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Jiggs McGee · 03-30-2022, 12:32 PM

SEPTEMBER 22, 1941

COUGARS CLINCH CONTINENTAL. MINERS MAKE MOVE

NEW ENGLANDERS NERVOUS, DYNAMOS DISTRAUGHT

Plenty of emotion, of all types in baseball this week. There is jubilation in Chicago as the Cougars clinched their first title in 8 years over the weekend. There is anticipation in Pittsburgh as the Miners have seized top spot in the Federal Association while in Boston there is worry of yet another potential late season failure. That just leaves Detroit, where Dynamos diehards are once again left just a little short in their quest for October baseball and wondering what might have been had the pitching been healthy all season.

It has been pretty clear for close to two months now that the Chicago Cougars seemed a certainty to win their first pennant since 1933 and the Cougars made it official by rubbing salt in the wounds of the second place New York Stars. Chicago clinched the crown in the Big Apple, winning twice over the weekend including Pete Papenfus' league leading 20th victory of the season. All the Stars, losers of 4 straight and owning a 22-27 record since August 1st, could do was sit in the home dugout with head in hands, peaking occasionally to get a glimpse of the Chicago celebration in progress on the Dyckman Stadium infield. The Cougars have certainly slowed of late after setting a torrid pace in the blistering heat from late June until mid-August, but they still have an outside shot at a 100 win season and their current total of 95 is 9 better than anyone else in either league. Now the Cougars can simply relax, enjoy the week ahead and give more of their impressive collection of young talent- such as the Jones brothers - an opportunity to showcase their skills while the veterans take it easy and prepare to face the Federal Association champ.

The Fed representative remains very much in doubt but it is clear the Pittsburgh Miners, looking for their third consecutive pennant, hold all the momentum heading into the final week of the season. The Miners 10 game winning streak was snapped yesterday in Washington lowering their lead on Boston to just a single game and setting the stage for a potential pennant showdown season-ending series between the Miners and Minutemen at Pittsburgh's Fitzpatrick Park this weekend. For that to happen the Minutemen will need a big showing in the nation's capital this week as odds are the Miners will not slow down as they visit in-state rival Philadelphia for 3 before the big weekend series commences.

Pittsburgh's late season run has been nothing short of incredible. 16 wins in 19 September games! 35-12 since August 3rd and 45-24 since the all-star break. Boston has not been bad but the Minutemen are all too familiar with late season struggles, having led at the All-Star break, as they did this season, several times in recent memory only to fall in the standings like leaves from trees as the first winds of September arrive. It is not that Boston has been bad - they are 37-30 since the break and 28-15 since early August - but they have played just .500 ball over the last 15 days and are clearly white knuckling it down the stretch. The Minutemen finish with 6 on the road with the first 3 against the Eagles in Washington.

Boston fans can point to Detroit and say at least we still have a chance. The Dynamos fate was sealed with 3 straight losses to finish last week and they are now 5 games back and in third place. One Detroit fan sarcastically - but accurately- pointed out after the 7-2 loss at Thompson Field to lowly St Louis yesterday "at least we won't finish second again." Detroit has had 3 straight second place finishes but it looks like they will end up third this time around.

COMBINED NO-HITTER FOR COUGARS

The Chicago Cougars more than made a statement to the New York Stars on Saturday, driving home the point that the pennant was theirs with a convincing 5-0 victory that saw Pete Papenfus and rookie Harl Haines combine to throw a no-hitter. Papenfus was cruising along with a 3-0 lead in the 6th inning when his elbow started giving him troubles. He wanted to remain in the game but even with the no-hitter in progress Cougars skipper Clyde Meyer decided to take no chances and shut the 23 year old phenom down for the day.

On came Haines, another 23 year old who was just promoted to Chicago recently after a fine season for AAA Milwaukee. It was his major league debut and Haines helped make it historical by holding the star studded Stars lineup, including Bill Barrett and Dave Trowbridge, hitless the rest of the way. FABL does not keep records of combined no-hitters but this is certainly the first one in recent memory and almost assuredly the first time a FABL pitcher was involved in a no-hitter in his big league debut.

It was just the second no-hitter ever thrown by the Cougars with the first being tossed by Eddie LaRose in 1910.

Playoff bound! After beating the second place Stars 5-0 in a combined no-hitter, the Chicago Cougars clinched the 1941 Continental Association pennant. For the first season since 1933, the Cougars will be playing baseball after the regular season ends. The team was as consistent as it gets, putting up .550 or better months since the season started, and the team currently has scored the most runs (764) while allowing the fewest (586). They've also been extremely lucky, doing something past Cougar teams tended to struggled with; winning one run games. Chicago is 23-13 in one run games and 11-5 in those that take longer then 9 innings.

The staff has been extremely reliable, featuring potentially two 20 game winners in potential triple crown winner Pete Papenfus (20-7, 2.84, 225) and Harry Parker (19-10, 3.19, 117) with the duo of John Lawson (.317, 29, 129) and Leo Mitchell (.345, 11, 81) keeping Bill Barrett from a triple crown. With six games left, they need three wins to break their single season high and five to reach the century mark. The Cougars will also set the single season attendance mark, and will become the first team in FABL history to draw 2 million fans. With a current attendance figure of 1,998,957 and two games remaining, they'll draw at least 10,706 in each through season tickets alone, and have been averaging 26,653 on the season.

With the Fed not wrapped up, the Cougars don't know who they'll be facing, but the squad will get a nice week of rest and relaxation before what should be an exciting playoff series. Expect to see some of the youth, as Donnie Jones (0-1, 3.86) already made his debut and his brother Johnnie will debut in the finale against the Stars. Papenfus will be shutdown with a sore elbow, ensuring he's healthy for potentially three starts in the playoffs.

The clubhouse is ecstatic and has been all season, as despite poor play on the field, Freddie Jones has been an anchor in the clubhouse and him and Joe Brown have taken their role as captain seriously. When asked about what motivates the team, Freddie explained; "We believed in ourselves all season, and after falling just short last year, we refused to let that happen again. A lot around the league expected us to be here, but there were a few who thought we were all bark and no bite. There was one preseason prediction in particular that really riled us up, and we hung it up right by my locker all season. And I'll be the first to tell you, when we smoked our celebration cigars, we ripped it off and let it burn! Cougar fans, this one is for you!"

The Cougars will play either Pittsburgh (86-62) or Boston (85-63) in the finals, but no matter what results the last week bring, the Cougars will have the best record in the FABL.

