APRIL 6, 1942
GREAT LAKES, Ill.- T.R. Goins was like a manager on the field during his catching days with the Washington Eagles and Cleveland Foresters. Now the 39 year old is suddenly the manager with an organization behind him that can bring in outstanding diamond material. 'Rough Rider' has the entire United States Navy Recruiting Service working for him in the ivory fields. That was the setup as the long-time FABL star was inducted at the naval training station earlier this week as a lieutenant in the Naval Reserve.
When T.R. begins to put together a ball club good enough to take on all comers this summer, he'll probably have as fine an outfit as ever was assembled without the benefit of the traditional "smoke-filled rooms," waivers or trading - usual ways of rounding up a team.
------GOINS TO RUN VAST PROGRAM ------
In addition to directing the Great Lakes baseball team, T.R. will supervise a vast softball and baseball intramural program for the station's 10,000 sailors as part of the Navy's physical hardening plan. The program also added a former Chicago Poly basketball coach and will soon designate someone - probably a big name coach- as football chief. That should give Great Lakes an athletic staff to rival that of the Nation's best colleges. And its playing material will probably be of the same caliber as it's coaches.
Goins hinted he might even try to catch a few games, noting it would be a lot of fun to see firsthand what reigning Continental Association Allen Award winner Peter Papenfus "has to offer." Goins is now 41 years old and has been out of the game since 1937 but the veteran of over 2,000 FABL games looks like he can still play. While Goins was in Illinois last week much of his team is already training in Florida and took some time to play a tune-up game yesterday, and featured names like Pete Papenfus, Mike T. Taylor, Billy Woytek and Joe Rainbow. The debut went well with a 13-1 trouncing of the Opelika State nine.
Papenfus, fireball king of FABL, was mighty pleased with his famous soupbone, although he was nicked for the opposition's lone run in yesterday's sailor debut. The former Chicago Cougars ace said "I was a little wild in my first start, but my fast ball is better than ever and my curves are breaking sharp." Papenfus pitched the first three innings for the Naval Station, but outfielder Dick Chamberlain - a Pittsburgh second round pick - touched him for a double that scored the Wildcats only tally. That was the only hit off Papenfus, who fanned three and walked three. The sailors outhit Opelika State 12 to 8 and were aided by 4 Wildcat miscues.
KINGS WORRY HERMAN MAY BE CALLED
The Brooklyn Kings are concerned their normally deep collection of outfielders might be in short supply with the news that Joe Herman may be joining the Army. Herman has been classified 1-A by his local draft board but compares his situation to that of New York Stars outfielder Bill Barrett, who was recently deferred by Presidential order. Herman supports elderly parents and has appealed to his board to put him in 3-A.
The 26 year old Herman, who hit .318 a year ago, would certainly be missed if his appeal is denied. The Detroit native was an all-star selection in 1940 and has been a very consistent performer in the Kings outfield. 1938 second round pick, former Coastal California star Lou Clark, is having a solid spring and making a bid to head north whether Herman is a part of the team or not. Brooklyn still has Al Wheeler and Rats McGonigle plus Howard Brown Jr, but beyond that their outfield options are limited as Frank Lightbody appears to be slowing down and Jim Alarie has not developed as hoped since being acquired from the Chicago Chiefs in a multi-player deal in 1938.
QUICK HITS
- It has been a relatively quiet camp for the 9-10 New York Gothams. Prize pitching prospect Ed Bowman did bounce back from his injury shortened debut to throw 4 scoreless innings. Walt Messer, looking to build on his breakout 1941 season is having a good spring, .350-3-11. Middle infielders Roosevelt Brewer is at .364 and Mule Monier .308. Only third baseman Billy Dalton is struggling at .225 and no homers.
- Just turn to wrestling if you want a hint of what to expect if the Army keeps on taking young baseball players. Wladek Zbyszo, now a farmer in Missouri, but was a prominent 'rassler 25 years ago. Now he is well over 50 but making a comeback campaign and others of his era are following. Can it be long before we see the likes of John Dibblee, Gordie Loftus or countless others back on the diamond?
