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Jiggs McGee · 01-04-2022, 11:20 AM

July 8, 1940

COUGARS ON THE PROWL

With 10 wins in their last 13 games the Chicago Cougars are starting to make their move in the Continental Association race. Considered by many at the start of the season as the team to beat, the Cougars had a tough time getting going this season and as late as June 10th they were 5 games under .500 at 24-29. Since they they have gone 19-9 and head into the break as the CA's hottest team but they still trail the first place Toronto Wolves by 6.5 games. The Wolves had a strong week of their own highlighted by a 3-game sweep of Cincinnati that allowed Toronto to overtake the Cannons for top spot. Cincinnati has been the surprise club of the season but the Cannons may be coming down to earth after suffering through a 6-game losing streak last week.

There must be something in the air in Chicago right now as, just like the Cougars, the Federal Association Chiefs have also been on a roll of late, winning 12 of their final 15 games heading into the break. The Chiefs, who are looking for their third title in the past five years are second in the Fed, 2.5 games back of the Pittsburgh Miners who just so happen to also be looking for their third title but it would be within the last four seasons if they are successful this time around.

The Philadelphia Keystones have managed to hang around with the big teams in the Fed but one wonders if that will change after the devastating news that pitcher Herman Patterson (8-2, 2.72) is done for the year after suffering an injury to his elbow last week. Detroit is still in the mix but the Dynamos are now 5 games out despite a decent 4-3 showing last week.

CHIEFS LEAD THE WAY AS ALL-STAR TEAMS REVEALED

The Chicago Chiefs will be well represented at Tuesday afternoon's All-Star Game in Detroit. A total of 7 Chiefs were selected to participate in the game including second baseman Hank Barnett and outfielder Cliff Moss who were both selected as starters. The other Chiefs who will be on the home team for the 8th annual game will be pitcher Al Miller and Red Hampton, catcher Tom Bird, first baseman Ron Rattigan and outfielder Bill May. The host Detroit Dynamos placed five players on the squad including starters Red Johnson and Frank Vance. It had been widely expected that Dynamos hurler Sergio Gonzales would get the start in the game but he pitched yesterday in a 4-3 loss to the Chiefs so his status for Tuesday is unknown at the moment.

The Philadelphia Keystones placed 4 players on the team while Pittsburgh and Boston each had three. Rounding out the 24 man Fed roster is one player each from St Louis and Washington while no one was selected from the New York Gothams.

The first place Toronto Wolves lead the way among Continental Association clubs with 6 of their players including starters Fred McCormick and Tom Frederick making the grade. The Cincinnati Cannons had 4 players selected with outfield starters Moxie Pidgeon and Fred Galloway among them while Montreal was next with 3 but all three of the Saints were named to the starting lineup. They are catcher Adam Mullins, shortstop Frank Davis and outfielder Red Bond. Rounding out the team will be two players each from Brooklyn, Chicago, Cleveland, New York and Philadelphia.

Three players will be making their record 7th appearance in the All-Star game. Here are the players to have been named to the All-Star teams the most often:

Code:

MOST ALL-STAR SELECTIONS
7  John Lawson Cougars
7  Fred McCormick Toronto
7  Frank Vance Detroit
6  Bobby Barrell Keystones
6* Harry Barrell Brooklyn
6  Tom Bird Chiefs
6  Moxie Pidgeon Stars
5* George Cleaves Pittsburgh
5* Freddie Jones Cougars
5  Sergio Gonzales Detroit
5  Ron Rattigan Chiefs
 *not selected this year

It will also be the first all-star appearance for 20 players. They are: Red Hampton of the Chiefs; Lew McClendon and Ed Wood of Boston; Ike Keller of Washington; Heinie Zimmer of St Louis; Chuck Hood, Billy Woytek and Hank Koblenz of the Keystones; Deuce Barrell, Butch Smith and Larry Brown of Cincinnati; Lou Robertson of the Stars; Toronto's Lou Jayson, Clarence Howerton, Tom Frederick and Charlie Artuso; Frank Davis of Montreal; Cleveland's Lou Balk; Joe Herman of Brooklyn and Rip Lee of the Sailors.

