[Tiger Fan]

1955 IN FIGMENT SPORTS

ANOTHER MEMORABLE YEAR FOR THE CITY OF DETROIT

After suffering through most of the 1930s and forties, the city of Detroit has been a home for champions in the first half of the 1950s. In the last five years the Motor City has seen its hockey team win a Challenge Cup for just the second time, its basketball team claim its first Federal Basketball League title and its college football team claim its second National Title. All of that pales in comparison to what the Detroit Dynamos baseball team has accomplished so far this decade.

The Dynamos, who had not won a pennant since 1929 when the decade began, just completed their fourth consecutive flag winning season and are now just one more pennant away from tying the 1902-06 Boston Minutemen, who are the only team in any of the four major professional sports to win five consecutive titles. Were it not for one game the Dynamos could be celebrating their fifth title already, as in 1951 Detroit and St Louis finished the regular season tied for top spot but Pioneers claimed the Federal Association pennant with a victory in the one game tiebreaker.

Since then Detroit has put together a run unseen in modern sports. The Dynamos of the past couple of years may well be the best baseball team ever assembled with their dominant pitching staff led by Jim Norris, Jack Miller and Joe Hancock -who have combined to win each of the last four Federal Association Allen Awards- and a deep lineup that led the Federal Association in runs scored in 1955. The Dynamos have won three World Championship Series in the past four years, including back to back wins over the Kansas City Kings in 1954 and again this year.

The Dynamos are not the only repeat winner this time around. The American Football Association's Philadelphia Frigates won their second straight league title behind the arm of star quarterback Pete Capizzi. A proven winner, Capizzi also has a national collegiate title from his days at Central Kentucky to go with his back to back AFA championship game wins. This year's collegiate grid title went to Detroit City College which capped a perfect 10-0 season with a victory over Northern California in the East-West Classic. On the ice the Toronto Dukes won their record 10th Challenge Cup as the champions of the North American Hockey Confederation while Carolina Poly became the fifth school to win at least four collegiate cage titles after they downed another four-time winner in City College of Los Angeles in the championship game. In pro basketball, the Rochester Rockets won their first Federal Basketball League title, knocking off the Boston Centurions in five games in the championship series. The other newcomer to winning in 1955 was the Sunnyvale Pioneers baseball team. It marked the first national title of any kind for the California school after the Pioneers won their Collegiate Baseball World Championship Series last summer.

It took just two days of 1955 before the baseball world started heating up, and two days was also how long it took for one of the FABL GM's to make an absolute head scratcher of a decision.

For reasons unknown to mankind, the brilliant mind of Frank York (spoiler: he did not make it to 1956) thought that not only was he going to make the rich richer, but his last place team with zero pitching depth had no need for 26-year-old staff ace Paul Anderson, who was not only coming off a solid season where he was 15-13 with a 3.30 ERA (126 ERA+) and FABL high 196 strikeouts, but also owns a career 67-36 record with a 2.91 ERA (133 ERA+), 1.36 WHIP, and 687 strikeouts in four excellent seasons.

Now you may be thinking, "well, what if York got an offer he couldn't refuse?"

Well then I'd ask you: "would you trade a young ace for three teens, only one of which is a top 100 prospect (85th) and a 23-year-old with 64 PAs in A ball? Because that's what they got!"

In an absolute coup for the Dynamos, the only player they may miss out on is Cal Wells, the 85th ranked prospect and former 5th Round pick who may make it to FABL in four years. Maybe. And then maybe he'll also be a solid power hitter with a good eye. But that's the third piece or a throw in for an ace. Not the headliner. Sure, Charlie Sax was a former 1st Rounder and could be a back-end top 100 prospect at year's end, and I guess Floyd Warner can throw strikes, but I just can't understand the motivation in trading your second most valuable player and only guy close to Charlie Barrell's (.384, 8, 30) value before he's anywhere close to 30. I mean, do the Stars not imagine competing in the next five years?!?!?

That was the most exciting deal before the season, but a few other teams made some less impactful trades. The Kings and Miners swapped one FABL player and one prospect each, with Kansas City acquiring right fielder Bryan Jeffress (.289, 3, 22), who was in-line for a bigger role in the Miners offense, and former 4th Rounder Paul Castelli for utility man Al Clement (.265, 9, 44) and teenaged lefty Bill Scott. The other equal swap involved the two Chicago teams, as the Cougars sent corner-bat Jimmy Hairston (.259, 2, 15) to the Chiefs for recent 2nd Rounder Jim Barton. Jeffress, Clement, and Hairston are all depth pieces, but could be useful additions for their respective clubs.

The only other two deals of note were trades involving a team selling one of their pitchers for two prospects. The first involved the New York Gothams, who acquired 1947 CA ERA leader Ollie White (6-10, 1, 4.94, 60) from the Pioneers for a pair of young first basemen. White has had plenty of experience pitching as a starter and reliever, and can give the Gothams an extra arm to supplement their vets. The other move saw the Montreal Saints receive veteran Bob Haverhill (12-14, 5.33, 90) from the Eagles after just one season in Washington. They added him from Detroit in the Rule-5 draft before the '54 season, and he went on to make a career high 30 starts and throw an also career high 194.1 innings. They got a pair of corner bats for their short-term investment, led by former 15th Rounder Del Murray who quickly worked his way among the game's top 250 prospects.

That was all the movement prior to the season, and if it wasn't clear already, the Detroit Dynamos firmly cemented themselves as the best team in FABL. Considering Anderson would be an ace for most teams, the fact that he lines up behind Jack Miller (21-13, 3.69, 154) and Jim Norris (20-10, 2.80, 134) shows you how deep their rotation is, and they're also able to get starts from Joe Hancock (15-6, 3.81, 60), Jack Halbur (6-1, 16, 1.49, 15) and Bob Arman (15-12, 3.43, 99). No Fed team did anything close to enough to catch this dominant squad, and even the extremely talented Kansas City Kings group isn't at the same level. I'd be surprised if there's anything standing in the way of the Dynamos title hopes.

Well, except maybe a few (a lot) untimely injuries. We still have to play the games out! Who cares how awesome they look on paper?!?!?!

The Dynamos wasted no time early on, winning 14 of their first 17 games to open up a 4 game lead over the Gothams (10-7) in the Federal Association while the Kings slept walked their way through the first month of their Continental Association pennant defense. Luckily for Kings fans, they got hot in May, and began June with a 29-17 record, just a half game ahead of the surging Saints (30-19). Still, neither were as dominant as the Dynamos, who were 31-13 and playing over .700 ball. Even the 27-18 Pioneers were seemingly falling out of it, already 4.5 games back.

Then came June, and if you still had some sort of delusion that a non-Dynamo team was going to win the Fed pennant, you pretty much had to keep that opinion close to the chest to avoid being picked on by your friends. After going 22-8in June, Detroit opened up a 12.5 game lead on St. Louis (41-34) and New York (41-34), and with a 52-21 record they had 15 fewer losses then the CA leaders. And while the Fed flag clearly looked settled, the CA was anything but, as on July first more teams were within three games of first (5) then not (3), and even the last place Cannons (7.5 GB) were closer to the leading Sailors (43-36) then the Pioneers and Gothams were to the Dynamos.

With so many clubs in contention in the CA, you'd think that teams would put their trading caps on, but again, no midseason trades were completed. Part of that could be that the Kings were 4.5 games above the Sailors on the deadline, and the 3rd place Foresters (53-52) were a game over .500, so the teams that waited to make a move ended up falling too far out. Because of that, we had no real pennant races for the first time in seemingly forever, as while the Dynamos cruised to an almost 20-game lead, the Kings entered September with a 6.5 game lead and finished the year up 8, setting up a rematch of the 1955 series.

What makes the Dynamos so good is the overall abundance of talent that they've been able to put together, as well as the cunning decisions of the now 5-Time Manager of the Year winner Dick York. The longtime Dynamo catcher has rewarded the front office with their patience in him, as York was close to being fired in 1949 but instead led the team on a dominant stretch since then including a 1955 campaign that was decided on day 60 of the season. That was the last day any of the seven Fed teams were within ten games of the dynasty builders, who cruised to their fourth consecutive pennant by scoring the most runs (872) and allowing the fewest (601).

If there is one thing Detroit did better, its pitch, as there was not a weak link in that lineup. Led by Jim Norris (23-7, 2.97, 129), who won his second consecutive Allen Award after leading both associations in wins. It was a well deserved honor for Norris, who also finished top five in the Fed in ERA (3rd, 2.97), WAR (2nd, 7.2), innings (2nd, 278.2), WHIP (2nd, 1.17), FIP (2nd, 3.41), ERA+ (3rd, 147), quality starts (t-1st, 25), and strikeouts (4th, 129), while leading in complete games (21) and shutouts (5). That's enough to drive a sane lineup crazy, but Norris is backed by a former Allen Winner in Jack Miller (18-10, 3.75, 118), 3-Time All-Star and January acquisition Paul Anderson (11-7, 2, 3.81, 151), and a third Allen Winner in Joe Hancock (15-6, 3.81, 60) who even at 42 can still dominate the best the game has to offer. The cherry on the top is stopper-turned-starter in Jack Halbur (17-3, 9, 2.77, 86), who won the Fed ERA crown with 19 starts and 22 relief outings in 185.1 innings pitched. There's not an easy guy to pile runs onto early, and with all the run support they get, good luck trying to beat them.

Edwin Hackberry may not have been in contention for the Whitney, but hitting .305/.404/.566 (147 OPS+) with 35 doubles, 30 homers, and 128 RBIs in 138 games. He dealt with injuries early in the season, but there were clearly no ill-effects once he stayed healthy. They were able to win without him, as guys like Del Johnson (.323, 14, 90, 18), Bill Morrison (.311, 22, 112), and even Tommy Griffin (.309, 11, 69) stepped up. Detroit also used plenty of rotation, with plenty of players with sub-500 PAs playing important roles. That includes a no-longer-elite Ralph Johnson (.302, 11, 73, 5), another former King Pat Petty (.252, 9, 43), tenth year vet Dick Estes (.305, 12, 41), and waiver claim Billy Brown (.261, 11, 38), who almost made more trips to the plate (281) this year then in the last five seasons (324). With so many tough at bats, they're a nightmare for pitching staffs, and it's no surprise they managed to lead almost every other Fed team by 20 games.

Despite such a large lead for Detroit, there were plenty of impressive performances elsewhere, most notably young Whitney Winner Earl Howe, who followed up his Kellogg season (.333, 37, 124) with a season that can be described as nothing short of elite. The former #1 pick hit .312/.405/.652 (166 OPS+), leading the Fed in runs (127), RBIs (153), slugging, OPS (1.056), WRC+ (173), wOBA (.452), WAR (8.9), and most importantly, home runs. Howe, who made an appearance in every game for the Gothams for the second consecutive season, hit 55 longballs to set the team record. He became the 6th player to hit 50 home runs in a season, and his 55 is good enough for sixth most in a season. Interesting enough teammate Hank Estil (.310, 47, 125) entered a tie for 15th this year, as the duo ranked #1 and #2 among FABL hitters. That's why it's no surprise the 3rd place Gothams (80-74, 21 GB) led the Fed in that category, despite Walt Messer (.315, 28, 100) being the only other member of the team with more then new starting catcher Lew Mercer's (.271, 11, 48) eleven. Like Detroit, they surpassed the 800 run mark (802), but they just didn't have the lineup depth of the Dynamos. The rotation couldn't quite match either, as Ed Bowman (14-14, 4.35, 121) posted his first career season with an ERA above 4. That's impressive for someone who turns 36 in November, and since that ERA was still slightly above average (101 ERA+), he's now gone fourteen seasons without a below average ERA. And since George Garrison (17-9, 3.08, 104) was really the only guy to outperform him, it's no shock the Gothams posed little threat despite a historical season from their new star.

The individual performances of the Chiefs Al Miller (20-9, 2.77, 111) and Rod Shearer (.309, 45, 136) deserve highlighting, as both put together award worthy seasons. Miller put together the most convincing case, leading the Fed in many categories including WHIP (1.06), K/BB (1.9), FIP- (73), and WAR (7.9). He could have had ERA too, but since his 2.77 came in a league high 279.1 innings and Halbur's came in 185.1, so his rounded 2.77 was just a little bit higher. Most impressively, Miller put together an elite season in the year he turned 40, twice finishing runner up to Jim Norris to keep him at one Allen. The Chiefs magic with aging pitchers seems to work, even if Charlie Bingham (15-13, 4.06, 74) finally hung it up at 45, meaning "The California Kid" could have a few more goes at his 2nd Allen or 10th All Star selection. Winning 20 games is easier with someone like Shearer, who somehow still doesn't have a Whitney, as this time it was a 53 homer season keeping him in trophyless. Shearer hit "just" 45 homers with "just" 136 RBIs, slashing "only" .309/.391/.622 (157 OPS+). One of these years he's bound to get lucky, as it's absurd that a career .300/.378/.582 (158 OPS+) hitter with 194 homers and 653 RBIs in five full seasons hasn't got anything more then a Kellogg and 3-All Star selections.

