AUGUST 25, 1941
COUGARS CLOSING IN ON CONTINENTAL CROWN
What a difference a weekend can make! On Thursday the Chicago Cougars seemed to be finally showing a weakness. They had lost five of their last 6 games and their lead on second place Brooklyn was down to 4 games after the Kings won 4 of their last five. Brooklyn seemed perfectly positioned to continue their charge with weekend games coming up against second division dwellers Cleveland and Philadelphia while the Cougars would have to contend with Cincinnati and Toronto. Instead, things could not have gone worse for Brooklyn's faint pennant hopes and once again the Cougars seemed to reaffirm that there will be no stopping them this season.
Chicago quickly got back on track with a 1-0 win over Cincinnati Friday that required 12 innings to complete. Pete Papenfus did not get the decision but was outstanding and in a close game everyone knew the Cougars would just have to prevail: they are 10-4 in extra innings this season and 22-9 in one run contests, both figures the best in either association.
The monkey of their first 3 game losing streak since they dropped 4 in a row in mid-May now off their backs, Chicago thumped Cincinnati 6-1 the next day and then beat up Toronto pitching in both ends of a Sunday twin-bill with the Wolves. Meanwhile the Brooklyn Kings were allowing the CA's worst offense to score 7 runs in successive games as Cleveland silenced the Kings County faithful both Friday and Saturday. The 6th place Philadelphia Sailors arrived Sunday and they too took care of business, beating Brooklyn 5-3 for the Kings 3rd straight loss and suddenly the gap was back to 7.5 games. There is still over a month remaining in the season but every day it is looking more and more like the CA race is over and the Cougars are merely toying with the rest of the Continental like a cat with a mouse. Get just a little bit of confidence and the Cougars quickly smack you back into place.
DON'T COUNT BOSTON OUT OF FED RACE JUST YET
Four wins in their last five games including an impressive 7-5 victory over Detroit yesterday has the Boston Minutemen just a game back of the front-running Dynamos in the Federal Association with two more games between the two coming up today and tomorrow at Thompson Field.
Yesterday, Boston built up a big lead as Charlie Wheeler (8-12, 3.88) had another bad day on the hill for Detroit. It was 7-1 Boston after six innings but Detroit rallied and nearly made a game of it thanks to 9th inning homeruns off the bats of Sal Pestilli and John Wicklund. It was a tough week for Detroit as they dropped two of three to Philadelphia, both by a single run, prior to welcoming the Minutemen to the Motor City but the really bad news came in the extra innings loss Friday. Sergio Gonzales, making his return after missing over a month with shoulder soreness, was pitching very well until the 7th inning when he was forced to leave the game with a sore elbow. The news could not have been any worse as the club learned over the weekend Gonzales' season is over and he will need surgery on his right arm.
ON AGAIN, OFF AGAIN, MACK SUTTON GETS NEW DRAFT STATUS
The Murfreesboro, Arkansas Selective Service board has been denied a new appeal for deferment, it was reported by the Associated Press. Sutton was slated to be inducted at Fort Bragg, N.C. last week, but his appeal for a second 60-day extension - until October 14- held up induction. He has appealed the board's decision and the Board of Appeals would hear the case later this week. As a result he remains in the Boston Minutemen lineup, at least for the time being.
FOOTBALL KINGS DOWN 26 MEN, WITH MORE TO LEAVE
The Brooklyn Football Kings just began practicing and their coach is already casting about for headache powders. The Kings can barely run a camp as they had just 31 players available all week thanks to damage down to their gridiron machine by the draft. Among the players that Selective Service pulled away from the Kings are vets Harry James, Russel Hitzeman and Dennis Cash along with a pair of former AIAA All-Americans in ex-Cumberland quarterback Tom Knox and former Oklahoma City State standout Arnie Bond. In all, a total of twenty-three Kings have been drafted with 3 others working in defense jobs and seven rookies on the verge of being called. Meanwhile the club also has to contend with six players currently performing with all-star teams as they attempt to whip the team into shape with their first game less then three weeks away - September 9th at Kings County against the Chicago Wildcats.
SEMI-PRO EVENT REVEALS DRAFT HELPS BASEBALL
Baseball, which has loaned some of it's talent to the armed forces of the United States, will be paid back ten-fold, says scouts attending the seventh annual semi-pro tournament. Rube Carter, the long-time birddog for the Kings and Chiefs and now working for Bluegrass State, is convinced he has seen half a dozen definite prospects on the three Army and five industrial teams the Nation's defense program helped bring to the yearly sandlot derby for the first time.
"Many of the newcomers have definite futures in baseball and are bound to catch on with a college team at some point after their time in the army is done," explained Carter. "Some of these guys likely would never have gotten the chance except for the present international situation."
Montreal Saints fans learned this morning something they had long expected: The local nine is out of pennant contention and for the 20th year in a row there will be no October baseball played at Parc Cartier. The fact that the Saints were the first FABL squad to be officially out of playoff contention for the 1941 season makes it an even tougher pill to swallow, even if this looks like a matter of days before Cleveland and the Philadelphia Sailors get the same notice. Rumors saying manager Dick Pozza days are counted in Montreal in order to reverse the trend of multiple losing seasons in a row. Pozza maybe released from the organization as soon as season ends or perhaps even before.
