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06-03-2022, 11:30 AM
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#441 |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Ontario Canada
Posts: 9,752
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August 31, 1942
 AUGIST 31, 1942 GOTHAMS BEAT MINERS BUT FAIL TO GAIN GROUND The New York Gothams won their showdown with the Pittsburgh Miners last Wednesday but failed to gain any ground on Pittsburgh and remain two games back of the Federal Association front-runners as the season enters it's final month. A short week for both New York and Pittsburgh as each side played just four games starting with the rare one-game series at Fitzpatrick Park. Veteran Bud Jameson (.272,6,45), with 4 hits and 3 runs scored, and rookie Bobby Boone (.250,0,9), with 3 hits and a pair of rbi's, led the way for the visitors as they hung on for a 5-4 victory that temporarily moved them to within a game of Pittsburgh. The lead would go back to two as the Miners won all 3 of their weekend games while New York swept a pair in Washington before falling 7-4 to Philadelphia yesterday. The Keystones had a 5-1 week and are back to within 2.5 games of top spot in the Fed. Fourth place Boston dropped two to lowly Detroit before rebounding with 4 straight victories to finish the week and sits 5 off the pace. The good news in Boston is Art Spencer (.312,2,56) appears to be just days away from returning to the Minutemen lineup after missing a month with a hamstring injury. The Minutemen have gone 14-13 without their smooth swinging third baseman. In the Continental Association the New York Stars enter the final month of the season with a commanding 14 game lead on second place Chicago but the Stars were forced to say farewell to Lew Seals (.251,16,73) as the 28 year old left fielder finished his season by playing both games of a doubleheader sweep in Cleveland yesterday. Seals is off to the Coast Guard effective today.  MORRIS DELIGHTS CLEVELAND FANS WITH HOME RUN Cleveland Foresters fans have had little to cheer about this season but Saturday afternoon gave them a real treat. Before the game against the Brooklyn Kings, an Army and Navy Relief Fund benefit match, the fans were treated to a brief old-timers display that featured none other than Max Morris. The Congressman, as he is now known, delighted his former constituents at the old ball diamond by smacking a homerun into the right field stands. "I'm sure glad Mighty Mo busted one. I just threw it in there wishing that Max would hit every one into the stands." That was former Forester pitching star Mose Smith speaking as he peeled off his sweaty baseball shirt in the Forester Stadium dressing room after serving up 20 pitches to Max Morris. Plenty of former Cleveland greats were on the field prior to the game including the now 67 year old Jack Arabian, a 1941 Hall of Fame inductee, as well as a number of Morris' teammates from the 1934 World Championship winning team including Charlie Berry, Jake Moore as well as Dan Fowler, Brooks Meeks, Ben Turner and Frank Phillips- who are all still with the Foresters- to join in on the pre-game festivities. T.R. Goins, now running the Great Lakes Naval Academy baseball program also dropped in but the biggest round of applause was certainly reserved for Morris, who received two standing ovations: the first when he stepped on the field and the second after his homerun that lasted throughout his remaining half dozen swings. The event raised over $30,000 for the relief funds and overshadowed the game itself which was a dandy with the Foresters prevailing 4-3 in 12 innings. 
 TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN Toronto's roller coaster season continues and the last week of August shows this in graphic detail. The club loses two close games to the Cougars, then sweep a short two-game set from the juggernaut known as the Stars before getting shellacked by the Kings in the Sunday twin bill by the Kings 15-1 and 8-1. In the first Sunday game George Garrison was going for his 20th win but giving up 8 runs in 6 2/3 quickly ended that quest. During the same game reliever Bob McRae was lost until the middle of 1943 with an elbow issue, prompting the recall of Bernie Johnson. Johnson is being ask to stabilize the backend of the rotation where Juan Pomales (11-12, 4.42) and Bob Walls (5-13, 4.06) have either been really good or really bad in any given start. Fans showing up to Dominion Stadium are often heard asking before the game "Which Wolves team will we see today?". Toronto finishes August at 16-12. The goal is a 15-9 September to finish at .500. Ockie Holliday has raised his 1942 batting average to .254 after .353/.364/.447 August. Holliday's had spent most of the season below .200, which was one of the main reason's for the hitting coach change in early August. Charlie Artuso also responded well to the change in hitting approach during August. Hank Giordano has proven that he belongs in Toronto so an OF of Giordano, Frederick, Westfall seems to be likely in 1943. This has left other players wondering about their future in Canada. The McRae injury opened a door for first round pick Jerry York's promotion to AA but another poor start for the Class A Dusters quickly ended that thought in the front office. 
 PROOS PITCHES WASPS TO 26-7 VICTORY OVER ARMY WEST STARS The coaching staff of the Western Army All-Stars thought Jeff Proos gave the greatest exhibition of passing that they had ever seen as he pitched the Washington Wasps to a 26-7 victory over the soldiers before a throng of 55,000 fans yesterday in Los Angeles. That news certainly bodes well for the season ahead for the Washington eleven as they try to improve on a disappointing 4-7 campaign from a year ago. It sounds incongruous to say that Proos had an off day when his passing was the weapon that ripped a gaping hole in the Army defense and paved the way to victory, but everybody on the Washington squad, sports writers and club officials who have seen him in training camp and over the past three seasons, knew he wasn't on the beam. Some of his throws were short, striking the turf yards short of the intended receiver and others had all the inaccuracy of a Christmas bee-bee gun. Proos has looked good in camp this season and he did throw a pair of touchdown passes, one to Johnny Douglass that tied the score on the first play of the second period and another to Bob Frum in the last minute of the third quarter that put the clincher on the game. In between he connected in innumerable short pegs, completing 16 of 26 attempts, but still he was not his best. *** SAYS BALL FELT STRANGE *** "The ball didn't feel right," Proos said after the game, with no thought of alibiing his performance. "It was larger than the ball we use in the league, harder to grip and not as smooth as outs. It felt big in my hand, something like a balloon and I couldn't control it." While Proos got plenty of credit from Army sideline, he was not cited as the reason the soldiers came up short. Instead, Army coaches were crossed up by the Wasps ground attack, something they showed little of when Army coaches scouted the Wasps in their intra-squad game in San Diego last Sunday. Army had an outstanding back of their own in former Darnell State All-American Elton Raymond. The big, raw-boned young man lived up to all his advance notices and really 'made' the game by ripping off a 58-yard touchdown run in the first couple of minutes. Raymond hit the line with the wild abandon of an enraged bull, burst into a cordon of Wasps just beyond the line of scrimmage and proceeded to shake 'em off like hula-hual dancers. They couldn't bring him down as he rocked from one side to the other into open country for the opening score. That was the lone scoring gesture the warriors mustered. They fought doggedly and at times brilliantly, but they didn't have the power to budge the Wasps bulky line, the speed and deception to outflank them nor the air power to go over them. The Wasps will encounter much tougher opposition beginning in two weeks when they open the 1942 regular season in Cleveland but for now they can enjoy the taste of victory as they make the long trek back east. Code:
WASPS STING SOLDIERS POS ARMY (7) WASPS (26) LE Teddy Bowers (Western Florida) Johnny Douglass (Arkansas A&T) LT Kevin Thompson (Travis College) Mike Biladeau (Erie) LG Don Breedlove (El Paso Methodist) Paul Kline (Union College-PA) C Pete Blanks (Darnell State) Tommy Mendy (Oklahoma City State) RG Emmett Larson (Brooklyn AFA) Lew Womack (Payne State) RT Martin Page (Darnell State) Joe Derks (Texas Gulf Coast) RE John McCook (Darnell State) Doug Bishop (Huntsville State) QB Harry DeSpain (NY AFA) Jeff Proos (Mississippi A&M) LH Tommy Marvin (Darnell State) Bob Frum (Golden Gate Univ) RH Ron Begue (Darnell State) Bud Hill (Erie) FB Elton Raymond (Darnell State) Mike Sadowski (Rhodes) Army.......... 7 0 0 0 - 7 Washington.... 0 13 10 3 - 26 Scoring: Army touchdown Raymond. PAT McCook Wasps touchdowns- Douglass, Frum (2), field goals Biladeau (2) PAT Biladeau (2) STATISTICS WASPS ARMY 145 Rushing yards 174 16/26 Pass Comp/Att 1/4 178 Passing Yards 13 3 Penalties against 1 SUN SEPT 13 Washington at Cleveland Philadelphia at St Louis SUN SEPT 20 Pittsburgh at Cleveland St Louis at Boston Philadelphia at Washington 
 PRE-SEASON TOURNAMENT FIELDS FINALIZED The college basketball season is still several months away but the field has now been finalized for each of the three big preseason tournaments. The Jack Easton Tip-off Classic will feature the defending AIAA tournament champion Liberty College Bells as the marquee attraction at the November event in Boston. Joining the Bells in the 8-team field will be Great Lakes Alliance power Central Ohio, as well as Lambert College, Red River State, Custer College, Strub College, Columbia Military Academy and Ohio Poly. While CC Los Angeles did decline an invitation to head to New York City for the Tournament of Champions the group will still be well represented with Detroit City College, which reached the national semi-finals last March, participating along with local favourite Garden State and a pair of Florida schools in the Deep South Conference champion Western Florida Wolves and one of the top independent teams in the country in the Miami State Gulls. The other major tournament- the Preseason AIAA showcase in Chicago - will see Rainier College, Western Iowa, St Patrick's and Piedmont University as it's four participants. The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 8/30/1942
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Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles Last edited by Tiger Fan; 06-03-2022 at 11:34 AM. |
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06-06-2022, 01:34 PM
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#442 |
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 677
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September 7, 1942
SEPTEMBER 7, 1942 DEUCE MAKING CA OPPONENTS SAY 'UNCLE' It has been a season of disappointment in so many ways for the Cincinnati Cannons but one shining light has emerged and that has been the breakout campaign of 24 year old Rufus 'Deuce' Barrell. The 5th year Cannon has showed signs in the last couple of seasons of putting it all together on the mound but the 1942 season has been one in which Deuce has taken the next step and is now worthy of consideration for the moniker 'best pitcher in the game' right now. His numbers this season: 23-5, 1.89 with 152 strikeouts are drawing comparison to the 1934 season put up by his uncle when Tom Barrell went 29-3 with a 2.96 era. Deuce will not duplicate his uncle's 29 win season. That is a number that perhaps will never be equaled as prior to Barrell no pitcher had won as many as 29 contests in a season since 1916. But Deuce may just claim something even more special, a mark that even Tom could not equal. The last time a Continental Association hurler led the league in wins, era and strikeouts in the same season was 1919 when Hall of Famer Charlie Sis turned the trick for the Toronto Wolves but there is Deuce, with 3 weeks remaining in the season, sitting atop the CA leaderboard in each of those pitching measures. Since Sis, only the great Rabbit Day, who just recently won his 295th career game, has won a pitching triple crown. That came in the Federal Association during the Chicago Chiefs championship season of 1936 when Day went 25-3 with a 2.41 era and 156 strikeouts. There will be no championship for Deuce this season, but he has firmly established himself as the pitcher everyone expected him to become when he put up his amazing numbers at Macon High School and followed in his Uncle Tom's footsteps by being selected first overall. Below is a comparison of Tom's 1934 season to Deuce's numbers this year. 1934 was Tom's breakout year at the age of 26 and the first of three straight Allen Awards for former Brooklyn ace. Clearly Deuce still has a ways to go if he wants family bragging rights but he is certainly taking a big step in that direction this season.  RARE AIR FOR GOTHAMS The New York Gothams are on top of the Federal Association. The last time that happened Amelia Earhart was flying solo from Hawaii to California, the west was dealing with it's great dust storm and Hitler was only beginning to announce plans for the re-armament of Germany. That was 1935 but now after 7 years as a sub .500 ballclub, the Gothams are in first place and armed with perhaps the best collection of young talent in either association. Say what you will about Walt Messer, Mule Monier and Rusty Petrick but the Gothams success this season starts and ends with Ed Bowman, the 22 year old rookie sensation who is 19-8 with a 2.66 era and a lock to win rookie of the year as well as the favourite to claim the Federal Association Allen Award. The last time a Gothams pitcher claimed the Allen was in 1934 when Hardin Bates did it. That was when the Gothams practically owned the Allen as Jim Lonardo had won 3 in the previous 4 years. The Gotham faithful will remember Rabbit Day also won one but that was in 1936 - a season he started in the Big Apple but finished by hoisting a World Championship Series trophy with the rest of the Chicago Chiefs. New York's downward spiral began when Day was sent to the Windy City but finally the breeze is blowing New York's way and the Gothams are relevant once more. Relevant? They may actually be the favourites to win the Fed Flag as the schedule-makers have done New York a huge favour with 16 of their final 18 games being contested at Gothams Stadium. The schedule-makers also threw everyone a curve, with help from wartime travel restrictions of course, as the Gothams and third place Philadelphia Keystones each have 18 games remaining while the second place Pittsburgh Miners only have 11 left to play, with 9 of those on the road including a pair that loom especially large next weekend in New York City. *** SUBWAY SERIES *** 1926 was the first and only time the New York Gothams and New York Stars played against each other in a meaningful FABL game. The Stars won the bragging rights with a WCS win in 5 games - their third straight title- and would win two more since then to give them 8 FABL WCS wins. The 1926 Fed pennant ended a thirty year drought for the Gothams and set the stage for a run in the early thirties that saw the Gothams claim four Federal Association pennants but win only one WCS title, coming in '35 when they beat Cleveland in a rematch of the 1934 Fall Classic.Now all of New York is buzzing about the chance to see a Subway Series again. The Stars are all but assured participation, and really have been since before the all-star break as they made a mockery of the Continental Association pennant chase. It is now up to the Gothams, with 3 weeks of solid baseball all that stands between them and a chance to equal the battle of New York at one series win apiece. At the moment the Stars are surely the last things on the minds of Ed Ziehl or his troops, who face a crucial week with two games each against Boston and Pittsburgh. There is a chance we could have a much better picture of how the Fed is going to wind down at this time next week, but the way the season has gone we will quite likely not know the outcome until the final weekend of September. A subway series would be something to see and long suffering Gothams fans can almost breathe in the sweet scent of the crisp air that accompanies October baseball, and after seven years of awful play these three long weeks are going to feel like an eternity to Gothams fans, who surely will be clutching their subway tokens tightly while envisioning what just might become reality.   Chicago Chiefs: 27 days. The Chiefs, who currently sit 11.5 games back, were 11-5 on the last day of April. For most of the month of May the Chiefs stayed at or tied for the division lead. May 23rd would be the last day the Chiefs would share a lead of first in the FA as other teams started to get hot. Boston Minutemen: 41 days: Currently 3 games back. The Minutemen took over first place in the FA for the first time on May 29th. They would roll through June and stay ahead of the pack until July 5th. They would briefly be in first again on July 9th and 10th and once again on July 28th but then relinquish the top spot to never return. Philadelphia Keystones: 49 Days: Currently 2 games back. The Keystones have been playing a yo-yo game with the top two or three spots all season long. They have yet to have a real dominant month but they have been consistent throughout the season. So far this season the Keystones have yet to post a losing record in any single month. Pittsburgh Miners: 35 days: Currently ½ games back. Surprisingly, the Miners didn’t even sniff first place until they unseated Boston briefly on July 5th. It wasn’t until a month later though that the Miners really held the top spot for any length of time. On July 31st the Miners had been in the top spot for 7 days total. After they would log 35 days in first place. The Miners are getting hot at the right time. New York Gothams: 12 days: Currently ½ game up. Before July 31st the Gothams had led or shared the top spot for 7 days. Those days were in early April when everyone was jockeying for position out of the gate. New York has been the team that will not go away. Much like Philadelphia they have been hanging around playing hard while waiting for the chips to fall their way. Since July 31st this is only the 5th day they have held the top spot in the FA. However, it doesn’t matter how many days you don’t spend in first place, it's about making sure you are there after the last day. So there are your five clubs. With around 20 days left in the season four of these clubs have a shot. Should make for a crazy finish.
1943 DRAFT PREVIEW A LOOK BACK AT THE 1932 DRAFT Had the 1932 draft gone slightly different perhaps the New York Gothams might have become one the greatest dynasties in FABL history. Just think about it. If the Gothams selected a high school pitcher out of Hartford by the name of Lefty Allen first overall instead of Henry Hudson ace Curly Jones it is not a stretch to imagine the Gothams not doing their big sell-off in 1936 and tearing apart a championship team. Now we can't fault New York for taking the hometown college star- he was number one in nearly everyone's books at the time- but that allowed Allen to fall to Pittsburgh with the fourth selection. Allen would make his big league debut late in the 1935 campaign and post a 17-11 record in 1936. 1936 was the year the Gothams got off to a terrible start and parted ways with Rabbit Day, Mahlon Strong, Moxie Pidgeon and eventually Jim Lonardo as well. Each would go on to win a WCS elsewhere but it is not a stretch to think that if Allen did for New York in 1936 what he accomplished for Pittsburgh the Gothams might have been just good enough that their General Manager would have had the patience to keep the band together. Can you imagine what a rotation from 1937-40 that featured Day, Lonardo and Lefty Allen would have looked like? Instead the Gothams were saddled with Curly Jones and a complete tear down that made them one of the worst teams in baseball during that stretch. Here is a look back at the first round picks of 1932. Before we get to the actual selections here is how Brooklyn Kings Scouting Director John Spears had his top ten:  1: CURLY JONES P- New York Gothams: Jones has been at the center of controversy since his surprise retirement two months after the draft only to be talked out of by fellow Georgia native Rufus Barrell. He was supposed to be the next great superstar pitcher when he was drafted but whether it was his attitude or an injury suffered early in his career that derailed him we will never know. He is still kicking around the league but with a 41-41 career mark never came close to living up to the vast promise that was seen in him. His 12-6 campaign as a rookie when he helped the Gothams to a pennant remains the high moment of an otherwise marginal career. Here is OSA's scouting report on Jones from November of 1932 - a month prior to the draft.  2: PETE HUNT 1B- Toronto Wolves: While Jones turned out to be a bust, it was at the time considered the right choice. Toronto's decision to select Pete Hunt was a whole different matter. He was a second team All-American at Wisconsin State that season but if Toronto wanted a first baseman why would they not have taken Bill Moore- the first team selection and back to back Christian Trophy winner who would a year later be named the greatest college ballplayer of the first quarter century of the AIAA. Or maybe outfielder Pablo Reyes, who was also a first team All-American and had the scouts calling him a future FABL all-star. Hunt hit 14 homers that season for the AIAA Brewers- 8 less than Moore by the way. He would hit just 3 as a professional ballplayer and never advance past Class B before retiring in 1937 after the Wolves released him the previous year.  3: PABLO REYES CF- Montreal Saints: Reyes did not put up outstanding numbers at Bayou State in the closing days of the old feeder league era, but he was steady and entering the draft was a favourite of both the new mock draft system, the OSA and of scout John Spears, who we consulted with on this recap. Spears had Reyes number one on his board and it was clear Reyes was going to be a top center fielder. The Wolves passed on him so he fell right into the Saints lap and would go on to become a 6-time (and counting) all-star as well as a key piece of Pittsburgh's recent string of success.  4: LEFTY ALLEN P- Pittsburgh Miners: It is interesting that two very important pieces of the Miners powerhouse emerged from the '32 draft in Reyes, who they would trade for, and Allen, who they drafted 4th overall. Allen was a highly touted young arm but far from a clear cut choice as All-American Roy Price and a Curly Jones' teammate at Henry Hudson by the name of George Gillard were ranked higher than the high schooler Allen on many boards. The Miners obviously made the right call.  5: GEORGE GILLIARD P- Washington Eagles: Much has been said in recent draft recaps about the Washington Eagles failings on draft day and while at the time this pick seemed like a solid one, in the end Gilliard ended up being another one and joined a list of names that includes Grover Carson, Bill Kirby, Johnnie Sundberg, Tommy Trott, Leo Gorski and Bill Whiting as Washington first round picks that proved to be reaches, if not outright busts. Injuries are likely the biggest reason Gillard never panned out as he had more than his share of them and they ultimately led to his retirement in 1940. He was 3-1 with a 1.88 era in 10 career appearances with the Eagles so there is an indication that had he been healthy perhaps Gilliard could have lived up to his college billing. As a side-note it is no wonder the Henry Hudson Explorers won back to back AIAA feeder league titles in 1931 & 32 with a pitching staff that features Gilliard, Jones and Joe Hancock.  6: WHIT WILLIAMS OF- Baltimore Cannons: Adding to the Explorers AIAA dominance was outfielder Williams, a second team All-American and #3 on Spears draft board in 1932. He is still around at age 31 and, like Allen and Reyes, now on the Pittsburgh Miners but is really just a spare part these days. It wasn't always the case as Williams had a great big league debut with Baltimore and his .324 his first full season. OSA loved him but not quite as much as Reyes, and that ranking of the two proved correct.  7: RAY MCCARTHY P- St Louis Pioneers: McCarthy took a roundabout route to the big leagues and while he once had very high promise, seems to have been robbed of much of his skills by injury. It was one of those crazy moves that the St Louis Pioneers seemed to do all to often in the late twenties and early thirties. They drafted McCarthy in the first round, signed him to a big bonus and then released him at the end of his first professional training camp. Before a FABL organization had time to react, independent Sacramento snatched him up but it was clear the then 19 year old was not ready for AAA so the Governors cut him and two more indy teams took a shot on him but it wasn't until his fourth indy stop -El Paso of the Lone Star Association- that McCarthy finally got a chance to pitch. He lasted one season in that loop before Detroit picked him up in the Indy League trading phase of January 1936. A week into his stint with the Dynamos organization McCarthy, now ranked #19 on the OSA prospect list- needed elbow surgery. He has been traded twice since then, both times in deals for solid veterans including once from Pittsburgh to the Sailors in the move that reunited Jack Cleaves with his brother George. (Another piece of the Miners championship contending club that arrived via moves made in this draft). McCarthy has seen some big league action but has spent at least as much time on the injured list, which is where he sits now at age 28 and recovering from his latest arm troubles, something that has cost him most of the current season.  8: FRITZ BACH P- Philadelphia Sailors: You know how the FABL commissioner likes to continuously point out that GM's over-reach when drafting pitchers. Fritz Bach might well be the poster child for this although the OSA did feel at the time that Bach had a chance to be an impact starter. He had a great junior season at Cambridge HS in the feeder days, going 6-0 with a 0.93 era in 10 appearances that included a 16 strikeout game. But as a senior he was just ordinary (112 ERA+) but seeing Jones, Allen, Gilliard and McCarthy all come off the board the Philadelphia Sailors likely decided they better get in on the action and grabbed Bach. Now the Sailors have had great success over the years grooming pitchers and Bach has put up some very good numbers in the minors but he did not make his FABL debut until last year at the age of 27 and looks at best to be a mediocre piece to stick in as filler in an average bullpen. Fortunately the Sailors made up for this pick by landing infielders Bob Smith in round two and Rip Lee with their third pick. Later round picks landed Stubby Beamon, Don Homer, Gil London, Chick Wilhelm and Packy Peck so the Sailors made out pretty nicely from the 1932 draft despite their decision to take Bach.  9: BOB WALLS P- Chicago Chiefs: Walls is the only 1932 first round pick to own two WCS rings at this point. His claim to fame is that 8-1 run he had in 1938 when he nearly singly handedly lifted the Wolves past Brooklyn and into the WCS. He would have a solid season two years later and get his second ring with Toronto, 4 years after making a small contribution to the Chiefs 1936 championship team. Perhaps a bit of a reach at the time but OSA had the former Chicago Poly righthander as a potential #2 starter (although John Spears felt he was on the bubble to make a rotation) and the fact he was a local product perhaps influenced the Chiefs slightly in their decision to select him. He is now 48-48 for his FABL career and well down the list of FABL wins by 1932 draftees but Walls certainly proved to be a better selection than the pitcher picked in directly in front of him or two spots after him.  Code:
FABL WINS BY PITCHERS DRAFTED IN 1932 RD/PK NAME W L 1-4 Lefty Allen 145 84 3-1 Art White 104 79 9-16 Billy Riley 83 49 7-2 Buddy Long 61 74 4-16 Vern Hubbard 61 45 3-6 Butch Smith 57 47 6-11 Karl Wallace 49 41 1-9 Bob Walls 48 48 7-8 Stumpy Beaman 42 53 1-1 Curly Jones 41 41 11-8 Red Ross 37 33 7-15 Herman Patterson 35 35 1-15 Gene White 33 34 9-13 Joe Brown 32 22 4-12 Cy Sullivan 29 25  11: ROY PRICE P- Boston Minutemen: Price seemed like a great bargain at the time. He was coming off a breakout year at Bayou State, going 11-0 with a 1.58 era and beating a deep group of college pitchers that included Joe Hancock, Curly Jones and Bobo White to earn first team All-American status. It was, as it turned out, the highlight of Price's career. He started out fine in the Minutemen system, advancing to AA his first pro season and reching #26 on the OSA prospect list in April of 1935. However, a back injury cut short his '35 campaign and the Minutemen, perhaps sensing the injury would have lingering effects, dealt him to the Washington Eagles in a draft day deal in 1935 that allowed Boston to add Mack Sutton to their organization. Price did spend 1936 with the Eagles and went 3-8, 5.14 in 15 starts and would never see the big leagues again- at least so far. He is now 31 and having a pretty good season for the independent Syracuse Excelsiors (11-11, 2.01) and who knows, perhaps if enough players leave for the war he just might get another chance to prove he was not a 1 year wonder in college ball.  12: ART SPENCER 3B- Cleveland Foresters: You have to give the Foresters a lot of credit for the 1932 draft haul. Redding was a solid choice at 10 and Art Spencer has proved to be a great pick at #12 even though he was traded to Boston in 1933 in the deal that brought Dan Fowler to the Foresters budding championship club. Also part of that deal was the Foresters second round pick Pete Day and fifth rounder John Wood. (The trade also included pitcher Ed Wood so the haul from Fowler went a long ways towards helping both teams win a WCS with Cleveland's coming in 1934 and Boston's in '41 with Ed Wood, Spencer and Day all playing key roles). As for Spencer, he was considered the top third baseman available but was not an All-American that year as John Langille of Commonwealth Catholic edged him out. Langille would be taken in the second round by Brooklyn and had a few solid years but has faded of late, unlike Spencer.  13: BILL MOORE 1B- Detroit Dynamos: It is perhaps a bit of a surprise that Moore, a two-time Christian Trophy winner and the player named the greatest college star of the feeder league era, lasted until pick 13 but that was likely just an example of pitcher-bias combined with the glut of corner outfield/first baseman in the league at the time. OSA did not feel his college dominance would transfer to the pro ranks, calling him a second division starter but did note Moore projected to be a .330 hitter. Moore, with a .299 career batting average at the moment, is on to his third team now (Boston after a stop in Cleveland) and has never matched his college performance but is a steady big league hitter and a budding singer. He nearly gave up baseball last year for a movie audition in Hollywood but decided against it and returned to the Boston Minutemen, a team he helped win the WCS last year.  14: BILLY HUNTER SS- Chicago Cougars: According to John Spears' notes Hunter was number six among draft eligible shortstops that year, training Rip Lee, Bill Michael, Clark Car, Les Tucker and Tony White but the Cougars certainly made a smart choice. OSA liked him a lot better than that and were it not for the injury bug which has bitten Hunter often and hard, he would likely have more than just the 1 all-star game selection on his resume. In hindsight, and only because of the injuries, Rip Lee might have been the better choice. Lee went in the third round to the Sailors. Clark Car was selected in round 2 by Baltimore and is now a teammate of Hunter's with the Cougars. Les Tucker was Pittsburgh's 6th round pick and is the Miners everyday third baseman while White, Montreal's third round selection, played a few seasons for the Saints and also saw some action with the Chiefs but is presently unemployed after being released by the Dynamos organization. Despite the health issues Hunter has had to deal with, you can't question the Cougars in 1932 draft class. Of the 30 players they drafted that December day, 20 of them have played in the big leagues with 8 playing in parts of at least 5 seasons. Among the picks after Hunter we can count third round Rich Langton, catcher Harry Mead who was an absolute steal in the fourth round, sixth rounder Ducky Jordan and Reginald Westfall, a 7th round selection.  15: GENE WHITE P- Philadelphia Keystones: OSA just loved a bunch of pitchers this year. Jones, Price, Gillard, Art White, and Walls from the college ranks and then you had Lefty Allen, Ray McCarthy and Gene White from the high schools. OSA felt Gene was a front of the rotation pitcher and John Spears had him ranked 5th among arms behind Curly Jones, Roy Price, Gilliard and Lefty Allen. Gene White has not panned out quite as the Keystones hoped and one has to wonder how much the 1934 injury that cost him a full season impacted his development. He had a couple of years in the Keystones rotation but seems to have settled in as a sport starter/bullpen piece now.  16: JOHNNY HOPPER C- New York Stars: The pre-draft talk among catchers focused on a trio of high schoolers in Hopper, Heinie Zimmer and Harry Mead. There might have been some talk about Brooklyn State's All-American signal caller Buster Farrar but he lasted until the 7th round. The Stars selected Hooper (.333/.385/.436 his draft year) one spot ahead of Zimmer (.336/.492/.500) who was the opening pick of the second round by the Gothams. Memphis High's Harry Mead, who slashed .283/.335/.447 his draft year, was not selected until the 4th round 58th overall by the Chicago Cougars, and has certainly blossomed of late. In hindsight both Zimmer and Mead should have gone ahead of Hopper, although Hopper did have a big year in 1939 when the Stars won their WCS title with a surprise turnaround. Hopper is now in the Navy so his career is on pause but he had previously fallen out of favour in New York as he spent all of last season in AAA. Below is the OSA report on those three highly touted catchers.  Beyond the first round we still had a lot of future FABL regulars selected. Other notable position players from this draft: 2-1 Heinie Zimmer Gothams, 2-12 Pete Day Cleveland, 5-4 Bert Lass Montreal, 5-7 Chink Stickels St Louis, 6-3 Les Tucker Pittsburgh, 7-14 Reginald Westfall Chicago Cougars, 14-9 Ray Ford Chicago Chiefs Pitchers: 3-1 Art White Brooklyn, 3-6 Butch Smith Baltimore, 4-16 Vern Hubbard New York Stats, 6-11 Karl Wallace Boston, 7-8 Stumpy Beaman Philadelphia Sailors, 9-16 Billy Riley New York Stars SUMMARY- The 1932 draft is, and always will be defined by the incredible hype and controversy that surrounded Curly Jones and his brief retirement. That is unfair to what really was a deep group of solid draft picks and one that, while it had a few busts besides Jones, had only one player that looks like just an awful pick right from day one. That was of course Pete Hunt, who turned out to be the only position player in the first 40 selections of the draft to never play an inning of big league baseball. In all 18 position players were taken in the first two rounds (32 picks). Every single one of them, except for Hunt, has played at least 250 FABL games and only 4 besides Hunt have not yet played 500 games. They are Billy Hunter (who will health permitting), Johnny Hopper, Washington second rounder Joe Ellicott and Cougars second rounder Marty Roberts. A number of pitchers certainly flamed out although injury may have been a factor in many of them but Curly Jones, George Gilliard, Ray McCarthy, Fritz Bach and Roy Price all are a cautionary tale of why selecting a pitcher in the first round is such a risky proposition. Then we have Fred O'Dell, Mike Sanders, Charlie Barber and Sam Sullivan as second rounders who never made it to FABL as well as Walker Pearce who has pitched in just 10 big league games and now is in the Air Force. RAYMOND LEADS ARMY WEST ALL-STARS PAST ST LOUIS He wasn't expected to play because of a rib injury suffered in practice last week but second lieutenant Elton Raymond came up big for the Western Army All-Stars as they gained their first football victory - 16-10 over the St Louis Ramblers. Raymond, the former Darnell State All-American back, scored two touchdowns including one on a roaring run of 95 yards with a kickoff return. The Western Army eleven will be back in action Thursday night when they face the Detroit Maroons in the third contest against an AFA side. Thompson Field is expected to be filled to capacity for the game. The soldiers lost 26-7 to Washington in a game played in Los Angeles last week. Washington will open the American Football Association regular season next Sunday with a game in Cleveland against the Finches. The only other opening week contest takes place in St Louis where the Ramblers will host the Philadelphia Frigates. PLENTY OF PRO TALENT ON EASTERN SOLDIER SQUAD There will be plenty of familiar names on the soldier's side when the Eastern Army All-Stars open their slate of exhibition contests against AFA clubs on Saturday at the Bigsby Oval against the defending Eastern Division champion New York Football Stars. Coach Bill Ormond's Army side will be lead by former Washington Wasps back Harold Burch and ex-Detroit Maroons back Dan Larson. Both were teammates in college at Minnesota Tech. The deep backfield also incldues Leon Stone, the former Redwood University star who played for the AFA champion Chicago Wildcats last year, and Gus Knox, who played for the Football Kings in 1940 after a stellar college career at Cumberland. AFA 1942 REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE SUN SEPT 13 Washington at Cleveland Philadelphia at St Louis SUN SEPT 20 Pittsburgh at Cleveland St Louis at Boston Philadelphia at Washington 1942 AIAA FOOTBALL PREVIEW The presence of all of the military service teams, coupled with the absence of so many players who left to join the war, promises to make this a very interesting, and unpredictable season of college football. As for teams to watch, well that really is a tough call because there was just so much turnover this off-season. That being said, the south appears loaded with talented teams as Deep South Conference power Noble Jones College is expected to battle with Cumberland and George Baptist for top spot in the loop and perhaps the nation. There will be also be plenty of competition from South Atlantic Conference power Carolina Poly. The top two Texas teams, Darnell State and Travis College, each absorbed a number of key losses due to graduation and enlistments but both usually find a way to be competitive. Minnesota Tech and Detroit City College, with a pair of big linemen in Cassius Howard and Justin Thomas, look like the class of the midwest but Central Ohio also looks strong. The Pacific teams often get overlooked but CC Los Angeles and Coastal California are both expected to be much stronger this year than they were last season. The real question mark is just how good will the service teams be. Great Lakes Naval Academy is expected to be very strong as will Jacksonville Naval Air Station and you can't rule out Annapolis Maritime, despite it being hit by double graduation with the fast-tracking of it's students into Navy positions. The college action kicks off next Saturday with North Carolina Pre-Flight taking on Salisbury Christian with many of the big schools getting underway the following week including one that features Christian Trophy candidate Billy Bockhorst as his Noble Jones College Colonels kick-off their season against Deep South Conference rivals Central Kentucky.
 The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 9/06/1942
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Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal
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06-07-2022, 11:08 AM
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#443 |
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 677
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September 14, 1942
SEPTEMBER 14, 1942 GOTHAMS CLOSING IN ON FED PENNANT There is still a lot of work to be done but the New York Gothams are now the best positioned of the four Federal Association contenders as the pennant chase winds down. The odds-makers give the New Yorkers a nearly 87% chance of claiming the Fed title and setting up just the second ever all-New York World Championship Series. The Boston Minutemen, Philadelphia Keystones and Pittsburgh Miners all still have a slim chance but it will only happen if the Gothams stumble and that might be tough to do when 6 of their final 11 contests are against Fed bottom feeders Washington and Detroit. The Gothams all but eliminated the Pittsburgh Miners last week by taking back to back victories from the Pittsburgh nine including driving a dagger through the Miners hearts with a 3-2 walk-off victory courtesy of a back-up infielder delivering a key hit against one of the game's best pitchers. That would be 27 year old Charlie Moore - only in the lineup because veteran Bud Jameson needed a rest- and he slapped a single off of Lefty Allen in the bottom of the ninth inning as New York completed a comeback from a 2-0 deficit to beat the Miners. New York would win again the following afternoon, by a convincing 7-2 score as the much maligned Gus Goulding (14-15, 3.74) came up with his third consecutive solid outing. The back to back wins over the Miners came after wunderkind Ed Bowman (20-8, 2.57) blanked Boston 4-0 to earn a split of the two game set with the Minutemen. The Miners are in a spiral at the worst possible time, losers in 4 straight and 8 of their 9 contests this month. Pittsburgh is still tied with New York for the wins lead with 83 but through a quirk in the schedule the Miners have just 5 games left and will finish up their slate on Sunday. All they will be able to do after that is simply sit and watch as the other three contenders play out the final week but it certainly appears that the September slump has all but officially ended the Miners chances for a fourth pennant in the past six season. The Keystones are 3 games back of New York after they stumbled over the weekend with 3 losses - two on the scoreboard and the third perhaps even more costly as Philadelphia ace Lloyd Stevens (17-7, 2.71) was forced out of yesterday's 9-8 loss with Detroit due to arm troubles. It was serious enough that the Keystones immediately pronounced the 26 year old lefthander's season over. There is still a small degree of hope in the City of Brotherly Love as the Keystones do play a pair of games in New York beginning on Wednesday, and then have 5 remaining against second place Boston. However, it does not take an seasoned odds-maker to surmise that Philadelphia's pennant hopes are dangling by a thread. Which brings us to Boston. Suffering a 2-1 loss in 14 innings in Chicago yesterday certainly hurt but the defending champs have won seven of their last nine games. Many felt Boston's fate was sealed when they dropped a pair at home to the Gothams two weeks ago and then had to settle for a split at Gothams Park this past week. The schedule is tough with 2 in Chicago and 5 vs Philadelphia among their final 9 games so catching New York will be no easy task and will require the Gothams to stumble. Boston had been known for September swoons in the past but they slayed that monster a year ago and the Minutemen proved in last year's World Championship Series when they rallied to beat the Chicago Cougars that one should not count this team out. Chances of a Subway Series are very good, but certainly not set in stone yet. It is perhaps unlikely to happen but if the Gothams hit a bump, Boston might just be the team to capitalize.  BARRETT SET FOR SECOND CONSECUTIVE BATTING CROWN There has been very little suspense in the Continental Association pennant race, and certainly none in the last two months as the New York Stars have dominated the loop. A big reason for that New York success is once again credited to outfielder Bill Barrett (.337,24,78) who is on the verge of winning his second straight Whitney Award and Continental batting crown at the tender age of 22. In happier times we would be speculating just how many more Barrett could reel off but unfortunately everyone knows the streak will end at two as the Vineland, New Jersey native has already confirmed he will be entering the Navy after the WCS is over. Barrett will certainly not be the only one to go, not even from the Stars as his teammate Joe Angevine has announced that he, too, will enlist when the Series is done. The list of ballplayers turned soldiers is long and already includes a two-time Whitney winner in Fred McCormick and a young Allan Award winner in Pete Papenfus. There will be plenty more gone before next season begins, and while there has been some doubt rest assured there will be a FABL season in 1943, but many of the participants from this year will have long since traded their baseball flannels for military garb. Who knows how long the war will last, and what sort of shape the greats will be in when they return so for the next two weeks - and the start of October - Stars supporters, and baseball fans as a whole, should take a moment and admire what Bill Barrett has already accomplished in his career: 4 all-star game appearances, one and perhaps two batting titles and Whitney Award wins, one and perhaps two WCS titles and WCS MVP awards. He is a special player. Let's hope he is still that whenever the war comes to an end.
