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ayaghmour2 · 04-03-2025, 12:09 PM

SEPTEMBER 9, 1963

Pioneers Win Five Straight
Extend Association Lead to Five Four Games

Taking advantage of a mini-homestand, the St. Louis Pioneers swept both the Washington Eagles and Minneapolis Millers, improving to 94-51 on the season and an absurd 55-17 at Pioneer Park. St. Louis' star-studded squad actually had trouble early in the week, dropping two of three to the Millers in Minneapolis, but it was just a minor speed bump on what could culminate in a second consecutive Federal Association.

As he does so often, Bob Bell (.356, 37, 96, 9) led the charge, as the star middle infielder took home Player of the Week in the Fed. Moving over to short after the acquisition of Joe Kleman (.287, 3, 20; .286, 13, 80), there has been no decrease in offensive production, as Bell put on a show this week. 15-for-29, he added 3 doubles, 2 homers, 4 RBIs, 3 walks, 10 runs, and a steal. A third Whitney would be tough, but Bell has hit an outstanding .356/.435/.644 (180 OPS+) with 24 doubles, 10 triples, 37 homers, 96 RBIs, 108 runs, 74 walks, and 9 steals. His 9.1 WAR is still just under a win shy of his third consecutive double-digit WAR season, and his 192 hits are a career high. He can set a few other personal bests, but for the award, he'll have competition even within.

That comes from 23-year-old Danny Davis (.344, 39, 115, 10), who decided that sophomore slumps just do not apply to high-upside superstars like himself. Leading the Fed with 39 homers and 115 RBIs, the-soon-to-be 24-year-old has hit an excellent .344/.392/.649 (169 OPS+) with 32 doubles, 10 triples, 10 steals, and 103 runs scored. When Bill Bather (.285, 13, 41, 12) hit the IL, it was Davis who shifted to center to cover, and now the 2-Time All-Star is back in his customary left. With him, Bather, and Bill Tutwiler (.296, 2, 13, 6; .291, 11, 55, 17) going left to right with August Batter of the Month Jerry Smith (.261, 22, 69, 8) giving first base a go. All but 2 of his career first base appearances have came in this season, as the now 35-year-old will move where he has to be to keep his bat in the lineup.

With 17 games left in the season, 9 at home and 8 on the road, the Pioneers are firmly in the driver's seat. The first eight are on the road, visiting the Gothams (4), Miners (3), and Suns (1), before they host the Gothams (4), Keystones (2), and Miners (3) to finish things out. Having already finished up with the two teams within single digits of them, it should be an easy cruise to the postseason, as they can rely on their big bats and front four of Frenchy Mack (17-5, 2.09, 182), Steve Madden (16-8, 2.95, 137), Billy Hasson (16-7, 3.15, 167), and Danny Daniels (16-10, 3.26, 161) to take them through the finish line.

*** Kings Win Seven Straight, Magic Number Falls to 4 ***

It's been known for most of the season, but we're now just four decisions away from it becoming official. The Kansas City Kings are the 1963 Continental Association champions.

With a 15.5 game lead over the Stars, they just need a combination of four Stars losses and Kings wins, something that could be completed in their road series against the Cannons. Away for four, including a Monday double header, four wins is all it would take, but if the Stars can't handle hosting the Sailors, KC may just need a win or two on the road to settle it.

More interesting then the pennant race is the triple crown race, as Hank Williams continues to lead in average (.383), homers (40), and RBIs (129). Average seems to be locked up, the next closest hitter is Heinie Spitler (.361, 6, 87, 12), but the Sailors star tore his PCL and will miss the rest of the season. Even if Hank goes 0-for-his-next-39, he'd have a slight batting average lead over Spitler, and I think unless he's forced to go up to bat without a bat, that is just not possible. Closer is the home run and RBI race, as Williams has two more homers then Jack Gibson (.286, 38, 101) and seven more RBIs then Otis Haldeman (.319, 23, 122, 6). In both cases, a PA advantage helps Williams, as the only reason Gibson isn't leading homers is a midseason injury, and Williams has almost 50 more PAs then Haldeman. He should be able to survive in RBIs, but this is Gibson's third time hitting 38 or more homers, and he's already got 5 in his last 7 games.