NERVOUS MINUTEMEN REFUSE SERIES APPLICATIONS

Sept 17, Boston (UPI)--Bombarded by telegrams, telephones and letters from fans, owner Jesse Barton of the Boston Minutemen stuck to his guns and today still answered "no" to the question, "Are Boston World Championship Series tickets applications being accepted.

"The race is still in doubt and we have ample time to handle the situation even if it is not decided until next weekend," Barton explained. "In 1915 I am told we did not announce the ticket sale until they day after the season ended."

Barton hopes to avoid the complications involved in accepting application on the basis of victory and then having to return checks in case the Miners or Dynamos win. The tickets have already been ordered and will be ready as soon as a decision to accept reservations is made. While local interest has not yet reached the white hot peak it did back in the teens when the Minutemen gave Boston several pennants, the plucky fight of the New Englanders this season has aroused enthusiastic, albeit cautious, support from Boston fans who have seen pennant hopes dashed late in the past. If the Minutemen win a sellout for local games appears to be a near certainty.

The Dynamo's bring up several more prospects to finish out the season. Rookie SP Paul Grell will get a start this week. Grell was 15-7 with a 2.73 ERA at AAA Newark helping the Aces win their 2nd straight Union League crown. Also coming up will be RP Ned Brown who has been on the shelf the last 4 weeks with a sore back. He will be put straight into the fire as the clubs stopper for the last week of the season. Oft injured SP Nate Spears will get a start as well but he will be wrapped in bubble wrap.

OF Tony Mullis (AAA 317/379/773 3-73) will slot into RF for the final week of the season ahead of RF Sid Williams who has had a surprisingly good season hitting 309/401/940 with 18 home runs, 50 RBI's and scoring 76 runs this season.

21-year-old Charlie Ashmore who had an up and down minor league season has been called up to the big league roster for the final week also. He is not slated to start any games but might get an outing out of the pen this week.

BOISMENU SENDS SPORTS EQUIPMENT TO BRITISH

Marion Boismenu, Canadian born first baseman of the Philadelphia Sailors, sent a shipment of sporting goods to the British Forces in Africa. The Sailors veteran, who grew up in Quebec before moving to Pittsburgh for high school ball, visited the British-American Ambulance Corps office and autographed some four dozen bats and an equal number of baseballs.

"I just want to do a little bit to help the lads out," explained the 28 year old who is batting .299 in 130 games with Philadelphia this season.

In addition, the shipment includes footballs, soccer balls, basketballs, turf bowling games, tennis racquets and balls, dart games, rubber horseshoes beach balls, ski-balls, skill balls, handballs and two dozen Sailors jerseys.

QUICK HITS

The Cincinnati Cannons are setting aside 10,000 seats both Saturday and Sunday in order to offer free admittance for all soldiers to their weekend season ending series against the Toronto Wolves. This follows the move by a number of college football teams to grant free admission to soldiers for their fall games.
Detroit smashed its regular season attendance record and has 1 game remaining against St. Louis. If it was a game against Pittsburgh or Chicago the Dynamos might have also had a shot at breaking the 2 million mark as they have seen 1,971,593 fans come to Thompson Field this season. While St. Louis is not a tremendous draw in Detroit and the game will be on a Monday afternoon, it is not expected that Detroit will get the 28,500 needed to break 2 million.
Peter the Heater was on track for his first career no-hitter, but a sore elbow caused him to leave the game with one out in the 6th. Harl Haines came in relief for the Cougars, and allowed just a walk in 3.2 innings out of the pen. It was Haines' debut, and he and Papenfus combined for a 5-walk, 5-strikeout no-hitter of the Stars to clinch the postseason
Sam Belton, president of FABL, says the World Championship Series will begin on Wednesday October 1 at the site of the Federal Association champion.
The Dynamos came up just short again this year but Freddie Farhat of the Detroit World points out how tough this season has been for Detroit on the injury front. Pens Farhat: Even though no one has had a lights out season pitching in Detroit (although Shaffner leads the Fed in ERA at 2.82 as the only SP with an ERA under 3), they are leading the Association in Pitching ERA. Detroit built the staff and it has been the strength of the team's resurgence the last 4 years. I have to wonder where the Dynamo’s would be with a healthy full season of Sergio Gonzales (9-2 2.77 ERA before injury) and a healthy Frank Crawford at the start of the season? Crawford has been arguably the best pitcher in the Fed since the All-Star break. In his 12 starts prior to last weeks loss in Boston Crawford is 10-0 covering 91.7 IP he has a 2.16 ERA. Prior to the 2nd half regaining of form, he came back in mid-May and started the year 3-8 with a 6.35 ERA. With the run of success he has shaved off almost 2.75 runs off that ugly ERA. While it isn't over, the thoughts of what if we could have stayed health are running rampant in Detroit.
Cincinnati is another club that has been devastated by injuries this season. The Cannons expected to contend for the Continental crown after the big deal to bring catcher Adam Mullins in from Montreal. The all-star didn't survive the second game of the season before going down for 6 weeks with a sprained ankle. Hitting .326 since his return, Mullins has more than lived up to his billing but the Kings then lost all three of there talented young pitchers. First it was 1939 first overall pick Vic Carroll going down with a career threatening elbow injury that ended his season in mid-June. A month later 1940 second overall pick Bill Sohl hurt his back ending his rookie campaign. Then in mid-August 1935 first overall selection Deuce Barrell suffered an elbow problem putting an end to what started slow but was shaping up to be a career season for the 23 year old.
One team that has surprisingly not been bit seriously by the injury bug is the New York Gothams and manager Ed Ziehl freely admits "A big reason for our move up to a more respectable record was the lack of injuries. I don't recall having such an injury free season in the majors. Except for Bob Adams of course, but he goes to Nate Spear's personal trainer." Spear is of course the immensely talented but often-injured 25 year old that was traded to Detroit last winter and promptly got hurt in his 3rd appearance with the Dynamos and missed nearly three months. He spent a couple of months in AAA before being brought back up to the big leagues by the Dynamos this month.
Carl Ames bid farewell to baseball last week. The 38 year old played sparingly for the Philadelphia Keystones last season but did record his 2,000th career hit. He spent some time in the minors this season, working more as a coach than as a catcher as he appeared in just 11 games. He officially announced his retirement after the minor league season came to an end last week.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Jiggs McGee takes a look around FABL with a quick comment or two on each of the 16 clubs:

BOSTON- Not that they need any more motivation this week but the Boston-Washington series gives the Minutemen a real say on if they get the first overall pick in the January portion of the draft. Washington is presently a game up on St Louis in the race (???) for last place and the Minutemen own the Eagles first round selection courtesy of the Al Gross trade earlier this season.