HOLT IS DOMINANT IN AFA DEBUT Thanks to one of the greatest performances ever by a player in his AFA debut the St Louis Ramblers equaled their victory total of all of last season with a 27-7 win over the Philadelphia Frigates in their 1942 season opener. The story was Bob Holt, as the All-American selected first overall by the Ramblers out of Eastern State, set a modern day AFA rushing record with 254 yards while scoring three touchdowns. But that was just the beginning as the Lynchburg, Virginia native also completed a pair of passes for 71 yards and made four tackles on defense. Holt made his presence felt on the opening drive of the game when he scampered for a 50 yard touchdown run to give the Ramblers, who went just 1-9-1 a year ago, an early lead that they would never relinquish. Holt would add another score on a 16 yard run in the closing seconds of the opening quarter to double the Ramblers lead and rub salt in the Frigates would with a 41 yard run in the final minute of the game to complete the St Louis scoring. Behind Holt's 25 carries the Ramblers completely dominated the game and his 254 yards on the ground were more than double the 125 total yards of offense that Philadelphia managed to accumulate. In the only other regular season game on the opening weekend of the AFA season Washington easily handed the Cleveland Finches 35-11 at Forester Field with Jeff Proos, who had a very good performance last month in the Army All-Star preseason game, continuing his strong play for the Wasps with a 210 yard, 3 touchdown passing afternoon. Wasps back Mike Sadowski also had a solid afternoon, rushing for 103 yards on 19 carries including a touchdown run. Code:
AFA STANDINGS EASTERN W L T PCT Washington 1 0 0 1.000 Brooklyn 0 0 0 .000 New York 0 0 0 .000 Boston 0 0 0 .000 Philadelphia 0 1 0 .000 WESTERN W L T PCT St Louis 1 0 0 1.000 Chicago 0 0 0 .000 Detroit 0 0 0 .000 Pittsburgh 0 0 0 .000 Cleveland 0 1 0 .000 Sunday September 13 Washington 35 Cleveland 11 St Louis 27 Philadelphia 7 Sunday September 20 Pittsburgh at Cleveland St Louis at Boston Philadelphia at Washington EASTERN ARMY STARS JOLT NEW YORK 16-0, BEFORE 40,000 After five weeks on intensive training on the campus of George Fox University, Coach Bill Ormond's Army All-Stars came down to the Bigsby Oval for their first football game in the dark blue of their Uncle Sam. The New York Football Stars, after leaving the field on the short end of a 16-0 score, don't care if the Army ever plays another. An estimated crowd of 40,000 paid out their dollars to the Army Emergency Relief fund and were no sooner in their seats before the soldiers went on the attack. Leon Stone, the ex-Chicago Wildcat, returned the opening kick 28 yards and on the next play he ripped through for another 12. Two plays later Bobby Green found ex-Detroit Maroon Dan Larson for 12 yards and then Stone had a couple more big carries. Army didn't stop it's charge until Green threw a 9 yard touchdown strike to Ron Hutchings in the corner of the endzone. The New York eleven settled down on defense after that but the pro squad could not get their offense going all day. Army added a second quarter field goal from former Philadelphia Frigate Walt Belfiore and then closed things out when Harold Burch intercepted a desperate Tom Jameson pass late in 4th quarter and galloped 57 yards into the endzone. The Eastern Army All-Stars are back in action Wednesday when they will face the Brooklyn Football Kings in a game to be held in Baltimore. The Kings recently lost another player to military service as Alfie Baldwin, a former Pittsburgh State back who ran for 163 yards and a pair of touchdowns for Brooklyn last season, has joined the army. The New Yorkers will have a couple of weeks off to regroup and prepare for their AFA season opener in Boston on September 27th. *** WESTERN ARMY STARS WIN AGAIN *** The Western Army All-Stars won for the second time in three outings as they blanked the Detroit Maroons 12-0 before more than 21,000 fans at Thompson Field. Fullback Elton Raymond was against the star of the show for the soldiers. It should be noted that Detroit was playing without several regulars including their great end Stan Vaught, who sat out the contest with what was described as a minor shoulder injury. The West Army side lost to Washington in it's opener but since then has beaten both the St Louis Pioneers and Detroit Maroons. The Maroons will not play their AFA season opener until September 27th when they host the rival Chicago Wildcats. NEXT WEEKEND'S GAMES FRIDAY SEPTEMENT 18 Western Tennessee vs Opelika State Miners College vs Mile High State SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 19 Blackland Field vs Lubbock State Charleston (IL) vs Coastal State Capshaw State (IA) vs Lambert College Noble Jones College vs Central Kentucky Abilene Baptist vs Edward Howard Western Iowa vs Perry State College Iowa Pre-Flight vs Lawrence State Western Florida vs Jacksonville Naval Air Station Eastern Kansas vs Kansas Bible College Bayou State vs Central Louisiana Fort Riley vs Daniel Boone College Kirtland Field vs South Valley State Las Cruces State vs El Paso Methodist Charleston Tech vs Central Carolina Camp Pickett vs Petersburg Golden Gate University Pre-Flight vs College of San Diego Corpus Christi NAS vs Travis College Salisbury Christian vs Chesapeake State Hampden-Sydney vs Richmond State Camp Grant vs Wisconsin State The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 9/13/1942
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Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal
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06-08-2022, 11:48 AM
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#444 |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Ontario Canada
Posts: 9,752
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September 21, 1942
SEPTEMBER 21, 1942 GOTHAMS CLINCH AT LEAST A TIE FOR FED CROWN The New York Gothams are on the verge of their first Federal Association pennant since 1935. Only a complete Gothams collapse combined with a miracle finish from either Boston or Philadelphia could change that and even then the Gothams can do no worse than force a 1-game tiebreaker. New York lowered it's magic number to clinch the Federal Association crown to just one after winning 5 of 6 games this week. The Gothams have five games remaining beginning with 3 at home against Chicago starting today before they head to Detroit for a pair on the weekend. A win in any one of those five games clinches the crown. Both Boston and Philadelphia need to win out, as well as have New York lose all five, to force a playoff. The Minutemen have 3 games remaining - all against Philadelphia- while the Keystones have five which includes a pair in Washington. It certainly seems safe to say the Gothams are going back to the World Championship Series, ending a string of 6 awful seasons that began with a complete tear-down of a championship club in 1936. Only veteran first baseman Bud Jameson and manager Ed Ziehl remain from the team that won 4 pennants in a six year span culminating in the 1935 WCS win over Cleveland. "It's been a long time coming," said Jameson, "but contrary to what BNN says we are not done the job yet." Jameson was referring to a Baseball News Network story that credited the Gothams with winning the Federal Association pennant despite the fact that Boston and Philadelphia, while realistically left with little chance, are still not officially eliminated. Even Gothams skipper Ziehl got caught up in the euphoria after Leon Drake's 10th inning double gave the Gothams a walk-off 3-2 win over Detroit yesterday. After being told by BNN they had clinched Ziehl talked about winning "the division and that's all that matters." He was sheepish after being corrected by Jameson and told they still needed one more win. "I hope I didn't jinx us," said a chagrinned Ziehl. "I should know better than to trust those BNN hacks." The BNN mix-up prompted Gothams infielder Roosevelt Brewer to quip "why don't we get BNN to tell the Japs the war is over and we clinched. So we can get our boys back home." Regardless, that one more win - or loss by both Boston and Philadelphia - seems a mere formality as the city is already abuzz with talk of the first all New York or "Subway Series" since 1926 when the Stars, heavily favoured at the time, won their third straight WCS title by downing the Gothams in 5 games. Most expect the series to be much closer this time around.  "We may be guaranteed a tie or something, but we'll do no celebrating until there are no other teams left that can win the 1942 Fed pennant. We're not looking ahead to the Stars or anything else. We need to focus on getting that last win. And I'm sure Bud is in there making sure his teammates are looking at it the same way." The thought process of a 15 year manager who has seen the heights of a championship and the depths of a half decade telling people to be patient. Now with patience seeming to be rewarded, he can wait one or more days. Finally, the promise of Messer, Dalton, Monier, Casstevens, Brewer and Bowman is arriving at the station. As long as the train doesn't derail in the next week, they'll be riding those subway cars to northern Manhattan to face their inter-borough rivals. The last time these teams met, you could walk across the street to get from park to park. Now both teams have newer homes and will play each other for real at their new grounds for the first time. Maybe Manager Ziehl can't, or won't, look ahead just yet, but long suffering Gothams fans can be forgiven for their anticipation. GOTHAMS NOTES: The Gothams have recorded their lowest team ERA (now at 3.01) since the dead ball days of 1918.... What a run for Ed Bowman; three consecutive shutouts and four in his last five starts. 4-1 in September with a 0.83 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 7 walks, and 28 strikeouts. Bowman by month: GS, W-L, ERA Bowman by month Code:
GS, W-L, ERA April - 2, 0-1, 9.75 May -- 6, 6-0, 1.90 June - 6, 3-3, 3.68 July - 8, 4-3, 2.07 Aug - 6, 5-0, 1.73 Sept - 5, 4-1, 0.83
WASPS IMPROVE TO 2-0 There was plenty of optimism last month on the west coast where the Washington Wasps held the first half of their training camp, concluding that portion with a win over the Army West All-Stars. The feeling that this might just be the first winning season for the club that joined the AFA in 1937 has done nothing but grow in the minds of Wasps fans after their heroes won for the second time in as many weeks. The Wasps, who went a franchise best 5-5-1 in 1940 but slipped to 4-7 last year, followed up an opening week win in Cleveland with a 21-7 victory at Columbia Stadium over the visiting Philadelphia Frigates. Back Mike Sadowski is making the most of his opportunity to be the main ball carrier, running for 123 yards and a pair of touchdowns against the Frigates after also topping the century mark last week in Cleveland. Sadowksi, after seeing little action as a backup behind Bernard Dishmon the past three years, has asserted himself as a premier AFA rusher after Dishmon left for the Air Corps. Quarterback Jeff Proos, while still prone to throwing interceptions- he was picked off twice on Sunday- has been having more success both throwing and running with the ball which gives Washington a second threat on offense. The Frigates are hardly a title contender and Washington's first real test will not come until their fourth game of the season when they host the Chicago Wildcats, but there is plenty of reason to be optimistic in the nation's capital this season. Bob Holt realized it won't always be as easy as it was in the opening week. The first overall draft pick of the St Louis Ramblers ran for a league record 254 yards against Philadelphia in his debut but he and his mates found the Boston Americans to be a much tougher challenge. Holt still had a solid day, carrying the ball 14 times for 64 yards and a touchdown while also completing 3 passes for an additional 41 yards but it was not enough as the Ramblers came out on the short-end of a 21-6 score. Boston was led by the rushing of Steve Kelly, who gained 84 yards from scrimmage and scored two touchdowns while two-sport star quarterback Del Thomas threw for 94 yards and a touchdown just 2 days after pitching 8 innings for the AAA Oakland Grays in San Francisco. Thomas said he got off the train at 8am and went straight to the stadium to prepare for the Ramblers. The Grays season is over so Thomas, barring a call-up by the Federal Association's St Louis Pioneers for the final week of the season, should be able to focus entirely on football. The final game of the weekend saw the Cleveland Finches get in the win column with a 21-0 shutout of Pittsburgh. The Finches, who struggled early at home last week against Washington, had no such slow start this time around, scoring a pair of first quarter touchdowns - each set up by an interception thrown by Paladins back Don Powelson. Code:
AFA STANDINGS EASTERN W L T PCT Washington 2 0 0 1.000 Boston 1 0 0 1.000 Brooklyn 0 0 0 .000 New York 0 0 0 .000 Philadelphia 0 2 0 .000 WESTERN W L T PCT St Louis 1 1 0 .500 Cleveland 1 1 0 .500 Pittsburgh 0 1 0 .000 Chicago 0 0 0 .000 Detroit 0 0 0 .000 Sunday September 20 Cleveland 21 Pittsburgh 0 Boston 21 St Louis 6 Washington 21 Philadelphia 7 Sunday September 27 Brooklyn at Philadelphia Chicago at Detroit New York at Boston Washington at Pittsburgh EASTERN SOLDIERS RALLY TO BEAT GRID KINGS The Eastern Army All-Stars, perhaps as powerful a football team as has ever been built, showed last night they had fight as well as might when they came from behind to beat the Brooklyn Kings 13-7 before a crowd of 45,000 in Baltimore. The army players - privates, corporals, lieutenants and captains- actually were outplayed and outfought the first two periods but instead of weakening they came back at the half stronger than ever and it was the Kings that remained on the defensive for the rest of the evening. The Army eleven trailed 7-0 at the break but the momentum changed on a 29 yard pass from Bobby Green to Ron Hutchings that set up the first score for the soldiers. Three plays after the big pass former Chicago Wildcat Leon Stone bulled his way into the endzone from 4 yards out and less than 6 minutes later Don Larson, who spent the past two seasons with the Detroit Maroons ploughed in with the go-ahead score. It was a close contest and the statistics bore that out. Each team had 11 first downs. Army gained 138 yards rushing. Brooklyn 145. Army had 115 yards passing while the Kings threw for 85. Army tried 15 passes and completed seven while Brooklyn was successful on six of it's 19 throwing attempts. As for total yardage it was Army with the lead 253-210 and of course the soldiers also led where it counted most on the scoreboard. Next up for the Kings will be their season opener when they play the Frigates in Philadelphia on Sunday. That was one of just two games involve conference rivals with the other one occurring in the South Atlantic Conference where Charleston Tech blanked Central Carolina 23-0. A number of military teams were in action but with decidedly mixed results. Daniel Boone College pounded Fort Riley 69-0 while Wisconsin State thumped Camp Grant 41-0. On the other side of the ledger there was an impressive win by Jacksonville Naval Air Station as they surprised Western Florida 20-17. The Naval Air Station will get a real test next week when they meet Noble Jones College. GRID NOTES
Mile High State 17 Miners College 6 Lubbock State 20 Blackland Field 0 Coastal State 34 Charleston(IL) 6 Capshaw State(IA) 30 Lambert College 17 Noble Jones College 31 Central Kentucky 20 Abilene Baptist 40 Edward Howard 0 Western Iowa 34 Perry State College 0 Iowa Pre-Flight 33 Lawrence State 7 Jacksonville Naval Air Station 20 Western Florida 17 Kansas Bible College 17 Eastern Kansas 17 Bayou State 34 Central Louisiana 3 Daniel Boone College 69 Fort Riley 0 South Valley State 20 Kirtland Field 6 Las Cruces State 37 El Paso Methodist 7 Charleston Tech 23 Central Carolina 0 Petersburg 14 Camp Pickett 7 Golden Gate University Pre-Flight 26 College of San Diego 9 Travis College 37 Corpus Christi NAS 0 Chesapeake State 13 Salisbury Christian 12 Richmond State 16 Hampden-Sydney 7 Wisconsin State 41 Camp Grant 0 The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 9/20/1942
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Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles Last edited by Tiger Fan; 06-08-2022 at 11:29 PM. |
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06-09-2022, 12:24 PM
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#445 |
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 677
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September 28, 1942 Regular Season ends
SEPTEMBER 28, 1942 50TH ANNIVERSARY IS A SUBWAY SERIES For just the second time ever, and first since 1926, the World Championship Series will be an all-New York affair as the New York Gothams officially clinched the Federal Association pennant with a win over Chicago last Monday. The Gothams will meet the New York Stars, who it only feels like they had clinched the Continental crown by the all-star break, in the 50th edition of the World Championship Series. The Stars have previously played in 9 World Championship Series and have only lost one. That came back in 1903 when Boston swept them in 4 games. Since then New York has prevailed in 1905 and 1906 -both over Boston, then in three straight from 1924-26 including the final one of those three over the Gothams in 5 games, before adding wins over the Keystones in 1932 and Miners in 1939 when Bill Barrett had his incredible breakout performance as a 19 year old. Barrett went 9-for-18 with 9 rbi's as the Stars hammered Pittsburgh in four straight. The Gothams won the very first WCS back in 1893 and claimed two more in the following three years before going pennantless until 1926. They lost to the Stars in 5 that year and won Federal pennants again in 1930,31,34 and 35 but their lone WCS win came in '35 in a rematch against Cleveland after losing game seven to the Foresters the previous year. That 1935 pennant was followed by the much-documented sell-off and complete rebuild that just now is paying dividends for the Gothams. *** GOTHAMS PITCHING PEAKING AT RIGHT TIME **** There are a lot of similarities between the two clubs starting with the pair of veteran first baseman in the Stars 44 year old Dave Trowbridge (.280,17,79) who makes the Gothams 38 year old Bud Jameson (.257,6,48) look like a spring chicken in comparison. Then you have the superstar outfielders. Now it is clear that the Stars Bill Barrett (.345,27,91) might be in a world of his own there is also no doubt that Walt Messer (.297,27,88) is living up to the reputation he earned in becoming a two-time Adwell Award winner in high school. Messer has had an awful September - hitting just .181 with 2 homers - but now has a chance to redeem himself in the WCS. Each club also has a talented young shortstop in Mule Monier (.295,6,49) of the Gothams and the Stars Joe Angevine (.294,1,75). The supporting cast has some impressive pieces on both sides with perhaps an edge given to the Stars group of Chink Stickels (.248,4,65), Ray Cochran (.265,6,67) and youngster Andy Gross (.326,2,23) who has wrestled the second base job away from Mel Hancock Jr. Not having Lew Seals (2.51,16,73), who left for the Coast Guard last month, might hurt. While many talk of the Stars offensive advantage the Gothams group of Billy Dalton (.252,18,70), Leon Drake (.265,6,49) and Hub Parks (.268,3,57) is not bad at all. Then there is Roosevelt Brewer (.282,0,50), who has only played against lefty's of late but that means he may not see much action in the Series against the Stars plethora of righthanded pitching. The difference may come down to pitching and in that area it seems the New York Gothams are peaking at just the right time. Yes, Harry Carter (16-14, 3.17) has struggled of late and the Stars big three of Billy Riley (21-5, 2.18), Chuck Cole (18-14, 2.29) and Vern Hubbard (17-5, 2.75) will be tough to beat but with Ed Bowman (23-8, 2.36) and a pair of ex-Cincinnati Cannons who are peaking at the right time in Rusty Petrick (20-12, 2.98) and Gus Goulding (16-15, 3.48), the Gothams staff will be tough to hit. Just ask the Federal Association which in September witnessed those three Gothams hurlers post a combined 13-2 record with a 1.09 era. On the flip side a number of the key Gothams bats have been ice cold of late with Mule Monier (.226), Walt Messer (.181) and Bud Jameson (.150) all struggling at the plate in September although Billy Dalton (.338, 7 homers) has been red-hot this month as has Leon Drake (.308). In contrast the Stars key hitters are hot of late - Barrett batted .349 in September with 5 homers, Trowbridge hit .354. However, Billy Riley is coming off a rough outing in Montreal and has allowed 5 or more earned runs in two of his last four starts. It promises to be an interesting series with plenty of side stories like Barrett vs Messer and the dueling pitching staffs. Gothams fans have endured 6 terrible years of losing and in many ways this feels like they might just be a team of destiny this season. But then you have Bill Barrett and Joe Angevine who have already confirmed they are enlisting and the final game of this series will be their last in a Stars uniform for quite some time so there are sentimental reasons to like both clubs. These two teams will be drastically changed next year, as will the entire league with another wave of players expected to enlist in the next couple of months. New York takes center stage for the Golden Anniversary of the WCS but all of FABL should enjoy the show. We may not see another one quite like it for several years.  BARRELL PUTS EXCLAIMATION MARK ON TRIPLE CROWN SEASON WITH NO-HITTER Deuce Barrell cemented his claim on the Continental Association Allen Award by pitching a no-hitter in his final outing of the season. The victory, Barrell's 24th against just 5 losses on the year, lowered his FABL leading ERA to 1.76 to go along with a CA best 163 strikeouts making him the first Continental hurler to win the pitching triple crown since Charlie Sis did it for Toronto in 1919. Barrell's no-hitter was the first of the season after teammate Roger Perry was the only one to throw one last year. Prior to Barrell's big game Wednesday the last Continental Association no-hitter was tossed by Doc Newell of Philadelphia, who just happened to be on the losing end of the no-hitter this time around. Newell knows all about no-hitters as he is the only pitcher in FABL history to have thrown three of them. Both Barrell and Ed Bowman (23-8, 2.36) of the Gothams, who led the Federal Association in wins and ERA but finished third in strikeouts, appear locks to win Allen Awards and in Bowman's case it will go along with what is certainly to be the Chicago Sportswriters Association nod as top rookie. As for Barrell, he seems assured to join his uncle Tom Barrell, who won 3 of them, as the only relatives to each win an Allen Award.  And all of this for good reason. They'll see the Gothams strong rotation of rookie, and likely Allen Award winner, Big Ed Bowman, Rusty Petrick and Gus Goulding. A powerful group, all standing at least 6 feet tall. They'll cheer on their young stars they've watched come up through the system, slugging LF Walt Messer, Billy Dalton, Mule Monier and Roosevelt Brewer. Five rookies will be on the post season roster, Bowman, 1B Bill Murnane, 3B Lee Miller, CF Billy Boone and RP Harry Frenette. This doesn't appear to be a team that's going away, unless that is to Europe or the Far East. It's that prospect of the team being disbursed to various military camps that brings a sense of urgency. "Wait 'til next year" could mean one or several years. Still, the ol' Red head must try to look at the series through unbiased glasses. The Gothams are young and exciting. But we've just watched the Star run rough shod over the CA. Their rotation is every bit as formidable and their line up deeper and features the powerful Bill Barrett. While my heart would like to see the Gothams prevail in their return to championship play, I'm going to have to go with the Stars in 6. WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES PREDICTIONS Here is what columnists around the league are expecting the outcome of the 50th annual WCS to be: BRETT BING: Toronto Mail & Empire -Gothams in six, Stars have not played a meaningful game in more than a month. JOHN BRINKER: New York Daily Mirror -Stars in six. Bill Barrett is just far too good, but no surprise if Bowman gets both wins for the Gothams. FREDDIE FARHAT: Detroit World -I'm going Stars in 5 games. ARCHIE IRWIN: Chicago Daily News -My prediction is the Stars in 5. The Stars rotation and lineup are far too talented and deep for the young Gothams. Sure, Walt Messer can try to keep up with Bill Barrett, but beyond Billy Dalton and Mule Monier there isn't enough firepower. The Gothams pitching will be tough to best, but you can only go through the Stars so many times before they start putting runs on the board JIGGS MCGEE: This Week in Figment Baseball -This should be a fun series. I am really looking forward to Bill Barrett's second trip to the WCS - remember he won the MVP award in his first visit 3 years ago. It will be interesting to compare him to the Gothams star young outfielder Walt Messer. Messer had a decent week but still hit just .181 in September so that is cause for concern. The two clubs don't just have a young superstar outfielder in common. How about the old men manning first base in the Gothams Bud Jameson and ageless wonder Dave Trowbridge. The Stars offense is deeper and their pitching is good but the Gothams trio of Bowman, Petrick and Goulding are 13-2 with a combined era of about 1.00 in September so they are peaking at the right time. I just have a feeling the Gothams are a team of destiny and while it will be a battle, I am seeing the Gothams win it in 7 close games. ARTIE MORTIMER: New York Daily Mirror -I'm thinking the Gothams win this one. Hot, hot pitching vs. a cooled off team with just decent bats and pitching that has fallen off the last 2 weeks. PERCY SUTHERLAND: Chicago Herald-Examiner -You can have as much pitching as you'd like, but you need to score runs to win games. That's why I'm going with the deeper lineup of the Stars. I think the Gothams win one of the Bowman starts. I'm expecting he'll get two but the Stars win the Series in 6 games. WILLIAM 'RED' WEDGE: New York World-Telegram -While my heart would like to see the Gothams prevail in their return to championship play, I'm going to have to go with the Stars in 6. TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN As a disappointing season closes in Toronto this writer has decided to evaluate the team with report cards. The Wolves will be given marks the same way students are graded at the end of the year. STAFF: GM- Jim Burns- D- : did not react fast enough to obvious problem in the hitting department, the change should have been made much earlier in the season. Hank Giordano should have been in Toronto in May not August. An attendance drop of almost 70K shows the fan's displeasure. MGR- Charlie Reed- C : One wonders if Charlie pushed the right buttons often enough at critical times in the game. The Wolves + run differential should not yield a sub .500 team but a 21-30 record in close games shows why the team finished in the second division. BC- Dick Dennis- C- : his responsibility is give the manager all the options, all the time, did he fail in this aspect of the job? Rumours are that Dennis was blaming hitters for their slumps rather than helping them through their woes. Dennis' stock has fallen greatly with upper management. PC- Art Nichols- A : His guidance of the staff gave the faithful at least something to cheer for in Toronto. HC- Jim Sigsworth- INC : Seemed to turn the slumping players around in the last third of the season, the jury is still out 1943 will be the true test. POSITION PLAYERS: C- Clarence Howerton- B- : Handled the pitching staff well but offensive output has to improve for this team leader. 1B- Walt Pack- B- : A down year at the plate, only player with double digit HR, led the team in RBI (69). 2B- Mike Rollinson - B+ : Broken leg finished his rookie year in August. He shows he should penciled into the lineup every day, looking for defensive improvement in the future. 3B- Ockie Holliday- C+ : Struggles at the plate were well documented all season, a late season surge brought him to almost acceptable hitting stats couple with superior defense. Hoping 1942 was a sophomore jinx. SS- Charlie Artuso- B : Need more from Charlie out of the two-hole, a few less fielding miscues would be an asset. UTIL- Hal Wood- C : Good hit, but a liability with the glove anywhere but 2B. LF- Larry Vestal- C- : Have injuries finally caught up to this aging vet? .194/.285/.333 is not a starter's stat line. Look for Vestal to slide to the 4th OF role next season. OF- Hank Giordano- INC : In 44 GS (..315/.362/.436) seems the position is his to lose next spring. CF- Tom Frederick- A : only starter with an OPS+ over league average, along with above average CF defense. RF- Reginald Westfall- C+ :Hoping injuries were what derailed a subpar season. PITCHING: SPs- George Garrison - A : One of the two anchors of the rotation, in other seasons would be an Allen Award candidate but 1942 is full of tough competition in the CA. Joe Hancock - A : The other anchor, hard luck to finish with a losing record (15-16). only received 3.2 runs/game of support. Chuck Wirtz - A- : A pleasant surprise who had a solid season with 30 starts. Juan Pomales - B- : Flashes of brilliance then disappointment. Nichols has to work on his control issues, can be a solid 3 or 4 if he can find the strike zone..... Bob Walls - B : Did all was ask of him as a 5, 8-15 was not his fault, his lack of run support 3.1 runs/game was almost criminal. BULLPEN: Overall the bullpen was adequate but nothing to write home about. FRITZ CONFIRMS HE IS JOINING NAVY After absorbing a 6-2 loss in Detroit on Friday, Milt Fritz informed reporters that may have been his final big league game. "That's my swan song," said Fritz, who added "I wish I had a better outcome for what could be my last game." When questioned about his remarks Fritz said, no, he was not retiring but he has enlisted in the Navy and will be off to his training within the next couple of months. "At my age (32) and the way this year has gone I have to face the fact that I might not be able to return to this level when the war is done," admitted Fritz who was obviously disappointed with his 4-9 season. "I have had a lot of good times in this sport, and the game has given me so much I can't regret a thing. But I also realize there is a much more important fight and I need to do my part." If this is indeed the end Fritz finishes his big league career with a record of 190-158. He won 19 games as a 19 year old rookie for the Chicago Chiefs despite being an unheralded 12th round draft pick just a year earlier. His best season was 1931 when at the age of 21 he led the Continental Association in wins with 23 and won an Allan Award as a member of the Brooklyn Kings. Fritz, who also had stops in Montreal, with the New York Gothams and Chicago Cougars before returning to finish his season out with the Chiefs this summer, was an All-Star in 1937 and won a WCS while with the Gothams in 1935, although he did not pitch in the series that fall.
WASPS STING PALADINS TO IMPROVE TO 3-0 The Washington Wasps continue their strong start to the AFA season with a 38-7 victory on the road in Pittsburgh, improving their record to 3-0. Quarterback Jeff Proos threw for 106 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Washington attack which capitalized on 4 first half turnovers by Pittsburgh to build a 31-0 lead at the break. Washington is just 1 win shy of equaling it's victory total for all of last season but the Wasps will face a tough test next week when the Chicago Wildcats arrive at Columbia Stadium. The Wildcats opened their season yesterday with a 26-7 win over their biggest rivals - the Detroit Maroons. Ira Hartley ran for a pair of second half touchdowns to break open what was a tight 7-7 game at the half. Chicago quarterback Gus Brown had a strong outing, throwing for 174 yards including several long tosses to Dutch Hoffman and Freeman Stahlberg. Receiving star Stan Vaught still got his catches for Detroit - 11 in all - but none went for more than 12 yards and the AFA scoring leader last season was kept out of the endzone in the opener. The Boston Americans are 2-0 after another solid game from Steve Kelly, who was dominant on both sides of the ball in a 41-0 thrashing of the New York Football Stars. Kelly ran for 25 yards, had 5 catches for 84 yards including 3 touchdown grabs. On defense he recorded 3 tackles and had an interception. The Stars were completely overwhelmed in all facets of the game and while it is just one contest, early indications are this may be a tough year for the defending Eastern Division champs. In the only other contest Bulldog Stein ran for 74 yards and a touchdown, while also returned an interception for another score to help Brooklyn past winless Philadelphia 28-7. Just for good measure Stein also had 86 yards returning kicks and handled the kicking duties for the Kings, going 4-for-4 on extra point attempts. Code:
AFA STANDINGS EASTERN W L T PCT Washington 3 0 0 1.000 Boston 2 0 0 1.000 Brooklyn 1 0 0 1.000 New York 0 1 0 .000 Philadelphia 0 3 0 .000 WESTERN W L T PCT Chicago 1 0 0 1.000 St Louis 1 1 0 .500 Cleveland 1 1 0 .500 Detroit 0 1 0 .000 Pittsburgh 0 2 0 .000 Sunday September 27 Brooklyn 28 Philadelphia 7 Chicago 26 Detroit 7 Boston 41 New York 0 Washington 38 Pittsburgh 7 SUNDAY OCTOBER 4 New York at St Louis Chicago at Washington Detroit at Cleveland Boston at Philadelphia COLLEGE FOOTBALL SCOREBOARD Alabama Baptist 51 Marquis College 0 Mobile Maritime 14 Camp Davis 3 Fremont State 20 Colorado Springs Field 10 Noble Jones College 35 Jacksonville Naval Air Station 7 Mile High State 23 Iowa A&M 0 Central Kentucky 20 St. Francis (OH) 3 St. Pancras 17 Potsdam 17 CC Los Angeles 21 Amarillo Methodist 14 Valley State 24 El Paso Methodist 0 Arkansas A&T 38 Topeka State 13 Custer College 21 Utah A&M 0 Northern California 7 Golden Gate University 0 Coastal State 17 Alexandria 3 Empire State 30 Ogdensburg 7 Boulder State 52 Miners College 0 Wyoming A&I 14 Colorado Poly 14 Henry Hudson 24 Fort Monmouth 12 Brunswick 27 Eastern Virginia 10 St. Patrick's 16 Grafton 7 Carolina Poly 47 Central Carolina 7 Strub College 13 Garth College 0 Western Florida 36 Northern Pennsylvania 9 Brooklyn State 27 Whitney College 3 Hagerstown State (MD) 23 Potomac College 7 St. Matthew's College 13 Conwell College 3 Georgia Pre-Flight 24 Pierpont 3 Georgia Baptist 28 Opelika State 0 Lubbock State 34 Abilene Baptist 0 Lincoln 61 South Dakota Tech 0 Indiana A&M 33 Michigan Lutheran 0 Western Iowa 17 College of Omaha 0 Iowa Pre-Flight 17 St. Magnus 6 Bayou State 17 Darnell State 14 Wisconsin Catholic 23 Lawrence State 10 Constitution State 16 Maryland State 13 Detroit City College 26 Great Lakes Navy 17 Minnesota Tech 21 Pittsburgh State 0 Mississippi A&M 27 Glasgow 0 Northern Mississippi 41 Alliance (TN) 0 Daniel Boone College 55 Laclede 10 South Valley State 10 Flagstaff State 3 North Carolina Tech 17 Cowpens State 10 North Carolina Pre-Flight 24 Dickson 0 Charleston Tech 14 Petersburg 0 Wisconsin State 14 St. Blane 10 Central Ohio 41 Fort Knox 3 Eastern Oklahoma 34 Oklahoma City State 0 Lane State 10 Idaho A&M 0 Sadler 24 Lakehurst NAS 7 Red River State 38 Corpus Christi NAS 0 Golden Gate University Pre-Flight 17 Portland Tech 14 San Francisco Tech 27 Tempe College 0 Sunnyvale 7 Provo Tech 3 Texas Gulf Coast 28 McKinney State 0 Davenport Catholic 17 Lambert College 6 Cumberland 14 Columbia Military Academy 0 Travis College 45 Eastern Kansas 0 College of Waco 24 Canyon A&M 0 Coastal California 14 Baton Rouge State 7 Idaho Marines 17 Cache Valley 17 Bluegrass State 31 Cookeville State 7 Hampden-Sydney 20 Eastern State 17 Bulein 14 Chesapeake State 7 Rainier College 34 College of San Diego 0 Perry State College 13 Cape Girardeau College 0 Redwood 38 Spokane State 0 Huntington State 16 Lexington State 0 Annapolis Maritime 15 Richmond State 13 Payne State 48 Waco Field 0 The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 9/27/1942
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Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal
The Scripture of Sports Last edited by Jiggs McGee; 06-09-2022 at 08:27 PM. |
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06-10-2022, 10:07 AM
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October 2, 1942 WCS Games 1 and 2
OCTOBER 2, 1942 STARS, GOTHAMS SPLIT FIRST TWO GAMES OF SERIES The New York Gothams accomplished what a visiting team always hopes to do at the start of a playoff series: earn a split on the road. However, as exciting as it was for the young Gothams team to get to the Stars bullpen with a 2-1 victory in 11 innings in the Series opener, one can't help but feel the young Federal Association side is reeling after Rusty Petrick was battered for 6 runs in less than two innings work and the New York Stars waltzed to a series tying 7-2 victory in Game Two. The Gothams, and more specifically pitcher Gus Goulding, now face a lot of pressure as the series shifts to Queens for the next three contests at Gothams Stadium. With Ed Bowman on the hill in the opener the Gothams looked like a team that felt it could, and would win. It was a much different feeling right from the opening inning of the second game. In fact, one could easily see that the second pitch from Petrick - one that Stars lead-off man Chink Stickels ripped for a triple - took the air right out of the Gothams sails, deflating much of the positive emotion that they acquired less than 24 hours earlier when Bud Jameson squeezed his glove to record the game-ending putout in the 11th inning of the opener. Petrick was pulled with the Gothams trailing in the second game 6-1, and it happened so early in the contest it was before many of the capacity crowd of over 47,000 had even had a chance to settle in to their seats at Dyckman Stadium. At the point the Gothams had that 'deer in the headlights' look of a defeated bunch. Now it is up to Gus Goulding to try his luck in Game Three against the powerful Stars bats. Game Three may well decide the series. Ed Bowman is quite possibly good enough to win 3 games on his own, but the series takes four victories and it is highly unlikely Rusty Petrick gets another chance to win one. It is possible the Gothams buck conventional think and trot Bowman back out there on the hill for tomorrow's third game. If they do just that and Bowman, who says he is ready whenever called upon, is game to perhaps try and win 4 games all by himself. Regardless, the third game is crucial to the Gothams. A Gothams win, especially with Goulding pitching and they have a chance to go up 3-1 with Bowman on the hill for the fourth contest. A Stars win and Bowman might well tie the series back up at two but the mood surrounding the Federal Association nine is still likely one of defeat as the feeling could well be that, aside from Bowman, the Gothams have no answer for the Stars bats. GAME ONE: GOTHAMS TAKE GAME ONE IN EXTRAS Walt Messer and Ed Bowman led the way as the New York Gothams upset the New York Stars 2-1 in an 11 inning marathon to open the World Championship Series. Messer had two hits and drove in both Gothams run including the game winner with a sacrifice fly in the top of the 11th after Pete Casstevens had singled and, with the help of an Andy Gross error, moved to third base. The Gothams had a chance to re-tie the game in the bottom half of the 11th but left Gary Carmichael stranded on third base. The story of the series opener was Ed Bowman as the Gothams rookie looked poised well beyond his years in going 9 and a third innings while allowing just 1 run on 6 hits. The Gothams bullpen, considered their weak spot, at least in comparison to the Stars pitching depth, also was the beneficiary of a fine effort by Charlie Sutton in relief of the rookie Bowman. Chuck Cole was perhaps a surprise starter for the Stars over Billy Riley in the series opener. Cole pitched well but his control was an issue and he tied a record for walks in a game with 8. That mark has been reached often, 8 times in fact, with the most recent one before Cole being Montreal's Babe Freese who walked 8 in the 1919 series. The game also marked a rare loss for Stars reliever George Hampton, who took over from Cole in the 10th and allowed the winning run. During the season Hampton was 10-3 with 16 saves - tied for the CA lead in that category. The Stars had the first real threat of the game when Dave Trowbridge and Joe Angevine hit back to back singles with one out in the bottom of the second inning but the youngster Bowman worked his way out of trouble by inducing a fly to short centerfield from Gary Carmichael and then fanning Stars catcher Buster Farrar to strand Angevine on third. It was the Gothams who plated the first run of the series when Mule Monier led off the third inning with a walk, one of the WCS record-tying 8 free passes issued by Cole. Bill Freeman grounded out but moved Monier to second and the Gothams shortstop would come around to score on a sharp single off the bat of Walt Messer. It could have been more as Messer, who moved to second on the failed attempt to nab Monier at the plate, was thrown out at home thanks to a bullet toss by Bill Barrett after Billy Dalton had singled to right field. Barrett's throw kept the Gothams lead at 1-0. The Gothams had another chance in the top of the fifth when Messer singled for his second hit of the game, moving Ed Bowman, who had walked to lead-off the frame, to third but Cole got out of the jam with an inning ending force out from Dalton. The Stars tied the game in the home half of the fifth when Carmichael singled - the first hit off of Bowman since the second inning- and quickly scored when the light hitting catcher Farrar followed up with a double. The game would stay knotted at one despite opportunities for both sides. The Gothams big chance came in the 6th after Leon Drake led off with a double, but with runners on the corners and one out Cole managed to avert disaster, and did so once again in the 7th by striking out pinch-hitter Lee Miller with two on. The Stars best opportunity came in the bottom of the 8th when a Bud Jameson error allowed lead-off man Chink Stickels to reach base. Andy Gross sacrificed Stickels into scoring position and Barrett worked Bowman for a two-out walk but the rookie fanned Dave Trowbridge to get out of the inning. Bowman finally saw his day end in the bottom of the 10th when after striking out Stickels to start the inning, he allowed Andy Gross to work him for a walk. A Chubby Hall single put runners on the corners with just one away but Charlie Sutton took over and retired Barrett and Trowbridge to keep the game tied and set the stage for Walt Messer's game winning sacrifice fly.  GAME TWO: STARS SQUARE SERIES WITH 7-2 ROMP The New York Gothams entered the series feeling pretty good about their starting pitching as the trio of Ed Bowman, Rusty Petrick and Gus Goulding had been outstanding down the stretch in the Federal Association race. Bowman was up to the task in the opener but the Gothams are likely regretting the decision to give the ball to Petrick over Harry Carter in the second game. In the end, both would pitch as Petrick was pounded for 6 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks which sent him to the showers before the second inning was completed. The Gothams pitching woes overshadowed a very solid game from Stars starter and 21 game winner this season Billy Riley, who scattered 9 Gothams hits in going the distance for a 7-2 victory. It was clear early that this was not going to be Petrick's, or the Gothams day. After Riley set the Gothams down in order in the top of the first the Stars bats went to work. Petrick's second offering of the contest was ripped for a line drive triple from lead-off man Chink Stickels and 3 pitches later the Stars had the lead when Andy Gross' ground out allowed Stickels to score. Petrick got Chubby Hall to pop out to centerfield for the second out but he then walked Bill Barrett to prolong the inning. The oldest player in FABL, 44 year old Dave Trowbridge slashed the second triple of the inning of Petrick to plate Barrett and then 'Father Time' could practically walk home when Joe Angevine followed with a double on a full-count pitch that Petrick let get too much of the plate. The carnage finally ended at 3-0 when Gary Carmichael grounded out to end the inning. However Petrick's problems were far from over. The Gothams created some hope in the visitors dugout when they scored a run of their own in the second inning, courtesy of three singles from Leon Drake, Bud Jameson and Joe Green but the excitement was short-lived as Petrick allowed a lead-off single to Buster Farrar and, following a sacrifice bunt from Stars hurler Billy Riley, Chink Stickels ripped his second extra base hit off of Petrick. This one was a double to plate Farrar. Petrick settled down a bit a fanned Andy Gross for the second out of the inning but then walked the bases full before Dave Trowbridge dealt the death blow, a double to score two more and make it 6-1. That ended Petrick's day and Harry Carter, who went 16-14 on the year and often topped the Gothams rotation, took over. Carter was terrific and likely earned the nod over Petrick to start the fifth game, after allowing just 1 run on 3 hits over 5 and a third innings before being lifted for a pinch-hitter in the 8th. The Gothams would get a second run off of Riley in the 8th inning when pinch-hitter Roosevelt Brewer singled and came around to score after base hits from Lee Miller and Billy Dalton but the outcome was never in doubt after Petrick was chased from the contest. The series now shifts to Gothams Stadium and there is plenty of pressure on Gus Goulding, who like Petrick has had his good moments and bad this season, to try and get a win at home and reignite the confidence of the young Gothams club.  GOTHAMS SERVE CROW TO REGULAR SEASON PROGNOSTICATORS The New York Gothams got the last laugh on the so-called experts in the baseball media. The Gothams Federal Association pennant was not forecast by any of the 7 publications that went on record last April. In fact, only BNN in it's preseason predictions had the Gothams even making the first division as the league news service called for a fourth place finish for the New Yorkers. Arthur Mortimer of the New York Mirror might have got it right with his call of the Stars to take the Continental but he was way off in the Fed in dooming the Gothams to a last place finish. Joining Mortimer on the correct call for the CA crown was Percy Sutherland of the Chicago Herald-Examiner, Brett Bell of the Toronto Mail & Empire and BNN. As for Jiggs McGee of this publication, well it was a year that Jiggs - just like the Detroit Dynamos that he pegged for first in the Fed - would rather forget. Jiggs had it this way: Code:
JIGGS MCGEE PRESEASON PREDICTIONS FEDERAL PRED ACTUAL FINISH Detroit 1 Gothams 91-63 Pittsburgh 2 Boston 88-66 Boston 3 Pittsburgh 87-67 Chiefs 4 Keystones 85-69 Keystones 5 Chiefs 74-80 Gothams 6 St Louis 69-85 St Louis 7 Detroit 62-92 Washington 8 Washington 60-94 CONT. PRED ACTUAL FINISH Cougars 1 Stars 103-51 Stars 2 Cougars 84-70 Toronto 3 Cincinnati 82-72 Cincinnati 4 Montreal 76-78 Sailors 5 Toronto 75-79 Brooklyn 6 Sailors 74-80 Montreal 7 Brooklyn 72-82 Cleveland 8 Cleveland 50-104 CATCHER BIRD JOINS NAVY Now that we have scared the daylights out of Chiefs fans, we should clarify the catcher turned sailor is not -at least not at the moment- Chicago Chiefs seven time all-star Tom Bird but rather his 21 year old brother Roy. Roy is also a catcher, but in the minor leagues with the New York Gothams. The Bird boys, who hail from Chino, California may have 13 year separating them but are still quite close. Roy broke the news to his brother and the media yesterday while in Chicago preparing to watch Tom compete in the annual Chiefs-Cougars Chicago showdown which gets underway this weekend. The younger Bird split his first season in the Gothams organization between Class C and B, batting .232 in 95 games. New York signed him as a minor league free agent after Bird, a 1939 18th round pick of Detroit, was cut loose by the Dynamos after three seasons at the Class C level. As for Tom, who hit .310 with 15 homers for the Chiefs this season, he was non-committal when asked if he planned to join his brother in the service. "We will just have to wait and see on that," was Tom's only reply. TRADE TALK. NOW THAT IS SOMETHING NOT HEARD IN SOME TIME CHICAGO COUGARS HEAD LIST OF TEAMS DISCUSSING DEALS The war has seen plenty of players trading their baseball flannels for a different type of uniform but it has also brought trading in FABL to a standstill as teams have for the better part of a year been fearful to make any moves of significance. Perhaps that is changing as three FABL clubs have reportedly made it known they are in a shopping mode. The Chicago Cougars were the first team to announce they need a change. The Cougars have a lot of quality pieces already and with both Bill Barrett and Joe Angevine having confirmed they are joining the war effort, Chicago might just be the team to beat in the Continental Association next season. Of course no one knows who else may decide to enlist or get a call from the draft board so picking favourites for next season this early is only a challenge a fool would willingly undertake. The Cougars do not have many holes but they have identified third base as a primary need to fill. John Lawson did pick up his game in the second half but it is clear to all that the 39 year old's days as a premier hitter are very close to, if not already at their end. Billy Hunter could be the answer there but he is injured more often than not so the Cougars are looking for another option. Chicago says it is willing to part with one of it's biggest assets in catcher Harry Mead or top prospect Solly Skidmore. Second base is also something the Cougars have an abundance in with veteran Freddie Jones showing enough in a smaller sample to make the Cougars consider parting with second sacker Clark Car. The Cougars also provided a laundry list of the usual names that might be on the block but it is Car and either Mead or Skidmore that might convince another Federal Association squad to consider moving a top third baseman to Chicago. JIGGS THOUGHTS: One potential suitor might be the Washington Eagles. Mel Carrol could just be the type of player that would interest the Cougars and Skidmore would be a nice addition to Washington's young group but I think the Eagles would want a little more to part with Carrol a second time. Likewise Cleveland might consider moving 28 year old Hank Stratton for the right package of young talent in return. A long shot could be the Philadelphia Keystones who might part with Davey Robicheaux. The 25 year old was originally a third baseman but moved to the outfield because Hank Koblenz is locked in at third base. I am not sure there would be a fit for the Keystones and Cougars as Philly is likely quite happy with Chet McCormick as their catcher and I would rule Car out as well with Marshall Strickland doing a decent job holding second base duties until Billy Woytek returns from the war. *** DETROIT DYNAMOS *** The next team looking to shake things up is the Detroit Dynamos. The club is in shock after the complete collapse that was the 1942 season. Nothing as big as Red Johnson or Sal Pestilli - Dynamos brass says those two are staying - but the Dynamos need change and were quoted in the Detroit World as saying "Detroit is re-thinking its entire organization save for Red Johnson and probably Sal. Lots of needs based on this last season where OSA said we would suck and they were right. Really thought we'd have a window that would have been open longer than 4 years with the talent, but the pitching just kind of disappeared this year. I see a lot of our former farmhands in the pitching ranks doing quite well now. We went for the quick fix and ran into a hot Pittsburgh team (Chiefs in year 1 and Boston in year 4) and we didn't get the job done. So while we don't know who is going to get the call to go overseas, we will be open for business."JIGGS THOUGHTS: Detroit is in a tough spot. Ownership expects a winner and they came so close for a few years but could not quite get over the hump despite trading a lot of youth for veteran pieces they had hoped would get the job done. The problem now is after the season they just had Detroit is desperate, and the entire league knows it. That is not the best time to deal and the whole uncertainty surrounding enlistments/draftees may make it tough for Detroit to get much of substance done. The thing to look for here is, if Detroit makes a move, which direction will it be? Do they try to get a couple more key veterans to take another run at things or do they take a step back and retool with whatever quality prospects they can find? *** MONTREAL SAINTS *** Finally we have the Montreal Saints who are looking to move some veteran pieces. The Saints have had the top group of minor league prospects for a while now and even though the war made a dent in their collection, Montreal has a lot of talent on the way up. Pitchers Pat Weakley and Wally Reif deserve a shot soon. Same for for catcher Dixie Galloway, who had a brief taste of big league life this year, outfielder Ernie McCoy and infielder Eric Fiore. That means names like Ed Baker, Mike Jones and Bob Jennings are on the trade block.JIGGS THOUGHTS: The thing the Saints need to be careful of, besides the fact that younger players are more likely to get the call from Uncle Sam, is they don't part with a veteran would might still be a serviceable piece without getting a fair return. Montreal is under new management since most of these moves but in the past the Saints have let some solid talent leave too early. At times they almost feel like a Chicago Chiefs farm team with Jim Watson, Hank Barnett, Tom Bird and former Chief Cliff Moss all arriving at a fairly low cost considering the production those players delivered for Chiefs. Best advice for Montreal is perhaps to quite dealing with the Chiefs.
