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05-05-2022, 12:43 PM
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#421 |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Ontario Canada
Posts: 9,748
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April 14, 1942: Special Season Preview Issue
 APRIL 14, 1942 SEASON PREVIEW EDITION SMILING THRU, BASEBALL COMES INTO OWN AGAIN Against a backdrop of a nation girding itself for total war on far-flung battlefields, professional baseball starts it's 67th season today. It has survived other wars and plans to see this one through to a finish, too. Even with the nation in the midst of the greatest war effort in history, the public still has a soft spot in its heart from the national pastime. Some 200,000 fans will turn out to see the two major leagues get away on their five-and-a-half-month campaigns, unless weather interferes, and there are indications that the turnstiles will click merrily all season. But the war will bring many changes in baseball. Next October baseball will still be played some of it may not be quite as recognizable. The Federal and Continental Associations have already contributed 62 players who appeared in at least one big league game last season along with countless minor leaguers to the armed services and many more will go. Who and when are matters that'll play a tremendous part in deciding the pennant races. At the request of President Roosevelt, FABL has expanded it's night baseball program so that the greatest number of fans can attend games. The Continental Association will play 84 night games and Federal Association 77- more than twice as many as last season. Twilight games probably will be played in industrial cities like Detroit, Cleveland and Pittsburgh. There will be new General Managers (in Washington), new managers (in Montreal and St Louis) and plenty of new rookie players. Odds are as the season continues there will be plenty of more rookies making their big league debuts and valued veterans leaving for the war. PROBABLE PITCHERS, CROWDS AT TODAY'S 8 OPENERS Here are the probable starting pitchers and estimated crowds in the opening FABL games today. Code:
FEDERAL ASSOCIATION CROWD PITCHERS Pittsburgh at Boston 25,000 George Phillips vs Walt Wells Detroit at New York 35,000 Joe Shaffner vs Gus Goulding Philadelphia at Washington 25,000 Lloyd Stevens vs Del Burns St Louis at Chicago 25,000 Danny Hern vs Al Miller CONTINENTAL ASSOCIATION CROWD PITCHERS Chicago at Montreal 25,000 Jim Lonardo vs Wally Doyle Brooklyn at New York 30,000 Art White vs Chuck Cole Philadelphia at Cleveland 25,000 Chuck Murphy vs Dick Lamb Cincinnati at Toronto 22,000 Deuce Barrell vs Joe Hancock  PRESEASON PREDICTIONS Brinker's Take: The worldwide conflagration has spread to the United States and many citizens will now serve the nation in a life-or-death struggle against tyranny. One industry that will attempt to continue with a "sense of normalcy" thanks to President Roosevelt's so-called "Green Light Letter" is that of professional baseball. The Federally Aligned Baseball Leagues will field its full slate of teams, all of which will play their expected 154 games. But will this newfangled baseball resemble that of yesteryear (as in, last year)? My take is the quality of play will suffer - a bit now in 1942, but perhaps more in seasons to come. For who knows how long this war will last, let alone how many able-bodied young men in will pull into its ravenous maw? For now, the number of able-bodied ballplayers who have either been conscripted or enlisted and thereby swapping flannel for fatigues, is relatively small. But have no doubt it will grow larger. Now for the answer to the question on everyone's lips: what's this jumbled, war-impacted 1942 FABL season going to look like? Short answer: expect a drop off in offense. I've heard rumors that the balls will not be as lively as in years past, rubber being a prime resource in areas military. Remember, you heard it here first! Now, the standings. Let's start in the Federal Association, home of the defending world champs from Boston: Federal 1-Boston - they've still got it. The additions at the trade deadline last season will pay bigger dividends in this season. 2- Philadelphia - the Keystones had an off-year last year, but with offense being a premium this year, having Koblenz & Barrell will go a long way 3-Pittsburgh - the Miners are still a class outfit, but the Fed seemingly grows ever tougher. 4-Detroit - see above, although the presence of Pestilli & Big Red will loom large as most teams will increasingly struggle to score runs 5-New York - the young Gothams will ride on the right arm of Bowman (is he ready?) and the bat of Walt Messer. If they produce, this is a five-team race 6-Chicago - really? Sixth? Yep, but only because of the depth of the Fed 7-Washington - they're making strides, but they got hit hard by the military and the cupboard wasn't exactly full to begin with 8-St. Louis - the rebuild continues. This is a tough circuit and someone has to be last Continental: 1-Toronto - McCormick's gone, likely for the duration of the hostilities, but Pack's still there and the underrated pitching is top notch 2-Chicago - They'll miss Papenfus more than any other team misses anyone else. No shock if they repeat, but it'll be tough 3-New York - Barrett has - thus far - avoided the military thanks to FDR. How often does the US President interfere in a pennant race? Still might not be enough 4-Cincinnati - Pitching is a question and injuries took a toll in '41. If Deuce Barrell holds up and the other guys are reasonably competent, the Cannons are in the race 5-Brooklyn - the Kings are a bit of an enigma. Talented enough to win it, but uneven play seemingly dogs their steps. Everyday play for Tiny Tim, Wheeler and Rats will help a lot. 6-Philadelphia - the denizens of Soldiers & Sailors Memorial are probably middle-of-the-pack, barring trades and injuries which can - and do - always impact the race 7-Cleveland - still rebuilding on the banks of the Cuyahoga 8-Montreal - ditto for the Saints who've torn it down to the studs. Fans will need a lot of patience DAN BARRELL WEIGHS IN WITH HIS PREDICTIONS COURTESY OF OSA AND THE BASEBALL NEWS NETWORK  MORE PREDICTIONS Trying to forecast the outcome of a 154 game baseball season is tricky, to say the least, in normal times. These are far from normal times and one has to think that the outcome of the 1942 pennant races quite possibly hinges on what players might get a mid-season call to join the Army. Last year was greatly affected by the war, especially in the Continental Association where they defending champion Toronto Wolves lost their great first baseman Fred McCormick and that was certainly one of the factors as to why the champs could not even land in the first division in 1941. Unexpected events such as McCormick's departure are impossible to plan for in assessing the teams on Opening Day but despite that fact, fully half of the 14 prognosticators who went on record a year ago successfully called the Continental crown going to the Chicago Cougars. Our fearless 14 had little success in 1941 in the Federal Association however, as none of them saw Boston loading up at the deadline and snapping a two and a half decade title drought with the Fed pennant win. In fact only one prediction, that from BNN, foresaw Boston even claiming a second place finish and Detroit World columnist Freddie Farhat was the only other one placing the Minutemen in the top three. So fear not, baseball fan, if your local nine is not ranked highly by any of the 7 men brave enough to go on record with their call on the outcome of the 1942 campaign. There is not a lot of agreement between the seven prognosticators featured here. In the Fed we have Boston favoured to repeat by 4 of them but the other three like either Pittsburgh or Detroit. In the Continental it is a similar story with 4 tabbing the New York Stars to come out on top while two are going with the Chicago Cougars to repeat and one of our two New York Mirror columnists is the only one who sees Toronto taking the CA crown.  Arthur Mortimer of the Chicago Daily News sees a middle of the pack finish for the Chiefs but he is very bullish on the Cougars repeating in the CA: No Pap no problem! Cougars get their second chance after outlasting the Stars while the Miners return to the top in a tightly contested Fed where you can flip a coin to place the top five teams. Part of me wants to say Cougars in six, but the other part realizes it's probably going to be Miners in seven MILESTONES WATCH John Lawson of the Chicago Cougars needs 81 hits to reach 3,000 for his career Al Wheeler of the Brooklyn Kings is 8 hits shy of 2,500 and 2 homers shy of 400 Bob Martin of the Chicago Chiefs needs 167 hits to reach the 2,500 mark Moxie Pidgeon of the Cincinnati Cannons needs 193 to achieve 2,500. Pidgeon and the Philadelphia Keystones Bobby Barrell are each 14 homers away from 300 Henry Jones of the New York Stars needs 4 homeruns to get to 250 Dan Fowler of the Cleveland Foresters needs 10 homers to reach 250 Hank Barnett of the Chicago Chiefs is 1 rbi shy of 1,000 Frank Vance of the Detroit Dynamos needs to score 66 runs to reach 1,500 for his career. Rabbit Day of the Chicago Chiefs is 20 wins away from 300 William Jones of the Cincinnati Cannons needs 4 wins to reach 200 Milt Fritz of the Chicago Cougars is 14 wins shy of 200 for his career. QUICK HITS
 The Week That Was Current events from yesterday 4/13/1942
__________________
Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles |
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05-06-2022, 02:45 PM
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#422 |
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 677
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April 20, 1942 The Season Begins
April 20, 1942 MUCH THE SAME, BUT OPENING WEEK ALSO HINTS JUST HOW MUCH HAS PERHAPS CHANGED Maybe the baseball players, after tramping the woods all fall and winter with their dogs at their sides and shotguns under their arms, never got around to fully realizing that these are unusual times and anything is likely to happen. For months the club owners and FABL President Sam Belton have been delivering spiels to the effect that, due to the draft and one thing or another, the 16 big-time teams more or less were on equal footing and that exciting races with spectacular twists were not to be unexpected. The theorists, apparently, did not take everything into account. Why, for the opening day it was just like the opening day of the season a year ago! What with fresh accent on his Good Neighbor Policy and with Vichy water running hot, President Roosevelt couldn't keep the traditional date at Columbia Stadium in Washington on Opening Day. But the Philadelphia Keystones were there and handed the hometown Eagles a loss, much as had been expected. In Boston, the defending champs were engaged in a pitching duel with Pittsburgh ace Lefty Allen. Over in Chicago the Chiefs were beating St Louis while in Canada the reigning CA champion Cougars were pounding Montreal. Everything seemed the same, until it didn't. The opening week of the Federal Association slate seemed to confirm this will indeed not be just any old ordinary season. It was almost as if the world had been turned upside down, as if the standings had been inverted as a glance at the top of the Fed table somehow showed the New York Gothams leading the way at 6-1 -when is the last time the Gothams were ever 6-1 - while at the other end we had the World Champs and the Detroit Dynmoas with just 1 victory each. The CA seemed a little more in line with reality, although it too had some surprises of it's own as the Cleveland Foresters were an unexpected 3-3 and tossed right in the middle of the mixed salad that was a palatable but bland plate of mediocrity with six of the 8 Continental clubs sporting .500 marks and only two outliers in 4-2 Brooklyn and 2-4 Montreal. So after what felt like perhaps the longest winter on record, one in which only 2 very minor trades were consummated yet gave us more player movement than any other off-season in history, baseball is back and in many ways feels much the same. But perhaps the opening week is also rife with foreshadowing as to just how different things in the game, like in the world around us, have become.   --- Harry Carter, the #3 starter in Ed Ziehl's suddenly formidable looking rotation pitched a 1 hit shutout against Detroit. Carter needed only 104 pitches as he walked 1 and struck out 7 Dynamos. --- Bud Jameson wins FA player of the week. For the first time in almost a decade the 38 year old first sacker is FA Player of the Week, going 11-21 (.524) with a homer and 6 RBI. His last POW was June of 1932. --- Ed Bowman still to make his debut. Coming off his spring injury, manager Ziehl showed an excess of caution when the morning temps in St. Louis hovered in the 30s with a chance of rain in the forecast. Despite is warming to 56, Ziehl gave the ball to Bob Adams, leading to a 10th inning loss. Yes, their "worst" game of the week was an extra innings loss. Ziehl says that Bowman will start in Chicago. --- Goulding and Petrick. Though 1941 was a year of mixed results, the two rotation stalwarts have both gotten off to 2-0 starts. The whole staff has looked good. --- Offense too. Other than Roosevelt Brewer all the position players are hitting and playing solid defense. The ingredients for winning baseball. Now we'll see what the rest of the season brings. QUICK HITS
AROUND THE LEAGUE Jiggs McGee takes a look around FABL with a quick comment or two on each of the 16 clubs after the opening week of play. BOSTON- Worries of a championship hangover in Boston as the Minutemen drop 5 of their first six games. 1940 champ Toronto certainly suffered through a bad season after winning it all but before Boston fans starting thinking they will succumb to the same fate it's important to note the Minutemen had a tough series to open defense of their title with the Pittsburgh Miners coming to Cunningham Field and then it was off to Philadelphia where they could have just as easily went 3-0 instead of their 0-3 mark with each loss coming by a single run including the first two games in extra innings. Get swept in a 5 game series in the nation's capital starting with a twin bill today and the tune might change, but for now there is no reason to panic in Beantown. BROOKLYN- Harry Barrell followed up a fine spring with a 5-hit game against the New York Stars on Thursday. There was worry about Brooklyn's pitching depth after Jack Goff joined the Navy but if Bob Cummings and Stumpy Beamon can pitch like they did last week there will no cause for concern. Cummings went 7 innings while allowing 4 hits and just an unearned run in a 4-1 win over the Stars while Beamon was nearly as impressive in a 4-2 win over Montreal a couple of days later. But veteran Art White was the ace last week pitching in a pair of 1-0 games. He went 1-1 in those two contests but looks ready to have perhaps the best season of his career. CHIEFS- Rabbit Day needs 20 more wins to become just the 12th 300-game winner in FABL history. He had a decent debut outing against St Louis but came out on the short-end of a 4-3 score. Bob Martin is hoping for a healthy season, but he's had a slow start: just 5 for 28 (.192). However of those 5 hits, 3 have been for extra bases (2 doubles and 1 triple) COUGARS- No worries about age catching up with 37 year old Jim Lonardo if the opening week is any indication. He opened the week with a 3-hitter in a 6-1 win over Montreal and closed it by blanking the New York Stars 4-0 while allowing 4 hits. The effort made the 4-time Allen Award winner the CA player of week...surprisingly just the second time in his career he has been honoured as the week's top performer. The first time was in August of 1933. CINCINNATI- Moxie Pidgeon looks like he is off to another slow start. Last year the veteran outfielder hit just .167 and was homerless in April. He is hitting .154 without an extra base hit after the opening week this time around. A year ago he rebounded and made his 6th all-star appearance so the Cannons hope he gets going soon. Meanwhile, the experiment with Jim Hensley shifting to second base and letting Charlie Rivera play his natural shortstop as the club looks to replace Army draftee and all-star second sacker Charley McCullough may be short-lived. Hensley committed 4 errors in his first week at second base despite playing the position a lot in the minors. Manager Ad Doria is giving it one more week and if results don't improve he will have to switch Hensley back to shortstop although Rivera is considered the more dynamic defender. CLEVELAND- A tough blow for the Foresters as 28 year old Jack Hale blew out his arm and is done for the year. Hale went 8-14 as a rookie last year. Dan Fowler homered, the 241st of his career as the 33 year old bids to become just the 12th player in history to launch 250 longballs. There is positive news with the play of Cal Howe as the 26 year old outfielder leads the CA with a .455 batting average. Quite a departure from his .220 mark in 73 career FABL games entering the season. DETROIT- Swept in New York and then they dropped 2 of 3 at home to Chicago, there is already worry coming from the always nervous Dynamos front-office. Every game is magnified, even those in the April cold, for the club that has come close so often the past few years but never made it over the hump. Two of the key mound pieces did not debut well as Joe Shaffner (0-2, 9.53) and Frank Crawford (0-1, 9.00) both served as punching bags while the bullpen was not much better. Frank Vance and Sal Pestilli had decent starts but two-time reigning Whitney Award winner Red Johnson went 1-for-20. Still, with all that talent Detroit should be just fine. No guarantee they win the pennant of course, but hard not to see this group in contention come September. MONTREAL- The Saints scored 7 times in a win over Brooklyn on Saturday but managed just 8 runs in their other 5 games combined as offense was certainly in short supply. Fortunately one of those 5 games saw Bill Ross come up with a very impressive pitching performance against the team that originally drafted him, beating the Chicago Cougars 2-1. NY STARS- A 3-3 start for the Stars in a week that saw much of their offense sputter. Bill Barrett (.333,1,2),thanks to an assist from FDR, is hitting as usual and Father Time Dave Trowbridge (.318,2,4) continues to defy science by looking just as effective at age 43 as he was nearly two decades ago but the rest of the offense is sputtering. Chink Stickels, Cliff Ray and Ray Cochran are all hitting below .200 but each looks like a batting champ when compared to Lew Seals almost inexplicable 1-for-25 start. NY GOTHAMS- You need to go back to 1934 for the last time the Gothams started the season 5-1. They actually began 6-1 after a season opening sweep of the Chicago Chiefs before losing to Detroit, but then rebounded with 3 straight victories. The Gothams won the Federal Pennant that year. 38 year old Bud Jameson reminded fans of old times as he went 11-for-21 to help pace the Gothams quick start and was rewarded with a Fed player of the week selection. While the Gothams are talking about early pitching success don't discount how much scoring 41 runs in 7 games has contributed to their run differential of +24, far and away the best in either Association. KEYSTONES- Timely hitting has made the Keystones start a very successful one with 3 of their 5 victories last week coming in extra innings and a fourth by just a single run. Second baseman Marshall Stickland was the hero of the opener with a 10th inning rbi double. Friday afternoon it was Bobby Barrell who delivered a game win single to give the Keystones a 3-2 win over Boston, rallying for 2 in the bottom of the 12th after the Minutemen scored in the top half and a day later they once again dashed Boston's hopes as the Minutemen tied it in the ninth only to see Bobby McHenry end the game in the 10th with a sac fly that made the final once again 3-2 for the Keystones. Yesterday it was an even bigger rally as Philadelphia came back for a 7-6 win after trailing the Minutemen 6-2 entering the bottom of the 8th inning. SAILORS- Lou Williams celebrated the start of his 10th season in the Sailors outfield in fine style as the 33 year old went 3-for-6 with 2 rbi's and a pair of runs in a 12-9 11-inning win over Cleveland in the opener. That outburst was the key reason the Sailors lead the CA in runs scored after the opening week. PITTSBURGH- Pablo Reyes is up to his old tricks with 1 successful stolen base in 4 attempts. Reyes has been over .500 in theft attempts the past couple of years but he has been caught 158 times to go with his 175 successful steals. Only Dick Walker of the Cougars has been caught stealing more often than Reyes among active players and only Johnny McDowell and Jake Shadoan have a lower success rate than Reyes' 52.6% among active players with at least 100 career thefts. ST LOUIS- While Danny Hern picked up right where he left off last season with a complete game 3-2 win over the Chicago Chiefs in his season debut there is concern that Cal Roe and Harry Sharp, who both struggled a year ago, are also on that trajectory once again. Roe, who posted a 2-4 record and a 6.55 era in 6 appearances last year, got shelled in a 14-1 loss to the Gothams last week. Sharp, a 24 year old local kid who is 20-32 for his career including 9-9, 5.52 a year ago, did not fare quite as poorly against the Gothams in allowing 5 runs on 12 hits. He did not get the decision as the Pioneers rallied and won in extra innings, to hand New York it's only loss on the week. TORONTO- The Wolves are satisfied with a 3-3 start, two wins were shutouts by George Garrison and Juan Pomales. Surprisingly Joe Hancock was saddled with 2 of the 3 losses although he did not pitch poorly in either of his outings. None of the infielders are hitting their weight with the exception of Mike Rollinson. Gus Hull and Reginald Westfall have gotten off to hot early starts in the OF, however Larry Vestal got the dreaded Recovery Unclear word from the trainers with his hamstring injury. Wolves management is hoping this is not a sign of things to come from the soon to be 33 year old LF. Playing time will be monitored closely when Vestal comes off the DL. WASHINGTON- Eagles fans have to be thrilled with a split of their 4 game set on the road in Pittsburgh and it could easily have been a winning week as they staged a nice comeback on opening day against Philadelphia, scoring three times in the ninth inning before ultimately falling 5-4 in 10. The bats were working but there is concern already about the rotation. Everyone knew going in the Eagles might be in trouble on the mound with Jim Douglass and top prospect Juan Tostado both in the Army. That meant more pressure on Del Burns and Jack Elder to rebound from subpar 1941 seasons. Burns (1-0, 5.40) got a win in his two starts but actually pitched better in his no decision in the season opener against the Keystones. Elder (0-2, 6.32) lost both of his starts and is now 16-36 since his twenty win campaign in 1939. The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 4/19/1942
__________________
Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal
The Scripture of Sports Last edited by Jiggs McGee; 05-06-2022 at 03:25 PM. |
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05-09-2022, 11:01 AM
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#423 |
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 677
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April 27, 1942
APRL 27, 1942 WONDER WHEEL REACHES TWO MILESTONES Al Wheeler added to an already impressive resume with a busy week that saw the 34 year old Brooklyn Kings slugger reach a pair of historic milestones. The first one came on Tuesday afternoon in Chicago when Wheeler launched his 400th career homerun, with the milestone marker coming in dramatic fashion: a 2-run shot off of Joe Brown in the 8th inning to tie a game the Kings would ultimately win in extra innings over the Chicago Cougars by a 6-5 score. The homer, allowed Wheeler to join Max Morris and Rankin Kellogg -both Hall of Famers - as the only players to hit 400 round-trippers in their career. No one else in FABL history has even 300 to his credit. Later in the week Wheeler joined another club, although this one not quite as exclusive. Wheeler delivered his 2,500th career hit, making him just the 27th player to reach that level. It is probably quite fitting that #2500 was a homerun, a first inning 3-run shot off of Montreal's Bill Ross. Wheeler would get two more hits in the game as the Kings won by an 8-6 count. Perhaps no other player represents the modern era of FABL than Wheeler, who was the very first draft pick when human General Manager's took over in December of 1925. The Detroit Dynamos made the then 18 year old out of Decatur (IL) High School the top selection in a deep draft class that also featured Bud Jameson, Bill Ashbaugh, Doug Lightbody and Jack Cleaves. "That was quite a class," remembered St Louis scouting director Rube Carter who was in a similar capacity with Brooklyn at the time. "We had the second pick and, like most of the league, desperately wanted Wheeler but knew there was no way Detroit would pass him up at #1. Don't think anyone considered him to be the next Max Morris but we just knew he would be a great hitter one day." That day came quickly for Wheeler, who was a regular in the Detroit outfield two years later at the age of 20 and helped them win a WCS the following season. His first of 5 Whitney Awards would come in 1930 and in 1932 he led his Association in homers for the first time, something he has done 4 more times since. Wheeler's greatest season might well have been one that started out as one of his worst. Batting just .250 through 26 games with a struggling Detroit team the Dynamos started a massive rebuild with a deal that sent Wheeler and Frank Vance to Brooklyn. Wheeler would tear up the Continental Association the rest of the way and win the first triple crown in CA history (.362,34,130) despite playing in just 128 games with the Kings. He would win 3 straight Whitney Awards, to go with the pair he previously won in Detroit, and helped the Kings win three consecutive CA pennants and the 1937 World Championship Series. His numbers have tailed off, at least by Wheeler's previous standard, the past three seasons but if he stays healthy it is not hard to image the possibility of 3000 hits, 500 homeruns and perhaps even 2,000 RBI's (he has 1,529 so far) in Al Wheeler's future - a trifecta that only the legendary Max Morris has ever achieved.  GOTHAMS HIT BUMP BEFORE ROAD TEST It will be interesting to see how the New York Gothams react to their recent 4 game losing streak. The Gothams, a regular guest of the second division for much of the past decade, were flying high atop the Federal Association with an 8-2 start to the season but then dropped 4 straight at home - two each to the Chiefs and Pioneers. It will be a good test to see if the Gothams are finally ready to return to the upper echelon of the Federal Association but they will have their work cut out for them trying to stop the slide. They finish off with St Louis at Gothams Stadium today but then head out on the road with the first three stops being Boston, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The Keystones had also been off to a strong start but they received a dose or reality over the weekend in the form of a 3-game sweep at the hands of the Minutemen in Boston. Philadelphia does have a nice long homestand coming up unlike the team they are tied with for top spot in the Fed. The Chicago Chiefs start a long road swing that takes them to Washington, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Boston and St Louis. The Continental Association remains a jumble of 5 teams all within a half game at the top. Even Cleveland, pegged my most to be the worst team in the loop, is 6-6 and playing inspired baseball. Only the Cincinnati Cannons and Montreal Saints have had a dismal start to the year.  
  One ludicrous incident occurred when ump Beans Watson caught Brooklyn first base coach John Heverly several feet behind the first base box as the Saints Jake DeYoung unleashed a 2-2 pitch. Watson shouted time and Saints yelled because Brooklyn batter Tim Hopkins struck out on the pitch but automatically received another chance...Luckily for Watson's peace of mind Hopkins was retired anyway, so the play did not affect the game. Later Heverly, warned by the irate umpire to stay in the box, refused to leave it long enough to retrieve a foul ball that lay no more than two feet from his feet and the game was delayed some 30 seconds while Watson called a bat boy to get the thing out of the way. From this seat the rule looks silly and seems bound to lead to trouble. Umpires have their own troubles calling important plays right without being asked to police the diamond for silly technical violations. 
   DEEP SOUTH REVERSES DECISION ON FRESHMAN New Orleans- Following a meeting of school presidents the Deep South Conference has reversed it's decision to permit freshman to participate in varsity football and basketball contests. The ruling comes after the AIAA had formally approved the notion in an effort to combat the loss of players to the war effort, and after Deep South Football coaches had endorsed the idea. In a release signed by the Presidents of each of it's 13 member schools, the Deep South Conference felt it was "unfair to play freshman extensively while they still are adjusting themselves to college life." The letter did point out that freshman may still compete on 'B' or sub-varsity teams that are allowed to play up to three games, and noted those squads are encouraged to schedule one or more of their authorized three contests against service teams instead of playing junior colleges as has been the custom. The sport of baseball is unaffected by the decision as freshman have been permitted to play that sport since it's inception in 1910, with it's spring schedule being explained as the primary reason for the difference due to the fact that, unlike football or basketball, freshmen have several months over the fall and winter to allow them to adjust to the rigors of college academics before needing to worry about adding athletics to their workload. The vast majority of other conferences in the AIAA will permit freshmen to play for their varsity football and basketball teams next season, with many of the loops suggesting had they not been allowed to dress the newcomers many schools quite likely would not have had sufficient numbers to field a team in football. The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 4/26/1942
__________________
Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal
The Scripture of Sports |
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05-10-2022, 12:15 PM
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#424 |
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 677
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May 4, 1942
MAY 4, 1942 ANYTHING BUT DYNAMIC There have been some surprise teams early in the season such as the St Louis Pioneers being off to a 12-10 start in the Federal Association and the Brooklyn Kings, at 13-8, doing better than many expected from them. At the other end of the equation you have the Cincinnati Cannons, just 7-14 and looking lost in the Continental Association but by far the biggest shock has to be the early season play of the Detroit Dynamos. It would be hard to find a preseason prediction that did not tab the Dynamos as a first division club, with some expecting them to finally get over the hump and win a Federal crown after several seasons of close calls. It is early and that may still happen but not if the Motor City Nine does not turn things around quickly. At 6-13 and with nothing going right the Dynamos are the worst team in either association at the moment, something no one would have predicted. The starting pitcher, expected to be a strength for the Detroiters, has been dismal. Joe Shaffner, Charlie Wheeler, Sergio Gonzales and Frank Crawford are a combined 3-11, 5.70 with Mike Murphy (3-0, 1.80) being the lone bright spot. As bad as the pitching has been the bigger disappointment right now is the offense and in particular former Whitney Award winners Red Johnson (.188,2,7) and Sal Pestilli (.222,3,10). Johnson at least is showing signs of emerging from his funk after he went 7-f0r-20 with his first two homeruns of the season last week but until they both get going Detroit will quite likely continue to struggle. Things won't get any easier this week as the Dynamos are on the road with stops in Boston, Philadelphia and New York. The 3-game series with the Minutemen, another club that has struggled somewhat so far, actually began yesterday with a 4-1 Boston win in a game that Frank Crawford suffered his third defeat of the season and the duo of Pestilli & Johnson went 1-for-7 with no rbi's or runs scored.  MIXED SIGNALS ON NIGHT BALL FOR THE NEW YORK STARS Somewhere along the line the signals are crossed on night baseball. Police Commissioner Lewis J. Valentine hinted that New York's dimout regulations outlaw games under artificial sun, despite President Roosevelt's green-light signal. A high army officer who did not want his identity disclosed indicated last night that Valentine's warning was not as drastic as it sounded. "Unless future developments make it impossible, night baseball will be conducted according to the President's wish as a stimulus and recreational feature for hard-working defense operators," continued the army official. "Of course, if tests at sea show that the arc lights at Dyckman Stadium provides illumination that aids the enemy at sea in their raiding sorties on shipping then they're out for the duration." Such action would mean elimination of the Stars 13 night contests. Neither the New York Gothams nor the Brooklyn Kings have elected to schedule any night games at home this season. The Stars have practically finalized arrangements for their night debut on Friday May 22 against the Brooklyn Kings and New York owner Al Mielke says he is going ahead with plans for that night as usual until he gets word to the contrary. Mielke adds he wants to co-operate with the city and Government officials but currently they are in a daze and he has no idea what the final decision will be. There are reports all lights above the 15th floor of any building would have to be put out and the light towers at Dyckman Field are about 120 feet high, but the upward rays of the lights would extend beyond the equivalent of the 15th floor. An electrical engineer familiar with park lights said visors could be put on the arcs to reduce the upward glare and increase the illumination of the playing surface. 