You would think voters could at least give Shearer a share of the vote, as they did to the two stars that led the Kansas City Kings to the playoffs once again. Both Charlie Rogers (.331, 16, 99, 19) and Ken Newman (.308, 26, 85) finished the season as 26-year-olds, securing the first co-MVP in Continental history. For Newman, it's his third in a row, and with a full season he could have won the award outright. He appeared in just 137 games due to a fractured foot, though that didn't stop him from leading the CA in walks (122), OBP (.461), OPS (1.012), WRC+ (163), and wOBA (.436). Newman also knocked 25 doubles, 26 homers, and 85 RBIs, cementing himself as the undisputed King of the Conti. Rogers got to share the crown with him this time, as the talented center fielder led the association in PAs (640), hits (212), and triples (36). Rogers owned a solid .331/.361/.525 (124 OPS+) triple slash and 134 WRC+, tallying 76 extra base hits, 92 runs, 99 RBIs, and a 7.2 wins above replacement that matched his co-MVP. The duo has grown and will continue to grow together, and with the core in place they could manage to shock the favorites in Detroit.

Though I'm not sure what's more surprising about the Kings season, the fact that Mike Thorpe (13-2, 8, 1.44, 56) had a 1.44 ERA (306 ERA+) in 119 innings, or that the reigning two-time Allen Winner Fred Washington (18-11, 4.00, 182) saw his ERA balloon to 4.00 (110 ERA+) in no small part due to surrendering an association high 32 homers after never allowing more then 20 in three seasons of over 285 innings. That's probably the only reason there were teams within ten games of the Kings, as they still managed to lead the association in fewest runs allowed (604). Allen Winner Tony Britten (20-11, 2.64, 159) led the staff as well as the association in ERA and WHIP (1.13), while 23-year-old Beau McClellan (13-16, 3.67, 158) had a breakout in year five. Even a potent lineup like Detroit's will have trouble with a staff like this, as second year catcher Dutch Miller (.261, 23, 109) does a great job supporting his team behind and at the plate. It's going to be tough for this group to handle such a talented and experienced team, but they survived an association with no dead weight as the other seven teams finished between 70 and 80 wins.

My nomination for biggest surprise goes to former 25th Rounder Bill Guthrie of the San Francisco Sailors, who was the only continental hitter to blast more then 35 home runs. The completely unheralded first basemen hit an excellent .265/.341/.552 (126 OPS+), driving in 108 runs with a 135 WRC+ and association high 166 strikeouts in 574 trips to the plate. His 43 homers trailed just Tom Taylor's 44 as a rookie Whitney Winner in 1928, and with 64 FABL homers he's now just 12 homers away from having more then all other 25th Rounders combined. Whether the 26-year-old is a legit slugger or not is yet to be determined, but he stepped up with both Al Farmer (.272, 12, 68) and Billy Forbes (.263, 14, 59, 23) showing steep declines.

The only real threat to the Kings this season was the Foresters, who settled for second although you can't blame their two superstars. Both Adrian Czerwinski (20-13, 3.48, 183) and Sherry Doyal (.306, 34, 120) continued to perform at an elite level. Czerwinski in particular excelled, as for the 7th consecutive year he led the Conti in wins above replacement. This time it was a career high, as he recorded 10.4 WAR in an association high 297.2 innings. That's the sixth time he's led and fifth time above 295, as it's not even close to his fault that the rest of the staff couldn't get it going. They were average, but with the top lineup they really let Doyal and the offense down. The 27-year-old hit a robust .306/.406/.580 (146 OPS+) with 102 runs, 23 doubles, 11 triples, 34 homers, 120 RBIs, and 88 walks. He had plenty of support from Frenchy Sonntag (.299, 23, 84), Lloyd Coulter (.279, 34, 110), and Lorenzo Samuels (.254, 29, 88), as John Low (.332, 9, 62) and Larry McClure (.292, 7, 65) excelled on both sides of the game. If I'm Henry Rowland, I'm going to spend my offseason looking for pitching, as there is just too much talent on this team to not push all the chips in and try to dethrone the Kings. Despite failing to win 80 games (79-75) for the first time since 1948 (60-94), they were far better then they showed. Their run differential led to an expected 88-66 record that would have given them a one game lead in the association. The six teams behind them are far behind, but all six can win any given series, and all six may think they have the young core to start bringing in pieces to support them.

[size="6"1955 World Championship Series[size]
DYNAMOS BEAT KANSAS CITY FOR SECOND CONSECUTIVE WCS WIN

The Detroit Dynamos became the first team since 1906 to win four straight pennants and followed it up with their third World Championship Series title in four years after a thrilling extra-innings victory in Game Seven of their series with the Kansas City Kings. It marked Detroit's second straight series triumph over the Kings as the Dynamos won in six games a year ago.

Detroit was dominant during the regular season, becoming the first Federal Association club to win at least 100 games since the 1938 Chicago Chiefs and finished 19 games ahead of the second place Pittsburgh Miners. This Week in Figment Sports baseball writer Archie Irwin does not believe there has ever been a team more dominant than the '55 Dynamos. "They scored 872 runs and allowed just 601," noted Irwin, adding that "On the 11th of June, they already opened up a double digit lead. On July 1st they were 52-21 and 12.5 games ahead of the Pioneers and Gothams. By August 1st it was up to 16. When September started it was over 20. In this entire period no one was able to get within single digits of them. In fact, there were only 60 days during the entire season where a non-Dynamo team was within 9.5 games of first place."

There was very little turnover from the team that won each of the three previous pennants and World titles in 1952 and 1954. The only newcomer to appear in a WCS game for Detroit was pitcher Paul Anderson, who was acquired over the winter from the Los Angeles Stars. Kansas City also sent very much the same lineup out on the field this October as they did the previous year with outfielder Bryan Jeffress and waiver wire pickup Ed Whitney being the only exceptions.

GAME ONE: KANSAS CITY 9 DETROIT 2

Kings ace Fred Washington gave up a pair of runs early but was outstanding the rest of the way, allowing just 6 Detroit hits as the Kings won the opener on the road by a 9-2 score. Detroit could have had a run in the first inning when Edwin Hackberry hit a two-out double but Stan Kleminski, trying to score from first base was gunned down on a relay throw from Kings shortstop Chuck Lewis.

Detroit did open the scoring in the second when Dick Estes hit a one-out double and scored on Tommy Griffin's base hit and the lead increased to 2-0 on an rbi double off the bat of Kleminski in the fifth inning.

Young Detroit ace Jim Norris, who won his second straight Allen Award this season, kept the Kings bats in check for five innings and had little trouble retiring the first two Kansas City hitters in the sixth. That's when things fell apart as four consecutive Kings singles, aided by a passed ball, led to 3 Kansas City runs.

Elmer Grace would double in another run off Norris in the 7th to put Kansas City up 4-2 and a tight game was busted open in the ninth when the Kings tacked on 5 more funs, a bases-loaded 3-run double off the bat of Charlie Rogers being the big blow.

GAME TWO: DETROIT 6 KANSAS CITY 2

The Dynamos used a big inning of their own to even the series with a 6-2 victory in game two. It came in the third when the Dynamos, trailing 2-0 at the time, exploded for five runs on five hits and a Kings error to take the lead for good. Dick Estes and Dan Smith each drove in two runs for the winners while Jack Miller went the distance for his fourth career WCS win.

GAME THREE: DETROIT 9 KANSAS CITY 2

Pat Petty had three hits, including a 2-run double, and drove in 4 runs as the Dynamos took the series lead with a dominant 9-2 victory on the road. Jack Halbur surrendered just 4 hits in earning the complete game victory while Continental Association Allen Award winner Tony Britten took the loss. Detroit used the big inning to win once more as the Dynamos scored three times in each of the third, fifth and eighth innings.

GAME FOUR: DETROIT 7 KANSAS CITY 4

The Dynamos moved to within one victory of clinching the series after they rallied for a 7-4 win in game four. The Kings led 4-1 after five innings thanks in no small part to a 2-run homer off the bat of Charlie Rogers. Detroit cut the deficit to a single run in the 7th inning when Billy Brown ripped a 2-run homer to chase Kansas City starter Walt Staton. Dan Smith would hit another two-run shot for Detroit in the eighth inning to give the visitors the lead and Edwin Hackberry would make it a trifecta with a 2-run homer of his own in the ninth inning, making a winner out of Paul Anderson, who had relieved Detroit starter Joe Hancock in the seventh inning.

GAME FIVE: KANSAS CITY 5 DETROIT 4

Game one starters Jim Norris and Fred Washington were back at it and the Dynamos drew first blood with a pair of runs off Washington in the top of the fourth inning. Kansas City pulled even with two in the fifth thanks to a lead off double by Ed Whitney and singles off the bats of Chuck Lewis and Kings pitcher Washington. An inning later the Kings added three more runs, aided by a Del Johnson error, a lead-off double by Charlie Rogers and timely hits from Bob Schmelz and Lewis to allow the hosts to go up by a 5-2 score.

Detroit made it close with two runs in the top of the eighth but a strikeout of Billy Brown by Washington with two-out and runners on second and third allowed the Kings to cling to a 1-run lead. Beau McClellan took over on the Kansas City mound for the bottom of the ninth and he did allow singles to Del Johnson and Edwin Hackberry but was aided by a twin killing before striking out former Kings superstar Ralph Johnson to end the game.

GAME SIX: KANSAS CITY 7 DETROIT 5

The King succumbed to Detroit in game six a year ago but not this time as homers from Joe Cahill and Dutch Miller propelled Kansas City to a 7-5 victory, spoing a 3-hit, 2 rbi game from Detroit first baseman Pat Petty. Mike Thorpe went 8 innings for the victory and Beau McClellan earned the save for the second straight game as the Kings forced a deciding seventh contest.

GAME SEVEN: DETROIT 7 KANSAS CITY 6 (10 innings)

A wild game seven that saw Tony Britten square off against Jack Halbur. The Kings got to work quickly with Red Hinton leading off the game with a two-bagger and scoring the opening run on a 1-out double from Charlie Rogers. However, Detroit answered just as quickly as Britten surrendered singles to the first two batters he faced in Stan Kleminski and Del Johnson before the third hitter, Pat Petty, blasted a 3-run homer.

The Dynamos led increased to 4-1 in the second on an rbi single from Del Johnson after Tommy Griffin had led off with a walk but the Kings cut the deficit to 4-3 when Billy Bryant smacked a two-run homer in the third inning.

The score remained 4-3 until the Kings took the lead in the sixth inning. Joe Cahill tripled in Charlie Rogers, who had led off the frame with a single, to tie the game and then a passed ball allowed Cahill to race home with the go-ahead run to make the score 5-4 Kings.

In the bottom of the 7th Detroit regained the lead when Kleminski delivered a one-out single and score on a two-run homer from Del Johnson that ended Britten's day and turned the ball over to Beau McClellan for the third game in a row.

Paul Anderson took over for Halbur in the 8th and immediately walked Ken Newman on four pitches to start the inning. Anderson strikes out a ton of hitters- he led his league in K's each of the past four seasons- but also walks a lot and this one would prove costly. Dutch Miller sacrificed Newman to second and then with two out Ed Whitney - a waiver wire pickup during the season- delivered the biggest hit of his career, slapping an rbi single to plate Newman with the tying run.

The drama was just beginning as the Kings had a chance to take the lead in the top of the ninth when Charlie Rogers belted a two-out doble with Bob Schmelz on first base. Schmelz got the green light around third and raced for home only to be gunned down by a perfect Hackberry-Kleminski-Smith rely and the game remained tied. Wally Graves took over on the mound for Kansas City in the bottom of the ninth and retired the first two Detroit hitters but then walked the bases loaded. Pinch-hitter Bill Grove had a chance to be the hero but he hit an infield fly to end the threat and send the game into extra innings.

Wally Hunter, pitching for Detroit, retired the Kings in order in the top of the tenth. Graves did not have the same success, surrendering a lead-off double to Dick Estes. After Dan Smith grounded out, Tommy Griffin hit the series winning single as Estes beat the throw home and Detroit had its second straight WCS title.

Detroit's extra inning victory marked just the second time in World Championship Series history that a game seven has gone into extra innings. The previous one was in 1942 when the New York Gothams scored twice in the top of the 10th inning to beat the New York Stars 3-1.

LONGBALL GIVES CA ALL-STAR GAME WIN IN ROUT

Homeruns from Dutch Miller, Larry McClure and Bob Burge led the Continental Association to an 8-1 victory in the 23rd annual All-Star Game. The contest, held at Detroit's Thompson Field, was witnessed by a capacity crowd of 34,350 who saw the Continental stars take a 12-11 lead in the series with the victory.

Los Angeles Stars pitcher Harry Trinity was the winning pitcher despite allowing the only Fed run in the game while veteran Gothams hurler Ed Bowman was tagged with the loss. For Bowman, it was his 11th appearance in the mid-season classic, a total only surpassed by George Cleaves, Bobby Barrell and Red Johnson.

The Feds struck first when Trinity, after retiring the first two batters in the second inning, issued back to back walks to Marshall Thomas of Boston and the Gothams Hank Estill. Local star Dan Smith of the host Dynamos made Trinity pay for his lack of control with an rbi single but that would be the only run the Federal Association could muster off seven Continental Association hurlers.

Bowman got into trouble when he took the hill in the top of the third inning as he walked Kansas City catcher Dutch Miller. A one-out single by Miller's Kings teammate Charlie Rogers put runners on the corners and a passed ball brought in the tying run before another King, Ken Newman, singled in Rogers for what would turn out to be the game winning run.

Miller socked a three-run homer off of Chiefs reliever Vern Osborne in the sixth inning to make it 5-1 and an inning later both Larry McClure of Cleveland -with a two-run shot- and the Kings Bob Burge -with a solo blast- took Pittsburgh's Rex Dzuik deep to round out the scoring.