ALL-STAR GAME NOTEBOOK

The first all-star game was played in 1933 at Whitney Park, longtime home of the Chicago Chiefs. The Federal Association prevailed in that game by an 8-5 score with Pete Asher, then of the Pittsburgh Miners but now with the Cincinnati Cannons, claiming the MVP award after a 3-for-4 day that saw him drive in 3 runs while scoring once. Freddie Jones, then of the Pioneers but now with the Chicago Cougars, also had 3 hit's for the winners. 19 year old Harry Barrell, a rookie with the Brooklyn Kings at the time was the youngest player on the field and Barrell played the entire game, going 2-for-4. Hall of Famers Max Morris and Rankin Kellogg both played in that game.

The Federal Association would win each of the next two games as well and at one point led the series 4 wins to one before the Continental side closed the gap with wins each of the past two seasons.

Code:


			PAST ALL STAR GAME RESULTS
YEAR  LOCATION		 RESULT     			WINNING PITCHER   	  MVP
1933  Whitney Park       Federal 8 Continental 5	Ben Curtin STL         Pete Asher Pit
1934  Riverside Stadium  Federal 11 Continental 7	Chick Stout Pit	       Tom Taylor Cougars
1935  Broad Street Park  Federal 5  Continental 2	Art Myers Keystones    Freddie Jones StL
1936  Pioneer Field	 Continental 6 Federal 4	Tom Barrell BKN        Dick Walker Sailors
1937  Dominion Field     Federal 2 Continental 2 (19)	Don Attaway Keystones  Don Attaway Keystones
1938  Bigsby Oval	 Continental 5 Federal 4 (13)   Bob Cummings BKN       Fred McCormick TOR
1939  Forester Stadium   Continental 6 Federal 3        Art White BKN	       Fred McCormick TOR
1940  Thompson Field		    ?

 FUTURE HOST TEAMS
1941: Brooklyn Kings
1942: Pittsburgh Miners
1943: Montreal Saints
1944: Washington Eagles
1945: Chicago Cougars
1946: Boston Minutemen
1947: Philadelphia Sailors
1948: Chicago Chiefs
1949: Cincinnati Cannons

50TH ANNIVERSARY OF FABL APPROACHES

The 1941 season will be the 50th anniversary of FABL, which traces it's beginnings back to 1892 when William Whitney managed to unite the three struggling major leagues into a new 16 team format that brought about the creation of the Federal and Continental Associations. There was no World Championship Series that initial season but it did make it's debut the following year and has been contested ever since.

To recognize the 50th anniversary of FABL, TWIFB's Jiggs McGee thought it might be something for the league to announce an All-Time All-FABL team, perhaps in conjunction with the All-Star Game festivities next July. We asked Jiggs who he would take as his All-Time FABL team and while he felt a bit more research was probably necessary, off the top of his head Jiggs gave us this lineup.

CATCHER: T.R. Goins - Goins played for Washington and Cleveland in a career that spanned from 1923-1938 and included a pair of World Championship Series titles, two Whitney Awards and 4 all-star game selections. His 2,622 hits and 270 homers are both high water marks for catchers, in fact he tops catchers in pretty much every career offensive stat.

FIRST BASE: Rankin Kellogg - One day Fred McCormick just might surpass him but Kellogg is the choice here, especially considering nearly all of the Keystones other great first baseman, Zebulon Banks, career took place before the creation of FABL. The tragic end due to health reasons of Kellogg's amazing 14 year career is well documented and his quick entry into the Hall of Fame is well deserved. 3 Whitney Awards, 4 all-star game selections, two World Championship titles and 3 triple crowns are just some of the accomplishments for Kellogg.