AROUND THE LEAGUE Jiggs McGee takes a look around FABL with a quick comment or two on each of the 16 clubs. BOSTON- Ray Dalpman (0-2, 4.08) beat out teammate Duke Hendricks (2-1, 1.59) for rookie of the year last season but Hendricks has been terrific through four starts this season. He opened the season with a no decision in a 3-2 loss to Philadelphia despite allowing just 2 runs on 6 hits over 8 innings of work. He followed that up with a complete game 9-2 win over Washington, fell 3-2 to the Gothams and then went the distance in a 4-1 win over Detroit surrendering just 5 hits. With just a little bit of luck the 26 year old former Baton Rogue State star could be 4-0 on the year. BROOKLYN- A big part of the Kings early success has been the work of 29 year old Bob Cummings (4-1, 1.12) on the mound. He has been a decent pitcher since joining the Kings staff in 1936 but the former College of San Diego star has taken it to another level this season. Hank Mittan (2-1, 2.82) also also stepped up to help ease the loss of Jack Goff to the Navy. CHIEFS- Most of the early season focus is on how well the Chiefs offense has performed but don't forget Al Miller (3-0, 2.75), who continues to be one of the best pitchers in the game. Rabbit Day (1-2, 4.68) has been inconsistent in the early going, struggling in his last outing against Pittsburgh, but Day is still capable of some very strong efforts, such as the complete game 6-hitter he tossed in an 8-1 win over Detroit. COUGARS- With veterans like Jim Lonardo (4-1, 1.73), Dick Lyons (0-1, 2.61) in the rotation perhaps there might be some concern going forward but certainly not in Chicago where the Cougars are loaded with young pitching prospects. Donnie Jones (2-2, 2.88) has looked pretty good taking over the spot vacated when Pete Papenfus enlisted, but he is just the tip of the iceberg. His older brother Johnnie is 1-0, 2.63 at AAA Milwaukee and probably deserves a big league shot now as well, but there is just no room for him with the Cougars. Then you have Danny Goff Jr in AA, a two-way player who seems to be focusing more on mound work this season, and then there is Mel Haynes in Class A. Perhaps the best of the bunch is 19 year old Duke Bybee but he, like Papenfus, is gone for the duration of the war. CINCINNATI-Admittedly neither are Pete Papenfus or Fred McCormick level players but not sure there has been a bigger war impact on a team than the Cannons have suffered with the loss of Charley McCullough and Mike T. Taylor. We simply do not have capable replacements for either. Add in a couple of struggling pitchers and this has the feelings of a 'Baltimore' Cannons-like season in the making....One of the few bright spots in the Cannons lineup this season has been centerfielder Fred Galloway (.362,1,9), who was just named CA player of the week....Moxie Pidgeon is still homerless and batting just .244 on the year but he heated up on Saturday, getting 5 hits against the New York Stars but it wasn't enough as the slumping Cannons fell 9-7. CLEVELAND- The future of Foresters baseball, aka Hiram Steinberg, is looking solid at Class B Savannah. 2-1 with a 2.77 era and 14 k's in 26 innings of work. He is still a ways from the big leagues but the 19 year old is looking every bit the future ace Cleveland desperately needs. DETROIT- Much has been said about the struggles of the Dynamos veteran arms and two best hitters but there is no way this slump can last. Those players are just too talented - especially Red Johnson and Sal Pestilli - for this to continue. Some of the pitchers are perhaps starting to show their age but the Dynamos look like they might have a good one waiting in the wings in 21 year old Charlie Ashmore. Originally a 4th round pick of the New York Stars in 1938, Ashmore was a perfect 4-0 with a 2.81 era in AA to finish last season and has picked up right where he left off a year ago this time around. Now in AAA, the righthander is 2-0 with an 0.92 era in 3 starts for Newark. MONTREAL- Can someone alert Red Bond (.183,2,4) and Bill Greene (.187,0,7) that the season has started? Montreal needs those two going if the team is going to compete. One has to wonder how long it will be before the Saints give their top two pitching prospects a shot at the big leagues. 21 year old Pat Weakley and 22 year old Wally Reif are both in Minneapolis now and perhaps each will get the call later in the season. NY STARS- Bill Barrett (.329,2,10) is off to a decent start but not quite at the dominant pace he showed in the first half of last season. 43 year old Dave Trowbridge (.281,3,12) is still rolling along as well but a number of Stars continue to struggle at the plate including Chink Stickels (.226,0,7), Lew Seals (.179,4,13) and Cliff Ray (.155,1,5). Mel Hancock Jr.(.254,0,8) had a strong weak to pull himself out of the underachieving group. NY GOTHAMS- Ernie Bowman (1-1, 6.00) earned his first career win as baseball's top prospect beat the Philadelphia Keystones 7-2 with a complete game 5-hitter. Bowman is the last of the Gothams long list of top twenty prospects to make his big league debut, following the likes of Walt Messer, Roosevelt Brewer, Mule Monier, Billy Dalton and Pete Casstevens. The Gothams have 3 ranked in the OSA top 100 still working their way up the system but none have the feel of being can't miss prospects like that previous group listed above. KEYSTONES- 2 more homeruns for Bobby Barrell last week and the Keystones great is now tied for the league lead with 5. The 31 year old is now just 9 homers shy of becoming the 4th player in FABL history to hit 300 round-trippers. SAILORS- Woody Stone is likely one of the most underrated catchers in the game. He is a 3-time all-star but few would mention the 26 year old when the topic of best catchers comes up. Stone is off to another very good start as the 1934 8th overall draft pick is batting .286 with 2 homers and a CA leading 16 rbi's. PITTSBURGH- Tom Barrell has not been the same pitcher since blowing out his shoulder midway through the 1939 season. Now the 34 year old former three time Allan Award winner finds himself in the minors for the first time in a decade. Demoted by the Miners to AAA to St Paul, Barrell was less than impressive in his Century League debut, falling 5-1 to Indianapolis. After the contest his opposing number, 22 year old Indianapolis pitcher Charlie Griffith, was seen picking Barrell's brains for some words of wisdom. Griffith is now where Barrell once was, a pitcher full of promise who was called up by Cincinnati the day after the game and will make his big league debut next week. ST LOUIS- The surprising St Louis Pioneers are having success on the road, something they were just awful at last year when they struggled through a 24-53 showing away from Pioneer Field. This year they are 11-5 when riding the rails but now they can't seem to win at home, going 1-5 to start the season. TORONTO- The Wolves lead the CA in runs scored and have surrendered the fewest. A nice mix in no small part to the way the bottom half of the Toronto lineup has been hitting. Reginald Westfall (.314,0,12), Mike Rollinson (.352,1,9), Gus Hall (.339,1,9) and Clarence Howerton (.312,1,10) are about as productive 5-thru-8 hitters right now as you will find in any lineup. WASHINGTON- Del Burns (2-2, 3.20) is off to a decent start in Washington this season and Jim Birdwell (2-0, 2.06) and Dan Everett (3-1, 2.93) are also impressing but the Eagles desperately need Jack Elder (0-5, 5.44) to figure things out if that have any hope of even approaching the first division this year. Hard to call a 31 year old washed up but it is looking more and more like Elder's 1939 all-star campaign was the high point and his career is spiraling downward very quickly since then...My favourite Eagle, Sig Stofer, is off to a nice start once again. The 25 year old is hitting .287 but has 3 homers and 14 rbi's after three weeks of play. The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 5/03/1942
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Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal
The Scripture of Sports Last edited by Jiggs McGee; 05-10-2022 at 01:07 PM. |
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05-11-2022, 12:32 PM
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#425 |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Ontario Canada
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May 11, 1942
MAY 11, 1942 STARS SHINING BRIGHTLY In what is looking like a repeat of last season the New York Stars are racing out to the front of the Continental Association standings thanks to a winning streak that has now stretched to 11 games. At this point a year ago the Stars sported a 20-6 record but eventually would be surpassed by the Chicago Cougars for the Continental crown. They are nearly as hot this time around, with their 19-7 start the best in either league and good for a 4.5 game lead on Brooklyn and Philadelphia with the Cougars 5.5 off the pace. A year ago it was the incredible start of Bill Barrett that keyed the offense. Barrett (.316,2,11), who says this is his final season and he will enlist in the fall, has still been very good but not as dominant as he was a year ago. Dave Trowbridge (.261,3,16) is merely average this season - still quite an accomplishment for someone who will turn 44 years of age in August. The Stars of this season are no where near as overwhelming as they were at this time last year and there may be a fair bit of good fortune following them at the moment - they are 7-2 in 1-run games- and while their +37 run differential is certainly impressive the club with the second best run differential in either league is the Toronto Wolves and they presently sit a game below the breakeven mark. The old Greek math wizard has the Stars a couple of games better than their expected win total (and Brooklyn 4 up on what it should be) while the Wolves at 13-14 are underperforming in the win department by 4 games. Perhaps, like last season, it might not last but for now fans at Dyckman Park can get excited about another quick start for their Stars. The team that might be playing with the biggest horseshoe tucked in their back pocket is the Philadelphia Keystones. The Fed squad is 14-12 but has allowed 14 runs more than it has scored this season, worst in the Fed with the exception of Detroit, and the Keystones are just a game out of top spot thanks in no small part to going 5-0 in extra innings and 10-1 in contests decided by just a single run.   CANNONS NEED TO SHAKE THINGS UP SO THIS IS WHAT LIVING IN BALTIMORE WAS LIKE How things have come full circle. The Cannons came to Cincinnati a little over two years ago as the laughing stock of FABL, a sad-sack franchise liberated from Baltimore, but wearing the albatross of 6 straight last place finishes in the Continental Association around their neck. Mr. Tice, the soap magnate who brought baseball back to Cincinnati nearly 50 years after his grandfather's passing cost the city a chance to be a part of the birth of FABL, seemed to pull all the right strings that first winter. He added a veteran GM with championship experience from Brooklyn, the winningest manager in FABL history in George Theobald, the most famous scout the sport has ever known in Rufus Barrell and together that quartet made several moves to upgrade the team and the result was nearly a miracle. They ended up in third place but for much of that glorious summer the Cincinnati Cannons were the kings of the Continental Association. Big things were expected of 1941 but those plans hit several roadblocks. First Theobald, approaching his 79th birthday decided to leave the manager's chair and strictly work in his other role as a minority owner of the club. Theobald handpicked his replacement and by all accounts that man, Ad Doria, will one day be a very good manager but perhaps that day has not yet arrived and Doria still has some learning to do. The team struggled early when newly acquired all-star catcher Adam Mullins got hurt in the opening week and slugger Moxie Pidgeon had a slow start. Just as Mullins was returning and Pidgeon began to break out of his early season slumber disaster struck. In a matter of just a few weeks Vic Carroll, Bill Sohl and Deuce Barrell - the holy trinity of the Cincinnati pitching staff - all suffered long-term injuries. The club did finish fourth but unlike the previous season the Cannons were never really in contention. The blows kept coming after the season ended. First came word that Carroll's wonky elbow was not healing and he would need an additional 7 months beyond the 4 he lost during the season in order to complete his recovery. Scouting Director Deuce Barrell looked at Carroll a week ago when the 23 year old began throwing again and there are fears the former All-American from Richmond State who was taken first overall in 1939 has suffered irreparable damage to his right wing. Then came news that Bill Sohl, another All-American taken second overall a year later, committed to spending the duration of the war in the Navy as a physical education teacher. Suddenly the rotation, that just a few months earlier seemed a dream trio, was down to just Deuce Barrell and a collection of fillers. But that wasn't all the bad news the Cannons had to endure. The attack on Pearl Harbor cost many lives and changed our country, so it's impact on baseball is trivial at best, but the Cannons were hit harder than most teams with news that Mike T. Taylor and Charley McCullough each immediately enlisted in the days following the attack. Each of the 16 FABL ballclubs lost players but the Cannons were suddenly without their all-star second baseman and a young outfielder on the cusp of all-star recognition. There were no capable replacements for McCullough's bat at the top of the lineup, and setbacks to outfielder Bob Griffith's countless injuries derailed their replacement plans for Taylor. With Carroll and Sohl gone (although Carroll is going to pitch in AAA next week and if all goes well may be in Cincinnati before the month ends) the pitching staff has an ace in Barrell, but little behind him. Butch Smith (0-6, 5.56), who had been counted on to be the #4 starter if all went according to plan, has been awful this season in the number 2 role after back to back 17 win campaigns, which only further compounds the troubles. Barrell is 6-1 on the year while the rest of the staff is 3-18 and the Cannons are back to channeling their Baltimore days with the worst record in baseball. The owner is frustrated as Mike Tice expected a .500 season from this group. He is a demanding man, who made his fortune in soap and now seems prepared to clean house at Tice Memorial Stadium. The GM is frustrated and vows to consider any and all trade offers although one expects only Bill Barrett himself or a package deal involving Red Johnson and Sal Pestilli from Detroit would be enough to convince the Cannons to part ways with their young star. But everyone else, perhaps even all-star catcher Adam Mullins, could be had if the price was right. And it seems for some, most notably the much travelled but always very consistent Moxie Pidgeon, their days in Cincinnati are very much numbered.  HAVE THE CANNONS GOT IT ALL WRONG? Having heard Cincinnati’s plan to stage a 'fire sale' started me thinking on the wisdom of doing the typical "my team is underachieving this year" sell-off. As you all know, I am usually against this strategy but right now I'm not sure. It's very, very difficult to say "I can't win in the next four years" because my opinion is that every single team in FABL has a shot to win one from now until the end of the war simply because the rosters are going to be in flux (to say the least). So... with that in mind, is it better to sell off as the Cannons is thinking of doing, or hold on - guys they deal away might not end up in the military and therefore prove a lot more useful (and make their "can't win one" statement false). Anyone the Cannons get back might be gone too over the next few years so today's prospect might come back from war changed for the worse (or better, could be either one). On the other hand, is it better for a team that has a shot in '42 to sell off prospects in an effort to win one now knowing that next year the team might be a lot weaker... or could be relatively stronger if the draft & enlistments hit the other contenders harder than they do you? I guess I'm saying I don't know whether it's smart or dumb to sell off right now. But doing it because you think you can't win during the war is probably not a good reason because we don't know how the war is going to impact each team. Remember, in 1918 the Chicago Cougars came from 5th place the year before to win a pennant and in that other reality the St. Louis Browns went to the World Series in 1944. If that can happen, anything can happen. CANNONS GM SPEAKS OUT ON TRADE TALK By Cannons Management - As an organization the Cincinnati Cannons have made it known around the league that we are open to making some moves designed to better position our club for the long haul. It is clear with our off-season losses, coupled with an embarrassing start to the season in which we have the worst record in the league, we need to re-evaluate our priorities and focus on what we feel is the best course to make the Cannons a successful team in the long-term. We are looking at it as attempting to duplicate what was accomplished by the management team when we were in Brooklyn. Build a consistent winner and we spent 5-6 years at the top or within a game and the Kings even now are still very competitive. Cincinnati, with the right breaks and the right players staying put, and the right ones (from our perspective) leaving the other teams for the war, could potentially pull a miracle one-off and win a series. But the odds of that seem very long and as such is that gamble, or perhaps a better word is 'hope' as gamble still implies there is at least some fighting chance of it happening, for everything to break right, both for us and against our opponents worth passing up the potential for long-term success that the right deal or series of deals might help ensure. We agree if we knew the Cannons had a great shot at winning a World Championship Series in the next year or two it would be well worth sacrificing long-term to get there. But, in this case our shot is hardly great looking at the current cast. However, if we were to aim to build around Deuce Barrell, and young outfield prospect Dick Blaszak, and Charlie Griffith and Rick York, maybe Win Hamby plus we have Bill Sohl and Mike T Taylor coming back from the war in a few seasons as 27 year olds, McCullough at age 29. Plus Mullins at 32 or so and capable of playing 1B if not catching everyday. Add in the couple of prospects we might add for moving some guys like Pidgeon now, and hopefully a few good draft picks and the Cannons are now a potential powerhouse. So do we hope for a miracle in the next two years or plan for something that has perhaps a 50/50 chance of looking pretty close to what we envision. Of that we are not sure. As John Brinker points out the uncertainty of the war makes it a tougher call but what we are sure of is that our current group is underachieving and the dynasty we built in Brooklyn had it's foundation put in place with two huge trades that sent Tom Barrell and Milt Fritz away when the team was struggling. Perhaps the choice of the phrase 'Fire Sale' was extreme, but it did get the league talking. And no, it is a near impossibility that Deuce Barrell goes anywhere. As we told Ernie Herr of the Cincinnati Post it would take a Bill Barrett or the Detroit offensive assembly-line duo of Johnson and Pestilli to get us to consider moving Deuce. But there are certainly are others we will move, players who perhaps could be a better fit elsewhere and help us make the Cannons a team to be feared, something that has not happened in well over a decade. BROOKLYN BENEFIT GAME TRIBUTE TO PRESCOTT'S PROMOTIONAL GENIUS The Navy seems to have done all right for itself in the Coral Sea. And without any sacrilegious intent, it might be written that our Navy did all right for itself at Kings County Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Brooklyn Kings did all right too. Well, not on the field where they fell behind early and got hammered 11-4, but this story is not of the dizzy-mad struggle between the famed interborough rivals. It is about the occasion itself. For this was the first of 16 FABL games to be played this year for the benefit of service organizations and 15 other big league owners might be interested in the way Kings magnate Daniel Prescott did it. As an event, the affair was an unqualified success from start to finish, a terrific promotional enterprise by Prescott and his staff. Brooklyn bugs rose to the occasion like the loyal baseball fans they are, but it required real salesmanship to lift the gate receipts to what surely constitutes a record for the Flatbush ballpark. When, in the fifth inning, Prescott reached across the top of the Brooklyn dugout and presented a check to the Navy officer who was helping co-ordinate things, the officer was limp as rag and finished for the day once he glanced at the number on the check. In all, it totaled $58,808 and later a second check for $1,053.25 - proceeds from the day's receipts for scorecard sales was also presented. There remain still some unaudited checks in the club's business office that will bring the total benefits to the Navy Relief Society to more than $60,000. --- THOUSANDS OF PAID TICKETS NOT TURNED IN AT THE GATE --- The check that was presented to the Navy was based upon ticket sales to 42,822 fans. That would be an all-time high at Kings County Ballpark. But of course that many weren't there. You couldn't get that many in the stadium without pouring thousands all over the outfield as the park seating capacity is 32,000. The stands were about half full - the actual attendance was just over 18,000. So where are the rest of the tickets? Prescott grins. "A lot of them are right in my office." he said. "They were bought and paid for and then returned." "What would you say," asked Kings office manager Jack Collins, "if I told you that a thousand of them are in Trinidad? That's a fact. A contractor bought that many and sent them to his employees as souvenirs. We were in no danger of getting into a jam. All those tickets were sold, but we knew within a few hundred just how many of them would actually be used." Everybody in the park entered on a paid ticket. Players and umpires paid to see themselves in action. The Brooklyn club purchased tickets for all of the park help. Newspapermen, Western Union operators, special police all contributed to the Navy fund by buying their own admission. There were officers of the U.S.S. Prairie State and 450 midshipmen of the class to graduate as ensigns four days later. Also 500 bluejackets from a Navy receiving ship anchored in the Hudson. They didn't buy their own tickets, but they entered on paid tickets nevertheless. Their admission was subscribed by civilians who, in response to Prescott's radio appeals, mailed in 4,200 checks to purchase tickets to the game for service men. Each check was made out to Prescott and Daniel vowed that he would personally endorse each one. There was a bit of a rhubarb in procedure right up until a couple of hours before the opening pitch. In it's original form, the game technically consisted of a charity contribution on the part of the Stars and Kings. But it seems the Treasury Department allows only five per cent of corporation contributions to charity, and levies taxes on the rest. Neither club was prepared for a 'take' like that. FABL President Sam Belton tried to iron on the details with the Treasury Department but was told the ruling could not be waived. In the end Prescott worked out an angle of his own. He made a contract with the Navy Relief Society which made that organization, instead of the ball clubs, the actual promoter of the game. At 11 am, Prescott learned to his great glee that this move made everything lovely in Washington.
 College coaches have been using the lure of flying fighter planes in their pitches to recruits. Annapolis Maritime assistant coach, who got his start at Alabama Poly says it is so much different recruiting players for the Navigators. "I don't have competition now when I start my sales talk. Used to be I had to contend with Mississippi A&M or Bluegrass State when I went after a boy. It's different now. There is no talk of other schools. It's just if they go with me I tell them they'll be playing on the best team in the world - Uncle Sam's team." OFF TACKLE- Detroit City College has some big holes to fill as the Knights, who went 6-1-1 last season, suffered big losses with graduating seniors and others leaving for the war. The Knights are much more optimistic about another successful season after seeing their newcomers in action during their spring camp, held last weekend. The school is especially excited with a half dozen freshman, who will be eligible to play for the varsity team next season thanks to a new AIAA rule that has been adopted by the Great Lakes Alliance. Minnesota Tech, St Magnus and Central Ohio are once again expected to be Detroit City's biggest rivals in their loop....Say what you will about the AFA being the pinnacle of pro football but the best football teams in the fall will be wearing U.S. uniforms. Much has already been written and said about how strong Great Lakes Training School will be when autumn comes again but the army has answered the call as well, recruiting several of the best college players in the nation over the past few years. The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 5/10/1942
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Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles |
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05-12-2022, 12:04 PM
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#426 |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Ontario Canada
Posts: 9,748
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May 18, 1942
MAY 18, 1942 KEYSTONES TAKE OVER TOP SPOT IN THE FED The Philadelphia Keystones are doing their best to prove that last season's slide was just a fluke and the club does indeed belong in the discussion for best team in the always competitive Federal Association. Two years ago the Keystones made a statement with an 87-67 season - an improvement of 24 games over the previous year - but they gave much of that gain back last season when they struggled and finished below .500. Philadelphia is a good young team with plenty of talent and the Keystones now find themselves at the top of the Fed table following a week that saw them win 6 of 7 games to start a two week long road swing. The key so far this season has been pitching as while the Keystones are last in the Fed in runs scored, no club has allowed less than the 103 runs Philadelphia has surrendered thus far in the season. The Keystones will face a tough test this week when they visit Chicago in a showdown between the top two teams in the Fed at the moment and a battle of the league's most productive offense against that top pitching staff from Philadelphia. In the Continental Association the New York Stars had their winning streak snapped at 11 with back to back losses to start the week. However, the responded by starting a new one and have stretched that current run to 6 games after taking both ends of a doubleheader from the Philadelphia Sailors yesterday.  CANNONS COLLAPSE CONTINUES I just can't believe how badly I missed in my assessment of the Cannons for this season. And Detroit for that matter too as we both have fallen off a cliff. I never expected Cincinnati to contend for a pennant this year but they should have been at least a .500 team and in the mix for third or fourth place. It was clear the loss of Mike T. Taylor would hurt as he was quickly becoming one of the best young outfielders in the game - not a Bill Barrett level of course but a 129 or so WRC+ average over the past couple of years. But I figured with Bob Griffith they should be ok as Cincinnati still had Galloway and Pidgeon to provide offense from the outfield. Well, Pidgeon's hitting skills flew the coop (at least so far) and Griffith has been so incredibly injury prone you would think he was a Cannons pitcher. The team is now forced to rely on the likes of Ruben Sanchez and Doc Love to hold them over until Dick Blaszak is ready - and that does not appear to be anytime soon as the 19 year old is hitting .148 in Class B and getting set to be demoted back to C ball. Cannons brass also thought Charlie Rivera, who hit .291 a year ago and provides plus defense could have filled in for McCullough in the infield but the issue has been he can't hit this year and neither can SS Jim Hensley so while they have two solid defenders in the middle of the infield but the Cannons are starved for offense because Pidgeon isn't producing and the corner infield combination of Denny Andrews, Frank Covarrubias and Chuck Adams can't get going either. Finally the pitching has been a mess. Deuce has been great of course and fans can't really complain about Larry Brown out of the pen, although Cincinnati is somehow 1-7 in 1-run games. The rest of the staff has been awful and their -60 run differential won't win us many ballgames. One can perhaps look to manager Ad Doria as a scapegoat for the one run losses but Ad can't go out there and pitch or hit for the team. Still, one has to wonder if things might be different if Doria's mentor George Theobald was still sitting in the dugout instead of the owner's box at Tice Memorial Stadium. As for the pitching look no further than Butch Smith for a scapegoat. Smith is 30 and suddenly fell off a cliff. He was a consistent 116-138 ERA+ guy in the three previous season but has a 73 now and an 0-7, 4.76 mark and that is only because his last two outings have been a little better. He went from a 2-time all-star and getting some Allan votes a year ago to not being good enough to start. With the devastating injury to Vic Carroll and the injury/enlistment of Bill Sohl it sent Smith from being what was expected to be perhaps the best 4th starter in the league to the worst #2. Roger Perry has been what most expected when he came over from Pittsburgh a year ago: a back of the rotation guy, but now forced to being the #2 because of Smith. Charlie Griffith had a very good spring but is young and probably needs a year to develop although now he can do so in Cincinnati with no pressure as this year is now meaningless for the Cannons. I think it will ultimately prove to be the Adam Mullins deal that, as good as it felt at the time, was what started the Cannons undoing. That's not to say the trade should not have been made, as it made sense at the time for the Cannons. However, given the current mess of things one can easily point to that move as the point things started to unravel. The Cannons had a great 1940 and seemed just a piece or two short for '41 so they pulled the trigger on Mullins. It was considered a great move at the time and one that immediately made them a contender but everything has gone wrong since. Mullins immediately got hurt, missed the first two months of last season and the Cannons downfall began. Mullins was as good as advertised when he returned but the pitching injuries happened immediately after that. Vic Carroll will be back in Cincinnati this week but Rufus Barrell is not very confident he can be a starter anymore, let alone the top of the rotation guy he was projected to be when they drafted him first overall out of Richmond State. Cincinnati dealt Gus Goulding and Rusty Petrick to the Gothams because they had these 3 young arms (Bill Sohl came from the pick I got in the Goulding deal) and Butch Smith as well as several other solid prospects but now, and so quickly, the Cannons have little pitching left beyond Deuce Barrell. Yes you can say it is just bad luck I guess. On the injury front for sure and perhaps with their record in 1-run games this season but even then I am not sure as Cincinnati's pythagorean record is right on point with where they actually are. Let's call 1941 just bad luck but for this season...I don't know. Perhaps the Cannons brass grossly overestimated the capabilities of this group for the 1942 season but then every prediction including yours truly had the club right in the middle of the pack - 3rd or 4th place. Right now we look like we should be sending this mess back to Baltimore, as their play is certainly in line with what that city was 'treated' to over it's final decade on the eastern shore. Makes a fan long for the days of the Cincinnati Steamers. Give us the Steamers back instead of this steaming pile of...well, you get the picture.  Last week, 3B Bent was called back from AAA while 1B/3B Belair was sent down. Bent respond with a .375 average in the two games he started. The last week could have turned out even better if the offense would have made run support in a 1-0 loss against Cleveland. Pitcher DeYoung threw a scoreless nine innings before being relieved in the 10th. He was not involved in the decision. Despite a 2-4 record, veteran pitcher DeYoung, a leader among the pitching squad is getting a 3.8 K/BB ratio with a 126 ERA+. Sounds like this year, he was able to lower the quantity of homeruns surrendered. Is that coming from the new manager using a 5 pitchers rotation this year compared to the 4 pitcher rotation in the last 2 year? The Saints schedule toward the end of the month will be harder, with two double header in two days, not in the same city. Thanks to the 1942 rapid transportation new device called TGV, the Saints will play a double header in Chicago on May 30th, followed by a double header in Montreal against New York on May 31st. Fortunately, there is a day off on June 1st!