BROOKLYN- Safe to say reports of Al Wheeler's demise were erroneous. The 33 year old 5 time Whitney Award winner had a pair of rough season the past two years but returned to form this year. Wheeler is batting .290 with 23 homers and 75 rbi's heading into the final week.

CHIEFS- Rabbit Day has likely made his final start of the season as the 37 year old is dealing with some nagging back tightness. If so, Day ends with a 16-15 record this season including his 280th victory of his career. That came Saturday in a complete game 3-2 win over the New York Gothams. Day is now 15th all-time in victories and bidding to become the first pitcher to reach the 300 mark since Hall of Famer Big George Johnson got there in 1925.

An interesting question poised by Percy Sutherland. "Assuming Day plays at least 2 more seasons, does he go into the Hall with a Cannons or Chiefs cap? He had 7 seasons in Baltimore and now 5.5 in Chicago." Freddie Farhat points out Day had more personal success in Baltimore but won 2 WCS titles in Chicago. 129 wins and 1 Allen Award in Baltimore. So far in Chicago, 104 wins, 1 Allen, and 2 championships. If he gets to 300 wins, he may also top the Baltimore win total for Chicago. Looking back, Day's 1936 season was utterly dominating. He led the FA in ERA, K, WHIP, H/9, HR/9. It was nearly impossible to get a hit off of him. He finished with a record of 25-3 and 2 saves.

COUGARS- As if the Cougars are not already loaded with young pitching talent in Pete Papenfus and Harry Parker, opponents will soon have to contend with the Jones brothers. Both 23 year old Johnnie and his 21 year old brother Donnie were called up last week but only the younger sibling made his big league debut. Donnie, a 1938 6th overall selection of the Toronto Wolves, took the loss in a 5-4 defeat at the hands of the Philadelphia Sailors but he went 7 innings allowing just 3 earned runs and 10 hits so not a terrible debut by any means. With the pennant clinched the Cougars are expected to give Johnnie, who was originally drafted fourth overall by the New York Stars in 1936 but has been traded twice, a start this week.

CINCINNATI- More bad news in a season full of it on the injury front. The Cannons learned this week that young outfielder Bob Griffith's back problems are not improving and he will need at least 3 more months before he can resume training. The 25 year old was first injured in June and had been expected to be ready to resume normal exercise by now. The good news is Cannons won player of the week honours in back to back weeks with Frank Covarrubias getting the nod this time after Adam Mullins was last week's winner.

CLEVELAND- Mixed results for top pick Hiram Steinberg in his first season of pro ball. The 18 year old, who rewrote the national high school record book, went 5-6 with a 4.06 era at Class C Ottumwa of the Upper Mississippi Valley Association. A strikeout machine in college, Steinberg fanned 66 in 102 innings with the Owls but did walk 30.

DETROIT- It certainly could have been different this season had Frank Crawford been healthy all year and Sergio Gonzales not gone down late in the season but the Dynamos have to be proud with how far the franchise has come in the past few years. Nothing to show for it, but 4 straight pennant races is quite an accomplishment. Good news is Sal Pestilli (.287,29,107) looked a little more like the player who won the Fed Whitney Award 3 seasons ago.

MONTREAL- This is shaping up to be the worst season in Saints history since 1906 when they went 51-101. Montreal has 6 games left but with 55 wins it seems a near certainty they will fail to win at least 60 for the first time since that dreadful '06 campaign.

NY STARS- Not so long ago everyone was thinking triple crown for Bill Barrett. Then a late slump saw the Cougars John Lawson overtake him for the RBI lead. The homerun crown seems safe for the 21 year old as his 33 lead Lawson by 4 heading into the final week of the season but the batting title no longer is a sure thing. Barrett is hitting .349 with Leo Mitchell of the Cougars closing fast as he is now batting .345.

NY GOTHAMS- A 6 game losing skid pretty much ends the Gothams dreams of cracking the first division for the first time since their WCS winning 1935 season. The still have a chance despite trailing the 4th place Chicago Chiefs by 3 games as 4 of their final 6 contests are against the Chiefs.

KEYSTONES- Veteran Doug Lightbody (.287,1,24) is looking like he might just stick around for another season. The 37 year old seemed like he was at the end of the line last season after Brooklyn released him and a brief trial in Cincinnati did not work out but he picked up his 2,000th career hit with the Keystones this season and has looked pretty good as a pinch-hitter, batting .381 in that role this season.

SAILORS- If there current 7th place standing in the Continental Association holds true it will be the lowest the Sailors have finished since 1922, when they also came in 7th. You have to go back to 1919, in a war shortened campaign, to find a season in which Philadelphia won less games than they expect to finish with this season. Their .426 winning percentage is the club's worst in 41 years, surpassing only a .379 (53-87) showing in 1900.

PITTSBURGH- Apparently the elbow injury is not that bad. There was some worry when Pablo Reyes banged up his elbow on September 10th but since then the 5-time all-star centerfielder has notched at least one hit in every game and is batting .383 (18-for-47) during that stretch. Miners doctors say it will be 2 weeks before he is healthy again which is a good thing as Pittsburgh skipper Dan Andrew might be tempted to bash his 30 year old in the elbow again if the doc were to pronounce him fit prior to the end of the Miners season.

ST LOUIS- While it has been another awful year for the Pioneers the club has to love the showing of first round pick Tom Buchanan. The 18 year old, taken second overall behind Cleveland's Hiram Steinberg, went 6-6 with a 3.30 era in 14 starts for Class C Moline.

TORONTO- Wolves finish their home schedule by surpassing one million in home attendance, a tribute to the fans who stuck with the club during a trying season for the Wolves plus the hardships of wartime rationing in Canada. Toronto will begin a post mortem immediately in an attempt to prepare for 1942, Rollinson has further complicated the Wolves crowded infield situation with a slash line of .364/.429/.523 during his September callup. Rumours around the team are that the Wolves may try to deal some depth over the off-season or move Tom Fredrick to OF full-time in '42. Another decision will have to made on two-way player Juan Pomales, is he a big league player at P or OF?

WASHINGTON- Two more homers this week for Sig Stofer and the Boardwalk Bopper remains one of my favourite players in the league. The 25 year old, who came over from the Keystones at the break last year is batting .270 with 24 homers and 110 rbi's in 148 games this season. He had a bit of a dry spell in July but has hit 35 longballs in 189 games since joining the Eagles.