BASEBALL OFF-SEASON

With the Dynamos once again champions, they sat back and relaxed for the rest of the offseason, letting the other 15 teams do what they could to stop them. The most active team was the Cincinnati Cannons, who finished above .500 (78-76) for the first time since 1950 (81-73). Just like that season, they finished in third place, but four games back opposed to the nine between them and the Kings this year. With a pair of 30 home run hitters in Dallas Berry (.273, 31, 103, 7) and Bill Barrett (.324, 33, 91) they have the backbone of a top lineup, and their hoping new acquisition Ike Perry (.274, 10, 64) can give them a tough 3-4-5. The longtime Eagles catcher was a regular in each of the last six seasons, and he's hit .282/.320/.402 (95 OPS+) in 852 career games. Cincinnati gave up a talented 24-year-old first basemen in Johnny Taylor (.235, 15, 44), the obvious center piece of the exchange. The switch hitter graduated as the 56th ranked prospect, and hit an adjusted league average .235/.336/.460 (100 OPS+) with 15 homers and 44 RBIs. He's got plus power and can play either corner position too, but with Jesse Alvarado (.274, 33, 115) and Rats McGonigle (.281, 15, 66) their now he's expected to man first and hit between them.

With a system that enters 1956 ranked 3rd (155) behind just San Francisco (205) and Philadelphia (188), Perry was one of many upgrades the Cannons were able to make without depleting themselves of assets when players they desire become available. He wasn't even the only Eagle, as a month later they added veteran righty Dick Greenhalgh (6-3, 13, 4.33, 38) for a former top-100 prospect in Paul Repp. Greenhalgh was a starter from 1950 to 1953, and after a rough season last year he seems to have adjusted to bullpen work. He's not in the rotation now, but aside from 24-year-old ace Jake Pearson (18-13, 3.60, 179) there aren't any locks in the rotation. I'd like to see 25-year-old Simon Terry (13-9, 4.42, 95) improve his walks (124, 14.8 BB%) and develop into a #2, but if they are serious about competing they may need to move an impact prospect for a top arm to compliment Pearson. So far, the response has been two separate trades with the Pioneers, adding Hoppy Johnson (2-7, 1, 4.42, 43) and Coaker Vecchio (9-4, 4, 4.96, 62) to their pitching options. Cincinnati has done well resurrecting veteran pitchers, just ask Jim Anderson, and with so many rotation spots up for grabs they're hoping to grab lighting in a bottle.

Cincinnati's biggest deal was moving on from former 3rd Round Pick Buzz McIlwain (.246, 14, 47, 9), who has spent parts of the last six seasons in the Cannons' outfield. His best season came last year, where he hit .297/.366/.482 (132 OPS+) with 24 doubles, 15 homers, 19 steals, and 51 RBIs, but that's proved to be an outlier season. Lucky for him, he'll join the pennant winning Kings, who will acquire Buzz and a prospect for Joe Cahill (.241, 15, 63) and a prospect. A 13th Round Pick, he actually got plenty of time in the Kings outfield the past three seasons, and owns a .271/.386/.405 (115 OPS+) batting line in 410 games in KC. He has a chance to play a bigger role in a Cannons lineup that's waiting for someone to step up, and he could allow them to shift former #1 prospect Ralph Hanson (.278, 9, 62, 16) back to the infield full time.

The biggest strike of the offseason goes to the Pittsburgh Miners, who have a now 29-year-old Paul Williams (.281, 19, 91) that showed his first signs of mortality this season. His 136 WRC+ was his lowest since he became a full-time starter at 23, and after seasons of 29, 32, and, 33 homers he failed to hit 20. They're hoping with a talented hitter like Bill Wise (.300, 4, 44) ahead of him, he might find the power stroke with more runners on base. Acquired from Washington with a prospect in a six-player deal, "Slick Willie" will leave the organization for the first time since he was selected 11th overall in the 1946 draft. The three-time All-Star quickly made his debut at 18, hitting .313/.339/.430 (111 OPS+) with 20 doubles, 4 triples, a homer, and 26 RBIs. This came in 74 games just a year after his draft year, and he's been a consistent top of the lineup player ever since.

The one knock on Wise is his power, but in a park like Fitzpatrick Park that's almost a good thing. It's one of the toughest parks to hit a homer in, as the Miners consistently rank at the bottom in homers hit (8th, 108). There's plenty of room for Wise to put the ball in play, and for a guy who strikes out in under 5% of his PAs and has just 19 homers in 1,083 games, this looks to be a match made in heaven. A career .306/.375/.407 (112 OPS+) hitter, he's almost the perfect counterpart to shortstop Irv Clifford (.326, 59, 14), a contact oriented hitter with little power, and both should be on plenty for Williams and Bill Newhall (.333, 15, 87). They added swingman Sid Moulton (7-5, 3, 5.48, 49) in a minor deal with the Cougars, but the staff could be in need of a new leader. Ted Coffin (13-11, 4.43, 85) took a huge step back, not even able to reach 200 innings in his 33 starts. And aside from stopper Rex Dziuk (5-3, 19, 3.87, 62), Coffin was the best they had to offer. To beat the Dynamos, you have to hit and pitch, and until they can get guys who can keep runs off the board, they'll have plenty of trouble overtaking the champs.

Another active Fed team was the Minutemen, who are looking to build around their talented young corner outfielder and former number one prospect Rex Masters (.345, 33, 114) broke out in the biggest of ways, producing an offensive explosion as a 24-year-old. The switch hitter hit a robust .345/.510/.546 (143 OPS+) with 33 homers, 107 runs, and 114 RBIs. He was selected to the first of likely many All-Star games, and surpassed the 200 hit mark (206) for the first time in his five year career. He also snapped Buddy Miller's (.326, 31, 104) batting title streak, showing everyone exactly why all the prospect people thought he was the best. Along with the double play duo of Marshall Thomas (.340, 24, 112) and Joe Kleman (.333, 16, 107), they have no shortage of offensive talent. Catcher Sam Walker (.299, 21, 83) has emerged as one of the top offensive catchers, opening the year ranked 3rd among FABL backstops. Though they did made a swap in their lineup, acquiring former CA RBI leader George Rutter (.302, 7, 32), who hit 20 homers in 106 games in 1954. They got a pitching prospect too, but had to part ways with 1953 Kellogg Winner Ray Rogan (.337, 15, 50) to get him. A natural second basemen, Rogan was stuck behind Marshall Strickland, so he was instead splitting time between left and center. The now just manager Harry Barrell did all he could to get him in the lineup, as it's impossible to keep a 152 WRC+ hitter on the bench. Finishing third in the batting race, he hit .337/.430/.497 (137 OPS+) with 24 doubles, 15 homers, 50 RBIs, and an impressive 81-to-26 walk-to-strikeout ratio. This team can hit homers with the best of them, but they need more stability in the rotation then just Johnny Duncan (10-8, 4.02, 101).

You may be wondering why a player like that who's just 25 would be on the move, but there are rumor surrounding the team that Rogan's personality led to his teammates wanting him out. Call him grouchy, or maybe uncooperative, but the talent is undeniable. A career .309/.400/.443 (125 OPS+) hitter, Rogan has struck out in just 3.8% of his 1,836 FABL plate appearances, a skillset that the Sailors are known best for. He also walks at an above average rate (13.%), drawing 241 in his career and more then 80 in each of the last two seasons. With Al Farmer (.272, 12, 68) at second, Rogan will be staying on the grass, but with San Francisco he will have left all to himself. Projected as the three hitter in front of Farmer and Billy Forbes (.263, 14, 59, 23), Rogan is now in a position to excel, and his personality may not get on the nerves of his new teammates as much.

On the sell side, no teams was more active then the cellar dwelling Eagles (60-94), who gathered nine prospects in deals for major league players. These deals helped strengthen a system ranked 4th (141), though their top three prospects are their three most recent first round picks. Each rank inside the top 15th, and while catcher Brad Keylon (14th) could be ready soon, they'll have to wait a while for 19-year-olds Jack Thompson (6th) and Bibb Martin (12th). "Cool Daddy" could be among the top outfielders in the game and "Bob Junior" is son of the most recent Hall-of-Famer Bob Martin. The expectations for this group will be sky high, and this offseason sell-off gave them plenty of talented young players to compete for supplemental roles.

The best player acquired was probably new first basemen Johnny Taylor, but the best prospects were acquired from the Wise deal. The now 19-year-old Marty Hanna ranks just outside the top 100 at 102, and 23-year-old Sam Fitchett is a former 1st Rounder who could earn one of their five wide open rotation spots. Hanna is a 1st Rounder too, taken 11th in the most recent draft, and absolutely crushed pitchers in Class C (192 WRC+) before posting respectable numbers in Class B (115 WRC+). A ball was a bit rough, he was just 8-for-51, but the New York native projects to be an elite hitter and potential regular. Fitchett is the opposite, high floor, low ceiling, as the walks are preventing him from taking the next step. Pittsburgh took it slow with him, and I think he'll at least start the season in AA, but they did not have many starts from guys where you could be confident in them getting the job done.

Other notable prospects include Enos Bailey, who like Hanna and Fitchett rank among the Eagles top 15 prospects. Bailey is the bottom one at 13 and 138, and came with Taylor and outfielder Charlie Brown from the Cannons in the Ike Perry deal. Bailey may compete with second basemen Tom Perkins (.268, 3, 38, 10) for the starting job, as Bailey hits for a high average and draws a lot of walks. I think it would take a major spring for him to even crack the 40-man roster, but if he performs in the minors he could earn a midseason callup to replace a traded or struggling player. Lefty Paul Repp, who was involved in the other trade with the Cannons, will also be in camp, and his excellent command could make him a useful back-end guy. He hasn't pitched above A ball, so he may have to wait a bit before he gets his shot, but the Eagles had no pitchers in the top 150 when the offseason started, and they now have Fitchett and Repp.

The other last place team was down in LA, as the Stars finished 71-83 despite Charlie Barrell (.347, 22, 86) winning a batting title in his third season with the Stars. The two-sport star might not be the easiest player to build around, but when he's playing games he's a game changer, and LA may be the perfect location for a star like him to thrive. With such a deep lineup already, they felt comfortable dealing away the versatile Moe Holt (.299, 8, 76, 8), restocking the farm with a few useful prospects. Some may have expected more of a sell-off after that, but their new GM hung on to Jack Welch (.211, 17, 56), Paul Watson (.278, 21, 106), and Juan Tostado (11-11, 3.76, 89). They even ended the trading season with a big move, capitalizing on the Keystones outfield surplus to add Don Berry (.327, 11, 51) for the affordable price of Ed Holmes (.280, 5, 40, 7). It's what could be a big win-win as the Keystones had no one to play second and the Stars middle infield is occupied by Barrell and Watson. The pitching was poor last season, so there's plenty of work left in LA. They allowed the most runs in the CA, but saw promising results from former 2nd Rounder Pepper Swanson (15-12, 4.05, 155) in his rookie season. Tostado still looks good at 37, but they'll need to find 1952 Hub Armstrong (14-7, 3.19, 116) as he posted a consecutive (10-14, 4.56, 120) middling season. The Stars still have some work to do, but the acquisition of Berry could signal to the rest of the league that they'll keep buying if they can find a young arm to add to their staff.

Some might have thought that the Cleveland Foresters would try to do something in the early offseason, but their only transaction was sending high leverage reliever Arch Wilson (5-4, 6, 2.35, 29) to the Cougars for a prospect. Sure, that prospect is former 1st Rounder Biff Tiner and he at least has some big league experience (1-5, BB, R), but their rotation needs some work. Obviously, Czerwinski is one of the top pitchers, so they can't upgrade the top of the rotation, but aside from Larry Beebe (11-11, 3.81, 116), there's no one worth guaranteeing starts to. Each internal option has their own merits, especially former 20-game winner Ducky Davis (9-11, 5.25, 78), but at 35 he's probably someone you don't want higher than 4th. At this point in his career, Rufus Barrell (16-11, 4.55, 109) might be in the same position, as he no longer resembles the superstar that dominated with the Cannons for many years. The last guy who made significant starts was Hugh Blumenthal (11-10, 4.11, 123) a reliable lefty who gives you solid, if unspectacular, starts when there's not enough off days to led the "Mad Professor" take over. These five pitchers made all 154 starts for Cleveland, something you cannot count on They still have a few months to add to their starting depth, as for now 4th ranked prospect Frank Young (106th Overall) is the first line of defense should someone get hurt.

Winning 76 games may not seem like much, but that's the most the Toronto Wolves have won since finishing 82-72 in 1948. That's really the last time they were competitive, finishing last from 1950 to 1952, but their 5th place finish is best since 1948 when they were 3rd and just five games behind the pennant winning Sailors. Toronto has started to build a core, as soon-to-be 25-year-old Tom Reed (.324, 25, 80) emerged as a legit threat at Dominion Stadium. Taken 3rd Overall in 1952, Reed graduated as the 4th ranked prospect in all of baseball, and took home the Continental Kellogg after hitting .324/.383/.564 (136 OPS+) with 25 homers and 80 runs scored and driven in. Him and Larry Curtis (.256, 24, 78) now rank 4th and 5th in Wolves history for homers in a season, though Curtis saw his WRC+ drop from 166 to 102 as his BB% (12.3 to 5.0) and K% (15.3 to 20.4) went in opposite directions. Less walks and more strikeouts meant a drop from .340/.441/.571 to .256/.316/.457, and had he split the difference between them Toronto could have reached 80 wins. That's the goal for next season, as they saw progress from John Wells (.275, 10, 66, 9), Lynn Horn (15-10, 3.40, 187), and Zane Kelley (11-5, 3, 3.70, 80). This team isn't quite ready for contention, but that could change if former 1st Rounder Jim Montgomery (5-9, 17, 5.06, 59) is unleashed as a starter. Ranked 8th on the Opening Day prospect list, he spent his rookie season as the stopper, picking up 5 wins and 17 sabes in 85.1 innings pitched. The raw numbers weren't great, but "Three-Pitch Monte" had a far more encouraging 4.06 FIP (91 FIP-). The stuff is ace level, and the 23-year-old could be the new Garrison or Hancock.

