[Tiger Fan]

MARCH 27, 1950

WILD SUNDAY EVENING CLEARS UP NAHC PLAYOFF PICTURE

SHAMROCKS FINISH FIRST, PACKERS SNEAK INTO PLAYOFFS

For the first time since 1933 the New York Shamrocks finished in first place. The Shamrocks, who have not won a Challenge Cup since 1932, will have home ice advantage throughout the playoffs after they held off the Toronto Dukes for top spot in the North American Hockey Confederation as the regular season came to a close.

New York, led by the best goaltending tandem in the league in Etienne Tremblay and Alex Sorrell, and dominant season out of veteran forward Orval Cabbell, whose 80 points finished one shy of the league lead held by Toronto's Les Carlson, finished two points ahead of the Dukes for top spot. The outcome was in doubt until last night when in the final game of the regular season the Shamrocks held the Dukes to a 4-4 tie, clinching first place in the process.

New York will now prepare for the Chicago Packers, a team that needed a furious late season rally to edge out the Detroit Motors for fourth place and the final playoff berth. There was plenty of excitement last night in addition to the first place showdown as the Packers and Motors entered the day tied for fourth and were set to meet in the Windy City with a playoff berth on the line. Chicago, which won 3 of its final four games to sneak into the playoffs, downed Detroit 5-3 to set up their meeting with the Shamrocks.

The Chicago-New York series will be a rematch of the playoffs two years ago and the Packers will be looking for revenge. Chicago had the best record that season and seemed on a path to win their first-ever Challenge Cup but the 4th place Shamrocks upended the Packers in a best-of-five series, winning it in 5 games. This year will be a best-of-seven and the Packers will be the underdog this time around.

The second place Dukes will meet the Montreal Valiants in the other semi-final as the third place Vals return to the playoffs after a three year absence. The last time they were in the postseason the Vals, who finished fourth, swept the first place Dukes in the semi-finals before going on to force Boston to six games before ultimately falling short in a bid for their first Challenge Cup win since 1928. Toronto has won the last two Challenge Cup titles.

NAHC RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK

TUESDAY MARCH 21

New York 1 at Chicago 3: The Packers close to within two points of Detroit for fourth place with a 3-1 victory over New York that keeps the Shamrocks slim hold on first place at just one point over Toronto. Ex-Shamrock Bert McColley scored once for the Packers and got into a fight with former teammate Joe Martin in the Chicago victory.

WEDNESDY MARCH 22

Boston 3 at Chicago 2: Mark Dyck's third period goal, his 20th of the season, lifted Boston to a 3-2 victory over Chicago and prevented the Packers from pulling into a fourth-place tie with Detroit. The Bees fired 53 shots at Chicago goaltender Michael Cleghorn.

Detroit 3 at New York 5: Orval Cabbell scored twice while Joe Martin and Alexandre Lapalme each had a goal and an assist to lead the Shamrocks to a 5-3 victory over Detroit and increase New York's lead on Toronto to 3-points in the battle for first place.

Toronto 2 at Montreal 11: Paulie Mosca scored 4 times and Jimmy Backus twice to lead the Montreal Valiants past Toronto 11-2 in a game that saw the Vals score six times in a span of less than 14 minutes in the second period.

SATURDAY MARCH 25

Montreal 2 at Chicago 3: The Packers beat Montreal 3-2 thanks to a third period goal from Tommy Burns, which allowed them to pull into a tie with Detroit for the final playoff spot. Chicago hosts Detroit tomorrow in the regular season finale for each.

Toronto 3 at Boston 3: The Dukes kept their chances for finishing in first place alive with a 3-3 tie on the road in Boston. Toronto is two points behind New York but holds the tiebreaker with more victories heading into the showdown between the two clubs tomorrow night at Dominion Gardens.

SUNDAY MARCH 26

Boston 1 at Montreal 4: The only game on the night that will not impact the playoff matchups as third place Montreal downed last place Boston 4-1 behind a 32 save effort from Tom Brockers. Adam Sandford had a goal and an assist to pace the Valiants attack. It was Sandford's 32nd goal of the season, second behind only Toronto's Les Carlson who had 37.

Detroit 3 at Chicago 5: Winner advances to the playoffs as Detroit and Chicago entered the game tied for fourth place. The Motors scored twice before the game was 4 minutes old but the Packers responded with 4 goals before the opening period was over and went on to win 5-3 behind two goals off the stick of Max Ducharme and 3 assists from Tommy Burns. Detroit, which was tied for first place at Christmas, collapsed in the second half of the season while the Packers rallied after a slow start to the campaign.

