JUNE 11, 1951
RUTLEDGE RETAINS WELTER BELT IN NINE-ROUND DOMINATION, HANDING BURNS FIRST DEFEAT
Buffalo Fieldhouse, Buffalo, N.Y. – Danny Rutledge (23-1-1, 15 KO) vs. Ben Burns (20-0-0, 12 KO) – Referee: Tommy Kimmons
Here we go again. After a weight class championship that has been as transient as a shooting star, an undefeated fighter stepped into the ring for a chance to bring some stability to the division. Ben Burns, the pride of Huntington, Long Island, has had little trouble in his professional career, as he carried a sterling 20-0 record into the bout.
Meanwhile, in the champion’s locker room, Danny Rutledge, no shrinking violet in winning 23 of 25 matches, quietly bided his time for the big fight, alone in thought before making the lonely walk to the squared circle.
Rutledge had two title chances and after a win by unanimous decision in February over Ira Mitchell to capture the belt, he placed that belt on the line for the first time. Rutledge is trying to become only the fourth welterweight in the eight champions since World War II to mount a successful title defense.
The bout started slowly and immediately took a different tone than Rutledge’s last fight that produced 50 Big Boppers. The first round contained no major punches, as both fighters felt each other out. Instead, the punches that connected went both ways and the larger attempts went awry.
In the second round, the action picked up late in the stanza. Burns landed the first haymaker of the fight with the right hand to force Rutledge to stumble backward, but Rutledge countered well, dropped a right to the jaw of Burns before delivering a solid hook in the final seconds of the round. Rutledge carried the momentum into the third round and threatened to make this a short evening.
Rutledge feigned a right hand before landing a left hook to the body, and upon the success of that hook, he went in for the kill. A successfully executed uppercut from close range allowed him to continue dictating the action, as Burns looked wobbly. A cross delivered by the champion made Burns’s knees buckle. The shot to the midsection was anti-climactic to the sequence, similar to the weight of a feather toppling a goliath, but that body punch was enough to drop Burns to the canvas.
Burns was still woozy as he stood up after a count of seven by referee Tommy Kimmons, officiating his first title fight. However, Burns showed enough cogency to allow him to continue fighting. Burns’s goal for the final half of the third round was to spin away from any offensive overtures from Rutledge and hang on to the end of the round. This achievement was met, one of the few Burns was able to meet on the night.
Early in the fourth round, the onslaught from Rutledge continued, but this was a seemingly innocuous cross that caused both fighters to bump heads on the follow-through of Rutledge and the reaction to the punch by Burns. Whether it was from the punch or the accidental head-bump, blood was evident on the inside of Burns’s right eyebrow. The location of the cut had the potential of interfering with his vision for the rest of the fight.
Burns’s initial reaction to the cut was one of desperation, as he began to land blow after blow to Rutledge’s midsection to give himself some room. Rutledge’s tactics changed to go after Burns, right between the eyes. His weapon of choice was his cross and his first connected cross was right on target, drawing more blood. Kimmons and the ringside physician soon stepped in to inspect the cut and allowed the fight to continue.
In the fifth round, the action was stunted with constant clinching of Burns as he tried to buy time to figure out how to pierce through Rutledge’s defenses with his own exposed weakness. When Rutledge was free to fight, he landed a couple of pivotal crosses with the purpose of reopening and worsening the cut to Burns’s eyebrow.
Rutledge began to work the body to give Burns an all-over beating. He was clearly in control and Burns was in survival mode. Out of nowhere, Burns had his best round in the seventh round. The challenger put all he had in a couple of good uppercuts and a combination that staggering Rutledge. But even with his offensive, Burns kept backing into his own corner, giving way to Rutledge instead of pinning him back and closing off any escape routes.
Burns started the eighth round off well, but after retreating into his own corner while having the upper hand, Rutledge’s shrewd tactical talent took over, accepting Burns’s invitation to feed him punches that led to a second knockdown of the challenger. Burns was more stunned than hurt and rose quickly, but it was apparent Burns was living on borrowed time. Rutledge did his part to end the festivities, but it would take another round to close the deal.
