[Jiggs McGee]

JUNE 22, 1942

PAPENFUS RETURNS TO COUGARS PARK

For one brief moment Saturday afternoon it was like all was right in the world. There was no war. Baseball, and every other industry in the nation, had not been forced to give up so much to preserve our freedom and that of people all around the world. No, for that brief moment time stood still as over 25,000 screaming Chicago Cougars fans stood and cheered as Pete Papenfus, won won 20 games, an Allan Award and led the hometown nine to the Continental Association pennant just 9 months ago, jogged to the mound. The moment quickly passed, replaced by the jarring reality that Papenfus was pitching not for the Cougars, but instead for a military outfit from Great Lakes Naval Academy in a mere exhibition, taking place two hours before the actual Cougars team would face the Toronto Wolves.

The game was the latest of the many contests between teams from military bases, in this case the army nine from Camp Grant provided the opposition, designed to raise money for the Army and Navy Relief funds. In that regard it was a huge success as only the benefit game held in Brooklyn last month raised more money than what was collected on this afternoon. It was also a rousing success on the field as the Cougars faithful were rewarded with a performance from Peter the Heater that was everything they hoped...well, nearly everything as try as they might, the fans could not quite picture Papenfus in Cougars garb instead of his Great Lakes attire.

It was perfect Papenfus on the rubber, as the 24 year old tossed 4 scoreless innings while fanning four and allowing just one hit- a bloop single- as the only blemish on his effort in helping lead Great Lakes to a 3-1 victory over Camp Grant. Great Lakes manager/Lieutenant T.R. Goins- the former Washington and Cleveland catching great- served as Papenfus' catcher for the first inning before replacing himself with Joe Rainbow. Afterwards Goins joked that his left hand is going to ache for a week after receiving a few fastballs that "had to be at least 100 miles an hour." Former Keystones infielder Billy Woytek was the hero for the Navy boys, delivering 2 hits including an 8th inning 2-run double that provided the winning runs.

Cougars fans were disappointed in the second contest of the afternoon as their heroes fell 4-2 to Toronto behind a very solid outing from Wolves veteran pitcher Chuck Wirtz. The loss, one of three suffered by Chicago in it's four game series with the Canadian club, dropped the Cougars 8 games behind the first place New York Stars.

*** STRICKEN MCCORMICK WILL NOT REQUIRE SURGERY ***

It had been expected that former Toronto Wolves star Fred McCormick would be a special addition to the Camp Grant roster for the charity game at Cougars Park but instead a health scare left the two-time Whitney Award winning first baseman confined to a hospital bed in Miami. The good news is Sgt. Fred McCormick, now 'under observation" in the Miami Naval Air Station Hospital probably will not require an operation as had been first believed, army officials say. The former Toronto Wolves baseball star was stricken earlier last week with what appeared to be appendicitis or a kidney ailment. Doctors had originally said that surgery might be necessary. However, latest reports are that McCormick is much improved and that the operation would not have to be performed.

TWO MORE MAJOR LEAGUERS COMMIT TO JOINING WAR EFFORT

Veteran Detroit Dynamos catcher John Wicklund and rookie New York Gothams hurler Ed Bowman are the latest big league baseball players to announce their intentions to join the war effort. The follow the lead of New York Stars teammates Bill Barrett and Joe Angevine who have each confirmed they will enlist in the Navy once the current baseball season comes to a conclusion.

Bowman, the tall 22 year old Texan, has captured the hearts of Gothams fans with an 8-2 start to the season but feels it is his duty to join the war effort. He passed his preliminary physical examination earlier this week at draft headquarters and indicated he plans to enlist soon.

Wicklund, 32, is a former two-time all-star selection but has struggled at the plate in recent years and is batting just .208 in 54 games for the Dynamos this season. Wicklund is unmarried but has been classified in 3-A because of dependencies but says he plans to enlist in some branch of the service if he is draft status does not get upgraded.

