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Jiggs McGee · 10-26-2022, 11:56 AM

JUNE 19, 1944

COUGARS EXTEND LEAD TO DOUBLE-DIGITS

The Chicago Cougars continue to roll over Continental Association opponents and with 17 wins in their last 24 games the mighty Cougars have extended their lead over second place Toronto to 10 games. Toronto has dropped 7 of it's last 11 contests, and managed to score just 4 runs in 5 games last week, to fall further off the pace. The Wolves, at 32-24, have certainly not been a bad team despite some offensive struggles of late. However, Chicago has been putting together a dominant start to the season and, at 45-17, show little sign of letting up.

The Cougars .726 winning percentage still has them in a great race, but it is with history and not their current Continental Association rivals. The team the Cougars are chasing is themselves, as the current Chicago club is on pace to post the best record in the 53 year history of the CA. The 1892 Cougars -that was the first season of the CA and a year before the World Championship Series had ever been considered- went 96-40 for a .706 winning percentage. No Continental nine has ever matched that level of consistency. The schedule was shorter back then but even when FABL switched to the 154 game slate a few years later the best a Continental side has mustered was a 103-win season. The Philadelphia Sailors did it in 1929 and two years ago the New York Stars matched it when they won the flag by 19 games. This years Cougars, at their current rate, stand to win 112 games. Only four times since 1910 has the margin between first and second place in the Continental Association ever been more than 10 games. If the current trends hold, and you have to think the Cougars will stumble a bit a some point but if they don't, Chicago stands to finish 24 games ahead of second place Toronto, which is something even that dominant 1892 team never accomplished.

Toronto Wolves manager Bob Call put on the brave face in the locker room Saturday after a 7-0 pounding at the hands of the Philadelphia Sailors let the Cougars grow their lead to double-digits, admitting that while it's "a long climb back into contention," Toronto was "not willing to wave the white flag quite yet." Perhaps not, but it is getting harder and harder every day not to imagine a scenario where the Cougars are not waiving a Continental Association pennant-winning flag come this October.

It was a good week for the Keystones and a great week for Bobby Barrell. Barrell smacked 4 homers and drove in 15 in 8 games this past week, leading the FABL in homers (17) and RBI (58). The team went 6-2 to open up a 2-1/2-game lead on the Chiefs in the Fed, but a weekend split of a four-game set against Pittsburgh left fans feeling the Keys left something on the table.

The big highlight of the week of George Brooks's no-hitter in game one of the Sunday doubleheader against the Miners. Brooks faced three over the minimum in the 3-0 victory after two walks and one error in the field by Philadelphia. Only one Miner reached second base and it was on a sacrifice bunt by Don Anderson to move Rafael Mendoza into scoring position in a 1-0 game. Brooks fanned eight and threw 107 pitches. It has been a struggle this season, but Brooks has turned it around, winning three of his last four starts to lower his season ERA from 4.96 to 4.15.

*** Milestone Time For Bobby, Historic Time For The World ***

As the American public was reading the blaring front page of the invasion of Normandy the day after D-Day (6/7/44), Bobby Barrell was able to knock in his 1,500th run on an opposite field double off Boston's Walt Wells in the middle of a deciding four-run eighth in a 5-1 win. That makes three milestones in four weeks:

350th HR (2-run HR off LHP Joe Shaffner in 3rd inning) in 5-3 win vs STL on 5/21/44 (Game 2 of DH)
2,500th hit (RBI 2B off Jimmy Long in 3rd inning) in 5-4 loss at DET on 6/3/44
1,500th RBI (RBI 2B off Walt Wells in 4-run 8th inning) in 5-1 win at BOS on 6/7/44

NO-HITTERS IN KEYSTONES FRANCHISE HISTORY
7/4/1887 - Ira Williams vs Buffalo - 9 IP, 2 BB, 7 K
7/16/1898 - Edmond Bryant vs Detroit - 9 IP, 3 BB, 3 K
8/1/1914 - Ken Gray vs Detroit - 9 IP, 1 BB, 7 K
8/18/1923 - George P Williams vs Chicago - 9 IP, 4 BB, 1 K
5/28/1937 - Art Myers vs Pittsburgh - 9 IP, 1 BB, 4 K
6/18/1944 - GEORGE M BROOKS vs PITTSBURGH - 9 IP, 2 BB, 8 K

After the collapse against the Keystones from the week before the Boston Minutemen found themselves in another uphill battle in the standings. It started with a four game set at home against the Miners where the Minutemen were able to take three out of four which included a three run extra inning walk off winner from Art Spencer in the second game of a Wednesday doubleheader. It was next off to Washington for another four games in three days against a Eagles team that had higher expectations than what they have so far produced this season. Both sides played each other tough and split the series. Although it was a 5-3 week for Boston they still found themselves 7.5 games out of first and rutted in fifth place in the standings. Philadelphia is 8-2 in their last ten games and only Chicago has been able to keep pace with them sitting 2.5 back. Boston takes their act on the road this week with a trip to Pittsburgh before returning home to play the Eagles.
BOSTON BEANS- With no first rounder in January the Minutemen did not pick until 31st overall in the first stage of the FABL draft. Looks like they made a good choice as their selection - North Attleborough native Karl Berggren was named a second team All-American for the second year in a row. The 22 year old outfield, who plays his college ball at Huntington State hit .285 with 11 homers and 45 rbi's in 56 games for the Miners. OSA calls him a sure-handed centerfielder with good speed. He swiped 102 bases in his 3 seasons at the West Virginia school....Regional round selection Paul Caissie, an outfielder from Warwick High School in Rhode Island, says he plans on attending Chesapeake State in September but expect the Minutemen to make a solid offer to sway the 17 year old into pro ball...The St Patrick's cagers feel pretty confident they will convince the areas top high school basketball recruit to stay close to home. Steamboat McMillan, a big-bodied center from South Yarmouth, is said to be weighing his options between the Shamrocks, St Blane and Liberty College. Commonwealth Catholic is also said to be close to landing their top local objective. Finn Adams, a guard out of Copley High and pretty fine baseball player as well, has indicated he wants to attend the Cambridge school....Officials from both St Patrick's and Commonwealth Catholic remain upbeat after the death of the Northeast basketball conference and the shift to independent status for the upcoming cage season....Speaking of upbeat, Boston boxing guru Steven MacIntosh sees most of the top pugilists getting back into the ring sometime next season. The sport has been all but shut down the past three years due to the war, aside from the various War Relief fundraising tussles. The title have been vacant all that time but according to the 65-year old trainer, the American Boxing Federation is hard at work for a plan how to resume the sport and give the right candidates title shots.

