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Tiger Fan · 07-12-2024, 12:46 PM

SEPTEMBER 24, 1951

GOTHAMS TAKE OVER FED LEAD

Three Fed Contenders Separated by Half Game Entering Final Week

What a difference a week makes! Major changes in the Federal Association in a race that is far from decided but certainly seems to favour the surging New York Gothams down the stretch. The Gothams are a percentage point ahead of Detroit for top spot but after sweeping the Dynamos in a 3-game series at Gothams Stadium over the weekend it probably feels to Dynamos manager Dick York that the gap is one-hundred times that.

"We are not out of it yet," declared York after the Dynamos dropped their fourth game in a row although his body language appeared far less confident. York's Detroit clubs have been here before, although not for quite some time. Here being on the verge of ending a 22-year drought without a pennant only to see September struggles cause the club to come up just short. The Dynamos are just 7-13 on the month and somehow managed to go 1-5 last week despite outscoring their opponents 25-22.

The Gothams are not tearing up the Federal Association this month either, they are just 11-9, but St Louis -the third member of this race that no one seems to want to win- are also below .500 for the month with a 9-11 record after the Pioneers stubbed their toe with a 2-3 week against Washington and Chicago. The Pioneers are half a game back heading into a 3-game series with the Gothams but, just like Detroit, they seem like a battered and beaten group. Battered at least after league batting average leader Ray Bates (.361,7,71) and shortstop Al Arnold both went down with injuries that will end the season for each of them a week early. Compounding matters is the fact that Arnold was brought up to replace Win Hamby, the regular shortstop, who is also down for the year.

So New York, which won the Federal flag a year ago, now controls its own destiny as the Gothams look to repeat. They will have to win it on the road and by beating their two competitors for the title as the Gothams play three in St Louis beginning tomorrow before finishing with weekend games against the Dynamos in the Motor City.

EXCIING FINISH AHEAD FOR CONTINENTAL AS WELL

Since the Fed race will (rightfully) get the most attention, I'll talk about the battle for the Conti pennant. The Cleveland Foresters missed a golden opportunity when they dropped the first game of Sunday's home doubleheader with the Sailors 6-5. They did take two of three, but losing that game left them two back instead of tied. The Foresters won game one of the set as Adrian Czerwinski outdueled the red-hot John Thomas Johnson in a 2-0 Cleveland win and they won the second half of the doubleheader by plastering the Sailors 8-0. The clubs will play a season-ending three game in Philadelphia next weekend. Both teams have four games left with Cleveland facing Toronto at home and the Sailors hosting the Cannons, both those games are Tuesday before a pair of off-days for both clubs. Czerwinski is expected to pitch Friday, potentially against Johnson again.

BOBBY IS BACK

Barrell Had Impact on Fed Flag Race

Bobby Barrell hit home run #634 and it was a game-winner in the 11th on Monday at home to defeat the Dynamos, 4-3. Since Barrell's return, he has captured the league record for games played (now at 3,031, by 6 over Ed Ziehl) and total bases (now at 6,559, by 19 over Max Morris). Barrell has five homers in 146 at-bats, which is a 20-homer rate over a full season. The Keystones are up to 169 homers as a team, which leads the FABL. They have six players in double figures in home runs (Hank Koblenz 30, Don Berry 26, Rudy Minton 25, Billy Woytek 18, Roger Cleaves 17, Davey Robicheaux 14) and are one Bill Heim home run short of a seventh.

The Keystones have found a way to get back to .500 at 75-75 with four games to play. This, after an 18-game losing streak in May that essentially took Philadelphia out of contention for the summer. Philadelphia is 30-19 since the trading deadline.

WILL DYNAMOS DEALINGS BE REMEMBERED AS ANOTHER FAILURE

Dynamos management received plenty of praise for its work to add all-stars Ralph Johnson, Mack Sutton, Dan Smith, Bob Arman and Joe Hancock at the deadline. Sure the cost was huge in terms of young talent but the thought was the move may well have secured a pennant and ended a streak without a flag that has reached 22 years, longest in the Federal Association.

The sobering reality of yet another September collapse, something the club has seen far too often in its other brief jaunts into a pennant race, has fans wondering if the Detroit ballclub mortgaged away its future and repeated past mistakes. A decade from now will names like McClellan, Schaub, Capriotti, Morrison and Washington bring up the same heartbreaking memories that the dealings of Casstevens, Koblenz, Red Johnson and Pestilli did for the past decade? It is easy to think that when your pennant dreams are being crushed under the weight of a 7-13 September, and pulverized further by a week in which the Dynamos newfound offense outscored its opponents 25-23 yet somehow managed to go 1-5 and give away their seemingly secure hold on the flag.

The truth is this team, and the moves made in July, should not be judged by one September. This club was built to contend for at least the next five years and quite likely longer. And while the short-term picture looks bleak at the moment, the current season is not lost yet. Depending on how the week works out, a tantalizingly long one for the Dynamos who play just once -a single game in Chicago- between now and the weekend while New York and St Louis duke it out in Missouri- the Dynamos season may well still live on if they can beat the Gothams twice at home over the weekend.

Worse case scenario St Louis sweeps their series and the Dynamos fall to Chicago Tuesday. St Louis also plays Chicago Friday so assuming the Pioneers sweep New York and beat Chicago they enter Saturday 2 games ahead of Detroit and need to just win either Saturday or Sunday and nothing the Dynamos do will impact the race. But if New York sweeps the Pioneers the Dynamos could force a playoff game Monday if they can take both from the Gothams. Best case is either the Gothams or St Louis win two of three and the Pioneers lose in Chicago on Friday. A Detroit win over the Chiefs Tuesday would help a lot as well and the Dynamos could still win the pennant without the need for a playoff game.

So while the past week's heartbreaking losses may make it feel like all is lost, that is simply not the case. The Dynamos control their own destiny still. All it takes is three more wins and Detroit should be celebrating. The Dynamos win three and the only thing that can keep them out of the WCS is if the Pioneers go 6-0 next week.