 Ockie Holliday's continues to be mired in a season long slump .163/.207/.163. Many different options are being discussed in the Wolves Lair including some time back in Buffalo when Vestal comes back across Lake Ontario. This sophomore slump also is having an effect on Holliday in the field, an area that the Wolves are focused on improving overall as a team. The team's run differential (+25) is in contrast to the W-L record (16-18). Bob Walls has started to contribute more to the pitching staff, another discussion is how much two-way player Juan Pomales should play in OF. Pitching coach Art Nichols is of the opinion that his position playing days are having an affect on his SP role. Decisions will have to be made over the next week when Larry Vestal's extended spring training time ends in Buffalo.
The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 5/17/1942
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Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles |
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05-13-2022, 02:36 PM
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#427 |
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 677
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May 25, 1942
MAY 25, 1942 STARS CONTINUE TO DOMINATE CA, WHILE FED IS AS TIGHT AS ALWAYS The red-hot New York Stars have lost only 3 ballgames since April 28th. They are 21-3 on the month including a stretch of 12 wins in their last 13 games and now lead the second place Chicago Cougars by 7 games atop the Continental Association standings. Everyone else is behind by double-digits as New York is threatening to end the race by the All-Star break. It is a much different story in the Federal Association where even the last place Detroit Dynamos are just 9.5 games back and that is only because they are in the midst of a 5 game skid. Only two games separate the top 4 teams and with New York, Philadelphia and even St Louis playing well we might just have six or seven teams still in contention come the end of August.  BLUEGRASS STATE REPEATS AS AIAA NATIONAL CHAMPION Led by the dynamic duo of pitcher Bob Arman and outfielder Ernie McCoy the Bluegrass State Mustangs claimed their second consecutive AIAA championship in the sport of baseball. The Mustangs went 52-10, the best college single season mark of all-time to claim the crown. Maryland State, which won back to back titles in 1939 and 1940, finished second with a 50-12 record. Rounding out the top five were last year's runner-up Miami in third place followed by Grange College and Columbia Military Academy. Arman went 7-2 with a 2.14 era despite missing several starts this season. He won the Frank Christian Trophy a year ago as the nation's top player and is a finalist once again this season. The award winner will be announced next week. Despite the fine numbers Arman, who was selected first overall by the Boston Minutemen in January, was nosed out for All-American honours this season but the school will be represented on the first team by McCoy. The Nebraska-born centerfielder was selected second overall by the Montreal Saints in January making the pair the first teammates to go 1-2 in the draft since the St Blane pitching duo of Bobo White and Gus Goulding were taken in 1934. After two years as a second team All-American selection, McCoy was a first team choice this time around after hitting .320 with 6 homers and 31 stolen bases. Four other Mustangs stand a good chance of being drafted in the June portion of the annual FABL selection process. They are senior catcher Chuck Garner (.268,2,38), junior 1B Stan Mish (.289,5,30), junior SS Wally Kuck (.304,4,53) and junior outfielder Wilbur Zimmerman (.267,1,37). Here are the top twenty teams for 1942 Code:
AIAA FINAL TOP 20 BASEBALL TEAMS 1 Bluegrass State 2 Maryland State 3 Miami State 4 Grange College 5 Columbia Military Academy 6 Bayou State College 7 Eastern Oklahoma 8 College of Waco 9 Charleston Tech 10 Redwood University 11 Rainier College 12 Lane State 13 Carolina Poly 14 Noble Jones College 15 Huntington State 16 Yellowhammer State 17 Darnell State 18 Eastern State 19 North Carolina Tech 20 CC Los Angeles AIAA ALL-AMERICAN TEAMS ANNOUNCED Four players who made the first team a year ago held on to their spots led by Davidson University catcher Mark Smith, who won his second consecutive AIAA batting crown. Smith was drafted 6th overall by the Sailors in January. The other repeat first team All-American selections are Miami State first baseman Bucky Sheffer, Second baseman Jack Wilson of North Carolina Tech and shortstop Homer Mills from Weston College. There were some tough calls among the pitchers as no one player really stood out. In the end the selection committee gave Jerry York (9-4, 2.37) of Noble Jones College the first team berth and Ellery sophomore Jim Carter (8-3, 2.13) the second team spot which meant last year's Christian Trophy winner Bob Arman (7-2, 2.14) of the national champion Bluegrass State Mustangs fell just short. Here are the members of the 16th annual All-American teams and in the case of juniors their draft status. Code:
1942 FIRST TEAM C Mark Smith Jr Davidson University 6th Sailors 1B Bucky Scheffer So Miami State - 2B Jack Wilson Jr North Carolina Tech 17th Cincinnati SS Homer Mills So Weston College - 3B Frankie Gonnella So Canton State - OF Nelson Flinn Jr Darnell State 9th Chiefs OF Ernie McCoy Jr Bluegrass State 2nd Montreal OF Howie Cooper Fr Lane State - P Jerry York Jr Noble Jones 8th Toronto 1942 SECOND TEAM C Bob Newcomer SO Cesar Rodney 1B Jack Blake Jr Grange College eligible 2B Al Wright Jr Mississippi Tech eligible SS John Morrow So Rainier College 3B Gordon Klein So Huntington State OF Pete Woodward Jr Cleveland 12th Brooklyn OF Fred Martin Fr Alabama Baptist OF Johnny Carlisle Fr Cowpens State P Jim Carter So Ellery College  TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN Toronto welcomes back Larry Vestal from Buffalo hoping he will inject a little energy into the Wolves after another disappointing week. The front office burnt the midnight oil many nights to go through the roster options that Vestal's recall mandated including the the move of Holliday to the Nickels so he could find himself against AAA pitching. The final decision was that Ockie will remain in southern Ontario work with the big league staff to find the key to breakout of his slump. Both he and Vestal will be in and out of the lineup over the upcoming week as Charlie Reed searches for the proper lineup to shake off the malaise that his gripped the Wolves so far in 1942. The big question in the draft for the Wolves (and probably everyone else) is will their draftees report or enlist? Their top pick in the early stages of the draft, Noble Jones College righthander Jerry York (9-4, 2.37) was named a first team AIAA All-American.
The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 5/24/1942
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Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal
The Scripture of Sports |
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05-16-2022, 12:07 PM
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#428 |
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 677
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June 1, 1942
JUNE 1, 1942 1942 FABL DRAFT NEARS COMPLETION The Human General Manager portion of the 1942 FABL draft came to a conclusion over the weekend as selections were made for rounds 4 thru 10. The initial 3 rounds including the regional round (round 3) are conducted in January and the remaining 15 rounds will be completed in the next couple of weeks but done primarily by scouting director lists. The final two draft eligible AIAA All-Americans were selected as Boston grabbed second baseman Al Wright from Mississippi Tech in the 6th round and Grange College first baseman Jack Blake was taken by Washington in the 8th round. Each was named as second team All-Americans last week. One of the High School All-Americans - Trevorton (PA) catcher Mel Campbell - has yet to hear his name called. The remaining seniors to earn national honours have all been selected including Billy Biggar, a Canadian born player who attends York Springs High School in Pennsylvania, have been selected. Biggar cut it close as he was the 160th and final human GM selection of the draft, going to the Chicago Cougars. Here are the results of round 4: Code:
1942 FABL DRAFT ROUND 4 PK TEAM POS PLAYER AGE SCHOOL HOMETOWN 1 Boston RF Jim Pauly 21 Bay State (FL) Midway, GA 2 Montreal SP Pete Ford 21 Gates University San Francisco, CA 3 St. Louis SP Ben Fiskars 20 Sumter College Lynchburg, VA 4 Cleveland SP Ducky Davis 21 Grange College Lizella, GA 5 NY Gothams C Ray Miller 17 Saginaw (MI) HS Saginaw, MI 6 Sailors SP Win Lewis 21 West Goshen State Brooklyn, NY 7 Keystones 3B Bill Bartlesby 21 Carolina Poly Ogden, NC 8 Toronto C Randy Hendrix 22 Northern Miss. Norfolk, VA 9 Chiefs SS Frank Kirchner 17 Lawrenceburg (TN)HS Nashville, TN 10 Washington RF Ralph McMullen 21 Brooklyn Catholic New Castle, PA 11 Detroit 3B Ken Porter 22 Calloway State Chicago, IL 12 Brooklyn CF Elmer Wands 20 Ohio Poly Spring Hill, TN 13 Pittsburgh SP Roland Stewart 18 Walton HS, Bronx New York, NY 14 Cougars SS Dick Hamilton 21 Maryland State Buffalo, NY 15 Sailors RF Don Richmond 18 Providence(RI) HS Providence, RI 16 Cougars SP Babe Stinson 17 Louisville (CO) HS Denver, CO BOSTON TAKES IT'S TURN AT THE TOP OF THE FED A 6-3 week has the Boston Minutemen sitting atop the very competitive Federal Association as the calendar turns to June and after both the Philadelphia Keystones and Chicago Chiefs endured a rough seven days. The Keystones managed a split of their two games with Boston to start the week but went 2-5 the rest of the way while the Chiefs won just two of their 8 games including suffering a 3-game sweep over the weekend at home to the New York Gothams. Things continue to look up for the Gothams. Not only did they go 6-2 this week and are now in fourth place, just 2.5 games back of Boston and 3 games over the .500 mark but they are also thrilled to have Ed Bowman surpass even their wildest expectations. Bowman, the 22 year old former third round pick who has been the top prospect according to OSA for a couple of years now, made his big league debut April 21st. He struggled in that game and his following start against St Louis but has been outstanding ever since. Bowman beat Detroit 5-3 last week to run his record to 6-1 with a 3.38 era, numbers good enough to earn him both rookie of the month and pitcher of the month for May in the Fed. In the Continental Association the Chicago Cougars gained a game on the front-running New York Stars despite losing 12-5 to the Stars last Monday. Chicago is now just 6.5 back of New York and the CA race is starting to look eerily similar to last season when the Stars were red-hot until the all-star break and then cooled off allowing the Cougars to take the pennant.  EAGLES YOUNGSTER COON LATEST IN LONG LINE OF WASHINGTON BATSMAN It likely comes as quite a surprise to most FABL observes seeing the name Bob Coon atop the Federal Association batting race. The 24 year old is leading the way with a .354 batting average despite entering the season with only 57 games of big league experience and a .277 career average. Whether the 1939 second round pick out of St Magnus can maintain his heady pace remains to be seen, but it shouldn't come as a shock to see a young Washington Eagles player enjoying success at the plate, as that as been a frequent occurrence over the past decade or two. Mel Carrol's incredible 1937 campaign when he hit .409 immediately springs to mind and of course T.R. Goins had several big years in the 1920's while Andy Carter also put up some big hit totals when he wasn't antagonizing everyone in the clubhouse. Then there was Glenn Morrison, who had a .350 career average as a 28 year old before being inexplicably released and forced to finish out his illustrious career in the Great Western League. All had sustained excellence at the plate. The question is will the youngster Coon develop into a consistent hitter like those four or will this be just a brief moment in the spotlight for the youngster similar to many other Washington hitters of the past couple of decades. Names like Jim Beard immediately come to mind when thinking of Coon. Beard hit .360 and was an all-star in 1937 at 24, the same age Coon is today, but now is toiling as a backup infielder hitting .249 for the Sailors. Or Harry Shumate, a first baseman who hit .360 in his second year in Washington as a 26 year old but is now struggling for playing time with the other Philadelphia nine, the Keystones. Or Karl O'Reilly, who hit .310 in his first full season but batted .274 a year ago and is now in the Army. Or Sam Brown, an outfielder who showed a lot of promise in batting .332 as a 24 year old in 1935 and .345 the following season but has struggled to duplicate that performance although he is hitting .304 as a 31 year old so far this season. Jim Hanshaw also showed some promise for the Eagles in his age 24 season in 1938 but is now a regular in the Western Baseball League with Denver. Roy Bradley, Wally Flowers, Babe Walsh, Bert Barth even Jack Winston had a little stretch of success early in their careers with the Eagles. The problem is very few of them were able to sustain it. So the big question is what will happen to Bob Coon? Will he become the next Mel Carrol, the next Jim Beard or the next big thing in the Western League like Jim Hanshaw? Only time will tell but long suffering Eagles fans have had some hot young hitters to get excited about in the past only to see most of them not sustain that performance in the nation's capital or in most cases fail to even stick around D.C.  FLINN WINS CHRISTIAN TROPHY In the closest vote ever to determine the winner of the Frank Christian Trophy as college baseball's player of the year Darnell State outfielder Nelson Flinn emerged as the winner, narrowly outpointing Davidson University catcher Mark Smith for the award. Flinn and Smith each received 3 first and 3 second place votes but the difference was Flinn claimed third place on the 7th and final ballot while Smith was omitted entirely from one of the ballots giving Flinn a 1 point victory. Smith led the AIAA in batting average two seasons in a row but the knock on him was he did so while playing against weak competition on a small school based in Oregon. Flinn, on the other hand, was competing against many of the top names in the nation while playing for Darnell State and he and his Legislators teammates finished 17th in the final national rankings. It was quite a year for the 21 year old Flinn who, in addition to his prowess on the diamond, was also a member of Darnell States unbeaten National Champion winning football team. It was his one and only year of college baseball, one in which the outfielder hit .312 with 11 homers and 50 rbi's in 57 games. Numbers good enough to get him drafted 9th overall by the Chicago Chiefs in January. Perhaps ironically, but the Chiefs went on record at the time saying Smith, who was nabbed 6th overall by the Philadelphia Sailors, was their target and Flinn was a consolation prize. The other two juniors who were finalists for the Christian Trophy were also drafted in the first round with Boston taking Bob Arman first overall and Toronto selecting Jerry York with the 8th pick. Ellery's Jim Carter is a sophomore and will be back with the Bruins next season.  Code:
1942 FRANK CHRISTIAN TROPHY VOTING RESULTS NAME SCHOOL 1st 2nd 3rd TOTAL PTS Nelson Flinn Darnell St 3 3 1 25 Mark Smith Davidson 3 3 0 24 Bob Arman Bluegrass St 0 1 3 6 Jim Carter Ellery 1 0 1 6 Jerry York Noble Jones 0 0 2 2 HIGH SCHOOL ALL-AMERICANS ANNOUNCED A changing of the guard of sorts in the high school ranks as for the first time since the original Prep All-American team was announced in 1934 we do not have a repeat member of the team. 10 of the 18 players selected were seniors but none of the members on this year's team had ever been named All-Americans in the past. The closest we can was Art Goins, the Texas outfielder and son of former FABL star T.R. Goins, who earned honorable mention this season after making the team as a junior a year ago. Pennsylvania was well represented as the Keystone State placed 6 players on the team including Adwell Award nominee Jim Hawkins, a junior pitcher from Oakmont. The other Pennsylvania High Schoolers named to the team were catchers Jack Spahr and Mel Campbell, infielders Billy Biggar and Dick Gill as well as pitcher Paul Baker - each of whom are seniors. Code:
1942 HIGH SCHOOL ALL-AMERICAN TEAM NAME/CLASS SCHOOL FABL DRAFT C Jack Spahr -Sr Mayfield (PA) HS Rd 2 Montreal C Mel Campbell – Sr Trevorton (PA) HS still available 1b-3b Clyde Fleenor – Sr Clear Creek (MO) HS 14th overall NYS 1b-3b Joe Davis – Jr Copley HS (Boston MA) -- 1b-3b Billy Biggar – Sr York Springs (PA) HS rd 10 Cougars 2b-SS Dick Gill – Sr Bangor (PA) HS Rd 3 Sailors 2b-SS Mario Schilchegger- Jr Millville (NJ) HS -- 2b-SS Al Clement – Jr De Pere (WI) HS -- OF Ben Thompson -So Yazoo City (MS) HS -- OF Billy Black -Sr Nashville Bible HS 7th overall Keystones OF Billy Bob Nelson- Sr Porterdale (GA) HS rd 6 Stars OF Fritz Williams – Fr Watertown (WI) HS -- OF Andy Moyer- So Richmond (CA) HS -- P Joe Lute- Sr Algona (IA) HS 3rd overall StL P Frank Pershing -Sr New Mexico Military Institute Rd 2 Keystones P Jim Hawkins – Jr Oakmont (PA) HS -- P Lefty Jones – Jr Wilsonville (OR) HS -- P Paul Baker- Sr Media (PA) HS Rd 2 Brooklyn HONOURABLE MENTION P Willie Hill – Sr Eau Claire (WI) HS Rd 3 Chiefs P Jake Bailey – Sr Syracuse (NY) HS Rd 5 Pittsburgh P John Jackson -Sr Salem (NJ) HS 4th overall Cle C Red Rogers – So Lewiston (NY) HS -- INF Ray Taylor – So East HS (Nashville TN) -- INF Tom Jeffries – Sr Dibboll (TX) HS Rd 5 Gothams INF Joe Joyce – So Newberry (SC) HS -- OF Art Goins- Sr Arlington (TX) HS Rd 2 NY Stars OF Harry Patterson – So Easton (PA) HS -- ADWELL AWARD NOMINEES Here are the five finalists for the Adwell Award, presented annually to the top High School baseball player in the nation. CLYDE FLEENOR - Senior 3B Clear Creek (MO) HS: (.530,2,38) He has committed to Utah A&M but was a first round pick of the New York Stars so will likely turn pro. His batting average ranked second among all infielders and no infielder had a higher OPS or WAR than the 17 year old Kansas City native. Joins Gothams pitcher Bunny Edwards and former Pittsburgh and Cleveland infielder Ben Abaghian as the only Kansas City born players ever selected in the first round of the draft. JIM HAWKINS - Junior P Oakmont (PA) HS: (11-0, 0.75, 166 K's) Tied for the HS lead with an 11 win season, while his 0.75 ERA was second best in the country. He finished 5th in FIP and K/9 JOE LUTE - Senior P Algona (IA) HS: (11-0, 0.90, 171 K's) Selected third overall by St Louis in the January portion of the draft, the Iowa native had committed to Great Lakes Alliance power Western Iowa University. 7th in the nation in ERA but his 0.68 FIP was surpassed only by Frank Porter (who pitched half as many innings as the 110 Lute threw). His 7.6 pitching WAR was tied for number one. BILLY BOB NELSON - Senior OF Porterdale (GA) HS: (.554,3,35) His first season of high school ball say Nelson finish second in the nation in batting average. Likely because of his late start in organized ball Nelson has yet to commit to a college team and he has not been selected in the FABL draft at the time of this writing. BEN THOMPSON - Sophomore OF Yazoo City (MS) HS: (.564,4,33) Followed up a strong freshman season by leading the nation in batting average and OPS this time around, and by a fairly wide margin in each category. Has a bit of power with 4 homeruns (no one hit more than 6) and looks like a potential first round pick in two years. TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN The Toronto Wolves struggled through a 2-6 week as the team continues to be an enigma in 1942. Being swept by Cincinnati on Sunday was particularly galling to the faithful in Toronto. The team seems to invent new ways to lose games on an almost daily basis, if they pitch well the hitters take the day off and when the bats are hot the pitching cannot hang on to a lead. Ockie Holliday's performance at the plate, .185/.239/.202 is now a daily topic of concern, nothing seems to be working for the once promising third sacker. Holliday's struggles are the highlight but none of the infield starters are above league average in OPS+, Pack-91, Rollinson-89, Artuso-83, Holliday-22 show how light hitting the Wolves have been in the first two months. With the exception of Juan Pomales, who cannot seem to find the strike zone, the pitching is holding its own but coughing up too many games late in the contest. Giordano in Buffalo seems to ready for the next step in his progression, but the question is where??? Look for the Wolves to be active in the trade market in an attempt turn the season around, Bernie Millard is constantly seen in the offices holding closed door meetings. The system is in chaos so recent draftees will get an opportunity to prove themselves right after they sign with the team. Most minor league teams are well under roster limits. Second year skipper Charlie Reed's job is rumoured to on the line after an 11-21 May. The team only won two games in a row twice in May.
BEHIND THE NUMBERS - A LOOK AT DRAFT HISTORY The 1942 FABL amateur player draft has wrapped up with the completion of rounds four thru twenty-five. (The first three rounds are conducted in January). Most players selected after those first three rounds likely have little shot of ever playing big league baseball, but there is a chance. To see just how much of a chance, TWIFB decided to take a look at a dozen drafts (1925-36) and see just how many players selected in the later rounds made it to the show. According to our findings players selected in rounds 1-4 have a 57% chance of playing at least one FABL game, players selected in rounds 5-10 have a 26% chance of playing in a big league game and those selected in the cpu rounds (11-25) have just a 9% chance of playing in a FABL game. Keep in mind that is just 1 game and there are a lot of late round picks through the years who played in only a handful so even getting there does not necessarily lead to a productive big league career. Those numbers are from the dozen drafts that began the human GM era starting in 1925. Interesting to note the 1932 draft really bumps up the the totals as 61 (or 63.5%) of the 1932 Round 5-10 picks played in a game and amazingly 79 players (32.9%) selected by the AI in round 11 or later made it to FABL. In comparison both the 1930 and 1933 draft only had 3 players selected in round 11 or later to make it to FABL, as did 1936. It is just another indicator of exactly how deep the 1932 draft class was. Who played a meaningful number of games is a different topic we will look at below but here are the numbers for players with at least 1 big league game. The totals row at the bottom ignores 1937 & 1938 as it is too recent to be properly accounted for.  A very select group of players drafted in Round 11 or later reached at least 500 career FABL hits or 50 wins in their careers.  It is a little longer list when looking at round 5-10 draftees but still only 24 players with 500 career hits and 17 pitchers with 50 wins. In comparison for those drafted in '25 or later in rounds 1-4 there are 90 hitters and 37 pitchers that meet the criteria.  A final note lets look exclusively at first rounders. Out of the 192 chosen between 1925 and 1936, 66 of them have reached the 500 hit/50 win mark. 31 of the 60 top 5 picks in that time frame have made the list including 22 of the 36 players selected in the top 3 overall. And 9 of the 12 first overall picks - The exceptions are Karl Stevens, Curly Jones and Bobo White. Although Curly Jones may yet get there as he has a 39-39 record. White has 43 wins and is still just 28 but might be a long shot to get 7 more. Finally we have Karl Stevens, and well I think the former Cleveland GM (now in Detroit) has suffered enough in hearing about him and his 7 career FABL hits. So if you were lucky enough to be drafted, even with the 160th and final pick of the human GM portion (rounds 1-10) like Billy Biggar, a Canadian born 17 year old playing high school ball in Pennsylvania, was over the weekend, you still have a chance, as slight as it might be, of making the big leagues. And there is hope for Biggar as 3 players taken with the final human GM selection of a draft made it to the big leagues. They are:
  The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 5/31/1942
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Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal
The Scripture of Sports |
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05-17-2022, 11:04 AM
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#429 |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Ontario Canada
Posts: 9,748
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June 8, 1942
JUNE 8, 1942   A big reason why is Lawson is starting to strike out more and walk less. His BB% is down to 5% and his K% up to 17.3, both career worsts and by a significant margin. He also has just 8 extra base hits, despite leading the league in doubles twice and recording 29 or more in each full season of his career. This year, he's on pace for just 14. Lawson has never failed to hit double digit homers; this year on pace for just 8. And he's never hit below .300, this year he'd need to go 17 for his next 17 to raise his average up that high. At the age of 39, you have to wonder if his best days are behind him... Cougar fans, I'm here to tell you, fret not! This is John Lawson! Age is just a number to him; he will be back! All players fall into rough patches, it's just we are so used to success from Lawson, that anything less then dominance feels like the end is nigh. A third of the way through the season, there is more then enough time for Lawson to start hitting again, and while the days of 140 OPS+ with 20 homers and 100 RBIs may be fond memories of the past, he will turn things around. And once he does; watch out! Maybe the Cougars can claw their way back... SOME SEPARATION IN THE FED The Boston Minutemen and Philadelphia Keystones have opened a little bit of room on the pack in the Federal Association race but they are hardly comfortably in front. The defending champion Minutemen, at 33-24, were riding a 5-game winning streak until they had a rough series at home with the Chicago Chiefs in dropping 3 of 4 games over the weekend. The Keystones, after knocking off the Chiefs three times to start the week, stumbled a little against Detroit in dropping two of three but that was good enough to keep Philadelphia just a game back of Boston. The Chiefs desperately needed that strong showing in New England as they entered the series on a 7 game losing streak but as they leave Boston they are one of three teams, along with New York and Pittsburgh, that are 3.5 games back. The up and down St Louis Pioneers are five-and-a-half games back as they snapped an 8 game losing skid with a doubleheader sweep of the Miners yesterday, taking both games by just a single run. The Continental Association leaders had a rough weekend as well as the New York Stars dropped 3 of 4 games to the Philadelphia Sailors but the second place Chicago Cougars failed to take advantage of the opportunity as they also lost 3 of 4 to the Cincinnati Cannons, a team that has endured a dreadful first couple of months but has won 13 of it's last 19.  SOPHOMORE THOMPSON WINS ADWELL AWARD Ben Thompson, a 16 year sophomore who won't be eligible for the FABL draft until 1944, was named the winner of the Adwell Award, presented annually to the top High School baseball player in the nation. The outfielder from Yazoo City High in Mississippi, led the nation with a .564 batting average and a .638 on base percentage. Thompson becomes just the second outfielder to be selected for the award and joins Walt Messer and Hiram Steinberg as the only sophomores to win an Adwell. Both Messer and Steinberg would win again with Messer claiming the award once more as a senior and Steinberg winning three in a row beginning with his sophomore campaign. The Adwell Award, first presented in 1934, is named after Red Adwell, who was a legendary high school pitcher in Alabama in the early teens before going on to win 134 games over a 10 year big league career.  Code:
1942 ADWELL AWARD BALLOT RESULTS NAME (CL) SCHOOL 1st 2nd 3rd TOTAL Ben Thompson -Soph Yazoo City (MS) 3 3 0 24 Joe Lute- Sr Algona (IA) 2 2 0 16 Billy Bob Nelson- Sr Porterdale (GA) 0 1 1 4 Clyde Fleenor – Sr Clear Creek (MO) 0 0 2 2 Jim Hawkins – Jr Oakmont (PA) 0 0 2 2
TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN The Toronto Wolves are beginning to show signs of life with the calendar turning to June. The club began the month with a 3 game sweep at home against Brooklyn with manager Charlie Reed pulling out all the stops with some unorthodox moves in late innings. Hopefully these moves were a wakeup call to the regulars. Toronto is one of only three teams that have a positive run differential in CA. At +13 it pales in comparison to the Stars and Cougars but could be a harbinger of things to come for the team. Wolves hitters are at least putting the bat to ball - no team has struck out less than the Wolves this season. An improvement in overall defense would be a welcome sight at Dominion Field where the team finally went over .500 this past week. On the injury front. Larry Vestal will be out of the starting line-up until later in the week due to back spasms. There was some thought of another DL stint which would make room for Hank Giordano, this was dismissed, training staff's opinion is that Vestal will be back to full fitness with a few days of rest and therapy.
