OCTOBER 2, 1942
STARS, GOTHAMS SPLIT FIRST TWO GAMES OF SERIES
The New York Gothams accomplished what a visiting team always hopes to do at the start of a playoff series: earn a split on the road. However, as exciting as it was for the young Gothams team to get to the Stars bullpen with a 2-1 victory in 11 innings in the Series opener, one can't help but feel the young Federal Association side is reeling after Rusty Petrick was battered for 6 runs in less than two innings work and the New York Stars waltzed to a series tying 7-2 victory in Game Two. The Gothams, and more specifically pitcher Gus Goulding, now face a lot of pressure as the series shifts to Queens for the next three contests at Gothams Stadium.
With Ed Bowman on the hill in the opener the Gothams looked like a team that felt it could, and would win. It was a much different feeling right from the opening inning of the second game. In fact, one could easily see that the second pitch from Petrick - one that Stars lead-off man Chink Stickels ripped for a triple - took the air right out of the Gothams sails, deflating much of the positive emotion that they acquired less than 24 hours earlier when Bud Jameson squeezed his glove to record the game-ending putout in the 11th inning of the opener. Petrick was pulled with the Gothams trailing in the second game 6-1, and it happened so early in the contest it was before many of the capacity crowd of over 47,000 had even had a chance to settle in to their seats at Dyckman Stadium. At the point the Gothams had that 'deer in the headlights' look of a defeated bunch.
Now it is up to Gus Goulding to try his luck in Game Three against the powerful Stars bats. Game Three may well decide the series. Ed Bowman is quite possibly good enough to win 3 games on his own, but the series takes four victories and it is highly unlikely Rusty Petrick gets another chance to win one. It is possible the Gothams buck conventional think and trot Bowman back out there on the hill for tomorrow's third game. If they do just that and Bowman, who says he is ready whenever called upon, is game to perhaps try and win 4 games all by himself.
Regardless, the third game is crucial to the Gothams. A Gothams win, especially with Goulding pitching and they have a chance to go up 3-1 with Bowman on the hill for the fourth contest. A Stars win and Bowman might well tie the series back up at two but the mood surrounding the Federal Association nine is still likely one of defeat as the feeling could well be that, aside from Bowman, the Gothams have no answer for the Stars bats.
GAME ONE: GOTHAMS TAKE GAME ONE IN EXTRAS
Walt Messer and Ed Bowman led the way as the New York Gothams upset the New York Stars 2-1 in an 11 inning marathon to open the World Championship Series. Messer had two hits and drove in both Gothams run including the game winner with a sacrifice fly in the top of the 11th after Pete Casstevens had singled and, with the help of an Andy Gross error, moved to third base. The Gothams had a chance to re-tie the game in the bottom half of the 11th but left Gary Carmichael stranded on third base.
The story of the series opener was Ed Bowman as the Gothams rookie looked poised well beyond his years in going 9 and a third innings while allowing just 1 run on 6 hits. The Gothams bullpen, considered their weak spot, at least in comparison to the Stars pitching depth, also was the beneficiary of a fine effort by Charlie Sutton in relief of the rookie Bowman. Chuck Cole was perhaps a surprise starter for the Stars over Billy Riley in the series opener. Cole pitched well but his control was an issue and he tied a record for walks in a game with 8. That mark has been reached often, 8 times in fact, with the most recent one before Cole being Montreal's Babe Freese who walked 8 in the 1919 series. The game also marked a rare loss for Stars reliever George Hampton, who took over from Cole in the 10th and allowed the winning run. During the season Hampton was 10-3 with 16 saves - tied for the CA lead in that category.
The Stars had the first real threat of the game when Dave Trowbridge and Joe Angevine hit back to back singles with one out in the bottom of the second inning but the youngster Bowman worked his way out of trouble by inducing a fly to short centerfield from Gary Carmichael and then fanning Stars catcher Buster Farrar to strand Angevine on third.