3 wins and the Dynamos finish at 90-64. That means the best the Gothams could finish is 89-65, and the Pioneers need to go 6-0 to end at 91-63 and nose out Detroit. Anything less than that and Detroit is guaranteed to at least play a tiebreaker on Monday if not next Wednesday against the Sailors or Foresters.

Three more wins. And we never have to listen to that awful "1929" chant that rained down on the Detroit dugout in New York over the weekend ever again.

Look Who's #1 (or tied) -You play nearly 150 games over 6 months. There are ups and downs, good streaks and bad streaks, and months that seem to never end. There are new players walking through the clubhouse, there's all kinds of weather. And after all that, with a week to play in the season. You're tied. Basically with 2 other teams. And all that work and all those ups and downs, come down to five games.

Yet here we are five games remaining, all on the road, against your closest competition. Head to head and then again.

I imagine the Gothams coaching staff is seriously discussing getting two starts out of ace Ed Bowman, however, he did just pitch Sunday and would need to make a start on 2 days rest. Something he has not done in the regular season. Hopefully with two off days this week, how rare has that been, the regulars will be more refreshed and the bats will wake up. Certainly with their experience in important games, the hitters will be awake to support whoever takes the mound.

So, it's 3 in St. Louis and 2 in Detroit. Let the best, or luckiest, team win.

Notes - The Gothams are trying for their fist back to back pennants since 1934-35. If they finish 2nd it would be their 3rd time in 4 years. Those are their only 2nd place finishes in the modern era.

What's curious about the Gothams late run is that basically non of the regulars who played all season are hitting. Yes, Messer has found his power stroke and is one behind the ice cold Red Johnson in homers. But Cleaves, LaBonte, Brewer, Jefferies, Robinson, Moody, none are what you'd call hot at the moment. The offense is basically being carried by rookies Estill, Lewis and even Bundy in his few at bats. It would be nice to have a few guys heat up for this final push.

On the farm Class A Albany captured the Middle Atlantic League crown, while Reading finished 2nd in he AA Eastern Association.

This week had a little bit of everything, as the Cougars were back to 4-2 performances, seeing one-run losses, three shutouts, a first career win, and a first career homer as the season approaches its natural end. At 76-72, the Cougars would need just one more 4-2 week to finish with 80 or more wins for the 12th time in 13 seasons. 2-4 is all that is needed to finish above .500, something they could do for the 14th time in 15 seasons, and enough to allow Max Wilder the opportunity to manage for a fifth season.

The best news of the week might have been Bob Allen's first career win, but his shutout was the least impressive of the three thrown by Cougar pitchers. In his third career start, and already second against the New York Stars, Allen held the guests to 4 hits and 3 walks, striking out 2 as a pair of unearned runs helped this rookie beat stars rookie Hub Armstrong (1-1, 1.36, 10), who has allowed just 5 earned runs in 33 innings pitched. The better shutouts were courtesy of the Jones Brothers, who did their impressions of a 5-hit shutout. Donnie walked 4 and struck out 8, increasing his FABL high total to 139 in 246.2 innings pitched. Johnnie, however, was the more dominant one, as the guy who used to have more walks then strikeouts didn't allow a single free pass, evening his season totals at 113 with 6 strikeouts in an 11-0 blowout victory.

That victory contained the previously mentioned first career homer, as team top prospect Jerry Smith led off the first with a solo home run. He finished the game 3-for-4, a triple away from the cycle, with two runs scored and driven in. After a slow debut week, he's now recorded hits in each of his last five games, batting .351/.467/.486 (153 OPS+) with three extra base hits, eight walks, and a steal in 45 trips to the plate. He's given Cougars fans a nice preview of what's to come, as the club will go into 1952 looking to snap their two-decade long championship drought.

TALES FROM THE LAIR

Mail & Empire Back in Circulation -Wolves fans have been without Brett's columns for the past two weeks due to the 3 alarm fire in the paper's press room which caused much damage, stopping newspaper publication for the past two weeks. Enough repairs have been done in the press room to allow a scaled back version of the Mail & Empire to hit the streets. Brett will limit his coverage to the Wolves until full publication of the newspaper begins again, hopefully next week.

The Wolves have two winning weeks going 7-5 since the conflagration in the press room on September 10th apparently caused by an improperly extinguished cigar butt. The Wolves now sit at 47-103 which will mark the first time in team's 70 year history going back to Border Association days in 1882 that the team has had triple digit losses in back to back season. All fans can hope is that the team has reached a nadir and can start the long climb back to respectability in 1952. The 1951 team will finish without a winning record in any month the closest being a 5-5 start in April which seems like an eternity ago. The team finishes 1951 with a record of 24-53 (.311) at Dominion Stadium.

The club is challenged in all three areas of the game. Offensively they are last or next to last in every category except striking out, where they are 6th in the CA, along with baserunning where the Wolves are third. Pitching has been a constant fire, almost as big as the one that shutdown the publication of the Mail & Empire. Defensively the team is by far the worst in the CA. The road to back to respectability may be a long, bumpy trek for the fans.

All the above said the Wolves will play a minor role in the CA pennant race when they play in Cleveland, who trail Philadelphia by 2 games, on Tuesday. The foremost thought in fans minds is "Was yesterday's 11-3 win over the Cannons the last time Fred McCormick will don the white home Wolves uniform?" McCormick, who turns 42 next week, is slowing down with a line of .204/.318/.291 in 324 trips to the plate this season. The quiet, unassuming McCormick has made no public statement on his future plans. Will he come back to tutor Tony Ballinger in '52 as a player or continue with the Wolves in some other capacity?