VAUGHT LEADS MAROONS TO SECOND WIN

Detroit's high powered offense led the Maroons to a second straight victory to start the season. End Stan Vaught caught two more touchdown passes, to give him 5 already this season, leading the Detroiters to a 24-14 victory over Brooklyn at Kings County Park. It was a sloppy affair as the two clubs combined for 9 turnovers and Brooklyn, despite 3 first half fumbles and an interception on their opening drive led 14-10 at the break. That is when Vaught and his quarterback Dewey Burnett went to work. The 28 year old end caught a 19 yard touchdown pass for a score on Detroit's opening drive of the third quarter to give his side the lead and then would add insurance with another score late in the third on a 2 yard swing pass.

In other action the Cleveland Finches handed St Louis it's second straight home loss, beating the Ramblers 27-7 behind a solid game from Archie Bernstein. Bernstein was involved in 3 of the 4 Cleveland touchdowns, running for one, passing for a second one and catching a pass for a third score. In all he ran for 61 yards, threw for 21 and caught one pass while also contributing 5 tackles and an interception on defense. Interceptions have been the cause of St Louis' woes this season. Last week it was Ernest Spears getting picked off 4 times by Detroit. This time Warren David handling most of the throwing duties for the Ramblers but he completed just 4 of ten passes to his teammates while throwing 3 into the hands of Cleveland defenders.

The final game of the weekend saw Philadelphia top Boston 21-10 despite a strong passing day from Americans quarterback Del Thomas, who threw for 154 yards on the afternoon. Thomas had great success throwing the ball but the Boston side also allowed Tom Griggs to handle some of the passing duties and Griggs was much less effective, getting picked off 3 times while completing just 3 of 11 attempts.

Code:

      AFA STANDINGS
EASTERN    	W L T  PCT
New York	1 0 0  1.000
Boston		1 1 0   .500
Philadelphia    1 1 0   .500
Brooklyn	0 1 0   .000
Washington	0 0 0   .000

WESTERN		W L T  PCT
Detroit		2 0 0  1.000
Cleveland	2 1 0   .667
St Louis	0 2 0	.000
Pittsburgh	0 1 0   .000
Chicago		0 0 0 	.000

RESULTS
Sunday Sept. 21
Detroit 24 Brooklyn 14
Cleveland 27 St Louis 7
Philadelphia 21 Boston 10

UPCOMING GAMES
Saturday Sept 27
Detroit at Pittsburgh
New York at Washington

Sunday Sept 28
Chicago at St Louis
Brooklyn at Philadelphia

VAUGHT REVOLUTIONIZING THE GAME OF FOOTBALL

Perhaps the best player in professional football right now is Stan Vaught of the Detroit Maroons. The 28 year old end is a guy who seems to be changing the way the game is played and is making the forward pass a true weapon. He has already caught 18 passes in just two games including 5 touchdown grabs after catching two more in the win over Boston yesterday. A native of tiny Trumbull, Kansas Vaught attended the small, relatively unknown Dudley College in Peabody, KS. Standing 6'2 and weighing 185 pounds Vaught was something of a secret phenomenon when Rollie Barrell, passing through on his way to Eastern Kansas, stopped at Peabody and took in the game. Few scouts saw the team because Dudley did not play any top competition but Barrell was impressed enough with the young end that upon his return to Detroit he instructed his staff to sign Vaught "at any cost." As it turned out that proved necessary; Vaught did not plan on playing pro football - he was also a baseball and basketball player at Dudley and hoped to land a FABL job. Barrell instructed his staff to offer $300 per game - an unheard-of sum that eclipsed what any active player was then making. They got their man, Maroons coach Frank Yurik installed a new offense that spread one end far to one side (that being Vaught) and a legend was born.

So newcomers to following the AFA, if you are looking for a player to track I would suggest you could do no better than following the career of Stan Vaught.

Just 2 games in for Detroit and their main rival Chicago has yet to play its opener but the Maroons offense with 64 points in two games is looking pretty tough to beat. Detroiters, glued to their transistors are starting to love hearing the call of “Burnett to Vaught”. The duo has teamed up on 5 majors already this season.
Maybe it's just Pioneer Field but neither St Louis team has had much success this year. The baseball team is last in the Federal Association although they are over .500 at home. Meanwhile the Ramblers are now 0-2 after a loss to Cleveland and have been outscored 67-15. QB troubles as both Earnest Spears and Warren David have been picked off 4 times each and I am not sure they have a third option to try next week when it doesn't get any easier with a game against the Chicago Wildcats. To start 0-3 with all losses at home is likely a hole they won't climb out of.
If you are a wagering man you might want to put your money on Detroit, New York, Chicago and Brooklyn next week. They are the visitors in the upcoming games and so far the road squad has prevailed in each of the 7 AFA contests to start the season.
In case you are wondering yes Boston quarterback Del Thomas is the same Del Thomas who spends his summers pitching for the St Louis Pioneers. It has been a busy couple of weeks for Thomas who pitched for the Pioneers in New York on September 1, threw for 201 yards for the Americans in a win in Cleveland on Sep 7, rejoined the Pioneers in Philadelphia and pitched September 9 and then again in Pittsburgh on the 16th before catching the train to Boston and playing against the Philadelphia Frigates yesterday. Thomas is certainly living up to his nickname 'Double Duty' and admits the travel schedule from St Louis is much tougher than when he was a Gothams farmhand a few years back. "Fortunate that we have been on an eastern swing lately and at least I am not still in California," joked the former Amarillo Methodist multi-sport star about his time with the Pioneers AAA farm club the Oakland Greys with whom he spent much of 1940. Thomas is considered to be a much better football player than a baseballer. The 27 year old is 9-17 for his FABL career including 5-7, 5.21 this season in 25 appearances for St Louis. The good news for him is he can focus solely on baseball this week with the Americans not slated to play again until October 5th.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 9/21/1941

More news out of the spy trial in Brooklyn as it is revealed the Nazis learned of the US plans to occupy Iceland as a long ago as last February although the actual occupancy did not take place until July.
With tensions high in the chilly North Atlantic, President Roosevelt has announced the Navy will be escorting every ship bringing supplies to Britain with orders to shoot at will at any Nazi raider. The Navy is also said to be combing the Pacific in search of a Nazi ship.
The US turned over it's first Axis ship to the British. It is an Italian merchant ship that was seized off the coast of Oregon on March 29th and is presently undergoing repairs in Portland after the crew damaged the engines as it was about to be boarded.
furious fighting between the Nazis and the Red Army continues at the Dnieper River in Ukraine but the wet muddy weather is making it difficult for either side to advance. Kiev is a major battle point and misinformation continues as both the Russians and Nazis are claiming huge victories it seems almost daily.
Resistance fighters in Paris have shot and killed 3 Nazi officers in retaliation to the Reich executing 10 Frenchmen this week.