It was the Gothams who plated the first run of the series when Mule Monier led off the third inning with a walk, one of the WCS record-tying 8 free passes issued by Cole. Bill Freeman grounded out but moved Monier to second and the Gothams shortstop would come around to score on a sharp single off the bat of Walt Messer. It could have been more as Messer, who moved to second on the failed attempt to nab Monier at the plate, was thrown out at home thanks to a bullet toss by Bill Barrett after Billy Dalton had singled to right field. Barrett's throw kept the Gothams lead at 1-0.
The Gothams had another chance in the top of the fifth when Messer singled for his second hit of the game, moving Ed Bowman, who had walked to lead-off the frame, to third but Cole got out of the jam with an inning ending force out from Dalton.
The Stars tied the game in the home half of the fifth when Carmichael singled - the first hit off of Bowman since the second inning- and quickly scored when the light hitting catcher Farrar followed up with a double. The game would stay knotted at one despite opportunities for both sides. The Gothams big chance came in the 6th after Leon Drake led off with a double, but with runners on the corners and one out Cole managed to avert disaster, and did so once again in the 7th by striking out pinch-hitter Lee Miller with two on. The Stars best opportunity came in the bottom of the 8th when a Bud Jameson error allowed lead-off man Chink Stickels to reach base. Andy Gross sacrificed Stickels into scoring position and Barrett worked Bowman for a two-out walk but the rookie fanned Dave Trowbridge to get out of the inning.
Bowman finally saw his day end in the bottom of the 10th when after striking out Stickels to start the inning, he allowed Andy Gross to work him for a walk. A Chubby Hall single put runners on the corners with just one away but Charlie Sutton took over and retired Barrett and Trowbridge to keep the game tied and set the stage for Walt Messer's game winning sacrifice fly.
GAME TWO: STARS SQUARE SERIES WITH 7-2 ROMP
The New York Gothams entered the series feeling pretty good about their starting pitching as the trio of Ed Bowman, Rusty Petrick and Gus Goulding had been outstanding down the stretch in the Federal Association race. Bowman was up to the task in the opener but the Gothams are likely regretting the decision to give the ball to Petrick over Harry Carter in the second game. In the end, both would pitch as Petrick was pounded for 6 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks which sent him to the showers before the second inning was completed. The Gothams pitching woes overshadowed a very solid game from Stars starter and 21 game winner this season Billy Riley, who scattered 9 Gothams hits in going the distance for a 7-2 victory.
It was clear early that this was not going to be Petrick's, or the Gothams day. After Riley set the Gothams down in order in the top of the first the Stars bats went to work. Petrick's second offering of the contest was ripped for a line drive triple from lead-off man Chink Stickels and 3 pitches later the Stars had the lead when Andy Gross' ground out allowed Stickels to score. Petrick got Chubby Hall to pop out to centerfield for the second out but he then walked Bill Barrett to prolong the inning. The oldest player in FABL, 44 year old Dave Trowbridge slashed the second triple of the inning of Petrick to plate Barrett and then 'Father Time' could practically walk home when Joe Angevine followed with a double on a full-count pitch that Petrick let get too much of the plate. The carnage finally ended at 3-0 when Gary Carmichael grounded out to end the inning. However Petrick's problems were far from over.
The Gothams created some hope in the visitors dugout when they scored a run of their own in the second inning, courtesy of three singles from Leon Drake, Bud Jameson and Joe Green but the excitement was short-lived as Petrick allowed a lead-off single to Buster Farrar and, following a sacrifice bunt from Stars hurler Billy Riley, Chink Stickels ripped his second extra base hit off of Petrick. This one was a double to plate Farrar. Petrick settled down a bit a fanned Andy Gross for the second out of the inning but then walked the bases full before Dave Trowbridge dealt the death blow, a double to score two more and make it 6-1. That ended Petrick's day and Harry Carter, who went 16-14 on the year and often topped the Gothams rotation, took over.
Carter was terrific and likely earned the nod over Petrick to start the fifth game, after allowing just 1 run on 3 hits over 5 and a third innings before being lifted for a pinch-hitter in the 8th. The Gothams would get a second run off of Riley in the 8th inning when pinch-hitter Roosevelt Brewer singled and came around to score after base hits from Lee Miller and Billy Dalton but the outcome was never in doubt after Petrick was chased from the contest.