 A BRAVE FRONT IN ANOTHER WARTIME SERIES This could be the last World Championship Series for the duration but if the baseball biggies are worried on this score they are making no outward displays. Sam Belton, the big boss of the industry, is mugging for the cameramen as in pre- Pearl Harbor times and plenty of club magnates are whooping it up in New York this week. You'd never think there was a war on- if you don't think very hard. But this Gothams-Stars series is perhaps without parallel. You'd have to go back to 1918 to find a pale carbon of the broad background. That was the last series held in wartime. But even in those days the major associations didn't vote thousands from the receipts to the war effort, providing, of course the series goes a distance. Even then such items as the material out of which press buttons were made - minute items, but significant - were of no grave concern. But at this series the old, standard metal button, the magic talisman which entitles the wearer to free-load as long as he can stand it, is of cardboard and plastic. *** GOOD THING IT'S A SUBWAY SERIES *** One good thing about an all-New York championship is the travel nightmare that might have ensued with any other pairing has been avoided. The days of special baseball trains are no more. There are no "baseball writers' specials," those wild, rolling bars wherein the nights were long and happy and the mornings long and rich in hangovers. This season the traveling baseball writers were reduced to being humble beggars standing in line before the railroad ticket windows, eager to snatch up cancelled upper berths or willing to settle for for a St Louis to New York jaunt in a day coach. Even the teams themselves often had difficulty securing railroad transport during the season. With all of the additional hangers on a Series brings out, it would have been a nightmare to get everyone from point A to point B. *** RADIO IS CARRYING GAMES TO ALL COUNTRIES *** The trains that used to be used for the ball clubs are now generally full of soldiers and sailors, and some are not thinking of baseball. A chief petty officer with eight bright red stripes on his left sleeve was saying on a train Tuesday that he did not even know the Series was about to start. Possibly he had been to sea. Anyway, he didn't have his 'railroad legs' and shortly thereafter fell violently trainsick. A sergeant on his way to Texas after a furlough in Connecticut, assumed the "Stars were playing the Miners." He hadn't kept up on his sports-page reading; he hadn't even realized the Gothams had become hot and passed Pittsburgh.These, though, are isolated cases. There's a World Championship Series underway and most of the soldiers, sailors and marines know, because the games are being condensed, like powdered eggs, and short-waved to all parts of the world. There are civilians too busy to be intimately familiar with the players, as in bygone days, but chances are they know there's a series on. *** BASEBALL'S DONE OKAY BY UNCLE SAM *** If this is the last of the classics for the duration it's one that well may be remembered. Never lacking in confidence, the tin hats of baseball are treating the series as if it's the most important affair in the world, the war and lesser developments such as football to the contrary, and there's little to do except admire the people. Baseball has done all right by Uncle Sam, as regards raising money for relief and furnishing equipment for the soldiers. Compared with the net proceeds to Army emergency relief raised by the Army all-star teams and the professional teams, baseball has done a remarkable job and if this series goes the full limit of seven games more thousands of dollars will go toward the war effort. That, in itself, will make it a series that will be remembered. Detroit City College's strength is it's line, led by senior tackle Justin Thomas, but practice this week has stressed pass defense as all reports indicate a strong Lancer aerial attack. The coaching staff has had the Knights working extra hard this week and hopes that come game time, the focus will fully be on St Ignatius and not last week's accomplishments. The Lancers do not plan to make the 65-mile trek to Detroit until Saturday morning for the 3pm contest that afternoon. They will also bring just 38 men in uniform, the smallest squad in more than a decade. In former years the Landers always were followed by nearly the entire student body of 6,000 plus many of the townspeople, but this year the figure is expected to be chopped almost in half. Most of the experts are calling on Detroit City College to win easily in what is one of several big games this weekend. Others include a showdown in a showdown in Tyrone, Pa. between the St Blane Fighting Saints (0-1) and Georgia Baptist (1-0). The Saints are hoping to rebound from a disappointing 14-10 loss to Wisconsin State in Milwaukee last week. Meanwhile Great Lakes Navy attempts to get on the winning side of the ledger with another game against a Great Lakes Alliance school - this time vs Western Iowa while Annapolis Maritime looks to improve to 2-0 in a game against Eastern State.
The Week That Was Current events from 9/28/1942 thru 10/01/1942
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Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles |
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06-11-2022, 10:17 AM
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#447 |
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 677
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Saturday October 3, 1942 - Special 'breaking news' edition
OCTOBER 3, 1942  DEAL CLOSE TO SEND BARNETT TO COUGARS A major deal is in the works between the two Chicago clubs that reportedly will see Hank Barnett return to the Continental Association. The 33 year old Barnett, who hit .310 with 24 homers and 107 rbi's, second only behind Bobby Barrell in the Federal Association this past season, is said to be the centerpiece of the move that will see him make the short move north from the Chicago Chiefs to the Chicago Cougars. A 1927 6th round pick, Barnett spent the first 8 seasons of his career in Montreal before being traded twice in a 3 week span in November 1938. He has spent the past five seasons with the Chiefs and helped lead them to the 1938 WCS title. Barnett's 239 career FABL homeruns are good enough to place him 16th on the all-time list and he is just 77 hits shy of reaching the 2,000 mark as a FABL player. While full details of the transaction have not been made available, TWIFB has confirmed with two separate sources that a deal is either finalized or very close to being so, and will be announced immediately after the World Championship Series concludes. A source in the Chiefs organization revealed yesterday a trade with the Cougars has "probably a 90% chance it goes through." A different source connected to the Cougars confirmed that Barnett was a player that organization had long coveted and later suggested there would be "a story to break once the subway series ends." The Cougars had made it known a week ago that, with John Lawson's skills fading, the need to add a big bat on left side of the infield would be an off-season priority for the organization. A few days later reports out of the Windy City confirmed that the Chiefs had received inquiries about Barnett and that the club would be willing to listen to offers on the 5-time all-star. What the Cougars will be surrendering to acquire Barnett has not been confirmed but the Chiefs are looking to get younger with Percy Sutherland of the Chicago Herald-Examiner recently reporting the Chiefs organization felt that the loss of young pitching talent to the war effort, notably Bob Crowley and Lou Eaker, has made it tough for the club to see itself competing for a Federal Association title at the moment. The trading of Barnett indicates that the Chiefs appear to be willing to take a step back with an eye towards adding two or three young players who can help the organization take two steps forward over the next few seasons. Based on that criteria one has to project that at least one of the players switching Chicago addresses will be a young pitcher. It is highly unlikely the Cougars would part with Johnnie Jones, older brother of standout rookie Donnie Jones and the Cougars top minor league prospect. However, there is a good chance that Danny Goff Jr., a 24 year old righthander who made his big league debut in September and threw a shutout in his first big league start, is involved in the trade. One also has to think the Chiefs, without a good young option at the hot corner in their system, would demand a third baseman in return for moving Barnett. That points to Otto Christian, a 20 year old who was a 4-time High School All-American out of Walla Walla, Washington before being taken 13th overall by the Chiefs in the 1941 draft. Christian split this past season between Class C and B, hitting a combined .283 with 17 homers and perhaps might well be best described as a Hank Barnett-type prospect with a similar righthanded power swing. It is unlikely that Christian would be ready for FABL next season so the Chiefs might struggle at that position in the short-term should Christian be the third sacker they receive in return for Barnett. There is also a good chance the Chiefs receive a third young player in the deal and there are several possibilities. The Cougars have been shopping top catching prospect Solly Skidmore, but if moved Skidmore would go from being stuck behind Harry Mead to backing up Tom Bird. However, there is always the possibility the Chiefs add Skidmore with the plan of moving Bird either over the winter or more likely as the deadline approaches next season in an effort to address the need for more pitching. If not Skidmore, perhaps another pitcher - maybe even 20 year old Duke Bybee who is presently a marine but was a top prospect prior to joining Uncle Sam's team, might be the final piece to the proposed trade. That is a longshot though as surrendering Goff Jr, Christian and Bybee might just be more than the Cougars would be willing to be. A more likely scenario, assuming Goff Jr and Christian are two of the pieces, is a slightly lower ranked pitching prospect along the lines of George Oddo, Leo Hayden or possibly even Mel Haynes. We will have to wait until after the Series is concluded and trading is allowed once more before we get the full details but the move of Barnett to the Cougars seems a near certainty.
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES SCHEDULE AND RESULTS GAME ONE: Gothams 2 Stars 1 (11) GAME TWO: Stars 7 Gothams 2 GAME THREE: Today- Stars (Vern Hubbard 17-5) at Gothams (Gus Goulding 16-15) GAME FOUR: Tomorrow Stars at Gothams GAME FIVE: Monday Stars at Gothams GAME SIX (if neccessary): Wednesday Gothams at Stars GAME SEVEN (if necessary): Thursday Gothams at Stars WASPS LOOK TO CONTINUE WINNING WAYS The Washington Wasps have a chance to equal their win total of all of last season with a victory over the visiting Chicago Wildcats tomorrow. The Wasps are off to a strong 3-0 start but will face their toughest test of the season in the defending AFA champion Wildcats. The kick-off at Columbia Field will be delayed until 4 o'clock to avoid conflict with the radio broadcast of the World Championship Series. The other four contests on tomorrows docket will also not start before 4 pm. The Wildcats looked very strong in their debut last week, a 26-7 thumping of Detroit that took place right in the Maroons back yard. It was just another in a long run of subpar showings, regardless the sport, from the home side at Thompson Stadium this year. Chicago quarterback Gus Brown had his way with the Detroit defense, passing for 174 yards as the Maroons had no answer for speedy ends Dutch Hoffman and Freeman Stahlberg. The Wasps will have a tough decision to make. Do they sit back in an effort to limit the Chicago passing attack? The downside of that is the Wildcats rushing game, done by a committee that includes Ira Hartly and Marsh Schroeder, would have a field day if the Washington defenders are not crowding the line. The Washington defense has looked very good in wins over Cleveland, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh but the Wildcats will present a much greater challenge. The Washington offense has also thrived this season, averaging nearly 32 points a game behind the fleet feet of Mike Sadowski and the arm of Jeff Proos but the Wildcats defense is expected to be like no other the Wasps have seen this season, including the talented group of soldiers they played in Los Angeles prior to the start of the campaign. Code:
AFA STANDINGS EASTERN W L T PCT Washington 3 0 0 1.000 Boston 2 0 0 1.000 Brooklyn 1 0 0 1.000 New York 0 1 0 .000 Philadelphia 0 3 0 .000 WESTERN W L T PCT Chicago 1 0 0 1.000 St Louis 1 1 0 .500 Cleveland 1 1 0 .500 Detroit 0 1 0 .000 Pittsburgh 0 2 0 .000 SUNDAY OCTOBER 4 New York at St Louis Chicago at Washington Brooklyn at Pittsburgh Detroit at Cleveland Boston at Philadelphia SENATORS TOO MUCH FOR TIRED GENERALS ELEVEN The St. Matthew's College Senators scored 21 second half points to break open a tight game and go on to beat a travel-weary Mississippi A&M Generals squad 28-14 in Friday night college football action. The Generals ran into all kinds of difficulty even before the game began, as they were twice bumped from trains, and were forced to reduce the size of their travel contingent before finally reaching Washington D.C. close to midnight Thursday. The Generals were competitive in the opening two periods but were clearly worn out in the second half and saw their record drop to 1-1 on the season. St. Matthew's College improved to 2-0 following up a 13-3 win over Conwell College with a solid effort last evening. It was one of nine games on the Friday night docket for college gridiron squads. FRIDAY NIGHT SCORES St. Matthew's College 28 Mississippi A&M 14 Mile High State 29 Lawrence State 3 Northern Minnesota 20 Dearborn State 7 Bronx Tech 23 Trescott College 7 Georgia Pre-Flight 24 North Carolina Pre-Flight 3 Laclede 10 Boone College-St. Louis 6 Texas Panhandle 21 South Valley State 7 Fremont State 34 Perry State College 24 Utah A&M 24 Wyoming A&I 17 TODAY IN THE NEWS
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Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal
The Scripture of Sports |
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06-13-2022, 12:07 PM
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#448 |
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Dec 2019
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Monday October 5, 1942: WCS Games 3 and 4
OCTOBER 5, 1942 SERIES IS NOW A BEST OF THREE GOTHAMS AND STARS SPLIT GAMES THREE AND FOUR The World Championship Series is knotted at 2 wins apiece after the pair of New York nines split the first four contests, reducing the 1942 WCS to a best-of-three affair. The story could have been so much different were it not a for a dropped foul fly ball by Gothams third baseman Billy Dalton that paved the way to a 4-run fourth inning for the Stars and ultimately their 5-4 victory in Game Three. The Gothams did even the series the next day, thanks to some timely hitting and decent, but certainly not spectacular pitching from Ed Bowman, but both in the press box and amongst the crowd of nearly 50,000 the chatter was fully focused on Dalton's grave mistake the previous day, one that had the Gothams faithful certain they would be up 3 games to one had it not occurred. The Stars Joe Angevine would actually commit 3 errors in game four, but only one led to a Gothams run, so it did little to take the negative spotlight away from Dalton. For the Gothams players there is no time to focus on what might have been. The task at hand is simple: find a way to win two of the next three games knowing that Ed Bowman - who has started the Gothams two wins of the series- can only start one of those games. The task is clear for the Gothams. Somehow find a way to win today's fifth game at home and then give the ball to Bowman to hopefully work his magic in the sixth game. No one is hoping that happens more than Dalton, who knows if the series does not go the Gothams way he will be forever saddled with the nickname Billy "Goat" Dalton. GAME 3: SECOND CHANCE GIVES STARS GAME THREE VICTORY The New York Stars scored 4 times in the fourth inning and then hung on for a 5-4 victory over the New York Gothams in the third game of the World Championship Series. The victory put the Stars up two games to one in the series but the outcome could have, and Gothams will argue should have, been so much different. As is often the case in baseball one or two key moments can make all the difference in a game and that was certainly what happened here. The outcome was decided by two pitches. The first one came in the bottom of the first inning when the Gothams had a chance to break open a scoreless game with a huge inning. Stars starting pitcher Vern Hubbard got himself into a sticky situation by allowing the Gothams to load the bases with two outs thanks to a pair of singles and a full count walk to Leon Drake. That brought the longest serving Gothams player in 38 year old first baseman Bud Jameson to the plate. Hubbard got behind 3-1 in the count but with the green light Jameson swung at the next offering. He hit it solid enough but it was an easy catch for Stars outfielder Chink Stickels in center field and Hubbard escaped the jam unscathed. Had Jameson delivered a base hit in that situation the outcome could have been much different. The second moment came in the bottom of the fourth inning and if the Stars go on to win the series it may pin the goat horns on Gothams third sacker Billy Dalton for many years to come. Gothams starting pitcher Gus Goulding was far from perfect, but he had escaped a troublesome situation in the second inning and, entering the fourth frame, had kept the Stars bats off the scoresheet. He allowed the Stars to load the bases in the fourth with one out but fanned Hubbard to ease tensions slightly. This brought Stars lead-off man Chink Stickels to the plate with the sacks drunk with Stars and two away. Goulding missed with his first offering but then Stickels stood like a statue as the next two pitches each caught enough of the plate to warrant a strike call. On a 1-2 count with two out and the bases loaded Goulding threw the pitch he needed. Stickels took a cut this time but it really was all he could do to merely fight the pitch off, and he lofted what looked like an easy inning-ending fly ball in foul territory near the visitors dugout on the third base side. Dalton appeared to have the situation under control as he drifted towards the dugout, where the Stars players could be heard giving him the gears. Whether that distracted him, the sun momentarily blinded him or something else happened we don't know but the ball and, as it turned out, the game got away from Dalton who dropped what would have been the final out of the inning. Stickels made the most of his second chance, lacing on the next pitch a bases-clearing double to deep center field and he would score the fourth run moments later when a second Gothams error - this one by right fielder Leon Drake on a Gary Carmichael line drive - allowed Stickels to trot home. Goulding would go six innings and allowed just the 4 runs, all unearned, on 6 hits before giving way to a pinch-hitter. He was tagged with the loss but certainly deserved a much better fate. To their credit the Gothams battled back and made a game of it before coming up just short but one can't help but wonder if those two plays - the Jameson first inning fly out with the bases loaded and the Dalton gaffe- will end up being the difference in the Series. The Stars are just too strong a team to be given extra chances and the Gothams found that out first hand on this day.  GAME 4: GOTHAMS SINK STARS WITH BIG INNING TO EVEN SERIES Give the New York Gothams credit. They rebounded nicely from a demoralizing 5-4 loss the previous day to beat the New York Stars 7-5 and even the World Championship Series. Certainly having their ace rookie Ed Bowman on the mound was a boost to the Gothams confidence, but on this day Bowman was far from the form he displayed in winning the Federal Association pitcher of the month in both August and September. It was the Gothams bats that picked the club up, building an early 7-1 lead and then getting just enough out of Bowman to hold on for the win. As it did in Game Three, an error led directly to the game's first run. This one came in the first inning when Stars shortstop Joe Angevine booted a ground ball from Gothams lead-off man Mule Monier. It would be the first of 3 miscues on the day for Angevine, but was the only one that resulted in any damage on the scoreboard. In this case it came thanks to a fine piece of hitting from Game Three goat Billy Dalton. Hoping to redeem himself, the Gothams third baseman laced a sharp single with one out to plate Monier with the first run of the game. Dalton may well be saddled with the 'Goat' label should the Gothams lose the WCS but it is unfair based on his tremendous work at the plate this series. He is hitting .412, had two hits this day and at least one in each of the three previous games. The first signs that today we were not going to see the Ed Bowman we had all come to expect came in the second inning when Bill Barrett and Dave Trowbridge hit back to back singles and Barrett scored to tie the game 1-1 on a fielder's choice from Joe Angevine. Angevine would get a little too aggressive on the base paths, and just as Chink Stickels had done in the first inning, he would get thrown out for the final out of the inning while attempting to steal second. Gothams catcher Joe Green had gunned down 52% of the would be robbers in the regular season so perhaps it was just coincidence rather than a strategy of the Stars to test the 28 year old catcher's arm so often, although Stickels was successful with a later swipe attempt in the contest. The Gothams bats would come alive in the second inning and put an early end to Stars starter Chuck Cole's day with a 6-run outburst. The stanza began well enough for Cole, who fanned the lead-off man Hub Parks before getting Green to fly out to centerfield. With Bowman at the plate, a .133 hitter during the season, Cole must have decided he could take his foot off the gas, but it cost him as the Gothams pitcher slapped a single extending the inning for Mule Monier. Monier made Cole pay with a 2-run homer. Clearly rattled now, Cole surrendered a full-count double to Bill Freeman and the next pitch to Walt Messer was a groundball single to plate Freeman and make the score 4-1. After Dalton wrangled a free pass off the Stars righthander, Leon Drake delivered his second double of the series - both coming off of Cole- and two more runs came home. Chris Clarke replaced Cole on the mound but the first batter he faced, Bud Jameson, lined a single to score Drake and make it 7-1. Finally Hub Parks, who led off the inning with a strikeout, came up again and hit a grounder back to Clarke to end the Gothams onslaught. As it would turn out Bowman needed nearly all of that extra cushion he was given. Gary Carmichael hit a solo homerun in the third inning to make it 7-2. Chubby Hall drove in the 3rd Stars run with a 5th inning single and the lead was down to 4 runs. The top of the 6th inning was particularly nerve-wracking for Gothams supporters. Angevine single and scored on a triple from Stars rookie Andy Gross. Gross came home when Bowman got Buster Farrar to ground out but now the score was 7-5. Pinch-hitter Howie Smith doubled and moved to third on a Bowman wild pitch with just one out. Stickels did his job, driving a fly ball to right field, but, as it turned out, it was not quite deep enough to score Smith, who was gunned down at the plate by Leon Drake to get Bowman and his mates out of the inning, clinging to a 7-5 lead. Bowman settled down with a 1-2-3 7th inning and quickly retired the first two batters before Andy Gross singled in the top of the 8th stanza. No concern for Bowman, who was suddenly looking like the Fed Allan Award favourite once again, as despite getting behind Buster Farrar 3-1, he came back to fan the Stars catcher an end the inning. Bowman retired the first two batters he faced in the top of the ninth but manager Ed Ziehl felt his young ace was tiring and after Gary Carmichael reached on a Mule Monier error, the Gothams skipper decided to take no chances and gave the ball to Charlie Sutton. The game one winner in relief of Bowman, earned the save this time by making short work of the only batter he would face on this day, getting Chubby Hall to fly out, ending the game and evening the series.  A lot can happen in a short 7 game series. Given a longer span of games, would we really expect Bill Barrett to hit .100, or Billy Dalton to drop another key pop-up? Can we expect a stronger performance from Ed Bowman, a youngster pitching more innings on shorter rest? Can the ageless veterans, the Stars Dave Trowbridge and the Gothams Bud Jameson, continue to hide from Father Time? So much intrigue. So many thoughts of possibilities running through the minds of the screaming fanatics at the two new New York ballparks. Stadiums built with the dream of huge crowds filling the farthest reaches, drowning out the sounds of the nearby highways with their voices. Imploring their heroes to greater glory. And on we go. Now down to a best of three series. One more in Queens, then back to upper Manhattan to decide this match-up. This diversion from the greater concerns of the world. A battle in only the lightest sense of the word. But a battle of importance to the fans of this city. TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN: A LOOK AT THE WOLVES SYSTEM With one eye on the subway series Toronto's brain trust has started the off-season review of assets that they hope will be part of the Wolves in the near future. The uncertainty of the world makes these evaluations all dependent on whether the player is available in 1943. HITTERS: John Fast (#8)- The 19 year old first round pick in '41 split the season between Rookie and Class B. Although his stats in Tuscaloosa (.281/.392/.382) were not jaw dropping he was promoted to Vancouver mid-season to face greater competition were he slashed .321/.421/.467 proving he is ready for the next level in 1943. A slick fielder at both middle infield position Fast gives the organization further depth in a position of strength. His progress may open possible deals for the Wolves over the winter. John Graves (#29)- Another first rounder ( 6th overall in 1940) has made steady progress upper the minor league ladder over his 3 years. AAA pitching seemed to overwhelm him somewhat at the end of '42 but this is not yet a concern in Toronto. Graves has proved his elite defense in CF which had management thinking about a Giordano, Graves, Frederick combination patrolling the OF grass in Dominion Stadium. Graves was a SB machine in college but this has been used to his fullest, yet, instructions have been given to manager Bob Call in Buffalo to utilize Graves' speed next season. Plans, currently, are to have Graves start 1943 in AAA to see if his hitting improves, work on his base stealing skills. He like Fast gives management flexibility to deal from a position of strength. PITCHERS Jerry York (#9)- After three starts in Vancouver York was rushed to Davenport where the reality of professional baseball seemed to hit home. York posted a 2-6 record in 11 GS with a 5.81 ERA, 1.77 WHIP giving up 26 BB in 62 IP. Management is still very high on this righty who will begin 1943 in Davenport. Hopefully the brick wall York ran into is only due to small sample size. At 21 York still has time to develop into a solid 3 behind Garrison, Hancock in the future. Red More (#47)- While prospects do not usually include players already on 40-man for More the future in now after spending 6 years in the organization. More had a successful season at Buffalo but BB continue to be an issue if More is become a regular in Toronto. Scouting reports continue to believe in his potential but will when will potential be converted into reality for this righty? The Wolves like all other FABL teams enter 1943 with a high degree of uncertainty but will continue to plan for the future with the best information at hand. As the information is updated the plans will change, although not expected to be a major trader during the winter the Wolves will look for opportunities and respond to inquiries' during the off-season. 
WASPS CAN'T TAME WILDCATS OFFENSE Just as the Detroit Dynamos found out last week the Washington Wasps learned quickly yesterday that despite the fact so much has changed in football and the world as a whole over this past year, one thing remains constant. The Chicago Wildcats are an outstanding football team. The defending AFA champions, like every other team in the loop, lost some key pieces to Uncle Sam's team, but it is clear what remains in the Windy City still ranks among the best group of grid stars in the nation. The Wildcats romped to a 45-7 victory over the previously unbeaten Washington Wasps in the nation's capital yesterday. Chicago was led by Canadian newcomer John Fuchs. Born in Montreal to an American mother and Canadian father, Fuchs went to Commonwealth Catholic where he played college ball. After graduating in 1940 he spent last season with the Montreal outfit in the Canadian Football Association before being signed by the Wildcats in the summer. Fuchs took over the passing duties late in the second quarter from veteran Gus Brown, who had thrown for over 100 yards to that point but was also intercepted twice. It paid instant dividends for the Wildcats as each of Fuchs first two drives culminated in touchdown tosses. Fuchs, who completed 8 of 12 attempts for 119 yards and 4 touchdowns with no interceptions on the day, made quite an impression in his first real taste of big-time professional football (no offense intended for fans of the Canadian game). Fuchs did see some action in the Wildcats opener last week in Detroit but that performance was not overly impressive and certainly paled when compared to yesterday's outing. The victory improves the Wildcats record to 2-0 with both wins coming on the road and both against teams that looked pretty solid with Detroit still likely to be a major contender in the Western Division while Washington was off to a great start even humbling the powerful Army Western All-Star squad in a tune-up game. The Wildcats return home next week and will raise a banner at Whitney Field commemorating their 1941 league title before squaring off with the Cleveland Finches. Washington's record is now 3-1 but the Wasps will try to get back on a winning note next weekend with a trip to New England to face the Boston Americans. It was a busy football Sunday as for the first time this season all 10 AFA clubs saw action. The Detroit Maroons took the anger of a loss at home to the Wildcats last week out on the Cleveland Finches with a 48-24 victory in a wild game at Forester Field. Stan Vaught, as often is the case, led the way for the Motor City eleven. The end had 7 catches for 134 yards including a pair of touchdown grabs plus he had a big impact on the defensive side of things as well with 7 tackles and a pair of interceptions. Dewey Burnett threw for 244 yards but the Detroit thrower was overshadowed in the yardage category by Cleveland's Sam Boettcher, who threw for 260 yards and completed 30 passes. The issue for Boettcher was that 7 of those 30 completions were into the hands of Maroons defenders instead of his Cleveland teammates. John May was the hero for Boston as his 4th quarter 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown was the difference as the Americans improved to 3-0 with a 28-21 win over Philadelphia, dropping the Frigates to a league worst 0-4. It was a quite a final quarter at Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Stadium in Philadelphia as May's return came immediately after the Frigates had tied the game on a 92-yard punt return by Mike Benjamin. Like Boston, Brooklyn is also unbeaten at 2-0 after the gridiron Kings rallied from a 14-0 deficit to beat Pittsburgh 20-14. Bulldog Stein led the way for the Kings, rushing for a game high 53 yards, intercepting a pass on defense and being perfect on field goals and extra point attempts. The other game saw the New York Stars even their record at 1-1 with a 17-0 victory in a defensive struggle with St Louis. Neither team mounted much of an offense and both New York scores came as a result of blocked punts with Steve Julian and Tommy Milartz each pouncing on the ball after blocked kicks and returning them both for scores. Code:
AFA STANDINGS EASTERN W L T PCT Boston 3 0 0 1.000 Brooklyn 2 0 0 1.000 Washington 3 1 0 .750 New York 1 1 0 .500 Philadelphia 0 4 0 .000 WESTERN W L T PCT Chicago 2 0 0 1.000 Detroit 1 1 0 .500 St Louis 1 2 0 .333 Cleveland 1 2 0 .333 Pittsburgh 0 3 0 .000 SUNDAY OCTOBER 4 New York 17 St Louis 0 Chicago 45 Washington 7 Brooklyn 20 Pittsburgh 14 Detroit 48 Cleveland 24 Boston 28 Philadelphia 21 SUNDAY OCTOBER 11 Philadelphia at New York Cleveland at Chicago St Louis at Brooklyn Pittsburgh at Detroit Washington at Boston COLLEGE FOOTBALL ROUND-UP There was no let down for Detroit City College as the Knights followed up their big win over Great Lakes Navy with a 22-7 win over in-state rival St. Ignatius. After the upset loss to the Knights last week, Great Lakes Naval Training Station finally coordinated it's power on Saturday and handed Western Iowa (2-1) it's first loss of the season. The sailors prevailed by a 17-7 score. It was mixed results for other service teams. Included in their results was Annapolis Maritime improving to 2-0 on the year by shutting out Eastern State 14-0 but Iowa Pre-Flight came up on the short end of a 14-7 score against Great Lakes Alliance power Minnesota State. It has been a tough start for St Blane as the Fighting Saints drop to 0-2 after they were upset 14-6 by Georgia Baptist despite a strong game for St Blane senior end Mark Richardson. The Gators, who shut out Opelika State 28-0 a week ago, look like one of the teams to fear in the south. Other scores included St Matthews being too much for a tired Mississippi A&M team on Friday night in Washington DC. The Generals did not arrive until late the previous evening because of travel issues and looked tired in a 28-14 loss to the Senators. St Patrick's knocked off Strub College in Pittsburgh 24-10 while the other Boston based big school Commonwealth Catholic also won, shutting out Huntington State 13-0 behind the terrific running of fullback Stan Whitman. SATURDAY'S COLLEGE FOOTBALL SCORES Alabama Baptist 13 Northern Mississippi 7 Valley State 16 Provo Tech 14 Rome State 27 Eastern Virginia 0 Baton Rouge State 20 Opelika State 14 Eastern Oklahoma 19 Lubbock State 17 Commonwealth Catholic 13 Huntington State 0 Ellery 37 Narragansett 14 Mobile Maritime 20 Charleston (IL) 10 Empire State 21 Brunswick 17 Colorado Poly 27 Miners College 14 Henry Hudson 44 Penobscot State 7 Grafton 38 Ohio Poly 17 Poweshiek 24 Lambert College 10 St. Patrick's 24 Strub College 10 Western Florida 20 Tampa 17 Fort Riley 41 Eastern Kansas 13 Potomac College 21 Petersburg 3 Noble Jones College 33 Bulein 0 Georgia Baptist 14 St. Blane 6 Great Lakes Navy 17 Western Iowa 7 Abilene Baptist 45 McKinney State 3 Lincoln 29 Michigan Lutheran 3 Minnesota Tech 14 Iowa Pre-Flight 7 Miami State 24 Jacksonville Naval Air Station 20 Central Kentucky 61 Lexington State 0 California Catholic 38 Colorado Industrial 0 Maryland State 21 Lakehurst NAS 13 Mather Field 23 Custer College 19 Everman State (TX) 16 El Paso Methodist 10 Detroit City College 22 St. Ignatius 7 Daniel Boone College 31 Boulder State 14 Annapolis Maritime 14 Eastern State 0 Iowa A&M 10 College of Omaha 9 North Carolina Tech 27 Columbia Military Academy 0 Coastal State 16 Charleston Tech 10 St. Magnus 17 Travis College 17 Central Ohio 38 Indiana A&M 10 Lane State 14 Northern California 7 Frankford State 14 Liberty College 10 Pierpont 7 Dickson 0 Texas Gulf Coast 21 Pittsburgh State 13 Colorado Valley State 14 Flagstaff State 13 Bayou State 21 Red River State 14 Central Carolina 20 Chase 20 CC Los Angeles 23 Golden Gate University Pre-Flight 3 Sunnyvale 17 Redwood 14 Second Air Force (WA) 23 Idaho A&M 17 Rainier College 7 Coastal California 5 St. Pancras 31 Boston State 0 Conwell College 6 Alexandria 0 Cumberland 35 Brooklyn State 0 Darnell State 6 College of Waco 0 Amarillo Methodist 30 Arkansas A&T 0 Payne State 38 Oklahoma City State 7 Colorado Jesuit 16 Cache Valley 14 Bluegrass State 31 Whitney College 0 Carolina Poly 30 Cowpens State 10 Spokane State 17 Portland Tech 17 Tempe College 27 Canyon A&M 23 Richmond State 30 Chesapeake State 14 Sadler 27 Buchanan 14 Wisconsin State 24 Wisconsin Catholic 3 George Fox 27 Bethlehem College 3 San Francisco Tech 34 Kit Carson University 7   Those seemingly harmless little cards that extract from 25 cents up --Pick four for four and get eight to one-- represent a gambling turnover of some $200,000,000 each football season. The strange little people I mentioned could be the shoe shine boy, or the new red-headed office boy, or one of the runners has access to the big glass doors in the hammed offices. The card he hands you goes like this: __Commonwealth Catholic vs Coastal State__ __Grafton vs Empire State__ __Ellery vs Henry Hudson__ __Noble Jones vs Mississippi A&M__ __Detroit City College vs Iowa Pre-Flight__ __Minnesota Tech vs Lincoln__ __Redwood vs St Blane__ __Central Ohio vs Coastal California__ __Pierpont vs George Fox__ __CC Los Angeles vs Lane State__ __Central Kentucky vs Bluegrass State__ __Wisconsin State vs Daniel Boone College__ Rules-- Every pick you make must win. If you pick four out of four, you get eight to one. Pick five out of five, get 12 to one. Pick six out of six, get 20 to win. Pick 12 out of 12, get 75 to one. Ties you lose. *** TSK! YOU'RE COUNTED OUT ON TIES *** Now then, first off, if you pick four out of four the true odds are about 16 to one. And six for six should be 60 to one. That gives you an idea of what chance you've got. And letting the ties count you out gives the operator of the pool card about 20 points in his favor right off. You'd be amazed at the number of college football games that end all even during a season's play.You don't know these things because you don't bother to ask. You figure, oh, what's 50 cents if I can get $4 back for picking four games? The big gambling syndicates who run those pools--you didn't think the little fellow who sold you your card was the one, did you?-- figure on you to act just that way. That's how they get rich. Now consider those teams I listed as a hypothetical pool card. You think those games are arrived at haphazardly? Brother, you are wrong again. The pool operators know everything there is know about those 24 teams listed. They know more, for example, than I do when I make my weekly picks. They sit in their offices --I don't know where-- and they talk to their contact men in each of those college towns. Those contact men are well paid. As high as $200 a week. They know even when they coach may not that Joe Blow, the ace back, will start Saturday but is worried to death right now because Jim Jerques dated his best girl last week-end after that big game with Siwash. That hurts the chances of that team winning. So the pool operators keep that game off the card. Or if it is a major team playing a minor, it becomes a sleeper. *** UPSETS NO SURPRISE TO POOLS *** They are seldom surprised, either, by what looks like major upsets. For example, I'd be willing to wager that the way Cumberland hammered Brooklyn State Saturday came as no surprise to the pool operators. They win all upsets as you know. Just for the fun of it, take a look at the list I printed here with a dozen games next week. See if you can pick four out of four. Mind you, if you pick four out of five, you lose. Every pick must win.These operators known nothing and care less about anyone's old school ties. And are never worried about two seats on the 50-yard line. They take their football about as lightly as you'd toss away a $50 note. They catch no passes, but boy do they catch the suckers! About $35 million a year. Did someone say $35 million can't be wrong? Try picking those four for four, brother. And don't forget, the minute you did pick four for four, you're hooked.  The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 10/04/1942
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Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal
The Scripture of Sports |
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06-14-2022, 09:52 AM
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#449 |
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All Star Reserve
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Thursday October 8, 1942: WCS Games 5 & 6
THURSDAY OCTOBER 8, 1942 SEVENTH GAME! If this does indeed turn out to be the final World Championship Series for the duration the two New York clubs are doing their best to make it one we will long remember. The series has been pushed to it's limit with the Stars and Gothams deadlocked at 3 wins apiece. The Stars took the fifth game on the road as Bill Barrett was finally roused from his series long slumber but while the Stars made the short trek back to Dyckman Stadium with ideas of clinching their 9th World Title, Gothams rookie Ed Bowman had other ideas. Bowman and bullpen stalwart Charlie Sutton combined to pitch the Gothams to victory once again and force the seventh game. *** WHO STARTS? *** The big question in New York, and really everywhere that FABL touches, is who will the Gothams start in this winner-take-all contest? Bowman, who has pitched well over 300 innings this year and started the 3 Gothams victories, is exhausted and one would think there is no way he can pick up a ball, not even for an inning or two, today. Rusty Petrick, Gus Goulding and Harry Carter, all good pitchers during the regular season, are a combined 0-3 in the Series. Petrick got shelled early in the second game. Carter was not much better in Monday's fifth contest. That leaves Goulding, who has been erratic at times this season but were it not for a Billy Dalton error in game four, he might just have won the third game and been in the midst of a championship parade at this very moment. So you figure it has to be Goulding on the hill for the Gothams. The Stars choice, on the other hand, seems very easy. Billy Riley started and won both the second and fifth games and is rested and ready so he seems a lock to get the ball. One would not blame Ed Ziehl if he let's Ed Bowman start the game and pitch to just one batter before being replaced. Going back to September 10th the Gothams have won each of the last seven contests Bowman has started but are just 8-7 if someone else gets the ball. With numbers like that one might just be tempted to have Bowman trot out to the mound and face the first Stars hitter before being replaced, even if he needs to throw to that one hitter lefthanded to prevent his exhausted right arm from falling off. Most expected the Stars to be celebrating their 9th WCS title by this time and the club has not come up on the short end of a Series since 1903. Will they extend a streak that presently sits at victories in the last seven WCS that the Stars have participated in or will the Gothams somehow find a way to win a game this series without Bowman starting? Seventh games are always fun so long as you have no serious rooting interest either way, otherwise they are very stressful. There is a lot of nervous anticipation throughout the New York City area today. GAME 5: BARRETT BLAST KEYS BIG INNING FOR STARS The first four games of this World Championship Series were not ones that Bill Barrett wanted to remember. The superstar Star was a dismal 1-for-10 at the plate in the series entering this game but he broke out of his slump in a big way. Barrett had a pair of hits in the fifth game including a 2-run homer that keyed a 4-run inning which proved to be the difference in the contest, allowing the New York Stars to move within one victory of the 9th WCS title in franchise history. The Stars scored quickly as Dave Trowbridge, the 44 year old first baseman, continues to have a fine series. Father Time hit a run-scoring single, the third base hit of the opening inning surrendered by Gothams starter Harry Carter and gave the Stars an early 1-0 lead. An inning later it was 2-0 as Joe Angevine led off with a double and would score on a sacrifice fly. The Gothams showed they still had some fight left in them when Leon Drake delivered a 2-run homer- his third extra base hit of the series- that tied the game up in the bottom of the second inning. The team's traded runs in the third thanks to lead-off doubles from Bill Barrett for the Stars and, surprisingly, Gothams hurler Harry Carter. For a change neither side could plate a run in the fourth but the Stars broke the game open the following inning. Stars rookie Andy Gross continues to make a name for himself in this series as he hit a 1-out triple which set the stage for Barrett, who doubled two innings ago, to continue his breakout performance with a two-run homer that made the score 5-3 in the Stars favour. A Roosevelt Brewer error followed by back-to-back doubles off the bats of Gary Carmichael and Angevine brought two more runs in and would prove to be all the offense the Stars would need. Trailing 7-3 the Gothams made a go of it in the bottom of the seventh when they scored twice on 4 hits before the Stars went to the pen and George Hampton got them out of trouble, inducing a fly out from Walt Messer to end the inning and leave the tying runs stranded on base. The Gothams would get a base runner in both the 8th and 9th innings but Hampton did not allow them to get any closer and the contest ended 7-5 leaving the Stars just one win away from the title.  GAME 6: GOTHAMS PROLONG SERIES WITH 5-3 WIN Ed Bowman starting the sixth game meant most expected the need for a seventh game and that proved to be the case as the Gothams improved to 3-0 on the series in games started by Bowman, as compared to 0-3 when anyone else gets the call on the mound. Bowman kept the Stars off the scoresheet until after his mates had built a 5-0 lead and with some relief help once more from Charlie Sutton, pitched the Gothams to a 5-3 win and kept their championship hopes alive by forcing a 7th game. The Gothams are 14-2 in games Bowman has started since the end of July. The Gothams tried to be aggressive but it cost them at least a run in the first inning as, despite 3 singles, the Gothams came out of the opening frame empty. Mule Monier was the victim of a Chink Stickels perfect toss, nailing the Gothams infielder when he tried to advance to third on the second hit of the inning. Fortunately for the Federal Association nine the hits kept coming as Stars starter Chuck Cole struggled. Monier led off the third inning with a double and it was the first of 5 straight hits that led to 3 runs. By the time Cole got out of the mess it was 4-0 and he was lucky it wasn't more as the final Gothams batter of the inning was pitcher Ed Bowman. There was no way New York was pulling Bowman but all he could do with 2 out and the bases loaded was fly out. Cole would somehow stick around for 6 innings before being lifted for a pinch-hitter with the Stars trailing 5-0 at the time. It has been a truly awful few days for Cole. He pitched well in the opener taking Bowman to extra innings, but he was shelled in Game Four and again on this afternoon. The Stars did get 3 runs and made things tense for Gothams fans in the ninth inning but could not prevent Ed Bowman and company from taking the series to it's limit.  Wedge: Ed, why the home stadium work outs? Ziehl: I think having the comfort of our own clubhouse and equipment is better than whatever another team can provide. It's a short ride over that highway there, so we can arrive ready to go. I spoke with Bud (Jameson) and he agreed that the boys would appreciate it. Wedge: Will Pete Casstevens be in the linup today? He had a big game at Dyckman Stadium yesterday. Ziehl: Yes, Pete will be behind the plate. I trust either of my receivers, but Pete has the hot bat. Same with Rosey and Mule, before you ask. Wedge: One more. Could we see Ed Bowman in game seven? Ziehl: He wears a Gothams jersey, so anything is possible. But in all honesty, that might be a stretch. The kid has thrown over 300 innings now. He's done all we could ask for and more. Wedge: On a personal note, how satisfying is it to be back in this situation. You know of course there have been rumblings the past couple of years. A bit of impatience from up high. This is your 5th time in the Championship series, but it has been awhile. Ziehl: I don't listen to those things. I saw the young talent we'd acquired and I knew it was a matter of time. Sure I'd like to have been here sooner. It's why we play. And it's not about me anyway. It's all these guys getting a shot to prove themselves. It's Bud getting one more crack at it. Wedge: One final question. Is it Goulding for game seven? Ziehl: Yeah, Gus is getting the ball. He has something to prove. I think he'll do the job. There you have it, Gothams legend as a player and now trying to bring home his second championship team as a manager, Ed Ziehl. *** The Stories We Will Tell *** As a writer and reporter awaiting game 7 there are many thoughts floating around my head. There are the expected narratives, Big Ed Bowman coming through in each of his starts. Or Billy Dalton, the first of the "Infield of the Future" to arrive, but now wearing the goat horns, which unfortunately for him go all too well with his first name. Then there are the possibilities. The Stars have their share too of course, but let's take a look at the Gothams. Redemption - This one of course would belong to Dalton. He's been a consistent, if not great, contributor. He's a leader in the clubhouse and is having a solid series with the bat. He doesn't deserve to be labeled "Billy Goat" Dalton for all time. Promise Delivered - Gus Goulding was the #2 pick in the 1934 draft by the Cannons. After leading the league in losses 3 times he was traded to New York solely based on perceived skills and promise. Two more double digit losing seasons brought us to 1942. After a slow start, he was 11-15 entering September, Goulding strung together 5 straight wins, lowering his ERA from 3.99 to 3.48. Now after being the unfortunate party in the Dalton incident, Goulding is getting the ball for game 7. His moment to shine is here. Can he deliver? One More Time - Bud Jameson was drafted by the Gothams 3rd overall, in 1925. He's been through the ups and downs. He's the only survivor of the purge of '36. He's also among the all time leaders in the Championship Series leader boards. Maybe he had one more big moment up his sleeve. Break through - So many options here, but maybe one of those future promises can come up with the big hit. Roosevelt Brewer, Mule Monier, Pete Casstevens and Walt Messer. Can one of them stamp their name in Gothams lore? You Can't Make This Up - Or maybe I am. Picture this. Game 7, bottom of the 9th. Gothams up by one skinny run. The Stars have the winning runs on base and their big hitter , Bill Barrett at the plate. Ed Ziehl goes to the mound and takes the ball. The bullpen gate opens and who trots in? Big Ed Bowman. With maybe 5 more pitches in his strong right arm. We can dream, right? NO MORE BURGER IN CHICAGO After six years as the pitching coach of the Chicago Chiefs, George Burger has been fired. Burger, who had previously coached in Washington following a very successful big league career with the Eagles and Brooklyn in which he fashioned a 236-213 record, joined the Chiefs staff in 1937. He was a member of their World Championship winning club in 1938 but after the Chiefs finished below .500 for the second year in a row he was let go this week. The Chiefs quickly named Max Wilder as his replacement. The 45 year old Wilder had been the pitching coach for Chicago's AAA affiliate in Fort Wayne the past two seasons. Prior to joining the coaching ranks in 1936 Wilder enjoyed a 15 year FABL career that saw him win 157 games while making multiple stops that included several years with the Chiefs.