AIAA HANDS OUT COLLEGE HARDWARE

GRANGE COLLEGE OUTFIELDER RIGGINS CLAIMS CHRISTIAN

The Frank Christian Trophy winner for 1944 is sophomore outfielder Bob Riggins of the national champion Grange College Mustangs. The 20 year old outpointed teammate Otis Porter to become the fifth sophomore to win the award, presented annually to the top baseball player in collegiate baseball. Riggins, who is expected to be a first round draft pick next January in the annual FABL talent sweepstakes, hit .333 with 10 homers and 49 rbi's to help lead Grange College to it's second national championship in school history. He led the nation with a 1.015 OPS and had the 4th highest batting average in the country, but tops amongst players at major schools.

Riggins was a near unanimous choice, being named first on 7 of the 9 ballots cast and second on the other two, to easily finish ahead of Porter with freshman pitcher John Stallings of Piedmont University finishing third. Riggins selection continues the trend of pitchers or outfielders claiming the award as an infielder has not won since Lubbock State's Bill Moore won his second of two consecutive Christian Trophy's in 1932.

Code:

       1944 CHRISTIAN TROPHY VOTING
NAME		SCHOOL	   1st 2nd 3rd  POINTS
Bob Riggins    Grange Col   7   2   0     25
Otis Porter    Grange Col   1   3   2     11
John Stallings Piedmont     1   2   3     10
Nate Power     Daniel Boone 0   2   2      6
Johnny Peters  Liberty      0   0   1      1
Billy Forbes   Miami State  0   0   1      1

Code:

	PAST FRANK CHRISTIAN TROPHY WINNERS
YEAR	NAME		POS	CLASS	 SCHOOL
1927	Sam Orr		2B	FR	Henry Hudson
1928	Tommy Wilcox	P 	JR	Liberty College
1929	Vic Crawford	OF	JR	Commonwealth Catholic
1930	Freddie Jones	2B	SO	Central Ohio
1931	Bill Moore	1B	SO	Lubbock State
1932	Bill Moore	1B	JR	Lubbock State
1933	Joe Hancock	P	JR	Henry Hudson
1934	Sal Pestilli	OF	FR	Narragansett
1935	Al Jones	P	JR	Central Ohio
1936	Sal Pestilli	OF	JR	Narragansett
1937	Alex LaComb	OF	JR	Cuyahoga University
1938	Bob Coon	OF	SO	St Magnus
1939	Rats McGonigle	OF	JR	Bronx Tech
1940	Don Bitters	P	JR	Hamman College
1941	Bob Arman	P	SO	Bluegrass State
1942	Nelson Flinn	OF	JR	Darnell State
1943	Jim Carter	P	JR	Ellery College
1944	Bob Riggins	OF	SO	Grange College

AIAA ALL-AMERICAN TEAMS ANNOUNCED

The 1944 Collegiate Baseball All-American teams were announced and the first team includes a pair of players from each of the top two AIAA schools this season. National Champion Grange College is represented by outfielder Bob Riggins -who also won the Christian Trophy- and pitcher Otis Porter. Both are sophomores and each is expected to return to the Mustangs again next season. Miami State finished second in the nation, marking the third time in the past four years the Gulls cracked the top five, thanks in no small part to junior third baseman Gabby Marlowe and freshman outfielder Billy Forbes. Marlowe was one of just three juniors named to the first team and, as such, eligible for the 1944 FABL draft. Only second baseman Eddie Logan out of Gates University, was drafted in January as the Montreal Saints selected the San Francisco native in the second round. Marlowe and first team catcher Gene Ryan, from Bayou State, are hoping to get the call from a FABL club later this month in the final portion of the draft after both were overlooked during the opening three rounds.

The second all-star team was also very young with 6 sophomores and 2 freshman being named along with just one junior. That would be Huntington State outfielder Karl Berggren who was selected in January. The Boston Minutemen grabbed Berggren with their second round selection -31st overall. It marked the second year in a row that Berggren was named to the second team. Four first team selections were named to the first team for the second year in a row. They were Ryan, Logan, Riggins and Liberty College outfielder Johnny Peters. Here are the 1944 AIAA All-Americans

Code:

	1944 FIRST TEAM
POS  NAME 	 CL	SCHOOL		FABL STATUS
C  Gene Ryan     Jr  Bayou State        undrafted
1B Nate Power    So  Daniel Boone Coll. 1945 eligible
2B Eddie Logan   Jr  Gates University   Rd 2 pick 24 Montreal
SS Harry Finney  So  Bluegrass State    1945 eligible
3B Gabby Marlowe Jr  Miami State        undrafted
OF Bob Riggins   So  Grange College     1945 eligible
OF Billy Forbes  Fr  Miami State        1946 eligible
OF Johnny Peters So  Liberty College    1945 eligible
P  Otis Porter   So  Grange College     1945 eligible
	
	 1944 SECOND TEAM
POS  NAME 	 CL	SCHOOL		FABL STATUS
C  Dino Robinson So Georgia Baptist     1945 eligible
1B Hank Smith    So Talmadge State      1945 eligible
2B Del Johnson   So West Goshen State   1945 eligible
SS George Penza  So Yellowhammer State  1945 eligible
3B Bob Miller    So Queen City          1945 eligible
OF Karl Berggren Jr Huntington State    Rd 2 pick 31 Boston
OF Archie Kelly  Fr Garden State        1946 eligible
OF Jake Pomarico So Detroit City Coll.  1945 eligible
P John Stallings Fr Piedmont            1946 eligible

LIBERTY COLLEGE HAS A LONG HISTORY OF ALL-AMERICANS

There was a dry spell for a period but the Liberty College Bells have certainly had more than their fair share of AIAA baseball All-Americans. Johnny Peters becomes just the second player from the Philadelphia school to be named to the first team twice in his college career, joining fellow outfielder John Collins. Second baseman Jake Shadoan was named to the second team twice.