Early in the ninth round, a combination to the face of Burns was enough for the blood to flow from his nasty cut once again. A pensive Kimmons, seemingly just waiting for another big punch to cause him to stop the fight, threw his hands up at 0:45 of the ninth round and Rutledge had the elusive achievement of a successful welterweight title defense, the first such defense in 354 days.
Rutledge (24-1-1) has won two-thirds of his fights by knockout, which is a high percentage for a welterweight fighter, but this was hardly a punch-up. A major cut in a critical area may have helped make the final decision, but Rutledge was in control throughout after an even first round. In fact, Rutledge only gave away one round all night. The 27-year-old is ready to continue his stay on top, while Burns (20-1-0) is young enough to stick around and perhaps make another title run. They may meet again.
BOLOGNA’S BIG BOPPERS
Round 1: None
Round 2: Tied, 1-1 (R: 2:46 hook; B: 2:19 right)
Round 3: Rutledge, 2-0 (0:33 left hook/body, 1:24 right/ribcage/knockdown #1)
Round 4: None
Round 5: Rutledge, 2-0 (0:36 cross, 2:00 cross)
Round 6: Rutledge, 3-0 (0:16 uppercut, 1:08 combo, 1:50 combo)
Round 7: Burns, 2-0 (0:22 uppercut/face, 1:22 combo)
Round 8: Rutledge, 3-2 (R: 1:57 combo/head-body/knockdown #2, 2:14 uppercut, 2:40 hook/head; B: 0:17 combo, 0:31 cross)
Round 9: Rutledge, 1-0 (0:41 combo/TKO)
TOTAL: Rutledge 12, Burns 5
- In other fights of note last week, two-time former welterweight champion Mark Westlake, who had dropped four of his previous five decisions with the lone exception being his title win over Mac Erickson, got back on track with a unanimous decision over Jeffrey Wolf (27-8) in a bout at Brooklyn's Flatbush Gardens Thursday evening. Westlake, a 33-year-old Mississippi native, is now 29-8-1.
- Saturday night at New York's Bigsby Garden, heavyweight contender Tommy Cline improved to 19-4 with a 9th round knock out of Brad Harris. It was just the second loss for Harris, who's first came in his title shot last December against the great Hector Sawyer. Cline, a 26-year-old who hails from Clarksville, TN., may just have moved himself back into talk about a title shot with the win. He seemed destined to meet Sawyer one day a few years back but was derailed by twice losing back to back fights that most recently included a surprising first round knock out last October at the hands of an aging Cannon Cooper.
UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS- June 16 - Bigsby Garden, New York, NY- Brian Pierce (18-3-1) vs Rudy Perry (31-6-1) in a battle of ranked welterweights
- June 22- Lakeside Auditorium, Chicago - former welterweight champ Ira Mitchell (27-6) vs Artie Neal (30-9-1)
- June 27- Newark, NJ - heavyweight contender Max Bradley (21-1-1) faces Roy Madison (21-13-3)
- June 29- Thompson Palladium, Detroit- highly touted HW contender and Detroit naive Joey Tierney (23-0) faces Evan Rivers (18-2-3)
- July 13- Cincinnati: World Middleweight champion Millard Shelton (31-5) makes his first title defense against Mark McCoy (24-2)
GOTHAMS HEATING UP
The defending Federal Association champion New York Gothams got off to a slow start with just six victories in their first fifteen games, but just like the June weather they are starting to heat up thanks to a 9-1 run that has the Gothams within 4 games of first place St Louis.
Since being swept by Boston in a 3-game series in early May, Bud Jameson's charges have posted a 25-12 mark including last week's run of five straight wins over the Minutemen and the Pittsburgh Miners. St Louis and second place Detroit, which sits 2.5 games ahead of the Gothams, have not shown any signs of letting up but the Gothams, whose offense had struggled somewhat in the early going, is suddenly heating up with the warm June weather.