AROUND THE LEAGUE Jiggs McGee takes a look around FABL with a quick comment or two on each of the 16 clubs: BOSTON- The Minutemen will be without veteran outfielder Joe Watson for the rest of the month. The 32 year old Watson (.287,1,10) was not playing a lot in Boston but is a key piece in the clubhouse. It actually might be a blessing in disguise as perhaps Bob Donoghue will pinch-hit more often. Donoghue is hitting .286 as a pinch-hitter, not exactly lighting things up, but Watson was 1-for-13 in that role this season and only recently snapped an 0-for-11 start. BROOKLYN- Having Harry Barrell (.275,1,17) nicked up for the next three weeks might hurt the Kings and make them regret the decision to waive Terry Cox a couple of weeks ago. Cox caught on with Cincinnati and has been doing a solid job for the Cannons. Expect Vince D'Alessandro to shift from second to shortstop to fill in for Barrell which means 22 year old (Happy Birthday today) Howard Rivers will get a chance to show what he can do in Brooklyn. Rivers, who was acquired from the Cannons a year ago in the Chuck Adams trade, made his big league debut this season and is hitting .326 in limited playing time for the Kings. CHIEFS- The Chiefs feel confident in their chances as they have stuck around in the Fed race despite playing the fewest home games of any team in either association. Chicago has one more week on the road with stops in Pittsburgh and Washington before they return home, where they are 12-9 on the year, for a 21 game run that will keep them in Chicago right up until the July 6th all-star game. COUGARS- The Cougars have to be kicking themselves after a missed opportunity this weekend. Chicago dropped 3 of 4 games in Cincinnati, with each loss by a 4-3 score thereby missing a chance to gain some ground on New York as the Stars struggled in Philadelphia. Donnie Jones (5-5, 2.94) has pitched much better than his record indicates but has been on the wrong end of a couple of tough decisions lately including yesterday's 4-3 loss in Cincinnati when he went toe to toe with Deuce Barrell and fell just short - losing on a 10th inning sacrifice fly. CINCINNATI- The Cannons are hoping 1940 first overall pick Dick Blaszak finally got himself going with a big week in Class B. The 20 year old broke out of a season long slump with a 12-for-30 start to June that included his first homerun of the season. That raises the Cannons number one prospects batting average over the .200 mark for the first time since the very early days of the Southeastern League season. CLEVELAND- A tough loss for the Cleveland Foresters as the often injured Earl Robinson is hurt again. The offense has struggled but the Foresters pitching has been quite good this season led by Dick Lamb (6-6, 3.07), a 22 year old who is making a bid to be included in rookie of the year discussion. The Cleveland pitching future looks pretty bright with Hiram Steinberg (4-6, 3.22), barely a year removed from rewriting the high school record books, doing all right in Class B and then there is Bill Martino, another highly touted prospect but in the Navy for the duration. I did find it interesting to see Mel Ennis, now 29 years old but caught everyone's attention nearly a decade and a half ago with an incredible 8-0, 0.59 season as a high school freshman in the feeder days, still kicking around. He never duplicated his freshman year at San Antonio High and seems to have spent a lifetime in Class B but is 6-2 with a 1.74 era for Savannah so far this season and I can see him, with his high work ethic, acting as a mentor for Steinberg at the moment. I am surprised he has never pitched above Class B though. DETROIT- Rookie Johnny Witt made his first big league start for Detroit last week. The 24 year old did not pitch badly, but ran into control issues by walking 5 and allowed 3 earned runs in a 4-0 loss to Boston. A 12th round pick out of a West Virginia high school, he was pitching extremely well at AAA Newark (2-0, 0.90) so he got the call to Detroit. After 3 very successful relief outings the Dynamos gave him his first start. OSA sees Witt as a back of the rotation guy so with a few pitchers in Detroit still struggling (Charlie Wheeler, Sergio Gonzales) or injured (Frank Crawford, Jack Richardson) we may see more of Witt. Speaking of Richardson the Dynamos have confirmed his injury suffered last month is career ending. The 34 year old began his career in St Louis before joining Detroit in 1939 and he led the Fed in saves that year. All told he was 28-38 with 50 saves in 261 career FABL appearances. Almost exclusively a reliever as a pro, Richardson threw a no-hitter for Cleveland High School back in the old feeder league days. MONTREAL- Heady space for the Saints who are 28-28 and looking to finish with a .500 or better record for the first time since 1930. They finished 3rd that season and have only been in the first division one other time in the past dozen years. A 19-13 record in May and going 12-7 in one run game helps explain the position. And all this is happening while 1B Red Bond and CF Bill Greene are still hitting in the .230s range, which is well under expectations. If those two can get going, who knows, perhaps the Saints might even find themselves in contention when the season begins to wind down. Montreal Star columnist Marc T. McNeil points out that, as in previous year, the offense still posting good numbers, but the pitching squad needs to do better and the defense still needs much improvement as the Saints sit last in Defense efficiency and Zone rating. There is good news on the pitching front from the Century League in Minneapolis where the trio of prospects Wally Reif (5-1, 2.91), Pat Weakley (4-2, 4.19) and Jimmy Mayse (4-1, 2.72) are going to create a log jam in September if they are called up. So far the three of them are doing everything necessary to force the Saints brain trust to promote them before the end of the year. NY STARS- The Stars did snap their three game losing streak Tuesday in Cleveland with a 14-4 victory but they finished the week with 3 losses in their four game set in Philadelphia and that has management getting a little worried about the possibility of a second half fade ruining an incredible start to the season as it did last year. No fading out of Dave Trowbridge as the 43 year old continues to defy the odds. His batting average is up to .324 on the year and he is on a pace for 20 homers, a number he has only reached once before and that was nearly a decade and a half ago. He is approaching 2,700 career hits so just imagine the numbers he could have put up if he was an everyday player at age 23 or 24 instead of having to wait until he was 29 for his first full season of action. NY GOTHAMS- Some New York reporters are calling on the Gothams to send young Ed Bowman out on the mound every 4th day. Bowman did stumble his last start but at 7-2, 3.50 is having quite a rookie year. With Rusty Petrick (6-5, 3.30) and Harry Carter (6-6, 2.78) both pitching well, John Brinker of the New York Mirror says "The Gothams would be extremely scary if Goulding would just perform to his ability. That guy is a stud but is pitching like a bum." However, Percy Sutherland notes that Goulding (4-8, 5.68) should be getting better results but he doesn't. And with 1,500 career innings of under-performance, notes maybe Goulding "is who he thinks he is." KEYSTONES- My arm is just fine thank you. Bobby Barrell with a big statement to Selective Service as a week after he was declared 4-f due to that gunshot wound so many years ago, the Georgia Jolter, earned Fed player of the week honours with 3 homers and 9 rbi's while going 13-for-24. Barrell leads the majors with 13 homers on the season while batting .335 and now sits at 299 homers after his three taters this week. Keystones fans are grateful for the likelihood of Barrell playing the full season before going off to join the boys "over there". The Keystones' pitching staff is the stingiest in the Fed--allowing just 3.6 runs/game. However, the offense--even with The Georgia Jolter--comes in at dead last, scoring just 3.5 runs/game. SAILORS- Like Jekyll and Hyde as the Sailors stumble to a 1-7 record against Cleveland and Cincinnati, a pair of bottom feeders, in the past couple of weeks only to rebound with a 4-2 showing last week against the top two clubs including a 3-1 weekend against the front-running New York Stars. The big weekend vs New York came at a price as both Marion Boismenu (.320,2,14) an Hal Carter (.317,0,13) were injured. Both are expected to miss no more than 3 weeks. Karl Wallace is turning things around in Philadelphia. Picked up on waivers after a 3-8 season a year ago saw Montreal cut ties with him, the 28 year old righthander is pitching the best ball of his career with a 6-3 mark and a 2.19 era that has Sailors fans thinking he should participate in the first all-star game of his career next month. PITTSBURGH- You can't call the Miners a sleeper as they are always in the mix but they are just lurking in the weeds right now, 3.5 games back after a slow start to the season. I think they are the team to beat in the Fed now, as long as they stay healthy. The offense is very deep and vets Karl Johnson (6-3, 3.09) and Charlie Stedman (8-4, 3.12) are going strong. Lefty Allen (6-6, 3.05) has been getting very little run support so expect that to balance out as we go forward. ST LOUIS- If only the Pioneers could win at home. They are 19-13 on the road but just 9-17 at Pioneers Field. 5 straight losses in Washington and Pittsburgh to start the week dropped them below .500 but they rebounded with a doubleheader sweep in Pittsburgh yesterday. 25 year old Danny Hern (9-2, 2.80) is, at least at the moment, the favourite to start next month's All-Star game in Pittsburgh. He had a rough go of things against Washington early in the week but rebounded nicely with a win in Pittsburgh yesterday. Unfortunately I can't help but feel the bubble will burst on the Pioneers. The pitching behind Hern is suspect and while they are second in the Fed in runs scored, they seem to be getting a lot of breaks on that front as the Pioneers are scoring despite ranking last in the Fed in batting average, OPS, wOBA, homeruns and stolen bases and just 6th in on-base percentage. TORONTO- Wolves were hoping to sneak Levi Redding through waivers but Cincinnati grabbed the 31 year old Chicago native, who has a return home of sorts as Redding played his college ball in Columbus at Central Ohio before being drafted by the Cleveland Foresters. He is a career .279 hitter in 629 FABL games, all with the Wolves. WASHINGTON- Sig Stofer (.283,11,44) had a huge week for the Eagles, hitting .370 with 2 homers and 11 rbi's. He now leads the Fed with 44 rbi's while smacking 11 homers and hitting .283.
The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 6/07/1942
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Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles Last edited by Tiger Fan; 05-17-2022 at 11:22 AM. |
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05-18-2022, 12:15 PM
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#430 |
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All Star Reserve
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June 15, 1942
JUNE 15, 1942 THE SAINTS ARE MARCHING! It has been more than a decade since the Montreal Saints were last considered a factor in the Continental Association pennant race but thanks to 12 wins in their last 16 games combined with some stumbles by the front-running New York Stars and the Montreal nine may just have an impact on the pennant race this season. You have to go back to 1930 when Montreal finished tied for second place with the then Baltimore based Cannons, two games back of the Philadelphia Sailors, to find the last time Saints finished less than a dozen games out of first place. There is a long ways left to go of course, but there is hope in Montreal - something that has been in very short supply for many years. None of the soothsayers expected much out of Montreal this time around, no one in the TWIFB prediction issue pegged Montreal higher than 6th place but the Saints are a surprising third at the moment and have shaved 6 and a half games off the New York Stars lead in a little over two weeks. Montreal is still 7 games back but their offense is rolling and the pitching has been for the most part solid. The Stars meanwhile, have become a carbon copy of last year's club - one that rolled out to a huge start only to give it all away as they cooled as soon as the weather started heating up. This year's version was 35-10 after the first game of a doubleheader with Brooklyn on May 30th but since then have gone 4-11. The Chicago Cougars are second, 6 games back of New York and one up on Montreal, but like the Stars the Cougars have cooled in June with just 4 wins in their last 13 contests. *** FEDERAL ASSOCIATION *** After several weeks of looking up at the Boston Minutemen, the Philadelphia Keystones now take their turn atop the Federal Association standings. A 5-2 week allows Philadelphia to grab a half game lead on Boston with surging Pittsburgh, winners of 14 of their last 19 games, in third place two back. Thanks to taking two of three last week on the road from both Philadelphia and Boston, the New York Gothams are still in the thick of the race. The Chicago Chiefs, returning home after a rough road trip, and the slumping St Louis Pioneers are both falling off the pace, at least at the moment. Chicago struggled through a 6-15 road trip while St Louis has dropped 13 of it's last 17 games ANGEVINE ENLISTS IN NAVY Following in the footsteps of teammate Bill Barrett, New York Stars shortstop Joe Angevine has enlisted in the Navy and will report for training in late October once the baseball season ends. Barrett, the Stars 22 year old outfielder and 1941 Whitney Award winner, announced earlier this year he was enlisting at the end of the season and Angevine, his 26 year old teammate, recently revealed he too has joined the Navy. The shortstop from Austin, Texas is in his fifth season with the Stars and hitting .298 through 60 games. He was originally a second round selection of the Boston Minutemen in 1933 but dealt to the Stars a year later in a move that brought veteran pitcher Charlie Stedman to Boston. HARRIS DRAFTED: In other military service related news the Cincinnati Cannons have confirmed that minor league outfielder Roy Harris has been called by Selective Service and reported to the Army last week. The 23 year old former second round pick was having a fine season at AAA Indianapolis, hitting .340 and on the verge of a promotion to the big league club.  MILESTONES FOR BARRELL AND MARTIN A pair of Federal Association veterans reached milestones last week as Bobby Barrell of the Philadelphia Keystones smacked his 300th homerun while Chicago Chiefs veteran Bob Martin finally reached the century mark in round-trippers. Barrell's 300th, and FABL leading 14th of the season, came off of Detroit rookie Johnny Witt in the 6th inning of the Keystones 6-5 victory over the Dynamos last Monday. Barrell added two more homers before the week came to an end and is only the 4th player in FABL history to reach the 300 plateau, joining his legendary teammate Rankin Kellogg, Hall of Famer Max Morris and Brooklyn slugger Al Wheeler. The 31 year old, with 16 homers in 58 games this season, appears to be headed for his best homerun year since 1936 when he slugged 53. His production dipped dramatically after that following a much-publicized gunshot wound and he has not topped 25 in a single campaign since. Martin's 100th was a long-time coming as the homer he hit in an 18-0 trampling of Del Burns and the Washington Eagles on Friday. It was Martin's first homerun since October 6, 1939 when his fifth and final blast of that season was the 99th of his career. The homerless drought sounds longer than it actually was in terms of games because Martin had spent much of that time on the injured list, so he went 102 games between homers.  He finally struck out! In his 218th trip to the plate this season, the league's best active pitcher George Garrison managed to sneak a 1-2 pitch past Skipper Schneider, who swung and missed for the first out of the 3rd inning. His now 0.4 K% is still the best in the league, with just Montreal's Jake Hughes (0.8) and Cincinnati's Adam Mullins (0.9) below 1% as well. Both of them have struck out twice. The 21-year-old shortstop is in the midst of another great season, hitting .292/.346/.388 (108 OPS+) and ranks 2nd in the CA for WAR at 3.3 Note: Tickets are still available for Saturday's Army and Navy relief fund game at Cougars Park against Toronto. The game will be preceded by an exhibition between military teams that will see Allan Award winner Pete Papenfus make his return to Chicago and pitch for the Great Lakes naval squad.  Not all is positive this week as the club learned that they will be without outfielder Heinie Billings (.250,1,15) for three weeks after the 25 year old suffered a sprained knee. Billings was the starting right fielder for the last month and the leader in stolen base for Montréal. Veteran Vic Crawford (.271,2,12) will get a chance to play everyday during that time. Pitcher Karl Weiss (3-4, 4.37) is sidelined for 4 days with a sore shoulder and with the Sunday double headers being too much for a 4 man rotation it means Jimmy Mayse will be summoned from Minneapolis where he was 4-2, 3.00 for the AAA Lumberjacks. Mayse will get at least one start in Montreal in what will be his second chance in FABL. The 25 year old lefthander, a 1937 first round pick, was 0-2, 6.75 in six appearances for Montreal last season.
TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN Toronto is heating up, finally, as the team is 10-4 in June. The past week was particularly satisfying as the Wolves managed to to close out a two week home stand taking series from both the Cougars and Stars bringing their season record to 31-32. They now head out on a road trip not returning to the friendly confines of Dominion Stadium until the last day of June. Manager Charlie Reed seems to pushing all the right buttons, Ockie Holliday is showing signs of life hitting .467 over the past week. He will be eased back into the everyday lineup as Hal Wood .312/.359/.422 has earned a semi-regular playing time. Wood's versatility has allowed Joe Bell to be optioned to Buffalo with Frank Huddleston's return from an extended period on the DL. There was a debate on which player to send down but the staff thought Al Jensen's clubhouse influence coupled with Bell playing every day at AAA gave the most overall benefit to the Wolves. In an unrelated move Homer Betts was sent down after not hitting a lick as Clarence Howerton's backup (.109/.174/.109). Roscoe Zeiler will now be the backup C with the ability to help the bullpen in mop up situations if a game gets away from a SP. Charlie Reed hopes to see a bit of a power increase from Pack, Westfall, and/or Holliday. Charlie Artuso is currently leads the team with 4 round trippers.
BUSINESS AS USUAL FOR BASEBALL IN JAPAN Much like in America the sport of baseball is continuing to be played in Japan despite the war. Japanese clubs have also lost many players to the military but the game goes on, at least for now. The Japanese Baseball Association is in it's 5th season with the Yokohama Kingfishers being the dominant club, winning 3 of the first four league titles including last season. The Kingfishers are in the mix again this year, sitting 4 games back of the front-running Tokio Cannons as the league approaches the midway point of it's 84 game schedule. The Cannons were the last place club in the initial season but have advanced one spot each year, finishing 5th in 1939, 4th in 1940 and third last year.  ARMY ALL-STARS TO PLAY GRID PRO TEAMS Uncle Sam's Army will pit the pick of it's football playing soldiers - former college and professional greats - against some of the country's mightiest professional teams in six weeks of benefit games starting in August. The Army spokesman also confirmed that in addition to several pro clubs, the Army stars will face a number of college outfits prior to the start of the professional and college seasons. The army will put two teams into action - one in the western half of the country, the other in the East- and has scheduled it's first game against the Washington Wasps in mid-August while the Wasps are in California for their preseason training camp. The Eastern outfit is slated to face the New York Football Stars at the Bigsby Oval the same weekend and then take on the Boston Americans at Cunningham Field. A third team, separate from the original two squads and possibly reinforced by navy and marine players, is tentatively scheduled to play in the annual Chicago game against a squad of college all-stars, replace the professional team that normally participates in that game.  The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 6/14/1942
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Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal
The Scripture of Sports Last edited by Jiggs McGee; 05-18-2022 at 12:20 PM. |
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05-19-2022, 10:21 AM
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#431 |
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Dec 2019
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June 22, 1942
JUNE 22, 1942 PAPENFUS RETURNS TO COUGARS PARK For one brief moment Saturday afternoon it was like all was right in the world. There was no war. Baseball, and every other industry in the nation, had not been forced to give up so much to preserve our freedom and that of people all around the world. No, for that brief moment time stood still as over 25,000 screaming Chicago Cougars fans stood and cheered as Pete Papenfus, won won 20 games, an Allan Award and led the hometown nine to the Continental Association pennant just 9 months ago, jogged to the mound. The moment quickly passed, replaced by the jarring reality that Papenfus was pitching not for the Cougars, but instead for a military outfit from Great Lakes Naval Academy in a mere exhibition, taking place two hours before the actual Cougars team would face the Toronto Wolves. The game was the latest of the many contests between teams from military bases, in this case the army nine from Camp Grant provided the opposition, designed to raise money for the Army and Navy Relief funds. In that regard it was a huge success as only the benefit game held in Brooklyn last month raised more money than what was collected on this afternoon. It was also a rousing success on the field as the Cougars faithful were rewarded with a performance from Peter the Heater that was everything they hoped...well, nearly everything as try as they might, the fans could not quite picture Papenfus in Cougars garb instead of his Great Lakes attire. It was perfect Papenfus on the rubber, as the 24 year old tossed 4 scoreless innings while fanning four and allowing just one hit- a bloop single- as the only blemish on his effort in helping lead Great Lakes to a 3-1 victory over Camp Grant. Great Lakes manager/Lieutenant T.R. Goins- the former Washington and Cleveland catching great- served as Papenfus' catcher for the first inning before replacing himself with Joe Rainbow. Afterwards Goins joked that his left hand is going to ache for a week after receiving a few fastballs that "had to be at least 100 miles an hour." Former Keystones infielder Billy Woytek was the hero for the Navy boys, delivering 2 hits including an 8th inning 2-run double that provided the winning runs. Cougars fans were disappointed in the second contest of the afternoon as their heroes fell 4-2 to Toronto behind a very solid outing from Wolves veteran pitcher Chuck Wirtz. The loss, one of three suffered by Chicago in it's four game series with the Canadian club, dropped the Cougars 8 games behind the first place New York Stars. *** STRICKEN MCCORMICK WILL NOT REQUIRE SURGERY *** TWO MORE MAJOR LEAGUERS COMMIT TO JOINING WAR EFFORT Veteran Detroit Dynamos catcher John Wicklund and rookie New York Gothams hurler Ed Bowman are the latest big league baseball players to announce their intentions to join the war effort. The follow the lead of New York Stars teammates Bill Barrett and Joe Angevine who have each confirmed they will enlist in the Navy once the current baseball season comes to a conclusion. Bowman, the tall 22 year old Texan, has captured the hearts of Gothams fans with an 8-2 start to the season but feels it is his duty to join the war effort. He passed his preliminary physical examination earlier this week at draft headquarters and indicated he plans to enlist soon. Wicklund, 32, is a former two-time all-star selection but has struggled at the plate in recent years and is batting just .208 in 54 games for the Dynamos this season. Wicklund is unmarried but has been classified in 3-A because of dependencies but says he plans to enlist in some branch of the service if he is draft status does not get upgraded.  
TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN Wolves outfielder Reginald Westfall (.307,3,37) went 0-for-3 and did not do anything to contribute at the plate but he deserved player of the game honours in Toronto's 4-3 win over Montreal for perhaps the greatest defensive game by an outfielder in FABL history. Westfall threw out 4 Montreal baserunners in the contest. It started in the first inning when he threw out Mark Burns when the Montreal third sacker was trying to advance to second on a single. That Burns single did move Jake Hughes to third but when Bert Lass' attempt at a sacrifice fly landed in Westfall's glove. The 28 year old unloaded a bullet throw that nailed the sliding Hughes at the plate for the final out of the inning and kept the game scoreless. Westfall did it again in the second inning when on a Ben Richardson fly ball with the bases loaded he doubled up Charlie Woodbury with another perfect throw to the plate. It was an inning that the Saints could have blown the game open but had to settle for just one round. But Westfall was not done yet. In the 6th inning with Montreal up 3-2, Richardson laced a double with Bill Greene on first base. Westfall tracked down the ball fired a perfect toss to second baseman Mike Rollinson, who quickly relayed the ball to the plate to retire Greene for the first out of the inning. Toronto would eventually rally to tie the game at 3 in the top of the ninth and win it in the 10th. There are no FABL records but it is highly unlikely any outfielder has ever had more than 2 assists in an inning or four in a game. Overall the Wolves have a good first week of the two week road trip, going 4-2 including two one-run wins which have been tough to coming by this season. Bookend losses sandwiched between 4 wins have put spring in the step and similes on the faces of Toronto fans. Bob Walls has struggled lately with the problem being too many free passes (19 BB, 7 K, 85 IP). Manager Charlie Reed is looking for other options to combat the lack of long ball for the Wolves, zero big flys in 6 games this week. Clubhouse talk is that the ball has changed due to war time restrictions, pitchers are saying off the record that this year's ball seems "softer".