GATORS EXPOSE FLAWS IN ST BLANE'S T FORMATION What happened to St Blane and Eastern State - and so many of those other teams functioning out of the Chicago Wildcats now popular 'T' formation? A member of the coaching staff of the Georgia Baptist Gators, who surprised St Blane 14-6 on the weekend, summed up the answer in a nutshell with "The quarterback still has to go back five yards or more before he passes - if he can be taught the trick of fading back. And," one of the Gators coaches points out as he swiftly filled a big sheet of paper with diagrams of all varieties of offensive formations, "it also remains a fact that the T formation power is, basically, restricted to inside tackle plays," so having the right fullback is a must. The Gators did a great job of limiting the St. Blane offense last weekend, just as Wisconsin State did in a 14-10 win the week before and after going 7-2 a year ago the normally powerful Fighting Saints now find themselves in a heap of trouble as the make the long trek to California to face Redwood University on Saturday. Redwood (1-1) will be especially motivated to get back on track after the Mammoths were upended 17-14 by Sunnyvale last weekend. Eastern State is another school facing an important contest this weekend, and like St Blane, the Monitors T-formation has had trouble getting going this year. The Monitors played in the prestigious East-West Classic a year ago but are 0-2 in the early going this season, although losing All-American back Bob Holt to the St Louis Ramblers of the AFA certainly creates a big hole in their offense and goes a long ways towards explaining why Eastern State has had it's troubles. Losing 14-0 to Annapolis Maritime is not something to be ashamed of but falling to Hampden-Sydney 20-17 in their opener was a crushing blow for the Monitors, who are desperate for a win this weekend over Alexandria if they want any chance to salvage their season. *** BENGALS FIND FORMATION SUITS THEM TO A T! *** While St Blane and Eastern State have struggled with the T-formation, one school that is enjoying success with it is Maryland State. The Bengals are now using that alignment after some bad seasons that included a terrible 1-8 campaign a year ago, prompting the school to lure longtime Redwood University coach Paddy O'Callaghan east to Baltimore this season and take over running not just the Bengals AIAA program but also an extensive intermural football program designed to help students prepare for the military. The first thing O'Callaghan did after taking a look at his expected roster for this season was spend some time in the spring on the campus of St Blane, picking up nuances that the Fighting Saints used in their offense. Things are looking up for the Bengals on the field this season and part of it might be simply having the right personnel in place to match O'Callaghan's new T-Formation system. O'Callaghan says the key for him in running the T-formation is to not only have a solid quarterback with quick feet but also a powerhouse fullback as a running threat who forces the opposition secondary defense to play close, thus making the long passes so effective. O'Callaghan has both those positions covered in aerial slingshot quarterback Sammy Kleinhans and fullback Fred Mercer. The new coach feels Kleinhans is a perfect fit for the formation and goes so far as to compare him favourably with Dewey Burnett of the Detroit Maroons. "Sammy's is a good, accurate thrower and has the feet to be able to quickly dance back from the line and create time for our ends to get downfield. Add in the way Mercer can pound the ball in the middle and the defense has to respect him. They drop back we run it through them and if they try and close in on us Sammy throws it over them." That is exactly what the Bengals did last weekend in a 21-13 win over Lakehurst Naval Station and with slightly less success in their season opening 16-13 loss in a tightly contested game at Constitution State. Figures show Kleinhans is among the nation's top passers in terms of accuracy and Mercer, the powerful 206 pound redheaded fullback, has carried the ball 15 times for an average of six yards per try. O'Callaghan notes it is a process for players to grasp the concepts of a new system but says his charges are improving with every practice. Maryland State still has a long road to travel before they can compete with South Atlantic Conference powers Carolina Poly and Richmond State but it is clear the Bengals are headed in the right direction. Next up for Maryland State is good test against Garden State this weekend. 
The Week That Was Current events from 10/05/1942 thru 10/07/1942
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Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal
The Scripture of Sports Last edited by Jiggs McGee; 06-14-2022 at 11:50 AM. |
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06-15-2022, 10:30 AM
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#450 |
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All Star Reserve
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October 9, 1942 - Game 7 of the WCS
FRIDAY OCTOBER 9, 1942 GOTHAMS WIN! GOULDING'S GOLDEN GAME GUIDES GOTHAMS One for the ages! A classic! Those statements could easily describe game seven as a whole or be used to single out the incredible performance delivered by the New York Gothams Gus Goulding, who both pitched and hit his way into the hearts of the Gothams faithful for decades to come. Goulding drove in the game's first run and pitched a 10-inning complete game masterpiece to give the Gothams a 3-1 victory over the New York Stars in game seven of the World Championship Series. A masterpiece might be called by some an overstatement, as the New York Stars had their chances against him, but not when one considers the importance of the moment and height of the stage it was performed on. Momentum went back and forth all series and the seventh game was no different. The Gothams struck first on this occasion before the Stars evened the contest in the fourth. Gus Goulding and Billy Riley were both outstanding on the mound for their respective ballclubs but it was the Gothams, who erased the memory of six very forgettable years, with a 2-run 10th inning that gave the club it's 5th World Championship Series title and made the New York Stars a loser in the WCS for the first time since 1903. Walt Messer was named the Series Most Valuable Player after hitting .393 with 8 rbi's in the seven games. The final Messer rbi would turn out to be the one that clinched the series, coming with two out in the 10th inning on a double to plate Mule Monier, who had hit a one-out single. The Gothams would get an insurance run when Billy Dalton firmly shook off the 'Billy Goat' label he was affixed with the last time Gus Goulding made a start by delivering a double to plate Messer and a half inning later the Gothams seemingly endless six year rebuild was finally complete. *** GUS GOULDING FOUND HIS WAY *** For Gus Goulding, it was redemption. He will likely never pay for a drink in Queens again and with one marvelous game made everyone forget about his up and down career. Forget about the fact that despite being in his 7th year and 29 years old, many felt his career was a disappointment and that he failed to live up the reputation he had established as a college star at St Blane, prompting the then Baltimore Cannons to select him second overall. His big league debut came amidst great fanfare in 1936 when, despite pitching for an awful Cannons club, Goulding won each of his first 8 big league starts. Expectations were soaring even higher but hard times and the reality of the Cannons woes hit hard as Goulding failed to deliver, going 38-59 the rest of the way in Baltimore before being moved to the Gothams prior to last season. He was a disappointing 24-32 in New York as of the start of September this year when suddenly things seemed to click. He went 5-0 with a 1.00 era last month and quite possibly would have been 2-0 in the WCS were it not for a dropped foul pop-up by Billy Dalton - one that feels so inconsequential now but devastating at the time. No one knows what the future will bring in the best of times, but the current state of the world means there is no guarantee Gus Goulding will be throwing a big league baseball come spring, heck no guarantee anyone will be, but this might just be looked back at as the day that Goulding finally became the pitcher everyone expected him to be. If nothing else Goulding can know he will be getting a World Championship Series ring and likely never have to worry about his bar tab again.Goulding made all that debate since the moment game six ended meaningless. We are speaking of course of the decision Gothams manager Ed Ziehl wrestled with until late in the evening Wednesday and was likely still pondering throughout yesterday's contest. When he goes to his pen does he call on an exhausted Ed Bowman, the probable Fed Allen Award winner this season and series star, to take the mound despite throwing 134 pitches the day before. In the end, Goulding spared his skipper that difficult decision. And the 29 year old did so with his bat as well as his pitching, delivering two hits including an rbi single in the bottom of the second to score Pete Casstevens with the game's first run. Goulding allowed 7 hits including 4 of the extra-base variety. Each of the those four were doubles but it was just Dave Trowbridge's 4th inning two-bagger that did any damage. The 44 year old had himself a whale of a series, and it was his hit that plated Bill Barrett with the Stars only run of the contest. ** MISSED OPPORTUNITIES FOR STARS *** The New York Stars had a great season, complete with the best record in baseball and led by perhaps the best player in the game. But the send off for Bill Barrett, who will join the Navy along with Joe Angevine in the coming weeks, fell just short of expectations. Barrett seems a lock to win his second straight Continental Association Whitney Award and already claimed the loop's batting crown and homerun title for a second successive season, but his performance in the Series has to be considered a disappointment. Barrett batted an acceptable .261, but it was a far cry from his amazing 9-for-18 performance when he was named the Most Valuable Player of the 1939 Fall Classic and he was held hitless in 4 of the 7 games including yesterday's finale. Barrett did score the Stars run in the game but he, like his teammates, failed to take advantage of the opportunities Goulding gave them. It started in the bottom of the first when Chink Stickels led off with a double and was on third base when Barrett stepped to the plate with one out. William the Conqueror is just 5-for-21 in his career vs Goulding including this at bat when he hit the fly ball the Stars needed but the problem was it to short left field and Stickels thought better than to attempt a mad dash home after Walt Messer squeezed the ball. Howie Smith would ground out to end the inning and Stickels, died on third. The Stars next opportunity came in the fourth inning when, trailing 1-0, Barrett worked Goulding for a lead-off free pass. Howie Smith singled and then the ageless Dave Trowbridge, who led the Stars with a .419 average in the series, lined a double to plate Barrett with the tying run. Stars third base coach Gene Singer will likely have nightmares all winter about his decision to give Smith the hold sign at third rather than try to send him home. Was it the right decision? In hindsight likely not but at the time Goulding seemed to be reeling and the Stars had runners on second and third with nobody out in a tie game. Of course things don't always work out the way you want them too in baseball, even for a top outfit like the Stars. Goulding induced a sharp ground ball from Gary Carmichael to Bud Jameson and the Gothams first baseman had plenty of time to look Smith back to third before stepping on the bag for the first out. Next up was Joe Angevine and he tried to lift a fly ball. He was successful, but only to a point, as just like Barrett in the opening stanza it was to short left field and not deep enough to risk a Smith tag-up. Cliff Ray was intentionally walked to load the bases and bring up Billy Riley. The Stars pitcher hit just .180 this season, prompting one to wonder if Stars bench boss Otto Schmidt spent any time at all considering lifting Riley for a pinch-hitter. Not a normal practice with a 21-game winner for sure, but this was far from a normal game. Riley stayed in and grounded out to end the inning and allow Goulding to slither out of would could have been a devastating mess. Chances still came for the Stars as Goulding, while solid, was far from perfect. Rookie Andy Gross hit a out-out double in the bottom of the fifth but both Barrett and Smith failed to bring him in. In the sixth the Stars had runners on the corners with two-out but again it was the pitcher Riley's turn to hit. He popped out and Goulding, apparently channeling his inner Harry Houdini, escaped once again. Even in the 10th inning when now trailing 3-1, there was a last ditched gasp of hope for the Stars when Howie Smith smacked a 2-out double. That brought Dave Trowbridge to the plate but for once the oldest player in the big leagues, one with a .333 career average and a pair of homeruns off of Goulding already on his resume, failed to deliver. He says he is leaning towards playing another season, maybe even two, but one has to wonder if father time will finally catch up with 'Father Time' and perhaps that Series-ending ground out may just be the last we ever see of Dave Trowbridge in a big league ballgame. The Stars had their share of opportunities to be certain, but maybe the luck just finally hopped the subway lines and moved to Queens as the Gothams, with six long years of suffering - although self-induced by many heavily criticized trades to create their mess - are back at the top of the baseball world. That is a spot that had for so long belonged to the Stars, at least in terms of New York superiority because, and with all apologies to the Brooklyn Kings for their brief rule late last decade, big league baseball supremacy in New York has long belonged to the Stars. They had not lost a WCS since 1903 - winning a FABL best 7 since then and 8 overall. The Gothams finally get their fifth, but only one previous win had come since 1896 and the Kings were the red-headed stepchild of the five boroughs for decades, until finally crushing a curse and winning their first and so far only world title in 1937. New York has not been a Gothams town since the turn of the century, even with the back to back pennants beginning in 1934. The club had been mocked much of the past decade for throwing away a bunch of veterans that most of whom, as it turned out, still had pennants to win just in faraway places like Chicago or Pittsburgh. All of that means nothing now to the long suffering Gothams fan, especially the few diehards who stuck with the team through the thin and thinner of the second half of the past decade. They can hold their heads high again as the Gothams once more wear the crown.  GOTHAMS RETURN TO THE MOUNTAINTOP Gothams fans are rejoicing in the streets of Queens, and in Manhattan and all around the New York City area. Their Gothams have returned from exile in the deepest reaches of the FA second division to climb directly to the top of the FABL world. I wrote yesterday about stories we would write and several of them wrote themselves as if scripted for the stage. There was Gus Goulding, confidently staring down the Stars mighty lineup. Gus isn't one of those power throwing kids anymore. He's the definition of crafty, saving his best for when it's most needed. He didn't strike out a batter. He walked three, once again working around Bill Barrett giving him two free passes. (He'd also walked him twice in game 3). He wanted to save his arm to go as long as needed. "I was ready to go all day if Ed needed me." Gus Goulding had his day of redemption. Walt Messer, the biggest star of the previously named "Infield of the Future", now a leftfielder, had the big hit, driving in the winning run in the 10th inning of Game 7. Messer hit .393 and was named MVP of the series, though that honor could easily have gone to rookie Ed Bowman. No, there was no dramatic walk from the pen for Big Ed today. He sat in the dugout cheering on his teammates, his work done for the year. He'd given all he had and now he watched his mates do their bit. Finally, no one had a bigger smile in the visitors' winning clubhouse than 3B Billy Dalton. The "goat" of game 3 who cost Goulding a pivotal game, drove in Messer with a double in the 10th to help secure the win. The series win also means Dalton's dropped popup will be a footnote and not a career defining moment. When asked about the pop fly and the game 3 loss, an exuberant Goulding replied, "I wasn't worried about Billy, I even let them hit the last one to him to prove it." It was a classic series with all the ups and downs a long series is bound to provide. Manager Ziehl is getting credit in some circles for taking advantage of the intra-city aspect and keeping his team at home for pre-game workouts. That they won 3 of the 4 games at Dyckman may lend some credence to those claims. Celebrate Gothams fans, your team is back on top.  '42 SERIES LATEST IN RICH HISTORY OF GAME SEVENS There is nothing like the thrill of a 7th game in a World Championship Series and the 14th such happening, which thrilled everyone that wasn't a fan of the New York Stars, was one of the best on record as the New York Gothams topped their city rivals 3-1 in 10 innings marking just the second time a 7th game needed extra innings. The first came way back in 1929 when the Detroit Dynamos scored 3 times in the 14th inning to beat the Philadelphia Sailors 7-4. We have been treated to quite a few seventh games in recent years with this one being the second in a row, following Boston's 2-1 win over the Chicago Cougars last season. Since 1929 we have seen seven series go the distance but 7th games were rare in the early years of FABL. The first one occurred in 1896 - just the 4th WCS ever played - and was the last time before yesterday that the New York Gothams had won one. The Gothams beat the Chicago Cougars 9-7 in that game for their 3rd WCS title in those first four years. The Chicago Cougars, as it turns out, have become the hard luck team of game seven's as they have competed in four them but have never won one. Following the 1896 series we did not get another one until 1908. It was one to remember as well with Mike Marner outdueling Woody Trease 2-1 to give the Baltimore Clippers a second straight title. Marner would be at it again six years later as he became the first and so far only pitcher to win two game sevens. That was 1914 and it was a much easier day for Marner as the Clippers pounded their neighbours from Washington 7-2 in the deciding game. In between the Baltimore wins we had another Game Seven. That one came in 1911 and completed an amazing comeback for the Toronto Wolves, who won game seven 5-0 but the big news was the Wolves battled back and won 4 straight after the Detroit Dynamos claimed the first 3 games of the series. 1915 provided FABL fans with the first back-to-back years that required a 7th game. That has actually become commonplace also is in addition to last season and this, we also had back to back game sevens needed in 1933-34 and 1929-30. The 1915 decider is perhaps the greatest pitching duel in 7th game history. That was the Johnston & Johnson affair when Montreal's Bob Johnston blanked Big George Johnson and the Boston Minutemen 1-0. In 1918 the Detroit Dynamos nearly blew a 3 games to none lead for the second time, but Don Benford hit by far the biggest of his 34 career FABL homeruns and only postseason one of his career. It was a 2-run shot in the bottom of the 8th inning that lifted Detroit past the Chicago Cougars 3-2. Montreal would beat St Louis to win it's second game in 1921 to take us to the modern era where our first taste of game seven was that previously mentioned 14-inning 7-4 Detroit win over the Sailors. The Sailors got their revenge the following season, scoring the winning run in the bottom of the ninth for a 4-3 victory. In 1933 the other Philadelphia team - the Keystones - took their turn at beat the Cougars with a 4-2 win and Gothams fans will well remember the debacle that was the 1934 game: an 18-3 drubbing at the hands of Max Morris and the Cleveland Foresters. Next up was that wild 11-10 Chicago Chiefs win over Brooklyn in 1938 and that finishes our journey into Game Sevens with the 2-1 Boston win a year ago. Code:
SERIES TO GO THE FULL SEVEN GAMES YEAR WINNER LOSER SCORE 1942 NY Gothams NY Stars 3-1 (10 inn) 1941 Boston Chi Cougars 2-1 1938 Chi Chiefs Brooklyn 11-10 1934 Cleveland NY Gothams 18-3 1933 Keystones Chi Cougars 4-2 1930 Sailors NY Gothams 4-3 1929 Detroit Sailors 7-4 (14 inn) 1921 Montreal St Louis lost to history 1918 Detroit Chi Cougars 3-2 1915 Montreal Boston 1-0 1914 Baltimore Washington 7-2 1911 Toronto Detroit 5-0 1908 Baltimore Detroit 2-1 1896 NY Gothams Chi Cougars 9-7 CUMULATIVE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES BOXSCORE 
The Week That Was Current events from 10/09/1942
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Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal
The Scripture of Sports |
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06-16-2022, 09:36 AM
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#451 |
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Dec 2019
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October 12, 1942 : Off-season begins
OCTOBER 12, 1942 BLOCKBUSTER ALERT By Archie Irwin, Chicago Daily News Everyone in baseball was focused on the Subway Series, but between game two and three, This Week in Figment Baseball released a story detailing a rumor of a blockbuster trade between the two Chicago teams, who were in the midst of an exhibition series to help raise money for the war effort. Nothing was official, as trades are still frozen as they have been since July 31st, but shortly after the Gothams won game seven 3-1 in 10 innings, the blockbuster was announced. Hank Barnett is on the move; and he won't need to change his address! Barnett, now 33, has been a target of the Cougars pretty much since he debuted at just 20 back in 1930 for Montreal. A 6th Rounder in the 1927 Draft, Barnett appeared in 54 games for the Saints and was a league average hitter in terms of WRC+. He hit .305/.343/.436 with 9 doubles, 6 homers, and 42 RBIs, and after another 54 game sample in '31, he became a full time starter in 1932, and has played over 150 games in all but one season since (144 in '32) and was above average offensively in terms of both OPS+ and WRC+. Barnett broke out in that '32 season, hitting a strong .284/.338/.451 (106 OPS+) with 29 doubles, 7 triples, 16 homers, and 89 RBIs in the power crushing Parc Cartier. Despite that, Barnett managed 14 or more homers in each of his season with the Saints, and hit .282/.363/.433 (111 OPS+) with 108 homers and 588 RBIs. With the Saints in a state of limbo, it was announced Barnett would be available, and the Cougars were one of many suiters. Eventually the Saints settled on an offer from the Dynamos, receiving a pick, Frank Davis, and former Cougar prospect Karl Wallace for their young slugger. Barnett never played a game for the Dynamos, traded within a month to the Chiefs in a deal they'd like to have back. The Chiefs parted with Bob Walls and Ron Coles, both who had very little success as Dynamos and didn't last very long in Detroit. Now in a stadium that is as easy to hit homers as ours, Barnett had a huge power surge, slashing an elite .312/.393/.543 (153 OPS+) with 31 doubles, 6 triples, 31 homers, and 124 RBIs. Since then, Barnett has launched 131 homers and drove in 518 runs in a Chiefs uniform, hitting .300/.378/.487 (139 OPS+) with 111 doubles and 25 triples. Barnett is coming off an elite year for the Chiefs, hitting an elite .310/.396/.472 (147 OPS+) with 14 doubles, 4 triples, 24 homers, and 107 RBIs. He managed to draw more walks (84) then strike outs (68), posted an astronomical 160 WRC+, and was worth 7.8 wins above replacement, matching his new left side of the infield partner Skipper Schneider. It's hard to find a bigger positional upgrade, as Barnett, who currently ranks as the best third basemen in the FABL, was worth 8.2 more WAR then the struggling vet John Lawson this season, and is a career .290/.370/.457 (124 OPS+) hitter. He also currently ranks as the 5th best hitter in the FABL, joining Harry Mead (9th), Skipper (11th), and Carlos Montes (19th) as top 20 Cougar hitters, with the enlisted Peter the Heater (8th) and Harry Parker (15th) cracking the top 20 on the other side. Once Bill Barrett enlists, Barnett will arguably be the best hitter in the Continental Association, and assuming no major callups/enlistments on our end, he should help us cement our status of favorite to win the 1943 Continental Association pennant. After a disappointing attempt at defending their title, this is a huge move for the Cougars who already have a dangerous lineup. His entrance into the Cougar lineup should be a huge boost to a deep Leo Mitchell (.318, 14, 72), Mead (.287, 16, 81), Skipper (.291, 4, 67, 8), Montes (.268, 9, 55, 13), Ray Ford (.289, 10, 40), Dick Walker (.269, 4, 40, 11), Clark Car (.291, 3, 37, 8), Freddie Jones (.333, 5, 39), and Rich Langton (.294, 5, 32, 6), who were all above average hitters in terms of both OPS+ and WRC+. The Cougars also have a ton of lefties in the lineup, so his right handed bat should help balance the order an improve the squads 32-29 record against southpaws. Of course, when acquiring a player of this caliber, you have to give up a lot, and the Cougars certainly paid a pretty penny. As a team with a lot of big league and minor league depth, they can certainly afford it, but parting with top quality prospects is never easy to do. Solly Skidmore (22nd) and Mel Haynes (69th), a pair of former 1st Rounders and longtime top 100 prospects will join the Chiefs organization, as well as talented second basemen Ossie Grogan. Skidmore was blocked by Mead, Grogan behind Jones, Hunter, and Car, and Haynes' future in the rotation was a bit murky with Papenfus, Parker, Joe Brown, Duke Bybee, Danny Goff Jr., and the Jones brothers all projected (or currently) to be at least middle rotation arms, with legit ace potential from Parker, Bybee, the Jones brothers, and Peter the Heater. There is still a very long offseason ahead, but the Cougars look to be the team to beat now, as they chose to be greedy while the rest of the league is fearful with the uncertainty. NOTE: You can follow the FABL Chicago Cougars coverage all year long in their outstanding team dynasty report located here  JIGGS MCGEE'S TAKE ON THE BIG DEAL First off, let me just say it is refreshing to actually be able to talk about a big trade once again. The uncertainty of who Uncle Sam wants for his team has sent a panic wave across the league and left most general managers scurrying for cover. So hats off to the two Chicago entries for having the intestinal fortitude to pull the trigger and I believe this is a good move for both teams, and will help each towards the realization of their current objectives. At the offices in Cougars Park the objective is clear. Win now. The Cougars have been one of the favourites the past four seasons to win their first World Championship Series since 1930. They ran into a hot team each of those seasons. In 1939 and again this past season it was Bill Barrett and the New York Stars who got the best of them. 1940 was a near miss as the surprising Toronto Wolves nosed Chicago out. In '41 the Cougars got that elusive pennant but then came up short in a 7-game series against the Boston Minutemen. The team is talented, even without Pete Papenfus. I thought they would win it all this past season and now with the addition of Barnett, and the subtraction of Barrett in New York, that opinion only gets stronger for the next campaign. The only thing that can possibly beat the Cougars next year is some major hits from Selective Services and even then the Cougars could quite likely have the depth to withstand several key losses. They parted with 3 top prospects but the Cougars organization is practically overflowing in them and adding Barnett is a move that sure looks like it went a long way towards provide a guarantee we would see October baseball at Cougars Park next year. As for the Chicago Chiefs this move also helps them towards a goal. The Federal Association is strong and deep with Boston, New York and Philadelphia all in their prime now and Pittsburgh still a threat. Even Detroit, as bad as they were this season, could easily bounce back into contention with a move or two. So the Chiefs management team, which rode veterans like Rabbit Day and Tom Bird to a pair of titles, and added Barnett among others for the second one, realizes the window is quickly closing on their current group. With two straight sub .500 seasons the Chiefs have accepted the fact that a pennant is likely not in the cards next year so it is time to take a bit of a step back in order to take two forward in a year or two. Yes, Barnett's bat will be missed next season but the newcomers Solly Skidmore and Mel Haynes may both be key contributors even as early as next season. The plan is to play Skidmore behind the plate and move 34 year old Tom Bird to first base. Ron Rattigan goes to the outfield so his bat stays in the lineup and Bob Martin will shift from second to third. The Chiefs will let the third player they received from the Cougars battle it out for the second base job with veteran Sam Orr, who spent last season in the minors. That third player is 26 year old Ossie Grogan, who hit .322 in AAA last season and should provide above average defense. There is actually a decent chance the Chiefs infield defense will be much improved next season and if 21 year old righthander Mel Haynes, who it is hoped will eventually be Rabbit Day's replacement and join Al Miller at the top of the rotation, comes up big their pitching will be too. Haynes absolutely dominated at Class A a year ago but it might be more realistic to target 1944 as his season to join the Chiefs rotation full-time but all indications are he should develop into at least a #2 quality starter. So a few breaks and maybe the Chiefs are as good or better than they were with Barnett this past season right away. It might be safer to target 1944 or '45 for a Windy City resurgence in the Federal Association. So maybe a step back this season but '45 and beyond are looking a lot brighter today for the Chiefs than they did a week ago. PERCY SUTHERLAND'S THOUGHTS I am not sold on the idea of giving up the league's top third baseman, but I do like the idea of grabbing a younger replacement for Bird. And Bird should be able to handle first base just fine, which allows the Chiefs to get his bat into 20 or so more games a season. Haynes should be a pretty good pitcher two or three years down the road. And as the other Chicago paper noted, moving Martin backs to third likely improves the Chiefs overall defensively. PARADES, BONUSES AND RAISES Some may question why a team now at home in Queens gets a parade down the Canyon of Heroes in Manhattan. That was settled when Mayor La Guardia declared that "Queens is a part of our great city and Broadway is where we celebrate them." So Broadway it was. Down the same streets as Lindbergh and Pershing before them. They used horse drawn carriages to conserve fuel, but the tickertape flew and New York celebrated their new champions. Leland Winthrop has been called a penny-pincher before. An accountant type with few words but an eye on the bottom line. He broke both molds in the aftermath of his team's success praising his management staff and the players, then announcing that he would reward then with bonuses, and extended contracts for many of the top young players. When asked why the guaranteed contracts when many of his players may be called by Uncle Sam, Winthrop replied, "These young men had done admirable work for me. I don't want them or their families to be concerned about finances if they are called to serve our country." The Gothams have continued to profit financially, even during their down years. Ticket prices have remained steady. Now Winthrop will be rewarding all concerned. "There will be no ticket price increase for 1943", he declared while stationed on a viewing platform near where he received the key to the city from the mayor.
HOLT RUNS WILD OVER KINGS For the second time in his now 4-game old AFA career Bob Holt has set a league single game rushing record. The All-American out of Eastern State ran for 268 yards and 3 touchdowns to lead the visiting St Louis Ramblers to a 35-14 win over the Brooklyn Football Kings yesterday. This after Holt had gained 254 yards in his debut against Philadelphia after being selected first overall by St Louis in the April AFA draft. Holt ran for three scores, including a pair of third quarter scampers each for 48 yards, and threw for another one as the Ramblers scored 28 second half points to beat Brooklyn at Kings County Stadium. How dominant has Holt been? In five games he already has a pair of 200-yard rushing days, something no one else in the modern history of the league has accomplished even once. In fact, only one other back has ran for more than 100 yards in a game this season. On the season, Holt's 622 yards are nearly double Washington's Mike Sadowksi, who sits second in the loop in ground yards with 320. Boston improved to 4-0 thanks to a 211 yards, 3 touchdown passing day from quarterback Del Thomas. That led the Americans to a 24-14 win over Sadowski and the Washington Wasps. Sadowski ran for 55 yards in a losing cause but was overshadowed by Boston's Leon Fitzgerald in that category as the Americans back led both teams with 82 yards rushing. The story though was clearly Thomas as the 28 year old two-sport star -he plays AAA baseball in the Pioneers system- had an outstanding day. Thomas has always been a solid passer but in the early going this season looks like he may have discovered another gear and has the Americans threatening to win their second Eastern Division in four years. In other action the Chicago Wildcats remained unbeaten with a 24-7 win over Cleveland, Stan Vaught made 8 catches for 126 yards and two scores to lead Detroit in a 56-7 rout of Pittsburgh while in New York the Stars doubled winless Philadelphia 28-14. Code:
AFA STANDINGS EASTERN W L T PCT Boston 4 0 0 1.000 Brooklyn 2 1 0 .667 New York 2 1 0 .667 Washington 3 2 0 .600 Philadelphia 0 5 0 .000 WESTERN W L T PCT Chicago 3 0 0 1.000 Detroit 2 1 0 .667 St Louis 2 2 0 .500 Cleveland 1 3 0 .250 Pittsburgh 0 4 0 .000 SUNDAY OCTOBER 11 New York 28 Philadelphia 14 Chicago 24 Cleveland 7 St Louis 35 Brooklyn 14 Detroit 56 Pittsburgh 7 Boston 24 Washington 14 SUNDAY OCTOBER 18 Washington at Detroit Boston at Brooklyn New York at Chicago Cleveland at Pittsburgh St Louis at Philadelphia  Wisconsin State is one of four schools to sit at 4-0 after the Brewers won their showdown with Daniel Boone College by a 13-7 score in St Louis. The Frontiersmen had also entered the game with a 3-0 record. The other 4-0 teams are Mile High State and a pair of Deep South Conference foes in Noble Jones College and Alabama Baptist. The Colonels doubled Mississippi A&M 20-10 behind another big game from senior halfback Billy Bockhorst while Alabama Baptist thumped Pensacola Naval 44-0. The two big service academies both won over Academia Alliance elevens as Rome State improved to 2-0 with a 24-6 win over Brunswick while Annapolis Maritime is 3-0 following the Navigators 20-7 win over the Sadler College Bluecoats. Meanwhile Great Lakes Naval Station won it's second game since the opening loss to Detroit City College as the sailors blanked Pittsburgh State 31-0. Georgia Pre-Flight is 3-0 after handing South Atlantic Conference Carolina Poly it's first loss 13-7. Speaking of upsets, Lincoln College's 24-17 surprise victory over Great Lakes Alliance rival Minnesota Tech certainly has to count as one, considering the Presidents were pounded 49-12 last October by the Lakers. A few of the groupings have played a fair number of conference games already. Here are the current standings in those conferences.  COLLEGE SCOREBOARD St. Blane 9 Redwood 3 Wisconsin State 13 Daniel Boone College 7 Central Ohio 38 Coastal California 16 Noble Jones College 20 Mississippi A&M 10 Georgia Pre-Flight 13 Carolina Poly 7 Georgia Baptist 59 Western Tennessee 0 Great Lakes Navy 31 Pittsburgh State 0 Alabama Baptist 44 Pensacola NAS 0 Annapolis Maritime 20 Sadler 7 Whitney College 21 St. Magnus 17 Northern Mississippi 9 Bayou State 7 Detroit City College 30 Iowa Pre-Flight 21 Lincoln 24 Minnesota Tech 17 Rome State 24 Brunswick 6 Lubbock State 45 Arkansas A&T 37 Darnell State 30 Corpus Christi NAS 0 Commonwealth Catholic 30 Coastal State 3 Ellery 21 Henry Hudson 10 Maryland State 52 Garden State 10 North Carolina Tech 14 Brooklyn State 3 Northern California 3 Sunnyvale 3 Travis College 7 Oklahoma City State 7 Red River State 17 Baton Rouge State 13 CC Los Angeles 27 Lane State 17 Bluegrass State 27 Central Kentucky 15 Eastern State 31 Alexandria 17 Conwell College 30 Frankford State 0 Boulder State 13 Cache Valley 3 Cheney State 24 Idaho A&M 17 St. Pancras 38 Lakeview (OH) 0 Canyon A&M 28 Albuquerque Field 13 Valley State 31 Tempe College 6 Provo Tech 14 Utah A&M 0 Mobile Maritime 7 Potomac College 6 Grafton 33 Empire State 3 Mile High State 24 Colorado Poly 7 Laclede 27 Lambert College 20 Strub College 30 Eastern Kansas 0 Opelika State 20 Western Florida 0 St. Matthew's College 30 Bronx Tech 14 Abilene Baptist 27 Texas Gulf Coast 0 St. Patrick's 52 Fort Totten 3 Indiana A&M 35 College of Omaha 6 Western Iowa 33 Camp Grant 0 Ruston Tech 24 Texas Panhandle 24 Penn Catholic 31 Manhattan Beach Coast Guard 13 Wisconsin Catholic 27 Iowa A&M 0 Miami State 27 Tampa 3 St. Ignatius 35 Dearborn State 0 South Valley State 17 El Paso Methodist 0 North Carolina Pre-Flight 14 Charleston Tech 0 College of Waco 14 Eastern Oklahoma 3 Bethlehem College 21 Liberty College 3 Pierpont 21 George Fox 16 Petersburg 14 Northern Pennsylvania 14 Chase 21 Lexington State 10 Golden Gate University Pre-Flight 19 Alameda Coast Guard 3 Cumberland 56 Cleveland 0 Lawrence State 10 Amarillo Methodist 7 Central Carolina 10 Chesapeake State 7 Cowpens State 19 Bulein 7 Portland Tech 9 Rainier College 9 Perry State College 35 Topeka State 9 Spokane State 44 Custer College 7 Huntington State 14 Columbia Military Academy 0 Richmond State 14 Dickson 0 Wyoming A&I 37 Pueblo State 7 Fremont State 55 Fort Riley 3 Northern Minnesota 28 Fort Knox 0 Jacksonville Naval Air Station 24 Spence Field 3 San Francisco Tech 16 California Catholic 14 Golden Gate University 10 Kit Carson University 0 Payne State 48 Randolph Field 0 The fourth quarter was usually a total blank -a half hour when you tried to sleep but could not because the guy next door kept yelling and screeching about something you didn't know -or didn't care- about. Football wasn't as complicated as it is now. You could miss half the plays and still have a pretty good idea of what was going on. And the crowd -the size of it- was always judged by the number of pint and quart bottles the stadium keeper swept up the morning after the game.  Maybe you remember reading about the Sadler rooter, who rolled out of the stands while Henry Hudson was playing the Bluecoats and took his position on the line. He achieved nation-wide notice by the maneuver -and the officials came up with red faces. They called the interloper the "twelfth man on the Sadler eleven." It was easy to make such a move in those days - teams didn't move as quickly as they do now. *** HELPING THE HOME TEAM *** And then there is the old story -old, but still good- about the time Minnesota Tech fullback Elvin Weber was having his way with Northern California one day, racing through the Miners time after time for big gains, scoring touchdown after touchdown. Finally, a well-oiled young man in the stands, who could stand it no longer, growled: "Thi-s-s-sh has gone far 'nuf. I'll sh-shop him." And stop him he did. Running out of the stands at the five-yard line, he made the finest tackle of the afternoon to bring Weber down to earth. *** PRO FOOTBALL ENTERS PICTURE *** Those days, we repeat, were the days when college football ruled the roost, and football was pretty dull at times -those times being the second, third and fourth quarters. But then professional football began to poke it's nose above the horizon. The daring strategy that is the American Association came into being. The Detroit Maroons emerged from Rochester thanks to Rollie Barrell and small cities like Fort Wayne, Toledo and Youngstown gave way to the likes of the Chicago Wildcats, Boston Americans and the two New York City clubs. The fellow who took a bottle, or a girl, to the game, soon learned that he often missed the best part of the battle -the final exciting ten minutes when a team could score two touchdowns between nips. Professional football made it pay to keep clear-eyed and clear-minded. College coaches began to pattern their attack after professional teams. They hired professional players as assistant and head coaches. College football pepped up. Now they lack only the experience and the power that comes with complete physical development and drinking has almost entirely disappeared at football games. There was a time when the colleges printed slips and handed them to the spectators, urging them to forget drinking at the game. There is no necessity for such admonition now. Professional football has made football the game for the man on the street, as well as the fellow in the broker's office. *** COLLEGE GAME FORCED TO TAKE NOTICE *** Thanks to the American Football Association, professional football has become as much a business as big league baseball. College football was slow to catch on to the competition, as the hoards, staid and complacent in their smugness, began to get itchy. The school big wigs saw, and read about the huge Sunday crowds and began to wonder whether they would lose dollars at the gate. Then came the big battle for officials. The professionals raided the college gridirons, offered the arbiters yearly contracts similar to baseball and got the cream of the pack to move over. Rollie Barrell had made the Detroit Maroons a great ballclub. Their rivalry with the Chicago Wildcats challenges anything the colleges can throw at you and the day is not far when the annual AFA championship will rival FABL's World Championship Series for sport's greatest spectacle. It already means more to most people, aside from the alumni of the two participants, than college's crown jewel the East-West Classic. Professional football today is in the front row - perched right on the 50-yard line. The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 10/11/1942
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Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal
The Scripture of Sports Last edited by Jiggs McGee; 06-16-2022 at 09:45 AM. |
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06-16-2022, 12:32 PM
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#452 |
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Bat Boy
Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 11
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October 12th, 1942 -- From the Desk of Percy Sutherland
 A Look at Baseball's Best (and Worst) Batsmen With the off-season officially underway, now is the time for a retrospective look at 1942. Sportswriters are casting their ballots for the FABL awards, and front offices are determining if their current mix of players are doing the job. With that in mind, I thought we could take a look at the hitting performances of this past season through the lens of Weighted Runs Created (wRC+). We first discussed wRC+ a couple of seasons ago.. As a reminder, wRC+ measures a batter's contribution to run scoring and is calculated such that 100 is league average. In 1942, there were 76 players with enough plate appearances to qualify for a batting title. The following table shows the wRC+ breakdown of those 76 batters. Code:
Rating wRC+ Player Count Excellent 160 4 Great 140 8 Above Average 115 30 Average 100 19 Below Average 80 9 Poor 75 5 Awful 60 1 * 204 - Bill Barrett (NYS) * 169 - George Cleaves (PIT) * 166 - Tom Bird (CHI) * 160 - Hank Barnett (CHC) Bill Barrett joins an elite group of players who have managed a wRC+ of greater than 200 (which is 100% better than average). Powell Slocum did it 5 times and Max Morris 4 times (including 3 seasons in a row from 1921 - 1923). Rankin Kellogg, Tom Taylor, Joe Masters, and Fred McCormick each have one season with a plus 200 wRC+. Needless to say, it's easy to see why Barrett is considered a lock to win the CA Whitney. And with Barrett now going into the Navy, the Cougars' new acquisition, Hank Barnett, becomes the top bat in the CA. What about the next category--the batters who had Great seasons? * 158 - Jim Watson (CHI) * 158 - Red Johnson (DET) * 152 - Bobby Barrell (PHI) * 152 - Walt Messer (NYG) * 147 - Pablo Reyes (PIT) * 147 - Pinky Pierce (PIT) * 146 - Mahlon Strong (PIT) * 140 - Harry Mead (CHC) Unlike the CA, the Fed Whitney vote will be much closer. But the winner should definitely come from one of these two categories. And it's easy to see why the Miners and the Chiefs had the top offenses in the Fed. Pittsburgh had 4 batters in these two categories and Chicago had 3. Now at the other end of the scale, we had 5 players with Poor seasons. * 77 - Don Homer (PHS) * 77 - Arnie Scurlock (WAS) * 76 - Ivan Cameron (STL) * 75 - Leon Blackridge (CLE) * 75 - Jim Beard (PHS) Typically when a player has enough plate appearances to qualify for a batting title and yet has a wRC+ this low, it means they bring something else to the table--namely, defense. One has to wonder, though, why Ivan Cameron still has a job. His best wRC+ season was his rookie mark of 86. His four FABL seasons: 86, 71, 50, 76. And his defense at short stop is not very good. He has been contributing a negative WAR value to the Pioneers each season after his debut. And finally we have the last group. That single, ignoble batter with an Awful wRC+. * 69 - Mel Hancock, Jr (NYS) When Hancock first broke in with Cleveland, he showed some flashes of having a good bat (a wRC+ of 118 in 60 games as a 22-year-old in 1936). He has not fulfilled that promise, however, and while he does have a good glove at second, it would appear he lost his job to Andy Gross in the 2nd half of the 1942 season. Last edited by percy_sutherland; 06-24-2022 at 10:35 AM. |
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06-17-2022, 10:23 AM
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#453 |
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 677
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October 19, 1942 - Awards day
OCTOBER 19, 1942  Barnett's Whitney win, the first of his career, becomes history making as he is the first Federal Association trophy winner to be selected despite the fact he is now a member of the Continental Association. Barnett, of course, was dealt last week by the Chiefs to their Chicago Continental counterparts, the Cougars. The only other time a reigning award winner had been traded during the off-season was way back in 1919 when Max Morris was dispatched from Cleveland to St Louis just days after winning his second Whitney Award. There was little surprise that Ed Bowman was selected as the top pitcher in the Fed. The 22 year old rookie had a dream season that culminated in a World Championship with the New York Gothams. Bowman was an unanimous selection.  The Continental Association winners were also unanimous as Bill Barrett of the New York Stars and Cincinnati Cannons pitcher Deuce Barrell each were positioned at the top of all 16 ballots. For Barrett, it marks the second straight Whitney Award for the outfielder and comes just a few weeks before his 23rd birthday. He was the only repeat winner this time around but will not be able to attempt to win his third straight as Barrett has announced he will be joining the Navy in the coming weeks. Barrell becomes the second member of his family to win a Continental Allen Award, joining his uncle Tom Barrell, who won three straight from 1934-36 while pitching for Brooklyn. The Barrell family also owns as Whitney Award, or more precisely two of them, as Tom's brother Bobby won in 1934 and 1936 with the Keystones. Bobby came close to joining his nephew this season but as mentioned above, the veteran Philadelphia outfielder had to settle for third place.  
