OCTOBER 27, 1941
NO SURPRISE, PAPENFUS AND BARRETT WIN CA AWARDS
As expected Bill Barrett and Pete Papenfus were both unanimous selections as the winners of the two Continental Association trophies. The duo are heading a young wave of talent that has descended upon FABL the past few seasons and each is expected to play a very significant role going forward.
Barrett, the 21 year old New York Stars outfielder, was on a pace that rivalled the all-time greats of the game at the all-star break. He slowed slightly in the second half but still won the Continental Association batting title and led the loop in homeruns. Only veteran Chicago Cougars third baseman John Lawson, who claimed the rbi lead, prevented Barrett from the triple crown. The Whitney Award announcement, just over a week before his 22nd birthday, makes Barrett the youngest player ever to win a Whitney. Lawson finished second while Cincinnati's Adam Mullins, despite missing over a month to start the season with an injury, claimed third place.
Papenfus won the Allen Award as a 23 year old after a breakout 20-7, 2.84 season but he is not expected to be around to defend his trophy next season as he is 1-A and Selective Service will be calling on the fireballing right hander in the very near future. Vern Hubbard of the New York Stars was a distant second while Papenfus' Chicago teammate Harry Parker got the nod for third place in Allen balloting.
ANOTHER WHITNEY FOR JOHNSON
It was a tight race between teammates but 24 year old Red Johnson outpointed the other half of the Detroit Dynamos duo, edging Sal Pestilli for the Federal Association Whitney Award. It was the second straight for Johnson with Pestilli also owning one, which came in 1938. Johnson hit .298 on the year with a Fed leading 37 homeruns and 108 rbi's. Pestilli hit .288 with 30 homers and a Fed best 113 rbi's. Johnson ended up with 7 first place votes, one more than Pestilli while Fed batting champ Mahlon Strong of Pittsburgh collected the other three votes.
Al Miller of the Chicago Chiefs won his first Whitney Award after an 18-14, 2.91 season. Miller finished as high as second in the balloting before - that came as a rookie in 1936 - but the 26 year old four-time all-star had never won one until this season. The voting could not have been much closer as he narrowly edged World Championship Series hero Ed Wood by 4 points for top spot. Wood was one of three Boston pitchers who received votes on a list that also saw highly touted rookie Ray Dalpman finish 6th. St Louis pitcher Danny Hern was fifth but the 24 year old who went 16-12 for a bad Pioneers team did receive a first place vote.
DALPMAN UNANIMOUS CHOICE AS TOP NEWCOMER
Ray Dalpman was a big reason the Boston Minutemen ended a pennant drought that started before he was born and the 24 year old righthander was rewarded for his efforts with the Rookie of the Year Award as selected by the Chicago Sportswriters Guild. He was the unanimous selection as posting a 19-6 record with a 3.43 era in your first big league season will do that for a youngster who actually made his big league debut with one start in the closing days of the 1940 season. He won that one too, naturally, and the former 7th round draft pick of the Detroit Dynamos even received consideration for the Federal Association's Allen Award.
Dalpman struggled in two WCS starts but his Minutemen prevailed in the Series and big things are expected of the Martinsville, Indiana native in the years ahead.
SOHL SHOCKS CANNONS, ENLISTS IN NAVY
The Cincinnati Cannons received a real kick in the gut this week when pitcher Bill Sohl informed them that he has enlisted in the Navy for four years. The big pitcher, who was to be drafted into the army November 3rd, will be assigned to the Navy's physical-education service.
The 22 year old Portland, Oregon native missed the second half of the season with a back injury but was 3-3 with a 4.92 era after making his big league debut with the Cannons this season. He was the second overall draft pick by Cincinnati in 1940 after being a finalist for the Christian Trophy and an All-American in his final season at Lane State University.
With Sohl's departure and the slow recovery of 23 year old Vic Carroll from elbow troubles the Cannons pitching staff is expected to be in a dire situation next season, especially if Deuce Barrell can not exhibit a full recovery from the elbow problems that ended his season in mid-August. It is good news for William Jones however as the 37 year old, who seemed certain to be released following a disappointing 7-10, 5.43 season, is expected to hold on to his job and given every opportunity to fill one of the vacant spots in the rotation next year.