Tales From The Den
Wolves Officially Eliminated in CA

It was only a matter of time, this week the chances of Toronto advancing to the World Championship Series became zero. Kansas City will represent the CA against the best the FA has to offer in October barring a collapse of epic proportions over thew next three weeks. The Kings will probably set a record for most wins during the regular season currently held bey the 1895 NY Gothams who posted a record of 105-35. Granted, a 162 game schedule allows for a higher win total even with that the Kings are on pace to win 114. They are currently tied for 8th most wins in a season all-time. This is a team that will be remembered in FABL history, Kings lead the CA 15 1/2 games with a magic number of 4 on September 9th with 19 games to play.

The Wolves who are all auditioning for 1964 roles had a good week at 5-2 starting with a doubleheader sweep on Labour Day at Dominion Stadium. In the first game Medley won his 15th of the season by a 10-2 score in the a game that was put away with a 5 run seventh led by Clyde Fisher's 3 run shot. In the nightcap before a crowd of almost 12000 Hoxworth pitched well for a second straight start since returning from AAA in 4-3 game for the Wolves. The last two starts, both wins, have lowered Hoxworth's FABL ERA in 1963 from an ungodly 9.06 to a just awful 7.68 in 68 IP. It is not much progress, the staff will take any glimmers of hope from Hoxworth at this point in the season. In a scheduling oddity after an off-day Tuesday the LA Stars came to town for a short two game series before heading to NY. Wolves won their fourth straight on a complete game by Davidson when again the turning point was in the seventh scoring 3 on a Joe Parker round tripper gave the margin of victory in the 4-1 final. Sam Haygood was given a start by Hohlt to replace Colantuono that did not work out well. Haygood left in the fifth after allowing 6 runs on 7 hits in a game that ended 8-4 Stars. Colantuono's return from injury is a good sign, even better as Medley will miss his next start will a sprained knee.

Wolves were in Dyckman Stadium for a weekend series with the Imperials before returning home on Monday. Friday evening Toronto won a 1-0 game that gave Smith a 12-9 record. Again he could only go 6 in what is becoming a topic of discussion in the front office. Smith will have a conditioning program to follow during the winter in the hopes that 6 innings will not be the end of the line for him in 1964. Loeffler gave up a run in each of the first three innings on Saturday then one more in the eighth before being relieved by Campbell. Wolves could only score 3 in a game in which NY won their 46th of the season. The series finale on Sunday Medley cruised to his 16th win of the year before hurting his knee. The final was 11-1 with Medley driving in 3 with a bases clearing double in 6. On his second double of the day he came up lame after sliding into second.

Hohlt's team will be challenged this week with 8 games at home in 7 days with Chicago then KC supplying the opposition.

Chief outfielder Rod Shearer (.261, 13, 79, 4) completed the hat-trick of milestones, becoming the 9th player to hit 400 FABL home runs. It was a solo shot in the 3rd inning of Thursday's 7-1 win over the Millers, as he took 26-year-old righty Jack Jordan (0-1, 12.75, 6) deep. It may have took Shearer a while for 400, but 401 came the next day, as he hit a three-run homer in the Chiefs 8-7 loss to the Minutemen, as Boston got 3 in the 8th and 4 in the 9th to walk it off.
King Ken Newman (.313, 26, 94, 7) also had a nice round home run, hitting the 300th of his 15-year career. The 27th player with 300 FABL home runs, Newman took rookie September callup John Mullins (0-3, 6.14, 13) deep in the first for a homer in his second consecutive game. For the 20-year-old Mullins, it was his 3rd career FABL start, and he was tagged with 10 runs, although only 2 of them were earned.
Competing with Newman's teammate Hank Williams for the RBI lead, Otis Haldeman added 12 to take home Player of the Week. Batting 16-for-29, he hit 2 homers and a triple, scoring 7 runs as he makes his Kellogg case. One of the many talented rookies in the Conti this season, Haldeman has hit .319/.350/.541 (133 OPs+) on the season with 30 doubles, 10 triples, 23 homers, 122 RBIs, 67 runs, and 6 steals. In an alternate universe, Haldeman, Newman, and Williams would all be teammates, has Haldeman was taken 15th by the Kings in the 1959 draft before being sent to San Francisco that Fall in a six-player deal.
Dallas may have surpassed the century mark for losses, now with 103 on the season, but they did see catcher Tom Leisher (.229, 6, 40) hit for the first cycle in team history. Coming over from the Sailors in the expansion draft, most games haven't been this successful, but he was a perfect 4-for-4 in a 6-2 win over his former team. A veteran of eight FABL seasons, he's hit just .229/.309/.319 (66 OPS+) in 1963, but he'll have this big performance to remember the year with.
Gotham stopper Jack White (9-7, 9, 3.57, 83) will step away from the team for a period of time, as the 20-year-old righty is taking a two-week personal leave of absence. A graduated top-100 prospect, White has outstanding stuff, and has worked to a 3.57 ERA (119 ERA+), 3.84 FIP (90 FIP-), and 1.22 WHIP in a successful rookie season. The strikeouts have been big, as he has 83 in 90.2 innings, leading to a 2.6 K/BB and 22.1 K%.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 09/09/1963