Canada's other team finished two games behind, but they may have found their own ace in Skinny Green (18-9, 3.13, 207). Now 27, Green led the CA with 19 losses last season, and as a former 14th Rounder came with absolutely zero expectations attached to him. Despite middling results, Montreal stuck with him over the years due to his team oriented approached. The fans love him, as it's clear how much heart and effort he puts into his baseball, and that's who he credits for his success. The skinny right hander finally got his arsenal refined and was the only pitcher in either association to surpass the 200 strikeout mark. He struck out 30 more batters then the next closest pitcher (Lynn Horn, 187), he also finished 2nd in ERA (3.13) and 3rd in wins (18). You can find his name on the leaderboard for most of the important categories, and the Saints organization is really excited for him to give it another go. Aside from offseason pickup Max Edwards (12-12, 3.87, 136), slugger Maurice Carter (.242, 31, 105), and surprise All-Star John Fast (.288, 13, 42), not much went well for Montreal. Failing to finish above .500 for the fourth straight season, they've hit a rough patch, but their next competitive window could be right around the corner.

KINGS TEAMMATES SHARE WHITNEY AWARD

For the first time in Continental Association history the Whitney Award will be shared by two players as teammates Ken Newman and Charlie Rogers finished tied for both total points and first place votes in the end of year balloting. It marks the third year in a row for Newman being recognized while Rogers wins a share of his first Whitney Award. The Kings also laid claim to the Allen Award for the third year in a row but this time it was Tony Britten being recognized after a 20-11, 2.76 season. The previous two seasons his teammate Fred Washington had been the winner. KC skipper Glenn Carney won his second straight Theobald Award as the top manager in the CA. Only Tom Reed, the 24-year-old Toronto outfielder, avoided a clean sweep by the Kings as Reed won the Kellogg Award as top rookie.

Detroit manager Dick York won his fifth consecutive Federal Association Theobald Award while a Dynamos pitcher was the Allen Award winner for the fourth year in a row. This time it was Jim Norris (23-7, 2.97) winning his second Allen in as many years after Jack Miller and Joe Hancock had won ahead of him. Earl Howe of the Gothams, rookie of the year last season, won the Whitney Award after a 55 homerun season. Only Bobby Barrell, Max Morris and Joe Masters have ever hit more round-trippers in a campaign. Washington shortstop Willie Watson won the Kellogg Award.

• Another year with no additions to Boone County as the no one on the ballot garnered enough support to be named on the required 80% of the ballots. Bob Martin, elected in 1953, is the only addition to the Hall in the past four years but pitcher Ed Wood is getting closer. Wood fell just short of induction this time around, being named on 76.3% of the ballots and has seen a steady climb in support each of the past two years. Dick Walker also took a big jump being listed on 74% of the ballots, up from less than 55% the previous year.
  
  
• The other big news from the winter saw the Detroit Dynamos add to their already impressive crop of starting pitching with a deal to acquire 26-year-old righthander Paul Anderson from the Los Angeles Stars. Anderson always struggles with control problems but followed up a 15-14 1954 seasons in Los Angeles by going 11-7 for the WCS winning Dynamos.
• Detroit became the first team to win four straight pennants since the 1902-06 Boston Minutemen won five in a row. The Dynamos also became just the fourth team to win 3 World Championship Series titles in a four year span. The others were the 1983-96 New York Gothams, 1916-19 Dynamos and the 1924-26 New York Stars, who remain the only team to win three consecutive WCS.
• Detroit and Kansas City met for the second time in as many years in the WCS. That is not an unusual occurrence as it has happened seven times previously.
  

  
  TEAMS TO MEET IN WCS IN CONSECUTIVE SEASONS
  1895-96   New York Gothams and Chicago Cougars
  1899-1900 Pittsburgh and Chicago Cougars
  1905-06   Boston and New York Stars
  1913-14   Washington and Baltimore
  1934-35   New York Gothams and Cleveland
  1944-45   Philadelphia Keystones and Cincinnati
  1947-48   St Louis and Philadelphia Sailors
  1954-55   Detroit and Kansas City

• 37-year-old Ward Messer of the Gothams hit his 400th career homerun in August, becoming just the sixth man to reach the 400 mark. He is in pretty good company with Max Morris, Bobby Barrell, Red Johnson, Al Wheeler and Rankin Kellogg.
• Other milestones reached in 1955 include Roosevelt Brewer's 2000th career hit. The 36-year-old would retire at the end of the season. Brewer's Washington teammate Jesse Alvardo notched his 300th big league homerun in June and later in the month would also collect his 2000th hit. Deuce Barrell went 16-11 for Cleveland this season and included in those 16 victories was the 250th of the 38-year-old's career.
• Los Angeles Stars rookie Eddie Dickey had a four homer game in a June victory over Cincinnati.
• George Garrison of the New York Gothams threw a no-hitter in June.
• Dick York was named winner of the Theobald Award as Federal Association manager of the year for the fifth straight season. The CA winner was Glenn Carney of Kansas City, who won for the second straight season.
• Baseball said farewell to a number of stars including Gothams greats George Cleaves and Red Johnson. The two retired at the end of the season and both seem sure bets for a reunion in Boone County four years from now when the Hall of Fame voting is tabulated. Long-time Cougar Leo Mitchell also called it quits as did Lloyd Stevens, Charlie Bingham, Fed Galloway, Harry Mead, Walt Pack, Sal Pestilli, Mack Sutton, Lew McClendon, Billy Dalton, Bill Van Ness, Joe Owens, Chuck Adams, Ray Dalpman, Rusty Petrick, Lou Robertson, Luke Berry, Ed Cornett, Charlie Woodbury, Jim Morrison and Roosevelt Brewer to name the main ones.
• Don Hall, an 18-year-old high school outfielder from McKinley Tech in Washington DC, would be the first pick in the 1955 FABL draft. He was selected by the Los Angeles Stars and in July would be listed the number two ranked prospect in the sport by OSA, trailing only Ray Waggoner, a 19-year-old outfielder drafted by the San Francisco Sailors 9th overall a year ago.
• When the end of the season OSA list came out Waggoner and Hall and dropped to second and third with another Sailors outfielder, 20-year-old Ron Turner, claiming the top spot. Turner, a 2nd round pick in 1953, saw time at three minor league levels in 1955 and has a big league ETA of 1958 according to the scouting service. The Sailors not only have the top two players on the list but also the top ranked pitching prospect in 22-year-old Bud Henderson, who is ranked 7th overall. The lefthander, a 1951 third rounder, is expected to be in San Francisco next season after getting 16 starts at AAA this year.
• Keystones righthander Charlie Waddell sets a new single season record for homeruns allowed 41 in 114 2/3 innings this season. Waddell had co-held the previous mark by allowing 40 homers in 1950, a number matched by another Keystones righty in Jim Whiteley in 1952.
• A pair of 25 year old's each won the first batting titles of their career. Boston's Rick Masters led the Fed with a .345 average while Charlie Barrell hit .347 to win the Continental batting crown despite missing the first month of the season playing pro basketball for the FBL's Chicago Wildcats.
• The Chicago Cougars finished 76-78 and have now had three consecutive losing seasons for the first time since they went 6 straight from 1924 to 1929. Tip Harrison of the Chicago Daily News also notes that this Cougars team did something mine could never do: win one run games! 33-21! I have no idea how a team 8th in runs scored and 7th in runs against can finish only two games under .500.
• The Philadelphia Inquisitor reports that Don Berry is dealt from the Keystones to the Stars. Bill Curtis might get a chance at left field for Philadelphia in 1956. Curtis has proven all he can at AAA Louisville for three seasons in almost 1,300 at-bats, hitting .320 and slugging at a .466 clip. Eventually, the Keystones are going to turn up the standings, but they suffered their first back-to-back sub-70 win seasons since 1938-39 and second since the Human GM Era began.
• TWIFS baseball guru Archie Irwin says "Here's an interesting case: 1950 25th Rounder Bill Guthrie hit a Continental High 43 home runs and became just the second Sailor to hit more then 40 home runs in a season. The 26-year-old came out of nowhere in 1954, following up a solid, yet short, rookie season with a .335/.442/.595 (184 OPS+) line, before hitting .265/.341/.552 (126 OPS+) in a full season of work. With 64 homers in 311 FABL games, he's just 12 homers away from recording more FABL homers then every other 25th Round pick combined."
• Chiefs veteran Charlie Bingham finally retired at age 45. His final start on 9/23 was a shutout of St Louis in Whitney Park. 19 seasons, 3980 innings. 240 wins. Another Chiefs hurler, Al Miller, has now had the best two seasons of his career at ages 38 and 39. His 20 wins in 1955 is the first time he won at least 20 games since his rookie season. Another 2 seasons like these last two, and Miller crosses into the 300 win category (even with only two 20-win seasons).
• The news is not all positive for the Chiefs. Catching prospect Stan Czerwinski, brother of Cleveland pitching ace Adrian Czerwinski, went from #2 on the OSA prospect charts on 4/13/54 to #84 a year later to out of the top 100 by the end of 1955. He looks like the sure-fire Hall of Famer is going to be a bust. He hit .244 as a 21 year old in Class B ball this year. Chiefs fans hope he will just be a late bloomer.

FRIGATES WIN SECOND STRAIGHT AFA TITLE

Parity was the name of the game in the American Football Association's East Division in 1955, but when the dust settled it was the Philadelphia Frigates left standing, as their star-studded offense led by quarterback Pete Capizzi carried the Frigates to a second straight AFA championship game victory.

The Frigates were lucky just to make the playoffs as four of the six East Division teams finished the season with identical 8-4 records. Only the top two would qualify for the post season. The Boston Americans, thanks to an impressive 7-3 divisional record clinched the top spot despite the fact that the Yanks surrendered more points than they scored on the season. Boston, which finished 10th in the twelve team league in total offense, scored 285 points but allowed 288 against the ninth highest total surrendered in the league. It is hard to imagine a division winner ever finishing with a negative point differential in the AFA again, at least not while there are 6 teams in a division.

Things just seemed to break Boston's way all season as the Americans had a number of last minute rallies to pull out victories with rookie quarterback Jimmy Forester time and again engineering late drives for winning scores. The Americans were 6-4 with two weeks remaining but claimed top spot with back to back wins over Washington and New York to end the season.

The Frigates had a slow start but rebounded to win five of their final six games, allowing them to edge out Washington and Cleveland on tiebreakers after the three clubs all finished 8-4 overall and 6-4 in the division while splitting each of their head to head matchups. The Frigates offense was the most productive in the division with the dual threat of Pete Capizzi's (2039 yds, 13 TD) arm and the running of third year backs Don Lucy, who rushed for over 1,000 yards, and Sam Reiter, who gained 851 on the ground.

Cleveland won its final four games in a last-ditch effort by the Finches to make the playoffs for the first time since 1947. It fell just short as they needed both Boston and Philadelphia to lose on the final week in order to qualify. The future looks bright as the Finches appear to have found a star in quarterback Jim Rizzi. The first overall pick in the spring draft out of Darnell State, Rizzi did not miss a beat stepping up to the pros and threw for 1,990 yards and 13 touchdowns: numbers good enough to earn him a berth in the end of season All-Pro Classic game.

The team that was left shaking its head in disappointment was the Washington Wasps. The Wasps were 8-2 and seemingly on their way to the playoffs for the first time in four years before losing to Boston and Cleveland on the final two Sundays of the season. They were awful against the Americans in week 11, falling behind 24-0 in the second quarter and ending up losing by a 31-21 count. Washington was a little better in Cleveland the following week but a 17-6 defeat ended their playoff hopes.

New York finished fifth in the East Division with a 5-7 record despite possessing one of the better defenses in the AFA. The offense struggled down the stretch as the Stars dropped four in a row and five of their final six games. Things were much worse in Pittsburgh where the once proud Paladins endured an embarrassing 0-12 season. Wally Dotson retired prior to the season and the Pittsburgh running game was the least productive in the league, which allowed opposing defenses to key on veteran quarterback Dusty Sinclair and the Pittsburgh passing game.

*** Wildcats Back On Top In West ***

The Chicago Wildcats are the most successful franchise in AFA history but the past decade has not been kind to Coach Carl Boon and his Windy City club. They did make the playoffs two years ago, but since winning back to back AFA titles in 1948 and 1949 the Wildcats entered the season with a 26-34-1 record including hitting rock bottom in 1952 when they went 2-10.

1955 may have marked a turning of the corner for the Wildcats, who scored 323 points -second behind only Los Angeles- while allowing just 235, third fewest in the league. Fred Wilhelm may be the second best quarterback to come out of Central Kentucky in the past twenty years - Frigates star Pete Capizzi would be number one- but the 27-year-old had another outstanding season in his fourth year as a pro, throwing for 1,915 yards and 17 touchdowns. His performance prompted Wildcats management to make Wilhelm one of the highest paid players in the game, signing the signal caller to a four-year deal worth $50,000. Wilhelm found a perfect pass partner in third year receiver Jack Amodeo, who finished second in the league in both receiving yardage (1,110) and touchdown catches (8). Both Wilhelm and Amodeo were selected for the All-Pro game along with four Wildcats defenders headlined by linebacker Lance Nero, who was named the defensive player of the year.