Code:

   LIBERTY COLLEGE BELLS ALL-AMERICANS
       FIRST TEAM	SECOND TEAM
1927 John Collins OF
1928 John Collins OF    Jake Shadoan 2B
     Tommy Wilcox P*
1929     -              Jake Shadoan 2B
1932 Ken Mayhugh 3B
1943 Johnny Peters OF
1944 Johnny Peters OF
   * Wilcox won the Christian Trophy in 1928

DYNAMOS TOP PICK WINS ADWELL AWARD

Roy Schaub capped a stellar high school baseball career with his second straight Adwell Award. The award, named after former high school and FABL pitcher Red Adwell, is presented annually since 1934 to the player determined to be the best high school ballplayer in the nation. Adwell joins New York Gothams slugger Walt Messer and Cleveland Foresters prospect Hiram Steinberg -both presently serving in the Navy- as the only multiple time winners. Schaub, who the Detroit Dynamos made the first overall selection in the January portion of the FABL draft, capped a 4-year career at Philadelphia's St. Joseph's High School by posting a 12-0 record with a 0.88 era and 193 strikeouts. His high school totals of 43-5 with 723 strikeouts rank second only to Steinberg -who won 3 Adwell Awards- in wins and K's.

Schaub outpointed Yank Taylor, a freshman at Chicago's Pullman High School and son of former FABL star Tom Taylor, to claim the award. Edwin Hackberry, a senior outfielder from San Diego High School in California and also a first round pick of the Dynamos in January, finished third.

Code:

      1944 ADWELL AWARD VOTING RESULTS
NAME		SCHOOL	            1st 2nd 3rd  POINTS
Roy Schaub    Philly St Josephs      5   2   1    20
Yank Taylor   Chicago Pullman	     2	 3   2    14
Edwin Hackberry San Diego(CA)        1   2   4    11
Cyrus Goodman   Clarendon(AR)        0   1   1     3
Nick Remillard Nashville Hillsboro   0   0   0     0

Code:

[b]
	   PAST WINNERS OF THE ADWELL AWARD
YEAR	NAME		  POS	CL  SCHOOL
1934	Walt Messer	  1B	SO  McKinley Tech (Washington DC)
1935	Rufus Barrell II  P	SR  Macon (GA) HS
1936	Walt Messer	  1B	SR  McKinley Tech (Washington DC)
1937	Pete Casstevens	  C	SR  Syracuse (NY) HS
1938	Bill Barrett	  OF	SR  Vineland (NJ) HS
1939	Hiram Steinberg	  P	SO  Washington HS (New York City)
1940	Hiram Steinberg	  P	JR  Washington HS (New York City)
1941	Hiram Steinberg	  P	SR  Washington HS (New York City)
1942	Ben Thompson	  OF	SO  Yazoo City (MS) HS
1943	Roy Schaub	  P 	JR  St Joseph's HS (Philadelphia)
1944	Roy Schaub	  P	SR  St Joseph's HS (Philadelphia)

PLENTY OF DEBATE CONTINUES ABOUT NIGHT BALL

There will be more night baseball games going forward. That is a certainty as the fans have shown they fully support evening games, especially during the week. And at it's recent meeting on the subject, FABL gave the go-ahead to more night contests -at least in the short term- but there was some very loud opposition in some centers. The resolution does give those dissenters a measure of control as an important proviso in the new night ball situation was a big bone of contention, but a necessary one in order to settle the feud. The caveat is that when a club adds an after-dark contest to it's schedule, it must get the consent of the visiting club.

Depending upon who you asked either everyone left the meeting happy or no one did. Those against night ball were in a tough spot. As one of the "anti's" puts it, "A team walks in with figures showing all of it's night games had outdrawn any of the day contests aside from the season opener. And that owner says he is worried without more night dates he may not be able to make out with his receipts at the gate. When a club shouts financial distress, you cannot say 'That's your headache.' We had little choice but to give in. Still, it was a fight just the same."

It was put in the form of a resolution and not a rule. So teams can schedule more night games this year and next - beyond the maximums set when the schedule came out but only with the consent of their opponent of course. Beyond next year we may have to dig in for another fight. Until then get ready for a lot more week's like the one the Washington Eagles just finished. Eagles owner William Stockdale, a long-time proponent of night ball, saw his club play 6 consecutive contests with an 8:05 start against Philadelphia and Boston last week, including one on Saturday evening.

Is It Football Season Yet? - Like a lot of Cincinnati sports fans I suspect these days, I find my mind wandering towards autumn and the day that professional football makes it's debut in the Queen City. The grid game comes to town in September with the arrival of the newest American Football Association squad, which hopefully provides a little more enjoyment than the Cannons have this season. It remains to be seen just how well the Tigers -as they are now known as following that whole kerfuffle with Queen City University over the Monarch moniker- will be supported. Sure, you can say the city went crazy over the Cannons a few summers back when they first arrived from Baltimore, but then we have always been a baseball town and the Cannons were good right away, challenging for a pennant right from the get-go.