The series now shifts to Gothams Stadium and there is plenty of pressure on Gus Goulding, who like Petrick has had his good moments and bad this season, to try and get a win at home and reignite the confidence of the young Gothams club.
GOTHAMS SERVE CROW TO REGULAR SEASON PROGNOSTICATORS
The New York Gothams got the last laugh on the so-called experts in the baseball media. The Gothams Federal Association pennant was not forecast by any of the 7 publications that went on record last April. In fact, only BNN in it's preseason predictions had the Gothams even making the first division as the league news service called for a fourth place finish for the New Yorkers. Arthur Mortimer of the New York Mirror might have got it right with his call of the Stars to take the Continental but he was way off in the Fed in dooming the Gothams to a last place finish. Joining Mortimer on the correct call for the CA crown was Percy Sutherland of the Chicago Herald-Examiner, Brett Bell of the Toronto Mail & Empire and BNN.
As for Jiggs McGee of this publication, well it was a year that Jiggs - just like the Detroit Dynamos that he pegged for first in the Fed - would rather forget. Jiggs had it this way:
Code:
JIGGS MCGEE PRESEASON PREDICTIONS
FEDERAL PRED ACTUAL FINISH
Detroit 1 Gothams 91-63
Pittsburgh 2 Boston 88-66
Boston 3 Pittsburgh 87-67
Chiefs 4 Keystones 85-69
Keystones 5 Chiefs 74-80
Gothams 6 St Louis 69-85
St Louis 7 Detroit 62-92
Washington 8 Washington 60-94
CONT. PRED ACTUAL FINISH
Cougars 1 Stars 103-51
Stars 2 Cougars 84-70
Toronto 3 Cincinnati 82-72
Cincinnati 4 Montreal 76-78
Sailors 5 Toronto 75-79
Brooklyn 6 Sailors 74-80
Montreal 7 Brooklyn 72-82
Cleveland 8 Cleveland 50-104
CATCHER BIRD JOINS NAVY
Now that we have scared the daylights out of Chiefs fans, we should clarify the catcher turned sailor is not -at least not at the moment- Chicago Chiefs seven time all-star Tom Bird but rather his 21 year old brother Roy. Roy is also a catcher, but in the minor leagues with the New York Gothams. The Bird boys, who hail from Chino, California may have 13 year separating them but are still quite close. Roy broke the news to his brother and the media yesterday while in Chicago preparing to watch Tom compete in the annual Chiefs-Cougars Chicago showdown which gets underway this weekend.
The younger Bird split his first season in the Gothams organization between Class C and B, batting .232 in 95 games. New York signed him as a minor league free agent after Bird, a 1939 18th round pick of Detroit, was cut loose by the Dynamos after three seasons at the Class C level.
As for Tom, who hit .310 with 15 homers for the Chiefs this season, he was non-committal when asked if he planned to join his brother in the service. "We will just have to wait and see on that," was Tom's only reply.
TRADE TALK. NOW THAT IS SOMETHING NOT HEARD IN SOME TIME
CHICAGO COUGARS HEAD LIST OF TEAMS DISCUSSING DEALS
The war has seen plenty of players trading their baseball flannels for a different type of uniform but it has also brought trading in FABL to a standstill as teams have for the better part of a year been fearful to make any moves of significance. Perhaps that is changing as three FABL clubs have reportedly made it known they are in a shopping mode.
The Chicago Cougars were the first team to announce they need a change. The Cougars have a lot of quality pieces already and with both Bill Barrett and Joe Angevine having confirmed they are joining the war effort, Chicago might just be the team to beat in the Continental Association next season. Of course no one knows who else may decide to enlist or get a call from the draft board so picking favourites for next season this early is only a challenge a fool would willingly undertake.
The Cougars do not have many holes but they have identified third base as a primary need to fill. John Lawson did pick up his game in the second half but it is clear to all that the 39 year old's days as a premier hitter are very close to, if not already at their end. Billy Hunter could be the answer there but he is injured more often than not so the Cougars are looking for another option.