Chicago's division crown was in doubt until the final day of the season as they had to close out the year in Los Angeles against the Tigers, who -like Chicago- entered the season finale with an 8-3 record. The Los Angeles defense could not quite match the Wildcats, especially against the pass, but the Tigers offense was every bit as deadly as that of Chicago. Rookie quarterback Jamie Pritchett, a second round pick out of Alabama Baptist, won the starting job in camp and looked like a seasoned veteran while halfbacks Dick Drum and Bill Comeau each gained more than 900 yards on the ground.

Los Angeles led the league in scoring and the regular season finale was one of the wildest games the league had ever seen. There was plenty on the line for both teams with Chicago in town and each club opted to go on an all-out offensive. The Tigers led 35-14 late in the second quarter but Chicago rallied for 5 unanswered touchdowns to take a 49-35 lead early in the fourth period but then the Wildcats offense came alive again. When the final gun sounded it was 56-49 for Chicago, giving the Wildcats first place and homefield advantage for a rematch between the two in the semi-finals. Fred Wilhelm led the way in the season finale, throwing for 416 yards and 5 touchdowns while Pritchett, who passed for 'just' 209 yards had four scoring tosses.

San Francisco and St Louis tied for third place in the West as each finished with a 6-6 record. The Wings, despite another strong season from veteran quarterback Vince Gallegos, could not keep pace with the leaders dropping three of their final four games to fall out of contention. A slow start doomed the Ramblers to missing the playoffs despite halfback Jim Kellogg, who ran for 1,324 yards and 14 touchdowns, winning his second straight offensive MVP award.

Fifth place Detroit finished with a 4-8 record as the Maroons season was over nearly before it began following a 1-5 start. Quarterback Sam Burnson was one of the few bright spots for the Maroons, who struggled with the defensive game failed to place a single defender on the West All-Pro Classic team.

Things are looking pretty rough in Kansas City as the Cowboys endured their second straight 2-10 season. Those 20 losses in two seasons are just six less than the franchise accumulated in its first eight years combined. Pat Chappell is gone, the legendary quarterback announced his retirement before the season began. The hope is that Scott Greenwell, selected second overall in the spring draft out of Mississippi A&M, can be a suitable replacement. Greenwell looked very solid despite the terrible record, throwing for an AFA best 2,231 yards and being named the top offensive rookie in the league. The Cowboys also have a powerful running back Mike Peel. The 1952 Christian Trophy winner from Spokane State had his third straight season rushing for more than 1,000 yards. The defense remains a concern as the Cowboys were dead last in points surrendered as well as both rushing yards and passing yards allowed.

A year ago the Philadelphia Frigates and New York Stars played the first overtime playoff game in AFA history. The Frigates won that one by a 16-13 score and went on to beat San Francisco a week later in the championship game. The Frigates perhaps had the advantage of experience when this year's Eastern Semi-final game also needed extra time to declare a winner.

Aside from the fact both games went into overtime, there was very little similar between the two. This time around it was a shootout as the two clubs combined for 74 points in a 40-34 Philadelphia victory. The hometown Boston Americans probably thought they had the game wrapped up when Byron McDonagh ran for a 3-yard touchdown with just 57 seconds left in regulation to put the Yanks up 34-31 but you can never count out a Pete Capizzi led team. The Frigates quarterback quickly completed passes of 39 yards and 29 yards to setup a 14-yard field goal attempt with 8 seconds remaining. Ken Fryar made no mistake and the game was tied at 34.

Boston never had an opportunity in the extra frame as it took just three plays after the overtime kick-off for Capizzi to connect with Jim Siefert for a 61-yard game ending scoring pass to make the final 40-34 and send the Frigates back to the title game.

There was far less suspense in the West Division playoff. Most expected a wild one after the crazy 56-49 win by Chicago over Los Angeles in the regular season finale the previous week. A pair of long second quarter touchdown passes from Chicago quarterback Fred Wilhelm put the game away as the Wildcats rolled to a 34-9 victory over the Tigers.

The title game also lacked drama as Capizzi threw a pair of first quarter touchdown passes to help the Frigates build a 17-0 lead in the opening period. Chicago did get as close as 24-13 early in the fourth quarter before the Frigates put the game away on Capizzi's third scoring pass of the game - this one a 10-yarder to Dave Grix and the Frigates, with a 34-13 victory, had won their second straight American Football Association championship game. Capizzi was named the title game most valuable player for the second consecutive year.

PEFECT SEASON GIVES DETROIT CITY COLLEGE A SECOND GRID TITLE

The Detroit City College Knights completed a perfect 10-0 season with a 16-3 victory over Northern California in the East-West Classic, giving the Knights their second-ever national collegiate football title. A pair of sophomore halfbacks led one of the best running attacks in the nation as both Ross Greenbaum (1,257) and Evan Burroughs (1,031) surpassed the 1,000 yard rushing mark.

The Knights opened and closed the season the same way - with victories over West Coast Athletic Association schools. The opener was a 20-10 doubling of CC Los Angeles and it tied wins over St Ignatius (27-17) and Rome State (17-7) for the closest contests the Knights had to contend with. DCC had little trouble running the table in the Great Lakes Alliance including a 31-10 drubbing of arch-rival Central Ohio in Columbus, marking the third time the Knights had beaten the Aviators in the past four years.

The New Years Day game in Santa Ana perfectly illustrated the mighty ground game of the Knights. Both Burroughs and Greenbaum carried the ball for over 100 yards and Burroughs' 29-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter was the only time either team found the endzone in a 16-3 Detroit City College victory. The Knights record is now a perfect 4-0 in the biggest Classic game of them all while the Miners have been on the losing end in three of the past five years and are 4-4 all-time in the East-West Classic.

The Miners were the class of the West Coast Athletic Association this season, posting a perfect 7-0 section record. Their lone regular season loss came on the road in Illinois against Lincoln College. Northern California, which finished second in the final rankings behind Cumberland a year ago, ended up settling for 6th this time around.

The Cumberland Explorers, unbeaten last season, had their hopes of a second straight perfect season dashed in early November when they fell 17-9 on the road against Georgia Baptist. That would prove to be the only blemish on their season as Cumberland, led by Christian Trophy winning halfback Jean Nathanson, finished 10-1 following a 36-14 victory over Valley State in the Desert Classic on New Years Day. Nathanson, a junior, ran for 196 yards in that win, giving him a nation best 1,600 yards rushing on the season.

Due to an unbalanced schedule the Explorers, despite their 5-1 section record, were forced to settle for a third place tie in the highly competitive Deep South Conference. Top spot went to Georgia Baptist at 7-1, and the Gators did hand both Cumberland and Bayou State their only losses on the campaign but the Gators were beaten by in state rival Noble Jones College. The Colonels scored all of their points in the second quarter highlighted by a 94 yard Bruce Meeks to Jack Doolittle touchdown pass in a 20-3 win over the visiting Gators in the season finale for both schools. Noble Jones College finished 6-1 in Deep South play as they were shutout by Alabama Baptist earlier in the season but even with a win over the Gators the Colonels ended up a half game back of Georgia Baptist for the section crown.

Each of the top four schools in the Deep South ended up playing on New Year's Day and the conference went 2-2 in Classic games. Bayou State went to Florida to play in the Bayside Classic against a Rome State squad led by quarterback Mike Barrell. The Cougars trailed 10-3 at the break but rallied for a 13-10 victory which left them 10-2 on the season and ranked fourth in the final polls. Cumberland, as mentioned above, also won but the two Georgia schools each fell short in meetings with Southwestern Alliance opponents. The Colonels were thumped 27-6 by Texas Gulf Coast in the Cajun Classic while the Gators surrendered 27 second half points to Amarillo Methodist and were shellacked 40-13 in the Oilman Classic.

If there is a more competitive conference than the Deep South it would be the Southwestern Alliance. Three SWA schools finished ranked in the top ten led by the Amarillo Methodist Grizzles at #3. The league title was split three ways as the Grizzlies, Texas Gulf Coast Hurricanes and Lubbock State Hawks all finished with 5-1 section records. Amarillo Methodist secured it's share of top spot with a thrilling 21-20 victory over the Hurricanes in the season finale for each school. Texas Gulf Coast led 20-7 midway through the third quarter but Grizzlies quarterback Dave Dykstra engineered two late scoring drives to secure the comeback victory. All three would finish the season with wins on New Years Day. The Grizzlies in the Oilman Classic, the Hurricanes in the Cajun Classic and the Hawks nipped Miami State 13-10 in overtime in the Lone Star Classic.

Among the surprise schools this season, it is hard to find a more unlikely top ten team than South Valley State. The Roadrunners were just two seasons removed from a 2-8 campaign and after an opening week loss to El Paso Methodist it seemed another rough year might be ahead. The Roadrunners did not play an overly competitive schedule but they did go undefeated the rest of the way, winning the Rocky Mountain Athletic Alliance title and capping their season with a 16-14 victory over Sadler in the San Joaquin Classic, which was their first ever New Years appearance.

LATE TOUCHDOWN GIVES NORTH VICTORY IN SENIOR CLASSIC

A late turnover led to the game winning touchdown as the North prevailed 13-12 in the annual showcase of top college football seniors. It was a low scoring affair for the first 55 minutes as the North led the South by a 7-6 score before each squad rallied for a touchdown in the final five minutes of the contest.

The North struck first with a 75-yard scoring drive on the opening series of the game was finished off by a 1-yard touchdown plunge from Tommy Boes of the University of Cleveland. The South cut the lead to 7-6 with a pair of second quarter field goals from Noble Jones College kicker Mike LaBarbera and it remained that way until Bill Mattice put the South ahead with a 32-yard fourth quarter touchdown run. It was the longest play from scrimmage all day and part of a 104 yard rushing afternoon for Mattice, earning the Central Carolina back player of the game honours.

The two-point conversion failed leaving the score 12-7 in favour of the South seniors and it appeared victory was imminent until with 2:28 left in the contest, Ellery College linebacker Fred Rolfe forced the south's Jeff Poe to fumble and Mike Bancroft of St. Patrick's fell on the ball for the North team, setting up a first down for the North stars on the South's 21 yard line. Eight plays later, with just 30 seconds left in the game, Central Ohio fullback Roger Merlin bulled his way for a five-yard touchdown run to provide the margin of victory.

Of note is the fact that Mike Barrell, Rome State quarterback, started the game for the South. Barrell had a nice opening completion, connecting with end Dave Luck of South Valley State for a 23-yard pass play but it would be his only successful throw as Barrell went 1-for-6 before giving way to Bruce Meeks of Noble Jones College.

CAROLINA POLY WINS COLLEGE CAGE CROWN

Led by senior forwards Merritt Norcross and Ron Davies, the Carolina Poly Cardinals completed a dominant season that saw them lose just once enroute to the fourth National Collegiate Basketball Tournament title in school history. Norcross, a Charlotte native, led the team in scoring (13.9 ppg) and rebounds (7.4) while Davies, who hails from Bronx, NY, and is considered a likely first round selection in the upcoming Federal Basketball League draft, scored at an 11.7 points per game clip. The Cardinals started strong, winning the preseason Tournament of Champions and each of their first five games before stumbling against Grafton. The loss to the Scholars would be the only time all year the Cardinals were on the wrong end of the score and they finished the regular season ranked #1 in the nation after posting a perfect 14-0 mark in South Atlantic Conference play.

The top seed in the South Region for the AIAA tournament, the Cardinals nearly suffered a disastrous outcome in their tournament opener, needing a last second bucket from Norcross, who scored 20 points in the game, to nip Flagstaff State 43-41 and advance to the second round. There was far less tension in the round of 16 as the Cardinals built a 15 point first half lead on St. Ignatius and cruised to a 60-41 victory over the Lancers. Davies was the big shooter in that game as he matched Norcross' opening contest total with 20 points of his own. The quarterfinals brought a date with Chesapeake State and the Cardinals downed the 12th ranked Clippers 70-61 to advance to Bigsby Garden and the semi-finals for the second year in a row and the ninth time in school history.

Carolina Poly would be joined in the semi-finals by a trio of powerhouse schools in CC Los Angeles, Whitney College and Noble Jones College. Between them the four schools had 34 trips to the national semi-finals and eleven national titles.

CC Los Angeles had eliminated Western Iowa, which had lost to Rainier College in the national title game each of the past two years, in the regional final. The Coyotes had finished tied for first in the West Coast Athletic Association and featured a high scoring offense led by underclassmen Bill Spangler and Jack English along with senior forward Allan Clark. A 4-time AIAA champion, CCLA last won the tournament in the spring of 1946.

Whitney College was 26-6 entering the semi-finals and had tied with Detroit City College for the best record in the Great Lakes Alliance. The Engineers, three time AIAA champions including a title three years ago, were led by their high scoring backcourt duo of junior Gus Jones and senior Lew Bayne. Noble Jones College, which had the only undefeated collegiate season ever record in 1949-50 when the Charlie Barrell led Colonels won their first and only national title, entered the semi-finals with a 23-9 record and were crowned champions of the Deep South Conference a few weeks earlier. Noble Jones College was coming off one of the most exciting games of the tournament, having just defeated Mobile Maritime 89-87 in overtime in the quarterfinals, needing an Eddie Burkholder bucket at the buzzer to down the Middies.