03-30-2022, 12:32 PM	#385
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	September 22, 1941 SEPTEMBER 22, 1941 COUGARS CLINCH CONTINENTAL. MINERS MAKE MOVE NEW ENGLANDERS NERVOUS, DYNAMOS DISTRAUGHT Plenty of emotion, of all types in baseball this week. There is jubilation in Chicago as the Cougars clinched their first title in 8 years over the weekend. There is anticipation in Pittsburgh as the Miners have seized top spot in the Federal Association while in Boston there is worry of yet another potential late season failure. That just leaves Detroit, where Dynamos diehards are once again left just a little short in their quest for October baseball and wondering what might have been had the pitching been healthy all season. It has been pretty clear for close to two months now that the Chicago Cougars seemed a certainty to win their first pennant since 1933 and the Cougars made it official by rubbing salt in the wounds of the second place New York Stars. Chicago clinched the crown in the Big Apple, winning twice over the weekend including Pete Papenfus' league leading 20th victory of the season. All the Stars, losers of 4 straight and owning a 22-27 record since August 1st, could do was sit in the home dugout with head in hands, peaking occasionally to get a glimpse of the Chicago celebration in progress on the Dyckman Stadium infield. The Cougars have certainly slowed of late after setting a torrid pace in the blistering heat from late June until mid-August, but they still have an outside shot at a 100 win season and their current total of 95 is 9 better than anyone else in either league. Now the Cougars can simply relax, enjoy the week ahead and give more of their impressive collection of young talent- such as the Jones brothers - an opportunity to showcase their skills while the veterans take it easy and prepare to face the Federal Association champ. The Fed representative remains very much in doubt but it is clear the Pittsburgh Miners, looking for their third consecutive pennant, hold all the momentum heading into the final week of the season. The Miners 10 game winning streak was snapped yesterday in Washington lowering their lead on Boston to just a single game and setting the stage for a potential pennant showdown season-ending series between the Miners and Minutemen at Pittsburgh's Fitzpatrick Park this weekend. For that to happen the Minutemen will need a big showing in the nation's capital this week as odds are the Miners will not slow down as they visit in-state rival Philadelphia for 3 before the big weekend series commences. Pittsburgh's late season run has been nothing short of incredible. 16 wins in 19 September games! 35-12 since August 3rd and 45-24 since the all-star break. Boston has not been bad but the Minutemen are all too familiar with late season struggles, having led at the All-Star break, as they did this season, several times in recent memory only to fall in the standings like leaves from trees as the first winds of September arrive. It is not that Boston has been bad - they are 37-30 since the break and 28-15 since early August - but they have played just .500 ball over the last 15 days and are clearly white knuckling it down the stretch. The Minutemen finish with 6 on the road with the first 3 against the Eagles in Washington. Boston fans can point to Detroit and say at least we still have a chance. The Dynamos fate was sealed with 3 straight losses to finish last week and they are now 5 games back and in third place. One Detroit fan sarcastically - but accurately- pointed out after the 7-2 loss at Thompson Field to lowly St Louis yesterday "at least we won't finish second again." Detroit has had 3 straight second place finishes but it looks like they will end up third this time around. COMBINED NO-HITTER FOR COUGARS The Chicago Cougars more than made a statement to the New York Stars on Saturday, driving home the point that the pennant was theirs with a convincing 5-0 victory that saw Pete Papenfus and rookie Harl Haines combine to throw a no-hitter. Papenfus was cruising along with a 3-0 lead in the 6th inning when his elbow started giving him troubles. He wanted to remain in the game but even with the no-hitter in progress Cougars skipper Clyde Meyer decided to take no chances and shut the 23 year old phenom down for the day. On came Haines, another 23 year old who was just promoted to Chicago recently after a fine season for AAA Milwaukee. It was his major league debut and Haines helped make it historical by holding the star studded Stars lineup, including Bill Barrett and Dave Trowbridge, hitless the rest of the way. FABL does not keep records of combined no-hitters but this is certainly the first one in recent memory and almost assuredly the first time a FABL pitcher was involved in a no-hitter in his big league debut. It was just the second no-hitter ever thrown by the Cougars with the first being tossed by Eddie LaRose in 1910. Playoff bound! After beating the second place Stars 5-0 in a combined no-hitter, the Chicago Cougars clinched the 1941 Continental Association pennant. For the first season since 1933, the Cougars will be playing baseball after the regular season ends. The team was as consistent as it gets, putting up .550 or better months since the season started, and the team currently has scored the most runs (764) while allowing the fewest (586). They've also been extremely lucky, doing something past Cougar teams tended to struggled with; winning one run games. Chicago is 23-13 in one run games and 11-5 in those that take longer then 9 innings. The staff has been extremely reliable, featuring potentially two 20 game winners in potential triple crown winner Pete Papenfus (20-7, 2.84, 225) and Harry Parker (19-10, 3.19, 117) with the duo of John Lawson (.317, 29, 129) and Leo Mitchell (.345, 11, 81) keeping Bill Barrett from a triple crown. With six games left, they need three wins to break their single season high and five to reach the century mark. The Cougars will also set the single season attendance mark, and will become the first team in FABL history to draw 2 million fans. With a current attendance figure of 1,998,957 and two games remaining, they'll draw at least 10,706 in each through season tickets alone, and have been averaging 26,653 on the season. With the Fed not wrapped up, the Cougars don't know who they'll be facing, but the squad will get a nice week of rest and relaxation before what should be an exciting playoff series. Expect to see some of the youth, as Donnie Jones (0-1, 3.86) already made his debut and his brother Johnnie will debut in the finale against the Stars. Papenfus will be shutdown with a sore elbow, ensuring he's healthy for potentially three starts in the playoffs. The clubhouse is ecstatic and has been all season, as despite poor play on the field, Freddie Jones has been an anchor in the clubhouse and him and Joe Brown have taken their role as captain seriously. When asked about what motivates the team, Freddie explained; "We believed in ourselves all season, and after falling just short last year, we refused to let that happen again. A lot around the league expected us to be here, but there were a few who thought we were all bark and no bite. There was one preseason prediction in particular that really riled us up, and we hung it up right by my locker all season. And I'll be the first to tell you, when we smoked our celebration cigars, we ripped it off and let it burn! Cougar fans, this one is for you!" The Cougars will play either