DECEMBER 8, 1941
The attack on Pearl Harbor creates many questions in baseball. President Roosevelt had indicated in the past a preference for the sport to continue should we enter the war, and as recently as this morning was leaning towards recommending that the American Football Association play it's championship game next week. But one game and an entire season -154 games worth - of baseball is a much different thing than a single football contest. Will that much travel be permitted and will there be dangers in the cities along the east coast of playing night games with the fear of the bright lights of say Kings County Stadium acting as a great big bulls-eye for Nazi fliers should Hitler decide to go the offensive? And what of the minor leagues? The Great Western League may be forced to suspend operations out of fears of a Japanese attack on the mainland and will there even be enough players to stock minor league teams as the big league clubs will undoubtedly be forced to dig very deep into their farm systems in order to field a full squad? How many ballplayers will leave, either thru Selective Service drafting or enlistment? The number seems to grow daily but here is what we know so far:
BOSTON- Third baseman Mack Sutton has been drafted and is attempting to qualify for training as a pilot. He had originally been assigned to tank duty but, despite not having the required college education to pursue training as a fighter pilot, he does have some experience with a large number of solo flight hours. In addition to Sutton the Minutemen had previously lost AAA pitcher Mike Lee, who was drafted early in the summer.
BROOKLYN- Jack Goff, son of Kings pitching coach Danny Goff, has joined the Navy and will be the biggest loss for Brooklyn so far. The 25 year old lefthander was 12-12 with a 4.69 era last season. 28 year old Charlie Britton, another lefty, is off to the marines but he spent most of last season in AA. In addition minor league outfielder James Slocum, step-son of Kings manager Powell Slocum, volunteered last spring and is a pilot with the Army Air Corps.
CHIEFS- No major losses so far as reserve shortstop George Chadwick, who had just 37 plate appearances for the Chiefs in 1941 is the first player to enlist or be drafted out of their organization.
COUGARS- Fully expected but devastating news nonetheless. The Cougars had known for a while that Pete Papenfus was a Selective Service choice but the Allan Award winner decided to enlist and will report to Great Lakes Naval Academy later this week. Mid-level pitching prospect Harl Haines, who spent most of the year in Milwaukee, has also gone to the Navy as has veteran outfielder Alex Ingraham. Pitcher Rusty Watts is 8 months into his one year stint with the army after being drafted late in the spring.
CINCINNATI- Young pitcher Bill Sohl enlisted in the Navy in October and has a four year commitment to be a part of the Navy's physical education service.
CLEVELAND- A tough blow for the Foresters as a pair of young middle infielders in George Dellinger and Wes Parks have both joined the Navy. Each spent most of the season in AAA Rochester but were expected to battle it out, along with veteran Brooks Meeks for the starting second base job with the Foresters next season.
DETROIT- 27 year old Frank Gordon, who had 16 saves out of the bullpen last season, has left for the Army. Joe York, a second baseman and the son of former Detroit catching star Dick York, is going to the Coast Guard. The 22 year old split last season between AA and AAA.
MONTREAL- 27 year old Pete Wood started 91 games in the Saints outfield last season, batting .270. He has enlisted in the Army. The Saints also will be without lefthander Bud Robbins, who was 2-3 with a 4.52 era in 37 appearances last season - all out of the pen- as he has entered the Navy.
NY STARS- A number of losses for the Stars with the key one being pitcher Robert Curry, who is entering the Navy. The 34 year old worked entirely out of the pen last season and led the CA with 22 saves while making his second appearance on the mid-season all-star team. Pitcher Dixie Lee is about nine months into his one year stint in the Army after being drafted last spring. Catching depth may be a concern as both Johnny Hopper and Joe Rainbow leave the team. Hopper spent the entire season in AAA while Rainbow was the Stars back-up to Cliff Ray last season.
NY GOTHAMS- Veteran backup outfielder John Phillips (.267,3,35) is the first Gotham to head off to military duty. The 27 year old is joining the Navy.
KEYSTONES- Keystones fans are devastated to hear that Billy Woytek is entering the Navy. The 23 year old already had 3 full seasons of big league ball under his belt and will be sorely missed in the Philadelphia lineup.
SAILORS-Highly touted 23 year old outfield prospect Cotton Dillon has joined the Navy. He spent most of the season at AAA San Francisco but did hit .333 with a pair of homers in a 13 game trial with the Sailors in September. Pitcher Lee Marshall is also off to the Navy. The 27 year old has spent most of his time in the minors but did see some action with the Sailors each of the past three season.
PITTSBURGH- A big loss for the Miners as veteran outfielder Joe Owens has enlisted in the Navy. Owens, a two-time all star, hit .344 last season for Pittsburgh.
ST LOUIS- 23 year old infielder Luke Michaels has joined the Navy. He made his big league debut with St Louis last season and hit .241 in 94 games.
TORONTO- Fred McCormick was very recently released from Fort Custer but is heading right back there this week. The Wolves have already had a taste of life without McCormick and despite Walt Pack filling in nicely, they do not like it but it appears they will be without their two-time Whitney Award winner for up to 4 more years.