• Mule Monier, leading the majors with a .369 avg. had his 20 game hitting streak stopped by Philadelphia, Saturday
• Gus Goulding and Harry Carter both tossed shutouts this week. Goulding followed his up by allowing one run over 8 innings in a loss. Signs of Goulding warming up just as Ed Ziehl has changed to a 4 man rotation must have the manager smiling as he sets the rotation for the week.
• Adding to Zeihl's happiness is the continued development of Ed Bowman. In his most recent game, Big Ed allowed one run over 11 innings to secure a victory.
• Pete Casstevens bat has finally awakened. The sure-handed young catcher was 7-19 for the week raising his season average to .267

TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN

Wolves outfielder Reginald Westfall (.307,3,37) went 0-for-3 and did not do anything to contribute at the plate but he deserved player of the game honours in Toronto's 4-3 win over Montreal for perhaps the greatest defensive game by an outfielder in FABL history. Westfall threw out 4 Montreal baserunners in the contest. It started in the first inning when he threw out Mark Burns when the Montreal third sacker was trying to advance to second on a single. That Burns single did move Jake Hughes to third but when Bert Lass' attempt at a sacrifice fly landed in Westfall's glove. The 28 year old unloaded a bullet throw that nailed the sliding Hughes at the plate for the final out of the inning and kept the game scoreless.

Westfall did it again in the second inning when on a Ben Richardson fly ball with the bases loaded he doubled up Charlie Woodbury with another perfect throw to the plate. It was an inning that the Saints could have blown the game open but had to settle for just one round. But Westfall was not done yet. In the 6th inning with Montreal up 3-2, Richardson laced a double with Bill Greene on first base. Westfall tracked down the ball fired a perfect toss to second baseman Mike Rollinson, who quickly relayed the ball to the plate to retire Greene for the first out of the inning. Toronto would eventually rally to tie the game at 3 in the top of the ninth and win it in the 10th.

There are no FABL records but it is highly unlikely any outfielder has ever had more than 2 assists in an inning or four in a game.

Overall the Wolves have a good first week of the two week road trip, going 4-2 including two one-run wins which have been tough to coming by this season. Bookend losses sandwiched between 4 wins have put spring in the step and similes on the faces of Toronto fans. Bob Walls has struggled lately with the problem being too many free passes (19 BB, 7 K, 85 IP). Manager Charlie Reed is looking for other options to combat the lack of long ball for the Wolves, zero big flys in 6 games this week. Clubhouse talk is that the ball has changed due to war time restrictions, pitchers are saying off the record that this year's ball seems "softer".

• A sign we might see some trades as we approach the deadline? Both the Cougars and Stars have put the word out they are looking to add talent for the stretch run. Chicago is considering it's need for a starting pitcher and perhaps another bat with a trio of vets in Cliff Moss, Freddie Jones and Milt Fritz as possible trade chips. Meanwhile the New York Stars says they want a top tier second baseman, but also claim to not be willing to pay through the nose for one...a statement that likely greatly reduces their chances of landing a true top tier guy. Uncertainly about enlistments and Selective Service call-ups has for the most part brought trading to a halt.
• The Gothams had been throwing Gus Goulding's name around as possible trade bait but the recent news that Ed Bowman plans to enlist by the end of the season likely puts a halt to any travel plans for Goulding, who has certainly not lived up to his billing as the second overall pick in 1934. He has outperformed his old teammate at St Blane, Bobo White, who went number one that year but so much more was expected of both of them, especially Goulding...although Goulding still has time to turn things around, but not a lot of it. Goulding just turned 29 and is 76-101 for his FABL career with his only winning season being that incredible run to begin his big league career in 1936 when he went 8-0, 2.90 for what was a bad Baltimore Cannons club. It will be shame if that turns out to be the pinnacle of Goulding's career.
• It looks like the end of the line for a pair of veteran outfielders in Joe Perret and Doc Love. The Cannons waived the 35 year old Love but there were no takers and he does not wish to report to AAA Indianapolis so his career appears to be over after 1,299 career games and a .305 batting average. Same story out of Chicago as the Chiefs are cutting ties with Perret, who played in 1,362 games and was a career .324 hitter. Their paths briefly crossed with the Cannons in 1940 in 1940 and 1941.
• Speaking of the Cannons they got some bad news on Vic Carroll. The 23 year old, first overall pick in 1939, suffered a serious elbow injury that sidelined him for nearly a year and created concern about whether he would be the same pitcher when he returned. Well after 6 starts he is 3-2 with a 1.97 era and looking as good as new for the Cannons, but after his last start - a complete game win over Montreal- Carroll was complaining about a stiff arm. Cincinnati team doctors are taking no chances and he will be put on the injured list and told to rest his valuable wing for two weeks.
• Chiefs brass was a bit worried about Bob Martin's injury status after a couple of lost seasons, but so far, so good. He is currently on pace for 142 games. He hit .259 in April, .282 in May, and now is hitting .328 in June. Now he has an outside shot of getting to 2500 hits this season. If he stays healthy, and gets to 2500 hits, then the conversation of whether he can get to 3000 can be re-kindled.
• Concerns in the Chiefs clubhouse? Al Miller is now 0-5 in June with a 5.71 era for the month. This after the 26 year old ended May with an 8-1 record and a 2.59 era. Rabbit Day did get 2 wins this week, including a rare relief victory and the 38 year old now has 286 for his career.
• It's June so the Chiefs are dealing with Tom Aiello's annual request for a trade. The long-time backup catcher is very good defensively and when he was younger likely should have earned a starting job somewhere. Tough career breaks really as the 36 year old was blocked by a pair of all-stars throughout his career. First it was Mike Taylor in Brooklyn and more recently he has been stuck behind Tom Bird with the Chiefs. Aiello was an everyday player just for one season in his career, and fared well batting .289 with 73 rbi's for the Chiefs in 1935.
• The Brooklyn Kings appear to be in trouble. The club has gone into a tailspin of late with an 11-21 record after starting the season 21-18. Injuries are taking their toll as well as first it was relief ace Del Lyons and now center fielder Rats McGonigle (.273,4,29) is out for up to a month.
• Of course the Kings are red-hot when compared to what the St Louis Pioneers are going through. After a great start, at least by Pioneers standards, they have lost 19 of their last 24 ballgames, including 11 of their last 12 and are now 10 games below .500.
• The Chicago Cougars are another team that struggled last week. Their 2-4 mark at home drops them to 8 games behind the New York Stars and just 4 games over .500. The Chicago offense scored just 2 runs in 5 of the 6 games
• Luke Berry has been a major shot in the arm for the Miners. The enlistment of long time LF’er Joe Owens created a hole that wasn't filled by veterans Wally Flowers or Whit Williams, but the 24 year old Berry (who is an atrocious defender) has slashed .317/.386/.437 in 126 AB’s.