 The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 6/21/1942
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Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal
The Scripture of Sports |
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05-20-2022, 01:03 PM
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#432 |
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 677
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June 29, 1942: TWIFB all-star ballot
JUNE 29, 1942 TWIFB ALL-STAR SELECTIONS With the 10th annual FABL All-Star Game just a week away it's time for This Week in Figment Baseball to announce it's selections of who it feels the 18 starters should be for the contest. This years game will be held at Fitzpatrick Park in Pittsburgh and the visiting Continental Association stars will be looking to win their second straight game, and fourth in five years. If successful the CA clubs will even the annual series at five wins apiece. Code:
PAST ALL STAR GAME RESULTS YEAR LOCATION RESULT WINNING PITCHER MVP 1933 Whitney Park Federal 8 Continental 5 Ben Curtin STL Pete Asher Pit 1934 Riverside Stadium Federal 11 Continental 7 Chick Stout Pit Tom Taylor Cougars 1935 Broad Street Park Federal 5 Continental 2 Art Myers Keystones Freddie Jones StL 1936 Pioneer Field Continental 6 Federal 4 Tom Barrell BKN Dick Walker Sailors 1937 Dominion Field Federal 2 Continental 2 (19) Don Attaway Keystones Don Attaway Keystones 1938 Bigsby Oval Continental 5 Federal 4 (13) Bob Cummings BKN Fred McCormick TOR 1939 Forester Stadium Continental 6 Federal 3 Art White BKN Fred McCormick TOR 1940 Thompson Field Federal 7 Continental 4 Red Hampton Chiefs Billy Woytek Keystones 1941 Kings County Continental 8 Federal 4 Pete Papenfus Cougars Fred Galloway Cincinnati TWIFB PICKS FOR THE CONTINENTAL ASSOCIATION ALL-STAR STARTERS CATCHER: ADAM MULLINS Cincinnati Cannons- Mullins (.302,3,26) would be making his 6th straight appearance on the Continental side for the all-star game but just barely edges out Cougars catcher Harry Mead (.285,8,37) for the starting spot. If Ben Richardson (.331,3,23), who was dealt to Montreal in the trade that brought Mullins to the Cannons, had played a few more games in the first half he might have just earned our vote to start in the game. The 32 year old long-time backup is enjoying a career year for the surprising Saints. FIRST BASE: DAVE TROWBRIDGE New York Stars- Father Time (.302,8,45) is still showing few signs of slowing down despite being a little over a month away from his 44th birthday. He gets the call over Marion Boismenu (.320,2,14) of the Sailors and Cleveland's Hank Stratton (.309,2,25). Not sure he will make the club as a manager's addition but a player to perhaps watch in the second half of the season is 25 year old Chuck Adams (.314,9,28) of the Cannons. 'Bow Wow" had a slow start to the season but has really heated up of late. SECOND BASE: MIKE ROLLINSON Toronto Wolves- Rollinson (.306,2,29) is making the most of his first opportunity to be a big league regular at the age of 27. Cincinnati's Jim Hensley (.274,5,27) is on the ballot as a second baseman and having a solid year but he has spent more time at shortstop this year. Montreal's Charlie Woodbury (.321,4,23) is another player to consider. SHORTSTOP: SKIPPER SCHNEIDER Chicago Cougars- Add the 21 year old Schneider (.282,1,31) to the long list of very good CA shortstops. Oscar King (.290,0,25) of the Sailors is also having a fine year and one could not argue if he, Joe Angevine (.313,0,42) of New York, Toronto's Charlie Artuso (.257,4,24) or Brooklyn veteran Harry Barrell (.275,1,17) was the one to join Schneider on the final team. THIRD BASE: RAY COCHRAN New York Stars- It looks like John Lawson (.250,5,37) of the Cougars will not get to play in his 9th all-star game, at least not this year as the veteran has had a slow start this time around. That opens the door for Cochran (.297,2,38) and likely Montreal's Mack Burns (.277,3,20) or Brooklyn's Frank LeMieux (.264,0,20) to be the backup. LEFT FIELD: LEO MITCHELL Chicago Cougars- With all due respect to Lew Seals (.234,12,51) and Bert Lass (.323,2,44) the decision to select Mitchell (.342,9,33) for his third all-star game was possibly the easiest call in the CA. CENTER FIELD: CARLOS MONTES Chicago Cougars- Some pretty good options here but the 26 year old Montes (.310,3,27) will get the start in his first all-star appearance if it is up to the staff at TWIFB. Chink Stickels (.252,2,37) of the Stars, Brooklyn's Rats McGonigle (.275,4,30), Tom Frederick (.302,1,23) in Toronto and Cincinnati's Fred Galloway (.279,1,25) are all in the running for a reserve slot. RIGHT FIELD: BILL BARRETT New York Stars- Ok, we lied. Barrett (.357,8,34) was our easiest choice to make as the 22 year old is set to appear in his fourth consecutive all-star game. Toronto's Reginald Westfall (.286,3,39) might get his first all-star invite and his 4 assist game from a little over a week ago is still fresh in everyone's mind. PITCHER: RUFUS 'DEUCE' BARRELL Cincinnati Cannons- There are a number of worthy candidates but Deuce (13-2, 2.32) is an easy choice to start the game. New York Stars ace Billy Riley (12-4, 2.25) and George Garrison (12-4, 2.22) are also deserving of consideration but Deuce has been the top pitcher in the first half of the season. TWIFB PICKS FOR THE FEDERAL ASSOCIATION ALL-STAR STARTERS CATCHER: GEORGE CLEAVES Pittsburgh Miners- It is almost a toss-up between Cleaves (.327,7,48) and Chicago's Tom Bird (.343,10,49) but the game is in Pittsburgh so we are going with the hometown hero to start but both will be on the team. FIRST BASE: MAHLON STRONG Pittsburgh Miners: Another tough decision as Strong(.330,11,51) has plenty of competition. There is Washington's Sig Stofer (.280,13,55), who we would like to see make his first all-star team this year, as well as the Chiefs Ron Rattigan (.277,5,30), Bill Moore (.283,6,43) in Boston and perhaps even the Gothams Bud Jameson (.300,6,33). A slow start cost Red Johnson (.270,13,43) the starting spot but it likely comes down to him and Stofer for a backup role. SECOND BASE: BUDDY SCHNEIDER Boston Minutemen- Washington youngster Al Gross (.257,1,22) is helping make Eagles fans a little more forgiving of the decision to deal the first overall draft pick away but he is not quite an all-star despite a strong year. Bob Martin (.307,2,29) is finally healthy again in Chicago and Marshall Stickland (.275,2,21) is making the departure of Billy Woytek to the Navy a little more palatable in Philadelphia but our pick is the give the Schneider (.244,0,42) boys another reunion to follow up their showdown in last year's WCS. SHORTSTOP: MULE MONIER New York Gothams- In the Fed shortstop battle there is Monier (.360,3,26) and there is everybody else. If I am selecting a backup I would go with Boston's Lew McClendon (.272,2,22) but this position still is very weak in the Fed when compared to the collection of shortstop talent in the Continental Association. THIRD BASE: HANK BARNETT Chicago Chiefs- A nice collection here as we could easily list six players and be happy with any one of them but Barnett (.291,10,43) gets our pick although we sure are rooting for Frank Vance (.288,5,26) to make his 9th trip to the all-star game. As great a story that would be for the 40 year old Detroit Dynamos star, he will be hard pressed to nose out all of Hank Koblenz (.274,14,39), Mel Carrol (.305,5,24), Art Spencer (.316,2,41) and Tommy Wilson (.275,3,32) for a roster spot. LEFT FIELD: WALT MESSER New York Gothams- It was a bit of a wait for the two-time Adwell Award winner to break out but Walt Messer (.310,16,57) has entered the discussion for best outfielder in the game. He is not quite there yet but getting closer. The Chiefs Jim Watson (.333,6,32), Pittsburgh's Pinky Pierce (.284,10,33) and Chick Donnelly (.330,2,42) of Boston are all in the running for a backup outfield spot. CENTER FIELD: PABLO REYES Pittsburgh Miners- Reyes (.313,5,46) edges out Sal Pestilli (.282,13,43) for the starting spot as Pestilli - like nearly the entire Detroit roster- had a very slow start but he has been hot in June. RIGHT FIELD: BOBBY BARRELL Philadelphia Keystones- An easy choice to select the Georgia Jolter (.327,17,51) for his 8th all-star appearance. Washington's Bob Coon (.330,1,20) has been a pleasant surprise in his first full season and for a while Chicago's Alf Pestilli (.224,8,32) was looking like the better of the brothers but he has cooled off of late. STARTING PITCHER: CHARLIE STEDMAN Pittsburgh Miners- A lot of options here but we finally went with the 40 year old Stedman (11-6, 3.17). There were many possibilities such as the Boston duo of Ed Wood (9-5, 2.40) and Dean Astle (9-3, 2.02), rookie sensation Ed Bowman (9-4, 3.51) of New York, Philadelphia's Lloyd Stevens (10-3, 2.71), Jim Birdwell (9-3, 3.21) of Washington and Denny Hern (11-5, 3.00) of St Louis.  NEW YORK! NEW YORK! Baseball fans in the Big Apple might just be starting to think we could see a repeat of 1926. That was the first and only time that a pair of New York City teams met in the World Championship Series. For New York Stars fans the possibility of another year of October baseball is very real, and made more so because the Stars appear to be back on track after an early June slide. The Continental Association side has won 8 of it's last 9 games and has stretched it's lead to 8.5 over the surprising Montreal Saints with slumping Chicago now 9.5 back. While it is no surprise the Stars are in contention as we head towards the All-Star break, it does come as a bit of a shock that the New York Gothams are very much a factor in the Federal Association. The Gothams young offense has been strong for a while and now, thanks to Ed Bowman (9-4, 3.51), Rusty Petrick (10-6, 3.64) and Harry Carter (9-7, 2.85) the pitching seems to have finally stabilized. The Gothams haven't been within shouting distance of the first division since their big sell off of 1936 that followed back to back pennant winning seasons. All that young talent they gathered up with plenty of early draft picks is finally starting to pay off with Mule Monier (.360,3,26) and Walt Messer (.310,16,57) -both certain all-stars- leading the way. Can both New York nines sustain it and remain in the pennant race for the duration? It seems a certainty for the Stars and grows more and more likely each day for the Gothams. But there is a lot of baseball to be played and the constant fear continues for all teams that Uncle Sam will intercede on the pennant races with a tap on the shoulder from Selective Service calling for a key piece. While it is business as usual for the gang at Dyckman Stadium, the excitement of watching a contender is something entirely new for patrons of the still relatively new Gothams Stadium. It is certainly a different feeling in Queens and Gothams fans are enjoying it while they can.  COAST-TO-COAST WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES IS A POSSIBILITY They may put the World Championship Series on wheels this Fall and take baseball's blue ribbon classic on a coast-to-coast tour. Revolutionary? Likely? Perhaps. Impossible? No. The sixteen men fronting for a billion dollar enterprise- FABL - will huddle in a Pittsburgh hotel room prior to the All-Star game at twilight July 6 and their decision bearing on the future of the World Championship Series may far overshadow the playing field performances of the top talented Federal And Continental Association representatives. It's merely someone's idea now- a pipedream that the 'wise guys" may try to laugh off- but there's a chance the club owners next month may vote to put the classic on rollers. One suggestion that will be before the owners is to revert to the old standard of five-out-of-nine but play each contest in a different city, covering every section of the country. FABL President Sam Belton, who has been in charge of all details for the Series since he took office as the game's ruling force, dodges all efforts to pin him down on the chances of the series plan being changed. "I've had a million and one suggestions as to what should be done about the series, Belton said, "and that's all they are now - suggestions. I don't know what, if anything, is going to be done. Neither does anyone else at the minute. To change the Series plan would necessitate altering the FABL agreement. That's a question for the club officials to decide. Then they'll tell me and I'll administer whatever plan they decide upon. But no one can speak with any degree of certainty until after the Pittsburgh meeting." Shifting the Series around the country is just one of the proposals for the Series the owners will discuss when they meet in Pittsburgh. The suggestions are coming as a result of the feeling from several of the magnates that baseball should be doing more to aid in the war effort. Other ideas on the table are said to be:
FABL ROOKIE DRAFT COMPLETE- NOW THE PROCESS OF SIGNING BEGINS Now that the FABL draft is completed the tough task of signing those top picks begins. St Louis will have it's work cut out for it trying to convince third overall pick Joe Lute to turn pro instead of joining Western Iowa. The 18 year old righthander says he wants $28,000 as a signing bonus to pass up university and turn pro. Lute was a High School All-American this season and a finalist for the Adwell Award. Another high school All-American selection signed immediately. That was pitcher Frank Pershing, who was selected by the Philadelphia Keystones in the second round out of New Mexico Military Institute. It is almost unheard for a pick as high as Pershing was to sign immediately but he wanted to get to playing baseball and, as a second round selection last January, had plenty of time to iron out the details with the Keystones. Pershing is an 18 year old lefthanded pitcher and reported to Beaumont of the Gulf States League. He was 11-0 with a 0.81 era as a high school pitcher this season but he had a rough introduction to pro ball. His first appearance went fine, an inning of work in relief in which he notched a save, but next time out Pershing was shelled, charged with 5 earned runs after walking one and allowing 4 hits in 1 inning of a 10-2 loss to Hattiesburg. OSA does like the youngster, slotting him immediately in at #205 on their top prospects list. Gothams Announce Their Arrival With a three game sweep of first place Boston this week in New York, the Gothams are letting the league know they have no intentions of sinking back into the second division where they have dwelled for the better part of a decade. Buoyed by a four man rotation featuring rookie Ed Bowman, surprise star Harry Carter and workhorses Rusty Petrick and Gus Goulding, the men from Queens are sitting 2.5 out of first as July approaches. The line-up still features, the "Infield of the Future", although Walt Messer roams leftfield as the ageless Bud Jameson continues to provide leadership and offense at 1B. Jameson led the way this week hitting .571 with two homers. SS Mule Monier continues to league the majors with a .360 average while Messer remains among the top sluggers. Now at midseason, the team is playing at a pace not seen since the champions of 1935. That they are beating the better teams bodes well for the second half. TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN Toronto has very little to report after finishing their road trip with a 2-5 record including 4 one-run losses, 2 via walk off. Juan Pomales' inability to find the plate again surfaced giving 8 BB with 1 K, 147 pitches in 6 1/3. Those stats are not a winning combination. Wolves managed to stop the Stars winning streak at 8 with a 2-1 win in the back half of the Sunday double header. Toronto management is now trying to rejig their system with draftees, losing George Roch to military service was unexpected, Roch was thought to be going off to war but not until the season ended, the team wishes him safety above all during his time in the Canadian Army.
The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 6/28/1942
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Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal
The Scripture of Sports |
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05-23-2022, 01:11 PM
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#433 |
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All Star Reserve
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July 6, 1942 - All Star Game Preview
JULY 6, 1942 ROSTERS NAMED FOR 10TH ANNUAL ALL-STAR GAME NEW YORK STARS LEAD THE WAY WITH 8 SELECTIONS There will be plenty of Stars out in Pittsburgh tonight for the 10th annual FABL All-Star Game. New York Stars that is, as the Continental Association leaders placed 8 players on the CA squad which is looking to even the series at 5 wins apiece. The Stars 8 participants, including three pitchers, is double what any other FABL club will be contributing to the contest. Five teams will each place 4 players on the all-star squads with only the Continental Association basement-dwelling Cleveland Foresters shutout and not having any representation in the game. The city of Cleveland will get to see All-Stars as the winning side of tonight's battle will travel to the shores of Lake Erie tomorrow and play a team of service all-stars managed by former Washington and Cleveland great and current Navy Lieutenant T.R. Goins. Here are the participants for tonight's All-Star contest.  LIST OF PLAYERS SELECTED BY TEAM NY STARS- 8 Chuck Cole P, Billy Riley P, George Hampton P, Dave Trowbridge 1B, Ray Cochrane 3B, Joe Angevine SS, Lew Seals OF, Bill Barrett OF. COUGARS- 4 Harry Mead C, Skipper Schneider SS, Leo Mitchell OF, Carlos Montes OF CINCINNATI- 4 Deuce Barrell P, Adam Mullins C, Jim Hensley SS, Fred Galloway OF CHIEFS- 4 Tom Bird C, Bob Martin 2B, Hank Barnett 3B, Jim Watson OF KEYSTONES- 4 Lloyd Stevens P, Jim Whiteley P, Red Ross P, Bobby Barrell OF PITTSBURGH- 4 Lefty Allen P, George Cleaves C, Mahlon Strong 1B, Pablo Reyes OF TORONTO- 3 George Garrison P, Joe Hancock P, Tom Frederick OF MONTREAL- 3 Billy Stall P, Charlie Woodbury 2B, Jake Hughes SS BOSTON- 3 Dean Astle P, Ed Wood P, Art Spencer 3B DETROIT- 3 Fred Ratciffe P, Red Johnson 1B, Sal Pestilli OF NY GOTHAMS- 3 Charlie Sutton P, Mule Monier SS, Walt Messer OF ST LOUIS- 3 Danny Hern P, Tommy Wilson 3B, Al Tucker OF BROOKLYN- 2 Art White P, Del Lyons P (injured) SAILORS- 1 Karl Wallace P WASHINGTON- 1 Lou Ellertson P CLEVELAND- none selected A LOOK BACK AT THE HISTORY OF THE ALL-STAR GAME Tonight the stars of the Federal and Continental Associations will meet for the 10th time since the mid-season interleague challenge first began in 1933. The Feds had early dominance, winning each of the first three games but lately it has been the Continental boys that had the bragging rights with 3 wins in the past four years. The Feds still lead the series, 5 victories to four, but when the lights are turned out at Pittsburgh's Fitzpatrick Park this evening the series could well be knotted up. Here is a look back at each of the previous nine games: 1933 WHITNEY PARK IN CHICAGO: Federal Association 8 Continental Association 5 It was on July 6, 1933 that the first all-star game was played. Whitney Park, named after the founder of both big league baseball and the Chicago Chiefs franchise, was an ideal venue as a capacity crowd of 32,250 witnessed Bob Worley, then of Montreal, swing at the first pitcher thrown by the Keystones Ed Baker, and fly out to the Chiefs Jim Hampton in leftfield to officially begin the legacy of the all-star game. The Continental side struck first as with two-out in the opening frame Hall of Famer Max Morris singled off Baker and then Moxie Pidgeon ripped a 2-run homer. The lead was short-lived as the Feds rallied to tie with a run in each of the first and second innings before taking the lead for good in the third when Pete Asher hit a 2-run double as part of a 3-run outburst. When the dust settled the final tally was 8-5 for the Feds with Ben Curtin of the St Louis Pioneers getting credit for the victory while the Stars Les Zoller was tagged with the loss. Asher, the Pittsburgh shortstop at the time, ended up as the star of the game with 2 singles and a third rbi to go with that third inning double as he upstaged Freddie Jones of St Louis, who also had 3 hits in the game. 1934 RIVERSIDE STADIUM IN NEW YORK: Federal Association 11 Continental Association 7 The Feds won for the second year in a row despite being outhit 16-10 and committing 3 errors while the Continental side did not make any miscues. The game created what remains to this day as the biggest controversy in all-star history when Dick Pozza, who was managing the Continental side despite being recently fired by the 1933 champion Chicago Cougars, forced Brooklyn relief ace Del Lyons to pitch 3 innings in the all-star game. Lyons was lit up for 9 runs but the Kings were incensed, claiming Pozza had been paid off by Cleveland owner Elmer Marshall to overuse Lyons and Brooklyn catcher Fred Barrell, who played the entire game. The Foresters and Kings were in a spirited race for top spot in the Continental Association at the time and it just so happened that a key series between the two clubs took place immediately after the all-star game, one for which as it turned out Lyons would be unavailable to pitch. The game did make history as when Bobby Barrell of the Keystones led off the game he was facing three of his brothers with Tom on the mound, Fred behind the plate and Harry at shortstop marking a record 4 siblings competing on the all-star field at the same time. The record would last just 2 years as for the 1936 game all four were there again but joined by the fifth baseball playing Barrell as Dan was also in the Continental lineup, although in this case while all five did play, they did not all appear on the field at the same time. 1935 BROAD STREET PARK IN PHILADELPHIA: Federal Association 5 Continental Association 2 Little is remembered of the 1935 contest as it's boxscore did not survive. The Federal Association did win, for the third year in a row, with Art Myers of the Keystones earning the W while Brooklyn's Bert Henggeler took the loss. Don Attaway, another Keystones pitcher, picked up a save and Freddie Jones, thanks to a 3-run homer, was the MVP.1936 PIONEER FILED IN ST LOUIS: Continental Association 6 Federal Association 4 The game made history for two reasons. First the CA finally got a win and second, as previously mentioned, this game marked the first time 5 brothers had ever participated in a single big league contest as Brooklyn's Tom, Fred, Harry and Dan Barrell were joined in the game by the Keystones Bobby. Each of the position playing Barrell's had at least one hit in the game with Harry and Bobby getting 2 apiece. One of Bobby's knocks was a double off his brother Tom. The Continental side took the lead in the top of the first when they scored 3 runs thanks to a pair of doubles from Al Wheeler and Dick Walker. Moxie Pidgeon, now in the Federal Association with the New York Gothams, drove in Bobby Barrell in the bottom of the first to cut the CA lead to 3-1 but a Lou Williams RBI triple in the second restored the 3-run lead for the Continental nine. Bobby's double off of Tom scored Freddie Jones and cut the lead back to 2 runs but Harry put it away for the CA with a 2-run double of his own in the sixth inning. Tom Barrell got the win despite losing bragging rights to his brother Bobby with Rabbit Day taking the loss. Dick Walker of the Sailors was named the MVP. 1937 DOMINION FIELD IN TORONTO: Federal Association 4 Continental Association 2 (19 innings) Another milestone game as not only was it the first FABL All-Star game played outside of the United States but it also lasted a record 19 innings and took over 5 hours to complete. A capacity crowd of 37,592 - believed to be the most ever to attend a baseball game at Toronto's Dominion Stadium - witnessed an All-Star game that was truly worthy of the moniker classic. The visiting Feds took a quick lead on a rbi single from Pete Day to score Mel Carrol (who would go on to hit .407 that year) in the top of the first. It stayed 1-0 until the fifth inning when the Chiefs Al Miller walked George Dawson with one out. A sacrifice bunt and a Mike Taylor single later and the game was tied at 1. It would stay that way until the 19th inning. There were chances to end it before the 19th inning, certainly, such as when the Continental stars had a runner on third with one out in the bottom of the 18th but failed to bring a run in. In the top of the 19th Ken Mayhugh doubled off Walt Wells and moved to third on a Moxie Pidgeon ground out. The next man up, Jack Flint, singled in Mayhugh to break the tie and then Ed Stewart added insurance with a 2-run homer to put the Fed stars up 4-1. The insurance would prove necessary as the Continental side did not go quietly. They loaded the bases with one out and George Dawson singled in a run to cut the deficit to 2 and keep the rally going. However, the Feds went to their final pitcher - George M Brooks- and he saved the day by getting Jack Cleaves of the Sailors to hit into a game ending double play allowing everyone to finally go home. 1938 BIGSBY OVAL IN NEW YORK: Continental Association 5 Federal Association 4 (13 innings) For a while there was worry this game might last as long as the previous year's contest but in the end the Continental Association stars ended it in 13 innings, claiming a 5-4 victory thanks to Bob Smith's rbi double off Don Attaway in the top of the 13th to plate Adam Mullins and give the CA it's second win in the series. For Attaway, who was the winning pitcher and MVP of last year's marathon, the Keystones reliever became the first pitcher to be credited with both a win and a loss in all-star play. The story this year was Fred McCormick's CA debut. Traded from St Louis to Toronto just prior to the start of the season, McCormick had an incredible 1938 that included his first Whitney Award but before that he was the star of the all-star game. The 29 year old had 3 hits, including a pair of doubles, and drove in 2 runs while scoring one himself to lead the way. McCormick also became the first player in all-star history to be on the winning side 5 times. He was with the Feds for four seasons, all wins, missing only the 1936 game in which the Fed lost before being traded to a CA club. 1939 FORESTER STADIUM IN CLEVELAND: Continental Association 6 Federal Association 3 Once more it was Fred McCormick leading the way as he became the first two-time All-Star Game MVP and helped propel the Continental nine to it's second straight victory. McCormick had 3 hits, a double and a pair of triples, for the second year in a row and once more drove in two runs and scored one himself. Another exile from the Federal Association, new Cleveland third sacker Mel Carrol, also had a big game at the plate for the winning side. The Feds actually opened the scoring when Gus Goulding surrendered a homerun to Sal Pestilli to lead off the third inning but McCormick evened things up with a triple in the home half to plate Sailor Bob Smith. A Joe Watson groundout would allow McCormick to score and the CA took the lead but it was short-lived. The Feds got to Goulding again in the fourth, scoring two more runs to go up 3-2 and it stayed that way until the bottom of the 7th when John Lawson's sacrifice fly plated Carrol to tie the ballgame. Could we have a third straight extra innings contest? The answer turned out to be no as veteran Dave Trowbridge scored Freddie Jones with a 2-out double off of Art Myers in the bottom of the eighth to put the CA in front. Mel Carrol would single in Trowbridge and McCormick would follow with a double off Charlie Stedman, who had relieved Myers, to plate Carrol and the lead was suddenly 6-3. Joe Hancock took care of the Federal hitters in the 9th to secure the victory for the Continental side. 1940 THOMPSON FIELD IN DETROIT: Federal Association 7 Continental Association 4 A late rally allowed the Federal stars to get back on the winning side of the ledger after losing each of the previous two games and three of the last four. It looked like the Continental boys might make it three in a row when they erupted for 4 runs in the top of the third inning off of Charlie Wheeler from the hometown Dynamos. It was many tiny cuts rather than one big blow as the CA strung together 4 singles and was aided by a free pass and a Lew McClendon error. The Feds were getting some hits but first Joe Hancock and then Cincinnati's Butch Smith escaped without surrendering a run over the first five innings. That changed in the bottom of the sixth when Deuce Barrell, making his all-star debut, surrendered a 3-run homer to Billy Woytek of the Keystones. It wasn't a bad outing for Deuce, just one bad pitch as an error by Fred McCormick prolonged the inning and allowed Woytek to come to the plate. Still leading 4-3, Dick Lyons took over for the 7th inning but after getting Red Johnson to ground out, the veteran surrendered back to back singles to Ron Rattigan and Hank Koblenz. That brought the Chiefs Bill May to the plate and the speedy centerfielder cleared the bases with a triple to put the Feds ahead 5-4. Red Johnson, the young Detroit slugger, would add a 2-run homer in the 8th inning to secure the Fed victory. 1941 KINGS COUNTY PARK IN BROOKLYN: Continental Association 8 Federal Association 4 Last year's game saw the offense come early as the Continental side took a quick 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning thanks to a pair of singles (off the bats of Dave Trowbridge and Adam Mullins) and a pair of walks issued by Fed starting pitcher Ed Wood. Pittsburgh slugger Mahlon Strong evened things up in the top of the second when he took Cincinnati's Butch Smith deep for a 2-run homer but the Continental nine took the lead for good in the bottom of the third inning. Three runs came in on three hits with the biggest damage done by another Cincinnati player as Fred Galloway hit a 2-run single and then came in to score when Skipper Schneider of the Chicago Cougars tripled. Schneider and his twin brother Buddy of the Boston Minutemen, who would meet in the World Championship Series just 3 months later, made history by becoming the first set of twins to ever play in an all-star game. Who knows, it may well be triplets one day as their other brother - pitcher Bart- is working his way up the Cleveland Foresters system. The Feds would cut the deficit to 5-3 when, following a pair of walks issued by Chuck Cole of the New York Stars, Gothams third baseman Billy Dalton provided an rbi single but Harry Barrell quickly restored the 3-run lead when the hometown star delighted the 32,000 who crowded into Kings County Ballpark with a double to plate Leo Mitchell in the home half of the fifth. The score would remain 6-3 until the top of the 8th when veteran Frank Vance hit a lead off double and scored on a ground out off the bat of Buddy Schneider making the score 6-4 for the CA but any thoughts of a Fed comeback quickly disappeared when the Cougars Leo Mitchell hit a two-run double in the bottom of the 8th. Brooklyn relief specialist Del Lyons, aided by a double play, took care of business in the top of the ninth to preserve the 8-4 win for the Continental stars and cut the Fed lead in the series to one at 5 wins to four. MILITARY TEAM COMPLETES TUNE-UP BEFORE TUESDAY NIGHT GAME VS FABL STARS Great Lakes Naval Training Station nine blanked the Fort Custer Reception Center 5-0 before 6,939 fans at Thompson Field in Detroit yesterday. The event, which contributed $10,000 to service athletic funds, was the final tune-up for the players that will comprise the Service All-Stars in Tuesday's showdown in Cleveland against the winning side from Monday's FABL all-star game. The holiday weekend contest was scoreless for 5 innings as Mike Lee and Bud Robbins engaged in a pitchers duel, The sailors picked up an unearned run off of Jim Morrison, who had replaced Lee in the sixth, and then gathered four more in the seventh on Johnny Hopper's 2-run homer and a Clyde McCullough double that scored two more. After the game Goins announced that his starting lineup and reserves for Tuesday would be as follows: Code:
POS NAME BRANCH FABL TEAM C Johnny Hopper Army NY Stars 1B Fred McCormick Army Toronto 2B Charley McCullough Navy Cincinnati SS Rip Lee Army Sailors 3B Karl O'Reilly Army Washington LF Joe Owens Navy Pittsburgh CF Les Hendrixx Army St Louis RF Mike T. Taylor Navy Cincinnati SP Pete Papenfus Navy Cougars RESERVES P Jim Douglass Army Washington P Robert Curry Navy NY Stars P Jack Goff Navy Brooklyn P Dixie Lee Army NY Stars P Frank Gordon Army Detroit P Rube McCormick Marines Cleveland P Tommy Wilcox Army Cougars C Joe Rainbow Navy NY Stars INF Jim Lightbody Army Brooklyn INF Luke Michaels Navy St Louis INF Billy Woytek Navy Keystones INF Mack Sutton Army Boston OF Pete Wood Army Montreal OF John Phillips Navy NY Gothams OF Art Cascone Marines St Louis MINERS TAKE THEIR TURN AT THE TOP OF FED The Pittsburgh Miners are in top spot in the Federal Association as we hit the all-star break, but just barely. It is going to be another wild ride down the stretch in the Fed with Pittsburgh holding just a half game lead on both defending champion Boston and the surprising New York Gothams. The Philadelphia Keystones are right there as well, just a game back. One should also not rule out the Chicago Chiefs, who are lurking just 4.5 games off the pace. In the Continental Association it almost feels like the race is over with the New York Stars lead on second place Montreal now at double-digits.    TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN Toronto's top draft pick, pitcher Jerry York, debuts at #9 in the top prospects list. The 21 year old out of Noble Jones College will immediately get a start in Vancouver to get his feet wet in professional baseball. He will subject to intense scrutiny with the hope he can move up the system quickly to A or AA before the end of 1942. The Wolves are holding intense management meetings during the All-Star break with the focus being on staff and the trade deadline. Coming out of 3 days of meetings a decisions will be made on which road the team will follow with personnel and whether the team is a buyer, seller, or neutral in the trade market. A buyer seems very unlikely given their position in the standings (14.5 GB). More likely the team will be looking for deals with teams looking for a final piece in the OF or middle INF. Dealing a SP would be on the table but return would have to overwhelming for that deal.