Pittsburgh (86-62) or Boston (85-63) in the finals, but no matter what results the last week bring, the Cougars will have the best record in the FABL. NERVOUS MINUTEMEN REFUSE SERIES APPLICATIONS Sept 17, Boston (UPI)--Bombarded by telegrams, telephones and letters from fans, owner Jesse Barton of the Boston Minutemen stuck to his guns and today still answered "no" to the question, "Are Boston World Championship Series tickets applications being accepted. "The race is still in doubt and we have ample time to handle the situation even if it is not decided until next weekend," Barton explained. "In 1915 I am told we did not announce the ticket sale until they day after the season ended." Barton hopes to avoid the complications involved in accepting application on the basis of victory and then having to return checks in case the Miners or Dynamos win. The tickets have already been ordered and will be ready as soon as a decision to accept reservations is made. While local interest has not yet reached the white hot peak it did back in the teens when the Minutemen gave Boston several pennants, the plucky fight of the New Englanders this season has aroused enthusiastic, albeit cautious, support from Boston fans who have seen pennant hopes dashed late in the past. If the Minutemen win a sellout for local games appears to be a near certainty. The Dynamo's bring up several more prospects to finish out the season. Rookie SP Paul Grell will get a start this week. Grell was 15-7 with a 2.73 ERA at AAA Newark helping the Aces win their 2nd straight Union League crown. Also coming up will be RP Ned Brown who has been on the shelf the last 4 weeks with a sore back. He will be put straight into the fire as the clubs stopper for the last week of the season. Oft injured SP Nate Spears will get a start as well but he will be wrapped in bubble wrap. OF Tony Mullis (AAA 317/379/773 3-73) will slot into RF for the final week of the season ahead of RF Sid Williams who has had a surprisingly good season hitting 309/401/940 with 18 home runs, 50 RBI's and scoring 76 runs this season. 21-year-old Charlie Ashmore who had an up and down minor league season has been called up to the big league roster for the final week also. He is not slated to start any games but might get an outing out of the pen this week. BOISMENU SENDS SPORTS EQUIPMENT TO BRITISH Marion Boismenu, Canadian born first baseman of the Philadelphia Sailors, sent a shipment of sporting goods to the British Forces in Africa. The Sailors veteran, who grew up in Quebec before moving to Pittsburgh for high school ball, visited the British-American Ambulance Corps office and autographed some four dozen bats and an equal number of baseballs. "I just want to do a little bit to help the lads out," explained the 28 year old who is batting .299 in 130 games with Philadelphia this season. In addition, the shipment includes footballs, soccer balls, basketballs, turf bowling games, tennis racquets and balls, dart games, rubber horseshoes beach balls, ski-balls, skill balls, handballs and two dozen Sailors jerseys. QUICK HITS The Cincinnati Cannons are setting aside 10,000 seats both Saturday and Sunday in order to offer free admittance for all soldiers to their weekend season ending series against the Toronto Wolves. This follows the move by a number of college football teams to grant free admission to soldiers for their fall games. Detroit smashed its regular season attendance record and has 1 game remaining against St. Louis. If it was a game against Pittsburgh or Chicago the Dynamos might have also had a shot at breaking the 2 million mark as they have seen 1,971,593 fans come to Thompson Field this season. While St. Louis is not a tremendous draw in Detroit and the game will be on a Monday afternoon, it is not expected that Detroit will get the 28,500 needed to break 2 million. Peter the Heater was on track for his first career no-hitter, but a sore elbow caused him to leave the game with one out in the 6th. Harl Haines came in relief for the Cougars, and allowed just a walk in 3.2 innings out of the pen. It was Haines' debut, and he and Papenfus combined for a 5-walk, 5-strikeout no-hitter of the Stars to clinch the postseason Sam Belton, president of FABL, says the World Championship Series will begin on Wednesday October 1 at the site of the Federal Association champion. The Dynamos came up just short again this year but Freddie Farhat of the Detroit World points out how tough this season has been for Detroit on the injury front. Pens Farhat: Even though no one has had a lights out season pitching in Detroit (although Shaffner leads the Fed in ERA at 2.82 as the only SP with an ERA under 3), they are leading the Association in Pitching ERA. Detroit built the staff and it has been the strength of the team's resurgence the last 4 years. I have to wonder where the Dynamo’s would be with a healthy full season of Sergio Gonzales (9-2 2.77 ERA before injury) and a healthy Frank Crawford at the start of the season? Crawford has been arguably the best pitcher in the Fed since the All-Star break. In his 12 starts prior to last weeks loss in Boston Crawford is 10-0 covering 91.7 IP he has a 2.16 ERA. Prior to the 2nd half regaining of form, he came back in mid-May and started the year 3-8 with a 6.35 ERA. With the run of success he has shaved off almost 2.75 runs off that ugly ERA. While it isn't over, the thoughts of what if we could have stayed health are running rampant in Detroit. Cincinnati is another club that has been devastated by injuries this season. The Cannons expected to contend for the Continental crown after the big deal to bring catcher Adam Mullins in from Montreal. The all-star didn't survive the second game of the season before going down for 6 weeks with a sprained ankle. Hitting .326 since his return, Mullins has more than lived up to his billing but the Kings then lost all three of there talented young pitchers. First it was 1939 first overall pick Vic Carroll going down with a career threatening elbow injury that ended his season in mid-June. A month later 1940 second overall pick Bill Sohl hurt his back ending his rookie campaign. Then in mid-August 1935 first overall selection Deuce Barrell suffered an elbow problem putting an end to what started slow but was shaping up to be a career season for the 23 year old. One team that has surprisingly not been bit seriously by the injury bug is the New York Gothams and manager Ed Ziehl freely admits "A big reason for our move up to a more respectable record was the lack of injuries. I don't recall having such an injury free season in the majors. Except for Bob Adams of course, but he goes to Nate Spear's personal trainer." Spear is of course the immensely talented but often-injured 25 year old that was traded to Detroit last winter and promptly got hurt in his 3rd appearance with the Dynamos and missed nearly three months. He spent a couple of months in AAA before being brought back up to the big leagues by the Dynamos this month. Carl Ames bid farewell to baseball last week. The 38 year old played sparingly for the Philadelphia Keystones last season but did record his 2,000th career hit. He spent some time in the minors this season, working more as a coach than as a catcher as he appeared in just 11 games. He officially announced his retirement after the minor league season came to an end last week. AROUND THE LEAGUE Jiggs McGee takes a look around FABL with a quick comment or two on each of the 16 clubs: BOSTON- Not that they need any more