• College football and basketball coaches are less discouraged over a probable shortage of veteran material because of the draft. In fact many have become quite optimistic. The reason is that a great many athletes have enrolled in the various army and navy programs, rather than waiting to be called in the draft. Enrollment provides automatic deferment on the condition they make their grades and train in the next year or two for reserve service.
• Reports from the Marines recruiting office show that a good many athletes prefer green uniforms to khaki or whites. The Mississippi A&M football has contributed five members to the Marines, while the new officers' candidates class reads like a who's who of college sports with Western Florida, Opelika State, Noble Jones and North Carolina Tech all well represented.
• Wisconsin State athletes will fill defense jobs over the summer as they forsake the traditional jobs of life guards, boy's camp directors, etc. and instead will move into defense work, as the cagers and gridiron stars of 1942-43 will instead be aiding in construction work on various defense projects in Wisconsin and neighboring states.
• Detroit City College is one of the first to institute a school-wide physical training program. Recommended by the war department, the program is a must for all men of draft age in the College and not just athletes. The program will be ran by the coaches and assistants from the various sports teams at the school with the focus on making the students better prepared for war, should they enlist or be drafted. The pride of the training plan is a specially constructed obstacle cours3 that includes hurdles, barriers to crawl under and ladders to be crossed by hand.
• With all the college coaches enlisting there might just be job openings for the leather-lungs in the crowd come fall. Flem Hall of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram addressed that very subject recently: "If the professional coaches of college athletics continue to pour into the services at their present pace, the volunteer 'grandstand coaches' (unappreciated in other years) may have to get off their second guess seats and show what they can do on the field with a first guess."

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 6/21/1942

• Responding to the sinking of 7 British merchant ships, US fliers sank or damaged six Italian warships in a 4-day naval-air battle in the Mediterranean.
• Under the command of Rommel, Axis armoured columns seized two vital British anchor points in North Africa and are close to capturing Tobruk.
• Russia's Black Sea Fleet and squadrons of planes have joined in the fight with Axis forces that continues on vital fronts in Savastopol and from Kharkov to Leningrad.
• Japan is said to be massing large forces along Russia's Siberian frontier, thus 'immobilizing Russian troops in order to help Germany" on the eastern front.
  
• More intense bombing of Rumanian oil fields this week by United States Army bombing planes based in Turkey.
• Reports of widespread rioting over a lack of food in Hamburg, where the first signs of Germany's internal crackup in 1918 appeared.
• Over the weekend President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill are said to have met at a secret rendezvous somewhere in the United States and are considering 'lightning decisions" that may have a far-reaching effect on the outcome of the war and influence Churchill's political future. Churchill is under criticism at home because of recent withdrawals by British forces in Libya.