Hard to ask for a more exciting final week to the baseball season. The contenders are playing each other and both flags are still very much available for the taking. Gothams with 3 in St Louis and 2 in Detroit as they head into the final week on a roll while the slumping Dynamos and injury-depleted Pioneers limp into the key final week with just a half game separating the three clubs. CA rivals Cleveland and Philadelphia will decide their flag with a 3 game series at Sailors Memorial Stadium over the weekend as well.
Detroit outscored its opponents 25-23 in a crucial week but somehow managed to go 1-5. About the only bright spot for the Dynamos last week was Del Johnson collecting his 1,000 career hit.
There was good news for the Dynamos affiliates last week as the minor league seasons came to an end. Newark and Akron, Detroit's AAA and AA squads each win flags. And AA pitcher Jim Norris, their 2nd round pick out of college in June, finished 12-0, 2.77 for the Wheels.
The Gothams also have a winner in their organization as Class A Albany celebrated a Middle Atlantic League crown.

TRAVIS COLLEGE DOUBLES DEFENDING NATIONAL CHAMPS

Central Kentucky may have gone all of last season without a loss but the Tigers could not survive the first full week of collegiate grid action without tasting defeat this time around. Travis College's steel-fingered defense knocked down Central Kentucky 20-10 in a game of gambles, fumbles and an outstanding finish for the hosts from San Antonio.

The Bucks cashed in on a recovered fumble for their first touchdown and then scored two more majors in the final five minutes of the game including a 19-yard interception scamper by Homer Sounders, the Bucks defensive leader and co-captain despite being just a junior. After Sounders scored to put the Bucks up 13-10, Travis College sealed the upset victory with a long drive that culminated in a 2-yard touchdown run with just over a minute remaining in the game.

That was not the only upset during a busy opening week for most schools. CC Los Angeles surprised preseason top ten Darnell State 23-20 as the Coyotes hope to rebound from a disappointing 5-4 campaign a year ago. The West Coast Athletic Association was in full gear as in addition to the Coyotes win over the Legislators, Northern California, Redwood, Spokane State and Rainier College all came away with victories. Two of the winners came from section matches as the Spokane State Indians topped Coastal California 24-16 while the Redwood Mammoths thumped Portland Tech, blasting the Magpies 54-7. The other WCAA school that saw action Saturday was Lane State but the Emeralds trip to Lansing to face St. Ignatius ended in disappointment. The host Lancers displayed a powerful running game led by halfback John Edwards but it was through the air that the scoring plays came from as Edwards caught one touchdown pass and end George Becker, a two-sport star who also plays for the Lancers cage team, hauled in 3 touchdowns to lead St. Ignatius to a 28-10 victory.

Speaking of multi-sport stars, in a game that Cincinnati Cannons baseball fans likely watched far more closely than they otherwise would, Cannons first overall draft pick Charlie Barrell had a big day leading Noble Jones College to a hard fought 30-24 victory over Potomac College. The game was played in blinding rain on a wet field in Augusta that one would think might have suited the visiting Pelicans just fine. Potomac College kept it close despite Barrell throwing for 138 yards and two touchdowns but in the end it was the Colonels ground game that made the difference with Marcus 'Speedy' Lee scampering 73 yards for the winning score with just over 5 minutes remaining in the contest.

Humid September heat and a driving downpour was also on tap in Athens where Georgia Baptist had surprisingly little trouble trouncing Texas Gulf Coast 20-3. Turnovers made the difference as a pair of Hurricanes fumbles in the opening half each led to quick touchdowns for the Gators.

WEEKEND COLLEGE FOOTBALL RESULTS
EAST
St. Pancras 31 Conwell College 3
Hampden 28 Dickson 23
Brooklyn State 52 Daniel Boone College 21
Cowpens State 31 Commonwealth Catholic 20
Norman 20 George Fox 16

SOUTH
Noble Jones College 30 Potomac College 24
Georgia Baptist 20 Texas Gulf Coast 3
Alabama Baptist 27 Ford College 0
Mississippi A&M 48 Knoxville 3
Carolina Poly 38 Columbia Military Academy 14
Western Florida 30 Mobile Maritime 6
Petersburg 30 Ashland State 23
Bluegrass State 31 Murfreesboro Tech 9
Alexandria 48 Spartanburg Baptist 10
Lexington State 52 Bulein 10
Huntington State 52 Baron College (PA) 0
Richmond State 19 Boston State 14
NC Lutheran 24 Central Carolina 20
Bayou State 23 Mississippi Tech 0
Northern Mississippi 13 Blue Mountain College 0
North Carolina Tech 27 Charleston Tech 0
Coastal State 35 Charleston (IL) 3
Tampa 14 Central Illinois 13

MIDWEST
St. Ignatius 28 Lane State 10
Iowa A&M 49 Dearborn State 13
Wisconsin Catholic 31 South Dakota Tech 0
Ohio Poly 23 Topeka State 0
Northern Minnesota 25 Maumee State 14
Queen City 28 Eastern Kansas 27

SOUTHWEST
Arkansas A&T 48 Eastern Oklahoma 16
Travis College 20 Central Kentucky 10
Lubbock State 24 Ferguson 13
College of Waco 35 Canyon A&M 3
Payne State 46 Kamehameha College 14
Nacogdoches State 61 El Paso Methodist 9
Amarillo Methodist 14 Lawrence State 10
McKinney State 29 Texas Panhandle 10

FARWEST
CC Los Angeles 23 Darnell State 20
Spokane State 24 Coastal California 16
Rainier College 54 Custer College 6
Redwood 54 Portland Tech 7
Northern California 21 Sunnyvale 10
Wyoming A&I 45 Idaho A&M 7
Minns College 17 San Francisco Tech 17
Utah A&M 47 Gunnison State 14
Tempe College 21 Cache Valley 20
Boulder State 38 Colorado Poly 21
Mile High State 27 Lambert College 24
South Valley State 14 Flagstaff State 3
College of San Diego 45 Abilene Baptist 14
Provo Tech 24 Valley State 7
California Catholic 44 San Diego Navy 34

PRESEASON OPENS THIS WEEK FOR ICE LEAGUE

The Montreal Valiants will begin their quest for a third consecutive Challenge Cup this Thursday as the two-time defending champs open their slate of seven tune-up games with a preseason trip to the Windy City to face the Chicago Packers. That game is one of three on the docket as the six NAHC clubs, each of whom has been conducting training camp for more than a week, will now turn their attention away from friendly fire as they take on league rivals instead of the inter-squad games that dominated the early going of camp.