motivation this week but the Boston-Washington series gives the Minutemen a real say on if they get the first overall pick in the January portion of the draft. Washington is presently a game up on St Louis in the race (???) for last place and the Minutemen own the Eagles first round selection courtesy of the Al Gross trade earlier this season. BROOKLYN- Safe to say reports of Al Wheeler's demise were erroneous. The 33 year old 5 time Whitney Award winner had a pair of rough season the past two years but returned to form this year. Wheeler is batting .290 with 23 homers and 75 rbi's heading into the final week. CHIEFS- Rabbit Day has likely made his final start of the season as the 37 year old is dealing with some nagging back tightness. If so, Day ends with a 16-15 record this season including his 280th victory of his career. That came Saturday in a complete game 3-2 win over the New York Gothams. Day is now 15th all-time in victories and bidding to become the first pitcher to reach the 300 mark since Hall of Famer Big George Johnson got there in 1925. An interesting question poised by Percy Sutherland. "Assuming Day plays at least 2 more seasons, does he go into the Hall with a Cannons or Chiefs cap? He had 7 seasons in Baltimore and now 5.5 in Chicago." Freddie Farhat points out Day had more personal success in Baltimore but won 2 WCS titles in Chicago. 129 wins and 1 Allen Award in Baltimore. So far in Chicago, 104 wins, 1 Allen, and 2 championships. If he gets to 300 wins, he may also top the Baltimore win total for Chicago. Looking back, Day's 1936 season was utterly dominating. He led the FA in ERA, K, WHIP, H/9, HR/9. It was nearly impossible to get a hit off of him. He finished with a record of 25-3 and 2 saves. COUGARS- As if the Cougars are not already loaded with young pitching talent in Pete Papenfus and Harry Parker, opponents will soon have to contend with the Jones brothers. Both 23 year old Johnnie and his 21 year old brother Donnie were called up last week but only the younger sibling made his big league debut. Donnie, a 1938 6th overall selection of the Toronto Wolves, took the loss in a 5-4 defeat at the hands of the Philadelphia Sailors but he went 7 innings allowing just 3 earned runs and 10 hits so not a terrible debut by any means. With the pennant clinched the Cougars are expected to give Johnnie, who was originally drafted fourth overall by the New York Stars in 1936 but has been traded twice, a start this week. CINCINNATI- More bad news in a season full of it on the injury front. The Cannons learned this week that young outfielder Bob Griffith's back problems are not improving and he will need at least 3 more months before he can resume training. The 25 year old was first injured in June and had been expected to be ready to resume normal exercise by now. The good news is Cannons won player of the week honours in back to back weeks with Frank Covarrubias getting the nod this time after Adam Mullins was last week's winner. CLEVELAND- Mixed results for top pick Hiram Steinberg in his first season of pro ball. The 18 year old, who rewrote the national high school record book, went 5-6 with a 4.06 era at Class C Ottumwa of the Upper Mississippi Valley Association. A strikeout machine in college, Steinberg fanned 66 in 102 innings with the Owls but did walk 30. DETROIT- It certainly could have been different this season had Frank Crawford been healthy all year and Sergio Gonzales not gone down late in the season but the Dynamos have to be proud with how far the franchise has come in the past few years. Nothing to show for it, but 4 straight pennant races is quite an accomplishment. Good news is Sal Pestilli (.287,29,107) looked a little more like the player who won the Fed Whitney Award 3 seasons ago. MONTREAL- This is shaping up to be the worst season in Saints history since 1906 when they went 51-101. Montreal has 6 games left but with 55 wins it seems a near certainty they will fail to win at least 60 for the first time since that dreadful '06 campaign. NY STARS- Not so long ago everyone was thinking triple crown for Bill Barrett. Then a late slump saw the Cougars John Lawson overtake him for the RBI lead. The homerun crown seems safe for the 21 year old as his 33 lead Lawson by 4 heading into the final week of the season but the batting title no longer is a sure thing. Barrett is hitting .349 with Leo Mitchell of the Cougars closing fast as he is now batting .345. NY GOTHAMS- A 6 game losing skid pretty much ends the Gothams dreams of cracking the first division for the first time since their WCS winning 1935 season. The still have a chance despite trailing the 4th place Chicago Chiefs by 3 games as 4 of their final 6 contests are against the Chiefs. KEYSTONES- Veteran Doug Lightbody (.287,1,24) is looking like he might just stick around for another season. The 37 year old seemed like he was at the end of the line last season after Brooklyn released him and a brief trial in Cincinnati did not work out but he picked up his 2,000th career hit with the Keystones this season and has looked pretty good as a pinch-hitter, batting .381 in that role this season. SAILORS- If there current 7th place standing in the Continental Association holds true it will be the lowest the Sailors have finished since 1922, when they also came in 7th. You have to go back to 1919, in a war shortened campaign, to find a season in which Philadelphia won less games than they expect to finish with this season. Their .426 winning percentage is the club's worst in 41 years, surpassing only a .379 (53-87) showing in 1900. PITTSBURGH- Apparently the elbow injury is not that bad. There was some worry when Pablo Reyes banged up his elbow on September 10th but since then the 5-time all-star centerfielder has notched at least one hit in every game and is batting .383 (18-for-47) during that stretch. Miners doctors say it will be 2 weeks before he is healthy again which is a good thing as Pittsburgh skipper Dan Andrew might be tempted to bash his 30 year old in the elbow again if the doc were to pronounce him fit prior to the end of the Miners season. ST LOUIS- While it has been another awful year for the Pioneers the club has to love the showing of first round pick Tom Buchanan. The 18 year old, taken second overall behind Cleveland's Hiram Steinberg, went 6-6 with a 3.30 era in 14 starts for Class C Moline. TORONTO- Wolves finish their home schedule by surpassing one million in home attendance, a tribute to the fans who stuck with the club during a trying season for the Wolves plus the hardships of wartime rationing in Canada. Toronto will begin a post mortem immediately in an attempt to prepare for 1942, Rollinson has further complicated the Wolves crowded infield situation with a slash line of .364/.429/.523 during his September callup. Rumours around the team are that the Wolves may try to deal some depth over the off-season or move Tom Fredrick to OF full-time in '42. Another decision will have to made on two-way player Juan Pomales, is he a big league player at P or OF? WASHINGTON- Two more homers this week for Sig Stofer and the Boardwalk Bopper remains one of my favourite players in the league. The 25 year old, who came over from the Keystones at the break last year is batting .270 with 24 homers and 110 rbi's in 148 games this season. He had a bit of a dry spell in July but has hit 35 longballs in 189 games since joining the Eagles. VAUGHT LEADS MAROONS TO SECOND WIN Detroit's high powered offense led the Maroons to a second straight