SECOND BASE: Ed Ziehl - The current Gothams manager played 24 seasons for the club and his 3,496 hits are the fourth most all-time. The Hall of Famer was a member of 4 World title winners and won 7 Federal Association batting titles and is FABL's all-time leader in stolen bases.

SHORTSTOP: John Waggoner - Another Hall of Famer from New York but most of his career was spent with the Stars although he did finish off with the cross-town Gothams. 3,207 career hits, 3 World Championship Series Rings and while his offensive ability get much of the credit Waggoner was also an exceptional defender as well.

THIRD BASE: Joe Ward - John Lawson perhaps deserves some consideration as well but I will give the nod to the Hall of Famer Ward. He made his FABL debut in 1908 as a teenager and was a long-time Montreal Saint except for a brief spell in Chicago with Cougars, Ward amassed 3,127 hits in his career and claimed a pair of Whitney Awards as well as winning two World Championship Series. He has two more rings as well courtesy of his post-retirement job as manager of the Chicago Chiefs.

OUTFIELD: Max Morris - Of course the all-time homerun king gets a spot. 711 homers and 3,651 career hits. 8 Whtiney Awards. 2 WCS rings and, like Kellogg, 3 triple crowns. I hear he could pitch a bit too. Debuted with Cleveland in 1914 as a 19 year old and had stops in St Louis and with the New York Gothams before returning to the Foresters and helping them win their first WCS title. Finished his career in 1937 with a season as player-manager in Detroit before moving from the ballpark to the political arena.

OUTFIELD: Powell Slocum - The greatest hitter the game ever knew. The Hall of Famer had 4,144 of them in FABL. 15 batting titles, 7 seasons hitting over .400 and 4 Whitney Awards. Debuted with Baltimore in 1905 and finished his career 21 years later as player-manager in Brooklyn. Won 3 WCS as a player and a fourth one as the Kings skipper, a job he still holds today but in his second go around at that post with the Kings.

OUTFIELD: John Dibblee - 3,913 career hits for the Hall of Famer who played his entire career with the Cougars from 1906-1931. Won the first ever Whitney Award in 1911 to go along with a pair of batting titles and 3 WCS rings.

PITCHER: Charlie Sis - I might be convinced to change my mind a select Double Al but right now I am leaning towards Sis just because he accomplished his incredible career entirely under the FABL umbrella, debuting in 1903 with St Louis before moving to Toronto in 1909 and staying with the Wolves until his retirement following the 1921 season. Yes, Double Al had more wins - even when you remove the seasons prior to the formation of FABL but Sis' career was in an era much closer to today's game than what existed when Double Al was in his prime.

Regardless of which pitcher you prefer that is quite a collection of talent if they all could take the field in their prime.

