(BPI -Cooperstown, New York) Biff Barnes Sr. TML Highlight Reel – 1946 Period 3 ======Both Conferences Decided in Final Week! Eighth No-hitter Sets TML Record!

The North Adams Bevers posted a league best 30-12 Period 3 record to catch the Sonoma Crushers and capture the Atmospheric Conference Pennant by 1 game! Sonoma (24-18 in Period 3), who had a 5-game lead over the Bevers , won their final 10 games, but fell just short. Summer (16-26) and Chestertown (18-24) both fell quickly out of the pennant race.

Over in the Oceanic Conference , the Duluth Thundercats (28-14 in Period 3) made up the 1-game on the Moosen Squirrel (27-15) to pull into a tie for first! Duluth wins the Pennant by virtue of a 9-5 edge in head-to- head play. Two-time defending TML Champ Oakdale (27- 15) paced the leaders, but fell 3 games short of making the playoffs. Only one other team in 73 years of TML History has not made the playoffs with a WPCT of .675 (Pensacola in 1976 with a record of 111-49, .694 )!

The other big Period 3 news was the TML Record eighth no-hitter of the season (see below), breaking the previous record of seven (7) no-hitters set in 1965 .

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The batting champion, by a whisker, is Sonoma’s Johnny Pesky at .358 3, to Moosen’s Pete Reiser at .358 1! That works out to fewer than one ! Pesky is the Hits leader with 234. The HR champ is North Adams’s Hank Greenberg with 39 HR, two HRs more than Albany’s Ted Williams . Williams also led the TML in OBP (.479), SLG (.617), Runs (135), Walks (173) and IW (36) and RC (169). Greenberg is the RBI leader with 116. The SB leader is Sioux Falls’s Jeff Cross (24 SB, only 3 CS).

The ERA leader is Duluth’s Hal Newhouser at 1.63. Newhouser (26-6) also led in victories, OAVG (.194) and CG (31). Other 20-game winners were teammates (25-5) and Howie Pollet (23-8), Beverly’s Bob Feller (24-9) and Oakdale’s Eddie Lopat (20-8). Feller is also the leader, with 301 K. The “Fireman of the Year” is Chestertown’s Ken Trinkle (30 SV, 36 RP, 3.26).

Below are some awards and tid-bits from Period 3 in the 1946 TML American Retro.

** Player of the Period **

(DT) Mickey Vernon

.458, 66-144, 14-4-3, 97 TB, 26 R, 26 RBI, 11 W, 50 RC , 1.168 OPS, 5 GW-RBI 16.3 RC/27

Honorable Mentions: Stan Spence(SF) .357, 4 HR, 28 R, 20 RBI, 42 RC Ted Williams(AV) .292, 6 HR, 32 R, 22 RBI, 36 RC Dixie Walker(NA) .380, 2 HR, 26 R, 17 RBI, 35 RC Johnny Pesky(SE) .367, 0 HR, 25 R, 25 RBI, 32 RC (OK) .308, 5 HR, 31 R, 18 RBI, 32 RC Joe DiMaggio(BX) .304, 7 HR, 26 R, 35 RBI, 32 RC ------** of the Period **

(DT) Howie Pollet

7-2, 1.75, 8 GS, 6 QS, 6 CG, 77.1 IP, 45 H, 28 W, 33 K, .167 OAVG, 0.94 WHIP 2 shutouts

Honorable Mentions: Bob Feller(BV) 9-4, 3.26, 10 QS, 1.15 WHIP Roger Wolff(NA) 6-0, 1.88, 7 QS, 1.30 WHIP Dick Fowler(CH) 4-5, 2.74, 10 QS, 1.31 WHIP Bob Ferriss(NA) 7-4, 2.27, 9 QS, 1.33 WHIP Johnny VanderMeer(DT)5-4, 2.46, 9 QS, 1.35 WHIP Hal Newhouser(DT) 4-2, 1.83, 5 QS, 1.02 WHIP Johnny Sain(DT) 7-1, 3.04, 4 QS, 1.00 WHIP (MO) 7-0, 3.78, 6 QS, 1.21 WHIP (OK) 5-1, 2.65, 4 QS, 1.31 WHIP ------

** Top Atmospheric Pitching Performance **

Arkansas’s gave the home town fans a thrill in tossing a no-hitter at visiting Summer . It was a TML Record 8 th no- hitter of the season! It ended up being a 1- 0 nailbiter, as Arkansas ending up scoring an unearned in the 7 th . Cooper walked 3 and fanned 7, retiring the final 8 batters.