Red Johnson can certainly not be accused of starting slow -the four time Whitney Award winner hit 9 homers and drove in 29 runs in May alone- but he is on fire in June, batting at a .442 clip with four round-trippers and 17 rbi's and we are less than a third of the way through the month. Billy Moody, Ward Messer and George Cleaves have also had strong starts to the month and the June success has been contagious enough to spread to the mound. Lefty Allen had an awful start to the season and was just 1-6 with a 6.75 era as May came to a close. However, two June starts yielded 2 Allen victories and an era for the month of just 2.25 gives hope that Allen has rediscovered the form that allowed him to win 21 games a year ago.
*** Two Horse Race in CA ***
The Philadelphia Sailors finally showed some signs of slowing down, dropping four of five games to Brooklyn and Chicago to finish off the week. The problem for the Kings and Cougars is while they each had success against the Sailors, the both struggled against last place Toronto last week and as a result failed to gain much ground on the leaders. Even with the late week stumble the Sailors, at 38-16, still own the best winning percentage in either association and lead the second place Cleveland Foresters by 4.5 games.
Those two teams are the only CA clubs over the breakeven mark as third place Montreal has dipped below .500 to 27-28, and sits 11.5 games off the pace. Cincinnati is also a game below .500 in a week that saw no one string together a long winning stretch.
DYNAMOS MOVE WITHIN A HALF GAME OF FED LEAD
The New York Gothams may be the hottest team in the Fed, winning six straight and nine of their last ten, but they still sit four back of the lead. Depending on how the rest of the week goes, they could be looking up at the Detroit Dynamos.
Detroit has won 10 of their last 12, moving to just half a game behind the St. Louis Pioneers, who have continued to win on the backs of their good pitching. St. Louis relies on the star power of their rotation, Detroit has continued to get quality outings from guys you wouldn't expect. Sure, Wally Hunter (6-1, 3.12, 31) allowed 10 hits and 8 runs his last time out, but he was almost flawless in his first 8 starts, and Rusty Petrick (6-4, 3.07, 27) snapped his four game losing streak with a 5-hit shutout. Young replacement ace Jack Miller (8-5, 3.50, 44) has allowed 3 or fewer runs in each of his last four starts, and despite his high ERA, the Dynamos have won 9 of the 11 starts Bill Sohl (7-2, 4.46, 29) has made.
The offense may not be scoring enough, but they're about to welcome back 15th ranked prospect Jim Gaiter (.269, 1, 9) to what has been a really good infield. Shortstop Stan Kleminski (.317, 2, 22, 4) is starting to break out, posting a career best 132 WRC+ through 48 games. Him, Del Johnson (.291, 3, 19, 15), and Dick Estes (.294, 6, 45) have been above average, and Gaiter will be a huge upgrade on his struggling replacement Tommy Griffin (.200, 2, 14). The more bats they can support Edwin Hackberry (.287, 8, 37, 7) with, the better, and if their young star can take over, Detroit could secure their first pennant since 1929.
Detroit is off to start the week, but there schedule may start to get tougher. It's not the teams they play as much as the location, as they're starting a 13 game road-trip with the Miners, Eagles, Minutemen, and Keystones. After that they're off again, but after that they'll have a must watch homestand. They host the Pioneers for two and then the Gothams for three in two days, crucial games they need to win. After a two game stop in Chicago, they again face the Pioneers and Gothams before the All-Star break, this time on the road. These next few weeks will have a great impact on the pennant race, and if Detroit can stay hot, they'll be in great position to capture the pennant.