WASHINGTON- The only Eagles player to leave the organization for the military is 23 year old minor league first baseman Rube Norris, who was informed by Selective Service that the Army needs him. A former 16th round pick of the Eagles, he spent last season in A ball.
SUMMARY- Clearly the Chicago Cougars were dealt the harshest news with Pete Papenfus leaving for the Navy. A move perhaps similar to Toronto losing Fred McCormick last season. The Wolves tumbled in the standings as a result but I don't think the same fate will befall Chicago as the Cougars have a lot of pitching depth. No replacement for Papenfus, obviously, but still plenty of talent available. The loss of Robert Curry in New York will hurt the Stars but relievers can be replaced, although admittedly Curry has been one of the best in the game in recent years. I am actually more worried about behind the plate in New York as the Stars likely were not too excited about having Cliff Ray as their number one guy to begin with, but take away Joe Rainbow and Johnny Hopper, and there is no depth at all. Clearly catcher will be the priority in the rule five draft for the Stars.
The Fed balance of power may be tilting away from the Pittsburgh Miners with the news of Joe Owens departure. Boston takes a bit of a hit in Mack Sutton but they will survive and perhaps thrive with Art Spencer playing everyday at third base, although there will be pressure on the 30 year old to duplicate his outstanding 1941 campaign. The Keystones took a big hit with the loss of Woytek and I doubt they feel very comfortable with either Johnnie Wolsey or Marshall Strickland as they everyday second sacker. Detroit did not suffer too badly although Frank Gordon is a solid depth starter or bullpen piece. The team that has to be smiling the most in the Fed is the Chicago Chiefs, who saw each of their rivals for the pennant weakened without suffering any significant loss of their own.
QUICK HITS
- Johnny Bologna of the Philadelphia Inquisitor says not so fast on writing off Marshall Strickland, writing this in his column today. "Losing Billy Woytek to the war will hurt, no doubt, but Marshall Strickland was an All-Star the year before Woytek took over the job. He'll get another chance to start. Austin Moore, who never really stuck at the ML level might also get a look and Howie Shifflett would be the dark horse. Still going at age 39, the 1921 draft pick of the Keystones is hanging on for dear life in Louisville. He can still hit, posting a .288 average as a bench-warmer and a .310 average over the last 5 seasons in Kentucky."
- New York papers chime in with the thought that the 4-year enlistment commitment will also effectively end the Stars Robert Curry's career. "Guy is 34 already. I doubt he'll come back in 2 years, and by the '46 season when he would probably come back he'll be pushing 40."
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME LIKELY TO GO AHEAD AS SCHEDULED
President Roosevelt is leaning towards suggesting next Sunday's American Football Association title game should go ahead as planned but that is an unconfirmed report. There has been speculation the contest might be postponed or cancelled outright following the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor Sunday but sources say the President feels it is prudent to maintain some semblance of normalcy and believes the game should be played as scheduled. The fact that the game is in the middle of the country and not on the east coast, especially in wake of concerns the Nazis might be planning an aerial attack, plays in the games favour. However, the early forecast is for bitterly cold temperatures, -16 degrees and snow at Whitney park. Despite the cold, it is clearly much more preferable to deal with snow than the possibility of a German air raid during the contest.
---FINAL WEEKEND RESULTS----
The Sunday football games all were underway by the time the attack began on Pearl Harbor and in most cases fans knew little of what was happening while the games were being played. As a result it was a very festive atmosphere at the Bigsby Oval as supporters of the New York Football Stars celebrated the upcoming title game with Chicago and a season ending 21-7 victory over their cross-town rivals from Brooklyn. The win was important for New York, not in the standings as they had already clinched the division, but rather to snap a 2-game losing streak and get the club heading to Chicago on a positive note. Stars quarterback Tom Jamason gained 69 yards on 18 carries in the contest, good enough to allow him to claim the AFA rushing title for the season. He was dueling John Faulkner of the Kings, but the New York defense held Faulkner to just 39 yards allowing their man to finish first among league rushers.
Chicago also enters the AFA Championship game on a positive as the Wildcats, who clinched the Western Division with a win last weekend, finished out their season with a 27-14 victory at Pittsburgh's Fitzpatrick Park. The public address system did make several announcements in the second half alerting fans to a 'situation' in Hawaii but provided few details.
The final contest saw the Washington Wasps top rival Philadelphia 45-28 in an offensive show with Wasps back Bernard Dishmon enjoying arguably his best game of the season in running for 76 yards and 2 touchdowns while also making a couple of catches.