Chicago says it is willing to part with one of it's biggest assets in catcher Harry Mead or top prospect Solly Skidmore. Second base is also something the Cougars have an abundance in with veteran Freddie Jones showing enough in a smaller sample to make the Cougars consider parting with second sacker Clark Car. The Cougars also provided a laundry list of the usual names that might be on the block but it is Car and either Mead or Skidmore that might convince another Federal Association squad to consider moving a top third baseman to Chicago.
JIGGS THOUGHTS: One potential suitor might be the Washington Eagles. Mel Carrol could just be the type of player that would interest the Cougars and Skidmore would be a nice addition to Washington's young group but I think the Eagles would want a little more to part with Carrol a second time. Likewise Cleveland might consider moving 28 year old Hank Stratton for the right package of young talent in return. A long shot could be the Philadelphia Keystones who might part with Davey Robicheaux. The 25 year old was originally a third baseman but moved to the outfield because Hank Koblenz is locked in at third base. I am not sure there would be a fit for the Keystones and Cougars as Philly is likely quite happy with Chet McCormick as their catcher and I would rule Car out as well with Marshall Strickland doing a decent job holding second base duties until Billy Woytek returns from the war.
*** DETROIT DYNAMOS ***
The next team looking to shake things up is the Detroit Dynamos. The club is in shock after the complete collapse that was the 1942 season. Nothing as big as Red Johnson or Sal Pestilli - Dynamos brass says those two are staying - but the Dynamos need change and were quoted in the Detroit World as saying "Detroit is re-thinking its entire organization save for Red Johnson and probably Sal. Lots of needs based on this last season where OSA said we would suck and they were right. Really thought we'd have a window that would have been open longer than 4 years with the talent, but the pitching just kind of disappeared this year. I see a lot of our former farmhands in the pitching ranks doing quite well now. We went for the quick fix and ran into a hot Pittsburgh team (Chiefs in year 1 and Boston in year 4) and we didn't get the job done. So while we don't know who is going to get the call to go overseas, we will be open for business."
JIGGS THOUGHTS: Detroit is in a tough spot. Ownership expects a winner and they came so close for a few years but could not quite get over the hump despite trading a lot of youth for veteran pieces they had hoped would get the job done. The problem now is after the season they just had Detroit is desperate, and the entire league knows it. That is not the best time to deal and the whole uncertainty surrounding enlistments/draftees may make it tough for Detroit to get much of substance done. The thing to look for here is, if Detroit makes a move, which direction will it be? Do they try to get a couple more key veterans to take another run at things or do they take a step back and retool with whatever quality prospects they can find?
*** MONTREAL SAINTS ***
Finally we have the Montreal Saints who are looking to move some veteran pieces. The Saints have had the top group of minor league prospects for a while now and even though the war made a dent in their collection, Montreal has a lot of talent on the way up. Pitchers Pat Weakley and Wally Reif deserve a shot soon. Same for for catcher Dixie Galloway, who had a brief taste of big league life this year, outfielder Ernie McCoy and infielder Eric Fiore. That means names like Ed Baker, Mike Jones and Bob Jennings are on the trade block.
JIGGS THOUGHTS: The thing the Saints need to be careful of, besides the fact that younger players are more likely to get the call from Uncle Sam, is they don't part with a veteran would might still be a serviceable piece without getting a fair return. Montreal is under new management since most of these moves but in the past the Saints have let some solid talent leave too early. At times they almost feel like a Chicago Chiefs farm team with Jim Watson, Hank Barnett, Tom Bird and former Chief Cliff Moss all arriving at a fairly low cost considering the production those players delivered for Chiefs. Best advice for Montreal is perhaps to quite dealing with the Chiefs.
- Just before press time the Gothams confirmed that Gus Goulding will start game three and Ed Bowman, who was the Fed pitcher and rookie of the month for September, gets the ball in Game Four.
- There will be plenty of second guessing should Goulding struggle as some were calling for the Gothams to give the ball to Bowman in game three. The 22 year old is rested but the issue is if he starts game three it would be really tough to send him back out for the fifth game with just the one day off in between. So unfortunately you don't gain an extra start from a fully rested Bowman by starting him in the third game. And if he started game three and lost, well then the series would be over for the Gothams.