- Fred McCormick feels it woudln't take him two week to regain his batting form despite nearly a year in the Army. "Give me two weeks and I'll be all right again," said McCormick who has played a number of exhibition games against college squads and one against the Washington Eagles the past couple of weeks. "Right now I'm not in baseball-playing condition but I'm tougher and stronger than I was as a player. I wouldn't be surprised if I could outfight, out-wrestle and out-hike every baseball player in the country."
AMERICAN FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION PLANS 13 GAME SCHEDULE
The final item on the agenda for the football magnates at their annual meeting was to finalize plans to increase the American Football Association schedule from 11 to 13 games for next season. The season is set to open September 13 and conclude on December 6th but one owner did acknowledge that while 13 is the plan, wartime travel restrictions might force them to return to the traditional 11 game slate. It had been discussed previously but the group also confirmed that no night games would be played next season. Four dates were established as possible opportunities for an AFA club to face a squad of Army All-Stars but nothing is set in stone on that as of yet.
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME FIELD SET
It will be City College of Los Angeles and Liberty College meeting tonight at the Bigsby Gardens in New York with the AIAA college basketball title on the line. The two schools have been ranked 1-2 in the polls for much of the season and both completed their journey to the finals with wins Saturday.
The CCLA Coyotes opened the semi-final doubleheader with a 56-49 victory over Whitney College. CCLA, which has won it's last 20 games and is 31-2 overall on the year, trailed 18-16 at the half but took over in the final 20 minutes with center Francis Schulman leading the way. The senior had 15 of his game high 22 points in the second half. It will be the first title appearance for CCLA since it won it's third national title in 1932-33.
The Coyotes will meet Northeast Conference champion Liberty College in the championship game. The Philadelphia school is 30-4 on the season and won back to back National Titles in 1936-37. The Bells reached the finals by knocking off Detroit City College 60-54 in Saturday's second semi-final. The Liberty Five led by 19 at one point in the first half and ended up with a 35-20 lead at the break before cruising through the second half.
CCLA and Liberty College do not play each other often but they did last meet in the quarterfinals of the 1937-38 AIAA tournament, with the Coyotes prevailing 52-48 before bowing out themselves in the semi-final game.
The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 4/05/1942
- A Japanese attempt to create a secret base for Axis submarines in the South Atlantic was smashed by the arrest of 20 Japanese in Brazil.
- American and Australian bomber squadrons continued heavy attacks on Japanese bases on New Guinea and Timor Islands. Meanwhile a savage fight, often with bayonets, continues along the lines on Bataan Peninsula. And thousands of Japanese troops, protected by at least 12 warships, are at the Burmese west coast port of Akyab, just 75 miles from India's border.
- The United States is attempting to mediate as Britain and India are at an impasse in trying to reach an agreement for India to aid the allies in the war with Japan.
- Australia called up all men between the ages of 18 and 60 for compulsory civilian defense duty as northern areas of the nation were placed under a state of constant alert.
- A convoy of British-United States war supplies to Russia reached it's destination safely after the escort ships were involved in a 3-day battle in which they sank or damaged 5 Nazi warships in the Arctic Ocean.
- Britain again bombed Paris in another large raid targeting factories in France, Belgium and northwestern Germany.
- The Navy is testing a method of producing artificial fog which might be employed to "block" out vital defense manufacturing areas in the event of an air raid. The initial test was made in the vicinity of the Brooklyn Navy Yard but deemed only a modest success.
- The head of Standard Oil denies his company was disloyal after being accused of contributing to Nazi plans for an aviation gasoline plant. Senator O'Mahoney (D., Wy.) counters that the company deliberately covered up their relations with a German chemical trust in their formal statement to the Senate committee investigating the war program.
- Selective Service Headquarters has announced that the available Class 1-A men from 1940 and 1941 registrations will be used to fill May quotas if sufficient numbers are on the list, meaning the registrants from last month will not likely be called until June at the earliest.