I may be a pessimist but I don't see that happening on the gridiron. Yes the Cannons were awful those final years in Baltimore, but they did have a full big league organization in place and plenty of young talent when they arrived, and seemed to peak right from day one. I doubt we will be saying the same about the Tigers, and I expect they may be a toothless bunch. There just aren't a lot of established pro football players to go around these days, and as a brand new team dealing with war depleted rosters I do not expect them to land more than a few over-the-hill castoffs that couldn't cut it elsewhere. The rest of the roster will be green, it likely is to contain whatever is left of the former college players declared 4-F that did not get scooped up by one of the established teams.

It will be interesting to see what kind of crowd the Tigers get if they get mauled in the first few games of the year. We might be a fickle bunch here in Cincinnati. The Cannons are struggling after winning it all a year ago and attendance has plummeted despite that brand new 1944 title banner hanging in the outfield. Attendance is down for all the FABL clubs after last year's promotion of free ducats for military and war services personnel came to an end but the Cannons, who were averaging nearly 28,000 a game a year ago are drawing less than 10,000 per contest this season.
***Congrats to Monarchs ballclub ***

The Queen City University ball team finished over .500 for the first time since the Monarchs joined the top level of AIAA baseball in 1934. The Monarchs were 32-30 on the year and also had their first ever baseball All-American. That would be Bob Miller, a 20 year old sophomore third baseman who was born in Lancaster, Ohio and recently learned he was a second team All-American selection after hitting .302 with 9 homers and 45 rbi's for the Monarchs this season. Bob, who will be eligible for the FABL draft next year, has sort of a tie to the Cannons organization as well. His dad, Bob Sr., pitched 12 seasons in the big leagues, all with the then Baltimore-based Cannons, compiling a 99-123 career mark. Bob was never an All-American, but he was by all accounts a pretty solid college pitcher at St Patrick's before being a 1922 first round pick of Baltimore.

Cougars fans were on Ken Matson a week or two ago after the 26 year old had a couple of rough outings but he made amends in his most recent start. The righthander tossed a complete game 4-hit shutout to blank Montreal 3-0 last Monday.
More bad news for the Washington Eagles. 21 year old outfielder Rudy Ellison -a top 100 prospect who was hitting .330 this season at Class A Trenton- got the call from Selective Service and has left the team.
1B Frank Vance has been back just 20 games for Detroit since coming off the DL. In those 20 games the 42 year old is hitting 299/394/887 with 3 home runs and 22 RBI's. With those 22 RBI's he is already 3rd on the team in that category trailing the team leader 3B Mike Roberson who has 27 in 50 games. Vance's bat still seems to have some magic left in it, who knows maybe he will come back for 1945.
Great to see Jake Shadoan (.335,1,17) enjoying success again. Shadoan, won led the CA in batting in 1933 with a .364 average and was a two-time second team All-American at Liberty College, looked like his career was on it's last legs the past few seasons but the 36 year old has found new life this season with the Kings after spending much of the past 4 years playing AAA in the Dynamos system. Shadoan was named CA player of the week last week for the first time since 1934 and stands a good chance of making the all-star team -something else he last accomplished in 1934.
Tom Barrell made his first FABL start in three years yesterday when the Cannons called on the 3-time Allen Award winner to pitch in a double-header with Cleveland. It was no storybook performance for the 36 year old, who has not been the same since a number of serious arm injuries in the late thirties but Barrell went 8 innings in a 4-3 loss to the Foresters and by all accounts did not pitch that badly.
A bit of dissent in the Cannons camp as the team continues to struggle. Alf Pestilli says he wants an opportunity to play everyday or the 32 year old outfielder -best known as being Sal's brother- will ask for a trade.
What a week for Frank Preston in the Southeastern League. The 28 year old, who returned to the game due to a pitcher shortage after being retired for 5 seasons, fanned 18 hitters Tuesday in a 2-1 10-inning win while pitching for Tampa, the Class B affiliate of the Brooklyn Kings. Four days later he took the hill again and, despite losing 1-0, he went the distance and struck out 15 Charlotte hitters. So in 19 innings last week Preston notched 33 strikeouts.

The West Coast Athletic Association plans to once again use a double round-robin schedule as only four member schools are expected to participate in football this season. Northern California, which swept it's 4 games in the 3-team loop that included Coastal California and CCLA, is back to defend it's conference title, along with the two Los Angeles schools. Rainier College, which played just 1 game a year ago, expects to have sufficient numbers to allow the Majestics to rejoin the WCAA this season and bring the group up to 4 schools.
There is no man-power issue at Central Ohio University as the Aviators had 105 boys show up for the first call for summer practice. This year the team will be forced to rely entirely on underage boys and 4-F's, since there are no eligible marine of Navy trainees at Central Ohio. A year ago the Aviators posted a 2-6-1 record after going 8-2 the previous season.
The Plains Athletic Association has adopted athletic amendments barring "professionals, graduates or students who have complete normal collegiate competition." In the last school year Oklahoma City State, Iowa A&M and Daniel Boone College used Navy trainees or athletes who had played 4 years previously. A conference press release noted the rule was effective immediately and for the war's duration unless changed by the conference and the amendment applies whether students are "enrolled as civilians or as members of the armed forces." The loop cited concerns over putting youngsters of teen age against men of older years, many of whom have a great deal of athletic experience.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 6/18/1944

Allied troops have captured Carenian, anchor base of the German defenses across the neck of the Cherbourg Peninsula as Allied bombers rip German air fields in France.
Reports from London that all indications are that Marshal Erwin Rommel has been removed from command of German troops facing the Allies in France.
Pro-Nazi collaborationists caused the arrest of at least 75,000 persons in and around Paris during the first four days after the Allied invasion of France.
Germany's secret weapon, robot controlled pilotless planes struck at London and other south England targets.
A chaotic rout sees German troops retreating 70 miles past Rome as the Allied 5th army continues to pursue.
In the Pacific, American forces continue to close in on Japan while Radio Tokyo warns it's people to prepare for a big counteroffensive in the Pacific in conjunction with the European landing operations.
In it's first attack on the Japanese home islands by US bombers since 1942, the city of Yahata was set afire after an American bombing run.
A congressional committee declared that "mismanagement" by an army colonel and his collaboration with a German born contractor had delayed completion of an aircraft warning system that would have detected the approach of Japanese planes in the Pearl Harbor attack.