- A couple of lineup changes for the Gothams. Pete Casstevens and Roosevelt Brewer are in. Joe Green and Bill Freeman are out. Casstevens had a pinch-hit single in Game One in his only Series appearance so far. Brewer came on as a sub in both games at Dyckman Stadium and went 1-for-3 at the plate. Freeman was 1-for-8 in the series but Green had 3 hits in 9 at bats including an rbi single in game two.
A BRAVE FRONT IN ANOTHER WARTIME SERIES
This could be the last World Championship Series for the duration but if the baseball biggies are worried on this score they are making no outward displays. Sam Belton, the big boss of the industry, is mugging for the cameramen as in pre- Pearl Harbor times and plenty of club magnates are whooping it up in New York this week. You'd never think there was a war on- if you don't think very hard.
But this Gothams-Stars series is perhaps without parallel. You'd have to go back to 1918 to find a pale carbon of the broad background. That was the last series held in wartime. But even in those days the major associations didn't vote thousands from the receipts to the war effort, providing, of course the series goes a distance. Even then such items as the material out of which press buttons were made - minute items, but significant - were of no grave concern. But at this series the old, standard metal button, the magic talisman which entitles the wearer to free-load as long as he can stand it, is of cardboard and plastic.
*** GOOD THING IT'S A SUBWAY SERIES ***
One good thing about an all-New York championship is the travel nightmare that might have ensued with any other pairing has been avoided. The days of special baseball trains are no more. There are no "baseball writers' specials," those wild, rolling bars wherein the nights were long and happy and the mornings long and rich in hangovers. This season the traveling baseball writers were reduced to being humble beggars standing in line before the railroad ticket windows, eager to snatch up cancelled upper berths or willing to settle for for a St Louis to New York jaunt in a day coach. Even the teams themselves often had difficulty securing railroad transport during the season. With all of the additional hangers on a Series brings out, it would have been a nightmare to get everyone from point A to point B.
*** RADIO IS CARRYING GAMES TO ALL COUNTRIES ***
The trains that used to be used for the ball clubs are now generally full of soldiers and sailors, and some are not thinking of baseball. A chief petty officer with eight bright red stripes on his left sleeve was saying on a train Tuesday that he did not even know the Series was about to start. Possibly he had been to sea. Anyway, he didn't have his 'railroad legs' and shortly thereafter fell violently trainsick. A sergeant on his way to Texas after a furlough in Connecticut, assumed the "Stars were playing the Miners." He hadn't kept up on his sports-page reading; he hadn't even realized the Gothams had become hot and passed Pittsburgh.
These, though, are isolated cases. There's a World Championship Series underway and most of the soldiers, sailors and marines know, because the games are being condensed, like powdered eggs, and short-waved to all parts of the world. There are civilians too busy to be intimately familiar with the players, as in bygone days, but chances are they know there's a series on.
*** BASEBALL'S DONE OKAY BY UNCLE SAM ***
If this is the last of the classics for the duration it's one that well may be remembered. Never lacking in confidence, the tin hats of baseball are treating the series as if it's the most important affair in the world, the war and lesser developments such as football to the contrary, and there's little to do except admire the people.
Baseball has done all right by Uncle Sam, as regards raising money for relief and furnishing equipment for the soldiers. Compared with the net proceeds to Army emergency relief raised by the Army all-star teams and the professional teams, baseball has done a remarkable job and if this series goes the full limit of seven games more thousands of dollars will go toward the war effort.
That, in itself, will make it a series that will be remembered.
There are concerns out of Michigan that Detroit City College might take their opponents from Lansing a little lightly this weekend. The Knights are preparing to face in-state rival St. Ignatius Saturday afternoon but many worry the Detroit City squad is still in the clouds after last weekend's big win over Great Lakes Navy. That 26-17 victory, soul warming as it was, is still with the boys on the Knights squad. Their coach has been busy all week trying to impress upon them that the Lancers are not a team to be taken lightly. But after turning in one of the most impressive games in all of Detroit City College's football history last week by beating a star-stuffed outfit of pros and collegiate stars, you can't blame the Knights for strutting a bit.