victory to start the season. End Stan Vaught caught two more touchdown passes, to give him 5 already this season, leading the Detroiters to a 24-14 victory over Brooklyn at Kings County Park. It was a sloppy affair as the two clubs combined for 9 turnovers and Brooklyn, despite 3 first half fumbles and an interception on their opening drive led 14-10 at the break. That is when Vaught and his quarterback Dewey Burnett went to work. The 28 year old end caught a 19 yard touchdown pass for a score on Detroit's opening drive of the third quarter to give his side the lead and then would add insurance with another score late in the third on a 2 yard swing pass. In other action the Cleveland Finches handed St Louis it's second straight home loss, beating the Ramblers 27-7 behind a solid game from Archie Bernstein. Bernstein was involved in 3 of the 4 Cleveland touchdowns, running for one, passing for a second one and catching a pass for a third score. In all he ran for 61 yards, threw for 21 and caught one pass while also contributing 5 tackles and an interception on defense. Interceptions have been the cause of St Louis' woes this season. Last week it was Ernest Spears getting picked off 4 times by Detroit. This time Warren David handling most of the throwing duties for the Ramblers but he completed just 4 of ten passes to his teammates while throwing 3 into the hands of Cleveland defenders. The final game of the weekend saw Philadelphia top Boston 21-10 despite a strong passing day from Americans quarterback Del Thomas, who threw for 154 yards on the afternoon. Thomas had great success throwing the ball but the Boston side also allowed Tom Griggs to handle some of the passing duties and Griggs was much less effective, getting picked off 3 times while completing just 3 of 11 attempts. Code: AFA STANDINGS EASTERN W L T PCT New York 1 0 0 1.000 Boston 1 1 0 .500 Philadelphia 1 1 0 .500 Brooklyn 0 1 0 .000 Washington 0 0 0 .000 WESTERN W L T PCT Detroit 2 0 0 1.000 Cleveland 2 1 0 .667 St Louis 0 2 0 .000 Pittsburgh 0 1 0 .000 Chicago 0 0 0 .000 RESULTS Sunday Sept. 21 Detroit 24 Brooklyn 14 Cleveland 27 St Louis 7 Philadelphia 21 Boston 10 UPCOMING GAMES Saturday Sept 27 Detroit at Pittsburgh New York at Washington Sunday Sept 28 Chicago at St Louis Brooklyn at Philadelphia VAUGHT REVOLUTIONIZING THE GAME OF FOOTBALL Perhaps the best player in professional football right now is Stan Vaught of the Detroit Maroons. The 28 year old end is a guy who seems to be changing the way the game is played and is making the forward pass a true weapon. He has already caught 18 passes in just two games including 5 touchdown grabs after catching two more in the win over Boston yesterday. A native of tiny Trumbull, Kansas Vaught attended the small, relatively unknown Dudley College in Peabody, KS. Standing 6'2 and weighing 185 pounds Vaught was something of a secret phenomenon when Rollie Barrell, passing through on his way to Eastern Kansas, stopped at Peabody and took in the game. Few scouts saw the team because Dudley did not play any top competition but Barrell was impressed enough with the young end that upon his return to Detroit he instructed his staff to sign Vaught "at any cost." As it turned out that proved necessary; Vaught did not plan on playing pro football - he was also a baseball and basketball player at Dudley and hoped to land a FABL job. Barrell instructed his staff to offer $300 per game - an unheard-of sum that eclipsed what any active player was then making. They got their man, Maroons coach Frank Yurik installed a new offense that spread one end far to one side (that being Vaught) and a legend was born. So newcomers to following the AFA, if you are looking for a player to track I would suggest you could do no better than following the career of Stan Vaught. Just 2 games in for Detroit and their main rival Chicago has yet to play its opener but the Maroons offense with 64 points in two games is looking pretty tough to beat. Detroiters, glued to their transistors are starting to love hearing the call of “Burnett to Vaught”. The duo has teamed up on 5 majors already this season. Maybe it's just Pioneer Field but neither St Louis team has had much success this year. The baseball team is last in the Federal Association although they are over .500 at home. Meanwhile the Ramblers are now 0-2 after a loss to Cleveland and have been outscored 67-15. QB troubles as both Earnest Spears and Warren David have been picked off 4 times each and I am not sure they have a third option to try next week when it doesn't get any easier with a game against the Chicago Wildcats. To start 0-3 with all losses at home is likely a hole they won't climb out of. If you are a wagering man you might want to put your money on Detroit, New York, Chicago and Brooklyn next week. They are the visitors in the upcoming games and so far the road squad has prevailed in each of the 7 AFA contests to start the season. In case you are wondering yes Boston quarterback Del Thomas is the same Del Thomas who spends his summers pitching for the St Louis Pioneers. It has been a busy couple of weeks for Thomas who pitched for the Pioneers in New York on September 1, threw for 201 yards for the Americans in a win in Cleveland on Sep 7, rejoined the Pioneers in Philadelphia and pitched September 9 and then again in Pittsburgh on the 16th before catching the train to Boston and playing against the Philadelphia Frigates yesterday. Thomas is certainly living up to his nickname 'Double Duty' and admits the travel schedule from St Louis is much tougher than when he was a Gothams farmhand a few years back. "Fortunate that we have been on an eastern swing lately and at least I am not still in California," joked the former Amarillo Methodist multi-sport star about his time with the Pioneers AAA farm club the Oakland Greys with whom he spent much of 1940. Thomas is considered to be a much better football player than a baseballer. The 27 year old is 9-17 for his FABL career including 5-7, 5.21 this season in 25 appearances for St Louis. The good news for him is he can focus solely on baseball this week with the Americans not slated to play again until October 5th. The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 9/21/1941 More news out of the spy trial in Brooklyn as it is revealed the Nazis learned of the US plans to occupy Iceland as a long ago as last February although the actual occupancy did not take place until July. With tensions high in the chilly North Atlantic, President Roosevelt has announced the Navy will be escorting every ship bringing supplies to Britain with orders to shoot at will at any Nazi raider. The Navy is also said to be combing the Pacific in search of a Nazi ship. The US turned over it's first Axis ship to the British. It is an Italian merchant ship that was seized off the coast of Oregon on March 29th and is presently undergoing repairs in Portland after the crew damaged the engines as it was about to be boarded. furious fighting between the Nazis and the Red Army continues at the Dnieper River in Ukraine but the wet muddy weather is making it difficult for either side to advance. Kiev is a major battle point and misinformation continues as both the Russians and Nazis are claiming huge victories it seems almost daily. Resistance fighters in Paris have shot and killed 3 Nazi officers in retaliation to the Reich executing 10 Frenchmen this week. __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports Last edited by Jiggs McGee; 03-30-2022 at 01:27 PM.