The Valiants and Packers are about as far apart as possible at the moment but each certainly has something to prove. For the Chicago club it is obvious- the Packers are coming off one of the their worst seasons in franchise history after accumulating just 35 points in 70 games and finishing dead last in the six team loop. The Chicago offense is still led by Tommy Burns, who not too long ago celebrated three straight McDaniels Trophy wins as league MVP, but the supporting cast of forwards is not what it once was, or at least wasn't last season when the Packers finished with the lowest goal total in the league, and lowest by a sizeable margin. Perhaps hoping that he will take it as a vote of confidence and get back on track, the Packers did sign Marty Mahoney to a three year extension worth $16,500 per year. This after Mahoney managed just 19 goals a year ago. Not a bad total by most standards but it pales in comparison to the 23 Mahoney scored in 14 less games the previous season and he is well off the form that made the 30-year-old a first team all-star in both 1946-47 and 1947-48. At his best, Mahoney is among the best offensive players in the league and a strong season from him playing alongside Burns could go a long ways towards curing the Packers offensive woes.

Goaltending is also now a worry spot for the Packers as the previously dependable Norm Hanson suffered through a dreadful season while Chicago surrendered 225 goals -the highest allowed and also by a wide margin. The question for Chicago rookie coach Chad Fillman, who takes over after his long-time predecessor Ed Hempenstall took the fall for the dreadful season last year, is how much of the defensive struggles should be blamed on Hanson and how much on the Packers shoddy defensive play. The Packers have some talented rearguards such as Bert McColley, Pete Moreau and Jesse Santuro but for whatever reason last season was a nightmare.

Perhaps surprisingly there are also now some question between the pipes surrounding the Valiants as well. Tom Brockers was terrific last year, was named a first team All-Star and led the Vals all the way to another title but he turns 36 in two days time and the OSA, which handles league scouting, feels Brockers has fallen off a cliff skill-wise. The scouting service fails to rank Brockers among the top ten goalies in the league and shows little confidence in backup Bruce Carter either. The Vals goalie of the future, 1949 second overall selection Nathan Bannister, seems to have loads of potential but by all indications appears still far away from being ready for the NAHC and at the moment does not even have a team to play for this year. Bannister is 21, so too old to return to junior hockey and the Valiants have not yet signed the Sudbury, ONT., native to a contract.

For his part, Montreal coach Norb Hickey seems to still have plenty of confidence in Brockers and it is clear that, at least to start the season, the starting job remains with the four-time Juneau Trophy winner. It is quite likely that, should either Hanson or Brockers struggle in the preseason, both the Packers and Valiants will be watching the Detroit Motors closely. Detroit is in the unique position of having two of the three best netminders in the league, according to OSA, and has made no secret they would be willing to part with veteran Millard Touhey, who is just six months younger than Brockers by the way, should a team dangle a quality veteran goal scorer in return.

The Motors will play in Boston on Thursday in their preseason opener while the final game will see the defending regular season champion New York Shamrocks host the Toronto Dukes.

NAHC PRESEASON SCHEDULE
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 27
Montreal at Chicago
Detroit at Boston
Toronto at New York

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 28
New York at Montreal
Boston at Toronto
Chicago at Detroit

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 30
Toronto at Detroit
New York at Chicago
Montreal at Boston

COWBOYS NEW STADIUM SET FOR AFA OPENER

Here is the first artist rendering of the new stadium that will be home to the American Football Association's Kansas City Cowboys this season and FABL's Kansas City Kings of the Continental Association beginning next April. The Kings are relocating from Brooklyn after being purchased by Kansas City businessman Chester Coleman late last year. The Cowboys, who won the AFA championship last season, had been playing out of Packers Park, a small 15,000 seat stadium that was home to baseball's AAA Kansas City Packers. The Packers, an affiliate of the Washington Eagles, are expected to relocate for the 1951 season with the arrival of the big league Kings.

RECENT KEY RESULTS

Ira Mitchell, who held the welterweight title briefly before losing to Dale Roy in February, won a hard fought majority decision from Heinie Verplanck in New Britain, CT., last week. The Chicago native, who turns 32 next month, is 29-6 for his career. Included in his six defeats are two previous losses current world champion Danny Rutledge.

UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS

September 26- New Bedford, MA: rising heavyweight contender Joey Tierney (23-1) vs Shawn Nance (14-6)
September 30 - Thompson Palladium, Detroit: former middleweight champion Millard Shelton (31-6) vs Mark Tucker (13-7)
September 30- Denny Arena, Boston: veteran heavyweight Matt Price (42-13-4) vs Steve Clark (10-2)
October 5- Bigsby Garden, New York: World welterweight champion Danny Rutledge (24-1-1) defends his ABF title against Britain's Danny Julian (31-3-2)

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 9/23/1951

Weighing in on foreign affairs, the American Federation of Labor opened its annual convention with a grim warning that Russia now is "buying time in order to be better prepared for a sudden attack on the United States."
Korean peace talks are back on after the United Nations command agreed to a Communist request to send a liaison team to the neutral zone, site of the suspended Korean war armistice talks.
London papers are calling for Buckingham Palace to release information on the health of King George VI after it was revealed by the king's doctors that "structural changes" have occurred in one of his lungs.
Britain has set October 25 for a general election with Winston Churchill's Conservative Party bidding to oust the Labor government of Prime Minister Attlee.
President Truman warned that additional revenues from a general tax-boosting bill being considered by the Senate are "not sufficient." The Senate plan is expected to produce new revenue total $5.5 billion in a full year of operation.
Truman also declared that the ability to meet force with force is the only guarantee for peace in the world.