QUICK HITS

Four players were unanimous choices to start the All-Star Game including first baseman Red Johnson of the host Detroit Dynamos. The other three were all Continental Association players in Montreal catcher Adam Mullins, second baseman Tom Frederick of Toronto and Cincinnati outfielder Fred Galloway.
A reprieve for Doug Lightbody as the Philadelphia Keystones claimed the 36 year old who had been expected to retire if he cleared waivers after being cut loose by Cincinnati. Lightbody needs 33 hits to reach 2,000 for his career - a plateau that was also scaled by his new Philadelphia teammate Carl Ames earlier this season.
Andy Carter also gets another shot to stick around after the Chicago Chiefs claimed the talented but moody infielder this week. The 34 year old was a two-time all-star with the Washington Eagles but has not been the same player since missing nearly the entire 1937 season with an injury. He was waived by Pittsburgh last week. With Bob Martin out for the season, the plan is to install Carter at second base and move Hank Barnett to third--where his glove plays better than it does at second. The Chiefs top prospect--21-year-old Wes Parks--was recently promoted to Fort Wayne, and he will get the call to play second if the Carter experiment goes awry.
Toronto had 3 come from behind victories last week. This is a reversal from the season thus far where the Wolves were blowing games in later innings. Attendance is starting to tick up at Dominion Stadium but the effect of the war effort in Canada is hurting crowd size. Plans are underway to work a discount for personnel coming to the park in their uniform, giving discounts groups from the armed services.
The dilemma of Ockie Holiday continue to be a good problem to have for the Wolves. Holliday's Union League hitting streak came to an end at 29 games but he still leads the AAA loop with a .359 batting average. Octavius belongs in Toronto with his bat but whose spot does he take is the constant debate which has been made more difficult with Walt Pack's recent hot streak.
The Keystones had a 3-5 week, losing two of three to Pittsburgh in a pivotal pre-All Star Break series. But, the big story is Herman Patterson, who will miss the rest of the year, and likely Spring Training, with a torn UCL. Does that injury end the hopes of a surprise pennant for the Keystones?
Other injury news includes Lefty Allen getting hurt for Pittsburgh but not serious, and Jack Cleaves gets nicked up again while for the Gothams it seems Bob Adams has wrestled title of most often injured NY pitcher away from Nate Speer. Just another day to day injury for Adams but he seems to collect one or two of those a month lately. Fortunately for all three they have a few days to rest over the all-star break. Allen was selected but is not expected to make the trip to Detroit.
Looks like CF Newt Cooper, taken with the 17th overall pick by the New York Stars, may be returning to American Atlantic University for his senior season. The Stars offered him 10k as a signing bonus, but he wants $15k. And with the more valuable Wally Hunter wanting an astounding 23k, the cash strapped Stars just don't have appear to have the budget space to give Newt what he is asking for.
The Philadelphia Keystones got their top pick under contract and Joe Quade, the 18 year old high school pitcher from just outside Philly who was taken with the 3rd overall pick, debuted at #10 on OSA's top prospect list. Two other newly signed pitchers also cracked the top 100. Duke Bybee is #72 and Bob Crowley comes in as the 92nd ranked prospect. The Chicago Cougars drafted Bybee with the first pick of round 4 out of a Brooklyn high school while Crowley, a high schooler from New Jersey, was the Chicago Chiefs second round choice.
It was recently noticed that Deuce Barrell increased his pitch velocity from 95-97 to 97-99 last December. What was going on down in Georgia last winter? It explains the dominating season he is having in 1940.
Great to see John Lawson make his 7th appearance on the all-star team. Looking at Lawson's history, and you wonder what the Stars were thinking in 1935. A perfectly healthy Lawson started just 93 games that season (and had an OPS of 138). The Stars also had Pete Layton, who started a whopping 84 games. 1936 would then bring a trade of Lawson to the Cougars and Layton to the Chiefs.
Detroit is said to be shopping Alf Pestilli (.214,7,41), who is struggling in the Motor City playing alongside his brother Sal. The Dynamos added Alf from Brooklyn last summer but one has to be concerned about negative feedback from Sal should his brother be shown the door.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 7/07/1940

Germany took it's first steps towards the British mainland by capturing the Channel islands of Guernsey and Jersey in a surprise move by units of the Nazi air force.
The German government was officially notified by Paris that the French had severed diplomatic relations with Great Britain. France and Britain may come to blows in the Caribbean after the French island of Martinique had been blockaded by British cruisers as they sought to prevent a shipment of American airplanes which had been delivered to the island from California, from falling into German control.
Hitler rejected the warning issued by the United Sates for Berlin to keep it's hands off of French holdings in the Western Hemisphere however a German government official stated the Nazis have given no indication of any desire to seek territory in the new world.
The US Navy ordered construction of 45 more warships at a total cost of $5 billion making it the largest single contract-letting in the history of the Navy.
In his first press conference since claiming the Republican nomination for President, Wendell Wilkie declared he hoped President Roosevelt would be his opponent. When asked why the G.O.P. candidate replied "because I think I can beat him."
Rumors continue to heat up that Roosevelt is preparing to seek a third term.
More than 100 are feared dead following violent disorder and allegations of fraud in Mexico's presidential elections.