 The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 7/05/1942
__________________
Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal
The Scripture of Sports |
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05-24-2022, 11:45 AM
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#434 |
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 677
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July 13, 1942 All-Star Game recap
JULY 13, 1942 BARNETT POWERS FEDS TO ALL-STAR WIN Hank Barnett homered twice to help the stars of the Federal Association top their Continental counterparts 7-4 in the 10th annual All-Star Game, held Monday in Pittsburgh. The Continental Association never trailed in the game until the Fed stars broke the contest open with a 5-run outburst in the bottom of the eighth inning. The victory gives the Federal Association a 6-4 lead in the series. Both of Barnett's blasts were solo shots: in the second inning off of Continental starter Deuce Barrell and in the 6th against Chuck Cole of the New York Stats. The second one, in the sixth inning, tied the game at 2 as the Continental side had opened a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning when Carlos Montes doubled in his Chicago Cougars teammates Harry Mead and Leo Mitchell. The score remained 2-2 until the top of the 8th inning when Bill Barrett and Mitchell got things started for the CA against Detroit's Fred Ratcliffe with back to back singles to open the inning. A sacrifice fly from Skipper Schneider would score Barrett to give the CA nine a 3-2 lead and after Mitchell doubled, Jim Hensley delivered an rbi single to score Mitchell and give the Continental Association a 4-2 lead. Billy Riley of the New York Stars took the mound for the CA in the bottom of the eighth but the first pitch he ever threw in an all-star contest was laced for a triple by Al Tucker of the St Louis Pioneers. Two pitches later Detroit's Sal Pestilli followed with a double and then George Cleaves delighted the hometown crowd as the Miners catcher tripled in Pestilli to tie the game at 4. Walks to Red Johnson and Barnett loaded the bases and ended Riley's day but not the Federal onslaught. George Hampton took over on the mound and promptly fanned Tommy Wilson for the first out but he then walked Jim Watson on 4 pitches to bring in what would prove to be the game winning run. Mule Monier would single in two more runs before the CA finally escaped the inning with a 6-4-3 double play. Suddenly trailing for the first time in the game, down 7-4, the CA went calmly in the 9th as Keystones pitcher Red Ross retired the side in order, getting a pair of ground outs with a strikeout of Lew Seals in between, and the Federal Association had it's victory.  Code:
ALL STAR GAME RESULTS YEAR LOCATION RESULT WINNING PITCHER MVP 1933 Whitney Park Federal 8 Continental 5 Ben Curtin STL Pete Asher Pit 1934 Riverside Stadium Federal 11 Continental 7 Chick Stout Pit Tom Taylor Cougars 1935 Broad Street Park Federal 5 Continental 2 Art Myers Keystones Freddie Jones StL 1936 Pioneer Field Continental 6 Federal 4 Tom Barrell BKN Dick Walker Sailors 1937 Dominion Field Federal 4 Continental 2 (19) Don Attaway Keystones Don Attaway Keystones 1938 Bigsby Oval Continental 5 Federal 4 (13) Bob Cummings BKN Fred McCormick TOR 1939 Forester Stadium Continental 6 Federal 3 Art White BKN Fred McCormick TOR 1940 Thompson Field Federal 7 Continental 4 Red Hampton Chiefs Billy Woytek Keystones 1941 Kings County Continental 8 Federal 4 Pete Papenfus Cougars Fred Galloway Cincinnati 1942 Fitzpatrick Park Federal 7 Continental 4 Ed Wood BOS Hank Barnett Chiefs ALL-STAR SHOWINGS STRESS FED POWER FEDERAL NINE EASILY HANDLE SERVICE STARS Cleveland, July 8- The latest battle of Lake Erie wound up with those mighty men from the Federal Association in full and complete command of the situation. They hacked away to beat T.R. Goins' Service Stars, 5-0, won their second All-Star contest in as many evenings and raised a large load of wampum for the Army and Navy Relief, which, after all, was the main idea. A sold out crowd 31,371 - 21 more than the stated capacity at Forester Stadium - was announced for the colorful baseball spectacle. It means well over 70,000 spectators saw the two 1942 All-Star games. The Treasury Department will eventually announce just how much baseball contributed to the service men in this double-barreled effort. A guess of over $100,000 wouldn't be too far off. The crack team of Federal Association stars, who had outpowered the Continental side the night before, simply was too strong for the baseball soldiers and sailors. T.R. Goins had a good club, a team many managers willing would swap for their own, but when Chief Boatswain's Mate Pete Papenfus, the number one pitcher in the CA before the war, was unable to stop Bill Boshart's sluggers, the cause of the Service team was doomed. Manager T.R. had planned for Papenfus to start and go four or five innings before giving way to Jim Douglass but the Federal Association side put the wood to Papenfus so vigorously that they knocked Goins' plans all awry, and TR had to call in Douglass before a man was out in the second inning. The Service side created some tense moments in the opening inning for Fed starting pitcher Al Miller, who was brought in from Chicago to pitch the game. After retiring the first batter Miller walked Charley McCullough, following which Joe Owens dropped a Texas Leaguer into left field for a single. And when Rip Lee was passed the bases were filled. At this juncture Miller tightened his belt and went to work. He struck out Mike Taylor and then forced Fred McCormick to ground weakly to Hank Barnett for the third out. The Federal Association had better results in it's first inning when Al Tucker hit a one out single that Rip Lee knocked down but couldn't recover in time to nail the Pioneers outfielder. Then Bobby Barrell walked after which Sal Pestilli singled to center, scoring Tucker. And when Mahlon Strong drove a mighty fly ball to Mike Taylor in right field Barrell scored after the catch. The Feds would score one run in the second to go up 3-0 before Papenfus was replaced by Jim Douglass. Hank Barnett led off with a screaming triple over center fielder Les Hendrix's head and later scored when Tom Bird singled to left. Douglass came on and escaped the inning without further damage. The Federal Association stars would add two more runs in the seventh when Tommy Wilson greeted new Service pitcher Jack Goff with a two-bagger to right and then stole third. After Joe Watson grounded out, Bobby Barrell tripled to left center, Wilson trotting home. When Red Johnson blasted a three-bagger to right center, Barrell scored to make it 5-0, which is how the contest finished. *** Almost Apologetic *** There was none of the excitement last night in the Federal Association dressing room that prevails when the boys roll the Continental Association over the barrel. The players just walked in after defeating the All-Service team and proceeded to change from their uniforms into street clothes. Only Bill Boshart, Boston Minutemen manager and chief of the winning squad, did any talking. "Nice work, fellows," he said, as he walked around patting the players on the back. "Nice work." Hank Barnett, who homered twice on Monday and walloped a mighty triple off Pete Papenfus to help put the skids under the service team, offered an explanation for the lack of hilarity. "Well, it's not like beating the Continental Association," he said. "We love to do that. But with these service players it's another story." Boshart said the reason for the easy victory was the fact that his players were in better baseball condition because they have been playing more often than the service squad. "But it was a fine game, nevertheless," he was quick to add. "No sloppy playing, not many hits and no errors. What more could you ask?" Over in the Service team's dressing room, Lt. T.R. Goins was busy shaking hands with players who were leaving to catch trains for their army camp or navy station. "That first inning was the crusher," he said. "The third strike called on Mike Taylor with the bases loaded was a bad break. But that's baseball, you know." Pete Papenfus, who was charged with the defeat was willing to admit he deserved it. "I just couldn't get started," he explained. "I guess I hadn't had enough practice lately."  KEYSTONES BACK ON TOP OF FED A four game winning streak out of the all-star break has allowed the Philadelphia Keystones to take their turn at the top of the Federal Association race. The Keystones outscored their opponents (St Louis and the New York Gothams) 24-3 in the shortened week and received three complete games from their starting pitchers. Pittsburgh went 3-2 on the week and the Miners are now a half game back of the front-runners. Third place Boston limped into the break with six losses in their final seven games but the Minutemen got back on track with a pair of wins over New York Thursday and Friday. The weekend was not as kind to the Minutemen, who lost the series finale to the Gothams Saturday before splitting a twin-bill with St Louis on Sunday which leaves them a game off the pace and the Gothams, losers of three of their 4 post break contests, are now 2.5 back. The New York Stars continue to hold a big league in the Continental Association but the Chicago Cougars closed to within 9.5 games thanks to a 4-game winning streak out of the break. The hottest team in the CA is suddenly Cincinnati, with the Cannons riding an 8-game winning streak and heading into a week that will see them play both the Cougars and Stars three times, with all six contests at Tice Memorial Stadium.   This undoubtedly means that nothing very drastic will happen although some patriotic organization - probably the USO- will be cut into the melon somehow. It is likely that a suggested 15-game barnstorming WCS, which the Continental Association is rumoured as favoring, is completely out. This may be just as well. *** Series Hysteria is Brief *** World Championship Series hysteria is tense but this observer has never noticed it lasting much more than a week in any community or in any series of communities. There is no way whatever of guaranteeing that a WCS would need the limit number of games to establish a decision and the thing could be in an awful promotional frost should one side win 8 of the first nine or ten rendering the final four or five games completely meaningless. They talk glibly of a $50,000 gate in every game but what minor league cities have ball parks large enough to seat the necessary number of customers to meet that figure? In other matters the owners killed William Stockdale and Daniel 'Dee' Rose's plans to have the Washington Eagles and St Louis Pioneers play all of their remaining weekday home games at night. The Federal Association owners wanted no part of it despite Stockdale's repeated pleas. The trick in dealing with Stockdale's suggestions is never let him wear you out. The Washington magnate belly-ached for more night game so long last winter that he finally got 28 with the help of President Roosevelt's famous letter. Immediately, he started campaigning for more. Granting of his present demand would only mean that he'd yip for a complete schedule of night games. Not that it would make any difference to the quality of Washington baseball, which would still be bargain basement. The joint meeting also decided to lop one week off each end of the 1943 campaign and appointed a secret committee to keep fingers crossed lest they not be able to open at all.  The sold out crowd in Cleveland expected the reigning Allen Award winner to be on the mound as clearly the best option for the Service nine. Fans realize that soldiers and sailors can't practice baseball as much as big leaguers but they remember Papenfus as they last saw him - supreme young pitcher in the game- and they felt even a rusty Papenfus was good enough to stop FABL's best. But Goins knew better, and so did Papenfus. The fact that Goins yanked Papenfus as quickly as he did was the tip-off. Papenfus has played in a few service games here and there but Goins knew a couple of weeks ago when he himself caught for Peter the Heater in an exhibition at Cougars Park that the Service team was going to have it's hands full. The fact that Jim Douglass, ex-Eagles hurler, had as much success as he did after taking over for Papenfus is more due to the fact the FABL stars eased up on the gas after getting their quick lead. Sitting with Papenfus the other morning, you felt sorry for the young man. In shape for baseball nobody can touch him as a pitcher. But he's a Navy man now, keeping Navy hours, adhering to Navy regulations and to Navy exercise. What he really is, say sympathetic teammates, almost but not quite as famous, is a walking Join-the-Navy poster in the same way Fred McCormick has the same chore for the Army. Papenfus is paying the price for the fame that came to him so quickly with his breakout season a year ago. Peter the Heater can take it. He is a swell guy. But he's not in shape to pitch bonafide Papenfus baseball, although it's expected. He's scheduled, so it's been rumoured, for duty outside the United States. He's headed for Hawaii and by the time this war is over he may be permanently too muscular (polite for muscle-bound) ever to take his rightful place as king of the pitchers. Those who like to gloat whenever a big league ball player or any sports celebrity goes into the services; those who say, "well, those guys ought to be called first because they are physically fit"; or who say, "They've been getting away with murder, earning those fancy salaries," should remember one thing, and it is this: Pete Papenfus, Fred McCormick, Billy Woytek, Mike T. Taylor, Joe Owens and all the rest of the star ball players, the boxers, the football stars and all of the other athletes, may not be able to return to their jobs when the world conflict is finished. Technically, they are entitled to their former jobs. But Papenfus can't win or McCormcik can't hit or field, for instance, they will be released. These fellows, then, will have to try something else, something new and possibly overpowering. It's not that way with lawyers, bankers, judges and butchers who are in the service, many holding commissions although strangers to proper salutes, not to mention general military bearing. They'll go back as they were and they'll wind up in the ball parks cheering a new crop of athletic stars. For many of the athletes, their time at the pinnacle of their sport could well be already over, and they don't realize it although Papenfus might just have picked up an inkling of his potential future fate. No, don't knock the athletes in service; they don't deserve it. TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN The Toronto Wolves came out of the break winning 3 of 4 again mainly thanks to the starting pitching: in the three wins Toronto only gave up 4 runs. The anemic offense trend continues, only 1 HR in July, only two regulars are hitting over .250 for the month, 2 with an OBP percentage over .300. Toronto with 27 HR for the season is 15th of the 16 teams. Bobby Barrell has hit 20 round trippers, the Wolves 27. It appears that overall HR totals are down in the FABL. The old adage is that pitching and defense win games in the Wolves case it is mainly pitching although the defense is not spectacular it not costing the team games, yet. Charlie Reed is constantly tinkering with the lineup in order to hopefully find a combination that will produce some runs. On the farm, Jerry York's first professional start was an unmitigated success in Vancouver, 7 1/3, 3 ER, 7 K, 1 BB, he will start again this week on the west coast. The team's travelling secretary has been told to check the train schedules and connections required to get York to Davenport at a moments notice, if required, in the near future. John Graves, Wolves first round pick in '40, was promoted to Buffalo to start patrolling CF after a 23-game hitting streak ended in Chattanooga.  STRONG DISAGREES - Mr. Meachum has long been associated with the Edgerton company and is son of current Keystones owner Edward Meachum, who was a nephew of the sporting goods founder Jefferson Edgerton. So, the younger Meachum certainly has the inside scoop. John Meachum has applied the stethoscope to the "dead ball," he says, and finds it very much alive, indeed. He insists that his machinery shows that the baseballs being made today bounce as afar and as fast off the bat as they did two, three- or ten- years ago. Mr. Meachum's testimony is at variance with the research conducted by another investigator, Mr. Moxie Pidgeon. Mr. Pidgeon does not use machines or charts or cube root to arrive at his conclusions. Only his big bat. And he says: "This ball don't go as far as a it used to." Pidgeon freely admits his power outage of late is not entirely the fault of the suddenly soft potato. "It's not sour grapes. I know I have had a bad year and a half and maybe my bat is slowing down. But watching other guys in batting practice, or when I hit one sweet myself, it just doesn't have the same hop off the bat." Home runs are down. As a total, FABL players hit 1,465 three years ago, 1,449 two years ago and 1,379 last year but this season we are on pace for less that 1,200 round-trippers. So perhaps there is some truth to what Pidgeon, and others might believe. 
FOOTBALL KINGS LOSE HEAD COACH TO NAVY
The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 7/12/1942
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Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal
The Scripture of Sports |
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05-25-2022, 09:32 AM
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Dec 2019
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July 20, 1942 Trade deadline approaches
JULY 20, 1942 BOWMAN TO ENLIST IN AIR CORPS NEXT WEEK Ed Bowman, the rookie New York Gothams pitcher, is to report for induction into the army on July 27th, it was learned today from officials of his draft board. Bowman, a 22 year old from Wharton, Texas, is 11-6 with a 3.23 era in his debut season with the Gothams. He is in Class 1-A according to Marlin Campbell, chairman of the draft board, and Mrs. Lottie Sibley, chief clerk, and is ordered for induction. Bowman is attempting to enlist in the army air corps but Mrs. Sibley declares the draft board has not yet received the necessary release from the air service. If the paperwork sorts itself out, Bowman and the Gothams have agreed that he will take part in a ceremonial induction service on the mound at Gothams Stadium just prior to the team's contest against the Philadelphia Keystones on Sunday. It is not known yet if Bowman will pitch one last time for the Gothams this season on that day. Following that his official induction, pending passing a final physical, will take place the following day. Bowman did pass a preliminary physical when he was first classified as 1-A but there are some rumours circulating that the Gothams team physicians had found an issue that might prevent Bowman from joining the service. *** GOTHAMS IN PENNANT RACE *** The loss of Bowman would certainly be a big blow to the Gothams pennant hopes. He has emerged as the club's most dependable starter and is a big reason the Gothams are just 3.5 games back of front-running Philadelphia in the Federal Association. The Gothams have struggled since the break and are 2-7 in recent games against the 3 clubs directly in front of them in the standings. It won't get any easier for New York as 11 of their next 14 contests are against those same three clubs: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Boston.The New York Stars are showing no signs of slowing down, after a 6-2 week allowed them to extend their lead on second place Chicago atop the Continental Association back to double digits. Pitching was the name of the game in a dramatic midweek 3 game set with Toronto as the two clubs combined to score just 7 runs in the series. Toronto took the opener 1-0 on a 4-hitter from George Garrison (14-6, 2.12) but the Stars replied with a pair of 2-1 victories including an 11 inning battle in the series finale. The Stars also cooled off the CA's hottest club, taking two of three from Cincinnati to end the week. The Cannons entered the series with 10 wins in their previous 11 games.  3,000 FOR LAWSON John Lawson became just the 11th player in FABL history to record at least 3,000 hits. On Wednesday Lawson hit a full count pitch from Roger Perry over the left field wall in Cincinnati for his milestone marker. He would add two more in the game but the Cougars fell 12-11. It has been a tough season for the 39 year old but he has gone on a tear of late, notching 19 hits over his last 44 at bats and raised his season average to .267. That figure is still well below his career mark of .341 but perhaps a sign that he is out of his season long slump.  'NO MORE BASEBALL' SAYS MCCORMICK Fred McCormick says his game with the Service All-Stars last week in Cleveland was quite likely the final one of his military career. McCormick says he will fully focus on his air training work in Miami and will not interrupt it for any more baseball. He also hinted his career may well be over even after the war concludes. "They don't come back in baseball if they're out for more than a year," says McCormick, "And if they're out for even a year they never regain their form when they come back. They may look just as good mechanically as they did before, but they lack the competitive instinct. They're just never able to regain that." Fred's decision to retire came after many months of serious thinking. Last Spring he told friends his career was drawing to an end and with the increasing probability of a protracted war he has recently given up even simple batting and fielding practice. His mates find it impossible to persuade McCormick to join in the lineup for games on days off. The Toronto Wolves, for whom McCormick won a pair of Whitney Awards and led the club to the 1940 World Championship, say they have not been informed by McCormick of any such decision to retire, adding they will not discuss baseball with their star until his war duties have come to a completion.  Philadelphia's pitching has been outstanding but perhaps they would benefit from a veteran arm to join the rotation and bump Harry Shaffer (1-7, 4.37) out of the fifth starter role. The should get Chuck Hood back in a couple of weeks which might help a bit but with Hank McKay (.245,1,12) and Davey Robicheaux (.241,7,33) an outfield bat, ideally one with speed that could slot near the top of the order and be a table setter for the big bat of Bobby Barrell, would be a key pickup. Maybe a Sam Brown from Washington or perhaps even bringing former Keystone Rip Curry back from Detroit might be an option for the Keystones to explore. Pittsburgh looks pretty much set but like anyone in the Fed they would not turn down another veteran arm for the back of the rotation. The Dynamos are going nowhere this season so perhaps they would part with either Joe Shaffner or Mike Murphy, but with the two veterans unlikely to be taken by Selective Service they might command a heftier price than the otherwise would. The Miners might also consider doing something at shortstop but that depends upon just how confident they are with 23 year old Rafael Mendoza as the starter with vet Johnny Guzzo backing him up. I don't see the Boston Minutemen making any move of substance. Losing Duke Hendricks might have then consider getting involved in the sweepstakes for one of the Detroit veteran arms but that might be more of a move designed to stop an opponent from landing the player rather than it being thought of as a necessity by the Boston brass. The New York Gothams are in an interesting situation. As a young team on the way up I would expect them to stand pat especially now that it sounds like Ed Bowman is off to join the army air corps next week. Note, I say sounds like because there are rumblings that club doctors discovered something on Bowman's recent physical and he still needs to pass a second exam which will likely be conducted at the end of the week. If this had been a week ago I would say the Gothams might just consider adding a veteran arm but now with the news of Bowman I am not sure if the Gothams management team feels it more necessary to get another pitcher or decides to stand pat and see what the future holds. The recent injury to Bud Jameson perhaps also indicates a need for another bat but with the Bowman situation clouding the picture odds are the Gothams do nothing. The Chicago Chiefs have a tough decision as well. At 6 games back and with 4 teams ahead of them are they in the race or out? The offense is solid but if they are in the race they have to decide if they can survive another month of Dode Foster in centerfield until Bill May is healthy. I also expect them to be one of the teams calling Detroit about Murphy or Shaffner if the Chiefs feel they can win this thing. The Detroit Dynamos are already mentioned as the most likely seller but there are certainly other veterans that perhaps might be available for the right price. Would Washington part with 31 year old Jack Elder or perhaps even selling Jim Birdwell while his stock is at an all-time high? Would St Louis move Buddy Long or perhaps a strong outfield bat like Al Tucker if they could get a nice infusion of young talent in return? The Continental seem much more set. No one is conceding the title to the New York Stars but by the same token I don't see the Chicago Cougars making a big splash by selling off some of their impressive collection of young talent - not unless the gap gets greatly reduced over the next week. The Sailors, Cannons and Wolves are stuck in the middle. None will be buyers and perhaps the right offer might get a Doc Newell, Chuck Wirtz or Roger Perry out of one of them but it is highly unlikely because those are the types of players that will most likely still be around next year, or the year after, when plenty of guys under age 30 are in the service. Cincinnati has shopped Moxie Pidgeon and received some interest but nothing that would be enough to entice the Cannons to part with the 35 year old who, despite his struggles, might be an important piece next year. The Montreal Saints are a talented young team on the rise and they could possibly be persuaded to deal Ed Baker or Vic Crawford but the more likely scenario is the Saints stand pat and let the team continue to develop. They are too far back to be buyers and just might be thinking if things break the right way with Selective Service the Saints may be one of the team's to beat next year. That leaves Brooklyn and Cleveland. The Kings had a nice start to the season but were awful for a long stretch. Perhaps they move a veteran like Al Wheeler, Fred Barrell or Jim Crawford but I am not sure there is interest in the latter two and perhaps not a willingness to pay the price Brooklyn would likely demand for Wheeler. Cleveland is in a full scale rebuild and dealt some pieces last year. Maybe a team desperate for pitching depth takes a chance on Dave Rankin or Ben Turner but the reality is the Foresters do not have much in the way of veteran big league talent to offer and have little choice but to stand pat and wait for Hiram Steinberg to arrive. *** SUMMARY **** There are certainly a number of moves that would make sense in normal times, but these are anything but normal times. I would not be surprised if the trade deadline passes without a single move but there is also the very slight chance that one move by a Fed contender triggers an avalanche of response. If I had to pick one team that would be most likely to do something I would suggest it was the Philadelphia Keystones. They are very close and one or two additions might just do the same thing for the Keystones as it did for Boston a year ago.