07-12-2024, 12:46 PM	#983
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,873	September 24, 1951 SEPTEMBER 24, 1951 GOTHAMS TAKE OVER FED LEAD Three Fed Contenders Separated by Half Game Entering Final Week What a difference a week makes! Major changes in the Federal Association in a race that is far from decided but certainly seems to favour the surging New York Gothams down the stretch. The Gothams are a percentage point ahead of Detroit for top spot but after sweeping the Dynamos in a 3-game series at Gothams Stadium over the weekend it probably feels to Dynamos manager Dick York that the gap is one-hundred times that. "We are not out of it yet," declared York after the Dynamos dropped their fourth game in a row although his body language appeared far less confident. York's Detroit clubs have been here before, although not for quite some time. Here being on the verge of ending a 22-year drought without a pennant only to see September struggles cause the club to come up just short. The Dynamos are just 7-13 on the month and somehow managed to go 1-5 last week despite outscoring their opponents 25-22. The Gothams are not tearing up the Federal Association this month either, they are just 11-9, but St Louis -the third member of this race that no one seems to want to win- are also below .500 for the month with a 9-11 record after the Pioneers stubbed their toe with a 2-3 week against Washington and Chicago. The Pioneers are half a game back heading into a 3-game series with the Gothams but, just like Detroit, they seem like a battered and beaten group. Battered at least after league batting average leader Ray Bates (.361,7,71) and shortstop Al Arnold both went down with injuries that will end the season for each of them a week early. Compounding matters is the fact that Arnold was brought up to replace Win Hamby, the regular shortstop, who is also down for the year. So New York, which won the Federal flag a year ago, now controls its own destiny as the Gothams look to repeat. They will have to win it on the road and by beating their two competitors for the title as the Gothams play three in St Louis beginning tomorrow before finishing with weekend games against the Dynamos in the Motor City. EXCIING FINISH AHEAD FOR CONTINENTAL AS WELL Since the Fed race will (rightfully) get the most attention, I'll talk about the battle for the Conti pennant. The Cleveland Foresters missed a golden opportunity when they dropped the first game of Sunday's home doubleheader with the Sailors 6-5. They did take two of three, but losing that game left them two back instead of tied. The Foresters won game one of the set as Adrian Czerwinski outdueled the red-hot John Thomas Johnson in a 2-0 Cleveland win and they won the second half of the doubleheader by plastering the Sailors 8-0. The clubs will play a season-ending three game in Philadelphia next weekend. Both teams have four games left with Cleveland facing Toronto at home and the Sailors hosting the Cannons, both those games are Tuesday before a pair of off-days for both clubs. Czerwinski is expected to pitch Friday, potentially against Johnson again. BOBBY IS BACK Barrell Had Impact on Fed Flag Race Bobby Barrell hit home run #634 and it was a game-winner in the 11th on Monday at home to defeat the Dynamos, 4-3. Since Barrell's return, he has captured the league record for games played (now at 3,031, by 6 over Ed Ziehl) and total bases (now at 6,559, by 19 over Max Morris). Barrell has five homers in 146 at-bats, which is a 20-homer rate over a full season. The Keystones are up to 169 homers as a team, which leads the FABL. They have six players in double figures in home runs (Hank Koblenz 30, Don Berry 26, Rudy Minton 25, Billy Woytek 18, Roger Cleaves 17, Davey Robicheaux 14) and are one Bill Heim home run short of a seventh. The Keystones have found a way to get back to .500 at 75-75 with four games to play. This, after an 18-game losing streak in May that essentially took Philadelphia out of contention for the summer. Philadelphia is 30-19 since the trading deadline. WILL DYNAMOS DEALINGS BE REMEMBERED AS ANOTHER FAILURE Dynamos management received plenty of praise for its work to add all-stars Ralph Johnson, Mack Sutton, Dan Smith, Bob Arman and Joe Hancock at the deadline. Sure the cost was huge in terms of young talent but the thought was the move may well have secured a pennant and ended a streak without a flag that has reached 22 years, longest in the Federal Association. The sobering reality of yet another September collapse, something the club has seen far too often in its other brief jaunts into a pennant race, has fans wondering if the Detroit ballclub mortgaged away its future and repeated past mistakes. A decade from now will names like McClellan, Schaub, Capriotti, Morrison and Washington bring up the same heartbreaking memories that the dealings of Casstevens, Koblenz, Red Johnson and Pestilli did for the past decade? It is easy to think that when your pennant dreams are being crushed under the weight of a 7-13 September, and pulverized further by a week in which the Dynamos newfound offense outscored its opponents 25-23 yet somehow managed to go 1-5 and give away their seemingly secure hold on the flag. The truth is this team, and the moves made in July, should not be judged by one September. This club was built to contend for at least the next five years and quite likely longer. And while the short-term picture looks bleak at the moment, the current season is not lost yet. Depending on how the week works out, a tantalizingly long one for the Dynamos who play just once -a single game in Chicago- between now and the weekend while New York and St Louis duke it out in Missouri- the Dynamos season may well still live on if they can beat the Gothams twice at home over the weekend. Worse case scenario St Louis sweeps their series and the Dynamos fall to Chicago Tuesday. St Louis also plays Chicago Friday so assuming the Pioneers sweep New York and beat Chicago they enter Saturday 2 games ahead of Detroit and need to just win either Saturday or Sunday and nothing the Dynamos do will impact the race. But if New York sweeps the Pioneers the Dynamos could force a playoff game Monday if they can take both from the Gothams. Best case is either the Gothams or St Louis win two of three and the Pioneers lose in Chicago on Friday. A Detroit win over the Chiefs Tuesday would help a lot as well and the Dynamos could still win the pennant without the need for a playoff game. So while the past week's heartbreaking losses may make it feel like all is lost, that is simply not the case. The Dynamos control their own destiny still. All it takes