game last week.

BIG WEEK IN CUBA FOR SOME TOP FABL PROSPECTS

It was a big week for some of FABL's top prospects in the CWL, most notably on the Chicago combination squad, the Cienfuegos Crocodiles. It all started on Monday, when #3 ranked prospect Rod Shearer led the charge in a 15-3 thwacking of the Matanzas Buccaneers. Not only was he a perfect 5-for-5, but one of my personal favorite prospects known best as "Hot Rod" hit three balls out of the park, driving in 9 runs in his five trips to the plate. He added in a double as well, finishing a triple shy of the cycle in a game he'll remember for the rest of his life. He then followed that huge performance up with back-to-back two-hit games, as the Crocs topped the Buccaneers (5-4) and Havana Sharks (7-2). He was hit less in the lone loss, but Shearer now has an elevated .389/.450/.778 (197 OPS+) batting line in 40 trips to the plate. Aside form his big five hit game, he has another double and homer, giving him six extra base hits, ten runs, and fifteen RBIs three weeks in.

Teammate and 7th ranked prospect Bob Allen then showed everyone why he's the top rated pitching prospect in the game, as he picked up his first win of the winter with a dominant 10-strikeout complete game victory. He allowed just 2 hits, 2 runs, and 2 walks, lowering his ERA and WHIP to 3.60 (132 ERA+) and 1.15 respectively through 20 innings. Two of the most exciting prospects in the game, the CWL gives them a chance to showcase just how good they are.

They're not alone from the top 10, with seven of the top ten prospects currently on CWL rosters. They all haven't been as lucky as Shearer and Allen, as their teammate and 9th ranked prospect Jerry Smith is hitting just .244/.370/.356 (80 OPS+) with a triple, homer, and 7 RBIs. Top ranked prospect Rick Masters (.286, 1, 10) is doing a bit above or below average, depending on if you prefer OPS+ (93) or WRC+ (104), but considering the former 2nd Pick is just barely 20, the Minutemen have to be happy with how he's done so far. Teammate Joe Kleman hasn't hit much at all, just .295/.360/.318 (65 OPS+), but like Masters he's just 20, and he's looked good defensively at short. 4th Ranked prospect George Atkins is giving Pioneers fans something to be excited about, as after a decent debut season (18-for-64, 106 WRC+, 2 SB), he's hit .295/.446/.432 (114 OPS+), good for a 132 WRC+ with 12 walks, a homer, and 6 RBIs.

But even with Shearer's big night, no top prospect is performing better then the one owned by the champion Cleveland Foresters. That would be Joe Wood, who was acquired in what now looks like a heist of the New York Stars, as for Richie Hughes they were able to acquire him, All-Star and Kellogg Winner Larry McClure, and two other big leaguers in Bill Grove (Kings) and Hank Berkowitz (Foresters), with Berkowitz the top starter in the CWL so far (2-0, 0.41, 16). Wood, known by scouts as "The Sioux Falls Sensation," ranks #6 on the prospect list, and has hit an astronomical .429/.520/.952 (254 OPS+) with 7 homers and 17 RBIs in just 11 games. No three homer games for him, but now CWL player has more homers to date, and it may be tough to catch the now 23-year-old. If there's any team that doesn't need help, it's Cleveland, and an outfield of him, Frenchy Sonntag, and Sherry Doyal is sure to cause headaches for Continental pitching staffs everywhere.

• The possibility that United Nations forces may suffer total military defeat in Korea, necessitating a Dunkirk-like withdrawal by sea and air, was said to be the focus of a crisis conference early in the week that included President Truman and British Prime Minister Attlee.
• This after thirteen countries, including the Big Three Western powers, called on the United Nations Assembly to act immediately to stop Communist China's intervention in Korea.
• Russia's Andrei Vyshinsky says that Red China and its people want peace in Korea but he added it must come after the withdrawal of U.N. forces from the country.
• As the week came to a close 20,000 American and Allied troops battled desperately to break through fiery Red Chinese traps in efforts to reach the Korean east coast for probable mass removal by sea. American bomber planes are also attempting to soften up additional Chinese units blocking the escape route.
• Back home the US faces a critical shortage on wool and a Senate subcommittee blames the Munitions Board which it says "has clearly and miserably failed its responsibilities." Its report says the United States - faced with the prospect of a long winter campaign in Korea and the maintenance of a 3-million-man armed force- has no wool in its inventory.
  
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Interesting to see the Gothams still at the top of the Fed. It seems you've decided to continue Figment as is? No jumps, no restarts?

Yep, no changes just kept on going. Though the Gothams could use someone with experience at the helm to get them over the hump ;)

Are they available?