Noble Jones was no match for the Cardinals in the opening semi-final as Carolina Poly built a 37-16 lead at the half and breezed to a 55-38 victory. Merritt Norcross, with 14 points, and Ron Davies, with 12, led the way for the winners. The other game proved to be just as one-sided with CCLA blasting Whitney College 76-54 but at least the Engineers kept it close for 20 minutes, trailing by just 3 at the break. In the end the Coyotes offensive depth proved just too much as for CC Los Angeles players scored in double figures led by forward Allan Clark's 19.

The title game merely proved the Cardinals were the best team in college basketball as they routed CC Los Angeles 70-42 behind 15 points from junior center George Stevens and 12 from Davies.

SUNNYVALE SURPRISE WINNER OF COLLEGIATE BASEBALL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

The surprise winner of the collegiate baseball World Championship Series was a small school from Santa Clara, CA. known as the Sunnyvale Pioneers. The Pioneers, who had only qualified for the CWCS once before - in 1952 when they upset mighty Bluegrass State, led by All-American first baseman Jerry Christensen, in the opening round before being eliminated in the quarterfinals of the 16 team field- earned a wildcard berth following a 42-20 season which saw them crowned as champions of the California League.

The tournament would be one filled with upsets as a number of traditional powers were knocked out in the opening round including Grange College, Maryland State and Baton Rouge State which was led by Christian Trophy winning outfielder Bud Conover. The Pioneers, as the 11th seed, opened against Brunswick College- the defending national champions and repeat winners of the Academia Alliance conference.

It proved to be a great pitching matchup as Brunswick's Joe Goetz allowed just 2 runs on 7 hits but Frank Fernandez of Sunnyvale was even better. The junior from Los Angeles fanned a College World Series game record 13 and allowed just a single run on eight hits. The Pioneers prevailed 2-1 scoring both of their runs in the second inning and each was unearned due to a Brunswick error.

That set up a showdown with Coastal California, one of the powerhouse schools of the west coast and once more the underdog Pioneers won by a single run. This one ended 3-2 with Johnny Edinger's two-run homer in the 6th inning being the big blow for Sunnyvale. The string of 1-run victories continued as the Pioneers held off Commonwealth Catholic 6-5 to advance to the finals. Outfielder Conn Russell led the way the 2 hits and three rbi's for the winners while Marty Carroll, who would be an 11th round pick of the Cleveland Foresters a week later, homered twice for the losing side.

The finals would pit Sunnyvale against Southwestern Alliance champion Texas Gulf Coast. The opener of the best of three final series would be the longest game in CWCS history as the Pioneers won 2-1 on a walk-off solo homerun off the bat of Ashton Mason. Mason had also homered in the bottom of the 13th to tie the game at 1 after the Hurricanes snapped a scoreless tie in the top half of the inning. The second game was rather anti-climatic as the Pioneers built a 5-0 lead after four innings and won their first AIAA championship in any sport with a 7-2 victory. Mason, a junior third baseman from Philadelphia, was named the CWCS most valuable player after hitting .348 with three homers in the five games.

TORONTO DUKES WIN RECORD 10TH CHALLENGE CUP

Led by another McDaniels Trophy winning season from Quinton Pollack the Toronto Dukes won their second Challenge Cup in three years and record tenth North American Hockey Confederation title after outlasting Boston in the finals. Pollack finished second in league scoring with 73 points, two behind Chicago's Tommy Burns, but was the choice for league Most Valuable Player, marking the fourth time the Toronto center has been awarded the McDaniels Trophy.

The Dukes, behind tremendous team defense anchored by a career best season out of 29-year-old Scott Renes (32-19-8, 2.05) in net, finished with the best regular season record, six points ahead of defending Cup champion Detroit. Renes won his first Juneau Trophy as the top goaltender in the league as the Dukes surrendered just 149 goals in 70 games - 22 less than third place Boston which allowed the second fewest goals against. Defenseman Charlie Brown (6-26-32) joined Renes on the post-season first all-star team while another Toronto rearguard, Tim Brooks (11-9-20), earned the nod for the second team along with Pollack and Les Carlson.

Offensively Pollack's 73 points were his lowest total in four seasons, but was still very impressive when you consider that longtime linemate Lou Galbraith (9-13-22) missed half the season with an injury and the third member of that trio, Les Carlson (21-29-50) had a big drop off in his production but was still good enough to be named to the second all-star team. Trevor Parker (21-29-50), a 31-year-old forward, picked up much of the slack with a career high in points while veterans Doug Zimmerman (18-21-39) and Ken Jamieson (18-18-36) added secondary scoring.

Detroit would go as far as young star Alex Monette (34-37-71) would carry the Motors. After a breakout season a year ago that was capped by scoring all four Detroit goals in the Cup clinching game, Monette was challenging for the league scoring title this year until he blew out his knee in mid-March. That ended his season and while Detroit still managed to hold on to second place, their playoff hopes were dealt a deadly blow. Henri Chasse (26-19-8, 2.46) had another strong season in net and a pair of offensive minded Motors blueliners in veterans Tyson Beddoes (13-32-45) and Spencer Larocque (13-30-43) finished second and third in team scoring. Captain Nick Tardif (15-22-37) and 23-year-old Robert Kennedy (10-31-41) also played key roles.

A late season loss to Detroit left the Boston Bees in third place, just a single point back of the Motors. The Bees have long been known for their defense and that was very much the case again this season as Boston continues to search for a replacement for Tommy Hart and Wilbur Chandler as the club's offensive catalysts. Hart is now 38 years old and a variety of injuries limited him to just 38 games and he scored only 6 points. Chandler is 37 but still led the Bees in scoring (22-31-53) while young Jim Rucks (18-34-52) and a pair of thirty year old's in Mike Brunell (18-30-48) and Robert Walker (18-27-45) also contributed offensively. The Bees continue to rely heavily on Oscar James (22-19-10, 2.51) and the 31-year-old goaltender did not disappoint.

A four game losing streak in early March ended the Chicago Packers hopes of catching Boston or Detroit and the Windy City club had to settle for fourth place. Tommy Burns (35-40-75) led the NAHC in scoring for the fourth time in his career and was named to the First All-Star team but narrowly lost the race for the McDaniels Trophy to Toronto's Pollack. Max Ducharme (21-30-51) finish second in team scoring and was named a first team All-Star for the first time in his career while Packers defenseman Phil Stukas (10-24-34) made the all-star team for the second consecutive season. Michael Cleghorn (16-19-7, 2.99) and Norm Hanson (14-12-2, 2.65) continued to split the work between the pipes but both struggled at times.

New York and Montreal were left on the outside looking in come playoff time. For the Shamrocks it was the second time in three years their season ended early while Montreal has finished in last place each of the past four seasons. Jocko Gregg (28-31-59) led the New York offense with veterans Orval Cabbell (14-37-51) and Simon Savard (19-23-42) also contributing. Savard won his second straight Yeadon Trophy for gentlemanly play. Montreal scored the fewest goals and allowed the most against but there is some hope, at least in their own end as Nathan Bannister (16-26-6, 2.85) is starting to show some signs of improvement at the age of 25. Netminding has been the Valiants biggest problem ever since the demise of Tom Brockers after winning back to back Cups to start this decade.

NAHC PLAYOFFS

A playoff series between Toronto and Chicago is always highly anticipated as it gives arguably the two best players in the league in the Dukes Quinton Pollack and Packers Tommy Burns a chance to face off against each other. The Dukes finished with the best record in the loop and would meet the fourth place Packers for the first time since the roles were reversed in the spring of 1952 when the first place Packers disposed of Toronto in five games before going on to beat New York in the finals for Chicago's first Challenge Cup win.

Pollack scored once in the series opener at Dominion Gardens, helping the Dukes to a 3-1 victory. He would add a goal and an assist two nights later to go along with a pair of Rob Painchaud goals in a 6-2 Dukes victory. Burns did not register a point in the opening two games in Toronto but did set up a Jeremy MacLean marker in a third game that saw the clubs tied at two after sixty minutes. Toronto would get the winner, courtesy of a career minor leaguer by the name of Dan Russell. The 30-year-old had just 12 NAHC games under his belt before the playoffs and picked a perfect time for his first-ever NAHC goal. Russell scored just over 16 minutes into the extra frame to give the Dukes a 3-2 victory and a commanding 3 games to none series lead.

Burns got his first goal of the playoffs two nights later, as the Packers stayed alive with a 4-2 victory at Lakeside Auditorium but the series would not return to Chicago as the Dukes wrapped things up with a 4-1 win at home in the fifth game. Pollack opened the scoring with his third of the series while all-star defenseman Charlie Brown had a goal and an assist to help send Toronto through to the finals.

Detroit and Boston met in the other semi-final after being separated by just a single point following 70 regular season games. The Motors were forced to play without their rising star Alex Monette, who suffered a late season knee injury. That did not hurt Detroit in the opener as veteran Adam Vanderbilt set up three goals in a 4-1 Detroit win but Boston evened the series with a 4-2 victory in game two spurred on by a goal and an assist from the Bees young star Jimmy Rucks. Oscar James had a 20-save shutout and Mike Brunell scored twice as Boston took the third game 3-0 and then won game four by a 4-1 count after James had another big night between the pipes. Detroit stayed alive with a 6-4 win on home ice in game five but the Bees clinched their fourth trip to the finals in the past seven years with a 4-2 victory in game six.

For the fifth time in Challenge Cup history Toronto and Boston met in the finals. The two clubs entered the series having combined for 16 Cup wins (9 for Toronto, 7 for Boston) but the Bees had endured some struggles in recent years. Boston, which last won a Cup in 1947-48, had lost in each of its three trips to the finals since then while the Dukes had won the Cup in six of their last seven trips to the finals. The lone exception for Jack Barrell's club was last year when Toronto fell to Detroit.

If the opening game was any indication, this series was going to be a dandy. The Dukes took a 2-1 lead early in the third period on a Ken Jamieson goal but Boston's Mike Brunell forced overtime when he scored with 2:10 remaining in regulation to knot the game at 2. It took just over two minutes of overtime for the Bees to notch the winner, courtesy of a point shot from defenseman Conn Cundiff that gave the Bees game one by a 3-2 score.

Both Scott Renes and Oscar James were terrific in game two and the only goal was a shorthanded marker from the Dukes Trevor Parker in the second period as Renes and Toronto hung on for a 1-0 victory to send the series to Boston tied at one win apiece.

Cundiff, Brunell and Craig Simpson each scored for Boston in a 3-1 Bees win in game three and the Bees followed that up with a 2-0 win in the fourth game. Oscar James stopped all 32 shots he faced in game four while Craig Simpson and Alex Gagnon each managed to beat Renes to give the Bees a commanding 3 games to one series lead.

Toronto would not go quietly as Pat Coulter scored twice in the first period to pace the Dukes to a 5-2 victory on home ice in game five and then Quinton Pollack -who had been held pointless in the series since game one- broke out with two goals in a 4-2 road win for Toronto in game six.

It was all down to one game and Toronto, winners of the last two, had home ice and the momentum. The Dukes did everything but score in the opening period, peppering James with 16 shots while Boston managed just 4 of their own, but the game was scoreless after twenty minutes. The Dukes outshot Boston 15-5 in the second period but it was the Bees who scored first when defenseman Mathieu Harnois beat Renes just shy of the 8 minute mark. Toronto answered on an Alex Lavalliere tally five minutes later and before the period was over Doug Zimmerman have put the Dukes ahead 2-1. The shots were much closer in the third period as the Bees pressed for the equalizer but that led to an odd-man rush for Toronto with just under five minutes left and Trevor Parker finished off a nice pass from Pat Coulter to make the score 3-1. It would end that way and the Dukes would celebrate becoming the first NAHC organization to win the Challenge Cup ten times.

NAHC ALL-STAR GAME

The sixth annual NAHC all-star game marked the fifth time the defending Challenge Cup champions would face a team of stars from the other five clubs. That meant the Detroit Motors would face the best the league has to offer and Detroit was looking to duplicate what Toronto had done the previous year when the Dukes became the first team to beat the All-Stars.

Montreal defenseman Mike Driscoll, one of the Valiants collection of promising young rearguards, opened the scoring in the first period with Jeremy MacLean of Chicago drawing the assist. Detroit evened things with the only goal of the second period as veteran Graham Comeau scored with Francis McKenzie and Robert Kennedy drawing the assists. Detroit went up 2-1 midway through the third period when Vincent Arsenault set up defenseman Dixon Butler but with just over three minutes remaining the all-stars pulled even on a Quinton Pollack goal with his Toronto teammate Bobby Fuhrman and Max Ducharme of Chicago drawing the assists.

The game would end in a 2-2 draw with Comeau being named the fist star, Driscoll second and McKenzie third.

NAHC NOTES

• Boston scoring star Tommy Hart is expected to retire. The 38-year-old was limited to just 38 games and six points this season. Hart won the McDaniels Trophy in 1940-41 and led the NAHC in scoring two years later while being an integral part of five Boston Cup winning teams. He was the highest scoring NAHC player in the 1940s and if he retires as expected, will finish with 272 career goals and 639 points. Hart also won a Yeadon Trophy for Most Gentlemanly Player in 1950-51 and was a first team All-Star selection each of the first three years of the award beginning in 1947.
• Barrell is a well known name in sporting circles including long-time Toronto Dukes coach and former NAHC star Jack Barrell. Now there is another Barrell playing high level hockey as 17-year-old Benny Barrell made his Canadian Amateur Hockey Association debut with the Hull Hawks in 1954-55. The center, who is Jack's nephew and the son of former FABL catcher and manager Fred Barrell, had 11 goals and 35 points in 52 games for the last place Hawks.
• The Sherbrooke Industrials won the CAHA title this year while in the minor pro ranks the league champions were the Buffalo Bears in the Hockey Association of America and the Hollywood Stars in the Great West Hockey League.