is three more wins and Detroit should be celebrating. The Dynamos win three and the only thing that can keep them out of the WCS is if the Pioneers go 6-0 next week. 3 wins and the Dynamos finish at 90-64. That means the best the Gothams could finish is 89-65, and the Pioneers need to go 6-0 to end at 91-63 and nose out Detroit. Anything less than that and Detroit is guaranteed to at least play a tiebreaker on Monday if not next Wednesday against the Sailors or Foresters. Three more wins. And we never have to listen to that awful "1929" chant that rained down on the Detroit dugout in New York over the weekend ever again. Look Who's #1 (or tied) -You play nearly 150 games over 6 months. There are ups and downs, good streaks and bad streaks, and months that seem to never end. There are new players walking through the clubhouse, there's all kinds of weather. And after all that, with a week to play in the season. You're tied. Basically with 2 other teams. And all that work and all those ups and downs, come down to five games. Yet here we are five games remaining, all on the road, against your closest competition. Head to head and then again. I imagine the Gothams coaching staff is seriously discussing getting two starts out of ace Ed Bowman, however, he did just pitch Sunday and would need to make a start on 2 days rest. Something he has not done in the regular season. Hopefully with two off days this week, how rare has that been, the regulars will be more refreshed and the bats will wake up. Certainly with their experience in important games, the hitters will be awake to support whoever takes the mound. So, it's 3 in St. Louis and 2 in Detroit. Let the best, or luckiest, team win. Notes - The Gothams are trying for their fist back to back pennants since 1934-35. If they finish 2nd it would be their 3rd time in 4 years. Those are their only 2nd place finishes in the modern era. What's curious about the Gothams late run is that basically non of the regulars who played all season are hitting. Yes, Messer has found his power stroke and is one behind the ice cold Red Johnson in homers. But Cleaves, LaBonte, Brewer, Jefferies, Robinson, Moody, none are what you'd call hot at the moment. The offense is basically being carried by rookies Estill, Lewis and even Bundy in his few at bats. It would be nice to have a few guys heat up for this final push. On the farm Class A Albany captured the Middle Atlantic League crown, while Reading finished 2nd in he AA Eastern Association. This week had a little bit of everything, as the Cougars were back to 4-2 performances, seeing one-run losses, three shutouts, a first career win, and a first career homer as the season approaches its natural end. At 76-72, the Cougars would need just one more 4-2 week to finish with 80 or more wins for the 12th time in 13 seasons. 2-4 is all that is needed to finish above .500, something they could do for the 14th time in 15 seasons, and enough to allow Max Wilder the opportunity to manage for a fifth season. The best news of the week might have been Bob Allen's first career win, but his shutout was the least impressive of the three thrown by Cougar pitchers. In his third career start, and already second against the New York Stars, Allen held the guests to 4 hits and 3 walks, striking out 2 as a pair of unearned runs helped this rookie beat stars rookie Hub Armstrong (1-1, 1.36, 10), who has allowed just 5 earned runs in 33 innings pitched. The better shutouts were courtesy of the Jones Brothers, who did their impressions of a 5-hit shutout. Donnie walked 4 and struck out 8, increasing his FABL high total to 139 in 246.2 innings pitched. Johnnie, however, was the more dominant one, as the guy who used to have more walks then strikeouts didn't allow a single free pass, evening his season totals at 113 with 6 strikeouts in an 11-0 blowout victory. That victory contained the previously mentioned first career homer, as team top prospect Jerry Smith led off the first with a solo home run. He finished the game 3-for-4, a triple away from the cycle, with two runs scored and driven in. After a slow debut week, he's now recorded hits in each of his last five games, batting .351/.467/.486 (153 OPS+) with three extra base hits, eight walks, and a steal in 45 trips to the plate. He's given Cougars fans a nice preview of what's to come, as the club will go into 1952 looking to snap their two-decade long championship drought. TALES FROM THE LAIR Mail & Empire Back in Circulation -Wolves fans have been without Brett's columns for the past two weeks due to the 3 alarm fire in the paper's press room which caused much damage, stopping newspaper publication for the past two weeks. Enough repairs have been done in the press room to allow a scaled back version of the Mail & Empire to hit the streets. Brett will limit his coverage to the Wolves until full publication of the newspaper begins again, hopefully next week. The Wolves have two winning weeks going 7-5 since the conflagration in the press room on September 10th apparently caused by an improperly extinguished cigar butt. The Wolves now sit at 47-103 which will mark the first time in team's 70 year history going back to Border Association days in 1882 that the team has had triple digit losses in back to back season. All fans can hope is that the team has reached a nadir and can start the long climb back to respectability in 1952. The 1951 team will finish without a winning record in any month the closest being a 5-5 start in April which seems like an eternity ago. The team finishes 1951 with a record of 24-53 (.311) at Dominion Stadium. The club is challenged in all three areas of the game. Offensively they are last or next to last in every category except striking out, where they are 6th in the CA, along with baserunning where the Wolves are third. Pitching has been a constant fire, almost as big as the one that shutdown the publication of the Mail & Empire. Defensively the team is by far the worst in the CA. The road to back to respectability may be a long, bumpy trek for the fans. All the above said the Wolves will play a minor role in the CA pennant race when they play in Cleveland, who trail Philadelphia by 2 games, on Tuesday. The foremost thought in fans minds is "Was yesterday's 11-3 win over the Cannons the last time Fred McCormick will don the white home Wolves uniform?" McCormick, who turns 42 next week, is slowing down with a line of .204/.318/.291 in 324 trips to the plate this season. The quiet, unassuming McCormick has made no public statement on his future plans. Will he come back to tutor Tony Ballinger in '52 as a player or continue with the Wolves in some other