U.S. TV presenter Walter Cronkite introduced the first broadcast of CBS Evening News with the statement, "Good evening from our CBS newsroom in New York, on this, the first broadcast of network television's first half-hour news program." The first show was aired at 6:30 p.m. local time and included a pre-recorded segment of Cronkite's interview with U.S. President John F. Kennedy. Previously, the three U.S. networks had run their daily national news for fifteen minutes.
The United States federal minimum wage was increased to $1.25 an hour.
All 80 people aboard Swissair Flight 306, a jet airliner on its way to Rome, were killed when the aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff from Zurich. The plane, a Sud Aviation Caravelle, caught fire and came down near the town of Dürrenäsch. Most of the 44 passengers were from the tiny village of Humlikon, including the town's mayor and its entire city council, all of whom had planned to disembark at Geneva for a visit to an agricultural experiment station.
For the first time ever, black students registered at white schools in the segregated U.S. state of Alabama; in some places, they faced state troopers deployed by Governor George Wallace to prevent integration. That night, the bombing of a black household in Birmingham triggered a riot, and a black 20-year-old was shot to death by police.
British model and showgirl Christine Keeler was arrested for perjury, after witnesses established that she had lied under oath in the criminal trial of Aloysius Gordon in the course of the Profumo affair.
The 16 Gemini astronaut candidates began training in water and land parachute landing techniques, necessary because in low level abort (under 70,000 feet (21,000 m)) the pilot would be ejected from the Gemini spacecraft and would descend by personnel parachute. In the training, a towed parasail carried each astronaut to as high as 400 feet (120 m) before the towline was released and the astronaut glided to a landing.
Voters in Algeria overwhelmingly approved that nation's first constitution, in a referendum with a 96.8% yes vote.