01-04-2022, 11:20 AM	#322
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	July 8, 1940 July 8, 1940 COUGARS ON THE PROWL With 10 wins in their last 13 games the Chicago Cougars are starting to make their move in the Continental Association race. Considered by many at the start of the season as the team to beat, the Cougars had a tough time getting going this season and as late as June 10th they were 5 games under .500 at 24-29. Since they they have gone 19-9 and head into the break as the CA's hottest team but they still trail the first place Toronto Wolves by 6.5 games. The Wolves had a strong week of their own highlighted by a 3-game sweep of Cincinnati that allowed Toronto to overtake the Cannons for top spot. Cincinnati has been the surprise club of the season but the Cannons may be coming down to earth after suffering through a 6-game losing streak last week. There must be something in the air in Chicago right now as, just like the Cougars, the Federal Association Chiefs have also been on a roll of late, winning 12 of their final 15 games heading into the break. The Chiefs, who are looking for their third title in the past five years are second in the Fed, 2.5 games back of the Pittsburgh Miners who just so happen to also be looking for their third title but it would be within the last four seasons if they are successful this time around. The Philadelphia Keystones have managed to hang around with the big teams in the Fed but one wonders if that will change after the devastating news that pitcher Herman Patterson (8-2, 2.72) is done for the year after suffering an injury to his elbow last week. Detroit is still in the mix but the Dynamos are now 5 games out despite a decent 4-3 showing last week. CHIEFS LEAD THE WAY AS ALL-STAR TEAMS REVEALED The Chicago Chiefs will be well represented at Tuesday afternoon's All-Star Game in Detroit. A total of 7 Chiefs were selected to participate in the game including second baseman Hank Barnett and outfielder Cliff Moss who were both selected as starters. The other Chiefs who will be on the home team for the 8th annual game will be pitcher Al Miller and Red Hampton, catcher Tom Bird, first baseman Ron Rattigan and outfielder Bill May. The host Detroit Dynamos placed five players on the squad including starters Red Johnson and Frank Vance. It had been widely expected that Dynamos hurler Sergio Gonzales would get the start in the game but he pitched yesterday in a 4-3 loss to the Chiefs so his status for Tuesday is unknown at the moment. The Philadelphia Keystones placed 4 players on the team while Pittsburgh and Boston each had three. Rounding out the 24 man Fed roster is one player each from St Louis and Washington while no one was selected from the New York Gothams. The first place Toronto Wolves lead the way among Continental Association clubs with 6 of their players including starters Fred McCormick and Tom Frederick making the grade. The Cincinnati Cannons had 4 players selected with outfield starters Moxie Pidgeon and Fred Galloway among them while Montreal was next with 3 but all three of the Saints were named to the starting lineup. They are catcher Adam Mullins, shortstop Frank Davis and outfielder Red Bond. Rounding out the team will be two players each from Brooklyn, Chicago, Cleveland, New York and Philadelphia. Three players will be making their record 7th appearance in the All-Star game. Here are the players to have been named to the All-Star teams the most often: Code: MOST ALL-STAR SELECTIONS 7 John Lawson Cougars 7 Fred McCormick Toronto 7 Frank Vance Detroit 6 Bobby Barrell Keystones 6* Harry Barrell Brooklyn 6 Tom Bird Chiefs 6 Moxie Pidgeon Stars 5* George Cleaves Pittsburgh 5* Freddie Jones Cougars 5 Sergio Gonzales Detroit 5 Ron Rattigan Chiefs not selected this year It will also be the first all-star appearance for 20 players. They are: Red Hampton of the Chiefs; Lew McClendon and Ed Wood of Boston; Ike Keller of Washington; Heinie Zimmer of St Louis; Chuck Hood, Billy Woytek and Hank Koblenz of the Keystones; Deuce Barrell, Butch Smith and Larry Brown of Cincinnati; Lou Robertson of the Stars; Toronto's Lou Jayson, Clarence Howerton, Tom Frederick and Charlie Artuso; Frank Davis of Montreal; Cleveland's Lou Balk; Joe Herman of Brooklyn and Rip Lee of the Sailors. ALL-STAR GAME NOTEBOOK* The first all-star game was played in 1933 at Whitney Park, longtime home of the Chicago Chiefs. The Federal Association prevailed in that game by an 8-5 score with Pete Asher, then of the Pittsburgh Miners but now with the Cincinnati Cannons, claiming the MVP award after a 3-for-4 day that saw him drive in 3 runs while scoring once. Freddie Jones, then of the Pioneers but now with the Chicago Cougars, also had 3 hit's for the winners. 