10-26-2022, 11:56 AM	#550
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	June 19, 1944 JUNE 19, 1944 COUGARS EXTEND LEAD TO DOUBLE-DIGITS The Chicago Cougars continue to roll over Continental Association opponents and with 17 wins in their last 24 games the mighty Cougars have extended their lead over second place Toronto to 10 games. Toronto has dropped 7 of it's last 11 contests, and managed to score just 4 runs in 5 games last week, to fall further off the pace. The Wolves, at 32-24, have certainly not been a bad team despite some offensive struggles of late. However, Chicago has been putting together a dominant start to the season and, at 45-17, show little sign of letting up. The Cougars .726 winning percentage still has them in a great race, but it is with history and not their current Continental Association rivals. The team the Cougars are chasing is themselves, as the current Chicago club is on pace to post the best record in the 53 year history of the CA. The 1892 Cougars -that was the first season of the CA and a year before the World Championship Series had ever been considered- went 96-40 for a .706 winning percentage. No Continental nine has ever matched that level of consistency. The schedule was shorter back then but even when FABL switched to the 154 game slate a few years later the best a Continental side has mustered was a 103-win season. The Philadelphia Sailors did it in 1929 and two years ago the New York Stars matched it when they won the flag by 19 games. This years Cougars, at their current rate, stand to win 112 games. Only four times since 1910 has the margin between first and second place in the Continental Association ever been more than 10 games. If the current trends hold, and you have to think the Cougars will stumble a bit a some point but if they don't, Chicago stands to finish 24 games ahead of second place Toronto, which is something even that dominant 1892 team never accomplished. Toronto Wolves manager Bob Call put on the brave face in the locker room Saturday after a 7-0 pounding at the hands of the Philadelphia Sailors let the Cougars grow their lead to double-digits, admitting that while it's "a long climb back into contention," Toronto was "not willing to wave the white flag quite yet." Perhaps not, but it is getting harder and harder every day not to imagine a scenario where the Cougars are not waiving a Continental Association pennant-winning flag come this October. It was a good week for the Keystones and a great week for Bobby Barrell. Barrell smacked 4 homers and drove in 15 in 8 games this past week, leading the FABL in homers (17) and RBI (58). The team went 6-2 to open up a 2-1/2-game lead on the Chiefs in the Fed, but a weekend split of a four-game set against Pittsburgh left fans feeling the Keys left something on the table. The big highlight of the week of George Brooks's no-hitter in game one of the Sunday doubleheader against the Miners. Brooks faced three over the minimum in the 3-0 victory after two walks and one error in the field by Philadelphia. Only one Miner reached second base and it was on a sacrifice bunt by Don Anderson to move Rafael Mendoza into scoring position in a 1-0 game. Brooks fanned eight and threw 107 pitches. It has been a struggle this season, but Brooks has turned it around, winning three of his last four starts to lower his season ERA from 4.96 to 4.15. * Milestone Time For Bobby, Historic Time For The World * As the American public was reading the blaring front page of the invasion of Normandy the day after D-Day (6/7/44), Bobby Barrell was able to knock in his 1,500th run on an opposite field double off Boston's Walt Wells in the middle of a deciding four-run eighth in a 5-1 win. That makes three milestones in four weeks: 350th HR (2-run HR off LHP Joe Shaffner in 3rd inning) in 5-3 win vs STL on 5/21/44 (Game 2 of DH) 2,500th hit (RBI 2B off Jimmy Long in 3rd inning) in 5-4 loss at DET on 6/3/44 1,500th RBI (RBI 2B off Walt Wells in 4-run 8th inning) in 5-1 win at BOS on 6/7/44 NO-HITTERS IN KEYSTONES FRANCHISE HISTORY 7/4/1887 - Ira Williams vs Buffalo - 9 IP, 2 BB, 7 K 7/16/1898 - Edmond Bryant vs Detroit - 9 IP, 3 BB, 3 K 8/1/1914 - Ken Gray vs Detroit - 9 IP, 1 BB, 7 K 8/18/1923 - George P Williams vs Chicago - 9 IP, 4 BB, 1 K 5/28/1937 - Art Myers vs Pittsburgh - 9 IP, 1 BB, 4 K 6/18/1944 - GEORGE M BROOKS vs PITTSBURGH - 9 IP, 2 BB, 8 K After the collapse against the Keystones from the week before the Boston Minutemen found themselves in another uphill battle in the standings. It started with a four game set at home against the Miners where the Minutemen were able to take three out of four which included a three run extra inning walk off winner from Art Spencer in the second game of a Wednesday doubleheader. It was next off to Washington for another four games in three days against a Eagles team that had higher expectations than what they have so far produced this season. Both sides played each other tough and split the series. Although it was a 5-3 week for Boston they still found themselves 7.5 games out of first and rutted in fifth place in the standings. Philadelphia is 8-2 in their last ten games and only Chicago has been able to keep pace with them sitting 2.5 back. Boston takes their act on the road this week with a trip to Pittsburgh before returning home to play the Eagles. BOSTON BEANS- With no first rounder in January the Minutemen did not pick until 31st overall in the first stage of the FABL draft. Looks like they made a good choice as their selection - North Attleborough native Karl Berggren was named a second team All-American for the second year in a row. The 22 year old outfield, who plays his college ball at Huntington State hit .285 with 11 homers and 45 rbi's in 56 games for the Miners. OSA calls him a sure-handed centerfielder with good speed. He swiped 102 bases in his 3 seasons at the West Virginia school....Regional round selection Paul Caissie, an outfielder from Warwick High School in Rhode Island, says he plans on attending Chesapeake State in September but expect the Minutemen to make a solid offer to sway the 17 year old into pro ball...The St Patrick's cagers feel pretty confident they will convince the areas top high school basketball recruit to stay close to home. Steamboat McMillan, a big-bodied