New York 4 at Toronto 4: The Dukes needed a win to claim first place but the Shamrocks did just enough to earn a tie. Toronto trialed 4-2 when Orval Cabbell scored shorthanded for the Shamrocks early in the third period. The Dukes managed to tie the game on a pair of Rob Painchaud markers but could not get the go-ahead goal and will now settle for second place and playoff date with the Montreal Valiants.

DUKES FORCED TO SETTLE FOR SECOND PLACE

Following a week in which the team had a loss and then two ties, the Toronto Dukes finish up the NAHC regular season 2 points behind New York in the fight for first place. Toronto, in search of third consecutive Challenge Cup win, a feat that has only been accomplished once when the 1941-43 Boston Bees won three in a row, will open the playoffs against the Montreal Valiants this week.

Last Wednesday the Dukes travelled to Montreal with their hopes of a regular season crown still within sight. Toronto fans will hope the outcome and style of play in that game is far different from what they anticipate from the playoff matchup. On Wednesday both teams decided to put defense on the back burner in wide open affair before almost 15,000 in Montreal Arena. The Valiants opened a 2-0 lead before the 17 minute mark on goals by Isaac Finnson and Pat Coulter before Les Carlson made it 2-1 on the power play with only 17 seconds remaining in the first. The second period was probably the worst 20 minutes the team played during the entire 1949-50 campaign. Montreal scored 6 times- 4 on Gordie Broadway who was lifted then 2 more on Terry Russell to have the scoreboard read 8-1 Montreal after two. The humiliation continued in the final 20 with Montreal scoring 3 more to a lone response from the Dukes. Paul Mosca ended the game 4 goals for Montreal in an 11-2 win.

After a couple of hard practices the Dukes were visitors in Denny Arena Saturday night. Boston played the way they always do against Toronto, hard hitting trying to slow the pace of the game at all times. For the game the Bees dominated in all three key areas: shots, hits and puck possession. Even though the home team dominated most the play each team managed to score once in each period for a game that finished in a 3-3 tie. That result left the Dukes 2 points behind the Shamrocks when they met at Dominion Gardens on Sunday the last day of the regular season.

In a close checking first period of yesterday's crucial game the home team took a 1-0 to the intermission on a goal by Quinton Pollack, his 17th, assisted by Charlie Brown and Lou Galbraith who returned from injury after missing the two road games. New York found their skating legs in the middle frame, carrying most of the play. They managed to open up a 2-1 lead on goals by Sam Coates and Rusty Mullins before Carlson tied the game at two at 14:42. With less than a minute remaining Alexandre Lapalme put the visitors up 3-2 after 40.

Toronto's hopes seemed to be lost when Shamrocks scoring leader Orval Cabbell made it 4-2, shorthanded, at 3:54. Rob Painchaud, who has been regularly contributing to the offense, brought the Dukes to within one on the power play 37 seconds after Cabbell's goal. Painchaud was not done yet, he tied the game at 7:52 giving the Dukes hope of finishing in first place tie.

Try as they might neither team could manage another goal as the game ended in 4-4 tie giving the Shamrocks the regular season title. Playoffs will begin next week with New York hosting Chicago who edged out Detroit on the final day for the last playoff spot, Toronto will host Montreal in the other series.

Coach Barrell: "I hope we got that out of our system, that was the worst week of the season, by far. We were outplayed in all three games lucky to come away with 2 points. Time to get ready for the playoffs, we definitely have something to prove to Montreal after the beating they hung on us last week."

EDMONDS WINS VACANT MIDDLEWEIGHT BELT A SECOND TIME IN DECISION OVER BOGGS

Bigsby Garden, New York, N.Y. – It was five months ago when a Transatlantic plane crashed in the Azores. Since then, the boxing world has mourned, and the French have grieved their biggest sports star since World War II. Edouard Desmarais was a star and a personable man to all who met him. The middleweight champion died while on top of the division, but the belt must pass on to the next champion.

Tonight, in the mecca of boxing that saw Desmarais defeat Frank Melanson in their third and final fight, the middleweight division put their next foot forward. John Edmonds, standing in the champion’s corner for the bout, has a history that nearly intertwined with Desmarais.