19 year old Harry Barrell, a rookie with the Brooklyn Kings at the time was the youngest player on the field and Barrell played the entire game, going 2-for-4. Hall of Famers Max Morris and Rankin Kellogg both played in that game. The Federal Association would win each of the next two games as well and at one point led the series 4 wins to one before the Continental side closed the gap with wins each of the past two seasons. Code: PAST ALL STAR GAME RESULTS YEAR LOCATION RESULT WINNING PITCHER MVP 1933 Whitney Park Federal 8 Continental 5 Ben Curtin STL Pete Asher Pit 1934 Riverside Stadium Federal 11 Continental 7 Chick Stout Pit Tom Taylor Cougars 1935 Broad Street Park Federal 5 Continental 2 Art Myers Keystones Freddie Jones StL 1936 Pioneer Field Continental 6 Federal 4 Tom Barrell BKN Dick Walker Sailors 1937 Dominion Field Federal 2 Continental 2 (19) Don Attaway Keystones Don Attaway Keystones 1938 Bigsby Oval Continental 5 Federal 4 (13) Bob Cummings BKN Fred McCormick TOR 1939 Forester Stadium Continental 6 Federal 3 Art White BKN Fred McCormick TOR 1940 Thompson Field ? FUTURE HOST TEAMS 1941: Brooklyn Kings 1942: Pittsburgh Miners 1943: Montreal Saints 1944: Washington Eagles 1945: Chicago Cougars 1946: Boston Minutemen 1947: Philadelphia Sailors 1948: Chicago Chiefs 1949: Cincinnati Cannons 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF FABL APPROACHES The 1941 season will be the 50th anniversary of FABL, which traces it's beginnings back to 1892 when William Whitney managed to unite the three struggling major leagues into a new 16 team format that brought about the creation of the Federal and Continental Associations. There was no World Championship Series that initial season but it did make it's debut the following year and has been contested ever since. To recognize the 50th anniversary of FABL, TWIFB's Jiggs McGee thought it might be something for the league to announce an All-Time All-FABL team, perhaps in conjunction with the All-Star Game festivities next July. We asked Jiggs who he would take as his All-Time FABL team and while he felt a bit more research was probably necessary, off the top of his head Jiggs gave us this lineup. CATCHER: T.R. Goins - Goins played for Washington and Cleveland in a career that spanned from 1923-1938 and included a pair of World Championship Series titles, two Whitney Awards and 4 all-star game selections. His 2,622 hits and 270 homers are both high water marks for catchers, in fact he tops catchers in pretty much every career offensive stat. FIRST BASE: Rankin Kellogg - One day Fred McCormick just might surpass him but Kellogg is the choice here, especially considering nearly all of the Keystones other great first baseman, Zebulon Banks, career took place before the creation of FABL. The tragic end due to health reasons of Kellogg's amazing 14 year career is well documented and his quick entry into the Hall of Fame is well deserved. 3 Whitney Awards, 4 all-star game selections, two World Championship titles and 3 triple crowns are just some of the accomplishments for Kellogg. SECOND BASE: Ed Ziehl - The current Gothams manager played 24 seasons for the club and his 3,496 hits are the fourth most all-time. The Hall of Famer was a member of 4 World title winners and won 7 Federal Association batting titles and is FABL's all-time leader in stolen bases. SHORTSTOP: John Waggoner - Another Hall of Famer from New York but most of his career was spent with the Stars although he did finish off with the cross-town Gothams. 