center from South Yarmouth, is said to be weighing his options between the Shamrocks, St Blane and Liberty College. Commonwealth Catholic is also said to be close to landing their top local objective. Finn Adams, a guard out of Copley High and pretty fine baseball player as well, has indicated he wants to attend the Cambridge school....Officials from both St Patrick's and Commonwealth Catholic remain upbeat after the death of the Northeast basketball conference and the shift to independent status for the upcoming cage season....Speaking of upbeat, Boston boxing guru Steven MacIntosh sees most of the top pugilists getting back into the ring sometime next season. The sport has been all but shut down the past three years due to the war, aside from the various War Relief fundraising tussles. The title have been vacant all that time but according to the 65-year old trainer, the American Boxing Federation is hard at work for a plan how to resume the sport and give the right candidates title shots. AIAA HANDS OUT COLLEGE HARDWARE GRANGE COLLEGE OUTFIELDER RIGGINS CLAIMS CHRISTIAN The Frank Christian Trophy winner for 1944 is sophomore outfielder Bob Riggins of the national champion Grange College Mustangs. The 20 year old outpointed teammate Otis Porter to become the fifth sophomore to win the award, presented annually to the top baseball player in collegiate baseball. Riggins, who is expected to be a first round draft pick next January in the annual FABL talent sweepstakes, hit .333 with 10 homers and 49 rbi's to help lead Grange College to it's second national championship in school history. He led the nation with a 1.015 OPS and had the 4th highest batting average in the country, but tops amongst players at major schools. Riggins was a near unanimous choice, being named first on 7 of the 9 ballots cast and second on the other two, to easily finish ahead of Porter with freshman pitcher John Stallings of Piedmont University finishing third. Riggins selection continues the trend of pitchers or outfielders claiming the award as an infielder has not won since Lubbock State's Bill Moore won his second of two consecutive Christian Trophy's in 1932. Code: 1944 CHRISTIAN TROPHY VOTING NAME SCHOOL 1st 2nd 3rd POINTS Bob Riggins Grange Col 7 2 0 25 Otis Porter Grange Col 1 3 2 11 John Stallings Piedmont 1 2 3 10 Nate Power Daniel Boone 0 2 2 6 Johnny Peters Liberty 0 0 1 1 Billy Forbes Miami State 0 0 1 1 Code: PAST FRANK CHRISTIAN TROPHY WINNERS YEAR NAME POS CLASS SCHOOL 1927 Sam Orr 2B FR Henry Hudson 1928 Tommy Wilcox P JR Liberty College 1929 Vic Crawford OF JR Commonwealth Catholic 1930 Freddie Jones 2B SO Central Ohio 1931 Bill Moore 1B SO Lubbock State 1932 Bill Moore 1B JR Lubbock State 1933 Joe Hancock P JR Henry Hudson 1934 Sal Pestilli OF FR Narragansett 1935 Al Jones P JR Central Ohio 1936 Sal Pestilli OF JR Narragansett 1937 Alex LaComb OF JR Cuyahoga University 1938 Bob Coon OF SO St Magnus 1939 Rats McGonigle OF JR Bronx Tech 1940 Don Bitters P JR Hamman College 1941 Bob Arman P SO Bluegrass State 1942 Nelson Flinn OF JR Darnell State 1943 Jim Carter P JR Ellery College 1944 Bob Riggins OF SO Grange College AIAA ALL-AMERICAN TEAMS ANNOUNCED The 1944 Collegiate Baseball All-American teams were announced and the first team includes a pair of players from each of the top two AIAA schools this season. National Champion Grange College is represented by outfielder Bob Riggins -who also won the Christian Trophy- and pitcher Otis Porter. Both are sophomores and each is expected to return to the Mustangs again next season. Miami State finished second in the nation, marking the third time in the past four years the Gulls cracked the top five, thanks in no small part to junior third baseman Gabby Marlowe and freshman outfielder Billy Forbes. Marlowe was one of just three juniors named to the first team and, as such, eligible for the 1944 FABL draft. Only second baseman Eddie Logan out of Gates University, was drafted in January as the Montreal Saints selected the San Francisco native in the second round. Marlowe and first team catcher Gene Ryan, from Bayou State, are hoping to get the call from a FABL club later this month in the final portion of the draft after both were overlooked during the opening three rounds. The second all-star team was also very young with 6 sophomores and 2 freshman being named along with just one junior. That would be Huntington State outfielder Karl Berggren who was selected in January. The Boston Minutemen grabbed Berggren with their second round selection -31st overall. It marked the second year in a row that Berggren was named to the second team. Four first team selections were named to the first team for the second year in a row. They were Ryan, Logan, Riggins and Liberty College outfielder Johnny Peters. Here are the 1944 AIAA All-Americans Code: 1944 FIRST TEAM POS NAME CL SCHOOL FABL STATUS C Gene Ryan Jr Bayou State undrafted 1B Nate Power So Daniel Boone Coll. 1945 eligible 2B Eddie Logan Jr Gates University Rd 2 pick 24 Montreal SS Harry Finney So Bluegrass State 1945 eligible 3B Gabby Marlowe Jr Miami State undrafted OF Bob Riggins So Grange College 1945 eligible OF Billy Forbes Fr Miami State 1946 eligible OF Johnny Peters So Liberty College 1945 eligible P Otis Porter So Grange College 1945 eligible 1944 SECOND TEAM POS NAME CL SCHOOL FABL STATUS C Dino Robinson So Georgia Baptist 1945 eligible 1B Hank Smith So Talmadge State 1945 eligible 2B Del Johnson So West Goshen State 1945 eligible SS George Penza So Yellowhammer State 1945 eligible 3B Bob Miller So Queen City 1945 eligible OF Karl Berggren Jr Huntington State Rd 2 pick 31 Boston OF Archie Kelly Fr Garden State 1946 eligible OF Jake Pomarico So Detroit City Coll. 1945 eligible P John Stallings Fr Piedmont 1946 eligible LIBERTY COLLEGE HAS A LONG HISTORY OF ALL-AMERICANS There was a dry spell for a period but the Liberty College Bells have certainly had more than their fair share of AIAA baseball All-Americans. Johnny Peters becomes just the second player from the Philadelphia school to be named to the first team twice in his college career, joining fellow outfielder John Collins. Second baseman Jake Shadoan was named to the second team twice. Code: LIBERTY COLLEGE BELLS ALL-AMERICANS FIRST TEAM SECOND TEAM 1927 John Collins OF 