YANKS WIN FIFTH STRAIGHT The Boston Americans have opened a large lead atop the American Football Association's Eastern Division with a 23-7 victory over the Brooklyn football Kings yesterday. The win improves the Yanks record to a perfect 5-0 and moves them a full 3 games ahead of the pack in their division. With St Louis and Philadelphia as their opponents the next two weeks and the woeful Pittsburgh Paladins also remaining on Boston's docket, the Americans are in a perfect position to win the division for the second time in four years. Quarterback Del Thomas had another strong game yesterday, throwing for 142 yards and two majors with Steve Kelly once again his favourite target. Kelly had 5 grabs for 79 yards and also ran the ball 10 times for 26 more. Following a scoreless first half at Whitney Park the Chicago Wildcats scored three touchdowns after the break to hold off the New York Stars 21-13. The victory keeps the Chicago eleven perfect at 4-0 on the season. After opening the season with 3 straight victories the Washington Wasps have now seen their record drop to the break-even mark thanks to a 35-21 loss in Detroit. The 3-1 Maroons were led by Stan Vaught as the end hauled in 13 passes for 165 yards and a pair of touchdowns in what now seems commonplace for the outstanding receiver from Kansas but out of reach for anyone else in the league. Vaught has 39 catchers through 4 games, nearly double the amount of anyone else in the league. Philadelphia found an answer for Bob Holt. After allowing the St Louis rookie to run for 254 yards and 3 touchdowns in the season opener the Frigates kept Holt and the rest of the Ramblers out of the end zone in a 24-0 Philadelphia victory. Holt still managed to gain 104 yards on the day and add to his league lead in rushing but the Frigates capitalized on 7 St Louis turnovers to claim their first victory of the season. Pittsburgh is now the only winless team and the Paladins dropped to 0-5 after taking a 38-7 pounding from the Cleveland Finches. Ray Kurtzman had a big day for the winners with 3 interceptions, including one he returned for a touchdown while also making 6 catches for 64 yards on offense including an 18 yard scoring pass from Sam Boettcher that started the Finches touchdown parade. Code:
AFA STANDINGS EASTERN W L T PCT Boston 5 0 0 1.000 Brooklyn 2 2 0 .500 New York 2 2 0 .500 Washington 3 3 0 .500 Philadelphia 1 5 0 .200 WESTERN W L T PCT Chicago 4 0 0 1.000 Detroit 3 1 0 .750 St Louis 2 3 0 .400 Cleveland 2 3 0 .400 Pittsburgh 0 5 0 .000 SUNDAY OCTOBER 18 Detroit 35 Washington 21 Boston 23 Brooklyn 7 Chicago 21 New York 13 Cleveland 38 Pittsburgh 7 Philadelphia 24 St Louis 0 SUNDAY OCTOBER 25 Philadelphia at Chicago New York at Brooklyn Cleveland at Washington Detroit at Pittsburgh Boston at St Louis Code:
AFA LEADERS SCORING PTS Vaught, Det 50 Holt, StL 42 Kelly, Bos 42 Frum, WAS 36 PASSING COMP-ATT YDS TD RATING Brown, Chi 22-40 500 5 100.0 Burnett, Det 72-117 758 9 88.2 Jamason, NYS 25-51 367 3 84.4 Thomas, Bos 73-128 740 11 82.8 RUSHING YDS Holt, StL 672 Sadowski, Was 354 Fitzgerald, Bos 320 Boettcher, Cle 256 RECEIVING CAT Vaught, Det 39 Kelly, Bos 20 Frum, Was 19 Douglas, Was 17 INERCEPTIONS # Kurtzman, Cle 5 Burnett, Det 5 Stein, Bkn 4 At no time are the boys allowed to forget -and they won't anyhow- that if they are playing football, or baseball, or doing track work, athletics is very much subsidiary to what the Navy Department is trying to get out of these schools. In looking over the rosters of these schools, you will find many men who have been playing football for years -too many years, as a matter of fact- for the retention of that sharp edge and keen zest which comes so naturally to younger men. The older men are getting a tremendous kick out of their football. They wouldn't quit it for anything. But it is a relief, particularly to those who had left behind pro gridiron careers to play just for fun, and to fit football into training for a big job to be done for Uncle Sam. Football men regard the presence of these fine teams at the pre-flight schools as a tremendous boost for the game. They believe that with the organization of the fine squads which have been working under some of the greatest coaches in the country, the Navy Department has announced that football is paramount in preparation for flying. There is another angle, and a vital one. By establishing football on a big basis among the extra-curricular activities at the schools, the Navy Department has attracted men who will prove themselves gallantly in the air service. Already football players have made a remarkable record in all branches of our service, especially in that which strikes through the air. With the success of the pre-flight teams: Georgia Pre-Flight is 4-0, Golden Gate Pre-Flight 3-0 while the Iowa and North Carolina flight schools are 2-2; the newspapers have been delighted to pay attention to them and as a result popular interest in them is tremendous. Fully as great as it is in any of our college or pro teams. Behind the pre-flight outfits we have numerous other service combinations of outstanding skill- teams like Great Lakes Naval and Jacksonville Air Station and many more. In fact squads of huskies are playing grand football at every service base in the country. And they're playing football in England, Ireland and Alaska as well. The Pre-Flights and those two have the whole nation behind them, as thoroughly as it is behind the gang at Annapolis Maritime and the lads at Rome State. It's a great type of football, played by a grand type of citizen, moving towards the greatest objective in the history of the world. That number will drop next week for certain as among the games on the slate are St. Matthew's College visiting Northern Minnesota to play the Muskies WEEKEND COLLEGE FOOTBALL RESULTS KEY MATCHUPS St. Blane 31 Iowa Pre-Flight 9 Annapolis Maritime 14 George Fox 0 Noble Jones College 44 Baton Rouge State 17 Carolina Poly 40 Empire State 35 Georgia Baptist 23 Central Carolina 3 Detroit City College 20 St. Magnus 12 College of Omaha 13 Minnesota Tech 3 Northern Mississippi 23 Bluegrass State 9 Great Lakes Navy 6 Wisconsin State 3 Rome State 23 Henry Hudson 17 Dickson 7 Grafton 3 Brunswick 20 Liberty College 7 Pierpont 21 Sadler 3 St. Matthew's College 17 Opelika State 6 Commonwealth Catholic 28 North Carolina Pre-Flight 10 St. Patrick's 24 St. Pancras 9 Iowa A&M 24 Lambert College 7 Central Ohio 37 Whitney College 3 Northern California 7 CC Los Angeles 3 OTHER GAMES Northern Minnesota 21 Bronx Tech 10 Utah A&M 14 Utah Miners 0 Bulein 13 Potomac College 0 Miami State 20 Laclede 7 Cumberland 21 Alabama Baptist 10 Valley State 24 Eastern Oklahoma 20 El Paso Methodist 17 Tempe College 14 College of Waco 10 Lubbock State 0 Ellery 20 Eastern Virginia 20 Mobile Maritime 28 Edgemoor 13 Boulder State 27 South Valley State 0 Mile High State 14 Wyoming A&I 6 Brooklyn State 33 Huntington State 10 Georgia Pre-Flight 35 Pensacola NAS 3 Abilene Baptist 48 Ruston Tech 0 Western Iowa 21 Lincoln 21 Indiana A&M 28 Pittsburgh State 10 Central Kentucky 20 Chesapeake State 3 Bayou State 31 Mississippi A&M 17 St. Ignatius 21 Wisconsin Catholic 10 Daniel Boone College 44 Eastern Kansas 3 Strub College 14 North Carolina Tech 10 Oklahoma City State 41 Lawrence State 0 Golden Gate University 24 San Francisco Tech 6 Sunnyvale 20 Lane State 14 Coastal California 27 Spokane State 0 Redwood 56 Idaho A&M 0 Conwell College 10 Texas Gulf Coast 7 Travis College 15 Arkansas A&T 9 Darnell State 9 Amarillo Methodist 0 Texas Panhandle 24 Abilene Methodist 10 Payne State 40 Perry State College 0 Provo Tech 17 Cache Valley 14 Penn Catholic 14 Western Florida 14 Petersburg 3 Eastern State 3 Alexandria 31 Maryland State 31 Charleston Tech 13 Cowpens State 9 Rainier College 20 Custer College 0 Hampden-Sydney 27 Lexington State 22 Canyon A&M 23 Flagstaff State 10 Fremont State 27 St. Francis (OH) 7 Jacksonville Naval Air Station 44 Daniel Field 0 California Catholic 41 Alameda Coast Guard 7 AIAA COLLEGE FOOTBALL STANDINGS  The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 10/18/1942
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Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal
The Scripture of Sports |
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06-20-2022, 02:24 PM
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#454 |
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 677
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October 26, 1942
OCTOBER 26, 1942 GEORGE CLEAVES, MONIER JOINING WAR EFFORT The World Championship Series is barely over but the much expected exodus of more FABL players to the military has begun. While it had long been known that New York Stars teammates Bill Barrett and Joe Angevine would be leaving immediately following the conclusion of the WCS for the Navy and news broke this week that the New York Gothams also are losing a player to the Navy. Shortstop Mule Monier has confirmed he has enlisted and will be reporting to Norfolk Naval Station this week to begin his basic training. The 26 year old two-time all-star played a key role in the Gothams thrilling seven game series victory over the Stars a couple of weeks ago. He played in 153 games this season, batting .295 with 6 homers and 49 rbi's. The Gothams are not the only Federal Association club sent reeling this week as the Pittsburgh Miners found out that all-star catcher George Cleaves has enlisted in the Army Air Corps, the Philadelphia Keystones lost star pitcher Lloyd Stevens to the Navy and the Boston Minutemen will be without Bill Burkett for the duration as he, like Cleaves, joined the Air Force. Continental Association clubs did not emerge from the week unscathed either as Brooklyn's Joe Herman and Montreal first baseman Red Bond have also enlisted. STARS SACK SCHMIDT In a not unexpected move but one that still feels surprising because of the level of success he achieved, the New York Stars have officially parted ways with Manager Otto Schmidt. There had been rumblings of a conflict in the Stars front-office and rumours became very persistent after the Stars ownership publicly questioned some of Schmidt's decisions in the dugout during the World Championship Series and in particular the seventh game, one in which the Stars would fall in 10 innings by a 3-1 score. No replacement has been announced as of press time and it will be interested to see if the New York club opts for a veteran skipper with experience such as Hank Leitzke or John Heydon, or chooses to go with someone without big league managerial experience. Current Los Angeles Knights manager Dick Anderson is one such possible candidate. As for Schmidt, you have to think the 63 year old will get another opportunity somewhere after going 359-257 over his 4 seasons at the helm in New York. Schmidt's German roots, and willingness to support many of the Nazis policies publicly, certainly was a contributing factor to his quick exit from the Stars. The question is will that possibly deter other FABL teams from hiring him? Schmidt got his managerial start in the high school ranks, coaching in Brooklyn which was the city he played his 5 career FABL games for way back in 1902 with the Kings. He also spent a few years managing the minors with St Paul and was a coach for Pittsburgh for two seasons including their 1937 pennant winning campaign. LOOKING AT THE MODERN HISTORY OF FABL The modern history of FABL (1926-present) has seen terrific competition in the Federal Association with 6 of the 8 teams having won at least one pennant over that stretch. The Fed has been much more balanced than it's Continental Association rivals who, despite also boasting six different pennant winners have a much wider spread between the haves and the have-nots of the loop. As you can see from the cumulative standings report below, the Philadelphia Sailors are the class of the modern era despite not winning a pennant since 1930. The Sailors regular season, including a play-off tie breaker (which they lost their only one to Brooklyn in 1937), record is 1420-1199, good for an 8 game lead on the second place Kings, won have 4 pennants to their credit, for the best in big league baseball. The third place team in the CA -the New York Stars- also has won more games than any team in the Federal Association over that period. Here is a look at victories by season and overall record from 1926 to today.  *** FEDERAL ASSOCIATION PARITY *** The New York Gothams have won more pennants than any other team in either association but they only rank 6th in the Fed (and 10th overall) in modern era victories. The Gothams have alternated being very, very good -as they were for the most part from 1930-35- and just awful as they were for the second half of the 1930s. Even when the Gothams were good, they threw in an awful season or two: we offer 1929 and 1932 as examples. Before we go and diagnose the Gothams as the most bi-polar team in the league -although the description certainly seems to fit- perhaps we should factor the large fluctuation in wins on the fact that the Federal Association seems to be as a whole much more balanced than the CA. Case in point is that only 75 victories separate 1st place from 6th in the cumulative standings in the Federal Association and even 7th place St Louis is only 95 wins shy of the front-running Keystones after 17 seasons or more than 2,600 games. In contrast, the Cincinnati Cannons -who are 6th in the Continental- are 198 wins back of the first place Sailors. As a side note, Philadelphia fans have to be puffing their chests out with both of the hometown nine's leading the way. Perhaps it helps ease their concern that the City of Brotherly Love has not hosted a WCS game since 1933. *** WILL THE EAGLES EVER SOAR *** The two worst teams over the 17 seasons have been the Montreal Saints and Washington Eagles. Those two, along with St Louis and the Cannons, are the only clubs not to win a pennant over that stretch. Even Toronto, which was an awful team for most of those years, earned on in 1940 and the Wolves have clearly made the jump from bad team to contender. St Louis, while not winning one, did come close to a pennant a few times and were a very strong team for several years. Plus St Louis fans had the legendary Max Morris to entertain them for the early years of the modern era. Montreal, as mentioned has been awful, and hasn't had a winning season since 1930 - the longest drought for any team in FABL - but the Saints seem to be on the verge of following their Canadian cousins from Toronto out of mediocrity.That leaves us with Washington and the mess that baseball has been in the nation's capital. Aside from an outstanding final two months of the 1937 season when the Eagles clawed above the break-even mark and perhaps even had pennant dreams for a brief moment, the team has been a losing ballclub. The last time they finished in the first division was 1929. It may seem like it but in reality the Washington Eagles were not always a bad team. In fact, entering the modern era the Eagles were possibly the best organization in the Federal Association, with 5 straight seasons of at least 80 victories and pennants in 3 of the four previous years. So what happened? How did the Eagles organization, one that soared so high in the early twenties, quickly crash and burn despite the fact they had arguably the greatest catcher to ever play the game - T.R. Goins- in his prime? There certainly have been a number of upper management changes over the years and with each of them the corresponding switch in direction that resulted in the trading of Goins, the trading of Mel Carrol - who was subsequently reacquired- and questionable personnel decisions with none worse then the move to cut Glenn Morrison in 1928. Morrison was a terrific third baseman and just 28 years old at the time he was banished to the Great Western League. He had already won a WCS MVP award while with the Eagles and was hitting .350 in 730 career FABL games while by all accounts playing above average defense at the hot corner. He would go one to play over a decade in Portland and win 3 GWL titles with the Green Sox as the Eagles floundered. One could say that was the start of the Eagles downfall, even though they were already struggling their way thru a 93 loss season when Morrison was cut in August of 1928. There were signs things would not go well even earlier as drafting, and presumably the entire scouting department, would become the achilles heel in the nation's capital. In the deep 1925 draft - the first of the modern GM era - they took Leo Gorski with their first round pick. He never made it above AAA and the blame for the Eagles downfall can squarely be placed on their drafting decisions. They landed a few early picks that panned out- names like Andy Carter, Wally Flowers and Jim Beard but they also took names like Bill Whiting, Grover Carson, George Gillard, Bobo White and Bill Kirby in the opening round. Trades also seemed to often backfire. In 1928 they dealt the first overall pick - one that would land future Allan Award winner Tommy Wilcox - to Brooklyn in exchange for 2 first round picks and a prospect by the name of Dave Bristol. Bristol never panned out and while Wilcox eventually ran into serious arm troubles it was not before he made a pair of all-star teams. That was not the only time the Eagles passed on what could have been the ace of their pitching staff. In 1934 the Eagles again were first on the board. They didn't trade the pick this time but did use it on what turned out to be the wrong player- grabbing Bobo White number one ahead of his St Blane teammate Gus Goulding - a name you might remember from game seven of the recent World Championship Series. Trades also saw them part with the first overall pick a year ago in order to pickup a young shortstop prospect, but one certainly not worthy of a top draft pick. Two years before they they sent their first rounder to the New York Gothams for Jim Birdwell. Now Birdwell did breakout with a 15 win season last season so perhaps he is a player they could build around, although names like the Schneider twins and plenty of others were still on the board when the pick the Eagles originally owned came up. They had a potential star in Johnnie Jones as well, acquired from the Stars in the move that sent Moxie Pidgeon to New York. Hard to follow the trail but they eventually turned Johnnie Jones into Sig Stofer and the return of Mel Carrol from Cleveland so perhaps that one is a wash. But the point is the Washington Eagles have often been their own worst enemy. *** EAGLES GOING FORWARD *** The Eagles have another new management team in place and after finishing it's first season this group seems to exercising proper restraint and looking to slowly collect the pieces to put Humpty Dumpty back together - which is no easy task when the egg that is the Eagles organization has been not just dropped, but stomped on many times in the past. The Eagles farm system is for the most barren - ranked 15th in the league by OSA - and only first baseman Stofer, second sacker Henry Bush and left fielder Sam Brown rank in the top half of starters at their respective positions. So what exactly does Washington have to build around? Jiggs McGee takes an updated position by position look at the long-suffering organization. CATCHER - I like Paul Wilkerson (.252,2,36). The 26 year old will never be mistaken for Bird or Cleaves in the Fed but he is a solid player. The issue is there is zero organization depth. Paul Brophy is a 30 year old backup who is fine if he is just that- a backup- but there are no prospects worth discussing in the Eagles system so you have to think this is a position they try and target in the draft. FIRST BASE -Sig Stofer (.279,23,92) is an exciting player to watch and becoming a fan favourite at Columbia Stadium. OSA ranks him 5th among starting first baseman and it seems like the 26 year old will only get better. He is one the Eagles can build around. SECOND BASE -Henry Bush (.260,6,37) only has 119 career games of FABL experience but OSA already feels he is among the best second basemen in the league. They also have Al Gross, at least when the war ends as Gross is currently in the marines. Gross was acquired from Boston at the hefty price of what turned out to be last year's first overall pick. He was supposed to be a shortstop, at least he was in high school, but it is looking like he lacks the defensive ability to play that position as a pro. He has also struggled in the field at second base but OSA has confidence he will develop. A couple of seasons away they have Harry Perryman, the Eagles second round pick out of Bayou State last January. The 21 year old had a brief taste of Class C last year and looks like one to keep an eye on. SHORTSTOP - Jack Bush (no relation to Henry) was supposed to be the answer when Eagles dealt Jim Beard to Washington a few years ago. In fact a now-former Eagles manager called Bush a future hall of famer. Bush is now back in Kansas City, apparently lacking only the bat and glove to be a Hall of Famer. 25 year old Arnie Scurlock (.239,2,49) is the latest flavour of the day at short for the Eagles. His bat is nothing special and his defense is also suspect so this has to be a priority position for the Eagles. Find a defense-first shortstop and hopefully that will also lead to improvements in the pitching staff. THIRD BASE - Mel Carrol (.301,12,48) is in his second tour with the Eagles. First time around he had that amazing .409 batting average in 1937. He is not the same player after his exile to Cleveland but he is still a solid big league third baseman and, while turning 31 next month, still should have a decent shelf life left. Plus he is a fan favourite and the Eagles need all the help they can get to sell tickets. Back-up Jim Jenkins, a waiver pickup a year ago, is available in a pinch and the Eagles have an intriguing prospect in 23 year old Bob Moran, but the issue is he belongs to the Navy for the duration. OUTFIELD - Dilly Ward (.240,6,43), Sam Brown (.325,6,47) and Bob Coon (.295,1,23) are the starters but if he can ever stay healthy you figure the Eagles will find a spot for 28 year old Don Miller. Miller had a solid 1940 and got off to a great start this past season before suffering a season-ending injury just 18 games in - and that was after missing much of the previous season as well. The veteran Brown is 31 years old and a 2-time all-star which likely should have been three-time but he was omitted from the '42 squad. Coon is a 24 year old former second round pick out of St Magnus who should be an average big league outfielder. Ward came over from Montreal a few seasons ago and has spent a fair bit of time in centerfield but an upgrade there would not hurt. There is a fair bit of outfield talent on the farm led by Jesse Alvardo. Just 19 years old, the 1940 6th overall pick had an outstanding season at AA this past year and as the most anticipated Washington prospect he may just earn a late season promotion to the big leagues. Alvardo will play a corner position but there are future centerfield candidates in 20 year old Roy Carroll and 19 year old Rudy Ellison, although both are likely 3 years away. PITCHING - Pitching has been incredibly inconsistent for the Eagles over the years. We have seen guys come up with career years one season only to be among the worst in the league the following year. There has been a lot of turnover on the mound in Washington as well. Last season the starters were Jack Elder (15-18, 3.71), Jim Birdwell (15-10, 3.50), Del Burns (8-19, 3.93) and Dan Everett (6-17, 5.37). Elder is a 31 year old who won 20 games for the Eagles a few years back but is likely best suited for the back of a big league rotation. Birdwell came from the Gothams at the cost of a first round pick a few years ago and the 27 year old is coming off a decent season. Burns won 17 games in his first year after being acquired from the Cougars but lost 19 each of the past two seasons. He, like Elder and Birdwell, is a decent big league arm but all three are more suited to the back of the rotation. The final pitcher to start regularly in Washington this past season was Dan Everett, who is likely best utilized in the bullpen, or at Kansas City. So the Eagles have the back half of the rotation covered but they really need two solid pitchers to anchor the rotation. The problem is top of the rotation starters are not all that easy to find. The Eagles can hope they have one in their system, but that is likely not the case as it lacks a highly touted arm with 19 year old former 6th round pick Buckeye Smith maybe the closest they have to a middle-to-top of rotation guy. The issue the Eagles have with their pitching is every other team in the Fed has at least two starters, and in most cases more than two, that I would slot ahead of any of Washington's pitchers. For example would you take any of Elder, Birdwell or Burns over any of Boston's 5 starters in Walt Wells, Ed Wood, Dean Astle, Ray Dalpman or Duke Hendricks? How about the Chiefs trio of Rabbit Day, Al Miller and newcomer Mel Haynes. Okay, perhaps Day but only because of his age. No way you are taking one of the Eagles trio over the Gothams Ed Bowman, Gus Goulding and Rusty Petrick. In Pittsburgh you have Lefty Allen and George Phillips or the Philadelphia troika of Lloyd Stevens, Pepper Tuttle and George M Brooks. Think St Louis might be a possibility? Sure the Pioneers have also struggled in recent years but who wouldn't rather have their deep collection of pitching prospects led by Tom Buchanan and Hal Hackney with lefty's Buddy Long and Danny Hern to anchor the staff. That leaves us with Detroit and even with the Dynamos pitching collapse of last season I still think Charlie Wheeler and Sergio Gonzales -if he is healthy- are a better duo and Mike Murphy might still show us something going forward as well. The Dynamos also have much better pitching prospects than the Eagles do in Charlie Ashmore and Jimmy Long. A lack of top flight pitching is clearly an issue in Washington but a defensive upgrade at shortstop and in centerfield might help as well. The Eagles pick second in this year's draft and hopefully they make the right choice - something that has not happened anywhere near often enough in the nation's capital- to get the club headed in the right direction. There are some pieces but this puzzle is likely still a few years away from being assembled at least well enough to contend even for the first division - let alone a trip to the WCS for the first time since 1925. CHICAGO PAPER HANDS OUT GOLDEN BATS The Chicago Herald-Examiner, headed by TWIFB contributor Percy Sutherland, has compiled a list of the most productive offensive players at each position. Dubbing them the "Golden Batsmen" here are the 8 players deemed by the paper to be the most productive at the plate. GOLDEN BATSMEN C - George Cleaves (PIT), .324/.426/.480, 12, 88 1B - Red Johnson (DET), .283/.399/.467, 27, 92 2B - Bob Martin (CHI), .327/.369/.422, 5, 53 3B - Hank Barnett (CHI), .310/.396/.472, 24, 107 SS - Jake Hughes (MON), .319/.377/.408, 2, 57 OF - Bill Barrett (NYS), .345/.492/.549, 27, 91 OF - Bobby Barrell (PHI), .289/.345/.519, 33, 115 OF - Walt Messer (NYG), .297/.349/.497, 27, 88 P - Juan Pomales (TOR), .266/.319/.375, 1, 20 RUFUS BARRELL RETIRES FOR A SECOND TIME Another legend has stepped aside from the day to day operations of the Cincinnati Cannons. Rufus Barrell, the legendary scout and grandfather of Cannons ace Deuce Barrell, has decided at age 69 he has had enough of the travel. Barrell has been a scout nearly all of his life, and a great one at that, first as the co-founder of OSA -the league scouting agency- and more recently as the Director of the Cannons scouting staff. Barrell was an important piece of the trio, along with legendary manager/minority owner George Theobald and majority owner John Tice, that brought the Cannons to the Queen City from Baltimore and oversaw their resurgence. Theobald, baseball's all-time winningest manager, stepped down after a single season in Cincinnati, one in which he guided a last place team the previous season to within 4 games of a pennant. Now Barrell joins him on the outside looking in, but unlike Theobald who still spends much time in Cincinnati, the longtime bird-dog is expected to return to his Georgia farm and spend the rest of his days with his large brood - one that includes many FABL stars as well as one's who excelled in many other sports. Will it be permanent this time? You might remember that before Barrell joined the group that brought the Cannons to town he was already retired - having turned over the head job at OSA to his son and former Brooklyn Kings infielder Dan Barrell. So there is always a chance that Rufus feels the need to scratch that old scouting itch, but even if he does it likely will not be back in Cincinnati. *** CANNONS PROMOTE BORDWELL *** The Georgia connection to Barrell will remain in the Cannons scouting department as his long-time protegee Bill Bordwell will replace Barrell as director of the Cannons scouting staff. Bordwell, who hails from Augusta, Georgia, had spent a number of years working under Barrell at the OSA and was one of the first hires for the Cannons scouting department when they came to Cincinnati in 1939. Bordwell has been working as a scout since 1919, when he retired from an 11 year playing career that included 98 FABL games with the New York Stars and Chicago Cougars.Despite the wealth of scouting experience this will be the 59 year old's first opportunity to head a staff. "I am looking forward to continuing what Rufus and our group have started here," said an excited Bordwell to reporters earlier this week. "We have a great group, not just on the field but in the front office as well so don't expect many changes. Mr. Barrell put together a great scouting team and it is my honour to continue the work he started here." The Cannons prospects currently rank 7th in FABL and are headlined by 20 year old outfielder Dick Blaszak, ranked #2 overall by OSA, and recently drafted pitchers Bill Sohl and Vic Carroll, each of whom have spent time in the major leagues. Cincinnati's deep system was also used to package a number of talented youngsters to acquire players like Moxie Pidgeon - who contributed greatly to the 1939 run- and Adam Mullins, who was acquired from Montreal two years ago.
WILDCATS LOSE COACH BOON TO NAVY The Chicago Wildcats will be without head coach Carl Boon for the duration as the dean of AFA coaches has accepted a Navy commission as a Lieutenant-Commander. Boon, who had served as an ensign in the First World War while also spending some time playing football for the Great Lakes Naval Training Station, will depart this week. The Wildcats play to use assistants Marv Englert and Bill Youngberg to work together to run the club the rest of the season. In addition the Washington Wasps have learned that their second round draft choice, back Mike Beard, has been drafted and will leave soon for his home state of Oklahoma for induction into the Army. The former Oklahoma City State star had been handling some of the passing duties for the Wasps, completing 25 throws for 289 including 4 touchdown tosses. Beard also had 8 carries for 14 yards but his impact will probably be most felt on defense as he was tied for second on the club with 3 interceptions. ST LOUIS SURPRISES BOSTON IN WILD SUNDAY OF AFA ACTION There were a couple of unexpected outcomes, if not outright upsets, yesterday in American Football Association play. The biggest upset had to be in St Louis where the Ramblers improved to 3-3 by handing the Boston Americans their first loss of the season. The fact that the Ramblers won 17-10 despite star rookie back Bob Holt being held to a season-low 12 yards rushing on the day, makes the St Louis win at Pioneers Field a complete shock. The Ramblers built a 17-0 lead and hung on as Boston quarterback Del Thomas desperately tried to get his side the equalizing score. Thomas threw for 181 yards on the day but dug his own hole with 4 interceptions including one that Ron Hungate returned 42 yards for a St Louis touchdown. The other big upset result came from Fitzpatrick Park in Pittsburgh where the winless Paladins surprisingly held the mighty Detroit Maroons to a 7-7 tie. Even earning the tie was touch and go for the Maroons, who needed a 5 yard touchdown pass from Dewey Burnett to Stan Vaught in the fourth quarter to finally solve the Pittsburgh defense and square the game. New York is right back in the Eastern Division race after the Football Stars improved to 3-2 with a hard fought 14-13 win over their rivals from Brooklyn, ruining a big day from Kings star back Bulldog Stein, who ran for 117 yards, threw for 104 more and kicked a pair of field goals. No surprises in the other two games as both Chicago and Washington won big. The Wildcats, in the final game with Carl Boon as head coach for sometime, easily handled visiting Philadelphia with a 28-3 win while in the nation's capital the Wasps stung Cleveland 35-7 behind a 71 yards rushing, two touchdown day from Mike Sadowski. Code:
AFA STANDINGS EASTERN W L T PCT Boston 5 1 0 .800 New York 3 2 0 .600 Washington 4 3 0 .571 Brooklyn 2 3 0 .400 Philadelphia 1 6 0 .143 WESTERN W L T PCT Chicago 5 0 0 1.000 Detroit 3 1 1 .750 St Louis 3 3 0 .500 Cleveland 2 4 0 .333 Pittsburgh 0 5 1 .000 SUNDAY OCTOBER 25 Chicago 28 Philadelphia 3 New York 14 Brooklyn 13 Washington 35 Cleveland 7 Detroit 7 Pittsburgh 7 St Louis 17 Boston 10 SUNDAY NOVEMEBER 1 St Louis at New York Washington at Brooklyn Pittsburgh at Chicago Cleveland at Detroit Philadelphia at Boston Code:
AFA LEADERS SCORING PTS Vaught, Det 57 Holt, StL 42 Kelly, Bos 42 Frum, WAS 42 Stein, Bkn 40 PASSING COMP-ATT YDS TD RATING Jamason, NYS 33-61 477 3 89.3 Burnett, Det 84-147 855 10 82.4 Thomas, Bos 92-168 921 11 67.6 Proos, Was 66-147 906 6 39.2 RUSHING YDS Holt, StL 682 Sadowski, Was 425 Fitzgerald, Bos 374 Stein, Bkn 359 Frum, Was 314 RECEIVING CAT Vaught, Det 48 Kelly, Bos 24 Frum, Was 19 Douglas, Was 19 Smithberger,Cle 19 INERCEPTIONS # Burnett, Det 6 Kurtzman, Cle 5 Sadowski, Was 5 Stein, Bkn 5 Vaught, Det 5 Those that lost their perfect standing on Saturday included both St Matthew's College and Northern Minnesota as the two remain unbeaten but now each have a tie after playing to a 3-3 draw in Thief River Falls. Rome State also was forced to settle for a tie after winning their first 3 games of the season as the Centurions played Dickson to a scoreless draw. Valley State was hammered 37-0 by Wisconsin Catholic to end it's bid for a perfect season. Payne State lost a tight one 31-30 to Midwestern Association rival Laclede. Georgia Pre-Flight was grounded 30-14 by Bayou State and Mile High State lost it's Plains Athletic Association showdown with Provo Tech 21-7 to fall to 5-1 on the year. WEEKEND COLLEGE FOOTBALL SCOREBOARD KEY GAMES St. Blane 21 Lincoln 7 Commonwealth Catholic 31 Cowpens State 13 Noble Jones College 44 Queen City 0 Central Ohio 48 St. Magnus 17 Detroit City College 20 Minnesota Tech 13 Wisconsin State 17 Whitney College 0 Great Lakes Navy 10 St. Ignatius 0 Georgia Baptist 28 Annapolis Maritime 13 North Carolina Pre-Flight 21 Conwell College 7 Jacksonville Naval Air Station 17 Tampa 0 Bayou State 30 Georgia Pre-Flight 14 Dickson 0 Rome State 0 Lubbock State 10 Darnell State 6 Northern California 6 Rainier College 0 Northern Minnesota 3 St. Matthew's College 3 Pittsburgh State 16 Carolina Poly 10 Indiana A&M 55 Western Iowa 0 Redwood 27 Coastal California 16 CC Los Angeles 3 Sunnyvale 3 Spokane State 24 Lane State 10 St. Pancras 21 Brunswick 0 Cumberland 24 Bulein 3 Red River State 13 Travis College 7 Pierpont 27 Henry Hudson 13 Sadler 23 Ellery 0 Grafton 24 George Fox 20 OTHER RESULTS Columbia Military Academy 13 Coastal State 7 Opelika State 13 Penn Catholic 3 Laclede 31 Payne State 30 Utah Miners 24 Cache Valley 20 Central Kentucky 24 Alabama Baptist 21 Arkansas A&T 24 Mississippi A&M 10 Boulder State 23 Colorado Poly 3 Fremont State 27 Lambert College 0 Abilene Baptist 42 Tempe College 0 St. Patrick's 7 Charleston Tech 0 Lawrence State 17 Eastern Kansas 13 Eastern Virginia 24 Eastern State 20 Strub College 12 Bronx Tech 0 Wisconsin Catholic 37 Valley State 0 Hagerstown State (MD) 23 Maryland State 21 Miami State 13 Chase 0 Western Florida 3 Northern Mississippi 3 Daniel Boone College 51 Iowa A&M 0 Oklahoma City State 27 College of Omaha 3 Eastern Oklahoma 50 Perry State College 9 Portland Tech 20 Idaho A&M 0 Empire State 14 Liberty College 6 Golden Gate University 10 California Catholic 6 Texas Gulf Coast 23 Corpus Christi NAS 0 Pensacola NAS 31 Amarillo Methodist 13 College of Waco 10 South Valley State 0 North Carolina Tech 13 Baton Rouge State 7 Provo Tech 21 Mile High State 7 Bluegrass State 38 Danville 0 Petersburg 10 Alexandria 3 Chesapeake State 33 Lexington State 14 Canyon A&M 13 Texas Panhandle 13 Huntington State 31 Garth College 0 Richmond State 24 Potomac College 0 Wyoming A&I 27 Miners College 10 San Francisco Tech 48 Minns College 14   HAMPTON PASSES ON HARDBALL FOR THE HARDWOOD Western Iowa officially welcomed Joe Hampton to the school basketball team this week. The 19 year old accepted a scholarship to join the Canaries basketball team after deciding to walk away from a professional baseball career. Hampton, listed perhaps slightly generously at 6'1" by the school, is expected to challenge for a starting guard spot that is vacant after Ray Steiger left for the navy.  Joe struggled at the Class C level in 1941, going 0-8 with a 5.93 era but pitched much better this season, and as a two-way player he also spent some time in the outfield while batting .275 on the year. However, Joe's father was brutally honest with him and suggested making the big leagues would be a tough proposition so Joe, after briefly considering enlisting, decided to go to college with the goal of possibly becoming a Navy pilot once he secured his diploma. Western Iowa, a top twenty team in the Great Lakes Alliance, had pursued him heavily in 1941 and quickly offered a scholarship when he expressed interest over the summer. He started attending classes at the campus in Sioux City in mid-September, immediately after completing his baseball campaign, but news of the retirement from baseball and the college scholarship was recently made public when he was spotted working out with several of his new teammates at the Western Iowa gym. It is a return home of sorts for the teenager, who grew up in Chicago but was born in Cedar Rapids -his mother's hometown- and spent a number of winters there during his youth. The Canaries finished second to Detroit City College in the Great Lakes Alliance last season with a 10-6 conference record and 23-10 overall. They reached the quarterfinals in the year-end AIAA tournament but fell to eventual national champion Liberty College by a 49-30 score. Western Iowa has never won a national championship tournament but they did reach the title game in 1939. BROOKLYN STATE AND LIBERTY SET TO BATTLE AGAIN FOR NORTHEAST SUPREMACY The pre-season AIAA basketball rankings are set to be released at the beginning of November and it is a good bet that Northeast Conference rivals Liberty College and Brooklyn State will once again figure prominently. Between them the two schools own the two most recent AIAA tournament championships and 5 titles in the past seven years. A year ago it was the Philadelphia school's chance to shine as the Bells not only won their conference title with a 14-2 record but also claimed the National Championship after beating CC Los Angeles in the title game and finished with a school record 31-4 mark overall. The Bears finished second to the Bells in conference play with a 13-3 record (24-6 overall) but the 1941 defending AIAA tournament champs were upset by Grafton in the opening round this past March.Brooklyn State has something to prove this season but the Bears will have to do so without the services of their top scorer in forward Travis Jenkins or guard Earl Powers, both of whom have graduated and are each in the Army. They will have to rely on seniors Freddie Wicklund and Israel Slusher, who averaged 13 points a game between them or just under a point less than Jenkins himself provided last season. Liberty College, on the other hand, looks set to try and duplicate their back to back titles won beginning with the 1935-36 season. Their top player Robert Grant is back for his senior year. The center was a second team All-American selection last season and named the top player in the Northeast Conference. Three other starters return for the Bells who will likely be the favourite in their loop once. Code:
1942-43 PREDICTIONS FOR THE NORTHEAST CONFERENCE SCHOOL 1941-42 RECORD 1 Liberty College Bells 14-2 31-4 2 Brooklyn State Bears 13-3 24-6 3 Garden State Redbirds 9-7 23-9 4 St Patrick's Shamrocks 7-9 18-11 5 St Pancras Lions 10-6 22-10 6 Frankford State Owls 5-11 13-16 7 St Martin's Coll. Crusaders 9-7 16-13 8 Commonwealth Catholic Knights 4-12 12-17 9 St Matthew's College Senators 1-15 5-24 Here is the complete list of yearly conference basketball champions. AIAA Tournament winners are also noted as the conference has had 7 of them in the past decade, after winning none in the first 22 years of AIAA basketball. Code:
YEARLY NORTHEAST CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS Season Team Record ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1941 Liberty College 26-4 (14-2) NATIONAL CHAMP 1940 Brooklyn State 25-4 (15-1) NATIONAL CHAMP 1939 Brooklyn State 26-3 (13-3) 1938 Liberty College 26-3 (15-1) Garden State won National Championship 1937 Brooklyn State 25-4 (12-4) NATIONAL CHAMP 1936 Brooklyn State 24-5 (13-3) Liberty won National Championship 1935 Garden State 25-4 (12-4) Liberty won National Championship 1934 St. Patrick's 25-5 (13-3) 1933 Garden State 26-3 (14-2) 1932 Garden State 24-6 (13-3) 1931 St. Patrick's 21-8 (11-5) Brooklyn State won National Championship 1930 Garden State 26-3 (14-2) 1929 Garden State 23-6 (12-4) 1928 St. Patrick's 25-5 (13-3) 1927 Frankford State 24-5 (14-2) 1926 St. Patrick's 22-7 (11-5) 1925 Liberty College 23-6 (13-3) 1924 Liberty College 25-5 (13-3) 1923 Frankford State 26-3 (14-2) 1922 St. Patrick's 23-6 (11-5) 1921 Liberty College 23-6 (13-3) 1920 Frankford State 21-8 (12-4) 1919 St. Patrick's 23-6 (10-4) 1918 St. Matthew's College 20-10 (10-4) 1917 Liberty College 22-7 (12-2) 1916 St. Martin's College 19-10 (10-4) 1915 St. Patrick's 15-14 (11-3) 1914 St. Patrick's 18-11 (10-4) 1913 Commonwealth Catholic 19-11 (11-3) 1912 Liberty College 26-4 (13-1) 1911 St. Patrick's 22-8 (11-3) 1910 Brooklyn State 25-4 (12-2) 1909 Frankford State 22-7 (9-5) The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 10/25/1942
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Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal
The Scripture of Sports Last edited by Jiggs McGee; 06-20-2022 at 03:14 PM. |
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06-21-2022, 02:15 PM
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All Star Reserve
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November 2, 1942
NOVEMBER 2, 1942 DEFENSIVE AWARDS HANDED OUT The Chicago Herald-Examiner, headed by sports editor Percy Sutherland, has once again decided to recognize what it feels are the top glovemen in FABL. Here are the players the Chicago daily feels were the Premier Defenders at each of the nine position this past season. The Federal Association dominated the list with six of the nine members including the World Champion New York Gothams battery of catcher Pete Casstevens and incredible rookie pitcher Ed Bowman. The Boston Minutemen and Chicago Cougars each also placed two members on the squad with outfielder Chick Donnelly and second baseman Buddy Schneider representing Boston while Buddy's brother Skipper Schneider and Carlos Montes were the Cougars who made the grade. Continental Association Whitney Award winner Bill Barrett of the New York Stars rounded out the team along with Chicago Chiefs first baseman Ron Rattigan and third baseman Tommy Wilson of the St. Louis Pioneers.  YES THEY CAN! STARS HIRE KANT AS BENCH BOSS The New York Stars quickly found their new manager. Just days after letting the controversial Otto Schmidt go, the Stars signed long-time minor league skipper Jerry Kant to head their club next season. Kant, a 59 year old Illinois native, has some major league managerial experience as he was the skipper in Washington from 1925-1929 and led the Eagles to a pennant in his first season in the nation's capital. He was let go by the Eagles following the '29 season but has been active in the minor leagues ever since: first with Erie and more recently with the independent Syracuse Excelsiors, a club he was with for nearly a decade. Kant never played in the major leagues but did pitch for a few seasons in the minors before moving into the coaching ranks.  ANOTHER WAVE OF ENLISTMENTS HITS FABL CLUBS The latest news on players leaving FABL for the war effort includes major blows being dealt to the two World Championship Series participants. The New York Gothams learned a week ago that Mule Monier was off to the Navy and now comes word that another piece of their so-called "Million Dollar Infield" has been inducted in to the US Army. That would be now-former starting second baseman Roosevelt Brewer and the bad news for Gothams supporters did not end there as pitcher Harry Carter has joined the Navy. The Continental Association pennant winning New York Stars also suffered another loss with rookie second baseman Andy Gross informing the club he is joining the Coast Guard. Gross follows Lew Seals, Joe Angevine, two-time Whitney Award winner Bill Barrett and backup infielder Del Huddleston in joining the war effort which makes the Stars likely the hardest hit team so far this off-season. There were plenty of others jumping into the fray this week as well, which by our account brings the total of players with at least one game of FABL experience in their careers to join the war effort to 136. This week's departures can also count among their numbers Detroit pitcher Charlie Wheeler, Montreal's Wally Doyle, Boston pitchers Art Myers and John Edwards, Cougars first baseman Ray Ford, young Cincinnati catcher Rick York and rising young outfielder Hank Giordano of the Toronto Wolves. Here is the list of players who played in FABL this past season that have now either enlisted or been drafted: BOSTON- Pitchers Art Myers (5-4, 3.31) and and John Edwards (6-9, 4.42) along with OF Bill Burkett (.263,8,74) BROOKLYN- Outfielder Joe Herman (.267,3,28), pitcher Willie Gonzalez Jr (0-1, 5.40), catcher Eddie Miller (.333,0,1) and second baseman Howard Rivers (.320,1,12) CHIEFS- Pitcher Milt Fritz (2-7, 4.64) and catcher Joe Brown (.265,0,9) COUGARS- Infielder Ray Ford (.289,10,40) CINCINNATI- Infielder Terry Cox (.242,3,25) and C/3B Rick York (.277,0,6) CLEVELAND- SS Jim Klingberg (.250,0,0), P Jack Hale (0-0, 1.42) DETROIT- Pitchers Charlie Wheeler (10-12, 4.70) and Johnny Witt (0-3, 6.30) and shortstop Rich Conway (.275,1,16) MONTREAL- First baseman Red Bond (.254,16,81) along with pitchers Wally Doyle (13-13, 3.71) and Whitey Griffin (3-1, 0.71) NY STARS- Outfielder Bill Barrett (.345,27,91) and Lew Seals (.251,16,73) along with middle infielders Andy Gross (.326,2,23), Joe Angevine (.294,1,75) and Del Huddleston (.333,0,3) NY GOTHAMS- Shortstop Mule Monier (.295,6,49), second baseman Roosevelt Brewer (.282,0,50) and pitcher Harry Carter (16-14, 3.17) KEYSTONES- Pitcher Lloyd Stevens (17-7, 2.71), outfielder Tony Pestilli (.188,0,0) and second baseman Al Hess (.237,0,8) SAILORS- Outfielder Lou Williams (.283,1,55) PITTSBURGH- Catcher George Cleaves (.324,12,88) ST LOUIS- Pitchers Dick Long (3-2, 4.31) and Mal Bianco (3-9, 5.36), first baseman Bob Johnston Jr. (.373,0,22) and second baseman Abel Gardner (.266,1,35) TORONTO- Outfielder Hank Giordano (..315,2,24) and pitcher Red More (0-0,0.00) WASHINGTON-Pitcher Hal Weston (1-2, 4.40), first baseman Bob Mark (.325,0,1) and second baseman (.248,3,31) 'SPLIT' PLAN DENIED Rumours circulated early in the week that the Federal and Continental Associations might be combined into eastern and western division for 1943 met with speedy denial on Friday after the New York Herald-Tribune had attributed the suggestion to an unnamed official. "It's preposterous," declared New York Stars owner Al Mielke. "Such a scheme is definitely not under consideration. Events are happening so swiftly that no one can look far into the future. But you may be sure the two associations will operate with the same club set-up as before." The proposal, according to the Herald-Tribune, would see the two Philadelphia teams, the two New York clubs along with Brooklyn, Boston Washington and Montreal play together as one group while the Chicago Chiefs and Cougars, along with Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Toronto, St Louis and Pittsburgh would comprise the other association as a temporary measure to reduce travel during the war. FABL President Sam Belton said he knew nothing of such a move. "We are planning to play a regular, normal schedule of games next season," Belton asserted. "Of course, if some emergency should arise to make that impossible, then we would seek some plan to meet it. That might be one of the plans we would possibly consider." Chicago Cougars owner Ben Hunter called such a proposal ridiculous, saying if baseball "had to come to that, we might as well quit. However, the shortest answer came from Detroit Dynamos owner Powell Thompson. Told by a reporter the plan was attributed to an "unnamed official," the outspoken Thompson hung up the phone.  TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN WOLVES LOSE TWO PLAYERS TO MILITARY SERVICE -Wolves were dealt a blow to their future when Red More and Hank Giordano enlisted in the US Army. For More this was to be a season of decision, he was tentatively penciled in to the staff plans more so if pitching coach Art Nichols could fix his control issues to finally unleash Red's full potential. Giordano, who joined the Wolves last summer from Buffalo, in all probability would have patrolled LF in Dominion Field full time in 1943. The team understands both players decisions, "There are bigger issues in today's world than baseball." is the statement from the Wolves office while hoping for a safe return of both players. The statement continued saying "This is an issue that all FABL teams are facing, the only thing we and other teams can do is carrying on putting the best possible team on the field for the fans. Baseball should provide at least a short respite from the constant worry of the war news."