3,207 career hits, 3 World Championship Series Rings and while his offensive ability get much of the credit Waggoner was also an exceptional defender as well. THIRD BASE: Joe Ward - John Lawson perhaps deserves some consideration as well but I will give the nod to the Hall of Famer Ward. He made his FABL debut in 1908 as a teenager and was a long-time Montreal Saint except for a brief spell in Chicago with Cougars, Ward amassed 3,127 hits in his career and claimed a pair of Whitney Awards as well as winning two World Championship Series. He has two more rings as well courtesy of his post-retirement job as manager of the Chicago Chiefs. OUTFIELD: Max Morris - Of course the all-time homerun king gets a spot. 711 homers and 3,651 career hits. 8 Whtiney Awards. 2 WCS rings and, like Kellogg, 3 triple crowns. I hear he could pitch a bit too. Debuted with Cleveland in 1914 as a 19 year old and had stops in St Louis and with the New York Gothams before returning to the Foresters and helping them win their first WCS title. Finished his career in 1937 with a season as player-manager in Detroit before moving from the ballpark to the political arena. OUTFIELD: Powell Slocum - The greatest hitter the game ever knew. The Hall of Famer had 4,144 of them in FABL. 15 batting titles, 7 seasons hitting over .400 and 4 Whitney Awards. Debuted with Baltimore in 1905 and finished his career 21 years later as player-manager in Brooklyn. Won 3 WCS as a player and a fourth one as the Kings skipper, a job he still holds today but in his second go around at that post with the Kings. OUTFIELD: John Dibblee - 3,913 career hits for the Hall of Famer who played his entire career with the Cougars from 1906-1931. Won the first ever Whitney Award in 1911 to go along with a pair of batting titles and 3 WCS rings. PITCHER: Charlie Sis - I might be convinced to change my mind a select Double Al but right now I am leaning towards Sis just because he accomplished his incredible career entirely under the FABL umbrella, debuting in 1903 with St Louis before moving to Toronto in 1909 and staying with the Wolves until his retirement following the 1921 season. Yes, Double Al had more wins - even when you remove the seasons prior to the formation of FABL but Sis' career was in an era much closer to today's game than what existed when Double Al was in his prime. Regardless of which pitcher you prefer that is quite a collection of talent if they all could take the field in their prime. QUICK HITS Four players were unanimous choices to start the All-Star Game including first baseman Red Johnson of the host Detroit Dynamos. The other three were all Continental Association players in Montreal catcher Adam Mullins, second baseman Tom Frederick of Toronto and Cincinnati outfielder Fred Galloway. A reprieve for Doug Lightbody as the Philadelphia Keystones claimed the 36 year old who had been expected to retire if he cleared waivers after being cut loose by Cincinnati. Lightbody needs 33 hits to reach 2,000 for his career - a plateau that was also scaled by his new Philadelphia teammate Carl Ames earlier this season. Andy Carter also gets another shot to stick around after the Chicago Chiefs claimed the talented but moody infielder this week. The 34 year old was a two-time all-star with the Washington Eagles but has not been the same player since missing nearly the entire 1937 season with an injury. He was waived by Pittsburgh last week. With Bob Martin out for the season, the plan is to install Carter at second base and move Hank Barnett to third--where his glove plays better than it does at second. The Chiefs top prospect--21-year-old Wes Parks--was recently promoted to Fort Wayne, and he will get the call to play second if the Carter experiment goes awry. Toronto had 3 come from behind victories last week. This is a reversal from the season thus far where the Wolves were blowing games in later innings. Attendance is starting to tick up at Dominion Stadium but the effect of the war effort in Canada is hurting crowd size. Plans are underway to work a discount for personnel coming to the park in their uniform, giving discounts groups from the armed services. The dilemma of Ockie Holiday continue to be a good problem to have for the Wolves. Holliday's Union League hitting streak came to an end at 29 games but he still leads the AAA loop with a .359 batting average. Octavius belongs in Toronto with his bat but whose spot does he take is the constant