Edmonds and Desmarais hold the distinction of being the only two fighters ever to lose to Frank “The Tank” Melanson. Desmarais beat him twice, but both fighters defeated Melanson to win the middleweight title. Edmonds never did face Desmarais, as Melanson regained the belt from Edmonds before faltering against the Frenchman, but it was natural for the Desmarais rooting section to pull for Edmonds.

In the blue corner stood Bill Boggs, a local kid from Brooklyn, who has done everything but call Bigsby Garden his home gym. Boggs is 24 years old, while Edmonds is the ripe old age of 31 and a veteran of 10 more professional fights. Boggs’s fans did not have far to travel, but it was an even showing of cheers for both men in a slow, measured march to the ring.

The last time we saw Edmonds in a title fight, his stamina was more remarkable than his power. Edmonds was relatively reserved against Melanson in their rematch, though his reputation coming up the ranks was a fighter who packed a big punch. Boggs does not have the experience, but he has a similar reputation that a young Edmonds earned in outmuscling his competition. The handicappers were split, but most agreed that the longer the fight lasted, the more it favored Edmonds because of his experience and stamina.

As the bout started, both fighters slowly circled each other, almost to the point of antagonizing the crowd. About a minute into the round, before a single punch was thrown in anger, the catcalls were raining down from the opinionated New York crowd. Just then, Edmonds opened the proceedings by landing a big hook to stagger Boggs and force a clinch between the two fighters. After being separated, Boggs executed a three-punch combination to answer Edmonds as the first round wore on.

The second round started slowly, but a costly mistake by Boggs led to the only knockdown of the night. Boggs was off balance after Edmonds went to work with a nice uppercut followed by a jab to keep Boggs at bay. Boggs tried to score with a punch and missed badly, putting him in an awkward position as Edmonds offered an overhand right that caught Boggs just right.

Boggs was not flat on his back, but he did drop to a knee as Vince Todd, tonight’s referee officiating his first title fight, began his count. Boggs reached his feet at the count of three and signaled he was fine to continue. A hard right hand from Edmonds almost caused a similar knockdown just before the end of the round, as Boggs’s knee bowed and narrowly missed the canvas. All three judges scored the second round 10-8 for Edmonds in his strongest round.

Edmonds built on his lead in the next couple of rounds, fighting defensively with some scoring punches, but not allowing Boggs to penetrate his defenses. Boggs changed his mentality in the middle third of the fight and went on the offensive to start the sixth round. Edmonds was clocked by a winning hook from Boggs about midway through the round that gave Boggs some of his trademark swagger back in front of his home fans. Boggs went to the body and looked to control the round.

This momentum carried into the seventh round, as Boggs started quickly with a straight right and as he chased his opponent around the ring, Boggs started to taunt Edmonds, challenging him to come at him. Late in the round, after a flurry of punches, some swelling was evident under Edmonds’s right eye. If Boggs was going to win the bout, he had momentum on his side, but time was wasting away.

In the eighth round, Edmonds used his hook, which was his most trusted weapon on this night, to turn the tables on Boggs. The hook shook Boggs up, causing him to protect his side, spin away from trouble and think twice before offering any punishment. Edmonds was happy to let his lead speak for itself as Boggs retreated into a shell. The fans, on the other hand, were vocal in their displeasure of a title fight essentially grinding to a halt with clinching and defensive boxing. The unrest in the crowd was palpable, as after the bell sounded to end the ninth round, there was more punching in the crowd than the previous three minutes in the ring!

Both fighters started to suffer swelling on their faces and while it did not seem that this bout was an exhibition of puglistic excellence, it was enough to say they had both been in a fight. Edmonds used this part of the fight to try to capitalize on Boggs’s face swelling up and though Edmonds was not in great shape, he knew how to fight under those circumstances. In fact, Boggs did not have any big boppers between from Round 11 until a minute into the final round.

Edmonds built his lead on the early knockdown and outlasting Boggs in these last rounds. When the final bell sounded to end Round 15, it was a foregone conclusion that Edmonds would be ahead on points. Each judged awarded about two-thirds of the rounds to Edmonds and he won comfortably, regaining his claim to the middleweight belt.

The Bigsby Garden crowd applauded the win, but they were nonplussed with the quality of the fight. They expected more punching, more power, more everything. What they received was a tactical win by an experienced boxer than seemed to neutralize an exhuberant youngster. Edmonds (31-3-0) does not have the flash of Desmarais, the everyman quality of Melanson, or the cockiness of Boggs, whose record fell to 20-3-1 with the loss. Edmonds can survive and advance and he did just that on a night where the departed were deeply mourned and the boxing world started to move on.