AMERICANS FALL FLAT AGAINST PHILADELPHIA The American Football Association Eastern Division is suddenly a race again after the Boston Americans stumbled at home for the second week in a row. Last week it was the St Louis Ramblers who ended the Yanks 5-game winning streak and this time around it was the Philadelphia Frigates - bottom dwellers in the East- that upset Boston with a 14-12 result that sent nearly 36,000 fans out of Cunningham Field with a feeling of dread. Just two short weeks ago the Americans were 5-0 and seemed a lock to qualify for their first AFA championship game since 1939. Now the lead precariously sits at just a half game with the New York Football Stars breathing down their necks and a big game coming up between the two in a couple of weeks. Philadelphia, thanks in no small part to Mal Herndon's 85 yard kick-off return in the third quarter immediately after the Americans had increased their lead to 9-0, rallied for their second victory in three weeks after losing their first five games to start the season. New York is right in the mix once again after a 14-0 shutout of St Louis at the Bigsby Oval yesterday. It was a second straight tough outing for St Louis rookie and league rushing leader Bob Holt, who was held to just 31 yards on the ground scattered over 14 carries. The Stars caught the Ramblers by surprise in the first quarter when their top rookie Steve Garecht fooled the St Louis defense by attempting a pass - his first ever as a pro. It worked as well as could be hoped, with the Ramblers defense all trying to corral the Stars runner, the first round pick from Mississippi A&M shocked the defenders by hitting a wide open Kenny Rozier with a 36 yard touchdown pass. Garecht would later run for the second Stars score, as part of his 49 yards on the ground. The Chicago Wildcats survived their first test without their former Coach Carl Boon, who left for the Navy. It was an easy day for Boon's replacements Marv Englert and Bill Youngberg, who watched their team maul Pittsburgh 34-14 to improve to 6-0 on the season. In Detroit, Dewey Burnett threw for 229 yards with 164 of them, including 3 touchdown tosses, landing in the arms of superstar end Stan Vaught to give the Maroons a 28-10 win over Cleveland. The final game of the weekend saw Brooklyn blank Washington 21-0 as Bulldog Stein put on a clinic for the Kings. The veteran ran for 107 yards and a touchdown while also intercepting 3 passes from Washington signal caller Jeff Proos. Both clubs now sit at .500 on the season. Code:
AFA STANDINGS EASTERN W L T PCT Boston 5 2 0 .714 New York 4 2 0 .667 Washington 4 4 0 .500 Brooklyn 3 3 0 .500 Philadelphia 2 6 0 .250 WESTERN W L T PCT Chicago 6 0 0 1.000 Detroit 4 1 1 .800 St Louis 3 4 0 .429 Cleveland 2 5 0 .286 Pittsburgh 0 6 1 .000 SUNDAY NOVEMBER 1 New York 14 St Louis 0 Brooklyn 21 Washington 0 Chicago 34 Pittsburgh 14 Detroit 28 Cleveland 10 Philadelphia 14 Boston 12 SUNDAY NOVEMEBER 8 Detroit at Washington Chicago at Brooklyn New York at Philadelphia Cleveland at Boston St Louis at Pittsburgh Code:
AFA LEADERS SCORING PTS Vaught, Det 79 Stein, Bkn 49 Kelly, Bos 48 Holt, StL 42 Frum, WAS 42 PASSING COMP-ATT YDS TD INT Boetcher, Cle 106-244 1,156 8 30 Burnett, Det 95-170 1,084 13 8 Thomas, Bos 102-189 1,061 12 10 Proos, Was 71-164 960 6 25 J.Taylor, Phi 69-170 809 6 14 RUSHING YDS Holt, StL 713 Stein, Bkn 466 Fitzgerald, Bos 448 Sadowski, Was 438 Frum, Was 353 RECEIVING CAT Vaught, Det 54 Kelly, Bos 26 Smithberger,Cle 21 Kurtzman, Cle 20 Douglas, Was 20 Frum, Was 19 INERCEPTIONS # Stein, Bkn 8 Vaught, Det 7 Burnett, Det 6 Kurtzman, Cle 6 ONLY SIX TEAMS REMAIN UNBEATEN, UNTIED We are down to just six major college football teams that remain perfect this season. Included in that group are three from the Deep South Conference in Cumberland along with a pair of Georgia schools in Noble Jones College and Georgia Baptist. The Gators barely survived, nipping Carolina Poly 21-20 while Noble Jones topped Alabama Baptist by 10 points and Cumberland had an easy time with Bayou State in claiming a 37-6 victory over the Tigers. The other unbeaten and untied teams are Detroit City College, which ran it's record to 6-0 with a 17-0 win over Great Lakes Alliance rival Lincoln, along with Commonwealth Catholic and Miami State. The two independent schools sit at 5-0 after wins on Saturday. Several schools fell from the unbeaten ranks including Central Ohio, which likely cost itself a shot at the Great Lakes Alliance title by falling to Wisconsin State 34-23, and Mobile Maritime which came out on the short end of a 13-3 tally against South Atlantic Conference foe Columbia Military Academy. St Patrick's also fell for the first time as the Boston school dropped a 35-31 decision to Empire State. It should also be noted that Golden Gate Pre-Flight is also still perfect, but they have played just 3 games and were not in action on the weekend. Rome State continues it's impressive run as the military academy dumped Academia Alliance leader Pierpont 13-7 to improve to 4-0-1 on the season. The Centurions face their toughest test of the season next Saturday when they will play St Blane at the Bigsby Oval. The Fighting Saints had a rough start to the season but improved to 4-2 with a 14-0 shutout of Annapolis Maritime in Baltimore on Saturday. For the Navigators, who went undefeated a year ago, it was a second straight loss after falling to Georgia Baptist the previous week. Annapolis Maritime is now 4-2 on the season. WEEKEND COLLEGE FOOTBALL SCOREBOARD KEY GAMES St. Blane 14 Annapolis Maritime 0 Noble Jones College 31 Alabama Baptist 21 Georgia Baptist 21 Carolina Poly 20 Daniel Boone College 10 Great Lakes Navy 9 Commonwealth Catholic 34 St. Matthew's College 10 Northern California 17 Portland Tech 0 Empire State 35 St. Patrick's 31 Detroit City College 17 Lincoln 0 Minnesota Tech 28 St. Magnus 7 Western Iowa 14 Whitney College 0 Iowa Pre-Flight 24 Indiana A&M 10 Georgia Pre-Flight 10 Jacksonville Naval Air Station 0 North Carolina Pre-Flight 17 St. Pancras 3 Rome State 13 Pierpont 7 Charleston Tech 20 North Carolina Tech 10 Cumberland 37 Bayou State 6 Baton Rouge State 27 Bluegrass State 10 CC Los Angeles 24 Redwood 13 Rainier College 21 Lane State 7 Wisconsin State 34 Central Ohio 23 Wisconsin Catholic 45 Northern Minnesota 6 OTHER RESULTS Central Kentucky 14 Potomac College 7 Columbia Military Academy 13 Mobile Maritime 3 Payne State 62 Lambert College 10 Amarillo Methodist 14 Lubbock State 14 Boulder State 38 Wyoming A&I 0 Henry Hudson 23 Brunswick 10 Alexandria 16 Central Carolina 6 Mile High State 27 Utah Miners 7 Strub College 24 St. Benedict (PA) 3 Brooklyn State 24 Golden Gate University 21 Abilene Baptist 37 Texas Panhandle 7 Dickson 14 Sadler 0 Idaho A&M 20 Custer College 6 Maryland State 33 Western Florida 32 Miami State 20 Bulein 3 Conwell College 9 St. Ignatius 7 Mississippi A&M 31 Knoxville 0 Northern Mississippi 28 Opelika State 17 Lawrence State 13 College of Omaha 0 Kit Carson University 21 South Valley State 19 Oklahoma City State 16 Iowa A&M 0 Eastern Oklahoma 31 Fremont State 13 Pittsburgh State 21 Edgerton-Phillips 3 Red River State 21 College of Waco 7 Petersburg 31 Lexington State 0 Tempe College 21 Santa Ana Field 7 Sunnyvale 6 San Francisco Tech 0 Travis College 7 Texas Gulf Coast 0 Darnell State 17 Arkansas A&T 0 Provo Tech 26 Colorado Poly 13 Cache Valley 14 Utah A&M 7 Chesapeake State 20 Eastern State 7 Cowpens State 13 Coastal State 3 George Fox 23 Ellery 6 Canyon A&M 24 El Paso Methodist 6 Huntington State 17 Liberty College 3 Topeka State 21 Eastern Kansas 21 Richmond State 17 Grafton 13 California Catholic 27 Laclede 9 Bronx Tech 14 Penn Catholic 10  The Wildcats have been, along with Rollie Barrell's Detroit Maroons, the class of football, and were looking like they might just be unbeatable this season after winning the AFA crown a year ago. Like I said, a tough spot for Marv Englert and Bill Youngberg to find themselves in as Boon's hand-picked replacements. If the Wildcats maintain their current winning streak, the fans will take that as a matter of course; but if Chicago lose one or two the fans will attribute that to Boon's absence. And should they fail to win another AFA title, the two might well get run out of town. ST IGNATIUS IS PRE-SEASON NUMBER ONE The pre-season AIAA poll has St Ignatius pegged as the team to beat. The selection comes as somewhat of a surprise as the Lancers were just 16-13 a year ago and did not crack the top 25 rankings or even earn a berth to the AIAA tournament last March. The Lansing school is the newest entrant in the powerful Great Lakes Alliance, stepping in just a few years ago when Chicago Poly elected to drop out of the group, and the Lancers were just 5-11 in Alliance play a year ago. The school did only lose one starter and guard Norman Yates, considered one of the best players in the nation, is back for his junior season. Rounding out the top five are the two Southern California rivals in the Coastal California Dolphins and CC Los Angeles Coyotes at two and three, while the the defending GLA champion Detroit City College Knights and reigning National Champion Liberty Bells hold down the #4 and #5 slots. AIAA hardwood action will get underway a week from now when a number of pre-season tournaments will be held. The Jack Easton Tip-off Classic will feature the defending AIAA tournament champion Liberty College Bells as the marquee attraction at the event in Boston. Joining the Bells in the 8-team field will be Great Lakes Alliance power Central Ohio, as well as Lambert College, Red River State, Custer College, Strub College, Columbia Military Academy and Ohio Poly. While CC Los Angeles did decline an invitation to head to New York City for the Tournament of Champions the group will still be well represented with Detroit City College, which reached the national semi-finals last March, participating along with local favourite Garden State and a pair of Florida schools in the Deep South Conference champion Western Florida Wolves and one of the top independent teams in the country in the Miami State Gulls. CCLA will still compete in an opening tournament, but opted to stay close to home and play in the West Coast Classic, a San Francisco showcase that will primarily feature schools from the west. The other major tournament- the Preseason AIAA showcase in Chicago - will see Rainier College, Western Iowa, St Patrick's and Piedmont University as it's four participants. Code:
[b] # Team FPV Conference --------------------------------------------------------------------------------[b] 1. St. Ignatius (68) Great Lakes Alliance 2. Coastal California (4) West Coast Athletic Association 3. CC Los Angeles West Coast Athletic Association 4. Detroit City College Great Lakes Alliance 5. Liberty College Northeast Conference 6. Brooklyn State Northeast Conference 7. North Carolina Tech South Atlantic Conference 8. Garden State Northeast Conference 9. Rainier College West Coast Athletic Association 10. Western Iowa Great Lakes Alliance 11. Chesapeake State South Atlantic Conference 12. Great Plains State Independent 13. Lane State West Coast Athletic Association 14. Carolina Poly South Atlantic Conference 15. Ohio Poly Independent 16. Whitney College Great Lakes Alliance 17. Central Ohio Great Lakes Alliance 18. Northern California West Coast Athletic Association 19. St. Patrick's Northeast Conference 20. Bulein South Atlantic Conference 21. Mobile Maritime South Atlantic Conference 22. Miami State Independent 23. Alabama Baptist Deep South Conference 24. Lincoln Great Lakes Alliance 25. Western Florida Deep South Conference The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 11/01/1942
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Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal
The Scripture of Sports |
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06-22-2022, 01:13 PM
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#456 |
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Dec 2019
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November 9, 1942
NOVEMBER 9, 1942 BOWMAN CLEAR CHOICE FOR TOP ROOKIE You can add another piece of hardware to the incredible haul that Ed Bowman has accumulated this season. The 22 year old New York Gothams ace already claimed a World Championship Series ring and the Federal Association Allen Award as the top pitcher in the loop. During the season he was also recognized as the Fed's rookie of the month 4 times, pitcher of the month three times and claimed a player of the week award once. Last week Bowman secured a spot on Percy Sutherland's Premier Defense team and now Sutherland and the Chicago Sportswriters Guild have named Bowman their choice as the best rookie in FABL. The decision was so obvious the group did not even bother to cast votes, simply using a quick show of hands at a recent get together to anoint Bowman the unanimous winner. With all due respect to fellow newcomer Donnie Jones, who had himself a very fine season in Chicago with the Continental Association Cougars, there really was no competition for Bowman. That's what happens when you go 23-8 with a 2.36 era and top the Fed in victories, era and WHIP. He then followed it up with 3 starts in the WCS, all wins for his Gothams, by going 2-0 with a 2.88 era and notching 15 strikeouts in 25 innings of Series work. Just imagine how different this season might have been for the Gothams had they not been able to rely on their young ace. And remember the Gothams nearly lost their youngster at the end of July when selective service came calling, but he failed his army physical and remained on the mound. The big question now is where does he go from here? The sky seems to be the limit for the 1938 3rd round selection out of a Texas high school.  GARRISON LEAVES WOLVES FOR THE NAVY The latest round of contributions to the war effort has left a huge hole in the rotation of the Toronto Wolves as standout pitcher George Garrison informed the club he was enlisting in the Navy. The 1935 3rd overall draft pick had a breakout season last year, going 22-10 with a 2.52 era and finishing second in the Continental Association Allan Award polling. The 25 year old Garrison's announcement comes just days after 21 year old outfielder Hank Giordano joined the Army. Giordano made his big league debut last summer, hitting an impressive .315 with 2 homers and 24 rbi's in 49 FABL games. Here are the latest players to leave FABL clubs for the war effort: Code:
Lou Barker DET P Tommy Butler PIT SS Otto Christian CHC 3B Art Edwards CIN P Harry Frenette NYG P George Garrison TOR P Eddie Heaton PHS OF John Kennedy STL C John Lawson CHC 3B John Moss BRK OF Charlie Nathan CLE OF Tucker Ness STL C John "Jocko" Pollard CHC 1B Henry Shaffer PHI P Charlie Sutton NYG P Gene Zavala WAS OF END OF THE ROAD FOR LAWSON With news that he has accepted a position physical education department for the Navy, one expects that John Lawson's - make that Lieutenant Commander John Lawson- days as a professional ballplayer have come to an end. The veteran third baseman will head west and report to Golden Gate Pre-Flight later this week where, among other duties, he will run and might just play for the camp baseball team. It was quite a career for the 40 year old who has been holding down a spot on a big league infield for the past 16 years. Among Lawson's accomplishments are an unsurpassed 8 trips to the annual all-star game - a distinction he shares with Frank Vance and Bobby Barrell- three Whitney Awards and an World Championship ring from the 1932 Series. He also finished second in Whitney balloting 4 times and third on one other occasion. Lawson's 3,060 career FABL hits make Lawson one of just 11 players to reach the 3,000 plateau and he cracks the top ten all-time in homers, doubles, total bases and rbi's. Lawson also led the Continental Association in hitting four times in his career and his .339 career batting average is currently the 11th highest all-time. It is clear that Lawson will one day find himself inducted in to the baseball Hall of Fame. He was a three year starter at Ellery College but, despite hitting .372 his final season with the Bruins, Lawson was not selected until the fourth round of the 1923 FABL draft when St Louis called his name 66th overall. It clearly comes as no surprise to note that none of the 43 other position players selected ahead of him will ever make the Hall of Fame, although at least one and possibly two pitchers (Rabbit Day and Charlie Stedman) drafted ahead of him will probably one day join Lawson in Boone County. The Pioneers gave Lawson one season of A ball, and admittedly he did struggle batting just .244 at that level, before cutting him loose. He actually had trouble finding a spot to play in those early years as both the Philadelphia Sailors and Portland Green Sox, an independent AAA club, each gave him brief trials. Even the Chicago Cougars -the club he would spend the second half of his big league career with- got into the act, signing the then 22 year old for the final few weeks of the 1925 season. But his stay in the Cougars organization, or at least his first stint there, was short-lived as in May of 1926 the Cougars dealt him to the New York Stars along with a young outfield prospect by the name of Joe Snider in exchange for a pitcher who had some promise but ultimately ran into injury trouble by the name of Johnny Douglas. Lawson found his form with the Stars, having a breakout 1927 campaign at AAA Los Angeles, hitting .324 with 11 homers and earning a late season call-up to New York. Dawson went 8-for-27 in that brief September trial with the Stars and never played in the minor leagues again. What followed was 3 straight batting titles beginning in 1930, including a .392 season as a 27 year old. He helped lead the Stars to a 4-game sweep of the Philadelphia Keystones in the 1932 series, batting .400 in the process. Lawson was in the starting lineup for the very first All-Star game, getting 2 hits in that contest. He would play in seven more of them along the way including 2 others while wearing a New York uniform. Following the 1935 season, with the Stars fortunes on the downswing, the club moved several key veterans including Lawson who was dispatched to the Chicago Cougars. Like the Stars the Cougars had recently won a pennant, but were also in the midst of retooling. Chicago sent a pretty package of talent to add the talented third baseman. It included Chink Stickels, who remains a key piece in New York, as well as Frank Gordon, who blossomed in Detroit in 1941 but is now in the army. Lawson didn't miss a beat with his move west and won his fourth batting title in 1937 and nearly won another one at the age of 37 two years ago. In 1941 he hit .315 and was a key piece of the Cougars pennant winning club that took Boston to seven games before ultimately just falling short in the WCS. He had a rough start last season and, at 39, many started to write him off as done, but Lawson picked it up down the stretch and finished with a respectable .274 batting average, but it was the first time since his brief appearance in 1927 that the veteran failed to top the .300 mark. With Lawson looking like he has lost a little from that keen batting eye, and he was struggling defensively last season as well, the Cougars recently pulled the trigger on a deal to bring Hank Barnett over from the Chicago Chiefs. A deal that on the surface feels very similar to the move that landed Lawson in Chicago 7 years ago. Just as Lawson took over from John Kincaid on that day, the Cougars are handing the hot corner to Barnett which was likely a factor in Lawson's decision to join the Navy. Lawson will be long remembered in Chicago as he moves on to the next chapter in his life.  DEFENSE WINS BALL GAMES The old adage about defense being the key to winning baseball games was reaffirmed by our resident defensive expert. Percy Sutherland of the Chicago Herald-Examiner, who always makes it a point to recognize the top defenders in FABL each season recently turned his attention to team stats. The measuring stick the renowned scribe uses is something called "Defensive Efficiency" and is one of those new stats Percy and his nephew, a Whitney College mathematician, have devised as tool to compare team defensive performance. In a nutshell, it displays the rate at which a ballclub turns balls that are put in play into outs. So it ignores things like strike outs, walks and even homeruns because none of those are things that the defenders can control. And what did Percy discover when he crunched the numbers from the 1942 season. First off, and it likely comes as no surprise, but the two pennant winners were among the league's best in that category while the dismal Cleveland Foresters, and their 50-104 record, were dead last. In taking a look at the defensive numbers Percy Sutherland noted that "A lot of Cleveland's problems this season is simply the inability to catch the ball. They had the worst defensive efficiency (.684) and the worst ZR (-63.3). For a team view, I like defensive efficiency as it's simply the ratio of batted balls that were turned into outs. Typically .700 is good and anything approaching .720 is really good." Here is how the 16 FABL clubs stacked up in Defensive Efficiency this past season. Code:
1-Cougars .722 2-Stars .719 3-Cannons .716 4-Chiefs .715 5-Gothams .715 6-Kings .715 7-Minutemen .714 8-Dynamos .712 9-Wolves .708 10-Sailors .704 11-Keystones .699 12-Miners .693 13-Eagles .690 14-Pioneers .689 15-Saints .688 16-Foresters .684
BIG WEEK LOOMS IN AFA RACES The results were barely completed from this weekend's games but all of the focus in the American Football Association is on next Sunday when a pair of potentially pivotal contests will be played. The big one will be in Chicago as the Wildcats put their perfect 7-0 record on the line against their long-time rivals from Detroit. The Maroons are 5-1-1 this season, including an early loss to Chicago at Thompson Field, so the Detroiters must win if they have any hopes of wrestling the Western Division title away from the Wildcats. The Eastern Division also has a key match on the agenda as the 6-2 Boston Americans invade the Bigsby Oval to face the 5-2 New York Stars. The Americans had an easy time with the Stars early in the season, waltzing to a 41-0 victory, but New York has won three straight and feels this time the outcome will be different as the Stars. Yesterday the top two clubs in the Western Division had a very easy time with eastern foes. The Wildcats handled Brooklyn 41-14 at Kings County while the Maroons went into the nation's capital and handed reeling Washington it's 5th loss in the last six games. Jeff Proos, the Washington quarterback who looked very good in the early going, continues his habit of throwing to the wrong coloured jerseys with 8 more interceptions in a 49-14 loss. Never a good mix when Proos faces the best group of ballhawks in the league as Stan Vaught, Dewey Burnett and Larry Murphy are presently second-third-fourth in interceptions this season. Vaught also caught 9 passes from Burnett on offense, including 4 for touchdowns. Boston and New York both won to set up their showdown in the Big Apple next week. The Americans blanked Cleveland 21-0 while the Stars shaded Philadelphia 21-14. The other game saw Pittsburgh pick up it's first win of the season by downing visiting St Louis 21-6. Code:
AFA STANDINGS EASTERN W L T PCT Boston 6 2 0 .750 New York 5 2 0 .714 Washington 4 5 0 .444 Brooklyn 3 4 0 .429 Philadelphia 2 7 0 .222 WESTERN W L T PCT Chicago 7 0 0 1.000 Detroit 5 1 1 .833 St Louis 3 5 0 .375 Cleveland 2 6 0 .250 Pittsburgh 1 6 1 .143 SUNDAY NOVEMBER 8 Detroit 49 Washington 14 Chicago 41 Brooklyn 14 New York 21 Philadelphia 14 Boston 21 Cleveland 0 Pittsburgh 21 St Louis 6 SUNDAY NOVEMEBER 15 Detroit at Chicago Philadelphia at Brooklyn Boston at New York Pittsburgh at Washington Code:
AFA LEADERS SCORING PTS Vaught, Det 110 Stein, Bkn 57 Kelly, Bos 48 Holt, StL 48 Frum, WAS 48 PASSING COMP-ATT YDS TD INT Thomas, Bos 116-209 1,227 13 10 Boetcher, Cle 110-271 1,207 8 31 Burnett, Det 103-189 1,193 17 9 Proos, Was 82-196 1,090 6 33 J.Taylor, Phi 76-185 880 7 15 RUSHING YDS TD Holt, StL 777 7 Fitzgerald, Bos 520 4 Sadowski, Was 486 6 Stein, Bkn 478 3 Frum, Was 391 5 RECEIVING CAT TD Vaught, Det 63 14 Kelly, Bos 28 6 Hooper, Bos 23 2 Douglas, Was 21 1 Smithberger,Cle 21 1 Kurtzman, Cle 20 4 Frum, Was 20 3 INERCEPTIONS # Stein, Bkn 9 Vaught, Det 8 Burnett, Det 7 Murphy. Det 7 Detroit City College improved to 7-0 with an easy 33-0 shutout of Dickson. The other 5 schools that entered the week with perfect records all remained that way as well with Deep South Conference foes Noble Jones, Georgia Baptist and Cumberland all winning easily. The Colonels thumped Western Florida 38-0. The Gators downed Central Kentucky 27-3 while the Explorers pounded Queen City 44-7 in Knoxville. The other two unbeaten and untied schools are independents Commonwealth Catholic -an easy winner over Conwell College - and Miami State, which survived a tight game against Charleston Tech. CHRISTIAN TROPHY FAVOURITES - Top candidates for the Christian Trophy as Most Outstanding College Football Player are clearly starting to emerge as the season heads into it's final month. Henry Hudson quarterback Charley Morrison, Commonwealth Catholic fullback Stan Whitman and St Blane end Mark Richardson will all draw some votes but the clear favourite is likely Noble Jones senior halfback Billy Bockhorst. WEEKEND COLLEGE FOOTBALL SCOREBOARD KEY GAMES Commonwealth Catholic 36 Conwell College 0 Noble Jones College 38 Western Florida 0 Detroit City College 33 Dickson 0 Georgia Baptist 27 Central Kentucky 3 Cumberland 44 Queen City 7 Great Lakes Navy 10 Whitney College 0 St. Blane 13 Rome State 0 Central Ohio 30 Pittsburgh State 0 St. Patrick's 17 Ellery 0 Empire State 27 Henry Hudson 17 St. Magnus 20 Lincoln 20 Minnesota Tech 23 Indiana A&M 21 Wisconsin State 21 Western Iowa 16 Iowa Pre-Flight 29 Fort Knox 7 Georgia Pre-Flight 27 Opelika State 14 Pierpont 10 Annapolis Maritime 7 North Carolina Tech 20 Central Carolina 3 North Carolina Pre-Flight 7 St. Matthew's College 0 Miami State 14 Charleston Tech 7 CC Los Angeles 14 Portland Tech 3 Coastal California 28 Northern California 0 Redwood 10 Rainier College 7 Jacksonville Naval Air Station 51 Chase 13 Santa Ana Field 31 Golden Gate University Pre-Flight 10 OTHER RESULTS Penn Catholic 24 Iowa A&M 0 Alabama Baptist 34 Columbia Military Academy 3 Valley State 21 South Valley State 6 Colorado Poly 26 Cache Valley 7 George Fox 20 Brunswick 10 Sadler 13 Grafton 13 Utah A&M 14 Mile High State 13 Carolina Poly 37 Maryland State 0 California Catholic 28 San Clemente 19 Bulein 14 Mobile Maritime 7 Coastal State 8 Potomac College 0 Abilene Baptist 38 Canyon A&M 0 Lawrence State 34 Perry State College 13 Bayou State 27 Brooklyn State 24 Baton Rouge State 24 Northern Mississippi 21 Daniel Boone College 31 College of Omaha 6 Iowa Northern 27 Lambert College 14 Oklahoma City State 42 Eastern Kansas 0 Lane State 41 Custer College 0 Liberty College 17 St. Pancras 10 Red River State 23 Arkansas A&T 7 Strub College 6 Golden Gate University 0 Travis College 17 Lubbock State 12 Darnell State 14 Texas Gulf Coast 3 College of Waco 6 Amarillo Methodist 3 Texas Panhandle 17 Flagstaff State 0 Payne State 30 Eastern Oklahoma 27 Boulder State 28 Provo Tech 13 Bluegrass State 24 Mississippi A&M 6 Eastern State 31 Lexington State 23 Chesapeake State 13 Petersburg 0 Cowpens State 21 Alexandria 0 Spokane State 7 St. Ignatius 3 Richmond State 27 Northern Pennsylvania 0 Wisconsin Catholic 26 Bronx Tech 7 Laclede 13 Fremont State 6  This group includes Noble Jones College and the incomparable Billy Bockhorst, Detroit City College with it's mammoth linemen Justin Thomas and Cassius Howard, Cumberland, Georgia Baptist and Miami State. That is not to say that Commonwealth Catholic is certain of victory - St. Patrick's(6-1) will be a tough rivalry game and Brooklyn State (3-3) just might surprise - but the Knights road to perfection appears the straightest of the remaining contenders. Noble Jones College has been outstanding this season as has their in-state rivals at Georgia Baptist. There certainly is a possibility both schools are perfect when they finish the season Thanksgiving day with a head to head showdown in Atlanta. A matchup that will quite possibly have a trip to California and a berth in the East-West Classic on the line. But this game is a 50/50 toss-up, even with Bockhorst leading the Colonels, so that impacts both schools chances of being perfect. It is a decent bet that the winner of this game will finish with a perfect record, but don't ask me to pick which team that will be. Detroit City College might have something to say as well about the National Title but next weekend's game in Tyrone, Pennsylvania feels like a trap when the Michigan school puts it's perfect record on the line against the rapidly improving Fighting Saints, who have reeled off five straight victories after stumbling twice to open the season. Then there is also the always difficult season ending rivalry game for the Knights against Central Ohio, in which anything can happen. Everyone is ignoring Cumberland, and the Tennessee school has quietly had a dominant season while being overshadowed by their two Deep South Conference rivals from Georgia. The Explorers have the luxury of not having to play either Noble Jones College or Georgia Baptist this season and could well be perfect but their season-ending affair on the road against rival Bluegrass State feels like a game that might not end well for the boys from Knoxville. Finally we have Miami State, and the Gulls did turn some heads with last weeks win over Charleston Tech but their schedule is fairly weak overall and even if they go 9-0 I don't see them getting an invite to a Classic game or being a serious contender for the national title.  *** SOME CONFERENCE RACES IN A MUDDLE *** The Deep South Conference is likely to go to the winner of the Georgia tussle between the Gators and the Colonels but Cumberland may still have something to say. Detroit City and Wisconsin State are locked at the top of the Great Lakes Alliance but Central Ohio is itching for a chance to sneak into a share of the crown if they can beat the Knights in the season finale and have the Brewers stumble. On the far coast CCLA has the tiebreaker thanks to a win over Redwood but they will need the Mammoths to be tripped up by either Lane State or Northern California over the next two weeks. With only a contest remaining with lowly Brunswick, Pierpont appears assured to paint the Academia Alliance purple for the second year in a row but that is the only conference seemingly locked up with really just 3 weeks of games remaining. *** HERE AND THERE *** Observations from a Sunday trip to Philadelphia to witness the Football Stars and the Frigates: Sportswriters get fine training for the military forces on football trips, these days. You have to be good at hand-to-hand fighting to even get aboard the Penn Train to Philadelphia. You'd qualify as a spy if you can find the diner car and get into it. And anybody who can attain that altitudinous Soldiers & Sailors Stadium press box can make the aircorps pronto.That cloud-trapped press rockery in Philadelphia reminds me of the story of the fellow who had a press ticket and was directed upward by an usher who said he couldn't climb any higher because he was subject to nosebleed. The victim finally attained his seat on that top rim of the stadium. Out of breath, he turned to the man nearest him and asked what the score of the ballgame was. "What ballgame, buddy?" said the fellow, "I am flying the air mail to Pittsburgh!" *** TRANSPORTATION WORRIES FOR '43*** Colleges are already starting to worry about transportation for their football teams next year. Most figure it is going to be mighty tough and talks are in the works for a lot of local games. Meaning things like the Boston area schools will restrict themselves to some sort of a round robin schedule involving the likes of Commonwealth Catholic, Sadler, St Patrick's and some of the smaller school elevens from the surrounding area. Same thing would happen all across the country. It would mean the end of many of the big rivalry games like Rome State or Annapolis Maritime playing St Blane, at least for the duration of the war.*** DON'T COUNT MAROONS OUT *** While there are plenty of important college games on next week's docket - contests like Detroit City College heading to Pennsylvania to play St Blane and the Baptist Battle between Bama and the Gators- but the most anticipated contest might not come until Sunday when the Chicago Wildcats and Detroit Maroons renew hostilities. The Wildcats are the defending AFA champs, and 7-0 on the season including a convincing 26-7 decision to open their season in the Motor City, but don't go and bet the house on Chicago this Sunday. Yes the Wildcats host the game, and have looked unstoppable of late even with Carl Boon in the Navy, but just remember that each of the past two seasons the Maroons and Wildcats split their two meetings and a year ago the Maroons took it to the Wildcats at Whitney Park with a win in a high scoring affair. The passing combo of Dewey Burnett and Stan Vaught is unparalleled in the game today and while I would not bet my gasoline rations on it, I would not be surprised to see the Maroons come out on top in this one. PRE-SEASON TOURNAMENTS UNDERWAY Several of the pre-season college basketball tournaments were completed over the weekend with more to come this week. The highlight of the opening weekend was the Preseason AIAA Showcase in Chicago. St Patrick's was crowned the champion after the Shamrocks outscored Rainier College 49-42 in the title game. Western Iowa had to settle for third place after dropping the opening game 49-47 to St Patrick's. That game marked the college debut of former St Louis Pioneers farmhand Joe Hampton, and the 19 year old freshman performed admirably with 12 points in the outing. Hampton would duplicate that total the following day when Canaries dumped Piedmont 52-37 in the third place matchup. The other 'major' tournament was the Tournament of Champions which takes place annually in New York and is one of two events contested each fall at the Bigsby Gardens. (Next weekend's Bigsby Festival being the other one). It featured four pretty strong teams with Detroit City College beating Miami State 62-44 and Garden State barely surviving Western Florida 50-48 on Friday night. This is an event Detroit City College often earns an invitation to and the Knights won the tournament for the fourth time since 1935 with a 46-41 victory over Garden State in Saturday's championship Game. The third event was the King of the South tournament in Atlanta and North Carolina Tech and Coastal California were the two big schools in this 4-team field and as expected they met in Saturday's championship game. The Techsters prevailed easily, taking a 55-33 decision over the west coast five thanks in no small part to a 12 point showing from junior guard Nestor Patterson. The opening round saw Tech beat Rock island 36-29 and Coastal California dominate College of Waco by a 70-38 count. Finally we had the Windy City Festival, sponsored by the Chicago Herald-Tribune but moved to Milwaukee this season because the AIAA showcase decided to make a stop in Chicago. It was the hometown favourite who emerged with the title as Whitney College romped past Springfield State 68-33 in the opener and then nipped Redwood University 49-46 in the title contest. The Mammoths advanced with a 34-26 win over Eastern Oklahoma on Friday. It marked the second year in a row the Engineers won the tournament that they often host. PRE-SEASON TOURNAMENT WINNERS Chicago AIAA Showcase: St Patrick's Shamrocks NYC Tournament of Champions: Detroit City College King of the South: North Carolina Tech Windy City Festival: Whitney College NEXT WEEKEND'S EVENTS AND FIELD BIGSBY FESTIVAL- New York City Chesapeake State Clippers Noble Jones College Colonels Conwell College Crows Dickson Maroons Grange College Mustangs Middlesex Millers Empire State Centurions Armstrong College Aces HEART OF TEXAS - Dallas, Tx Annapolis Maritime Navigators Georgia Baptist Gators Minnesota Tech Lakers Lexington State Colonials Topeka State Braves Pierpont Purple Smithfield College Bulldogs Daniel Boone College Frontiersmen JACK EASTON TIP-OFF CLASSIC - Boston Liberty College Bells Central Ohio Aviators Ohio Poly Cardinals Custer College Calvary Lambert College Stags Red River State Rowdies Strub College Sycamores Columbia Military Academy Cadets WEST COAST CLASSIC - San Francisco Bayou State Cougars University of New Jersey Warriors Needham Wonders West Corners (NY) Athletics Quaker College (CA) Bulldogs Canyon A&M Armadillos Texas Panhandle Cowboys CC Los Angeles Coyotes  The Knights grid eleven is enjoying a great season and are unbeaten heading into a showdown this weekend with one of their longtime rivals in the St Blane Fighting Saints. We will peak in at Detroit City football and baseball from time to time but our main focus here will be on the hardwood. The Knights basketball history is rich and stretches back to the first season of the AIAA in 1909-10. The Great Lakes Alliance has had a few changes over the years but it remains one of the original college basketball sections and the Knights are a charter member. Detroit City has won the GLA conference title 9 times including last season but the Knights have yet to win their first National Title, although they did reach the championship game in March of 1933 before falling to CC Los Angeles.  This season, being guided by long-time head coach Dick Keegan, the Knights are on the short-list of teams that are expected to make a solid tournament run. Under Keegan, the Knights have only missed the tournament once and the 61 year old Iowa native is considered to be one of the best recruiters in the sport, as well as being named GLA Coach of the Year three times. We will also be able to follow along as Keegan looks to become just the 13th AIAA head coach to reach the 500 career wins mark. He is currently tied with the now-retired Bunky Mize for 13th spot with 484 wins. That includes the two victories the Knights picked up this past weekend in winning the Tournament of Championships tournament in New York City. Next time we will take a look at the Knights roster as they prepare for their demanding conference schedule with tune-up games beginning November 20th when they visit Mahoning Valley State. The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 11/08/1942
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Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal
The Scripture of Sports Last edited by Jiggs McGee; 06-22-2022 at 01:15 PM. |
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06-23-2022, 01:14 PM
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#457 |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Ontario Canada
Posts: 9,752
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November 16, 1942