NEW OWNER PROMISES TO BUILD A PALACE FOR PIONEERS
New St. Louis Pioneers owner Daniel "Dee" Rose announced today that the club will be seeking to build a new ballpark "as soon as possible."
The Los Angeles-based new boss made his fortune in motion pictures, being part of a team who played a role in developing color film such as was used in the 1939 film "The Wizard of Oz" among others. Rose is a "get things done" man and he promises to make that happen in St. Louis.
"We're gonna build a winning team on the field. And that winning team is going to be playing in a brand-new ballpark that will be the envy of the FABL. We're gonna build us a palace," Rose told reporters.
When asked if he was going to relocate to St. Louis from his native Los Angeles, Rose laughed and said, "We live in a modern age where distance is no impediment to business. I have businesses to run in Hollywood and, now, here in Missouri. I can do both from my offices in Los Angeles."
This fits with Rose's stated desire to "let the baseball guys handle the baseball and let the businessmen - primarily me - handle the business side. That's how I operate. When I make a movie, I don't stand behind the camera, you know."
One thing is certain: Rose is one of the most interesting personalities to ever own a professional ballclub.
QUICK HITS
- It feels like this might be a very quiet off-season as teams seem concerned about how Selective Service will impact their club's for the 1942 season and perhaps beyond. We already know a number of star players, none that shined brighter than Allen Award winner Pete Papenfus, are expected to miss next season because their numbers came up in the draft but with recent news of a break in talks with Japan and u-boats firing at our Navy boys in the Atlantic the feeling around the league is we will be drawn into the war sooner than later. If that happens it will mean a lot more FABL players could be trading their baseball flannels for army green.
- Checks for $5,943 were delivered this week to the Boston Minutemen players as their share for winning the World Championship Series. The Chicago Cougars received $4,831 each as their share.
- Max Hess ended up taking the fall for the terrible rash of bad luck the Cincinnati Cannons had with pitcher injuries. The second year trainer was, by all accounts very good at his job, but when you lose young stars Vic Carroll, Bill Sohl and Deuce Barrell for extended periods it is hard to blame the Cannons for wanting someone new. That person is George Gorham, a 45 year old with a decade of FABL experience as the former trainer in both Washington and with the Philadelphia Sailors.
- Why does Red Johnson never seem to look happy? If two straight Whitney Awards and 113 career FABL homeruns before your 24th birthday don't at least bring a bit of a smile to your face I have no idea what will.
- Charges of fighting and disorderly conduct have been dropped against Mike Murphy after the Dynamos pitcher was arrested earlier in the week following an alleged street brawl growing out of a traffic stop in his hometown of Miami.
BOSTON BESTS CHICAGO AGAIN
After coming from behind to beat the Chicago Cougars in baseball's World Championship Series earlier this month the city of Boston once more got the better of Chicago. This time it was the American Football Association's Boston Americans who delivered a serious blow to the Chicago Wildcats playoff hopes with a 35-20 win at Whitney Field yesterday. The Americans returned two punts for touchdowns less than 2 minutes apart in the second quarter to break open what was up to that point a tight game. With the loss the Wildcats fall to 3-2 and drop further behind front-running Detroit, which improved it's perfect record to 6-0 with a win at home over hapless St Louis.
The Wildcats were very much in the game until those two long punt returns. After a scoreless first quarter Boston got on the board early in the second frame when Del Thomas found Jim Sandera for a 14 yard score. Two minutes later after first Tom Griggs, for 69 yards and then Leon Fitzgerald, with a 73 yard return, the score was suddenly 21-0 and Chicago never did recover. It marked the second straight loss for the Wildcats, both at home, after starting the season 3-0.
The Detroit Maroons, fresh off handing Chicago it's first defeat last week, improved to 6-0 with a 20-3 win at home over the 0-7 St Louis Ramblers. It was a surprisingly quiet game from Detroit end Stan Vaught, who caught just two passes and for the first time this season failed to score a touchdown. The St Louis defense was solid but once again the offense was a mess as the Ramblers turned the ball over 9 times including 6 interceptions thrown by four different players.
Like Detroit in the Western Division, Eastern leaders New York are also 6-0 and well in control of top spot thanks to a 37-0 bombing of local rival Brooklyn. Tom Jamason ran for a pair of scores and threw for a third to pace the Stars offense. Elsewhere, Warren Howard ran for a game high 90 yards and threw for 66 more to help Pittsburgh blank Philadelphia 28-0 in the battle of Pennsylvania while in Washington Archie Bernstein scored a pair of touchdowns to lift visiting Cleveland to 21-7 win over Washington.