debate which has been made more difficult with Walt Pack's recent hot streak. The Keystones had a 3-5 week, losing two of three to Pittsburgh in a pivotal pre-All Star Break series. But, the big story is Herman Patterson, who will miss the rest of the year, and likely Spring Training, with a torn UCL. Does that injury end the hopes of a surprise pennant for the Keystones? Other injury news includes Lefty Allen getting hurt for Pittsburgh but not serious, and Jack Cleaves gets nicked up again while for the Gothams it seems Bob Adams has wrestled title of most often injured NY pitcher away from Nate Speer. Just another day to day injury for Adams but he seems to collect one or two of those a month lately. Fortunately for all three they have a few days to rest over the all-star break. Allen was selected but is not expected to make the trip to Detroit. Looks like CF Newt Cooper, taken with the 17th overall pick by the New York Stars, may be returning to American Atlantic University for his senior season. The Stars offered him 10k as a signing bonus, but he wants $15k. And with the more valuable Wally Hunter wanting an astounding 23k, the cash strapped Stars just don't have appear to have the budget space to give Newt what he is asking for. The Philadelphia Keystones got their top pick under contract and Joe Quade, the 18 year old high school pitcher from just outside Philly who was taken with the 3rd overall pick, debuted at #10 on OSA's top prospect list. Two other newly signed pitchers also cracked the top 100. Duke Bybee is #72 and Bob Crowley comes in as the 92nd ranked prospect. The Chicago Cougars drafted Bybee with the first pick of round 4 out of a Brooklyn high school while Crowley, a high schooler from New Jersey, was the Chicago Chiefs second round choice. It was recently noticed that Deuce Barrell increased his pitch velocity from 95-97 to 97-99 last December. What was going on down in Georgia last winter? It explains the dominating season he is having in 1940. Great to see John Lawson make his 7th appearance on the all-star team. Looking at Lawson's history, and you wonder what the Stars were thinking in 1935. A perfectly healthy Lawson started just 93 games that season (and had an OPS of 138). The Stars also had Pete Layton, who started a whopping 84 games. 1936 would then bring a trade of Lawson to the Cougars and Layton to the Chiefs. Detroit is said to be shopping Alf Pestilli (.214,7,41), who is struggling in the Motor City playing alongside his brother Sal. The Dynamos added Alf from Brooklyn last summer but one has to be concerned about negative feedback from Sal should his brother be shown the door. The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 7/07/1940 Germany took it's first steps towards the British mainland by capturing the Channel islands of Guernsey and Jersey in a surprise move by units of the Nazi air force. The German government was officially notified by Paris that the French had severed diplomatic relations with Great Britain. France and Britain may come to blows in the Caribbean after the French island of Martinique had been blockaded by British cruisers as they sought to prevent a shipment of American airplanes which had been delivered to the island from California, from falling into German control. Hitler rejected the warning issued by the United Sates for Berlin to keep it's hands off of French holdings in the Western Hemisphere however a German government official stated the Nazis have given no indication of any desire to seek territory in the new world. The US Navy ordered construction of 45 more warships at a total cost of $5 billion making it the largest single contract-letting in the history of the Navy. In his first press conference since claiming the Republican nomination for President, Wendell Wilkie declared he hoped President Roosevelt would be his opponent. When asked why the G.O.P. candidate replied "because I think I can beat him." Rumors continue to heat up that Roosevelt is preparing to seek a third term. More than 100 are feared dead following violent disorder and allegations of fraud in Mexico's presidential elections. __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports Last edited by Jiggs McGee; 01-04-2022 at 12:44 PM.