BOLOGNA’S BIG BOPPERS
Round 1: Tied, 1-1 (E: 1:04 hook; B: 1:42 combo)
Round 2: Edmonds, 3-1 (E: 1:49 uppercut/head, 2:29 overhead right/knockdown, 2:56 straight right; B: 1:15 hook/body)
Round 3: Edmonds, 1-0 (0:34 cross/face)
Round 4: Edmonds, 1-0 (2:37 uppercut)
Round 5: Tied, 1-1 (E: 1:50 uppercut; B: 0:55 hook/head)
Round 6: Boggs, 2-1 (E: 1:58 cross; B: 1:27 hook/head, 2:22 right/midsection)
Round 7: Boggs, 2-0 (0:13 straight right, 2:18 hook)
Round 8: Edmonds, 1-0 (1:33 hook/side)
Round 9: Tied, 1-1 (E: 2:13 hook; B: 2:34 straight right)
Round 10: Boggs, 1-0 (0:22 combo)
Round 11: Edmonds, 1-0 (0:37 hook/head)
Round 12: Edmonds, 2-0 (0:42 cross, 2:18 hook/midsection)
Round 13: Edmonds, 2-0 (0:22 hook/jaw, 1:25 cross)
Round 14: None
Round 15: Boggs, 1-0 (1:05 right/head)
TOTAL: Edmonds 15, Boggs 10

RECENT KEY RESULTS

• 22-year-old Akron, Oh., heavyweight Brad Harris was impressive in a 7th round knockout win over Matt Price in San Francisco. Harris improves to 17-0-1 in dropping Price, who was the young fighter's toughest test yet.

UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS

• Apr 6- Buffalo, NY- former welterweight contender Carl Taylor (28-8-2) meets Bob Thomas (22-8-1)
• Apr 8- Lake Erie Arena, Cleveland- World Welterweight champion Mac Erickson (21-0) defends his title in a rematch with Mark Westlake (27-5-1)
• Apr 14- Ottawa, ON - Canadian middleweight Kevin Rawlings (23-5) faces Willie Binion (19-11-1)
• Apr 17 - Bigsby Garden, NY- welterweight Artie Neal (26-8-1) faces Harry Larkin (20-5)
• Apr 20- Cincinnati, OH- George Gibbs (26-5), Colorado born welterweight, meets Scott Sorensen (27-12-3)
• Apr 25 - Oakland, CA- welterweight Dale Roy (35-7-1) squares off with Arthur Shaw (21-11-2)
• Apr 25- Washington DC- Veteran Philadelphia heavyweight Scott 'The Chef' Baker (22-4-2) vs Lyle Wilson (27-5)
• Apr 26- Youngstown, OH- Middleweight Tommy Campbell (22-4-2) vs Andy Jackson (24-5-2)
• Apr 27- Providence, RI- Heavyweight Roy Crawford, 'The Boston Bomber' (31-5) fights Allen Bailey (41-7-2)
• Apr 30- Brooklyn, NY - Heavyweights Cannon Cooper (30-4-1) and Dan Miller (41-12-1) meet at Flatbush Gardens.

FEW SURPRISES BUT STILL A HISTORIC CAGE FINAL FOUR

Three of the four number one seeds have qualified for the National Collegiate basketball semi-finals and the lone exception in the group set to gather at New York's Bigsby Garden this week is Indiana A&M, which entered the event as the number two seed in the West Region. Despite the lack of upsets this has been a history making tournament as for the first time since the inception of the AIAA in 1909 there will be an undefeated team in the semi-finals. Two of them in fact as both Liberty College and Noble Jones College enter the semi-finals with unblemished 32-0 records. No school has ever advanced past the quarterfinals with a perfect record and even then, it has only happened twice as the 1939-40 Carolina Poly Cardinals and the 1921-22 CC Los Angeles Coyotes each bowed out in the quarterfinals with what was their first loss of the season.

The fourth team to join the Reapers, Bells and Colonels in Saturday's semi-final will be the Western Iowa Canaries making it two teams from the Great Lakes Alliance to advance that far for the fourth time this decade. The Canaries won the GLA title and finished the regular season ranked second in the nation, behind only Liberty College who they will face in the opening semi-final on Saturday. The second semi-final pits the other GLA club in Indiana A&M against the Deep South Conference champions from Noble Jones College who are making their second consecutive appearance in the championship weekend.