NOVEMBER 16, 1942 ENLISTMENTS, SELECTIVE SERVICE DELIVER ANOTHER BIG BLOW TO FABL CLUBS Forgive FABL general managers for are starting to wonder if their teams will even have 24 players capable of playing baseball when the season (hopefully) opens next April. The list of players joining the military either by choice or by conscription now numbers 618. Sure many of those are low level minor league players with little to no chance of ever appearing on the FABL stage but there are more than 175 players with previous big league experience now suiting up for Uncle Sam. That list expanded again this past week, as it seems to do on a now daily basis, with 23 more big leaguers -or big time prospects- leaving this week. Among the top names in the past seven days you can count Donnie Jones, who had an outstanding rookie campaign this past season for the Chicago Cougars and the Chicago Chiefs talented youngsters Joe Rutherford along with the newly acquired Solly Skidmore. Here is a team by team breakdown of this week's losses: BOSTON- Fred Nelson and Red Samuel: The 35 year old Nelson spent each of the past 4 seasons in the minors, going 11-12 for AAA Columbus last season. A depth piece, he has not pitched for Boston since 1937 and is 64-77 all-time with the Minutemen. Samuel, 25, is an outfielder who made his big league debut last season, hitting .318 with 4 homers in 70 games with the big club. BROOKLYN- Stumpy Beamon is the lone departure this week. The 28 year old righthander was 8-16 with a 3.97 era for the Kings last season. CHIEFS- Joe Rutherford, Solly Skidmore and Sam Vaughan. Rutherford and Skidmore are the big losses here as the former was only 19 last season when he rocketed through the Chiefs system and spent a month in the big leagues. Skidmore was one of the key pieces in the deal that sent Hank Barnett to the Cougars and was penciled in as the Chiefs starting catcher so it appears the shift of Tom Bird from behind the plate to first base will have to wait. Vaughan, 25, has had a few injuries over the years but was still a solid bullpen piece in Chicago, going 4-5 a year ago. COUGARS- Donnie Jones. It's like a bad dream for the Cougars who lost Pepe Papenfus to the Navy a year ago and now another young ace as Donnie Jones (15-13, 2.48) is off to the Army. The Cougars do have pitching depth but even in Chicago there are worries about just how much more they can take. CINCINNATI- Levi Redding, Cliff Smith and Charlie Griffith. The loss of the 23 year righthander Griffith to the Navy is the big blow here for the Cannons. He had an outstanding half a season (8-5, 3.92) after getting promoted from AAA and manager Ad Doria had Griffith penciled in as a key rotation piece. Redding (.239,0,9) is a 31 year old backup centerfielder who came over on waivers from Toronto while Smith (,208,0,8) was the Cannons rule five pick a year ago and would have contended for the chance to backup Adam Mullins behind the plate. CLEVELAND- Walter Morgan is this week's only loss. The 26 year old made his debut in Cleveland last season after coming over in the rule five draft from Cincinnati. He hit .268 and seemed poised to wrestle the starting second base job away from Brooks Meeks, with whom he shared it a year ago. DETROIT- Charlie Ashmore and Rabbit Mudd. Ashmore, 22, seemed ready to step into the Dynamos rotation and perhaps help solve some of the many troubles it had a year ago. He spent most of the season in the minors before making 3 starts for Detroit late in the year, with very good results. Mudd is 33 and the middle infielder has bounced around quite a bit of late but has been in the minors the past two seasons. He was an insurance policy of sort for Detroit, a player that -had he stuck around- might have got another shot in the big leagues if holes opened because of others enlisting. MONTREAL- none - a peaceful week in Quebec as the Saints were the only team not to lose a 40-man roster player this week. NY STARS- Jim Baker and Lou Robertson. As if this off-season has not been bad enough for the Stars with Bill Barrett, Joe Angevine and Andy Gross all leaving recently to join the war effort. Now the Stars learn Lou Robertson (14-12, 2.69) is the next to go. The 27 year old is a college man, from Oklahoma City State, and is now in the Air Force. Fortunately the Stars have some pitching depth - or at least they do at the moment -who knows what next week will bring. Baker is a 24 year old reliever who had a brief stint in New York this season but spent most of the year on the west coast with the Los Angeles Knights and seemed to be a player the Stars were grooming to be a later inning bullpen specialist. NY GOTHAMS- Bill Murnane. A little easier news to digest this week for the World Champions, who had seen Roosevelt Brewer, Mule Monier and Harry Carter leave recently. Murnane is a 23 year old first baseman who may have been pegged as Bill Jameson's eventual replacement. He looked pretty good in a September call-up after starting the season in AA but now Murnane is a Navy man. KEYSTONES- Bud Canfield and Jeff Cochran. A pair of younger players in 25 year old pitcher Canfield and 23 year old outfielder Cochran are this week's departures from Philadelphia. Canfield is a former first round pick and has had brief stints with the Keystones each of the past 3 seasons, going 1-5 with a 6.61 era in 6 starts this year. Cochran hit .136 in a very brief trial with the big club during the season and also struggled at AAA Louisville. SAILORS- Al Duster and Dutch Sheldon. A pair of pitchers in the 33 year old Sheldon and 23 year old Duster. Sheldon was just working his way back into form after a devastating arm injury cost him over a year. He was 1-1 with a 3.05 era in 13 relief appearances this season. Duster is the big loss, a highly touted former 4th overall draft pick who came over from Detroit a few years ago in the William Jones deal. He was eased in to the big leagues this season by pitching out of the pen, going 1-2 with a 2.82 era in 28 appearances and one had to think the Sailors were planning on putting him in the rotation in 1943. PITTSBURGH- Charlie Potter. Potter is a mid-level pitching prospect who had a brief stint with the big club this past season while going 9-10 with 16 saves used exclusively in relief for AAA St Paul. ST LOUIS- Zip Sullivan. The 30 year Sullivan had an awful season in St Louis and there was no guarantee he would even have a job come spring. Sullivan, once the player the Pioneers envisioned replacing Fred McCormick and they moved McCormick to make room for him, has been a disappointment most of his career, batting .281 with 23 homers in 651 career FABL games. TORONTO- Tom Frederick. The 26 year old two-time all-star will be missed. The centerfielder hit .292 last season for the Wolves, his fourth year in the league. WASHINGTON- Jim Birdwell. Washington has very little pitching to begin with so the news that the 27 year old Birdwell (15-10, 3.50) is off to the Army is tough to take.  Lawson wasn't always destined to be the star he developed into, as the prolific third basemen was just a 4th Round Pick back in 1923, seeing his drafting team, the Pioneers, make mistakes in Chick Prendergast, Bobby Johnson, and King James go off the board before him. The bigger mistake came before the 1925 season, where they cut Lawson. He spent time with the Independent Portland Maroons and then the Philadelphia Sailors, before signing with the Chicago Cougars on the final day of August. Unfortunately, his Cougar career would not last much longer, and while they didn't release him, the fledgling Cougar GM made the mistake of sending him and Joe Snider to the New York Stars for promising young pitcher Johnny Douglas. At the time it looked like a good trade for both teams, as Lawson wasn't considered a top prospect and Douglas was a very talented, however, often injured, hurler and the Cougars were in desperate need of pitching. Unfortunately, this turned into one of the most lopsided deals in the human era, as Lawson entered the top 100 at the start of the 1927 season before a cup of coffee in September. Lawson broke out as a 25-year-old, slashing an elite .344/.404/.518 (152 OPS+) with 33 doubles, 4 triples, 22 homers, and 106 RBIs. Lawson was worth an outstanding 7.9 wins above replacement and cracked the 700 plate appearance mark for the first of five times, and he took off from there. In 1930 he won his first of three Whitney Awards, hitting a robust .392/.442/.613 (165 OPS+) with 45 doubles, 5 triples, 28 homers, and 137 RBIs on a very good Stars team. He led the league in average, hits (247), and WAR (8.7), something he did the following year (.359, 231, 6.9) as well as he won the award yet again. 1932 he made it thee batting titles in a row, leading in hits (246), doubles (49), and RBIs (150) as well, slashing .377/.417/.557 (160 OPS+) with 19 homers and an 8.2 WAR. That year still stings for Cougar fans, as they watched the prospect they let get away lead their rivals to a pennant, preventing them from repeating. In 1933 he was selected to the first annual All Star game, and his 8 All Star selections are currently tied for the most of any FABL player, and he would have been a lock for a selection in each of his first five seasons. Lawson spent the next three seasons in New York, but in 1935 their controversial general manager gave their star far less time then he deserved. He started just 94 games and made just 481 trips to the plate, while still hitting a well above average .343/.393/.510 (138 OPS+) with 29 doubles, 4 triples, 12 homers, and 77 RBIs. Looking to right a past wrong, the now experienced Cougar general manager enquired on the superstar slugger, and managed to bring him back to the Windy City. The Cougars parted with Chick Stickels, Dick Earl, Frank Gordon, and George K. Brooks to bolster a roster in need of a star. Lawson finished his Stars career with a .358/.408/.521 (149 OPS+) with 313 doubles, 33 triples, 133 homers, and 894 RBIs while worth 55.9 wins above replacement in 1,204 games. The trade worked well for the Cougars, as while Stickels has been a regular for the Stars since 1938, Lawson helped bring the Cougars back to relevance. Lawson did not miss a beat in 1936, slashing .330/.391/.491 (136 OPS+) with 39 doubles, 20 homers, and 93 RBIs. It was the first of six seasons worth of elite production, as Lawson took home his fourth batting title (.327) in 1937 and once again led the league in hits (210). That happened again in 1940, where Lawson almost willed the Cougars to the postseason and took home his third Whitney. The then 37-year-old hit an elite .345/.399/.507 (154 OPS+) with 17 homers and a league high 48 doubles and 111 RBIs. He followed that up with another strong season, hitting .314/.368/.515 (146 OPS+) as he led the Cougars to their first World Championship Series since 1933. Lawson again led the league in RBIs (129), and was worth 6.3 WAR with 34 doubles and a career best 29 home runs. Unfortunately his Cougars fell short, as did Lawson's performance. This most recent was the first bad season Lawson had, as he was worth -0.4 WAR, nearly 5 WAR worse then his previous low of 4.4 in his "shortened" 1935 season. His glove completely vanished, as the generally competent defender had a -20.8 zone rating and .848 efficiency while his bat disappeared as well. Lawson struck out a career worst 87 times with a career low 32 walks, and he failed to crack double digits for homers for the first time, as well as failing to reach 75 RBIs. His 15 doubles were almost half as many as his previous low (29) in '35 and his 141 hits were the first time he failed to hit safely at least 150 times. Unless he returns to the Cougars after the war, he'll finish his Cougar career with a .318/.372/.477 (136 OPS+) line in 1,051 games. He tallied 245 doubles, 136 homers, and 714 RBIs while worth 35.2 wins above replacement. He will have a spot if he wants it when he returns from service, but unless he takes some tips from "Father Time" Dave Trowbridge, he is likely to hang up the cleats. If he does, it will be the end of a historic 2,255 game career where he tallied nearly 10,000 plate appearances with a superb .339/.391/.500 (145 OPS+) career line. Lawson ended with 558 doubles, 43 triples, 269 homers, 1,431 runs, 1,608 RBIs, 3,060 hits, and 750 walks while worth almost a centuries worth (91.1) in WAR. Lawson is one of just 11 players with over 3,000 career hits, and the only one who debuted after the 1915 season. He's also tied for 8th with Hank Eason for homers and 4th All time in RBIs. He's all over the Stars and Cougars leaderboards, and for the Stars ranks #1 in average (.358), #2 in OBP (.408), slugging (.521), and OPS (.929), 3rd in homers (133), 5th in RBIs (894), 7th in hits (1,709), doubles (313), and total bases (2,487), 9th in WAR (.55.9) and runs (775) all while ranking outside of the top 10 for games. His 1930 slugging (.613), total bases (386), and hits (247) are Stars records, as well as his 1932 singles (172) and RBIs (150). For the Cougars, he's tied with Bill Ashbaugh (136) for the most homers in franchise history, 4th in OPS (.849), 6th in doubles (245) and slugging (.477), 7th in average (.318), 8th in hits (1,351) and RBIs (714), 9th in runs (656), while again, outside the top 10 for games played. John Lawson will surely be remembered by fans well after he's retired, not just by those who support the Stars and Cougars, but even the casual observers. One of the best sluggers of his generation, Lawson always gave a professional at bat and had a knack for putting the ball and play and hitting it hard. An outstanding career for the pride of Cresskill, New Jersey unfortunately ended on a bit of a sour note, but when he officially retires, the Cougars will be sure to honor him, and while his #16 may not end up in the rafters, Jack the Ripper will never have to pay for drinks in Chicago again. It's just too bad they couldn't give him one more title... TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN WOLVES WAR NEWS CONTINUES TO BE BAD -The news from the global conflict continues to hit home in Toronto. Days after Red More, Hank Giordano enlisted in the US Army the team has received news that two other players have enlisted for service in the war effort. George Garrison, runner up in 1942 for the CA Allen Award, has joined Navy along with two-time All-Star CF Tom Frederick who will now be with the Air Force team. News of Garrison's decision reach the Wolves' offices first, hot stove league managers thought that although the move would definitely downgrade the pitching staff this could be an opportunity for Juan Pomales to shine as a #2 or #3 man in the rotation. The news that Frederick also will not be returning in 1943 has left the question "Who will patrol CF?", another spot that Pomales has played during his career. Larry Vestal, Ed Marshall both have patrolled CF but neither have consistently covered enough ground to be an adequate full season option. It appears that Pomales value to the team will be the rotation be may play some CF. Other options could be Mike Rollinson or one the Buffalo Nickels, John Graves or Whitey Acton. When ask about his thoughts on the roster for 1943 manager Charlie Reed's comment was "Look around the league, every day, every team is being told that another player or players have joined the armed services. It is still three months away from spring training, many more players will not be available to all organizations by that time. Once we assemble for the pre-season along with my staff we will put together the best team available to entertain the Toronto fans. At present our thoughts and prayer should be with these brave young men who have decided to serve their countries during this trying time." The Wolves have also announced the hiring of a new Director of Scouting, Art Willis. His first task will be to provide input on players to be put on the 40-man roster before the upcoming Rule 5 draft. Wolves now have 10 open spots on their secondary roster, will there be more to come in the near future? Willis will also be busy preparing reports on players for the upcoming early phase of the amateur draft.  WILDCATS CLINCH RETURN TO AFA CHAMPIONSHIP GAME For the second consecutive year and third time in four seasons the Chicago Wildcats are headed to the American Football Association championship game. The Wildcats, who beat New York 10-7 in the title contest last year, clinched the Western Division title with dominating display in a 35-14 win at home over the Detroit Maroons. The victory keeps the Wildcats perfect at 8-0 and puts them three wins up on the second place Maroons. Even if the Wildcats drop their final three games and Detroit is victorious in each of theirs it still won't be enough to dethrone the Wildcats, who hold the tiebreaker with a pair of wins over Detroit. It once again was Chicago's depth that won out. While Detroit has an almost unstoppable duo in Dewey Burnett and Stan Vaught, they lack the multiple threats the Wildcats throw, and run, at teams every week. Vaught made his catches - 5 for 63 yards and a score- but Chicago controlled the play and dominated the game with their 514 total net yards, more than double what the Maroons could muster. The problem the Maroons, and every other team that faces Chicago, has to deal with is the multiple ways the Wildcats can hurt you. Backs Gus Brown and John Fuchs are equally adept at passing. There are multiple backs who are a threat to run the ball on any given play and five different players have made at least 10 catches so far this season. The chart below shows how the Wildcats spread things out and how the group has greatly outperformed their opponents this season. CHICAGO WILDCATS 1942 OFFENSE  Chicago has three more games remaining but they are merely warm-up contests in preparation for the one that really matters, likely a date with the Boston Americans and a chance to get revenge for the 1939 title game when Boston beat the Wildcats 21-14. Just don't try and tell anyone associated with the Wildcats these next three games don't matter. They do, and matter a lot, as the club and in particular new co-coaches Marv Englert and Bill Youngberg, want to continue what the great Carl Boon started this season before he got the call from the Navy. Since the modern era of the AFA began in 1936 no team has ever won 10 games in a season, let alone go undefeated at 11-0 as the Wildcats are aiming to accomplish this year. The Wildcats title game opponent will likely be the Boston Americans, who are bidding to return to the championship contest for the first time since knocking off the Wildcats in 1939. Boston improved to 7-2 on the season with a 20-14 win over the New York Football Stars, dropping the second place Stars to 5-3 and eliminating their margin for error should they wish to repeat as Eastern pennant winners. Yesterday's loss was a tough pill to swallow for the New Yorkers, who opened a two touchdown lead only to see Boston score the final 20 points of the game to beat the Stars for the second time this season. Leon Fitzgerald was the hero for the Yanks when he returned the opening kick-off of the second half 91 yards breaking a 14-14 deadlock and scoring what proved to be the only points of the second half. New York came close to tying the game -or even winning because the Americans missed their extra point attempt after Fitzgerald's romp- as Tom Jamason piloted a late drive to move the Stars to within 9 yards of the Boston endzone before he ran out of time and the game ended. In other action Bulldog Stein had a big day leading Brooklyn past Philadelphia 21-17. Stein ran for 144 yards and all 3 Kings touchdowns while also handling the kick duties so he was responsible for all of the Brooklyn points on the day. The final game saw Washington get back on even footing at 5-5 with a 42-7 thumping of the Pittsburgh Paladins. Wasps quarterback Jeff Proos has drawn a fair bit of criticism of late for all the interceptions (35 this season) but he was very good on this day in throwing for 220 yards and 5 scores. Code:
AFA STANDINGS EASTERN W L T PCT Boston 7 2 0 .778 New York 5 3 0 .625 Washington 5 5 0 .500 Brooklyn 4 4 0 .500 Philadelphia 2 8 0 .200 WESTERN W L T PCT Chicago 8 0 0 1.000 Detroit 5 2 1 .714 St Louis 3 5 0 .375 Cleveland 2 6 0 .250 Pittsburgh 1 7 1 .125 SUNDAY NOVEMBER 15 Chicago 35 Detroit 14 Brooklyn 21 Philadelphia 17 Boston 20 New York 14 Washington 42 Pittsburgh 7 SUNDAY NOVEMEBER 22 Detroit at New York Brooklyn at Boston Chicago at Pittsburgh Cleveland at St Louis Code:
AFA LEADERS SCORING PTS Vaught, Det 116 Stein, Bkn 78 Kelly, Bos 48 Holt, StL 48 Frum, WAS 48 PASSING COMP-ATT YDS TD INT Thomas, Bos 130-234 1,341 14 11 Burnett, Det 115-222 1,329 18 10 Proos, Was 95-222 1,310 11 35 Boetcher, Cle 110-271 1,207 8 31 J.Taylor, Phi 78-195 920 7 15 RUSHING YDS TD Holt, StL 777 7 Stein, Bkn 622 6 Fitzgerald, Bos 565 4 Sadowski, Was 524 6 Frum, Was 449 5 RECEIVING CAT TD Vaught, Det 68 15 Kelly, Bos 30 6 Hooper, Bos 26 3 Douglas, Was 25 2 G.Halladay, Pit 22 2 INERCEPTIONS # Stein, Bkn 9 Vaught, Det 9 Burnett, Det 7 Murphy. Det 7 BAD DAY FOR BOTH KNIGHTS AS DETROIT CITY AND COMMONWEALTH STUMBLE It was a week of surprises as 3 of the six teams that entered the weekend with a perfect record did not exit it in the same fashion. The three that survived and remain perfect are Deep South Conference duo Noble Jones College and Cumberland along with independent Miami State. The Colonels ran their record on the season to 9-0 with a resounding 40-0 stomping of Western Tennessee. Cumberland is 8-0 after beating Deep South cellar dwellers Mississippi A&M 24-7 while Gulls took care of their in-state rivals - and another Deep South school- with a 19-14 win over Western Florida. Miami State's record now sits at 7-0. The big surprise of the week was Commonwealth Catholic falling to Brooklyn State 28-20 as the Knights possibly got caught looking ahead to their season ending showdown with St Patrick's. The Knights are now 6-1 and certainly out of consideration for the East-West Classic. Detroit City College knew it was in for a tough test on Saturday and they fell to 7-1 after suffering a 10-6 loss on the road against St Blane. The Fighting Saints improved their mark to 6-2 with the victory, which was their 6th straight after starting the season with losses to Wisconsin State and Georgia Baptist. Georgia Baptist did not lose on Saturday but the Gators are no longer perfect as they were forced to settle for a 10-10 draw at Alabama Baptist. The 7-0-1 Gators still seem poised to earn an East-West Classic game bid and perhaps a shot at the National Title but it will require them to beat Noble Jones College in their annual showdown in Atlanta two weeks from now. BAPTIST GOAL NOW TO CRUSH COLONELS HOPES Greeted by a wildly cheering throng greater than any that had gathered for their victories, the Georgia Baptist Gators returned home following their Alabama Baptist tie to find their supporters confident they would bounce back to beat Noble Jones College in a game they hope still might be for the National Championship. There was a band and many hundreds of followers in the reception and in the speeches Captain Harry Hollis and others made there were vows of victory over Noble Jones, unbeaten and untied and the current leader in the Deep South Conference. Speculation is running wild over the state of Georgia as to the reaction the Gators will show against the Colonels because of giving up a lead late and settling for a tie against Bama. Many Gators followers believe it will give them a better chance to beat Noble Jones. Of course, followers of Noble Jones College, unbeaten and untied and led by their certain to be All-American back Billy Bockhorst, are quite certain they will prevail in Atlanta on November 28th. They call their boys a "team of destiny" because of their many accomplishments this season. They both might be putting the cart before the horse as they speak of their big contest, with each needing to survive one more test before their big showdown. That would be this Saturday as Noble Jones needs to be sure not to take Opelika State lightly, lest they fall into the same trap that befall the Gators in the state of Alabama this past weekend. Baptist needs to bounce back had have a strong showing at home against Western Florida to make the contest on the 28th still the likely deciding factor on who the 'East' in East-West Classic will be. The Gators tie with the Alabama Baptist Chargers in Huntsville might have taken a little shine off the big game but it is still shaping up to be one for the ages and, as Baptist boosters surmised, one that if all goes to plan this Saturday a game to declare the National Champion. NOTES -Quite a step up this season for both Georgia elevens as a year ago Noble Jones posted a 6-3-1 record while the Gators settled for a 4-4-1 tally. Georgia Baptist did get state bragging rights a year ago with a season ending 16-7 win over the Colonels. Here is a look at the results from the six teams that entered the weekend without a tie or a loss on their record.  WEEKEND COLLEGE FOOTBALL SCOREBOARD KEY GAMES Noble Jones College 40 Western Tennessee 0 Brooklyn State 28 Commonwealth Catholic 20 Georgia Baptist 10 Alabama Baptist 10 St. Blane 10 Detroit City College 6 Cumberland 24 Mississippi A&M 7 Miami State 19 Western Florida 14 Rome State 24 Chesapeake State 13 Annapolis Maritime 21 Henry Hudson 7 North Carolina Pre-Flight 14 Bronx Tech 0 Jacksonville Naval Air Station 7 Coastal State 0 Great Lakes Navy 38 Camp Grant 0 Baton Rouge State 20 Georgia Pre-Flight 10 Great Lakes Navy 24 Wisconsin Catholic 7 Opelika State 19 Bayou State 10 Carolina Poly 24 North Carolina Tech 3 Central Ohio 30 Lincoln 20 St. Ignatius 28 Whitney College 16 Western Iowa 13 Minnesota Tech 3 Wisconsin State 21 St. Magnus 10 Sadler 16 George Fox 14 Pierpont 10 Liberty College 0 Coastal California 34 Portland Tech 6 Redwood 30 Lane State 0 OTHER RESULTS Kirtland Field 34 El Paso Methodist 3 Cowpens State 10 Potomac College 0 Northern California 15 Custer College 0 St. Pancras 20 Empire State 20 Boulder State 34 Utah A&M 0 Colorado Poly 34 Pueblo State 13 Grafton 20 Brunswick 14 College of Waco 14 Fremont State 6 Central Carolina 34 Lexington State 3 Penn Catholic 10 Northern Minnesota 7 Columbia Military Academy 21 Bulein 6 Charleston Tech 7 St. Matthew's College 0 Abilene Baptist 20 Valley State 7 Dickson 29 Ellery 0 St. Patrick's 23 Conwell College 0 Indiana A&M 40 Eastern Kansas 7 Iowa A&M 31 Lawrence State 17 Maryland State 20 Eastern State 16 Northern Mississippi 16 Strub College 0 Daniel Boone College 21 Oklahoma City State 7 Eastern Oklahoma 24 Laclede 0 Pittsburgh State 23 College of Omaha 14 Hampden-Sydney 14 Petersburg 10 Rainier College 34 Golden Gate University Pre-Flight 0 San Francisco Tech 35 San Clemente 7 Sunnyvale 14 Golden Gate University 0 Texas Gulf Coast 20 Arkansas A&T 6 Red River State 3 Darnell State 0 Travis College 6 Amarillo Methodist 3 Texas Panhandle 44 Tempe College 3 Payne State 34 Lubbock State 13 Provo Tech 17 Wyoming A&I 6 Mile High State 20 Cache Valley 3 Bluegrass State 27 Alliance (TN) 13 Perry State College 24 Lambert College 14 Spokane State 21 Idaho A&M 7 South Valley State 7 Canyon A&M 0 Central Kentucky 13 Huntington State 13 Alexandria 18 Richmond State 7 Santa Ana Field 7 California Catholic 6  WHAT OF THE NEW YEAR'S CLASSICS? Now that the Nation's big college football teams are moving down the stretch a plaguing question arises: What will the Washington powers-that-be do about post-season spectacles and the transportation problems in connection with them? From no less a source than President Roosevelt's office came the order to transfer the Rome State-Annapolis Maritime game from it's usual locale in Philadelphia to Annapolis, and to limit the spectators to inhabitants of Maryland. There may be a parallel; again there may not be. The Rome State-Annapolis Maritime game, after all, is a regularly scheduled game. It does, however, usually draw 104,000 to Philly's big stadium and, in peacetime, it demanded many special trains from the North and South. The Classic games - the Desert, Cajun, Sunshine and of course the big one in the East-West Classic - are extra games. Normally, a team travels Classic-ward unaccompanied except for newspapermen. *** AS IT WAS IN PEACETIME YEARS *** But the transportation bugaboo is something with which to reckon and deep down inside sports people admit it. The football pappies have their fingers and toes crossed. The baseball folk are putting up a brave front and speak optimistically of a full season in 1943, but they are be no means certain that there'll be any such sport. And the big reason is fear of a crack-down on civilian travel.The sports life used to be a wild and gay affair. Special trains---fawning passenger agents---special cars on special trains for ballplayers...special cars for the press...redcaps at the beginning and end of the line...'house' treats at the bar. When is the last time a railroad man poured you a drink and said, "This is our treat, old boy." It was merely a very fortuitous break that baseball's World Championship Series was spared major concern with both New York entries qualifying. Late in the regular season last September, baseball people became very aware of the true import of the transportation problem. Teams were lucky to get enough seats to move from one city to another and a sleeper car was all but out of the question. Newspaper men and even club personnel had to scour high and low to catch ride, and often on a different train from the players. Along came the football people to learn how really tough it is becoming to move from section to section. Big-name college teams, accustomed to deluxe stuff, scrambled with millhands and pneumatic-drill beginners of the factories for coach seats. Nationally-know triple-threaters found themselves standing in the aisles. Makes one wonder just how tough the task of transporting Noble Jones College or Georgia Baptist all the way out to California for a game with the pride of the west might be. Winning the east might not be the tough part for these schools. Figuring out how to get west for New Year's Day is going to be the real challenge. STRONG START FOR DEFENDING CHAMPS AT EASTON TOURNAMENT The defending National Champions from Liberty College picked up right where they left off last season as the Bells proved to be too much for the competition in the Jack Easton Tip-Off Classic. Liberty went 3-0 with wins over Columbia Military Academy, Custer College and Central Ohio to win what is arguably the most prestigious of the early season events. Named after the man credited with the invention of the sport, the Easton Classic can trace it's history back to the origins of AIAA basketball. As was the case last season when he was a second team All-American selection, center Robert Grant did much of the heavy lifting for the Bells. Grant had 15 points to lead the way in the opener, one in which Liberty College struggled to get it's footing and barely held off the Cadets from Columbia Military by a 52-49 count. A day later and the Bells looked much more relaxed in an easy 40-23 win over Custer College - a game in which Grant once more led the scoring parade with 14 points with fellow senior Rob Berner chipping in with 12. Central Ohio was the opponent for the title contest and the Aviators stayed with the Bells all the way, utilizing their balanced scoring attack that saw four fliers hit double-digits on the scoresheet. They contained Grant for much of the contest, limiting him to 9 points but Berner and his backcourt mate Charles Ashley, picked up the slack in combining for 23 points in a 58-54 win for Liberty. JACK EASTON TIP-OFF CLASSIC (BOSTON) FIRST ROUND Liberty College 52 Columbia Military Academy 49 Central Ohio 43 Strub College 25 Ohio Poly 50 Red River State 47 Custer College 63 Lambert College 43 SEMI-FINALS Liberty College 40 Custer College 23 Central Ohio 58 Ohio Poly 52 CHAMPIONSHIP Liberty College 58 Central Ohio 54 Elsewhere this week the CCLA Coyotes easily dominated the competition in San Francisco as they won the West Coast Classic preseason event. The closest of the three games for the West Coast Athletic Association champs and runner-up in last year's National Championship tournament was an 8 point win over Bayou State in their opener. CCLA beat it's next two opponents, Quaker College and Canyon A&M, by an average of 24 points to win the event which typically does not attract teams of CCLA's stature. However, citing travel concerns the Coyotes opted to participate in an event closer to their Los Angeles campus. Chesapeake State topped Noble Jones College 47-38 at the Gardens to win the Bigsby Festival in New York. The Clippers have high hopes this season after missing the end of season championship tournament each of the past two seasons but will have plenty of competition in the South Atlantic Conference from the likes of North Carolina Tech, Carolina Poly and Mobile Maritime. The last of the early events drew a fairly strong field to Dallas as the Heart of Texas Tournament counted Annapolis Maritime, Daniel Boone College, Pierpont, Georgia Baptist and Minnesota Tech among it's field of 8 schools. Minnesota Tech faced Annapolis Maritime in the finals and the Lakers proved too much for Navigators in a 55-47 Tech victory. Minnesota Tech might well be a team worth watching this year and are coming off their first appearance in the National Championship Tournament since 1912. The Lakers won 21 games overall last season, second highest in team history, and their 9-7 record in the tough Great Lakes Alliance was their first better than .500 showing in that section since 1924-25. They are guided by Pid Cleaver, a former assistant at Detroit City College who joined the school last season and immediately changed the culture. On the court it is a pair of junior forwards who lead the way in Russell Geisler and Tommy Cozart. 1942-43 DETROIT CITY COLLEGE KNIGHTS BASKETBALL ROSTER The biggest challenge for veteran Knights head coach Dick Keegan is to find a replacement for guard Joseph Richburg. The Wisconsin native is now training to be a navy pilot but last season as a senior he was a first team All-American selection and the biggest reason the Knights reached the National Semi-Finals before falling to eventual champion Liberty College. Richburg, who was also recognized as the Great Lakes Alliance's top player last season, became just the sixth Knights player to earn All-American statusCode:
DETROIT CITY COLLEGE ALL-AMERICANS
FIRST TEAM SELECTIONS
1941-42 Joseph Richburg G
1940-41 John Banks G
1934-35 Frank Chafin G
1929-20 Robert McCutcheon F
1913-14 Orlin Nardone G
SECOND TEAM SELECTIONS
1930-31 Harold Nelson F
Code:
DETROIT CITY COLLEGE KNIGHTS Player # Pos Yr Ht Wt Hometown ---------------------------------------------------------------- Jack Kurtz 15 C Jr 6-10 262 Reserve, LA Hilton Brogdon 0 PF Sr 6-9 250 Woodbury, TN Andrew Bennett 22 SF Sr 6-6 237 Delta, OH Roman Sollars 3 SG Sr 6-2 179 Denver, CO Adolph Duckworth 10 PG Jr 6-1 187 Hopatcong, NJ Kenneth Ahlers 14 PF So 6-8 241 Vandergrift, PA Olin Catlett 35 SF Sr 6-7 232 Detroit, MI Stephen Rubalcava 12 PG Fr 6-1 198 Valley Center, KS Carroll Ellis 2 PG Jr 6-0 186 Lancaster, CA Donal Stockdale 55 C Sr 6-6 254 Berne, IN Lawrence Hughes 20 PG Fr 6-2 174 Norwalk, OH Jerome Gray 52 SG So 5-11 174 Warsaw, IL Tony Wonger 54 SF Jr 6-4 208 Wexford, PA Mac Middaugh 13 C Fr 6-7 222 Thorntown, IN David Murphey 21 PF So 6-5 245 Raceland, LA  THE WEEK AHEAD Fresh off their win at the Tournament of Champions in New York City the Knights begin the regular season portion of their schedule with a trip to the Youngstown area in order to face the Mahoning Valley State Miners. A small school that plays in the Keystone Alliance, the Miners were just 8-21 a year ago and have only made the year end tournament twice in their history with the most recent appearance coming way back in 1923. They return only two starters from last season's squad with David Whetstone, a center out of Minnesota, being their top player. Off the court the Knights got some good news with word that Norwood, Ohio high school center Buddy Eugene has decided to attend Detroit City College next season. The 6'7" pivot is considered to be one of the top available high school seniors in the Midwest. His signing is good news and comes on the heels of disappointment, as the school was recently told by forward Ruben Grant - a top ten national prospect- that he preferred Whitney College and will join the Engineers next season The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 11/15/1942
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Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles Last edited by Tiger Fan; 06-23-2022 at 02:03 PM. |
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06-24-2022, 11:04 AM
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Bat Boy
Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 11
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November, 17th, 1942 -- From the Desk of Percy Sutherland
 But What About Pitchers? Last month we looked at the best (and worst) batting performances of 1942 using wRC+. What about pitching--is there a similar statistic we can use to evaluate pitchers? Luckily for us, there is: FIP- is the pitching analogue to wRC+. Typically when evaluating pitchers--either as a sportswriter filling out an Allen ballot or a FABL front office determining who should be in the rotation--we start with ERA. And ERA is a good place to start. After all, ERA measures how many runs were scored when a pitcher was on the mound, and a pitcher's primary job is to prevent runs. But there are so many factors that go into ERA that are outside of the pitcher's control. Consider two pitchers who give up the exact same number of batted balls--one pitches for the Cougars with the league's best defense, and one pitches for the Foresters with the league's worst defense. The Foresters' pitcher will allow more baserunners and thus more runs than the Cougars' pitcher. But if they gave up the exact same number of batted balls, can we really say with certainty that the Cougars' pitcher is the better pitcher? FIP--or Fielding Independent Pitching--is a measurement of a pitcher’s performance that strips out the role of defense, luck, and sequencing, making it a more stable indicator of how a pitcher actually performed over a given period of time than a runs allowed based statistic. The "minus" version of FIP is park and league adjusted, allowing comparison between pitchers who pitch in different ballparks and in different run scoring environments (and eras). Like wRC+, FIP- is scaled such that 100 is league average. Unlike wRC+, with FIP- lower numbers are better (hence, the "minus") in order to replicate other pitching statistics like ERA. In 1942, there were 68 pitchers who pitched enough innings to qualify for the league ERA title. The following table shows how those pitchers fall into the various FIP- categories. Code:
Rating FIP- Player Count Excellent 70 2 Great 80 6 Above Average 90 14 Average 100 30 Below Average 110 3 Poor 115 0 Awful 125 3 The two pitchers with Excellent seasons according to FIP-:
The two 25-year-olds both had tremendous seasons. Barrell, the CA Allen Award winner, was just a tick better--he struck out more and walked fewer batters than Garrison. Garrison's season was definitely Allen Award-worthy, he was just unfortunate in that he is in the same Association as Barrell. There were 6 pitchers with Great seasons:
This group includes the FA Allen Award winner--Gothams' rookie Ed Bowman. It also demonstrates the folly of leaning on won-loss record in evaluating pitchers. According to FIP-, Joe Hancock had a great season, irrespective of his 15-16 record. Dig a little deeper and you'll find that Toronto scored just 3.2 runs/game when Hancock was on the mound, compared to 4.3 runs/game for Garrison. At the other end of the scale, no one ended up in the Poor category, and so here are the 3 pitchers in the Below Average category:
Here you see two pitchers who are on the downside of their careers in Rankin and Day, and one in Everett who has yet to find his footing. In 4 seasons with the Eagles, Everett has not had a FIP- below 100. And finally, the 3 pitchers in the Awful category:
In 183 innings, Ross stuck out 38 batters and allowed 27 home runs. And one wonders what happened with Wheeler, who perfectly epitomized the season in Detroit. In 1940, Wheeler was 15-7 with a 2.45 ERA (FIP- of 86). His 1942 performance was a rather long ways from that. Last edited by percy_sutherland; 06-24-2022 at 12:46 PM. |
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06-29-2022, 12:12 PM
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#459 |
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 677
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November 23, 1942
NOVEMBER 23, 1942 ALL-MILITARY TEAM MIGHT WIN 120 GAMES How severely has the war impacted the talent level in the big leagues? With well over 600 professional baseball players including closing in on 200 with big league experience already working for Uncle Sam, one could easily make an all-star team of players in the military and quite conceivably win 120 games in either the Federal or the Continental Association. In fact, one might be safe in wagering if two military teams were created - one for each loop- they most likely would be favoured to meet in the World Championship Series. That, of course, will not happen but how would this team do in a big league season?  Where is there a hole on this club? Maybe third base where John Lawson is certainly showing his age but in a pinch Tom Frederick could fill in, or we could summon young catcher turned third baseman Rick York from the Cincinnati Cannons originally but more recently the United States Navy. Or Mack Sutton from the Army Air Corps by way of Boston. Most likely though if we just wait a month or two the third base problem will solve it self when another big name player heeds the call of Uncle Sam. Either way, 120 wins might just be conservative for this group by the time the late additions arrive over the rest of the winter and into the spring. THIS WEEK'S ENLISTMENTS/DRAFTEES BY TEAM Only the New York Stars escaped without any losses this week as several clubs were hit hard with players leaving for military service. Among the biggest losses are pitchers Ray Dalpman from Boston and Charlie Stedman leaving Pittsburgh. Below is this week's list of players who have left FABL organizations to join in the war effort. BOSTON- Ray Dalpman P, Bobby Montefusco P, BROOKLYN- Bill Hooker 2B, Effa Bancroft P CHIEFS- Skeeter Gray OF, Bill May OF COUGARS- Danny Goff P/OF, Carlos Montes OF, Ed Wilkinson P CINCINNATI- Glenn Payne P, Dick Blaszak OF, Ruben Sanchez OF CLEVELAND- Dick Lamb P DETROIT- Constantine Peters 3B MONTREAL- Heinie Billings OF, Gordon McCarley OF NY STARS- none NY GOTHAMS- Bobby Boone OF, Bunny Edwards P KEYSTONES- Davey Robicheaux 3B, Jack Smith OF SAILORS- Bruce Lucas 2B, David Molina P PITTSBURGH- Charlie Stedman P, Gary Ely SS ST LOUIS- Dan Rivard P, Jerry Suber OF TORONTO- Pat Reed SS WASHINGTON- Lou Johnson P
AMERICANS CLINCH EASTERN TITLE There are still two weeks remaining in the American Football Association season but the participants in the loop's title game have been established. The Chicago Wildcats clinched the Western Division berth a week ago and they are now joined by the Boston Americans, who clinched the Eastern Division with a 14-3 win over Brooklyn on Sunday. The New York Football Stars are just two wins back of Boston with two games remaining but the Yanks hold the tiebreaker based on their sweep of the two game set with the Stars this season. The championship contest will be a rematch of the 1939 title game, one in which Boston emerged with a 21-14 victory on the road. On Sunday it was Del Thomas who once again led the Boston attack. The veteran quarterback threw for 203 yards including a fourth quarter touchdown pass to Jim Sandera to seal a 14-3 win over the visiting Brooklyn Kings. The win improves Boston's record to 8-2 on the year in advance of their season-ending game in Pittsburgh next weekend. The Chicago Wildcats are now 9-0 as they continue their bid to become the first team in modern AFA history to go a perfect 11-0. Their win yesterday in Pittsburgh was an easy one, with the Wildcats building a 29-0 lead at the break and finishing with a 29-7 win over the woeful Pittsburgh Paladins. Pittsburgh's fate was sealed early with 8 consecutive first half possessions ending in turnovers. A fourth quarter rally at the Bigsby Oval gave the New York Stars a 17-14 win over visiting Detroit. The Stars scored a pair of late touchdowns including a 6 yard pass from Tom Jamason to Paul Watts for the go-ahead score with less than 2 minutes remaining in the game. Finally rookie Bob Holt ran for 102 yards and two scores, while also passing for 94 yards and another touchdown to lead the St Louis Ramblers past Cleveland 35-14. Holt now has 879 yards rushing on the year and has two more games remaining- against Brooklyn and at Detroit- in an effort to set the modern single season rushing record. At his current total Holt already owns the fifth best rushing total. Code:
SINGLE SEASON RUSHING LEADERS NAME, TM YDS YEAR Warren Howard, Pit 981 1940 Tom Jamason, NY 973 1936 Hank Greshman, Pit 922 1936 Bernard Dishmon,Was 881 1940 Bob Holt, StL 879 1942 Code:
AFA STANDINGS EASTERN W L T PCT Boston 8 2 0 .800 New York 6 3 0 .667 Washington 5 5 0 .500 Brooklyn 4 5 0 .444 Philadelphia 2 8 0 .200 WESTERN W L T PCT Chicago 9 0 0 1.000 Detroit 5 3 1 .625 St Louis 4 5 0 .444 Cleveland 2 7 0 .222 Pittsburgh 1 8 1 .111 SUNDAY NOVEMBER 22 New York 17 Detroit 14 Boston 14 Brooklyn 3 Chicago 29 Pittsburgh 7 St Louis 35 Cleveland 14 SUNDAY NOVEMEBER 29 Brooklyn at St Louis Detroit at Philadelphia Washington at Chicago Cleveland at New York Boston at Pittsburgh Code:
AFA LEADERS SCORING PTS Vaught, Det 124 Stein, Bkn 81 Holt, StL 60 Kelly, Bos 48 Frum, WAS 48 Milatz, NYS 47 PASSING COMP-ATT YDS TD INT Thomas, Bos 146-266 1,544 15 12 Burnett, Det 130-246 1,422 20 11 Boetcher, Cle 120-291 1,325 8 32 Proos, Was 95-222 1,310 11 35 J.Taylor, Phi 78-195 920 7 15 RUSHING YDS TD Holt, StL 879 9 Stein, Bkn 733 6 Fitzgerald, Bos 610 4 Sadowski, Was 524 6 Frum, Was 449 5 RECEIVING CAT TD Vaught, Det 72 16 Kelly, Bos 32 6 Hooper, Bos 26 3 Douglas, Was 25 2 G.Halladay, Pit 25 2 INERCEPTIONS # Stein, Bkn 9 Vaught, Det 9 Murphy. Det 8 Burnett, Det 7 Spagna, Det 7 B McLean, Chi 7 NO SURPRISES AS GEORGIA SHOWDOWN LOOMS Unlike a week ago, this time Saturday went very much as expected among the college football elite. No major upsets among the title contenders and we head to the end of the season with all eyes focused on one game and one game only. That would be the big showdown in Atlanta between in-state rivals Noble Jones College Colonels and the Georgia Baptist Gators. They lock horns every year with seemingly plenty at stake but all those previous Gators-Colonels tussles pale in comparison to what is on the line this time around, merely a berth in the East-West Classic and the big dollars that comes with it for the participating school and quite likely the number one ranking in the nation. Now Cumberland and it's perfect 9-0 record might having something to say about all of that but the truth is the Explorers do not stand a chance of being invited west. Only Commonwealth Catholic or Detroit City College could have denied the champion of Georgia a trip to sunny California and both of those schools lost their opportunity when they each came up short a week ago. The Colonels are 10-0, including 6 wins in Deep South Conference play, after back Billy Bockhurst bolted for 137 yards and 3 scores to lead his Noble Jones mates past an overmatched Opelika State eleven by a count of 41-7. Georgia Baptist, reeling from that tie they suffered in Alabama a week ago, righted the ship with a 24-13 victory over Western Florida, running the Gators season mark to 8-0-1. Cumberland is 9-0 following a 33-6 drubbing of Central Kentucky and 4-0 in Deep South play but unless the Colonels fall to the Gators the best the Explorers can lay claim to is a share of the Deep South title, but even then many will point to Noble Jones having more conference wins than the 4 Cumberland earned. The good news for all three of those teams is they all stand a very strong chance of playing somewhere the day after we all bid farewell to 1942. Like Cumberland, Miami State is perfect (8-0) following a 24-14 win over Columbia Military Academy. The Gulls have one more hurdle to overcome in the form of Huntington State next Saturday but even if they do run the table and finish 9-0 a New Year's invitation is not to be expected. Detroit City College should get a Classic invite after the Knights ran their record to 8-1 with a convincing 31-14 win over Central Ohio. Wisconsin State finished out it's season with a 10-9 win at Minnesota Tech, improving the Brewers to 9-1 and a perfect 5-0 in Great Lakes Alliance play. The Knights will need to win their final game next weekend against Western Iowa to assure them a Classic invite and a share of the GLA title, otherwise a Detroit City loss allows Wisconsin State to claim both a classic bid and an Alliance title. WEEKEND COLLEGE FOOTBALL SCOREBOARD KEY GAMES Noble Jones College 41 Opelika State 7 Georgia Baptist 24 Western Florida 13 Miami State 24 Columbia Military Academy 14 Cumberland 33 Central Kentucky 6 St. Blane 34 St. Magnus 7 Detroit City College 31 Central Ohio 14 Commonwealth Catholic 41 Boston State 0 Great Lakes Navy 27 Lincoln 17 Rome State 30 Sadler 6 Iowa Pre-Flight 24 College of Omaha 3 Jacksonville Naval Air Station 27 Pensacola NAS 0 Richmond State 7 North Carolina Pre-Flight 7 Wisconsin State 10 Minnesota Tech 9 George Fox 7 Dickson 3 Grafton 34 Henry Hudson 21 CC Los Angeles 17 Rainier College 0 Lane State 17 Portland Tech 7 Redwood 20 Northern California 7 OTHER RESULTS Lubbock State 14 Texas Gulf Coast 6 Canyon A&M 16 Lubbock Field 16 Alabama Baptist 17 Bluegrass State 7 Albuquerque Field 23 Tempe College 14 Valley State 28 Texas Panhandle 14 Arkansas A&T 13 Northern Minnesota 10 Central Carolina 16 Mobile Maritime 13 Coastal State 24 Bulein 3 Empire State 17 Ellery 0 Carolina Poly 24 Charleston Tech 3 Brooklyn State 20 Daniel Boone College 14 St. Matthew's College 20 Potomac College 0 College of Waco 12 Abilene Baptist 3 St. Patrick's 21 Bronx Tech 0 Idaho A&M 21 Stratton 21 Whitney College 13 Indiana A&M 7 Iowa A&M 28 Eastern Kansas 27 Maryland State 31 Lexington State 3 St. Ignatius 27 Huntington State 7 California Catholic 14 South Valley State 0 North Carolina Tech 17 Eastern State 14 Flagstaff State 20 El Paso Methodist 14 Eastern Oklahoma 33 Lambert College 7 Pittsburgh State 17 Liberty College 13 Amarillo Methodist 13 Red River State 7 Golden Gate University 33 Mather Field 0 Spokane State 17 Second Air Force (WA) 7 St. Pancras 21 Garden State 7 Oklahoma City State 27 Conwell College 0 Payne State 28 Fremont State 10 Cache Valley 31 Wyoming A&I 0 Boone College-St. Louis 26 Perry State College 20 Penn Catholic 17 Strub College 10 Wisconsin Catholic 27 Camp Grant 14 Sunnyvale 27 Golden Gate University Pre-Flight 0 Alameda Coast Guard 17 San Francisco Tech 13  COACHES: THERE WILL BE AIAA FOOTBALL NEXT YEAR The American Association of Football Coaches pledged itself to carry on intercollegiate football next year with whatever means and materials are available under wartime conditions. The endorsement of football as a wartime sport was adopted by the executive board of the group, headed by Colonel Bill Ormand, former coach of Cumberland who now runs one of the Army All-Star outfits. The board recognized football's value in the training of young men for military service and leadership, as demonstrated in the preliminary training program of the armed forces. The group also promised to extend intramural football in colleges, using the template laid out by Patsy O'Callghan when he arrived at Maryland State last spring after a long-stint as Redwood's head man. The Association also cancelled it's annual meeting in compliance with the government's request to aid transportation problems. *** FIGHTING SAINTS ALSO DOING THEIR PART TO SAVE TRAVEL *** St Blane has made it known that the school will not accept a bid, if they were invited to a New Year's Day Classic game. The Saints, who improved to 7-2 on the season with a convincing win over St Magnus, made it be known they felt it was just far too difficult to arrange travel in order to get to one of the sites that host the college showcase games. ***BLACK SATURDAY COSTS COMMONWEALTH, DETROIT CITY BIG MONEY *** November 14th will go down as the blackest of Saturday's in Commonwealth Catholic's football annals. That was the day the Knights , hitherto undefeated and untied and wealthy in power, saw $80,000 or thereabouts slip through their fingers. That was the day that unheralded Brooklyn State upended the Knights by a 28-20 count, wiping Commonwealth Catholic off the shortlist for the East-West game and left them just another disillusioned and beaten team. There is a consolation prize still on the table, in the form of a different New Year Classic game but the Knights had been focused on a trip to Santa Ana. Detroit City College will get a New Year game as long as they can handle Western Iowa in their finale next week but they too lost a chance at the big payday in the East-West Classic. However, Detroit City College's loss was a little easier to take considering it came against a St Blane eleven that looks like world-beaters at the moment. The East in the East-West Classic now will certainly come from Georgia and all eyes will be on Atlanta next Saturday for that family tussle between the Baptist Gators and the Colonels. *** WHO IS PLAYING ON JANUARY 1? *** The winner in Atlanta gets the East-West game and it seems all but certain their opponent will be City College of Los Angeles. CCLA is 6-1-1 on the season after shutting out Rainer College 17-0 on Saturday. The Coyotes still have two games remaining, but not until December 5th when they play lowly Idaho A&M and December 12th against local rival Coastal California. A win on the fifth lets them play in the big game regardless of the outcome against the Dolphins as the West representative must be finalized by December 7th. The East-West game will be back in their backyard at Santa Ana, after a one year sojourn to New York City necessitated by the events at Pearl Harbor. If they Coyotes somehow trip up then 6-3 Redwood would get the call but likely over the objections of Daniel Boone College (8-2) and Boulder State (7-1).Detroit City College, or Wisconsin State if the Knights lose next week, is likely off to El Paso to play in the Desert Classic against a team from the south, perhaps Carolina Poly or maybe even Abilene Baptist if travel becomes a factor. The loser from the Noble Jones/Georgia Baptist game and Cumberland will debate over who goes to New Orleans and who heads to Austin. Someone from the Southwest Alliance, likely Travis College or Red River State awaits in Austin at the Lone State Classic while the Cajun Classic in New Orleans seems to be leaning towards an invitation for Payne State. With St Blane saying no, that likely opens the door back up for Commonwealth Catholic to get an invite and the Knights are likely going to end up in Miami for the Sunshine Classic. *** TALK OF A VICTORY CLASSIC GAME *** With the Hawaiian Classic postponed for the duration there is growing support to stage a 'Victory Classic" game in New York City on December 6th. The sponsors originally planned to stage the event as a post-season football game on the first anniversary of the attack at Pearl Harbor but December 7th falls on a Monday. The scene will either be the Bigsby Oval or Brooklyn's Kings County Stadium and all-star teams will be featured although there had been hopes of getting a strong military eleven to participate and play a squad of all-stars from the Northeast. Those plans were quickly shuddered when the organizers realized Great Lakes Navy, their top choice, plays the day before against St Blane in it's season finale..  COLLEGE LEATHER-SPINNERS READY TO KEEP HOOPS HOT IN BIG SEASON FOR BASKET BALL LIBERTY LOOMS AS EAST'S BEST. DETROIT CITY, ST IGNATIUS IN GREAT LAKES AND CCLA TOPS OUT WEST As another college basket ball season tips off the immediate prospect is rosy, indeed. Throughout a nation at war there is every indication now of an unusually large crop of strong teams and possibly half a dozen that may attain greatness. Through double-header basketball and smart promotion in the large eastern and middle west centers, the game has grown in prestige and stature. Attendance figures are expected to remain close to boom levels. The newly-enacted Selective Service law calling 18 and 19 year old youngsters is not likely to affect too many college teams because the vast majority of undergraduates today are already enlisted in the reserve and are taking prescribed courses to fit them for the Army, Navy or Marine Corps. The outstanding teams of a year ago have not lost more than a normal complement of graduating seniors, and these losses in most instances are made up by the incoming freshman. Transportation is not the problem that it is in football or baseball for most basket ball parties can be cut down to 12 men, including the coach. Nineteen double-headers are booked for New York's Bigsby Gardens, 11 in Buffalo and there will be a dozen or more in Philadelphia, St Louis and Chicago. The spotlight naturally will be focused heavily on the big cities but, of course, the championships in most conferences will be decided on the smaller campuses. *** THE TEAMS TO WATCH *** Liberty College, North Carolina Tech, Carolina Poly and Garden State loom as the best of the eastern starters. Great Lakes Alliance powers Detroit City College, Whitney College and Western Iowa are joined by St Ignatius as clubs to be feared while CC Los Angeles, Coastal California and Lane State are expected to be among the best the west coast has to offer. Others that could turn a few heads include St Patrick's, Opelika State, Lubbock State and for a real darkhorse hitch your wagon to NW New York State. The Navigators from Annapolis Maritime also bear observing. In reading the above some might ask what about the New York fives? Brooklyn State won it all two years ago and was a favorite entering the championship tournament last season but the Bears have suffered some key losses and will hard pressed to contend for the title in the tough Northeast Conference. Henry Hudson has been relevant in years as the entire Academia Alliance, save perhaps Grafton, has faded into mediocrity. New York hoops aficionados best push their focus towards Newark where Garden State once again looks solid. OPENING WEEK OF AIAA SEASON The AIAA basketball season kicked into full gear with a busy opening week of games. St Ignatius, which many considered to be a surprise choice for the pre-season #1 ranking, got off to a solid start with a win over Wyoming A&I on Sunday. The Lansing, Michigan school did not participate in one of the early tournaments so this was the first taste of action for Coach Russell Murray's boys. The Lancers were facing a Wyoming A&I team that had a tough schedule out of the gate: the Prospetors lost to 12th ranked Bulein earlier in the week and have #22 Jersey City Tech coming up on Wednesday. Sunday's game was all St Ignatius as the Lancers, led by 14 points from Norman Yates, won easily by a 62-39 count. Defending National Champion Liberty College followed up a win in the Jack Easton Tip-Off Tournament with a 64-51 victory over Brunswick to improve to 4-0. The Bells, and 4th ranked CCLA, received some first-place votes in this week's poll. The Coyotes also won a preseason event, prevailing in the San Francisco tournament, and will not start their regular games until Thursday when they are in Arizona to face Flagstaff State. Code:
[b] AIAA TOP 25 RANKINGS # Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. St. Ignatius (61) 1-0 1779 1 Great Lakes Alliance 2. Liberty College (7) 4-0 1714 2 Northeast Conference 3. Detroit City College 3-0 1662 4 Great Lakes Alliance 4. CC Los Angeles (4) 3-0 1613 3 West Coast Athletic Association 5. North Carolina Tech 3-0 1510 5 South Atlantic Conference 6. Whitney College 3-0 1392 12 Great Lakes Alliance 7. Coastal California 2-1 1342 8 West Coast Athletic Association 8. Lane State 1-0 1273 10 West Coast Athletic Association 9. Carolina Poly 1-0 1245 11 South Atlantic Conference 10. Northern California 1-0 1104 13 West Coast Athletic Association 11. St. Patrick's 4-0 1096 17 Northeast Conference 12. Bulein 2-0 903 14 South Atlantic Conference 13. Alabama Baptist 3-0 865 18 Deep South Conference 14. Brooklyn State 0-1 789 6 Northeast Conference 15. Mobile Maritime 1-0 719 15 South Atlantic Conference 16. Lincoln 1-0 537 20 Great Lakes Alliance 17. Ohio Poly 5-1 489 23 Independent 18. Minnesota Tech 3-0 467 16 Great Lakes Alliance 19. Western Iowa 1-1 462 21 Great Lakes Alliance 20. Garden State 1-1 426 19 Northeast Conference 21. Rainier College 1-1 414 22 West Coast Athletic Association 22. Jersey City Tech 2-0 292 24 Independent 23. Chesapeake State 4-1 260 7 South Atlantic Conference 24. Great Plains State 2-1 172 9 Independent 25. Central Ohio 3-1 159 25 Great Lakes Alliance Monday November 16 St Blane 42 Eastern State 40 #10 Northern California 56 Central Carolina 35 #7 Coastal California 39 Kit Carson Univ. 21 #24 Great Plains State 61 Laclede 30 Tuesday November 17 Baton Rogue State 59 Richmond 50 Tempe College 54 Ellery 52 Wednesday November 18 #22 Jersey City Tech 44 Eastern Virginia 42 #15 Mobile Maritime 51 Narragansett 36 Miami State 58 Travis College 55 #17 Ohio Poly 58 Brunswick 55 Mississippi A&M 48 Eastern Oklahoma 34 Thursday November 19 #5 North Carolina Tech 64 St Martin's College 43 #11 St Patrick's 54 Grafton 23 #13 Alabama Baptist 51 Glover(GA) 34 College of Omaha 57 #24 Great Plains State 25 #25 Central Ohio 54 St Blane 38 Friday November 20 #3 Detroit City College 58 Mahoning Valley State 52 #8 Lane State 49 Mississippi A&M 40 #9 Carolina Poly 59 #14 Brooklyn State 52 Rome State 41 Oklahoma City State 37 #12 Bulein 49 Wyoming A&I 38 Sadler 43 Redwood 35 #23 Chesapeake State 57 Brandywine 52 Chicago Poly 61 Wisconsin Catholic 33 Saturday November 21 #22 Jersey City Tech 53 Boulder State 32 #24 Great Plains State 55 Bigsby College 34 Northern Mississippi 50 St Pancras 43 Opelika State 47 Central Carolina 34 Sunday November 22 #1 St Ignatius 62 Wyoming A&I 39 St Blane 54 Troy state 47 #12 Bulein 47 North Carolina Atlantic 32 #17 Ohio Poly 46 Rose Point (PA) 23 Mississippi Tech 46 Darnell State 39 Topeka State 57 Spokane State 54 NOBLE JONES LANDS TOP RECRUIT Noble Jones College had more than their football team to celebrate this week with news that Darrell Hanson, considered to be the best high school player in the south, has decided to stay in his home state for college and attend Noble Jones next season. The 17 year old Nahunta, Georgia native is a 6'6" forward that many call the top high school basketball player in the country. Jones was considering North Carolina Tech, Carolina Poly and Whitney College but ultimately decided he wanted to stay close to come and join what is considered to be a rising program with the Colonels. After a lot of lean years, Noble Jones College won 22 games last season and was invited to the year end tournament for the third time in the past four years. Prior to March of 1931 the Colonels had never won a tournament game but they did earn one win each of the past years including last season when they upset Rainer College in the opening round before falling to Detroit City in the second round. Several of the top twenty recruits have decided on a home for next season. Here is a look at each of them: Code:
TOP TEN RECRUITS POS HOMETOWN COMMITTED CHOICE (or considering) 1 Darrel Hanson F Nahunta,GA Yes NOBLE JONES COLLEGE 2 Marlin Patterson C Charleston,MS No Alabama Baptist, Noble Jones, Whitney College 3 William Archer F Cincinnati,OH Yes OHIO POLY 4 Kenny Sherman F Stockton,CA Yes COASTAL CALIFORNIA 5 Russell Freeman C New Iberia,LA No Mobile Maritime, Western Iowa, CCLA, Carolina Poly 6 Long Werth C Miami,FL No Miami State, Rainier College, Western Iowa, Western Florida 7 Darren Sizemore F Rochester,NY No Garden State 8 Jumbo Hinman F Azusa,CA YES CC LOS ANGELES 9 Ruben Gilbert F Rock Island,IL YES WHITNEY COLLEGE 10 Tony Keeney F Mahoney City,PA YES CHESAPEAKE STATE 11 Michael Allen F Liberal,KS No Western Iowa, Rainier College, CCLA, Liberty College 12 Buddy Eugene C Norwood,OH YES DETROIT CITY COLLEGE 13 Maynard Altmann F Wartburg,TN YES ANNAPOLIS MARITIME 14 Jock Malinowski G Hale Center,TX No Great Plains State, Lane State, CCLA, Rainer, Liberty 15 Stephen Carter C Audubon,IA YES WESTERN IOWA 16 John McAuley G Columbus,OH No Ohio Poly, Coastal California 17 Steve Martini C Hazlehurst,MS YES MOBILE MARITIME 18 Chris Sparks C Phillipsburg,NJ No St Patrick's, North Carolina Tech, Liberty, Detroit City 19 Murray Cole F Bellville,OH YES DETROIT CITY COLLEGE 20 Colin Overby F Bowden,GA YES ALABAMA BAPTIST Code:
DETROIT CITY COLLEGE RECRUITS RK NAME POS HOMETOWN 12 Buddy Eugene C Norwood, OH 19 Murray Cole F Bellville, OH 30 Eric Goforth F Lima, OH On the court it was far from their best effort but the Knights came away with a victory in a 58-52 win over Mahoning Valley State. Roman Sollars had a huge game, shooting 9-for-16 and leading the team with 22 points. The only other Knight in double-figures was center Jack Kurtz, who had 10. Keegan was not impressed with the number of turnovers the Knights committed against a clearly inferior opponent. THE WEEK AHEAD They play just once next week and not until Saturday when Grafton comes to the Motor City. The Scholars are part of the Academia Alliance and have a rich history in the baseball feeder leagues as well as on the court. Unlike a number of Academia schools, Grafton never won a National Title in the early years but they did reach the championship game in 1915. The 1930's were not kind to the New Hampshire school but they have made the tournament each of the past two seasons thanks to upset victories in the conference tournament each of the past two seasons. The Academia Alliance, it should be noted, is the only section to play a conference tournament with all others awarding the automatic berth in the national tournament to their regular season champion. They are a veteran team with 4 seniors and a junior, led by senior forward John Morales, a New Jersey native. Grafton has played just once so far this year, getting blown out by #11 St Patrick's 54-23. They will play Coastal California, currently ranked #7, this week prior to their game in Detroit.The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 11/22/1942
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Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal
The Scripture of Sports |
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06-30-2022, 10:40 AM
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#460 |
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 677
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November 30, 1942
NOVEMBER 30, 1942  Have we seen the last of Fred McCormick? Will Pete Papenfus and George Cleaves be able to come back after the war and start doing things with a baseball that they once did? Will Bill Barrett still own those razor-sharp reflexes and that famous wrist-snap that made him such a feared hitter? Ask me another while you're at it. Ask me how long the war will last. I'll answer 'em all at once. But I've talked to some veteran trainers and muscle men about the layoff, and what effect it will have on our top athlete's careers. They're unanimous in believing the war has pulled down the curtain on Fred McCormick's baseball success. Fred is now 33 years old. You cannot teach old muscles the old tricks in the twilight, they say. *** LAYOFFS NOT FATAL *** But the muscle experts are much more optimistic about the chances of youngsters like Bill Barrett and Pete Papenfus coming back. They think George Garrison and Roosevelt Brewer will be able to make it too. Garrison just turned 25 and Brewer is still 24. There was once a time when it was generally believed that an athlete who "laid off" for a full year could never hit his stride again, but the thinking has changed. Perhaps that was just a canard begun by the magnates to discourage holdouts, anyway. We will certainly have a much better idea whenever this war comes to an end, but you can wager that when it does more than a few careers of once prominent veteran big leaguers will also be ended TWO OF THE SCHNEIDER TRIPLETS OFF TO THE NAVY Buddy Schneider, the talented young second baseman of the Boston Minutemen is off to join the navy this week and will be joined by one of his brothers. Bart, a minor league pitcher in the Cleveland Foresters system, is joining Buddy as both elected to enlist in the Navy after receiving Selective Service notices for the Army. The final triplet, Chicago Cougars shortstop Skipper Schneider is staying put, at least for now, after Skipper once again failed his pre-induction physical. The triplets had planned on enlisting together a week after last year's attack on Pearl Harbor but when Skipper was denied a position in the navy due to an undiagnosed hernia, his brothers elected not to enlist and returned to the diamond for the 1942 campaign. The choice was taken away from them this time as the trio received their draft notices and quickly requested permission to join the Navy. Buddy and Bart passed their physicals and will head off to training later this week but Skipper once more was turned away. He will rejoin the Chicago Cougars but is adamant that he will attempt to gain approval to join his brothers in the Navy. The loss of Buddy, who hit .264 last season and was recently named the best defensive second sacker in the league by the Chicago Writers Association, is the latest in a series of devastating blows for the Minutemen, who saw pitchers Ray Dalpman and Bobby Montefusco enlist last week. The triplets were drafted with 3 successive picks in the first round of the 1939 draft. Skipper, who also made the Chicago Writers list as the top fielding shortstop, is a key piece of the Chicago Cougars lineup and it appears he will remain with the club for the 1943 campaign after the Navy again rejected him. Bart spent last season in Class A with the Foresters organization and OSA would consider him to be a long shot to ever make the big leagues. Here is the team by team list of players to enlist/be drafted this week: BOSTON- Buddy Schneider 2B, Charlie Reed SS BROOKLYN- Jack D Davis C, Rats McGonigle OF, CHIEFS- none COUGARS- Joe Crosby P CINCINNATI- Ralph Joiner 2B, John Wicklund C CLEVELAND- Eli Harkless OF, Walt Knight 1B, Lorenzo Samuels 1B, Bart Schneider P, Pete Sigmund OF DETROIT- Ollie Williams OF, MONTREAL- Ernie McCoy OF, NY STARS- Chuck Cole P, Jack Wood P NY GOTHAMS- Sammy Alger P, Frank Bunch Jr. 1B, Hub Parks OF, KEYSTONES- Abe Abingdon P, Lee Scott SS SAILORS- Jim McCarthy 3B, Mark Smith C, PITTSBURGH- Henry 'Slim' Cook P, Al Cox 2B, Tony Puccinello P, Hans Stiles 3B ST LOUIS- Ira Armstrong 2B, Mike Logan C, TORONTO- none WASHINGTON- Henry Bush Inf, Tommy Trott P
 WILDCATS ONE WIN FROM PERFECTION The Chicago Wildcats dominant season continued with arguably their best performance of the year as the Wildcats improved to 10-0 with a 47-0 rout of the Washington Wasps. No other team in the modern era (post 1935) has won 10 games in a season and all that stands between the Wildcats and a perfect 11-0 campaign is a trip to Cleveland for the season finale next week against the Finches. Chicago has dominated all facets of the game this season as the chart below illustrates. The Wildcats have scored the most points will surrendering the fewest in the league and have averaged the most offense will allowing the fewest yards against.  What makes Chicago's effort even more impressive is they have accomplished it without a true dominant star player. The Wildcats top rusher, Ira Hartley, is just 5th amongst league rushing leaders. John Fuchs, who shares the passing duties with Gus Brown, is 5th among throwers and the Wildcats do not have a receiver that makes the top ten in the league. What they do have is incredible depth and a coaching staff that spreads the workload, giving opponents too many threats to have to contend with. No one, at least so far, has been able to find a solution to top the Wildcats. The St Louis Ramblers have really just one threat and while he is a very good one, the rushing heroics of rookie Bob Holt have not been enough to lead the Ramblers to a winning season. Holt did run for 83 yards yesterday and will be the prime focus next week in Detroit as he needs just 19 to tie Warren Howard's single season rushing record of 981 yards, but his Ramblers were shutout 20-0 by Brooklyn. Detroit also has a superstar player in extraordinary end Stan Vaught, who made 8 more catches yesterday and added his 10th interception of the season but it was not enough as the Maroons disappointing season continued with a 17-14 loss to Philadelphia. Football is a team game and the Chicago Wildcats season just goes to show you do not need the best runner, or top receiver, to be successful. You need a team with depth and so far it looks like no one can match this season's group of Wildcats - possibly no one in the modern history of the game. *** AMERICANS READY FOR CHALLENGE *** While Chicago still has one more game to play, the Eastern Division champion Boston Americans wrapped up their 1942 campaign with a solid 24-0 victory in Pittsburgh. Boston finishes 9-2 on the season but the club will certainly have it's work cut out for it at Whitney Field in two weeks time. At stake will be the AFA championship and while the Chicago eleven looks daunting the Americans can use 1939 as inspiration. Three years ago the Yanks waltzed in to Whitney and walked away with a win and the league bragging rights. Many of the same characters will be suiting up for both sides with the most pressure likely on the Boston backfield duo of Del Thomas and Leon Fitzgerald. Each came up big on that afternoon with Fitzgerald being named the player of the game in the 21-14 Boston upset and much the same will be a necessity if Boston is going to repeat history with another title game road win.Code:
AFA STANDINGS EASTERN W L T PCT Boston 9 2 0 .818 New York 7 3 0 .700 Brooklyn 5 5 0 .500 Washington 5 6 0 .455 Philadelphia 3 8 0 .273 WESTERN W L T PCT Chicago 10 0 0 1.000 Detroit 5 4 1 .556 St Louis 4 6 0 .400 Cleveland 2 8 0 .200 Pittsburgh 1 9 1 .100 SUNDAY NOVEMBER 29 Brooklyn 20 St Louis 0 Philadelphia 17 Detroit 14 Chicago 47 Washington 0 New York 21 Cleveland 14 Boston 24 Pittsburgh 0 SUNDAY December 6 Brooklyn at New York St Louis at Detroit Chicago at Cleveland END OF REGULAR SEASON Code:
AFA LEADERS SCORING PTS Vaught, Det 126 Stein, Bkn 95 Holt, StL 60 Milatz, NYS 56 Hooper, Bos 50 Kelly, Bos 48 Frum, WAS 48 PASSING COMP-ATT YDS TD INT Thomas, Bos 164-300 1,776 17 12 Burnett, Det 148-282 1,698 21 13 Proos, Was 108-255 1,430 11 40 Boetcher, Cle 131-321 1,392 8 32 Fuchs, Chi 57-139 1,019 13 19 RUSHING YDS TD Holt, StL 962 9 Stein, Bkn 833 7 Fitzgerald, Bos 643 5 Garecht, NY 566 5 Sadowski, Was 528 6 Hartley, Chi 503 7 RECEIVING CAT TD Vaught, Det 80 16 Kelly, Bos 36 6 Hooper, Bos 30 4 Douglas, Was 28 2 G.Halladay, Pit 26 2 INERCEPTIONS # Stein, Bkn 10 Vaught, Det 10 Murphy. Det 9 Spagna, Det 8 B McLean, Chi 8 Burnett, Det 7 Kurtzman, Cle 7 COLONELS ACCEPT EAST-WEST CLASSIC BID AFTER BLASTING GATORS 27-0 Georgia hears sweet music today -a brass band blaring: "California, Here I Come!" And followed it to a New Year Days engagement in Santa Ana's fabulous stadium. The invitation came -and was instantly accepted- a few minutes after Noble Jones College's great football team thundered over rival Georgia Baptist 27-0 before 45,000 howling fans in Atlanta. The triumph, the final piece of a perfect season, seems to assure the Colonels their second National Championship in four seasons and third in school history. It marked a bitter end to the season for the Gators who, despite being forced to settle for a tie two weeks ago against Alabama Baptist, seemed certain it would be them and not the Colonels celebrating at the end of the day. Instead the Gators continue to search for their third national title, something they have not achieved since 1919. Noble Jones, led by sensational senior Billy Bockhorst, was leading 7-0 before 10 minutes had elapsed and piled across two more touchdowns to gain a 20-0 advantage by half-time. From there it was no question of the outcome. The Colonels put across a fourth touchdown on a pass-interception to complete the victory and gain revenge for a 16-7 loss to the Gators a year ago. Certain to be All-American Billy Bockhorst, playing his last regularly scheduled game for Noble Jones College, took the spotlight and ran with it...and passed with it as well. Bockhurst, seemingly cementing his claim to the Christian Trophy, gained 72 yards rushing and 107 passing, to run his unofficial yardage in total offense this season to 2,174 -an all-time record. Bockhorst set up the Colonels first scoring drive when he intercepted a Georgia Baptist pass on the 45 and ran 9 yards to the 36. Streaking off left tackle he went 19 more to the Gators 17. Three plays later Noble Jones had it's first lead and never looked back. Bockhorst scored the second Colonels touchdown on a 9 yard run and threw a 7-yard pass for their third major. *** CUMBERLAND FALLS IN KENTUCKY **** Cumberland's dreams of the first National Title in any major sport came crashing down as their hopes of a perfect season were dashed in Louisville with a heart-breaking 21-20 loss to Bluegrass State. The Explorers entered their season finale with a perfect 9-0 record and the thought that a Georgia Baptist win over Noble Jones might get Cumberland an invite to Santa Ana. That did not happen, of course, and the Cumberland loss knocked them out of a share of the Deep South Conference title as well. One small consolation was a phone call from New Orleans inviting the Explorers to participate in the Cajun Classic on New Years Day. Their opponent will be the Payne State Mavericks. The Stillwater, Oklahoma school went 9-1 on the year. Miami State had also entered their final game with a perfect record, although against much weaker competition. The Gulls claims to a national title, weak as they might have been, flew away on Saturday when Huntington State played them to a 17-17 draw. *** CC LOS ANGELES LIKELY WESTERN REPRESENTATIVE *** The opponent for Noble Jones College in the East-West Classic has not been finalized but all indications are it will be the CC Los Angeles Coyotes. CCLA still has two games remaining -next weekend against lowly Idaho A&M and December 12 vs Los Angeles rival Coastal California- and assuming all goes as planned the 6-1-1 Coyotes will play in Santa Ana. Two wins would give CCLA the West Coast Athletic Association title thanks to a tiebreaker due to an early season win over Redwood. The East-West Classic committee is not expected to wait until those two games are played before naming the western representative. That decision is to come next weekend and will be CCLA unless they somehow lose to Idaho A&M. NAVIGATORS FINEST ATTACK OF YEAR UPSETS ROME STATE It has not been a great season for Annapolis Maritime as the Navigators were just 5-3 entering Saturday's showdown at Annapolis with Rome State. But the sailors saved their best effort for last and a win over the Centurions always makes it a successful season, no matter their other results. The Navigators did a great job controlling the time of possession, using a pounding running game to keep Rome State off-balance and off the scoresheet. The loss is a tough end to what was a pretty solid season for Rome State, finishing with a 6-2-1 record. DETROIT CITY COLLEGE & WISCONSIN STATE SPLIT GLA The Great Lakes Alliance will have co-champions after both Detroit City College and Wisconsin State finish a perfect 5-0 in section play and each are 9-1 overall. The Knights pulled even with a 54-3 thrashing of Western Iowa on Saturday and, with their lone loss this season to St Blane, will accept an invitation to the Desert Classic in El Paso. Detroit City College's opponent on New Year Day will be Bayou State from the Deep South Conference. The Cougars are 7-3 following their 20-3 victory over Baton Rogue State on the weekend.  CLASSIC MATCH-UPS All games to be played on Jan 1 EAST-WEST CLASSIC (Santa Ana, CA) Noble Jones College (11-0) vs TBD - likely CCLA (6-1-1) SUNSHINE CLASSIC (Miami, FL) Alabama Baptist (6-3-1) vs Commonwealth Catholic (7-1-1) DESERT CLASSIC (El Paso, TX) Detroit City College (9-1) vs Bayou State (7-3) CAJUN CLASSIC (New Orleans, LA) Cumberland (9-1) vs Payne State (9-1) LONE STAR CLASSIC (Austin,TX) Georgia Baptist (8-1-1) vs Travis College (6-2-2) HAWAIIAN CLASSIC (Honolulu,HI) cancelled due to WWII WEEKEND COLLEGE FOOTBALL SCOREBOARD KEY GAMES Noble Jones College 27 Georgia Baptist 0 Bluegrass State 21 Cumberland 20 Miami State 17 Huntington State 17 Detroit City College 54 Western Iowa 3 Annapolis Maritime 14 Rome State 6 Coastal California 26 St. Blane 26 St. Patrick's 17 Commonwealth Catholic 17 Great Lakes Navy 17 St. Magnus 7 Jacksonville Naval Air Station 10 Carolina Poly 7 Brooklyn State 21 North Carolina Pre-Flight 14 Central Ohio 30 Iowa Pre-Flight 14 Georgia Pre-Flight 24 Hawaii All-Stars 0 Redwood 35 Golden Gate University Pre-Flight 0 Pierpont 21 Brunswick 3 St. Ignatius 23 Lane State 10 Lubbock State 7 Red River State 3 Darnell State 17 Travis College 14 OTHER RESULTS Boulder State 20 Mile High State 3 Strub College 46 Lakehurst NAS 0 Bayou State 20 Baton Rouge State 3 Daniel Boone College 45 Lawrence State 3 Valley State 7 College of Waco 7 Texas Panhandle 45 El Paso Methodist 0 Payne State 48 Arkansas A&T 0 Provo Tech 31 Idaho A&M 0 Topeka State 21 Cache Valley 20 Chesapeake State 10 Alexandria 7 Columbia Military Academy 9 Cowpens State 0 Richmond State 24 Petersburg 7 Opelika State 26 Coastal State 0 Lincoln 30 Camp Grant 3 Indiana A&M 34 Fort Knox 10 College of Omaha 14 Eastern Kansas 0 Northern Mississippi 37 Mississippi A&M 0 South Valley State 20 Tempe College 7 Eastern Oklahoma 29 Northern Minnesota 13 Laclede 37 Perry State College 6 Sunnyvale 27 California Catholic 0 Amarillo Methodist 20 Texas Gulf Coast 7 Penn Catholic 14 Conwell College 0 Spokane State 7 Rainier College 0 Oklahoma City State 23 Richmond State 7 Golden Gate University 31 Alameda Coast Guard 0 San Francisco Tech 17 Albuquerque Field 6  If you are looking for a breakout star early look no further than Baton Rogue State's Brent Bell. The senior guard is a 4-year starter for the Red Devils and averaged a solid 11.8 points per game a year ago. It has only been two games this season but the Watson, Louisiana native put together a outstanding performance in each of them. He opened the season with 22 points in a 59-50 overtime win against Richmond State and then followed it up with 26 points in Saturday's 56-48 loss to Northern California. No other Red Devils player had more than 4 points in that contest. Bell's 26 point effort established a new school single game record. Code:
[b] AIAA TOP 25 RANKINGS # Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. St. Ignatius (51) 2-0 1769 1 Great Lakes Alliance 2. Liberty College (14) 5-0 1723 2 Northeast Conference 3. CC Los Angeles (7) 4-0 1653 4 West Coast Athletic Association 4. Detroit City College 4-0 1623 3 Great Lakes Alliance 5. North Carolina Tech 4-0 1510 5 South Atlantic Conference 6. Coastal California 3-1 1394 7 West Coast Athletic Association 7. Carolina Poly 3-0 1333 9 South Atlantic Conference 8. Lane State 2-0 1311 8 West Coast Athletic Association 9. St. Patrick's 5-0 1257 11 Northeast Conference 10. Bulein 3-0 998 12 South Atlantic Conference 11. Alabama Baptist 4-0 971 13 Deep South Conference 12. Mobile Maritime 4-0 929 15 South Atlantic Conference 13. Minnesota Tech 5-0 901 18 Great Lakes Alliance 14. Western Iowa 3-1 884 19 Great Lakes Alliance 15. Chesapeake State 5-1 839 23 South Atlantic Conference 16. Jersey City Tech 5-0 761 22 Independent 17. Rainier College 2-1 702 21 West Coast Athletic Association 18. Whitney College 3-1 436 6 Great Lakes Alliance 19. Central Ohio 3-1 403 25 Great Lakes Alliance 20. Lubbock State 2-0 325 NR Southwestern Alliance 21. Northern California 2-1 214 10 West Coast Athletic Association 22. Wisconsin State 2-0 186 NR Great Lakes Alliance 23. Brooklyn Catholic 3-0 183 NR Independent 24. Hamman 5-0 173 NR Independent 25. Coastal State 1-0 142 NR South Atlantic Conference Monday November 23 Central Kentucky 37 Garden State 30 Narragansett 42 Lincoln 35 Tuesday November 24 #9 St Patrick's 50 Bardney 38 #12 Mobile Maritime 57 Glover(GA)54 #13 Minnesota Tech 53 Miami State 45 #14 Western Iowa 60 East Missouri Seminary 50 Bayou State 57 #21 Northern California 32 Bluegrass State 43 Ohio Poly 41 Columbia Military Academy 55 Georgia Baptist 34 Huntington State 47 Indiana A&M 46 Wednesday November 25 #2 Liberty College 57 Pierpont 27 #7 Carolina Poly 41 Sadler 34 #16 Jersey City Tech 54 Wyoming A&I 47 #17 Rainier College 62 Fond du Lac 47 #22 Wisconsin State 49 Miners College 41 Annapolis Maritime 44 St Matthew's College 43 Thursday November 26 #3 CCLA 47 Flagstaff State 24 #11 Alabama Baptist 48 Brookland 31 #12 Mobile Maritime 59 St Martin's College 38 #13 Minnesota Tech 64 Great Plains State 57 #14 Western Iowa 46 Frankford State 43 #24 Hamman 47 Alexandria 44 Friday November 27 #7 Carolina Poly 54 Pierpont 30 #15 Chesapeake State 56 Allentown State 31 #16 Jersey City Tech 41 North Central (NE) 31 Fond du Lac 49 #18 Whitney College 47 #20 Lubbock State 40 Miami State 34 #21 Northern California 56 Baton Rogue State 48 #23 Brooklyn Catholic 45 Erie 37 Noble Jones College 40 Commonwealth Catholic 32 Saturday November 28 #1 St Ignatius 46 Pueblo State 34 #4 Detroit City College 48 Grafton 31 #10 Bulein 45 Provo Tech 27 #22 Wisconsin State 49 Flint 32 #24 Hamman 49 Cowpens State 41 Annapolis Maritime 48 St Blane 47 Dickson 55 Georgia Baptist 43 Sunday November 29 #5 North Carolina Tech 66 Brunswick 59 #8 Lane State 36 Bayou State 29 #12 Mobile Marine 57 Dudley 53 #16 Jersey City Tech 50 Constitution State 34 JOE HAMPTON UPDATE We will follow the former St Louis Pioneers draft pick and son of former Chicago Chiefs star Jim Hampton as he continues his freshman season with Western Iowa after giving up on his baseball career. The Canaries are 3-1 on the season with wins last week over East Missouri Seminary and Frankford State. Hampton played in both games, including the contest in St Louis which was a 60-50 victory for the Canaries over the Crusaders. Hampton started the game but had a quiet night, going 0-for-4 from the field in his 28 minutes of action. He had just 1 point and a single assist while turning the ball over once. Perhaps the pressure of playing in St Louis got into his head but he did not recover two nights later either. It was a tight win but the Canaries prevailed 46-43 over Frankford State. Hampton again started, which he has done all 4 games this season, but was 0-2 shooting and just 1-3 on free throw attempts. He did chip in with 3 steals, 2 assists and 2 boards and did not turn the ball over. On the young season Hampton is averaging 6.5 ppg and 27 minutes of playing time. He had 12 points in each of his first two games - a loss to St Patrick's and a win over Piedmont University but just one in each of the next two. His Western Iowa team does not play this week and are not back in action until December 9 when they face College of Cairo and then Colorado Poly two nights later. THE WEEK AHEAD A quiet week for the Knights, who do not play at all in the next 7 days. They are back in action a week from today with a game against Armstrong College. The Aces are another Keystone Alliance school, like Detroit City's earlier opponent Mahoning Valley State. The Aces are 3-3 thanks to a strong showing at the Bigsby Invitational. The Aces lost to eventual tourney champ Chesapeake State in their opener but then claimed the consolation championship with wins over Grange College and Middlesex. Armstrong is in action tonight, playing Queen City, and then has the rest of the week off before the Detroit City College game. The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 11/29/1942
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Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal
The Scripture of Sports Last edited by Jiggs McGee; 06-30-2022 at 11:02 AM. |
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