Detroit City College's strength is it's line, led by senior tackle Justin Thomas, but practice this week has stressed pass defense as all reports indicate a strong Lancer aerial attack. The coaching staff has had the Knights working extra hard this week and hopes that come game time, the focus will fully be on St Ignatius and not last week's accomplishments. The Lancers do not plan to make the 65-mile trek to Detroit until Saturday morning for the 3pm contest that afternoon. They will also bring just 38 men in uniform, the smallest squad in more than a decade. In former years the Landers always were followed by nearly the entire student body of 6,000 plus many of the townspeople, but this year the figure is expected to be chopped almost in half.
Most of the experts are calling on Detroit City College to win easily in what is one of several big games this weekend. Others include a showdown in a showdown in Tyrone, Pa. between the St Blane Fighting Saints (0-1) and Georgia Baptist (1-0). The Saints are hoping to rebound from a disappointing 14-10 loss to Wisconsin State in Milwaukee last week. Meanwhile Great Lakes Navy attempts to get on the winning side of the ledger with another game against a Great Lakes Alliance school - this time vs Western Iowa while Annapolis Maritime looks to improve to 2-0 in a game against Eastern State.
- The Stars and Stripes, which aims to give soldiers overseas what they want, announces it will carry scores of all the major football games.
- Col. Bill Ormond, coach of the East All-Stars, figures the all-Army football teams were a great thing for morale because of the way privates, sergeants, lieutenants, etc., worked together without thinking of their rank.
- Travel is affecting the scouts as well. When George Randall, a Pittsburgh Paladins scout, was given the job of scouting Alabama Methodist center Larry Castleman and his mates against Marquis College, he had planned on taking a plane to Birmingham. He got as far as Atlanta before hearing the bad news that priorities for the armed forces had taken all the space for the ride to Birmingham so he ran an audible and stayed in Georgia to watch Noble Jones College upend Jacksonville Naval 35-7 and get a first-hand look at Noble Jones back Billy Bockhorst, who might well be the most sought after college player in next year's AFA draft.
- Travel woes nearly forced the postponement of tonight's game in Washington between Mississippi A&M and St. Matthew's. The Generals had a terrible time trying to round up train travel to the nation's capital for the game, and for a spell about half the club was headed in another direction. They finally were coupled back on the train chugging their mates but did not arrive in Washington until about 10 pm last night for tonight's game. The original plan was to bring a squad of 33 to Washington and arrive Thursday morning, but requests from the railroad first required the Generals to trim their squad to 26, and then they were forced to wait a day before departing. This will be the second game for each school as both won their opener last week. St Matthew's downed Conwell College 13-3 while Mississippi A&M easily won a tune-up with Glasgow College 27-0.
- Aren't you a little old for college ball? Jesse Spadea, who played for Cumberland way back in the early thirties before an AFA stint, is one of the players who will dress for Lakehurst Naval Station when they play Maryland State on Saturday, despite the fact that Spadea is now 32 years old. Spadea is pictured below in his Lakehurst togs preparing for the game with the Bengals.
The Week That Was
Current events from 9/28/1942 thru 10/01/1942
- Despite being often outnumbered 10 to 1, U. S. Marines successfully repelled the biggest Japanese attack since they invaded the Solomons nearly six weeks ago. For two days the Japanese attacked with everything they had, by land, air and sea, but the Marines defense held.
- American air superiority is credited for great success in the Aleutians as well as the Solomon Islands.
- In it's first list of merchant marine casualties, the Navy Department reports 434 seaman are listed as dead and nearly 2,000 more are missing. The list includes only those casualties resulting directly from enemy action.
- Thought close to losing Stalingrad just days ago, Russian troops mounted a counter-offensive backed by swarms of planes and tanks and are now said to be cutting off the German army from it's supply lines.
- Facing a barrage of questions in the House of Commons, Prime Minister Churchill warned against speculation on the time or the place of an Allied second front offensive.