EAST REGION

Liberty College, which has won the AIAA tournament 3 teams with the most recent title coming in 1941-42 but has reached the final four three times since then, had an easy time on the road to New York. They opened the tournament nine days ago with a dominating performance in a 69-39 victory over the University of New Jersey and did not slow down last week. Luther Gordon, the clear choice to win his second consecutive Barrette Trophy as the AIAA's Most Valuable Player, scored 19 points while Scott Basile added 14 in a 61-52 win over Redwood University on Friday to set up a showdown between the two players favoured by the OSA to be the top two Federal Basketball League draft picks this summer - Gordon and Detroit City College forward Charlie Orlando. That game played yesterday afternoon in Hartford's Constitution Hall to determine the champion of the East Region saw Gordon add another 19 points to go along with 12 rebounds in a 64-56 victory for the Bells. Orlando had a strong game for the Knights, scoring a team high 15 points but his club was clearly outclassed by the undefeated Bells.

MIDWEST REGION

Western Iowa knocked off North Carolina Tech 50-42 in the round of sixteen on Thursday thanks to 11 points from Chris Saltzer and 10 from George Sommer while Lubbock State, the sixth seed in the region, surprised Rainier College 60-57 in the other game. The Hawks luck ran out in the regional final as Canaries star Slim Barner, a senior forward, had 17 points and 9 rebounds to lead Western Iowa to a 55-46 victory over the Southwestern Alliance champions.

SOUTH REGION

Noble Jones College had just as easy a time reaching the national semi-finals as fellow unbeaten Liberty College did. The Colonels started a week and a half ago with a 61-44 victory over 8th seed San Francisco Tech and followed that up with a 61-50 win over Annapolis Maritime on Thursday. Mike Miller, the highly touted Colonels homegrown center led the way with 18 points while sophomore guard Charlie Barrell -a three sport star- added 14 points. Two days later CC Los Angeles, which had dumped Whitney College by 19 points in the other Thursday game, kept Miller and Barrell in check, holding the duo to a combined 2 points but the Colonels had plenty of other weapons at their disposal in a 51-40 victory. Arnie Noonan led the way for Noble Jones College on this day with 12 points while Carrol Larkin, the senior guard whose injury paved the way for Barrell to join the starting lineup, returned to the lineup and scored 10 points off the bench.

WEST REGION

The story in the West Region was Pierpont as the Purple became the first team from the Academia Alliance conference to reach the quarterfinals since George Fox University accomplished that feat in 1933. Fresh off a 61-48 victory over Lane State in the opening round, Pierpont dominated the region's top seed Carolina Poly in the second half of a wild game on Thursday. The Cardinals led 31-23 at the break before the Purple exploded for 52 points in the second half to pull out a 75-68 upset victory. The dream ended quickly on Saturday when Pierpont proved no match for Indiana A&M as the Reapers pulled away in the second half to win 62-57 behind an 18 point effort from center Nate Jones. The Reapers had taken care of the other Academia Alliance team in the region, dropping Ellery 59-50 on Thursday in a game that saw sophomore forward Ollie Courville score a career-high 25 points for the Reapers.

Complete tournament results can be found here

Only five schools in AIAA history have ever posted perfect regular season records including two this season in Liberty College and Noble Jones College. The two schools are headed on a collision course that may see them meet in the national championship game one week from today. Each will have to survive Saturday meetings to do so and if either is successful, they would be just one win away from becoming the first team in history to have a perfect season culminate in a national title. The only team to come close and win the National Championship was the 1924-25 Whitney College Engineers, who went 34-1 to win the title with their lone loss that season being a conference defeat in February to Minnesota Tech. Here are the five teams to enter the AIAA tournament without a regular season defeat.