Code:
AFA STANDINGS
EASTERN W L T PCT
New York 9 2 0 .818
Boston 7 3 1 .700
Brooklyn 4 7 0 .364
Washington 4 7 0 .364
Philadelphia 1 10 0 .091
WESTERN W L T PCT
Chicago 9 2 0 .818
Detroit 8 3 0 .727
Cleveland 7 4 0 .636
Pittsburgh 4 7 0 .364
St Louis 1 9 1 .100
RESULTS
Sunday December 7
New York 21 Brooklyn 7
Chicago 27 Pittsburgh 14
Washington 45 Philadelphia 28
End of Regular Season
UPCOMING GAMES
Sunday December 14
AFA CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
New York at Chicago
[b]
Code:
FINAL 1941 STATS LEADERS
PASSING LEADERS YDS
Burnett, Det 1743
Thomas, Bos 1417
J Taylor, Phi 1305
Proos, Wsh 983
RUSHING LEADRES YDS
Jamason, NYS 747
Faulkner, Bkn 705
Jordan, Det 623
Dunlap, Chi 610
Bernstein, Cle 575
RECEIVING LEADERS CATCHES
Vaught, Det 73
Nicholson, Cle 35
Toops, Wsh 26
Bowens, Bos 24
Sandera, Bos 24
Dishmon, Wsh 24
SCORING LEADERS PTS
Vaught, Det 111
Milatz, NYS 77
Dunlap, Chi 54
Crawhorn, Chi 54
Bernstein, Cle 48
Stone, Chi 48
SPORTS PAUSE AS WORLD CHANGES FOREVER
It was nearing dusk at the Bigsby Oval as New York Football Stars fans were winding down celebrations of their club completing the formality of winning the Eastern Division and a berth in the AFA championship game when all still in attendance were startled as unexpectedly the public address system went into operation again.
"All Navy men in the audience," it intoned, " are ordered to report to their posts immediately. All Army men are to report to their posts tomorrow morning. This is important."
There was a sudden, startled buzz in the crowd. What had happened? No one knew, not until he got close to the nearest radio or within hearing range of newsboys yelling in the streets.
The players had left the field. In the Kings clubhouse, the visitors were saying "Goodbye- see you next year" and all that sort of thing. First they heard of the bombings in the mid-Pacific was the vague, incomplete flashes brought down by the men in the press box.
Once the gravity of the situation was realized probably everyone had the same thought at once, both the Stars and Kings players who were now intermingling in the halls under the Oval comparing stories of what they had heard, that each of them might have played his last football game in a long, long while. But that thought remained unspoken.
The only really good quote came from a Kings sub who said, "I'd like to see (Kings lineman Henry) Robinson as he was going today in a roomful of those near-sighted little yellow devils."
The victory ends a 2 game slide for the Stars (9-2), and they did replace defending champion Brooklyn as the Eastern Division representative for next weekend's championship game - assuming it is not called off. At this point that decision has not been made.
- While there is uncertainty if they will be played following the events yesterday at Pearl Harbor, college football's 5 New Year's Day matchups were finalized Sunday with the two big games being 10-0 Darnell State meeting 8-1 Daniel Boone College in the Cajun Classic while the Lone Star Classic pits 9-1 Travis College against 8-2 Alabama Baptist. There was hope that Annapolis Maritime, with it's perfect 9-0 record would play Travis College in Dallas but the Navigators had previously declined to participate and had they originally agreed would almost assuredly have pulled out due to the recent attack.
The annual National East-West Classic game pits Pacific Northwest power Lane State Emeralds against the Eastern State Monitors after reports indicate several other schools declined to participate. Being contested in Santa Ana, California there is much speculation that the East-West Classic will not be held this year. Here are the match-ups for the New Year's Classic games.
- EAST-WEST CLASSIC: Lane State (8-1) vs Eastern State (6-1-2)
- LONE STAR CLASSIC: Travis College (9-1) vs Alabama Baptist (8-2)
- SUNSHINE CLASSIC: Carolina Poly (9-0) vs Commonwealth Catholic (4-6)
- CAJUN CLASSIC: Darnell State (10-0) vs Daniel Boone College (8-1)
- DESERT CLASSIC: Canyon A&M (8-2) vs Minnesota Tech (6-2)
- The 6th Classic game, the Hawaiian Classic has been cancelled due to the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Miami State 13 Alexandria 0
Abilene Baptist 24 Hawaii All-Stars 10
Northern Mississippi 22 San Francisco Tech 14
Texas Gulf Coast 23 Red River State 14
Coastal California 19 CC Los Angeles 9
Travis College 50 Portland Tech 3
Darnell State 21 Spokane State 7
Texas Panhandle 24 260th Coast Artillery 7
Valley State 37 Provo Tech 7
UPCOMING GAMES
December 20
CC Los Angeles at Western Florida
END OF SEASON
The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 12/07/1941
- President Roosevelt had sent a final appeal to Emperor Hirohito of Japan just a day before the attack on Pearl Harbor.
- The attack has left all Americans, isolationists and moderates alike, in united solidarity that the nation must 'Come out Fighting."
- Out of fears of an attack on the California coast the Los Angeles Harbor area, including the cities of Long Beach and San Pedro, have instituted a blackout over night. Cities along the coast including as far north as Alaska are holding test blackouts. Civic officials not the blackouts in Alaska were only partial and were designed as much to save electrical power for military use as they were to cloak the area from possible air raiders.