 Harry Parker took on Roger Perry on July 15th, and after the Cougars went 1-2-3 in the first. Then, everything fell apart. Parker needed just one pitch to retire Terry Cox. John Lawson then made a pair of errors before Chuck Adams singled. Cliff Moss tried to throw him out at home, but the throw was wide, a third error in just four plays. Denny Andrews then drew a walk on four pitches to load the bases and bring up Bill Lewis. Parker rolled up a double play ball to Lawson, who actually fielded it cleanly and threw to Freddie Jones, who dropped it, allowing all runners to reach safe. To add injury to insult, Harry Parker left after that pitch with an injury (it was minor, he started later that week), and Hooks Camp was forced into a bases loaded jam where we already should have four outs instead of one. Jim Hensley singled in a run then Bob Griffith walked, before Roger Perry bunted and the Cougars got out #5 at home. Terry Cox was back up, and yet again, John Lawson made an error. His third of the inning and fifth for the Cougars. Fred Galloway singled home two more to make it 7-0 before Adam Mullins grounded into a fielder's choice to end the inning. 3 hits. 7 runs. 5 errors. The Cougars then managed 8 runs in the 2nd to take the lead, but the Cannons finally prevailed 12-11 for their 10th consecutive victory. It was a massive gut punch for the Cougars, who cannot seem to catch a break this season. Perhaps the best (or worst I suppose) part is the Cougars are actually a very good defensive team, ranked #1 in the CA for both defensive efficiency and zone rating. The biggest difference in the CA pennant race? One run games: New York Stars: 17-11 (.607) Chicago Cougars: 8-14 (.347)
DRAFT UPDATE: WHERE ARE THE TOP PICKS SLOTTING IN Now that the vast majority of 1942 draft selections have signed contracts and reported to the various minor league stops let's take a look and see how OSA ranks them. Below is an update on the players selected in the first two rounds of the draft: BOSTON- The Minutemen were a little disappointed that the player the chose first overall, Bluegrass State pitcher Bob Arman, did not slot in higher than #23 on the OSA mid-season rankings. The Minutemen did not own a second round pick. BROOKLYN- The Kings just signed their first round pick, former Cleveland University outfielder Pete Woodward who was selected with the 12th overall pick. Woodward lands at #87 on the OSA list. However, Brooklyn has yet to sign Media (PA) High School pitcher Paul Baker, taken in the second round. Baker has an offer to attend College of Waco. CHIEFS- Chiefs first round selection Nelson Flinn is 112th on the OSA list. The 21 year old outfielder out of Darnell State won the Christian Trophy but has struggled in the early going as a pro, although the Chiefs decided to test him at Class A. Their second round pick was hometown boy Sam Clarke, a high school catcher out of Chicago and he had a nice debut week at Class C. COUGARS- Without a first rounder the Cougars first selection was not until 32nd overall when they selected outfielder Henry DeVeaux. The Mississippi A&M product will begin his pro career at Class A. He is ranked 278th by OSA. CINCINNATI- The Cannons selected high school pitcher Howie Harris, a homegrown kid from nearby Hamilton, Ohio. OSA feels he might have been a real stretch as a first round selection, ranking him 237th on their list but Harris looked very good in his first two starts at Class C. In the second round the Cannons traded up to draft infielder Jack Wilson and the 19th year old debuted at #95 on the OSA list and had a great start at Class C with 3 homers and a .429 batting average in his first six game. CLEVELAND- The Foresters did not have a second round selection but they did have a pair of first rounders including fourth overall which they used on pitcher John Jackson. Jackson just signed with the club and loooks like a good one as OSA ranks the 17 year old #31 on it's top prospect list. Later in the first round the Foresters selected Sam Lanting, an 18 year old outfielder from Sulphur Springs, Texas. OSA does not feel Lanting has much of a future and does not list him in their top 500 prospect list. DETROIT- The Dynamos went with youth in the early rounds, selecting a pair of 17 year old's. In the first round it was infielder Bob Schmelz while they went with catcher Crab Crowley in round two. Both just recently signed. OSA has Schmelz at 159th on it's prospect list but does not include Crowley in it's top 500. MONTREAL- Picking second the Saints added outfielder Ernie McCoy from AIAA champion Bluegrass State. McCoy, who OSA sees as the 13th best prospect in the sport, was assigned to AA immediately after signing and did not look out of place in his first 3 games. In round two the Saints selected Jack Spahr, a high school catcher out of West Virginia. He started at Class C with a bang, getting 10 hits in his first five games as a pro. OSA puts him at #255 on it's prospect watch. NY STARS- The Stars had 3 selections including a pair late in the first round. Those were used on 3B Clyde Fleenor and catcher Chick MacKnight while their second round selection was Art Goins, an outfielder and the son of former FABL star catcher T.R. Goins. OSA feels MacKnight, who played his college ball at Eastern Oklahoma -the same school that produced Adam Mullins- is the best of the three. MacKnight is #71 on the OSA list. Fleener, a high school player out of Kansas City, holds down the 161st spot on the list while the 18 year old Goins is ranked 203rd. NY GOTHAMS- With the fifth overall pick the Gothams selected Jake Roberts, an 18 year old righthander from West Fork, Arkansas. He has already made a couple of starts in Class C and looked pretty solid but OSA places him 188th on the prospect list. OSA really likes the Gothams second round pick and places outfielder Billy Moody solidly in the top 100 prospects at #75. Moody is a local kid who played his high school ball in Brooklyn. KEYSTONES- The Keystones used both of their picks on high school players, taking outfielder Billy Black in the first round and pitcher Frank Pershing in round two. Black, a Tennessee native, made his debut last week at Class B and is a solid prospect according to OSA, which ranks him 38th on their list. Pershing, a lefthander from New Mexico, claims the 234th spot on the OSA list. SAILORS- The Sailors landed catcher Mark Smith, a two-time AIAA batting champ and back to back first team All-American selection, with the 6th pick. Many, including OSA believe Smith is the class of the draft, ranking the 21 year old 8th overall on their prospect list. The Sailors had two second round picks and used them on outfielder Ike Kyzar and infielder Jim Hunton. Neither crack the top 500 but landing Smith certainly makes up for the second rounders if OSA is to be believed on all three of them. PITTSBURGH- The veteran laden Miners are thrilled with how the top of their draft turned out. OSA has first round pick, former CC Los Angeles shortstop Bob Lopez ranked 11th overall while second rounder Dick Chamberlain, a 22 year old outfielder who played his college ball at Opelika State, holds down the 191st spot on the list. ST LOUIS- High school pitcher Joe Lute was selected 3rd overall by the Pioneers and OSA likes what they see from the Algona, Iowa native. Lute is 42nd on the OSA list and fits right in with a solid group of young arms in the St Louis organization. Ralph Parker, an 18 year old outfielder from Boston, was their second round and he is ranked 348th by OSA. TORONTO- The Wolves have a lot of pitching and they added more with the selection of Jerry York and Bobby Mills. First rounder York, a 21 year old out of Noble Jones College, debuts at the top of Toronto's prospect list and 9th overall according to ISA. The scouting service is not so kind to the 18 year old Mills as OSA does not feel Mills deserves to be ranked in the top 500 prospects. WASHINGTON- The Eagles old management dealt the first overall pick but Washington did have a pair of second rounders which they used on Harry Perryman and Bob Kirby. OSA puts the 21 year old Perryman, a second baseman out of Bayou State, 117th on it's list while Kirby, a 21 year old outfielder from AIAA powerhouse Maryland State, makes the scouting service list at #388.
 The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 7/19/1942
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Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal
The Scripture of Sports Last edited by Jiggs McGee; 05-25-2022 at 01:25 PM. |
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05-26-2022, 12:53 PM
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#436 |
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All Star Reserve
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July 27, 1942 Looking like a quiet trade deadline
JULY 27, 1942 BOWMAN IS 4-F! FAILS PHYSICAL, REMAINS WITH GOTHAMS Ed Bowman will not be leaving the New York Gothams after all. The 22 year old was called by Selective Service two weeks ago and was supposed to be inducted into the Army Air Corps this morning after a planned ceremony in which he would sign his draft papers on the Gothams Stadium mound yesterday afternoon before their game against Philadelphia. However, word came Saturday that the 22 year old had failed his pre-entry physical and as a result has been classified 4-F, unfit for duty and the signing ceremony was quietly postponed. News leaked out this morning that Army Doctors apparently heard the swoosh of a leaky heart valve, know in medical circles as a mitral-valve prolapse, when Bowman was examined in his pre-induction physical on Friday. After a second round of tests was conducted Saturday the diagnosis was confirmed and Bowman was declared 4-F. It is not believed to be life threatening and Bowman will still be able to pitch but he will not be permitted to serve in the military, at least not at this point in time. The timing of the news for the Gothams is outstanding, almost like they added a top flight pitcher at the trade deadline as the club had expected to have to finish the season without Bowman, who is 12-7 with a 3.12 era and has quickly become the Gothams number one option on the mound. WILL THE TRADE DEADLINE DECIDE THE FEDERAL ASSOCIATION RACE? With four teams separated by just 2 games at the top of the Federal Association standings one can't help but wonder if one of the four is going to pull the trigger on a deadline trade much the way the Boston Minutemen made a series of deals last July that ultimately lead to a World Championship Series victory. The Minutemen are one of the four in the running this time around, sitting just a half game back of co-leaders Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with the New York Gothams 2 games out of first. The Chicago Chiefs are in danger of falling completely out of the race thanks to a dreadful 6-12 record since the all-star game including a current losing streak that reached six games after being swept in back to back 3 game series at home by Boston and Pittsburgh. Now 9 games back the Chiefs have, at least so far, been the only Federal Association club to try and add a piece with the addition of Milt Fritz from the cross-town Cougars. --- PLENTY OF STOPS AND STARTS FOR FRITZ --- Fritz is an interesting pickup by the Chiefs. He began his career with the organization way back in 1929 so one would immediately think Fritz was much older than 32, but he was only 19 when he broke it. Fritz had two great years in Chicago but was then traded to Brooklyn and won an Allan Award with the Kings in 1931. He was considered one of the best pitchers in the game but at 23 seemed to completely fall apart and was dealt twice in a little over a year. When he struggled with the Gothams in 1934 it seemed his career might be over but he found new life with a return to the Windy City, joining the Chicago Cougars in 1936. He has been forced out of a spot with the Cougars because of their wealth of pitching so was acquired at only the cost of an 8th round pick by the Chiefs. The move may not help the Chiefs get back in the race this year but the Fritz deal seems like a typically Chiefs move that could pay off very nicely for the organization going forward. In past years the Chiefs have added veteran arms like Rabbit Day, Jim Lonardo and Jack Beach and have received some key starts from each. Fritz has a lifetime 188-151 record and has been down before but picked himself up very nicely. It likely would not be wise to bet against a similar resurgence now that he is back with the Chiefs. --- CONTINENTAL RACE OVER? --- The Chicago Cougars must be wondering just what else can they do? The Cougars have been red-hot since the All-Star break, posting a 13-4 record but despite that they have gained just a single game on the New York Stars, who were nearly as hot in going 13-6 over that time. The New York lead is presently 11 games and, while they still have 10 games left head-to-head, you can't help but feel like time is running out on second place Chicago. The Stars own an 8-4 mark vs the Cougars so far this season and, at 16-8 so far in July, are showing no signs of the mid-season swoon that erased their big league a year ago. The Montreal Saints have hit a wall, going just 7-14 in July, and are in danger of falling below the .500 mark after a terrific start to the season that saw them sitting in second place at 42-34 when June came to an end. The starting pitching, aside from Wally Doyle, has struggled this month and despite the efforts of Jake Hughes and Bert Lass of late, the offense has also crashed.  TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN WOLVES HIT THE SKIDS!-- After coming out of the All-Star break with a 3-1 record the Toronto Wolves have gone on to a CA worst of 3-9 since the break and now are mired in 6th place. The team is still struggling to score runs with the number of one run losses mounting, now at a FABL leading 23. Of all the regular starters only one, Tom Frederick (106), is above league average in OPS+. Ockie Holliday, OPS+ 37, continues his sophomore season long slump. Although Toronto is one of only three teams with a positive run differential (+8) in the CA that number is skewed by some unexpected high run scoring games including an 11-4 victory over the Kings on Saturday. In that game Ockie had an unheard total of 10 LOB. The offense was dealt a major blow this week when Reginald Westfall strained his back. Westfall is leading the team in RBI (47), tied for lead in in HR (4!) but will spend the next weeks on the DL. Westfall's injury has opened the door for Hank Giordano, the team's first pick in the 1939 draft. Giordano will begin his big league career in RF platoon with Gus Hull. As a RHB he will give manager Charlie Reed more options against LHP. Wolves management showed their faith in both Reed and pitching coach Art Nichols by inking both to 2-year contract extensions. Wolves faithful are currently calling for HC Charlie Armine's head, rumour around the team is that there is an active search on-going for a new face in that role. IN THE SYSTEM: Giordano's promotion has allowed Dick Penwell move up from Chattanooga where he has been tearing it up, slashing .327/.369/.540 with 15 HR 64 RBI, surprising for an 18th round pick in 1936. Fans are hoping to see Giordano and Penwell possibly flanking Frederick in Dominion Stadium in the not to distant future. Jerry York's short tenure has ended in Vancouver after only 21 1/3 innings with 18K, only 3 BB, 1.12 WHIP, he will move up to class A and join the Davenport rotation next week. 
1943 DRAFT PREVIEW - PART 1: COLLEGE PLAYERS It is time for TWIFB's annual series showcasing the top draft eligible players from next year's rookie crop. As always, our summer list will be broken down into three parts with the first one focusing on college players and the next two on high school pitchers and finally position players. A year ago we talked about the two premier shortstops in Jim Adams Jr. and Homer Mills being the college players to watch for out of this class. Not a lot as change, although we have reversed the order of the two of them and added an Academia Alliance pitcher by the name of Jim Carter to the elite group. At this stage the two shortstops are still the cream of the crop but Carter merits watching next season. Beyond those three there is a fair drop-off although catcher Bob Newcomer is bidding to make the big three college players into a foursome. Here are the AIAA players that make the TWIFB top ten after consulting with sources at the OSA: 1- HOMER MILLS SS: Weston (OH) College- OSA loves Mills and feels if everything breaks right he will make multiple trips to the all-star game. He is said to have a smooth swing, excellent strike zone recognition and should be an above average defender. His .320 batting average as a sophomore was 4th highest in the nation while he was also tied for the AIAA homerun lead with 11 last season and led all college hitters with a 2.6 WAR. Mills was a first team All-American selection last season, repeating the honour he also earned as a freshman. Last summer we had Mills number two among college players but he showed enough this season to leapfrog Jim Adams Jr. 2- JIM ADAMS JR. SS: St Ignatius- Adams Jr. was number one on our college list a year ago but slipped a little this season (.315,4,25). OSA still feels Adams, the son of former Keystones and Toronto shortstop Jim Adams, projects to be an elite big league shortstop. Very athletic with pure speed, Adams may end up being a better hitter than Mills. Adams was a second team All-American as a freshman but did not make the list this past season. 3- JIM CARTER RHP: Ellery College- A groundball specialist who uses a tricky sidearm delivery, Carter is projected to be a frontline starter by OSA. A two-time second team All-American selection he is 19-5 with a 2.10 era over two seasons with the Bruins. 4- BOB NEWCOMER C: Ceasar Rodney- OSA likes the catcher from Auburn, Maine and feels he has plenty of talent both at the plate and behind it. He hit .311 last season with 9 homers, numbers good enough to make him a second team All-American selection. 5- HOPPY JOHNSON RHP: Charleston Tech- Hoppy had a nice improvement on his freshman numbers, posting a 7-2 record with a 2.52 era in 14 starts with the Admirals. OSA feels Johnson's explosive stuff can help him settle in as a mid-rotation starter in FABL once he matures. It does not appear to be a deep group of college pitchers so expect Johnson to be a mid-first round selection based on the way FABL GM's value arms. 6- WALT HARRIS SS: Georgia Baptist- A Los Angeles native who came east to play his college ball. Harris put up average numbers (.267,2,31) in his first season with the Gators but it might just be his glovework that gets him to the big leagues. A clear number three and well behind the two elite college shortstops in this draft but OSA feels he could be a second division starter someday. 7- FRANKIE GONNELLA 3B: Canton State- Very consistent, Gonnella hit .305 in each of his two previous seasons and has some power with 21 homers in 115 career AIAA games. He was named a first team All-American selection this year and OSA says he has above average contact skills, a smooth swing with quick hands and good pitch recognition. 8- JIM WATERS OF: Maryland State- His numbers tailed off a bit last season in comparison to his freshman year but OSA feels his bat and hustle should make him a front-runner for a starting outfield job. Has tremendous work ethic. 9- JIMMY SNYDER SS: Central Illinois- Has all the intangibles- great leadership potential, work ethic and is very smart. Hit .300 over his two college seasons but has been overshadowed by Mills and Adams Jr. at shortstop. Good defense, solid eye and a good knack for barreling the ball with a compact, clean swing. 10- JOHNNY THACKER C: Columbia Military Academy- Like Snyder, Thacker is praised for his smarts and leadership skills. He was a second round pick of Washington's in 1940 but elected to go to military school, which likely means anyone who drafts him will need to be patient as Thacker is likely off to the service before beginning his pro baseball career. Was ranked 12th overall in our mock first round for the 1943 class conducted last August. Next up we look at the top 10 high school pitchers. COLLEGES GIVEN GO-AHEAD FOR CALIFORNIA FOOTBALL They're going to play football on the west coast in the fall. It may be a different brand than formerly, what with a general reshuffle of coaches and uncounted numbers of young stalwarts having joined the colors, but it'll be football, anyway, and John J. Fan and his good wife Jennie are very pleased about it. The assurance that the war will not interfere with scheduled games in California's colleges and universities came yesterday from Gov. Culbert L. Olson, who announced that Lt. Gen. John L. Dewitt, chief of the Western defense command, had granted his approval. Olson said Dewitt had told him the Army had no objection to the contests as long as military regulations are complied with. These include facilities for speedily dousing lights and night games and agreement by the schools to cancel games on short notice in event of "a change in the military situation." No mention was made of limiting crowds. The 5,000 limit hasn't been generally observed anyway, and baseball crowds, for instance, frequently exceed that figure. No official word was made on the East-West Classic New Year's Game, which last year was transferred from the west coast to New York City. But the way it now looks, the game is likely to be brought back to southern California.
The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 7/26/1942
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Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal
The Scripture of Sports |
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05-27-2022, 11:30 AM
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#437 |
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All Star Reserve
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August 3, 1942
AUGUST 3, 1942 TRADE DUD-LINE The trade deadline came and went with barely a whimper as no moves of much consequence were made at all and none by the four contenders in the Federal Association race. Clearly the uncertainty of the war has teams afraid to make deals but one has to wonder if the trepidation will come back to haunt a club like Philadelphia or Pittsburgh. The Keystones likely could have greatly enhanced their pennant chances with the addition of a corner outfield bat, and Chicago's Jim Watson was one such candidate available, but the Keystones elected to stand pat and hope what they have is enough to prevail in a Federal Association race that seems destined to stay tight well into September. Pittsburgh and the New York Gothams failed to make any moves either and Boston, which loaded up last July and was rewarded with a title, was probably hoping the deadline was still just a few days away as injuries hit the Minutemen infield hard this week. Boston lost third baseman Art Spencer (.312,2,56) on July 31, just two days after shortstop Lew McClendon (.266,3,32) hurt his wrist. The timing made it impossible for the Minutemen to go outside the organization for replacements. McClendon is listed as day to day for the next week or two so Charlie Reed will likely be called on to fill in. Spencer's injury is a little more serious and will sideline him until sometime in September. There really isn't the means to replace both McClendon and Spencer within the roster so the Minutemen will likely be forced to dip into AAA Columbus and bring someone like Bud Gustafson up to make his big league debut at the age of 29 in the middle of a pennant race. Gustafson, a 1934 12th round pick out of Minnesota Northern University, is having a decent year at Columbus so perhaps he can be the short term solution. Another option for the Minutemen is to look at a free agent like Pete Asher, a 14 year veteran who was cut loose by Cincinnati a few weeks ago. Either way, one has to think had those injuries occurred a week earlier we would be breaking down a Boston trade right about now. Instead, only a pair of very minor deals were made. One had already been announced with the Chicago Chiefs adding veteran pitcher Milt Fritz from the cross-town Cougars in exchange for an 8th round draft choice. The second deal was very minor as Cincinnati Cannons wanted to demote rule five draft pick George Rotondi so they returned him to the Philadelphia Sailors and then reacquired him from the Sailors for a 10th round pick. --- STARS EXTEND LEAD --- Despite going 4-3 last week and 17-7 since the all-star break the Chicago Cougars again lost ground to the first place New York Stars atop the Continental Association. The Stars went 5-2 to increase their lead to a dozen games and New York is threatening to make the Continental race as one-sided as the 1929 campaign. That was the year the Philadelphia Sailors won 103 games and finished 17 ahead of second place New York. If that 12 game margin holds it will be the biggest difference between first and second in the CA since the '29 Sailors group. DYNAMOS FIRE MANAGER Reports out of Detroit indicate that manager Patrick Lictenegger is getting his walking papers today. The 48 year old was in his third season at the helm of the Dynamos after spending several years managing in the Detroit system. He led the club to a 90-64 finish in 1940 but they had to settle for second place. Last year they won 86 games but dipped to third in the Federal Association standings. This year has been a mess with Detroit now sitting at 43-65 and little going right for a team that was picked by many, including TWIFB, to win the Federal crown this season. The only surprise is that no one else joined him on the unemployment line, although one has to think several coaches will be let go once the season concludes. AL GROSS, WASHINGTON PLAYER, JOINS NAVY The Navy took over yesterday between games of the Washington Eagles doubleheader against the Chicago Chiefs at Whitney Field, when Al Gross, young infielder for the Eagles, was sworn in as a cadet. Lieut. T.R. Goins, baseball coach at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station, administered the navy oath. Gross, a 23 year old from Dunmore, Pa., is hitting .248 in his first full season with the Eagles. He was part of a controversial trade last season when the Eagles parted with two draft picks, including what would turn out to be the first overall selection, to acquire Gross from Boston.
TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN Wolves Thankfully Bid Farewell to July- The Toronto Wolves close out July, a month in which they hoped to become at least a factor in the CA race, at 9-16. After a promising June, 16-12, fans thought there was a hope the team has finally become the squad of two short years ago. Being swept in Sunday doubleheaders is becoming an all to common occurrence, of the 10 Sunday twin bills in '42 Toronto has been swept 4 times, split 5 times, managed to sweep only 1. July was just same chapter, with different dates, in the Wolves 1942 book. Good pitching coupled with just below average defense and non-existent hitting. Three regulars had dismal July performances, Larry Vestal (.162/.253/.243, 84 PA), Clarence Howerton (.177/.239/.194, 68 PA), Gus Hull (.196/.236/.33., 55 PA). Vestal will have his playing time reduced with the call-up of Hank Giordano, if Vestal becomes the fourth outfielder Ed Marshall's days in Toronto could be coming to an end when Reginald Westfall returns from the DL. Joe Hancock's July, 2W-4L , 1.93 ERA (5 unearned runs), 1.33 WHIP, .239 OAVG just mirrors his season, 10-11, 2.18, 1.22, .244. Pitchers are jokingly telling their teammates that they are thinking of suing for non-support. Toronto's serious power outage showed signs of being corrected this past week when they hit a total of 6 round trippers including 3 in one game. Al Jensen hit two that started the talks of moving Pack to the hot corner until Holliday finally snaps out of his funk. Jerry York's Class A debut went well 5 hits in 7 1/3 picking up his professional W. FOLDING MINORS MAY BE NEEDED TO KEEP MAJORS STOCKED Dan Andrew came up the idea that the FABL clubs will have to reduce their player limits next season "for the simple reason that there won't be enough players." Andrew, who with 2,362 games as a big league bench boss under his belt making him the active leader in that category, figures that such a reduction, particularly in pitching staffs, will improve the game. "You see it already this season in the minors," explained the Pittsburgh Miners skipper. "In Pittsburgh we have been carrying only 22 or 23 at a lot of levels and I know other outfits have been as well. No reason we couldn't do that next year here in the Fed." Of course, even that might not be enough. The thinking around baseball is a few of the minor loops will fold up before next summer and, if that happens, there still will be a plentiful supply of players still out of the Army, but that the clubs likely will have to take a few that ordinarily wouldn't be major leaguers.