TALES FROM THE LAIR
Wolves Show Signs Of Life -In a week of small victories Toronto finally gave their fans something cheer about as the team posted a 4-3 week. After the losing streak was extended to 17 following a 2-1 loss to the Saints on Monday followed by a heartbreaking 4-3 walkoff loss at Cougars Park on Tuesday, the Wolves finally snapped the losing streak with 9-6 win in 12 innings against the Cougars. The hero was Pat Todd who delivered his first career FABL homerun, a 3 run shot in the top half of the 12th. The relief in the clubhouse was palatable, it was as though a massive weight has been lifted from the entire organization's shoulders, Fred Barrell said "I never want to through that again as I am sure no one wants to be on the wrong side of the final score 17 straight times. Credit the players, they found a way to win rather than lose a tight game. Time to go forward, there is generally a game tomorrow."
That albatross of 17 straight losses gone, the Wolves went on win 3 of the next 4 by taking one more against Chicago followed by 2 of 3 from the Kings in Brooklyn. This was the first time the team has more wins than losses in a calendar week since the first week of the season in April when they went 2-1. Now the Wolves will return home for the balance of June and try to build on the recent success rather than mired in what some old timers are saying might be the longest losing streak in FABL history.
The fans should not be planning for celebrations in October, this is just a small step in a long journey on the road back to respectability in the CA. Brett thinks there are still many tough days ahead for this team, but at least this past week gives both the team and its fans a glimmer of hope.
There are still abundant concerns for the short term. While the team only booted the ball four times during the week, John Wells was charged with two scorer's notations of E-6 in one game. Wells may actually start a game in the outfield if clubhouse rumours are to be believed although Brett thinks it is far too early to give up on him at short. Wally Boyer must have gotten wind of Ralph Miller's performances in AAA as he deposited 2 in the seats this week.
Questions still are being ask about Ed Reyes who was picked off the waiver wire. Seems he is not the player that the team hoped he would be, a mentor, when they brought him to Toronto. The push to bring Ballinger's bat to the majors is gaining momentum. He went 9 for 22 with 3 HR 8 RBI last week in Buffalo. If the call is made there will not be room for Reyes as Ballinger, Fred McCormick will share duties at first.
With a 7-1 week the Gothams serve notice that they are hot and ready to challenge for the division crown. Still four back of St. Louis the team hopes to continue their hot streak this week against two teams challenging for last place. Bud Jameson's squad will play three against Boston followed by a three game set in Philly.
Speaking of hot, that would be the perfect description for Red Johnson. After winning BOTM for May, Johnson was just name the POTW for last week. Johnson hit .517 with 3 homers and 11 RBI, raising his season Avg to .304 along with a league leading 50 RBI.
Roosevelt Brewer continues to lead the FA with a .370 Avg. Brewer now has company as Flipper Robinson moves into the 3rd place spot with a .332 Avg.
Cecil LaBonte will be out a few days with a sore hamstring. The team has indicated that backup Jim Harper will start in his place and no additional moves will be made.
Down on the farm George Bundy was Century League POTW hitting .440 with 7 RBI. The 24 year old LF was acquired from Detroit back in 1945 in exchange for Leon Drake. 23 year old Ted Beaven is 7-1 with a 3.27 ERA at AA Reading. A 1945 3rd round selection as a 17 year old, Beaven has had a log climb through the system. After a successful 1950 as a reliever it was decided to give Beaven another shot as a starter. The change seems to agree with him.
- It was a week of milestones. Long-time Chiefs outfielder Bill May who collected his 2,000th career hit last week while the Gothams Roosevelt Brewer reached 1,500 hits and Homer Mills of St Louis crossed the 1,000 hit plateau. For long balls, Sig Stofer of Washington became just the 9th player in FABL history to hit 300 homers while the Chiefs Tim Hopkins launched his 250th career homerun. Hank Koblenz of the Keystones reached the 1,500 RBI threshold and the pitchers were not left out with the Chicago Cougars long-time ace Pete Papenfus becoming the 34th player in FABL history to fan 1,500 batters.
- Deuce Barrell seems assured of joining Peter the Heater at the 1,500 strikeout mark. Barrell is one shy after the 34-year-old Cannons ace fanned five in a Saturday win over Montreal. He is also up to 198 career victories.