1928 John Collins OF Jake Shadoan 2B Tommy Wilcox P* 1929 - Jake Shadoan 2B 1932 Ken Mayhugh 3B 1943 Johnny Peters OF 1944 Johnny Peters OF * Wilcox won the Christian Trophy in 1928 DYNAMOS TOP PICK WINS ADWELL AWARD Roy Schaub capped a stellar high school baseball career with his second straight Adwell Award. The award, named after former high school and FABL pitcher Red Adwell, is presented annually since 1934 to the player determined to be the best high school ballplayer in the nation. Adwell joins New York Gothams slugger Walt Messer and Cleveland Foresters prospect Hiram Steinberg -both presently serving in the Navy- as the only multiple time winners. Schaub, who the Detroit Dynamos made the first overall selection in the January portion of the FABL draft, capped a 4-year career at Philadelphia's St. Joseph's High School by posting a 12-0 record with a 0.88 era and 193 strikeouts. His high school totals of 43-5 with 723 strikeouts rank second only to Steinberg -who won 3 Adwell Awards- in wins and K's. Schaub outpointed Yank Taylor, a freshman at Chicago's Pullman High School and son of former FABL star Tom Taylor, to claim the award. Edwin Hackberry, a senior outfielder from San Diego High School in California and also a first round pick of the Dynamos in January, finished third. Code: 1944 ADWELL AWARD VOTING RESULTS NAME SCHOOL 1st 2nd 3rd POINTS Roy Schaub Philly St Josephs 5 2 1 20 Yank Taylor Chicago Pullman 2 3 2 14 Edwin Hackberry San Diego(CA) 1 2 4 11 Cyrus Goodman Clarendon(AR) 0 1 1 3 Nick Remillard Nashville Hillsboro 0 0 0 0 Code: [b] PAST WINNERS OF THE ADWELL AWARD YEAR NAME POS CL SCHOOL 1934 Walt Messer 1B SO McKinley Tech (Washington DC) 1935 Rufus Barrell II P SR Macon (GA) HS 1936 Walt Messer 1B SR McKinley Tech (Washington DC) 1937 Pete Casstevens C SR Syracuse (NY) HS 1938 Bill Barrett OF SR Vineland (NJ) HS 1939 Hiram Steinberg P SO Washington HS (New York City) 1940 Hiram Steinberg P JR Washington HS (New York City) 1941 Hiram Steinberg P SR Washington HS (New York City) 1942 Ben Thompson OF SO Yazoo City (MS) HS 1943 Roy Schaub P JR St Joseph's HS (Philadelphia) 1944 Roy Schaub P SR St Joseph's HS (Philadelphia) PLENTY OF DEBATE CONTINUES ABOUT NIGHT BALL There will be more night baseball games going forward. That is a certainty as the fans have shown they fully support evening games, especially during the week. And at it's recent meeting on the subject, FABL gave the go-ahead to more night contests -at least in the short term- but there was some very loud opposition in some centers. The resolution does give those dissenters a measure of control as an important proviso in the new night ball situation was a big bone of contention, but a necessary one in order to settle the feud. The caveat is that when a club adds an after-dark contest to it's schedule, it must get the consent of the visiting club. Depending upon who you asked either everyone left the meeting happy or no one did. Those against night ball were in a tough spot. As one of the "anti's" puts it, "A team walks in with figures showing all of it's night games had outdrawn any of the day contests aside from the season opener. And that owner says he is worried without more night dates he may not be able to make out with his receipts at the gate. When a club shouts financial distress, you cannot say 'That's your headache.' We had little choice but to give in. Still, it was a fight just the same." It was put in the form of a resolution and not a rule. So teams can schedule more night games this year and next - beyond the maximums set when the schedule came out but only with the consent of their opponent of course. Beyond next year we may have to dig in for another fight. Until then get ready for a lot more week's like the one the Washington Eagles just finished. Eagles owner William Stockdale, a long-time proponent of night ball, saw his club play 6 consecutive contests with an 8:05 start against Philadelphia and Boston last week, including one on Saturday evening. Is It Football Season Yet? - Like a lot of Cincinnati sports fans I suspect these days, I find my mind wandering towards autumn and the day that professional football makes it's debut in the Queen City. The grid game comes to town in September with the arrival of the newest American Football Association squad, which hopefully provides a little more enjoyment than the Cannons have this season. It remains to be seen just how well the Tigers -as they are now known as following that whole kerfuffle with Queen City University over the Monarch moniker- will be supported. Sure, you can say the city went crazy over the Cannons a few summers back when they first arrived from Baltimore, but then we have always been a baseball town and the Cannons were good right away, challenging for a pennant right from the get-go. I may be a pessimist but I don't see that happening on the gridiron. Yes the Cannons were awful those final years in Baltimore, but they did have a full big league organization in place and plenty of young talent when they arrived, and seemed to peak right from day one. I doubt we will be saying the same about the Tigers, and I expect they may be a toothless bunch. There just aren't a lot of established pro football players to go around these days, and as a brand new team dealing with war depleted rosters I do not expect them to land more than a few over-the-hill castoffs that couldn't cut it elsewhere. The rest of the roster will be green, it likely is to contain whatever is left of the former college players declared 4-F that did not get scooped up by one of the established teams. It will be interesting to see what kind of crowd the Tigers get if they get mauled in the first few games of the year. We might be a fickle bunch here in Cincinnati. The Cannons are struggling after winning it all a year ago and attendance has plummeted despite that brand new 1944 title banner hanging in the outfield. Attendance is down for all the FABL clubs after last year's promotion of free ducats for military and war services personnel came to an end but the Cannons, who were averaging nearly 28,000 a game a year ago are drawing less than 10,000 per contest this season. *Congrats to Monarchs ballclub * The Queen City University ball team finished over .500 for the first time since the Monarchs