SPRING TRAINING NOTES

• Marc T. McNeil of the Montreal Star reports expectations are sky high for the Saints after a strong week. It was the first week with regular players starting on almost daily basis in the Montreal camp and a 6-1 showing looks very positive. The pitching squad was the biggest change from previous week as the club allowed just 10 runs all week.
• Positive news from Cougars camp as well as Tip Harrison of the Chicago Daily News points out that through three spring starts, Donnie Jones, Johnnie Jones, and Zane Kelley have allowed zero earned runs. Pete Papenfus and George Oddo have allowed one each.
• Sources in Toronto suggest both Rule 5 pickups by the Wolves have one more week to prove themselves, the clock is ticking. Shortstop Ken Blair was selected from the Gothams but has struggled at the plate and reliever Brooks Triplett, drafted from Brooklyn, has had a terrible spring.
• Veteran outfielder Joe Watson has been placed on waivers by the Boston Minutemen and his career might be over. The 40-year-old was twice selected to play in the All-Star Game and has 1,581 career hits in 1,755 games with the Cannons, Sailors and Minutemen but with the expected youth movement coming in the Boston outfield there appears to be no room for Watson. He hit .275 in spot duty last season.
• Outfielder Elijah Bourdeau, who once was thought to have a very bright future with the New York Stars but spent all of the past two seasons in AAA, was injured in camp and likely will start the season on the injured list with elbow troubles. The 30-year-old hit .259 in 271 career big league games after being a 1941 second round pick of the Stars.
• The Philadelphia Sailors will start the season without Cliff Dilley after the 24-year-old first baseman was hit by a pitch and suffered a fractured finger in a game against Toronto last week. Dilly will likely miss at least the first week of the regular season. He was mainly a backup behind Ed Reyes for the Sailors last season but did appear in 123 games as a rookie, batting .290 but used primarily as a pinch-hitter.

TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN

As the fans in Toronto suffer through the last vestiges of winter Brett brings thoughts of spring to Mail & Empire readers. With the NAHC playoff and spring just around the corner Brett takes a look at the Wolves as they continue preparations in Florida for the 1950 season. Early impressions are that the batters are ahead of the pitcher as is normal in the early days of spring training. The Wolves have split their first 12 games with Chink Stickels and Hank Giordano leading the way at the plate. Pat Todd and Fred Miles are making a case to stay in the FABL which may lead to some tough decisions for skipper Fred Barrell and his staff in the three weeks remaining before the team's season opener at Dominion Field against the Sailors.

Here is a quick look by position at a possible starting lineup in a new decade for the Wolves:

Catcher - Harry Pomeroy will probably get most of the work behind the dish. Cal Yeager may give Barrell a semi platoon alterative with his LHB. If Yeager does go north of the border with the team it would mean exposing Randy Hendrix to waivers which may not be something the team is willing to do at this time. Yeager may be better served for the future by going back to AAA in Buffalo.

First Base - Will be Fred McCormick's job, how many games can he coax out of his 40 year old body? Tony Ballinger is making heads turn in camp although he may be in the same boat as Yeager with his development progressing at a faster pace by starting daily in Buffalo. That would leave Frank Brunch Jr. as McCormick's caddy along with a LHB pinch hitting bat.

Second Base- Early in Florida it seems that last year's starter Tom Frederick is destined to be an everyday player but at all 3 outfield positions along with some infield duties. This leaves Joe DeMott, John Fast and Frank Frady in a battle for the everyday job. Fred Miles may be caught in the numbers/options game.

Third base- Incumbent Hal Wood, 35, seems to have a lock on the job. The backup, if not Todd or George Dwiggins who are probably both going to start the season on the USA side of Lake Ontario, has lots of options for Barrell including DeMott and Frady. Can Wood like McCormick coax 140+ games out of his aging body?

Shortstop- This is a major concern; Rule 5 selection Ken Blair is off to a slow start at the plate through 6 starts. A line of .125/.176/.125 is not going to enough to stay with the Wolves no matter how good his glove is at short. If Barrell goes back to one of Frady, Fast, DeMott, or Harry Finney he knows defensively the team will suffer. Barrell's best case is that Blair's bat comes out of hibernation in short order. John Wells, touted to be the future, will not be ready until at the earliest 1951 after a disappointing stint in Cuba. If Blair is returned expect the Wolves front office to exhaust every possibility to find at least an FABL worthy player to man SS.

Leftfield- Early indications are that Barrell will go with a 4 guys for 3 positions rotation. Wally Boyer is the front runner for the majority of starts in left.

Centerfield - Chink Stickels, 38, is off to an exceptional start in defying age this spring. Odds are that this will not continue fans should expect to see Boyer quite often in center with Stickels moving to left. Frederick will also see games in all 3 OF positions. Curt Brooks' future is up in the air.

Rightfield- Giordano is also off to a white-hot start after a lackluster 1949. Could he be a candidate for comeback player of the year in the CA?