04-03-2025, 12:09 PM	#1108
ayaghmour2 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2018 Posts: 2,999	September 9th, 1963 SEPTEMBER 9, 1963 Pioneers Win Five Straight Extend Association Lead to Five Four Games Taking advantage of a mini-homestand, the St. Louis Pioneers swept both the Washington Eagles and Minneapolis Millers, improving to 94-51 on the season and an absurd 55-17 at Pioneer Park. St. Louis' star-studded squad actually had trouble early in the week, dropping two of three to the Millers in Minneapolis, but it was just a minor speed bump on what could culminate in a second consecutive Federal Association. As he does so often, Bob Bell (.356, 37, 96, 9) led the charge, as the star middle infielder took home Player of the Week in the Fed. Moving over to short after the acquisition of Joe Kleman (.287, 3, 20; .286, 13, 80), there has been no decrease in offensive production, as Bell put on a show this week. 15-for-29, he added 3 doubles, 2 homers, 4 RBIs, 3 walks, 10 runs, and a steal. A third Whitney would be tough, but Bell has hit an outstanding .356/.435/.644 (180 OPS+) with 24 doubles, 10 triples, 37 homers, 96 RBIs, 108 runs, 74 walks, and 9 steals. His 9.1 WAR is still just under a win shy of his third consecutive double-digit WAR season, and his 192 hits are a career high. He can set a few other personal bests, but for the award, he'll have competition even within. That comes from 23-year-old Danny Davis (.344, 39, 115, 10), who decided that sophomore slumps just do not apply to high-upside superstars like himself. Leading the Fed with 39 homers and 115 RBIs, the-soon-to-be 24-year-old has hit an excellent .344/.392/.649 (169 OPS+) with 32 doubles, 10 triples, 10 steals, and 103 runs scored. When Bill Bather (.285, 13, 41, 12) hit the IL, it was Davis who shifted to center to cover, and now the 2-Time All-Star is back in his customary left. With him, Bather, and Bill Tutwiler (.296, 2, 13, 6; .291, 11, 55, 17) going left to right with August Batter of the Month Jerry Smith (.261, 22, 69, 8) giving first base a go. All but 2 of his career first base appearances have came in this season, as the now 35-year-old will move where he has to be to keep his bat in the lineup. With 17 games left in the season, 9 at home and 8 on the road, the Pioneers are firmly in the driver's seat. The first eight are on the road, visiting the Gothams (4), Miners (3), and Suns (1), before they host the Gothams (4), Keystones (2), and Miners (3) to finish things out. Having already finished up with the two teams within single digits of them, it should be an easy cruise to the postseason, as they can rely on their big bats and front four of Frenchy Mack (17-5, 2.09, 182), Steve Madden (16-8, 2.95, 137), Billy Hasson (16-7, 3.15, 167), and Danny Daniels (16-10, 3.26, 161) to take them through the finish line. * Kings Win Seven Straight, Magic Number Falls to 4 * It's been known for most of the season, but we're now just four decisions away from it becoming official. The Kansas City Kings are the 1963 Continental Association champions. With a 15.5 game lead over the Stars, they just need a combination of four Stars losses and Kings wins, something that could be completed in their road series against the Cannons. Away for four, including a Monday double header, four wins is all it would take, but if the Stars can't handle hosting the Sailors, KC may just need a win or two on the road to settle it. More interesting then the pennant race is the triple crown race, as Hank Williams continues to lead in average (.383), homers (40), and RBIs (129). Average seems to be locked up, the next closest hitter is Heinie Spitler (.361, 6, 87, 12), but the Sailors star tore his PCL and will miss the rest of the season. Even if Hank goes 0-for-his-next-39, he'd have a slight batting average lead over Spitler, and I think unless he's forced to go up to bat without a bat, that is just not possible. Closer is the home run and RBI race, as Williams has two more homers then Jack Gibson (.286, 38, 101) and seven more RBIs then Otis Haldeman (.319, 23, 122, 6). In both cases, a PA advantage helps Williams, as the only reason Gibson isn't leading homers is a midseason injury, and Williams has almost 50 more PAs then Haldeman. He should be able to survive in RBIs, but this is Gibson's third time hitting 38 or more homers, and he's already got 5 in his last 7 games. Tales From The Den Wolves Officially Eliminated in CA It was only a matter of time, this week the chances of Toronto advancing to the World Championship Series became zero. Kansas City will represent the CA against the best the FA has to offer in October barring a collapse of epic proportions over thew next three weeks. The Kings will probably set a record for most wins during the regular season currently held bey the 1895 NY Gothams who posted a record of 105-35. Granted, a 162 game schedule allows for a higher win total even with that the Kings are on pace to win 114. They are currently tied for 8th most wins in a season all-time. This is a team that will be remembered in FABL history, Kings lead the CA 15 1/2 games with a magic number of 4 on September 9th with 19 games to play. The Wolves who are all auditioning for 1964 roles had a good week at 5-2 starting with a doubleheader sweep on Labour Day at Dominion Stadium. In the first game Medley won his 15th of the season by a 10-2 score in the a game that was put away with a 5 run seventh led by Clyde Fisher's 3 run shot. In the nightcap before a crowd of almost 12000 Hoxworth pitched well for a second straight start since returning from AAA in 4-3 game for the Wolves. The last two starts, both wins, have lowered Hoxworth's FABL ERA in 1963 from an ungodly 9.06 to a just awful 7.68 in 68 IP. It is not much progress, the staff will take any glimmers of hope from Hoxworth at this point in the season. In a scheduling oddity after an off-day Tuesday the LA Stars came to town for a short two game series before heading to NY. Wolves won their