9/2/1946, SM46-AR46, Sportsman’s Park III (A) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Summer 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 0 1 Arkansas 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 x - 1 6 0

Travelers IP H R ER BB K PCH/STR ERA M.Cooper (W 8-11) 9 0 0 0 3 7 121/72 2.42 ------

** Top Oceanic Pitching Performance **

Duluth’s Howie Pollet teamed up with Johnny VanderMeer to complete a 10-inning 1-hitter on the road in the Bronx . Pollet turned in 9 innings of shutout ball, allowing a 5 th inning lead-off single to Dutch Meyer . However, the Bronx’s Bob Lemon matched Pollet through 8 innings! In the 10 th , the T’Cats struck for 3 runs off Bronx reliever Bob Malloy . The big hits were a run-scoring single by Mickey Vernon , followed by a 2-run by Del Ennis . VanderMeer relieved Pollet and set the Highlanders down in order for the .

10/10/1946, DT46-BX46, Yankee Stadium 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E Duluth 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 - 3 7 1 Bronx 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 1 0

Thundercats IP H R ER BB K PCH/STR ERA H.Pollet (W 23-7) 9 1 0 0 1 5 102/63 2.48 J.VanderMeer (S 3) 1 0 0 0 0 0 12/8 2.93 ------

** Top Atmospheric Offensive Performance **

Sonoma’s Dick Wakefield was involved in nearly every scoring rally in the extra inning 10-9 victory over visiting Summer . Wakefield was a perfect 6-for-6, including a 2-run HR in the 1 st , a pair of doubles and three singles! The game-winner was a Johnny Pesky bases loaded Sac Fly in the 11 th . The Cyclones had forced extra innings by rallying for 3 runs during a messy 9 th inning for the Crushers . The teams combined for 35 hits!

10/8/1946, SM46-SE46, Fenway Park 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1011 R H E Summer 0 3 1 0 0 1 1 0 3 0 0 - 9 15 2 Sonoma 3 0 1 0 0 2 2 1 0 0 1 - 10 20 2

Crushers AB R H HR BI BB AVG D.Wakefield lf 6 3 6 1 4 0 .243 1:2-RBI HR ; 3:RBI 1B; 6:2B; 7:1B ; 8:RBI 2B ; 10:1B

Honorable Mentions: 8/29:(NA) 5-5,2R,5RBI: 2R2B ,3 1R1B ,1B 9/16:Skeeter Newsome(CH)5-6,2R,2RBI: 2 1R1B,3 1B 9/17:Chuck Stevens(SF)5-5,R,2RBI: 1R HR ,2 2B ,1R 1B , 1B 10/5:Johnny Pesky(SE) 4-4,R,6RBI: 2 2R 2B , 2R1B , 1B 10/7:Buddy Kerr(BY) 5-7,2R: 5 1B ------

** Top Oceanic Offensive Performance **

Duluth’s Mickey Vernon had a big day in a losing cause to visiting Oakdale . Vernon reached base in all 7 PAs, going 5-for-6, reaching on an E6 and and an IW . He only scored 2 runs, which is amazing given the 19 hits by the T’Cats in what turned out to be a 1-run extra-inning loss. That’s baseball!

9/18/1946, OK46-DT46, Sportsman’s Park III(A) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101112 R H E Oakdale 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 - 7 14 1 Duluth 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 2 1 0 0 0 - 6 19 1

Thundercats AB R H HR BI BB AVG M.Vernon 1b 6 2 5 0 0 1 .381 1: E6 ; 3:2B; 4:1B; 6:1B ; 8:1B; 9:IW ; 11: 1B ------** Overtime Games of the Period **

Period 3 had three 14-inning games. The first saw Arkansas beat visiting Summer when defensive replacement Chet Laabs hit a 1-out walk-off HR. The second one saw Summer exploding for 5 unearned runs in the top of the 14 th to beat host Bloomington . The big blows following a 2-out E5 were a 3-run double by pinch-hitter Ferrell Anderson and a 2-run HR by Billy Jurges . The third saw Albany beat visiting Walla Walla , when they scored an unearned run on a 2-out PB which had followed an E3 to extend the inning. Albany had blown a 6-0 lead earlier when Walla Walla scored 6 runs in the 7 th , the big blow a Grand Slam by Maurice Van Robays .

9/7/1946, SM46-AR46, Sportsman’s Park III(A) 123 456 789 012 34 R H E LOB DP Summer 000 100 000 000 00 - 1 6 2 7 3 Arkansas 000 000 100 000 01 - 2 10 2 9 0

9/24/1946, SM46-BY46, 123 456 789 012 34 R H E LOB DP Summer 100 000 000 000 05 - 6 8 1 10 2 Bloomington 010 000 000 000 00 - 1 7 2 8 3

10/9/1946, WW46-AV46, Briggs Stadium 123 456 789 012 34 R H E LOB DP Walla Walla 000 000 600 000 00 - 6 12 2 11 2 Albany 000 411 000 000 01 - 7 11 0 16 0 ======

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Staff Columnist - Biff Barnes Sr. Previous article: http://tmlam.org/Rnews/1946_Period_2.pdf