- Lefty Allen of the Gothams is just two victories shy of 250 for his career. The 37-year-old went the distance in a 4-2 win over his former team, the Pittsburgh Miners, Friday for win #248. His first 195 wins came as a member of the Miners.
- Tip Harrison of the Chicago Daily News tells us that since May 1st, the only series that the Sailors haven't won are the ones against the Cougars. This includes two, two game splits and the recent three of four the Cougars somehow took from the Sailors to finish the week. Chicago is better against Philly (5-3) then Toronto (3-4) as nothing the Cougars do ever makes sense
- Another minor league no-no this time in a 1-0 loss. In the Middle Atlantic Allentown's Pat Shackelford. 5-1 0.83, no hits Trenton but loses on an unearned run in the 8th.
BARRELL HEADS NOMINEES FOR CHRISTIAN TROPHY
Perhaps the third time will be the charm for Charlie Barrell. Nominated in each of his first two season for the Frank Christian Trophy, presented annually to the top player in collegiate baseball, Barrell came up short both times. He will get one more chance as the number one selection in the FABL draft by the Cincinnati Cannons is once more named as one of the five finalists for the award.
Joining the Noble Jones College three sport star on this years ballot are last year's winner Dutch Wilson, now a sophomore at Minnesota Tech, along with three newcomers to nomination in Ohio Poly outfielder Rex Pilcher, a junior who was selected second by the St Louis Pioneers in the FABL draft, Ruston Tech sophomore shortstop Claude Richerson and Jake Pearson, a sophomore pitcher from Bayou State.
The winner will be announced next week during the College World Championship Series. He is a brief look at each of the five finalists.
CHARLIE BARRELL - Junior, Noble Jones College: 2B
The latest member of the first family of Figment sports to make his mark, Charlie is hoping to become the first Barrell to ever win the Christian Trophy. He is a 3-time All-American in baseball who also plays guard on the Colonels basketball team -which had the first perfect season in collegiate cage history in 1949-50 culminating in a national title. In his spare time he is the quarterback of the Colonels football team.
Cincinnati selected him first overall in the January portion of the FABL draft and Barrell had another strong season, hitting .295 with 16 homers and 61 rbi's to help the Colonels reach the 16-team Collegiate World Championship Series.
JAKE PEARSON - Sophomore, Bayou State: LHP
The 20-year-old Little Rock, AR., native made his collegiate debut this season as a sophomore and likely shot up to the top of the 1952 draft board for many FABL scouts after an 11-4, 2.35 campaign for the Cougars. His efforts led Bayou State to the CWCS where they will open against Deep South Conference rival Cumberland on Wednesday.
REX PILCHER - Junior, Ohio Poly: OF
As the key piece of perhaps the best college outfield ever assembled, Pilcher led the Cardinals to their second straight appearance in the Collegiate World Championship Series. He was a first round pick of the St Louis Pioneers, second overall, in the FABL draft and his Ohio Poly outfield mate Ben Crawford was taken in the second round by the Pioneers. The third member of that stellar outfield is sophomore Bud Swanson but the leader is clearly Pilcher, who hit .297 with 21 homers and 57 rbi's in 51 games this season. A local high school star from Cleveland, Pilcher was twice named to the first team All-America squad and his other season was a second team selection. His line for 3 years of college ball (166 games) .311 with 49 homers and 172 rbi's.
CLAUDE RICHERSON - Sophomore, Ruston Tech: SS
A native of Mobile, AL., the 20-year-old made his college debut at Louisiana's Ruston Tech this season after being discharged from the Army. It is not one of the elite schools but Richerson has the makings of an elite shortstop following a .301,22,70 season. He is eligible for the 1952 draft. Richerson has FABL ties as his grandfather James Richerson played 22 games for the Chicago Cougars in the 1910s.