Starting Pitchers - The team has gone through the rotation twice thus far in the spring. George Garrison, Joe Hancock and Jim Morrison seem secure as the top 3 with Jerry York, Harry Stewart, Harry Phillips fighting for the other 2 spots. York got off to a very slow start in '49 is showing signs of the same this spring. Phillips has taken the early lead for the 4 slot in the rotation.

Relief Pitchers- The Achilles heel last season is wide open this spring. The return of Lou Jayson should help steady things in the coming campaign. The Wolves other Rule 5 pick Brooks Triplett is having early troubles which has Barrell and pitching coach Johnny Franklin constantly scratching their heads. The 'pen along with the middle infield are a wide open competition this spring. Fans may be surprised at the 8 or 9 pitchers debuting on April 17th along with the 15 or 16 batters.

Early predictions from the so called "experts" are calling for difficult season for the Toronto squad after the demise of the GWL. Owner Bernie Millard, one of the leaders of the FABL in "give no concessions to those rebels" will not accept an also ran baseball team in Toronto given the success of the both the Dukes and Falcons in the other two professional leagues in Ontario's capital. Now that it seems that his troubles with the UMW are past in his coal business the Wolves front office staff is expecting more involvement along with demands from Millard. It promises to be an interesting summer in Toronto for baseball fans.

• League scoring and rebound leader Larry Yim was hurt on St Patrick’s Day and that may have put an end to the Buffalo Brawlers quest for a pot of gold in the form of a playoff berth. The Brawlers have lost 5 straight and are now 4th in the West Division, 2.5 games behind third place Cleveland in the fight for the final playoff spot (I believe only the top 3 in each division qualify again this year). Yim is expected to be sidelined for another two and a half weeks. Former Miami State star Long Werth, Boston’s top pick and 2nd overall in 1947 but recently waived by the Centurions, has done a decent job filling in but Yim is nearly impossible to replace.
• Jerry Hubbard's return to the lineup for the Philadelphia Phantoms gave the club an initial boost as the Phantoms snapped a six-game losing skid with a 107-84 win over Boston in which Hubbard, the FBL assist leader, had 9 helpers in his return. The impact was short-lived as the Phantoms then proceeded to drop five of their next six even with Hubbard back and continue their downward spiral.
• Watch out for Daniel Prescott’s crew. The defending FBL champion Brooklyn Red Caps are suddenly hot, riding a 10-game winning streak and very much in the playoff picture now after some struggles in January and early February.
• Guard Israel Slusher had a big game for Detroit last week as the front-running Mustangs won a big showdown with the second place Toronto Falcons. Slusher has 23 points, just 3 shy of his career best, in a 96-79 Detroit triumph that left the Mustangs with a 4.5 game bulge on the Falcons for top spot in the West Division. Second year star Ward Messer had 25 rebounds to aid Detroit's cause that night and then scored 31 points three nights later in a win over St Louis.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 3/26/1950

• United States Ambassador Phillip Jessup declared charges he is pro-Communist are "not only false but utterly irresponsible" and reveal a "shocking disregard for the interests of our country." He was one of those named by Senator McCarthy last week.
• A cut of nearly $1 billion in the Administration's spending program for next year, and far-reaching steps to produce more economy in the future were recommended to the House today by its Appropriations Committee.
• Senators working on a military budget have voted to ask Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower for testimony on his view that America has disarmed beyond the point of safety."
• President Truman said there will be no major shake-up to his cabinet after growing rumours that Secretary of State Acheson would be replaced by Chief Justice Vinson. This despite an apparent Republican drive to make a political campaign of Acheson and is policies.
• Acheson, whose recent plan for steps towards peace with Russia were flatly rejected by that country, says if there is a top Russian spy in the State Department - as Senator McCarthy claims- Acheson does not know him.
• McCarthy also targeted the President, charging that Truman is endangering the Nation's security by what he described as the President's "arrogant refusal" to release loyalty files to a Senate investigating committee.
• Democratic leaders seem confident that an upcoming highly secret FBI report will blast charges by McCarthy that a man connected with the State Department was Russia's top spy in this country.
• Chrysler Corp.'s offer to set up a $30 million pension trust fund was quickly rejected by the Auto Workers, who called the proposal inadequate. The offer came on the 59th day of the strike which has made 50,000 idle in addition to the 89,000 striking Chrysler workers.