capacity? Hard to ask for a more exciting final week to the baseball season. The contenders are playing each other and both flags are still very much available for the taking. Gothams with 3 in St Louis and 2 in Detroit as they head into the final week on a roll while the slumping Dynamos and injury-depleted Pioneers limp into the key final week with just a half game separating the three clubs. CA rivals Cleveland and Philadelphia will decide their flag with a 3 game series at Sailors Memorial Stadium over the weekend as well. Detroit outscored its opponents 25-23 in a crucial week but somehow managed to go 1-5. About the only bright spot for the Dynamos last week was Del Johnson collecting his 1,000 career hit. There was good news for the Dynamos affiliates last week as the minor league seasons came to an end. Newark and Akron, Detroit's AAA and AA squads each win flags. And AA pitcher Jim Norris, their 2nd round pick out of college in June, finished 12-0, 2.77 for the Wheels. The Gothams also have a winner in their organization as Class A Albany celebrated a Middle Atlantic League crown. TRAVIS COLLEGE DOUBLES DEFENDING NATIONAL CHAMPS Central Kentucky may have gone all of last season without a loss but the Tigers could not survive the first full week of collegiate grid action without tasting defeat this time around. Travis College's steel-fingered defense knocked down Central Kentucky 20-10 in a game of gambles, fumbles and an outstanding finish for the hosts from San Antonio. The Bucks cashed in on a recovered fumble for their first touchdown and then scored two more majors in the final five minutes of the game including a 19-yard interception scamper by Homer Sounders, the Bucks defensive leader and co-captain despite being just a junior. After Sounders scored to put the Bucks up 13-10, Travis College sealed the upset victory with a long drive that culminated in a 2-yard touchdown run with just over a minute remaining in the game. That was not the only upset during a busy opening week for most schools. CC Los Angeles surprised preseason top ten Darnell State 23-20 as the Coyotes hope to rebound from a disappointing 5-4 campaign a year ago. The West Coast Athletic Association was in full gear as in addition to the Coyotes win over the Legislators, Northern California, Redwood, Spokane State and Rainier College all came away with victories. Two of the winners came from section matches as the Spokane State Indians topped Coastal California 24-16 while the Redwood Mammoths thumped Portland Tech, blasting the Magpies 54-7. The other WCAA school that saw action Saturday was Lane State but the Emeralds trip to Lansing to face St. Ignatius ended in disappointment. The host Lancers displayed a powerful running game led by halfback John Edwards but it was through the air that the scoring plays came from as Edwards caught one touchdown pass and end George Becker, a two-sport star who also plays for the Lancers cage team, hauled in 3 touchdowns to lead St. Ignatius to a 28-10 victory. Speaking of multi-sport stars, in a game that Cincinnati Cannons baseball fans likely watched far more closely than they otherwise would, Cannons first overall draft pick Charlie Barrell had a big day leading Noble Jones College to a hard fought 30-24 victory over Potomac College. The game was played in blinding rain on a wet field in Augusta that one would think might have suited the visiting Pelicans just fine. Potomac College kept it close despite Barrell throwing for 138 yards and two touchdowns but in the end it was the Colonels ground game that made the difference with Marcus 'Speedy' Lee scampering 73 yards for the winning score with just over 5 minutes remaining in the contest. Humid September heat and a driving downpour was also on tap in Athens where Georgia Baptist had surprisingly little trouble trouncing Texas Gulf Coast 20-3. Turnovers made the difference as a pair of Hurricanes fumbles in the opening half each led to quick touchdowns for the Gators. WEEKEND COLLEGE FOOTBALL RESULTS EAST St. Pancras 31 Conwell College 3 Hampden 28 Dickson 23 Brooklyn State 52 Daniel Boone College 21 Cowpens State 31 Commonwealth Catholic 20 Norman 20 George Fox 16 SOUTH Noble Jones College 30 Potomac College 24 Georgia Baptist 20 Texas Gulf Coast 3 Alabama Baptist 27 Ford College 0 Mississippi A&M 48 Knoxville 3 Carolina Poly 38 Columbia Military Academy 14 Western Florida 30 Mobile Maritime 6 Petersburg 30 Ashland State 23 Bluegrass State 31 Murfreesboro Tech 9 Alexandria 48 Spartanburg Baptist 10 Lexington State 52 Bulein 10 Huntington State 52 Baron College (PA) 0 Richmond State 19 Boston State 14 NC Lutheran 24 Central Carolina 20 Bayou State 23 Mississippi Tech 0 Northern Mississippi 13 Blue Mountain College 0 North Carolina Tech 27 Charleston Tech 0 Coastal State 35 Charleston (IL) 3 Tampa 14 Central Illinois 13 MIDWEST St. Ignatius 28 Lane State 10 Iowa A&M 49 Dearborn State 13 Wisconsin Catholic 31 South Dakota Tech 0 Ohio Poly 23 Topeka State 0 Northern Minnesota 25 Maumee State 14 Queen City 28 Eastern Kansas 27 SOUTHWEST Arkansas A&T 48 Eastern Oklahoma 16 Travis College 20 Central Kentucky 10 Lubbock State 24 Ferguson 13 College of Waco 35 Canyon A&M 3 Payne State 46 Kamehameha College 14 Nacogdoches State 61 El Paso Methodist 9 Amarillo Methodist 14 Lawrence State 10 McKinney State 29 Texas Panhandle 10 FARWEST CC Los Angeles 23 Darnell State 20 Spokane State 24 Coastal California 16 Rainier College 54 Custer College 6 Redwood 54 Portland Tech 7 Northern California 21 Sunnyvale 10 Wyoming A&I 45 Idaho A&M 7 Minns College 17 San Francisco Tech 17 Utah A&M 47 Gunnison State 14 Tempe College 21 Cache Valley 20 Boulder State 38 Colorado Poly 21 Mile High State 27 Lambert College 24 South Valley State 14 Flagstaff State 3 College of San Diego 45 Abilene Baptist 14 Provo Tech 24 Valley State 7 California Catholic 44 San Diego Navy 34 PRESEASON OPENS THIS WEEK FOR ICE LEAGUE The Montreal Valiants will begin their quest for a third consecutive Challenge Cup this Thursday as the two-time defending champs open their slate of seven tune-up games with a preseason trip to the Windy City to face the Chicago Packers. That game is one of three on the docket as the six NAHC clubs, each of whom has been conducting training camp for more than a week, will now turn their attention away from friendly fire as they take on league rivals instead of the inter-squad games that dominated the early going of camp. The Valiants and Packers are about as far apart as possible at the moment but each certainly has something to prove. For the Chicago club it is obvious- the Packers are coming off one of the their worst seasons in