fourth straight on a complete game by Davidson when again the turning point was in the seventh scoring 3 on a Joe Parker round tripper gave the margin of victory in the 4-1 final. Sam Haygood was given a start by Hohlt to replace Colantuono that did not work out well. Haygood left in the fifth after allowing 6 runs on 7 hits in a game that ended 8-4 Stars. Colantuono's return from injury is a good sign, even better as Medley will miss his next start will a sprained knee. Wolves were in Dyckman Stadium for a weekend series with the Imperials before returning home on Monday. Friday evening Toronto won a 1-0 game that gave Smith a 12-9 record. Again he could only go 6 in what is becoming a topic of discussion in the front office. Smith will have a conditioning program to follow during the winter in the hopes that 6 innings will not be the end of the line for him in 1964. Loeffler gave up a run in each of the first three innings on Saturday then one more in the eighth before being relieved by Campbell. Wolves could only score 3 in a game in which NY won their 46th of the season. The series finale on Sunday Medley cruised to his 16th win of the year before hurting his knee. The final was 11-1 with Medley driving in 3 with a bases clearing double in 6. On his second double of the day he came up lame after sliding into second. Hohlt's team will be challenged this week with 8 games at home in 7 days with Chicago then KC supplying the opposition. Chief outfielder Rod Shearer (.261, 13, 79, 4) completed the hat-trick of milestones, becoming the 9th player to hit 400 FABL home runs. It was a solo shot in the 3rd inning of Thursday's 7-1 win over the Millers, as he took 26-year-old righty Jack Jordan (0-1, 12.75, 6) deep. It may have took Shearer a while for 400, but 401 came the next day, as he hit a three-run homer in the Chiefs 8-7 loss to the Minutemen, as Boston got 3 in the 8th and 4 in the 9th to walk it off. King Ken Newman (.313, 26, 94, 7) also had a nice round home run, hitting the 300th of his 15-year career. The 27th player with 300 FABL home runs, Newman took rookie September callup John Mullins (0-3, 6.14, 13) deep in the first for a homer in his second consecutive game. For the 20-year-old Mullins, it was his 3rd career FABL start, and he was tagged with 10 runs, although only 2 of them were earned. Competing with Newman's teammate Hank Williams for the RBI lead, Otis Haldeman added 12 to take home Player of the Week. Batting 16-for-29, he hit 2 homers and a triple, scoring 7 runs as he makes his Kellogg case. One of the many talented rookies in the Conti this season, Haldeman has hit .319/.350/.541 (133 OPs+) on the season with 30 doubles, 10 triples, 23 homers, 122 RBIs, 67 runs, and 6 steals. In an alternate universe, Haldeman, Newman, and Williams would all be teammates, has Haldeman was taken 15th by the Kings in the 1959 draft before being sent to San Francisco that Fall in a six-player deal. Dallas may have surpassed the century mark for losses, now with 103 on the season, but they did see catcher Tom Leisher (.229, 6, 40) hit for the first cycle in team history. Coming over from the Sailors in the expansion draft, most games haven't been this successful, but he was a perfect 4-for-4 in a 6-2 win over his former team. A veteran of eight FABL seasons, he's hit just .229/.309/.319 (66 OPS+) in 1963, but he'll have this big performance to remember the year with. Gotham stopper Jack White (9-7, 9, 3.57, 83) will step away from the team for a period of time, as the 20-year-old righty is taking a two-week personal leave of absence. A graduated top-100 prospect, White has outstanding stuff, and has worked to a 3.57 ERA (119 ERA+), 3.84 FIP (90 FIP-), and 1.22 WHIP in a successful rookie season. The strikeouts have been big, as he has 83 in 90.2 innings, leading to a 2.6 K/BB and 22.1 K%. The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 09/09/1963 U.S. TV presenter Walter Cronkite introduced the first broadcast of CBS Evening News with the statement, "Good evening from our CBS newsroom in New York, on this, the first broadcast of network television's first half-hour news program." The first show was aired at 6:30 p.m. local time and included a pre-recorded segment of Cronkite's interview with U.S. President John F. Kennedy. Previously, the three U.S. networks had run their daily national news for fifteen minutes. The United States federal minimum wage was increased to $1.25 an hour. All 80 people aboard Swissair Flight 306, a jet airliner on its way to Rome, were killed when the aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff from Zurich. The plane, a Sud Aviation Caravelle, caught fire and came down near the town of Dürrenäsch. Most of the 44 passengers were from the tiny village of Humlikon, including the town's mayor and its entire city council, all of whom had planned to disembark at Geneva for a visit to an agricultural experiment station. For the first time ever, black students registered at white schools in the segregated U.S. state of Alabama; in some places, they faced state troopers deployed by Governor George Wallace to prevent integration. That night, the bombing of a black household in Birmingham triggered a riot, and a black 20-year-old was shot to death by police. British model and showgirl Christine Keeler was arrested for perjury, after witnesses established that she had lied under oath in the criminal trial of Aloysius Gordon in the course of the Profumo affair. The 16 Gemini astronaut candidates began training in water and land parachute landing techniques, necessary because in low level abort (under 70,000 feet (21,000 m)) the pilot would be ejected from the Gemini spacecraft and would descend by personnel parachute. In the training, a towed parasail carried each astronaut to as high as 400 feet (120 m) before the towline was released and the astronaut glided to a landing. Voters in Algeria overwhelmingly approved that nation's first constitution, in a referendum with a 96.8% yes vote.