joined the top level of AIAA baseball in 1934. The Monarchs were 32-30 on the year and also had their first ever baseball All-American. That would be Bob Miller, a 20 year old sophomore third baseman who was born in Lancaster, Ohio and recently learned he was a second team All-American selection after hitting .302 with 9 homers and 45 rbi's for the Monarchs this season. Bob, who will be eligible for the FABL draft next year, has sort of a tie to the Cannons organization as well. His dad, Bob Sr., pitched 12 seasons in the big leagues, all with the then Baltimore-based Cannons, compiling a 99-123 career mark. Bob was never an All-American, but he was by all accounts a pretty solid college pitcher at St Patrick's before being a 1922 first round pick of Baltimore. Cougars fans were on Ken Matson a week or two ago after the 26 year old had a couple of rough outings but he made amends in his most recent start. The righthander tossed a complete game 4-hit shutout to blank Montreal 3-0 last Monday. More bad news for the Washington Eagles. 21 year old outfielder Rudy Ellison -a top 100 prospect who was hitting .330 this season at Class A Trenton- got the call from Selective Service and has left the team. 1B Frank Vance has been back just 20 games for Detroit since coming off the DL. In those 20 games the 42 year old is hitting 299/394/887 with 3 home runs and 22 RBI's. With those 22 RBI's he is already 3rd on the team in that category trailing the team leader 3B Mike Roberson who has 27 in 50 games. Vance's bat still seems to have some magic left in it, who knows maybe he will come back for 1945. Great to see Jake Shadoan (.335,1,17) enjoying success again. Shadoan, won led the CA in batting in 1933 with a .364 average and was a two-time second team All-American at Liberty College, looked like his career was on it's last legs the past few seasons but the 36 year old has found new life this season with the Kings after spending much of the past 4 years playing AAA in the Dynamos system. Shadoan was named CA player of the week last week for the first time since 1934 and stands a good chance of making the all-star team -something else he last accomplished in 1934. Tom Barrell made his first FABL start in three years yesterday when the Cannons called on the 3-time Allen Award winner to pitch in a double-header with Cleveland. It was no storybook performance for the 36 year old, who has not been the same since a number of serious arm injuries in the late thirties but Barrell went 8 innings in a 4-3 loss to the Foresters and by all accounts did not pitch that badly. A bit of dissent in the Cannons camp as the team continues to struggle. Alf Pestilli says he wants an opportunity to play everyday or the 32 year old outfielder -best known as being Sal's brother- will ask for a trade. What a week for Frank Preston in the Southeastern League. The 28 year old, who returned to the game due to a pitcher shortage after being retired for 5 seasons, fanned 18 hitters Tuesday in a 2-1 10-inning win while pitching for Tampa, the Class B affiliate of the Brooklyn Kings. Four days later he took the hill again and, despite losing 1-0, he went the distance and struck out 15 Charlotte hitters. So in 19 innings last week Preston notched 33 strikeouts. The West Coast Athletic Association plans to once again use a double round-robin schedule as only four member schools are expected to participate in football this season. Northern California, which swept it's 4 games in the 3-team loop that included Coastal California and CCLA, is back to defend it's conference title, along with the two Los Angeles schools. Rainier College, which played just 1 game a year ago, expects to have sufficient numbers to allow the Majestics to rejoin the WCAA this season and bring the group up to 4 schools. There is no man-power issue at Central Ohio University as the Aviators had 105 boys show up for the first call for summer practice. This year the team will be forced to rely entirely on underage boys and 4-F's, since there are no eligible marine of Navy trainees at Central Ohio. A year ago the Aviators posted a 2-6-1 record after going 8-2 the previous season. The Plains Athletic Association has adopted athletic amendments barring "professionals, graduates or students who have complete normal collegiate competition." In the last school year Oklahoma City State, Iowa A&M and Daniel Boone College used Navy trainees or athletes who had played 4 years previously. A conference press release noted the rule was effective immediately and for the war's duration unless changed by the conference and the amendment applies whether students are "enrolled as civilians or as members of the armed forces." The loop cited concerns over putting youngsters of teen age against men of older years, many of whom have a great deal of athletic experience. The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 6/18/1944 Allied troops have captured Carenian, anchor base of the German defenses across the neck of the Cherbourg Peninsula as Allied bombers rip German air fields in France. Reports from London that all indications are that Marshal Erwin Rommel has been removed from command of German troops facing the Allies in France. Pro-Nazi collaborationists caused the arrest of at least 75,000 persons in and around Paris during the first four days after the Allied invasion of France. Germany's secret weapon, robot controlled pilotless planes struck at London and other south England targets. A chaotic rout sees German troops retreating 70 miles past Rome as the Allied 5th army continues to pursue. In the Pacific, American forces continue to close in on Japan while Radio Tokyo warns it's people to prepare for a big counteroffensive in the Pacific in conjunction with the European landing operations. In it's first attack on the Japanese home islands by US bombers since 1942, the city of Yahata was set afire after an American bombing run. A congressional committee declared that "mismanagement" by an army colonel and his collaboration with a German born contractor had delayed completion of an aircraft warning system that would have detected the approach of Japanese planes in the Pearl Harbor attack. __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports Last edited by Jiggs McGee; 10-26-2022 at 12:00 PM.