Other than perhaps a change in the bench boss, the word in Montreal locker room remains "Do not panic yet, still focus on the long term plan!"
With the expanded roster coming in a week, few prospects will have the chance to show their skills in the last month to get an invite at the next spring training. Part of this group, we can foresee AAA C Galloway, CF Kaye, SP Mayse, SP Stewart, RP Parker. Promoting few players, will also give a chance to lower level team's players to graduate to an upper level and see if they are ready for the next steps, in this group high ranked prospect SP Pat Weakley and Wally Reif, which according to OSA pipeline may have a chance at the majors next season.
Final note about CF Bill Greene who is now become the starting CF in the lineup (.327, 6 HR, 34 RBIs, 149 OPS+ in 66 GS). After getting the rookie of the month nomination in July, now getting the player of the week award and patrolling the CF position almost everyday. The Saints may have finally found the starting CF since the trade of Pablo Reyes few seasons ago.
QUICK HITS
- SP Sergio Gonzales returns from 5 weeks on the DL and pitches a hell of a game going 7IP giving up 5 hits and just 1 run. Sadly he only managed to face 1 batter in the top of the 8th before throwing his last pitch of the season. He's out with bone spurs and will have surgery. Gonzales was 9-2 with a 2.72 ERA on the season which was injury riddled to say the least. He joins key bullpen RP Jack Richardson on the sidelines for the remainder of the season.
- Injuries to the pitching staff have been difficult for the Dynamos this season. A decision on who will replace Gonzales has not been made but P Ed Whetzel’s 1 week experiment in the pen has been scrapped and he will return to the rotation.
- still on the injury front it has been learned that Pittsburgh's 25 year old fireballer Doc Wiseman suffered a career ender. He was having a pretty intriguing season, with a 1.95 ERA and 28 K’s in 27.2 IP for the Miners this year.
- And the New York Stars slide continues with 4 losses in their last 6 games, plus news that 43 year old Dave Trowbridge (.326,7,74) sprained his knee and will likely miss the next 3 weeks.
- Boston trims a game off the Detroit lead with a win in the opening game of their series with the Dynamos in Detroit. They still have two games left at Thompson Field before they head to New York for a quick 2 game set against the Gothams. They will then get a travel day and welcome in the Miners for 3 games in 2 days. Attendance has been up 30% and the club finally eclipsed 1 million fans through the turnstiles. The Minutemen have been a nice diversion from the War that threatens to commit more Americans into the conflict, daily.
- Walt Messer having that long predicted breakout season for the Gothams. POW in FA and now at .323-22-79 for the season.
- Weirdest Players of the Week? Has to be Joe Brown. The Cougar stopper struck out 6 in 8 scoreless innings out of the pen, recording a win in three of the Cougars five on the week. Doesn't quite scream Player of the Week worthy, and Bill Greene (.8-18, 2 2B, 2 3B, HR, 5 RBI, 5 R, 3 BB, SB) or even Harry Barrell (13-24, 2 3B, 3 RBI, 6 R) would have been better choices.
- A disappointing 2-4 week in a disappointing season for the Cannons. Half expecting Cincinnati council to request the club be returned to Baltimore after such a poor showing in a campaign that had pennant expectations when it began. At least no injuries this week and Moxie Pidgeon hit 2 homers to get to 15. Might just get to 20 for the 6th consecutive season and 11th overall.
- The St Louis Pioneers have won 5 straight games including a 3 game sweep of the Pittsburgh Miners. It has been another trying season for the Pioneers and the first division appears unlikely but they are closing ground on the 6th place Philadelphia Keystones.
The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 8/24/1941
- In a five hour roundup of the entire working class area surrounding the site of the ancient bastille, German-controlled authorities in Paris arrested 6,000 Jews.
- Moscow Radio in a dispatch from Switzerland purported to cite indications that Adolf Hitler's 'mental condition' has deteriorated since the first German setback on the Russian front. The dispatch claimed that Hitler had been forced to leave the Russian front and was now at Berchtesgaden, where doctors have decided that he must not be told any 'bad news.'
- The Nazis are having success on the Eastern Front this week, taking over most of the Ukraine and destroyed much of Russia's main army.
- The United States is considering prohibiting Japanese from leaving the country, in retaliation to similar action by Tokio last week in refusing to allow Americans to leave the Far East.
- Churchill has given a pledge that if the United States becomes involved in war with Japan as a result of Japanese aggression Britain would automatically declare war on Japan.
- American-built Tomahawk fighter planes successfully chased off a German twin-engine bomber over Iceland, forcing it to abort before any bombs were dropped on the American/British naval base on the island nation.
- Selective Service draft rules have been modified leaving those over the age of 28 now exempt from the draft. This new measure also permits those currently in the Army or Navy over that age to request a discharge.
- A 16 day strike at a shipbuilding company in New Jersey has ended but only after President Roosevelt signed an executive order directing the Navy to take over the plant and complete construction on two cruisers, six destroyers, three tankers and two freighters. 16,000 workers walked off the job on August 6th.