Full Court Press: 1954-55 Season in Review -The players of the Rochester Rockets spent the summer replaying Game Seven in their minds. They had a seven-point lead after the first quarter that was maintained and extended to a nine-point lead at the half. The eventual champion New York Knights closed their deficit to five points entering the fourth quarter. Still, Rochester was 12 minutes away from its first championship.

It was the six points Rochester scored in that final quarter that was tattooed on their collective brain and led to a summer of re-examination and a healthy dose of soul searching. Larry Yim haunted their dreams, swatting every attempted shot into the stands.

When Rochester reported to training camp for the 1954-55 season, the team leaders, Marlin Patterson and Billy Bob McCright, addressed the team. The long-time head coach Al Kahler also provided a steady hand in guiding the team. The goal for training camp was not only to prepare physically for the season, but to make sure the Rockets were ready to mentally take the court again.

The result was beyond dispute. Rochester won its third regular season division title in its ten-year franchise history and took that next step to become the World’s Champions of basketball for the first time.

Rochester (48-24) was challenged throughout the season by a good Chicago (47-25) team, holding off the Panthers by a single game and Toronto (44-28) by four games. It was Rochester’s leaders that not only led them in the locker room, but they also led them on the court. McCright led the team in scoring at 17.5 points per game and rebounding at 14.4 boards per contest. Patterson was second in both categories (15 ppg, 11.2 rpg). McCright and Patterson were also formidable altering shots, combining for 5.5 blocks per game.

Chicago was bitten by the injury bug that made a difference in the divisional race. Charlie Barrell missed seven weeks in the middle of the season with patella tendinitis in his knee. The injury held Barrell to 52 games in the 1954-55 season where he scored a career-low 12.3 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. Luther Gordon had another solid season, averaging 21.3 points and 13.7 rebounds per game, but the 28-year-old sprained an ankle the day after Christmas that kept Gordon out for over three weeks.

The top three in the West was never in doubt, as the also-rans in the division was Cleveland (29-43) and Detroit (14-58). Detroit suffered its third-straight last-place finish, but the franchise is on relatively solid footing. Cleveland, however, was not, and the Crushers fourth-place finish was too much for their fans or their owner could handle. Cleveland folded after the 1954-55 season and the big prize was Ziggy Rickard, who owns 17 of the Crushers top 20 single-game scoring records. The five-time 20-point scorer had his worst season of his seven-year career, only reaching 18.6 points and 11.1 rebounds a game, matching his scoring average from his rookie season. Detroit had the first pick in the dispersal draft following the season and quickly gobbled Rickard up to boost the sagging franchise in hopes are climbing the ladder in 1955-56.

The Eastern Division is only a quartet, but it was competitive all season long. The last two champions reside in the division in Philadelphia and New York, but it was a return to form for the Washington Statesmen (39-33), who look to be back from basketball wilderness, winning the division by three games over Philadelphia. All the while, however, the Statesmen still managed to make the playoffs in the two years between division titles. The first place showing was its 11th division title in Washington’s combined 18-year franchise history in the ABC and FBL. The connective tissue between the championship-caliber Statesmen teams and the new breed is Ernie Fischer, who has matured into a team leader, pacing the Statesmen with 13.7 points and 12.5 rebounds per game.

The Phantoms (36-36) survived challenges by Boston and New York for home-court advantage in the Divisional Semifinals, but it was not decided until the final couple of weeks that Philadelphia would even qualify. The team is firmly built around fourth-year pro Mel Turcotte, who led the team with 15.1 points and added 11.5 rebounds per contest. The torch was officially passed, as celebrated point guard Jerry Hubbard lost his starting spot to T.J. Grimm (11.2 ppg).

Boston (34-38) edged New York (33-39) in a fight that went down to the wire with the Centurions making the playoffs, leaving the defending champion Knights out in the cold. Perhaps it was the grueling physical nature of his game or the extra playoff games from the season before, but 32-year-old Larry Yim had a down year by his standards. Yim dropped his output by three points, two rebounds and two-and-a-half blocked shots per game, which was enough for New York to lose its edge.

While the Rockets repeated as champions in the Western and rested up, Washington went back to its normal perch in the Eastern draw, happy to let the Centurions and Phantoms elbow and muscle each other about and Boston survived a hard-fought victory that went the entire five games. Boston was not too tired to give Washington everything the Cents had to give. The memories of the end of Washington’s court dominance were still fresh in fans’ minds. It was Boston that put an end to Washington’s Eastern dominance in the 1952 Eastern Division Semifinal.

The rival Statesmen were the only thing separating the Centurions from their first berth in the FBL Finals. Adding to the trio of Morgan Melcher, Gerald Carter, and Thomas Abbott, who all averaged in double figures during the regular season for Boston, Brian Threadgill had a solid playoff, salvaging a poor season by averaging 10.7 points and 16.3 rebounds per game. Boston, a team that was one game from missing the playoffs, earned its way into the Finals by defeating Washington, four games to two.

If the Centurions thought of themselves as a viable underdog, Rochester was “The Little Engine That Could”. Rochester was by far the smallest city in the loop, but the Rockets were every bit as formidable as most other teams in professional basketball. Boston, for instance, had never won a division title, but Rochester had three of them. Rochester had big men to deal with the bruising style of the East game and the Rockets were well-rested and well-tested.

After Chicago breezed past Toronto, three games to one, in the Western Divisional Semifinal, the Panthers were healthy and at their best, but Rochester managed to survive in seven games. It was Rochester’s first playoff series since the seventh game meltdown in the fourth quarter of last year’s Finals, but Rochester exorcised some of their demons, earning the right to exorcise the rest of them in the next series.

Rochester seemed to get stronger as the postseason went on. The Rockets hit their mark against a Centurions team that was under .500 for the regular season and dispatched Boston in five games to hoist the championship trophy for the first time. This marked the third straight year a team ended the season taking its first drink of champagne from the championship cup.

Patterson and McCright were the coal that fired the Little Engine, combining for 32.1 points between the two of them. However, the little-known guard Verle Schoonmaker surprised everyone in the Finals by walking away with the Most Valuable Player of the playoffs. Schoonmaker, the 25-year-old in his third year out of Travis College, a school known more for their elite player on the gridiron. Schoonmaker had a lackluster regular season, averaging only 5.4 points on 24% shooting, but he pitched in 5.8 assists a game. Schoonmaker made marginal improvements in both categories in the postseason (7.5 ppg, 5.6 apg), but the 6-foot-2 point guard was active on the boards, as he came away with a 9.8 rebounding average in 12 postseason games.

A EUROPEAN INVASION AND NEAR TRAGEDY IN THE RING

For the first time since Herm Murphy's brief reign in 1932 an ABF World Heavyweight championship bout will be contested in Europe and not involve an American boxer. Joe Brinkworth, a rising star on the British fight scene, finally got his chance at Joey Tierney after circumstances prevented them meeting in the previous couple of years. Given the opportunity, Brinkworth did what no American boxer could do, steal the title away from Tierney.

The 28 year old Detroit fighter had been the heavyweight champion since replacing the retired Hector Sawyer in 1952 and made 10 successful title defenses before running into a Brinkworth brutal cross in the 10th round of their September bout. Up until that point Tierney, who had knocked out a clearly overmatched Gil Hilliard in January and won a clean decision over Even Rives in April, looked in control of the bout with the Englishman.

One punch turned a fight around that Tierney was well ahead on the scorecards. Tierney did find his legs after that knockdown but was clearly on wobbly pegs and was floored two more times in that fateful 10th round with the last knockdown being one he could not recover from.

It made Brinkworth the first European born heavyweight champ since Jochen Schrotter's four year run before the war was halted in 1940 by Hector Sawyer. Schrotter defended his title exclusively in the United States but Brinkworth has returned to England with the belt and plans to face fellow countryman Steve Leivers in January. It will mark the first time a European born champion defended the title on the continent since Murphy lost to American Roscoe McGrath in 1932. The belt has been to Europe as recently as 1949 when Hector Sawyer made a tour but it was always in the hands of an American.

The British invasion was not limited to the heavyweights as a 26-year-old welterweight from Scotland by the name of Lewis Kernuish also spent a brief stint as champion. The welterweight title changed hands three times this year with Danny Rutledge falling to Kernuish in August after he had knocked out veteran Colorado fighter George "Mr. Sandman" Gibbs in the third round of their April bout. Kernuish spent less than four months as the world champion before he suffered a technical knock loss in his first defense. Lonnie Griffin, the Newark Nightmare, took care of business against Kernuish to regain the title he had briefly held last year after Rutledge was disqualified in their bout but he later lost a rematch with Rutledge.

Near tragedy in the middleweight division in September when George Hatchell, who took the title away from Jim Ward in March, faced Ward in a rematch in Los Angeles. The rematch was halted in the sixth round after three rounds after they has collided due to what was deemed an accidental head butt. Hatchell appeared to be the more seriously injured of the duo and three rounds later, with blood flowing into his eye the bout was stopped and, because the injury was accidental, it went to the scorecards. Hatchell would retain the title with a narrow one point victory on each of the three judges' cards. After the fight, it was Ward not Hatchell, who found himself in distress in his locker room. The challenger would collapse in his and be rushed to hospital with bleeding on the brain. He did survive but was left with some permanent damage and his ring career was over. The 33-year-old New York native finishes his career with a 40-6-1 record and a very brief stint as the ABF world middleweight champion.

After no fighter born in the Pacific northwest had ever won a world title there have now been two middleweight champs in just over a year hailing from the state of Washington. Seattle fight veteran Joe Moore had a very brief run with the title before losing to Ward and Hatchell, who was born in Puyallup, WA. is now the title holder. Hatchell also staged his first defense in Seattle, beating California native Eric Lynch in May marking the first time a world title fight was held in the state.

NOTES: Jim Ward was not the only former middleweight champion to retire this year. The end of the line came for Millard Shelton and John Edmonds as well. The two were connected as Shelton upset Edmonds in a 1951 bout to claim the title. Edmonds had two stints as champion, beating Frank Melanson in 1947 before losing a rematch to The Tank five months later and then a long from in 1950-51 when he made a pair of successful defenses including a third meeting with Melanson.

BOLOGNA ON BOXING: 1955 -It has been 15 years since someone other than Hector Sawyer or Joey Tierney had worn the Heavyweight Championship belt. Tierney had huge shoes to fill and entered his September fight with Joe Brinkworth with 10 successful title defenses, which was fewer than Sawyer’s record 18 successful defenses, but one of only three heavyweights since the division was founded in 1910 to have 10 or more.

The 28-year-old champion had been set to fight Brinkworth in 1953, but a training injury forced him to bow out in favor of Ben Shotton. Shotton gave Tierney possibly his toughest test as champion, as Shotton fought Tierney to a draw before losing in the rematch. Brinkworth bided his time, waited for his moment, and he finally received his chance. Tierney was fresh off two wins earlier this year, a pummeling of Gil Hilliard that culminated in a sixth-round knockout, and a unanimous decision against Evan Rivers.

The Tierney-Brinkworth bout was in Detroit at the Thompson Palladium. Tierney was off to a good start in the first round when the Englishman caught the champion with a stiff right in the closing seconds that gave fans in attendance an idea of the type of fight it would become. Brinkworth had a better second round with a similar ending to the round with his lethal right hand making it tough for Tierney.

The two pugilists traded rounds with Brinkworth matching Tierney, punch for punch and round for round. Brinkworth plainly dominated Tierney in the seventh and eighth rounds after experiencing some swelling since the fifth round. Brinkworth knew it was now or never and he decided to punch his way out of trouble. Tierney’s footwork minimized the damage. Through nine rounds, the fight was even. The tenth round sent shockwaves across the Atlantic.

Just as Tierney started the year by knocking Gil Hilliard three times in the deciding sixth round, it was Brinkworth who knocked the champion down three times, ending the proceedings with a knockout 2:38 into the tenth round. Brinkworth may have waited two extra years for his title shot, but he did not miss it. In the December rankings, Tierney has fallen all the way to the fifth-ranked heavyweight despite only suffering his second loss in his professional career. For Brinkworth (36-4-0), he became the first European-based heavyweight champion since Jochen Schrotter lost to Sawyer in 1940.

Tierney was last year’s Bologna Boxer of the Year, so this year’s winner may not want the honor. George Hatchell was as surprised by his 1955 as I was. Hatchell, who hails from Puyallup, Washington, is only 23, but proved to be wise beyond his years, as he rose to receive a title shot in March, defeating Jim Ward, who seemed to keep the throne warm for a more suitable middleweight king as the year ended. Ward did acquit himself well, knocking Hatchell down in the fifth that caused an eight-count on Hatchell that almost changed the narrative. Hatchell won in a split decision and moved on to prove the win was not a fluke.

Hatchell’s first title defense was against Eric Lynch. The bout went into the 15th and final round, with Hatchell owning a slight edge in the judges’ minds. With the fight hanging in the balance, Lynch was called for his second low blow – and fifth foul – in the fight. The referee, Dean Stone, had seen enough and just nine seconds into the final round, disqualified Lynch, which gave Hatchell the win.