DUTCH WILSON - Sophomore, Minnesota Tech: OF
Known as "Champagne" to his Lakers teammates, the New Hampshire native followed up one of the best seasons in collegiate ball history as a freshman (.372,13,62) with a sophomore campaign that was good enough to earn him a return visit to the AIAA All-American first team. He actually improved his slugging percentage over his freshman year to .650, while hitting .312 with 11 homers and 43 rbi's despite being limited to just 37 games due to an injury. OSA seems Wilson, who is eligible for the 1952 draft, as an elite big league corner outfielder.
GALBRAITH REPORTEDLY TURNS DOWN FINAL TORONTO OFFER
It is looking like Lou Galbraith will be the most sought after free agent since Millard Touhey and Max Ducharme refused to resign with Montreal several years ago after word trickled out of Toronto that the 23-year-old winger has refused Toronto's latest contract offer.
A first team All-Star selection this season and a second team choice each of the previous two years, Galbraith led all left wingers with 53 points this season and was an integral piece on the Dukes top line along with Quinton Pollack and Les Carlson for the past four season. The first overall choice in the 1947 draft, Galbraith seemed on his way to winning the McLeod Trophy as the top rookie at the age of 20 until a February knee injury derailed his debut season. In his four seasons in the league he has already accumulated 216 points and, should the Dukes be unable to convince him to sign before the June 30th deadline, he will clearly be the most sought after free agents.
Galbraith won't be the only player of value who may be seeking new employment next month. Four of the six NAHC clubs have at least one player who spent time in the North American loop last season and either has not been resigned or refused to agree to terms. The lone exceptions are the two-time defending Challenge Cup champion Montreal Valiants and the regular season leading New York Shamrocks.
There is time for some of the others to be removed from the market by resigning with their current club but if not among those who could be available include veteran Boston defenseman Len Bentley along with fellow rearguards Joe Fleming, 26, of Chicago and 25-year-old Clyde Lumsen of the Toronto Dukes. While Galbraith is the big prize up front other forwards who may collect some interest if not resigned are Boston's John Bentley and Toronto legend Bobbie Sauer, although there are reports Sauer plans to retire after 15 years in the red & white of the Dukes. Below is the full list of unsigned players with NAHC experience this past season.
[*]NAHC NOTES -[/b] There were a couple of minor transactions last week. The Chicago Packers inked 22-year-old center Andre Bernier to a 3-year deal. The Montreal native was the Packers second round selection in the 1948 draft and spent the past three seasons under contract to the HAA's Rochester Robins. This past season he had 15 points in 70 games.
Meanwhile the Toronto Dukes, with plenty of young goaltending talent decided to clear a contract spot by releasing veteran netminder Ronnie Flanagan. The 34-year-old never did play a game in Toronto, spending the past three seasons with the Cleveland Eries of the HAA, but he did spend much of the 1940s in the NAHC with stops in both New York and Detroit. Flanagan played in just 3 games for Cleveland this past season as the Dukes have a long jam with veterans Gordie Broadway and Terry Russell along with pair of rising young goaltending stars in Scott Renes and Charlie Dell all in their system.
The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 6/10/1951
- Russia has agreed to meet with the Western powers in a foreign ministers' conference at Washington on July 23 on condition they discuss the North Atlantic pact and American bases overseas.
- Secretary of State Acheson, still testifying to the Senate in the MacArthur probe, says this country is not pushing the United Nations to support a naval blockade of China "Because we believe we are much more likely to get our results by increasing the economic restrictions."
- A report out of China says that 30,000 Soviet satellite troops had assembled near the North Korean capital for action in the Korean war.
- A Supreme Court ruling declaring the Smith Act is constitutional after its use to send 11 leaders of the American Communist Party's "politburo" to prison opens the door for convictions to be obtained against others.
- James A. Farley, who was a member of President Roosevelt's cabinet, says "we would not have many of the problems we face today if we had a vigorous, alert and forceful leader at Teheran and Yalta."