Code:
AFA STANDINGS
EASTERN W L T PCT
New York 6 0 0 1.000
Boston 3 3 0 .500
Washington 2 3 0 .400
Brooklyn 2 4 0 .333
Philadelphia 1 5 0 .167
WESTERN W L T PCT
Detroit 6 0 0 1.000
Chicago 3 2 0 .600
Cleveland 4 3 0 .571
Pittsburgh 3 3 0 .500
St Louis 0 7 0 .000
PASSING LEADERS YDS
Thomas, Bos 945
Burnett, Det 917
J Taylor, Phi 610
Proos, Wsh 590
RUSHING LEADRES YDS
Faulkner, Bkn 443
Bernstein, Cle 430
Spears, StL 371
Jamason, NYS 365
Jordan, Det 357
RECEIVING LEADERS CATCHES
Vaught, Det 44
Nicholson, Cle 21
May, Bos 16
Bowens, Bos 16
Fitzgerals, Bos 16
SCORING LEADERS PTS
Vaught, Det 98
Milatz, NYS 57
Bernstein, Cle 42
Smith, NYS 36
RESULTS
Sunday October 26
Boston 35 Chicago 20
Detroit 20 St Louis 3
Pittsburgh 28 Philadelphia 0
New York 37 Brooklyn 0
Cleveland 21 Washington 7
UPCOMING GAMES
Sunday November 2
St Louis at Chicago
Boston at Washington
Pittsburgh at New York
Philadelphia at Brooklyn
Detroit at Cleveland
- An umpire from Sunday's game between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia is recovering today from a new quirk in the list of gridiron injuries. C.W. Rupp nursed a left hand, penetrated yesterday by a blast from his timer's gun. Rupp fired the pistol to signal the end of the first quarter. The gun discharged accidently a moment later, blowing a hole in his hand. He was treated at a Philadelphia hospital.
- Has a way been discovered to slow down Stan Vaught? The Detroit receiver had just 2 catches against St Louis this week after Cleveland held him to 3 two weeks prior. Of course, he more than made up for it in the game in between when he had 9 receptions for 160 yards and 3 touchdowns against Chicago but he must contend with Cleveland again next week.
- Even if other clubs catch on to ways to slow down Vaught it seems unlikely anyone is going to pass Detroit in the West so the 6-0 Maroons seem a very safe bet to return to the AFA title contest for the second year in a row. New York also is well positioned in the Eastern Division and everyone is circling November 9th on their calendar as that is the potential title game preview when Detroit visits the Bigsby Oval to meet the Stars. New York needs to get past Pittsburgh and the Maroons will need to beat Cleveland for the second time this season before then but odds are pretty good this will be a battle of a pair of unbeaten clubs.
Code:
RECENT AFA TITLE GAME RESULTS
YEAR WINNER SCORE LOSER MVP
1940 Brooklyn 20-7 Detroit Don Ludwigs, Bkn
1939 Boston 21-14 Chicago Leon Fitzgerald, Bos
1938 Brooklyn 9-7 Pittsbugh Bill Morrisett, Bkn
The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 10/26/1941
- President Roosevelt is drafting a huge new armament program to help defeat the Axis, and Secretary of Navy Knox declares that an American-Japanese "collision" is inevitable if Japan continues her expansion program.
- The Nazi's charge that last week's torpedoing of the U.S.S. Kearny was "staged' by President Roosevelt in an attempt to force conflict with Germany. The Germans did admit to sinking two British destroyers this week including one that was a former American warship.
- Russia continues to claim the lines in Moscow and the Ukraine are holding despite German assertions they are crumbling.
- Vigorous debate rages on in British parliament over demands to quickly aid Russia and force Germany to continue to fight on two fronts. Some members are demanding the R.A.F turn their attention from attacking German manufacturing centers and ports and instead strike at Nazi targets along the Eastern Front.
- Secretary of War Stimson contradicted testimony given during the spy trials in New York that the famed American Norden Bombsight had fallen into German hands. "I have no reason to believe that the Norden sight has reached the Germans," the secretary told a press conference. The sight is regarded by military men as the best instrument of it's type in the world.