franchise history after accumulating just 35 points in 70 games and finishing dead last in the six team loop. The Chicago offense is still led by Tommy Burns, who not too long ago celebrated three straight McDaniels Trophy wins as league MVP, but the supporting cast of forwards is not what it once was, or at least wasn't last season when the Packers finished with the lowest goal total in the league, and lowest by a sizeable margin. Perhaps hoping that he will take it as a vote of confidence and get back on track, the Packers did sign Marty Mahoney to a three year extension worth $16,500 per year. This after Mahoney managed just 19 goals a year ago. Not a bad total by most standards but it pales in comparison to the 23 Mahoney scored in 14 less games the previous season and he is well off the form that made the 30-year-old a first team all-star in both 1946-47 and 1947-48. At his best, Mahoney is among the best offensive players in the league and a strong season from him playing alongside Burns could go a long ways towards curing the Packers offensive woes. Goaltending is also now a worry spot for the Packers as the previously dependable Norm Hanson suffered through a dreadful season while Chicago surrendered 225 goals -the highest allowed and also by a wide margin. The question for Chicago rookie coach Chad Fillman, who takes over after his long-time predecessor Ed Hempenstall took the fall for the dreadful season last year, is how much of the defensive struggles should be blamed on Hanson and how much on the Packers shoddy defensive play. The Packers have some talented rearguards such as Bert McColley, Pete Moreau and Jesse Santuro but for whatever reason last season was a nightmare. Perhaps surprisingly there are also now some question between the pipes surrounding the Valiants as well. Tom Brockers was terrific last year, was named a first team All-Star and led the Vals all the way to another title but he turns 36 in two days time and the OSA, which handles league scouting, feels Brockers has fallen off a cliff skill-wise. The scouting service fails to rank Brockers among the top ten goalies in the league and shows little confidence in backup Bruce Carter either. The Vals goalie of the future, 1949 second overall selection Nathan Bannister, seems to have loads of potential but by all indications appears still far away from being ready for the NAHC and at the moment does not even have a team to play for this year. Bannister is 21, so too old to return to junior hockey and the Valiants have not yet signed the Sudbury, ONT., native to a contract. For his part, Montreal coach Norb Hickey seems to still have plenty of confidence in Brockers and it is clear that, at least to start the season, the starting job remains with the four-time Juneau Trophy winner. It is quite likely that, should either Hanson or Brockers struggle in the preseason, both the Packers and Valiants will be watching the Detroit Motors closely. Detroit is in the unique position of having two of the three best netminders in the league, according to OSA, and has made no secret they would be willing to part with veteran Millard Touhey, who is just six months younger than Brockers by the way, should a team dangle a quality veteran goal scorer in return. The Motors will play in Boston on Thursday in their preseason opener while the final game will see the defending regular season champion New York Shamrocks host the Toronto Dukes. NAHC PRESEASON SCHEDULE THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 27 Montreal at Chicago Detroit at Boston Toronto at New York FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 28 New York at Montreal Boston at Toronto Chicago at Detroit SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 30 Toronto at Detroit New York at Chicago Montreal at Boston COWBOYS NEW STADIUM SET FOR AFA OPENER Here is the first artist rendering of the new stadium that will be home to the American Football Association's Kansas City Cowboys this season and FABL's Kansas City Kings of the Continental Association beginning next April. The Kings are relocating from Brooklyn after being purchased by Kansas City businessman Chester Coleman late last year. The Cowboys, who won the AFA championship last season, had been playing out of Packers Park, a small 15,000 seat stadium that was home to baseball's AAA Kansas City Packers. The Packers, an affiliate of the Washington Eagles, are expected to relocate for the 1951 season with the arrival of the big league Kings. RECENT KEY RESULTS Ira Mitchell, who held the welterweight title briefly before losing to Dale Roy in February, won a hard fought majority decision from Heinie Verplanck in New Britain, CT., last week. The Chicago native, who turns 32 next month, is 29-6 for his career. Included in his six defeats are two previous losses current world champion Danny Rutledge. UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS September 26- New Bedford, MA: rising heavyweight contender Joey Tierney (23-1) vs Shawn Nance (14-6) September 30 - Thompson Palladium, Detroit: former middleweight champion Millard Shelton (31-6) vs Mark Tucker (13-7) September 30- Denny Arena, Boston: veteran heavyweight Matt Price (42-13-4) vs Steve Clark (10-2) October 5- Bigsby Garden, New York: World welterweight champion Danny Rutledge (24-1-1) defends his ABF title against Britain's Danny Julian (31-3-2) The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 9/23/1951 Weighing in on foreign affairs, the American Federation of Labor opened its annual convention with a grim warning that Russia now is "buying time in order to be better prepared for a sudden attack on the United States." Korean peace talks are back on after the United Nations command agreed to a Communist request to send a liaison team to the neutral zone, site of the suspended Korean war armistice talks. London papers are calling for Buckingham Palace to release information on the health of King George VI after it was revealed by the king's doctors that "structural changes" have occurred in one of his lungs. Britain has set October 25 for a general election with Winston Churchill's Conservative Party bidding to oust the Labor government of Prime Minister Attlee. President Truman warned that additional revenues from a general tax-boosting bill being considered by the Senate are "not sufficient." The Senate plan is expected to produce new revenue total $5.5 billion in a full year of operation. Truman also declared that the ability to meet force with force is the only guarantee for peace in the world. __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles Last edited by Tiger Fan; 07-12-2024 at 12:48 PM.