A rematch was in the offing, but it was Hatchell’s camp granting Jim Ward, and it was the most peculiar bout of the year. While both fighters had a round to their credit, the third round is where the fight started to unravel. Ward was warned for kidney punches early in the round, Hatchell gave Ward a headlock later in the round, but at 2:20 of the third round, a wayward attempt at an uppercut from Ward missed Hatchell, but in the follow-through, both fighters’ heads knocked together, which opened a gash above Hatchell’s right eyebrow.

While the fight continued, veteran referee Dunk McGuire finally stopped the fight in the sixth round because the cut had reopened, and the blood was dripping into Hatchell’s eye and impairing his vision. McGuire called the fight to protect Hatchell from a potential injury, but it was Ward that benefited the most from the forced stoppage. The fight went to the cards through five rounds and Hatchell was ahead, 48-47, on each of the three scorecards.

However, the decision was quickly put on the back burner when news surfaced a few minutes later of Ward needing emergency assistance. Ward collapsed in his dressing room shortly after returning from the ring, which was later diagnosed as bleeding on the brain. If McGuire did not stop the fight, there could have been a terrible tragedy in full view of the fighting public. Ward would immediately retire, as he looks to recover and lead a normal life.

Hatchell (26-3-1) adventurous year has earned him the Bologna Boxer of the Year.

In the welterweight division, Lonnie Griffin pestered and annoyed his way to winning the championship by disqualification against long-time belt-holder Danny Rutledge. By the end of last year, Rutledge won the title back in a subdued affair that surprised onlookers. Griffin would get the belt back in 1955, but not from Rutledge, who survived one successful title defense in a dominant showing against George Gibbs before bowing to Scot Lewis Kernuish in August.

Kernuish took on Griffin near the challenger’s hometown of Newark, N.J.. The fight took place at the hallowed boxing mecca, Bigsby Garden. Griffin had the upper hand early and earned a big knockdown in the sixth round, where the champion Kernuish got to his feet at the count of six, but did not look steady at all. Kernuish found his form in the late rounds, knocking Griffin down in the ninth and 11th round. Kernuish was on his way to holding on to his belt, but a cut eyelid that was reopened at the most inopportune time, caused referee Tommy Kimmons to put a stop to the fight in the 12th round and hand the belt back to Griffin.

As Griffin looks over his shoulder, the top-ranked contender in the welterweight division is none other than Danny Rutledge, who must be licking his chops at the prospects of getting another shot at the title and running over Griffin to get that title back.

FROM THE LOCAL PAPERS

Tales From The Den- Does 1955 Signal a Return to Relevance for Toronto? The Toronto Wolves appeared to have turned a corner in the Continental Association after the 1955 season in which they almost, but not quite, made it .500 finishing 76-78. This is the most wins for the team since 1948 which is the only winning season Toronto fans have seen in the last decade after being near the top of the CA through the war years.

The team remained at .500 through the end of May but then stumbled in June at 12-16. Fans were not be blamed when they woke up on Dominion Day thinking "Here we go again." Just as in previous seasons July and August have been two months of horror for fans as the team sunk steadily in the standings. This year the team had winning months in both: going 16-14 in July and 16-13 in August which allowed the Wolves to enter September one game over the breakeven mark. A lackluster 10-13 final month quashed any hopes of a first division finish in the standings.

The team may not have reached the level of the two frontrunners- Kansas City and Cleveland- but they are moving forward as opposed to being mired in the CA basement. The Wolves had a winning at home at 40-37 for the first time in recent memory along with playing the top two teams almost to a standstill with a 10-12 record against KC and 11-11 when the Foresters were the opposition in 1955. The Kings eventually won the CA outdistancing Cleveland by 8 games for the right to face a powerhouse Detroit Dynamos team in the Series. KC pushed the final to the full seven games before losing a heartbreaker 7-6 in 10 before over 35000 packed into Thompson Field on cool early October afternoon in Detroit.

The 1955 edition of the Wolves team was not stellar in any facet of the game. The turnaround came from consistency in most areas rather than dominance in any one area. Offensively the team was led again by a rookie, Tom Reed, who at 24 made the jump from A-ball in Davenport to the FABL. He finished 4th in the batting average in the CA putting together a .324/.383/.564 season in 129 games with 25 HR 80 RBI while providing above average defense in left. At the plate the rest of team was nothing to write home about most being below league average in the hitting department. One ray of hope may be the performance of John Wells, as in his 5th year in the FABL the former first overall draft pick finally started to contribute with his bat posting a .275/.357/.759 in a 144 games. Wells will never be known for his glove work but seems to have found a home in the everyday lineup either at second or third. His bat may makeup for his defensive lapses, though at only 25 he has time to raise all levels of his game.

Gone are the glory days of Wolves leading the CA in pitching. George Garrison, Joe Hancock are still putting up impressive numbers from the mound. The problem is they are know plying their trade in the Federal Association. In 1955 the Toronto staff went from being awful to just bad. The starting staff was led by Lynn Horn (15-10 3.40), who made the All-Star team at 28 and Zane Kelly, 30, who put together a 11-5 3.70 season in 17 starts after being summoned from the bullpen which remained a disaster area. After showing some promise in 1954 Les Ledbetter had another tough year leading to him being removed from the rotation in June after going 1-8 5.97 as a starter . Touted as a generational talent when he was selected first overall in 1947, Ledbetter finished the year at 2-9 4.80. Time is beginning to run short for Ledbetter to salvage a career.

For the team to make the next step there must be a major improvement in the field. The Wolves again were the again near the bottom of the CA fielding the ball turning less than 70% of balls put into play into outs while making 128 miscues, 5 more than the number of double plays turned, which was also the least in the CA. Run prevention must be Manager Jim Whitehead's focus in 1956. The team will not move forward unless they can turn batted balls into outs at a higher rate. Wells is already suspect in the field, you may be able to hide one substandard glove but no more than one.

The Wolves minor league system took a big drop from 1st to 8th in 1955. Whitey Stewart spent the year in Toronto going 15-14, 4.13 and showing promise for the future. Tom Reed was already mentioned, Jim Montgomery was used exclusively in relief at the top level in 1955. He struggled with 5.06 ERA in 68 games winning 5 losing 9 while notching 17 saves. Montgomery should be used in a starting role next season. The Wolves top prospect is now 1B Joe Parker, 20, who struggled all year in both Tuscaloosa and Vancouver. Skinny Bennett, a first round pick in '50, may be behind the plate next season after strong .283/.375/374 season in Buffalo though the team did just move Joe Cook to the 40-man protected roster while Bennett remains in Buffalo

Tales From The Manor: Renes Leads Dukes To Challenge Cup -In a season in which goal scoring was marginally down Toronto managed to claim first place for the second year in a row with a 36-23-11 record for 83 points, six more than runners up Detroit.

The story during the 1954-55 season was the netminding of Scott Renes who led the NAHC in GAA (2.05), Save % (.933) and Wins (32), a goaltender's triple crown. The Dukes again started the season unevenly, by the beginning of December the team had a record under .500 at 9-10-3 before catching fire. For the balance of the campaign Toronto put together a record of 27-13-8 including a 10 game undefeated streak from January 23- February 13. After a 3-2 loss to Boston at home on February 13th the team won 9 straight to give them a record of 17-1-2 from the end of January to the middle of March.

During the regular season Chicago's ageless wonder, Tommy Burns at 35, led the NAHC in points with 75 and goals with 35 while Dukes star Quinton Pollack registered the most assists with 46. Over half of Burns' goals, 18, were on the power play. Detroit, who led the league in goals with 203 also had the leader in plus/minus, Vincent Arsenault was +29. The next 4 in that category were all Dukes along with Pollack at 7. Dukes had 6 of the top 10 in +/- which led the their success both in the regular and post season.

The big line in Toronto, Carlson-Pollack- Galbraith, did not have as dominant a year as in past season mainly due to Galbraith being limited to only 36 games due to injury the major one being a torn triceps suffered early in the New Year.

in the playoffs the Dukes met the Packers in semis. Packers fell to fourth place with a 30-31-9 record a decrease of 10 points from '53-54. Toronto took the first games at home 3-1, 6-2 then took a stranglehold on series with a 3-2 win at Lakeside Aud on a goal by 1953 off season trade acquisition Dan Russell with 62 seconds left in the first extra period, Russell has been splitting his time between Toronto, Cleveland the last two seasons as an injury replacement for the Dukes. The Packers won a game at home 4-2 on April 4th before the Dukes closed out the series at home with a 4-1 win before 14,235 happy fans in the Gardens. Onto the final to meet the Bees from Boston who took out the injury riddled Motors in 6 games. Boston only finished two points behind Detroit during the regular schedule.

In a tight checking first game of the Challenge Cup Boston quickly erased the Dukes' home ice advantage with a 3-2 win on Conn Cundiff's goal 2:11 into OT after Mark Brunell has tied the game for Boston with only 2:10 remaining in the third. Three nights later with a crowd of 14235 in Garden's seats sensing that this was a must win for the Dukes were treated to a goaltending battle between Oscar James of Boston and Renes. In a highly spirited contest the Dukes tested James 37 times, while the visitors fired 29 between the pipes at Renes. The only time the lamp was lit came when Trevor Parker who had 22 goals on the season managed a short handed marker at 13:24 of the middle frame. The turning point came at the end of the second when Maurice Charette received a major plus a game with 42 seconds remaining in the period. Renes along the Toronto defenders stood tall killing off the 4:18 remaining in the major at the start of the third allowing Toronto to escape with a 1-0 victory.

Boston returned home to win both games three, four by 3-1, 2-0 scores where both James, Renes were solid in net with James just a little better: James made 69 saves on 70 shots while Renes turned aside 68 of 73 in the two games. With their backs against the wall the Dukes finally solved James in Game 5 after opening the scoring early in the first skated to a 5-2 win to bring some hope back to their fans. After an off-day just over 1600 packed Denny Arena with hopes of seeing the Bs circling the ice with Challenge Cup at the end of the game. The Dukes had other ideas, Quinton Pollack staked the visitors to 1-0 lead about halfway through the first only to have Jacob Godin tie the score at 14:29 of the second with Painchaud off for roughing. Alex Lavalliere restored Toronto's lead with 30 seconds remaining in the second. Painchaud redeemed himself to put the Dukes up 3-1 with 6:23 left in the game only to have Craig Simpson cut the lead back to one 76 seconds later, Pollack's second of the night into an empty net setup Game Seven for all the marbles.

With the stage set for the winner take all seventh game ticket scalpers were said to have made a fortune hawking tickets outside the Gardens with tickets going for up 50 times their face value. The Dukes laid siege to James' net in the first outshooting Boston 16-4 in a scoreless first. A hush fell over the crowd at when at 7:47 of the second Mathieu Harnois capitalized on a rebound to open the scoring in another period the Bs were outshot 15-6. Dukes continued to buzz the Boston goal, they finally rewarded when Lavalliere converted from Parker, Featherstone at 12:50. Less than two minutes later the roof almost came off the building when Doug Zimmerman tipped the puck past James on passes from Galbraith, Pollack to give the home side a 2-1 lead. Both teams pressed in the third forcing the keepers into a number of difficult saves. Trevor Parker put the game and Cup out of reach for Boston with just under 5 minutes left in regulation. After the final siren the party began in Toronto as the Dukes secured the Cup with a 3-1 victory to complete the comeback from a 3-1 deficit in games.

Coach Barrell- To say I am pleased with the season would be vastly understated, after a slow start we fought through injuries, line shuffling to bring home another title. That may have been the most complete team I have had the pleasure to coach. With Lou in and out of the lineup we knew we probably were not going to out score teams so we concentrated on eliminating mistakes in our end that led to goals by the opponent. Scott was incredible in net all year. The original idea to split the games in net between him, Charlie Dell each making 30 to 40 starts until Renes got so hot I had to keep him between the pipes. Give Dell credit, he continued to work on his game without any complaints. I am most proud of the team when everyone who played more than 50 games was on the proper side of the +/-, Renes was good but also got a lot of support. Going forward I have to start giving the younger guys more prominent roles to take some of the weight off the veterans.

The Year That Was
Current events from 1955

• Jan 22- The Pentagon announces a plan to develop ICBM's armed with nuclear weapons.
• Jan 28- Congress authorizes President Eisenhower to use force to protect Formosa from Red China.
• Feb 12- Eisenhower sends the first US military advisors to Vietnam.
• Mar 9- Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old African American girl, refuses to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, AL. to a white woman after the driver demands it.
• Apr 12- The polio vaccine, have passed large-scale trials, receives full approval by the FDA
• Arp 15 - Ray Kroc opens the first McDonalds in Des Plaines, IL.
• Aug 19- Hurricane Diane hits the northeast, killing 200 and causing over $1 billion in damage.
• Sep 24- President Eisenhower suffers a coronary thrombosis while on vacation in Denver.
• Nov 1- A time bomb explodes in the cargo hold of a United Airlines plane flying above Colorado, killing all 39 on board.
  Investigators later learned that John Gilbert Graham was responsible for the bomb in a bid to kill his mother for a life insurance payout.
• Dec 1- Rosa Parks is arrested for refusing to surrender here seat on a bus in Montgomery, AL.
• Dec 5- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other Black ministers form the Montgomery Improvement Association to coordinate a bus boycott.
• Dec 31- General Motors becomes the first American corporation to make over $1 billion US dollars in a year.