1943 DRAFT PREVIEW - PART 2: HIGH SCHOOL PITCHERS This looks to be a thin crop of pitchers this year and that is quite obvious at the high school level. Only two pitchers cracked our top twenty for this draft class when the initial list was published last August and just one of them, Pittsburgh native Ted Davis, was a high school arm. Davis had a decent junior season but his stock has dropped as OSA no longer considers him a top of the rotation pitcher. The scouting service actually sees none of the high school arms as a future number one, or even a number two starter and if that holds this might be the weakest crop of pitchers ever to come out of a single draft. Here are the top ten 1- ROY BAKER RHP: Key West (FL) HS- Baker is young- he won't turn 16 until late August - and pitched just the one season at Key West High School, posting a solid 10-2 record with a 1.40 era while also fanning 154 and walking just 20. A groundball pitch with a deep arsenal of six pitches highlighted by an impressive change of pace. OSA raves about his control and feels he could be a solid #3 starter, perhaps better. 2- TED DAVIS LHP: Northgate HS, Pittsburgh Pa - TWIFB had Davis #3 overall, behind just the two college shortstops in Jim Adams Jr. and Homer Mills, in our top twenty rankings last August. At that time OSA felt the 17 year old had front of the rotation potential but a year later they are not even sure if he could hold down a spot in a starting rotation. He posted decent, but not spectacular numbers last season and we are betting that since OSA really liked him each of his first two seasons, their opinion of Davis will rebound somewhat so he stays #2 on this list. The fact there really is little in the way of competition makes it an easier decision to make. 3- JIM HAWKINS LHP: Oakmont (PA) HS- Hawkins was an All-American selection after an 11-0 season that saw him post a career best 0.75 era and fan 166 batters. He has not lost a game in 3 seasons of high school ball (23-0) but OSA is really undecided on him. He will generate a lot of groundballs according to the scouting service who feels Hawkins may someday fill a useful role in a rotation but does not seem like someone you want to count on in a big spot. 4- CHARLIE DOMINICK LHP: Palestine (TX) HS- Another ground ball specialist, Dominick projects as a back of the rotation piece. He showed nice improvement this season (7-2, 1.10) on his numbers as a sophomore, greatly reducing his WHIP and BB/9 while seeing a nice uptick in K/9. 5- JACK SHEA LHP: Story City (IA) HS- The run of lefthanders continues although Shea, like Dominick, is considered no more than a back of the rotation arm. A three year starter at his high school, Shea, again like Dominick, enjoyed a nice improvement this year over his previous season totals. 6- LEFTY JONES LHP: Wilsonville (OR) HS- Jones joined Jim Hawkins as the only 1943 draft eligible pitchers to make the High School All-American team. OSA feels he will max out as a fifth starter and their are some rumblings about his work ethic, or more precisely a lack of it. He is another pitcher who bettered his previous season totals as a junior and perhaps will take another step forward his senior season. 7- PAT SHACKELFORD RHP: Amsterdam (NY) HS- We have run out of pitchers OSA feels confident can fit somewhere in the rotation and the scouting service feels Shackelford is a spot starter at best. He has not been a dominant force on his high school club either as the 17 year old spent much of his time pitching in relief. It is hard to imagine his name being called prior to the regional round at best but there really is a shortage of pitching this year so who knows. 8- ENOS MOORE LHP: Libbey HS, Toledo, Oh- A spot starter is how OSA sees Moore but does appreciate his sharp curve ball and a solid sinker to go along with an average fastball. He can throw strikes and walked just 1.6 batters per 9 innings a year ago. Like Shackleford, Moore was often used in relief and did not throw a lot of innings. Perhaps he has a breakout year as a senior but OSA does not seem to be expecting it. 9- BOBBY LEE WILLIAMS RHP: Charleston (SC) HS- Williams is tall (6'2") so perhaps he will add velocity as he matures but tops out at only 85 mph at the moment. He doesn't project to give up a lot of homeruns but may fight with his control and OSA sees him as perhaps a spot starter at best. 10- SAMUEL HARRIS RHP: Ellinwood (KS) HS- Harris is one to watch if for no other reason than he is the hardest thrower in this draft class and that includes college pitcher. Peaking at 93 mph despite being just 5'10" and 140 lbs, so perhaps he has even more velocity as he matures. He is a three year letterman at Ellinwood High but has not pitched as often as you would like to see. OSA slots him in the large group of potential spot starters but we single him out based on the velocity so Harris cracks our top ten. Next up a look at the Top Ten High School Position Players available in the 1943 draft.  The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 8/02/1942
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Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal
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05-31-2022, 11:52 AM
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#438 |
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All Star Reserve
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August 10, 1942
AUGUST 10, 1942 STARS WALKING AWAY WITH CA CROWN The New York Stars are 7-2 in August and with 19 wins in their last 24 games they now lead the second place Chicago Cougars by 15.5 games atop the Continental Association. If the Cougars have any hopes left of making a race out of the season they need to sweep a two game set when New York invades Cougars Park today. Even with a sweep it is hard to envision a scenario where the Cougars come back. New York has 43 games remaining including the two in Chicago and has played at a .676 clip so far this season. Let's assume the Stars, owners of the best pitching staff in the league and most productive offense, suddenly struggle on the mound and the bats go cold and they only win 20 of their final 43 contests. That gives them 95 wins on the year. For the Cougars to tie them for top spot they would need to go 35-7 down the stretch - and that is just to tie New York. It seems pretty safe to say it now: The New York Stars will be playing in their 10th World Championship Series a little under two months from. 10 by the way will tie the record for most WCS appearances by franchise, currently held alone by the Chicago Cougars. The New York Mirror published an article (see below) worried about the Stars blowing their big league with a cold spell. The numbers above show it would take nothing short on an ice age for Stars to fade. Now a slump once they reach the WCS is another story altogether but, barring some unforeseen events in the war, there does not seem to be any way imaginable that the Stars do not play in October this year. The Federal Association is another story altogether. Four teams still separated by just a single game with a fifth, the Chicago Chiefs, riding a 4-game winning streak as they desperately try to claw their way back into the race. After taking two of three on the road from both Boston and Philadelphia, the Pittsburgh Miners are the hottest team in the group of four but the Miners suffered a big loss last week. Veteran first baseman Mahlon Strong (.309,16,82), injured so often in his career but surprisingly healthy the past two and a half seasons, is back on the shelf. Back troubles will sideline the 33 year old until mid-September and leave a glaring hole in the middle of the Pittsburgh lineup. The defending champs from Boston went 3-3 as they struggled through their first full week without Art Spencer (.312,2,56). Bud Gustafson (.158,1,4) struggled in his attempt to fill in for Spencer at the hot corner but there is some good news in that the other injured infielder- Lew McClendon (.266,3,32) should be back in a week. The Philadelphia Keystones also went 3-3 last week. Philadelphia does not have any key injuries to worry about but they need to hope their pitching continues to hold up as the Keystones offense, aside from the Whitney Award type season Bobby Barrell (.206,23,78) is delivering, has not been up to par. Finally we have the underdog New York Gothams still hanging around in their first pennant race in seven years, although it feels like much longer. The Gothams perhaps missed an opportunity over the weekend, splitting a 4-game series with lowly St Louis but they have a steady diet of second division clubs over the next two weeks before things get tough at the end of the month.  LICTENEGGER BACK IN DETROIT, TEMPORARILY The craziness in Detroit continued last week as the disappointing Dynamos can't even seem to fire a manager correctly. A week ago, news broke that the Detroit skipper Patrick Lictenegger was fired after Detroit, picked by some to be the class of the Federal Association this season, was dead last at 43-65. Lictenegger was not officially told he was fired but heard it through the media after the Dynamos offered his job to Detroit catching legend and current manager at AA Akron Dick York. The plan was simple. York, who has won a pair of minor league pennants in the Detroit system and won a pair of WCS titles in a 19 year career with the club, would take over from Lictenegger and hopefully get the Dynamos back on track next season. The only problem is York was not sure he wanted the job and apparently no one in the Dynamos organization thought to ask him before news leaked to the media that Lictenegger was out. York asked for a week to think about it and talk things over with his wife. So that left Lictenegger as the manager for one more week since no one told him officially he was fired. He finally got the news today, after a dreadful 1-5 week as lame duck manager, when York accepted the offer. *** DICK YORK ERA BEGINS IN DETROIT, BUT A WEEK LATE **** After taking a week to think about it Dick York will debut as the new manager of the Detroit Dynamos on Tuesday when they host the New York Gothams. It will be a homecoming for the former star catcher as he returns to the dugout he spent nearly two decades in as a player.York will have his work cut out for him as this season has been awful in Detroit, thanks primarily to a complete collapse of the pitching staff. That collapse cost pitching coach Jack Johncox his job as well, as he was fired in his sixth season in that role with Detroit. He will be replaced by Charlie Head, who was the pitching coach at AAA Newark. York and Head do have a lot of talent to work with and perhaps they can coax a strong finish out of the Dynamos, but it would take a miracle to salvage a fifth straight season of finishing in the first division. A realistic goal for York in Detroit would be simply to get the club out of last place. They presently trail 7th place Washington by 4 games.  Lou Robertson (11-8, 2.11) wins the CA player of the week. He really stepped up his game with Bill Riley (17-4, 1.80) out. Robertson was 2-0, 18 IP, 2 BB, 9 K, 0.00 ERA. In fact, the pitching staff really saved the Stars week. The bats weren't hitting all that well and they didn't score too many runs but the pitching shut down opposing bats to save their bacon. Chris Clark (7-1, 1.45) was slotted back into the rotation and picked up a 1-0 win. Jack Wood (6-6, 2.43_ had a shutout win. Chuck Cole (14-10, 2.43) only won because New York managed to score 5 runs in his start, a 5-3 win over Montreal. And poor Andy Boyer (0-2, 2.38) was tagged with a loss in relief in a 3-2 loss to the Saints. So lots of close games. Worrying too much perhaps but the near misses shows just how close we are to the precipice of defeat. In minor league news, top prospect Wally Hunter gets hit with the AA curse again. This time a torn Labrum will knock him out for 9-10 months. The front office can't help but think they caused this because they figured the last injury a few weeks ago "wasn't that bad for the curse". Hopefully this doesn't sideline his pitching prowess and he can continue to develop as a two way player. If not, hopefully he can still hit. TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN The Wolves have a winning week, show signs of life in hitting department after firing hitting coach Charlie Armine. His replacement Jim Sigsworth seems to removed the pressure from the hitters in his week on the job with his new approach "See the ball, hit it." Frank Huddleston had a 5 RBI game against the Sailors. This performance came at a good time as Mike Rollinson will be out of the lineup for most of the upcoming week with a bruised knee. Also on the injury front Reginald Westfall is not recovering as fast as expected from a back injury suffered three weeks ago, he will remain on the DL for the foreseeable future. One positive is that Bernie Johnson will go to Buffalo to get himself ready to pitch in Toronto, Johnson has been out since ST with a ruptured finger tendon. Hank Giordano continues to press for and will be given more playing time after slashing .467/.529/.733 last week. Others who seemed to benefit from Sigsworth's appointment are Holliday (.364/.364/.364) who is least hitting the ball and Charlie Artuso (.462/.481/.538). This is a small sample size but at least it is a move in the right direction, hopefully not a flash in the pan. Wolves who are 9 games under .500 hope to struggle back to at least respectability before the end of the season. Chances of contending are gone unless the Stars completely fall off a cliff for two months.
 1943 DRAFT PREVIEW - PART 3: HIGH SCHOOL BATTERS TWIFB takes a look at the final grouping before issuing our Mock First Round for the 1943 draft class. Unlike high school pitching, which appears to be very weak this time around, there are some quality position players available in the draft. Since the pitching class was so poor we will increase our list of position players we spotlight to 15 from the normal 10. Here are the top 15 high school hitters: 1- BILL GIFFORD 3B: San Diego (CA) HS- Gifford hit .481 with 2 homers and 30 rbi's in his lone season of high school ball to date. OSA calls him an above average contact hitter who projects to be a solid hitter and has the potential to be an impact big leaguer as a third baseman. 2- SID KLING OF: McKinley HS Buffalo, NY- Kling was number one on our initial mock draft for this draft class two years ago but slipped to 7th in our mock draft last August. His 6 homers tied for the high school lead this past season and he has 16 in 72 career games at that level. OSA feels he has the talent to flourish as a big league outfielder and likes his raw power, but questions why he hasn't hit more round-trippers with the power he does possess. A towering presence at the plate, the 17 year old stands 6'5" but OSA does not seem to be as high on him as they were in past years. 3- ED HAYNES JR. C: Austin (TX) HS- While college catchers Bob Newcomer and Johnny Thacker are perhaps going to be selected ahead of him, Haynes has been on the scouts radar for the past two years and was featured in the annual mock draft for this class on both occasions. There have only been two Texas-born catchers to be first round FABL draft picks but Haynes has a chance to join T.R. Goins and Mickey Dowell with that distinction. OSA sees Haynes as an above average, everyday big league player. An honourable mention All-American as both a freshman and a sophomore, Haynes numbers dipped as a junior, hitting a 3-year low .434 while also seeing a drop in his slugging percentage as well. Haynes father did not play pro ball although he did spend 3 seasons at Austin High back in the feeder days but was not drafted. 4- WALLY BOYER OF: Hokendauqua (PA) HS- Born in New York City, Boyer made his high school debut this past season as a junior, slashing .452/.527/.796. He has all the tools to become a solid lead-off man with a patient approach at the plate, above average contact skills and is a strong runner. OSA feels Boyer can become an above-average big league center fielder. 5- AL HILL 3B: Allderdice HS, Pittsburgh Pa.- One of the top high school hitters in the nation, Hill has hit over .500 in each of his three seasons at Allderdice High but has been overlooked for All-American status each year. Solid hitter and above average with the glove means there is a good chance two Pittsburgh born players (pitcher Ted Davis is the other one) go in the first round. Up until now only one Pittsburgh born player has ever been selected in the first round. That would be current Washington prospect and former Strub College star Bill Willman. 6- FRANK WOOD C: Bell (CA) HS- The Los Angeles born youngster has not put up overwhelming numbers (.423/.533/.694) but OSA sees something in the 17 year old Wood, noting he has the talent to flourish as a catcher. 7- RUDY MINTON 3B: Pana (IL) HS- There are several third baseman in this group of high school seniors that OSA feels could become regulars in FABL including Minton. A three year starter, the 17 year old hit a career best .489 last season and no third baseman topped his .570 on base percentage. Minton was 14th overall on last year's mock for this class after being ranked 5th after his freshman season. 8- JIM CLARKE OF: Beaumont (TX) HS- Clarke made the mock draft last season but while the three year started did improve his slugging percentage he posted a career low in batting average and on-base percentage his junior year. (Slash of .429/.504/.735) OSA feels he will be a solid starter but does not stand out in any particular area. 9- AL CLEMENT SS: De Pere (WI) HS- His .487 batting average last season placed him in the upper echelon of high school shortstops but his stock has dropped somewhat after being ranked 4th in the mock a year ago. There are certainly better college age shortstops available and some might prefer Dixie White over Clement among the high school group. OSA says Clement has a quick bat, a patient approach and runs the bases well, calling him an average big leaguer. 10- JOE DAVIS 1B: Copley HS, Boston Ma.- A High School All-American last season when Davis (.533,2,26) led all first baseman in batting average. He appeared on each of the two previous mock drafts done for this class and OSA perhaps sees him as a Fred McCormick-type at first base, although likely a solid step down from the former Wolves star. Davis has the potential to hit .350 but likely won't have a lot of power and scouts fell he can be a solid contributor as he matures. 11- TOMMY SIMMONS CF: Annville (PA) HS- Speed is the name of the game for Simmons, who swiped 32 bases while batting .430 in his only season of high school ball. OSA loves his plate coverage and feels he will have an excellent knowledge of the strike zone, calling Simmons a second division starter at center field. 12- MARIO SCHILCHEGGER SS: Millville (NJ) HS- Was a High School All-American in his debut season as a junior after slashing .523/.575/.725. Vince Wilson, a 12th round pick of the Gothams in June, was the only high school shortstop to post a higher batting average than Schilchegger. Despite the performance, OSA is not as sold on Schilchegger than perhaps they should be, feeling he should be an average big leaguer. 13- EDGAR MILLER 3B: Big Bend (WI) HS- Another in the large group that OSA sees as having the potential to be average FABL players, Miller is a 2 year starter with an unimpressive career slash line of .446/.498/.627. His defense is adequate, says the scouting service, and he has an above average eye plus the ability to consistently put the barrel of the bat on the ball. 14- BILLY MILLS 2B: Portsmouth (VA) HS- hit just .440 as a junior in his high school debut, OSA must be projecting growth in calling Mills a reliable hitter in the organization's grand scheme. Decent defense and draws a lot of walks (17 in 24 games) are attributes OSA makes note of. 15- DIXIE WHITE SS: Mooresville (NC) HS- White has been a player OSA has long been fond of. He was 10th overall on a mock done two years ago and moved to up 9th place in last August's rankings for this class. Since then OSA has soured on him as White (.435,3,33) did not show a lot of advancement as a hitter through 3 years of high school ball. OSA still believes he has plenty of potential, but need to translate it into reality to become a big league starter. With the number of shortstops ahead of him, White feels like the type of player who could drop to the fourth round.
The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 8/09/1942
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August 17, 1942
AUGUST 17, 1942 MAJOR WEEK FOR MINERS Mahlon Who? Despite playing without their injured star first baseman the Pittsburgh Miners reeled off 8 straight victories last week, including 5 over the Philadelphia Keystones, and at 4 1/2 games the Miners have opened up the widest margin the Federal Association has seen between first and second place all season. When Mahlon Strong suffered his back injury last week, one that will sideline him another month, many thought the Miners would be in trouble having to rely on AAA callup Jocko Goodrum to fill the void. Goodrum (.276,0,4) had a decent first week as a big leaguer but it was the Pittsburgh veterans that picked up the slack with Les Tucker, Pablo Reyes and George Cleaves coming up big along with a fine week from young Luke Berry. Pitching was also on point for Pittsburgh as Charlie Stedman (16-8, 3.01) won both his starts without allowing an earned run, George Phillips (13-9, 3.69) won a pair of games and Lefty Allen (13-7, 2.85) had one of his best outings of the season with a complete game 2-0 shutout of the Keystones on Friday. For Stedman, the 9-0 shutout of Philadelphia yesterday was the 250th victory of his career, tying Stedman with Denny wren for 24th all-time in wins. The New York Gothams are now second after a 4-2 week while the Keystones, despite sweeping Boston, have dropped to third thanks to 5 straight losses to Pittsburgh. The fourth place Minutemen had a rough week, losing a pair of extra innings games among their 3 losses in Philadelphia but recovered somewhat on the weekend by taking two of three from Washington. Like Pittsburgh, Boston is dealing with a key injury as third baseman Art Spencer will be sidelined until early September and minor leaguer Bud Gustafson (.209,1,7) is forced to take over. The Chicago Cougars did what they needed to do and swept the New York Stars in a two-game set at Cougars Park, cutting into the Stars big lead in the Continental Association slightly, but at 13 and a half games it would take a miracle for Chicago to catch New York.  TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN Toronto continues its climb back towards respectability, a long slow climb. The hitting continues to improve under new leadership. The injury to Mike Rollinson sent shockwaves through the organization. Pat Reed will exchange his Nickels uniform for Wolves' blue with corresponding moves down to Tuscaloosa. Sixth place still does not seem the proper place for one of only three teams with a positive run differential (+19) in the CA. Fans have to look to further than the Wolves league worst 25 losses in games decided to by one-run. The presence of Barrell II is overshadowing an extraordinary season by George Garrison who ranks second in every major pitching category in the league. The tandem of Hancock and Garrison give Wolves fans hope for the future. Although most teams in the system are well below .500 there are some individuals that are making a name for themselves, the overriding question is "How many will trade their gloves for guns before 1943?"
1943 DRAFT PREVIEW - PART FOUR: MOCK FIRST ROUND In the three previous weeks we took a look at some of the top players available for the 1943 FABL player draft. This week we put together a mock first round. It is important to note this is only a current ranking of players based primarily on OSA reports but also factoring in their stats. The list will likely change substantially in January when the first three rounds of the draft take place as this list does not take into account the players who will make their debut as high school seniors or college juniors. As of right now here are the top sixteen in the minds of TWIFB with an assist to the OSA. Code:
MOCK FIRST ROUND FOR 1943 DRAFT # NAME POS AGE SCHOOL HOMETOWN 1 Homer Mills SS 20 Wesson College East Chicago, IL 2 Jim Adams Jr. SS 20 St Ignatius Philadelphia, PA 3 Bill Gifford 3B 17 San Diego (CA) HS San Diego, CA 4 Jim Carter RHP 20 Ellery College Quincy, MA 5 Bob Newcomer C 20 Ceasar Rodney Auburn, ME 6 Hoppy Johnson RHP 20 Charleston Tech Birmingham, AL 7 Sid Kling OF 17 McKinley HS, Buffalo Buffalo, NY 8 Ed Haynes Jr. C 17 Austin (TX) HS Austin, TX 9 Roy Baker RHP 16 Key West (FL) HS Miami, FL 10 Wally Boyer CF 17 Hokendauque (PA) HS New York, NY 11 Walt Harris SS 21 Georgia Baptist Los Angeles, CA 12 Al Hill 3B 17 Allderdice HS, Pittsb. Pittsburgh, PA 13 Frankie Gonnella 3B 20 Canton State Newark, NJ 14 Jim Waters OF 20 Maryland State Brooklyn, NY 15 Frank Wood C 17 Bell (CA) HS Los Angeles, CA 16 Jimmy Snyder SS 20 Central Illinois Univ. St. Paul, MN
The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 8/16/1942
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August 24, 1942
AUGUST 24, 1942 GOTHAMS HAVE NEW YORKERS DREAMING OF A SUBWAY SERIES To the surprise of many the New York Gothams are still very much in the Federal Association pennant race, words that haven't been uttered since their last World Championship season of 1935. The Gothams and their fans have endured some hard times since the club sold off most of it's star players in 1936 and underwent a massive rebuilding project, one that just now is starting to pay dividends. The Gothams pitching has finally come around this year and combined with the emergence of young stars Walt Messer (.317,24,81) and Mule Monier (.308,6,37) New York is finally a contender again. The Gothams have not finished with a .500 record since their 93 win campaign of 1935 but seem assured of doing so this season and, at 72-54, are within two games of the front-running Pittsburgh Miners for the Federal Association lead. 22 year old pitcher Ed Bowman (17-7, 2.76) has captured the hearts of Gotham fans and is a lock to be named the top rookie but he is not the only pitcher to impress for New York this season. Harry Carter (14-11, 2.93) is having a career year at age 31 and Charlie Sutton (6-4, 13sv, 0.81) made the all-star team out of the bullpen. Even Cincinnati cast-offs Rusty Petrick (16-11, 3.41) and Gus Goulding (11-14, 4.00) are finding new life in the Big Apple. It just feels like things have changed in New York this season and things are finally going the Gothams way. Take last week for example when New York went 4-1 to gain some ground on Pittsburgh. Timely hitting and tight wins was the story of the week. It started Tuesday against Detroit when the Gothams capitalized on a wild pitch to score the winning run in the bottom of the 7th to top the Dynamos 4-3. A day later it was another 4-3 win although this time New York nearly let it get away with Detroit plating all 3 of it's runs in the 9th inning before Carter finally pitched his way out of it. Next up at Gothams Stadium was St Louis and while New York did drop the series opener 6-5 in 14 innings the Gothams deserve credit for rallying from a 5-1 deficit to send the contest into extra frames. They avenged that defeat - their only one of the week- with a pair of comeback wins on the weekend. Saturday the New Yorkers plated 2 runs in each of the bottom of the seventh and eighth innings to rally for a 5-3 win and then topped that Sunday with a 4-run 9th for a walk-off 5-4 victory with pinch-hitters coming up big on both occasions. Those were games that in past years the Gothams would roll over and take the loss but this year something seems different. The city of New York has realized it and the rest of the Federal Association is catching on quickly. The Gothams still have their work cut out for them and face a big test with a 1-game stop in Pittsburgh on Wednesday but the thought of just the second all-New York World Championship Series ever staged -the first was in 1926- is starting to gain traction. *** WILL LOSS OF SEALS SLOW STARS? **** It seems like Selective Services is the only thing that can slow down the New York Stars and even that is a questionable. The Stars beat the second place Cougars in a 1-game showdown as a part of a 3-1 week that extended New York's lead atop the Continental Association to 14.5 games. New York is so far in front they can spend some time testing minor leaguers and Andy Gross, who might just be Joe Angevine's replacement next year when Angevine joins Bill Barrett in enlisting, got some time in the big leagues. Gross, who also had a brief stint in the Big Apple last season, went 2-for-4 in his debut against the Cougars and hit .317 on the week.With Gross at second base we might just be seeing a preview of September's infield as there is a chance that Gross will stick at second base and Mel Hancock Jr. will move to left field when Lew Seals departs for the Army at the end of the month. Seals passed his physical and his final game in a New York uniform is likely to be Sunday when the Stars play a twin bill in Cleveland. The loss of Seals (.260,16,73) may not impact the Continental race but his absence will certainly be felt in the World Championship Series as the 28 year old has been enjoying what is arguably the best season of his 6 year FABL career.  TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN Wolves hunting down the pack- Toronto continues their up and down season, alternating a good month followed by a bad month. By month the team's record, April: 10-6, May: 11-22, June: 16-12, July: 9-16, August (to date) 14-8. Fans are either hopeful the team has finally turned 1942 around or dreading the calendar change come September. Owner Bernie Millard has directed the management team to come up with promotions for the balance of the season to hopefully generate more attendance therefore revenue for the Wolves. Millard's rant came following less than 11,000 attendance per game for two mid-week games against the Cannons. The first one was billed as a classic pitching match-up, Joe Hancock vs Rufus Barrell II, and it lived up to its billing. Both Hancock, Barrell went the distance in a 3-2 Cannons win. Hancock allowed 2 unearned runs in the sixth following a costly error by Holliday. Average attendance is down almost 700 per game at Dominion Stadium and Millard was heard to mutter that "Heads will roll if attendance doesn't top a million." Attendance will have to average 13,800 in the final 15 home dates to achieve the owner's goal. Reginald Westfall has been sent to Buffalo for a hopefully quick rehab assignment. His return to Toronto will require some tough 40-man roster decisions in the Wolves front office. Jerry York's hoped for meteoric rise through the system has run into a bit of road block. The plan to have York finish the season at AA Chattanooga is on hold after 4 lackluster starts in A Davenport, 1-2 5.18, 1.64 WHIP, .324 OAVG it is felt York may have to finish the season in Iowa.
DRAFT PREVIEW COVERAGE: TOP TEN PROSPECTS FOR 1944 FABL DRAFT It is very early and the tendency is the more OSA gets to look at a player the higher the likelihood his stock starts to drop, but based on current assessments from OSA the 1944 draft looks to have much more high end talent that the last couple of seasons or the 1943 class projects to deliver. The highlight is a trio of pitchers. While none are thought of quite as highly as Hiram Steinberg was a couple of years ago or Rufus Barrell in the past, there are three that OSA feels at this point project to be top of the rotation arms. The trio, all righthanders, are high schoolers Lee Ahlstrom and Jack Entringer along with Charleston Tech sophomore Carl Fritz. If that third name sounds familiar it is because Fritz is the cousin of Milt Fritz, currently with the Chicago Chiefs and owner of 188 career FABL wins and the 1931 Continental Association Allen Award. Here is an early look at the first round candidates for the 1944 FABL draft. Code:
WAY TO EARLY 1944 DRAFT MOCK FIRST ROUND RANKINGS # NAME AGE POS SCHOOL HOMETOWN OSA ASSESSMENT 1 Lee Ahlstrom 16 RHP Harmony (MN) HS Barnesville, MN Future #1 starter 2 Jack Entringer 16 RHP Bay City (MI) HS Bay City, MI front of the rotation potential 3 Carl Fritz 20 RHP Charleston Tech Rochester, NY wil be near the top of any rotation 4 Joe Joyce 16 C Newberry (SC) HS Sumter, SC potential to unleash obvious talent 5 Lindsay Bradley 16 3B Pine City (MN) HS Minneapolis, MN potential to unleash obvious talent 6 Owen Burns 16 OF West Chicago (IL) HS Chicago, IL potential to unleash obvious talent 7 Ray Spring 16 OF San Diego (CA) HS San Diego, CA has the talent to flourish as a RF 8 Danny Allen 20 LHP College of Waco Wellsville, OH has middle rotation potential 9 George Polk 16 LHP Sanbornton (NH) HS Lowell, MA Mid-rotation option 10 Ben Thompson 16 OF Yazoo City (MS) HS Yazoo City, MS Fill a key role on a contender 11 Dave McCraw 16 SS Xavier HS, New York, NY New York, NY Productive regular on contender 12 Wayne Boyd 16 2B Cortland (NY) HS Rochester, NY above-average big league 2B 13 Don Ballard 16 C Prospect Park (NJ) HS Prospect Park, NJ above-average everyday big leaguer 14 Howie Cooper 20 CF Lane State Oakland, CA Fill a key role on a contender 15 Max Keegan 20 CF Springfield State New Tazewell, TN profiles as above average player 16 Gene Ryan 20 C Bayou State San Antonio, TX Productive regular on contender MISSSISSIPPI A&M AND DARNELL STATE AMONG THE HARDEST HIT COLLEGES The All-Army football teams had a list of 1,800 soldier-gridders, all formerly in the star category, from which to draw their squad. The Navy, Marine and Coast Guard branches possibly have attracted an equal number, making 3,600 football headliners now wearing uniforms of a different sort. Although there is no way of determining it exactly, it is likely that 500 of those 3,600 would be in school and getting their bumps and bruises for their college side this fall instead of for Uncle Sam if the world were at peace. An Associated Pres survey shows that virtually every college contributed to the armed services at least one gridder who was still eligible to play and a number of top-flight schools lost far more. Between graduation and enlistments Mississippi A&M lost more than 20 players from the squad that went 6-0-3 a year ago. Defending national champion Darnell State was hit hard as was Annapolis Maritime due to double graduations for the service academies with one in the spring and the other in June. Gridders who were sophomores for the Navigators and Rome State will be seniors this fall. Although Uncle Sam tapped at least one footballer at almost all colleges, he drew more from some than others. For example in the Academia Alliance Henry Hudson and George Fox suffered big losses while Pierpont was barely touched. The same can be said out west as Lane State was hit hard but Redwood University and CC Los Angeles did not lose many of their non-graduating starters. The result is the 1942 college football season will be an extremely unpredictable one and fans should brace for a lot of surprise results this season. The game may lose some polish but the college coaches promise that fans will still get their money's worth. Most of the mentors acknowledge that the polish and finesse of former years may be lacking from the college game in a slight way, but all agree, in a survey made by the Associated Press, that the spectacular will become much more common and that upsets will be lurking behind every goalpost. There might be a slight drop in the quality of play from week to week because of poor reserves and the use of freshman but this will mean more upsets. Once coach compared the drop in quality with a track meet, declaring that the average fan "can't tell the difference between a 4:08 and a 4:12 1-mile run without a stop watch." GRIDIRON NOTES
 The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 8/23/1942
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