Century League Week 3

A shake-up at the top of the league this week as Burlington rides a winning streak into first place!

Greenville Mutuals vs. Jackson Grays (2-1 Mutuals)

Fred Choate opened the series with a gem for Jackson, scattering nine hits in a complete game shutout while striking out eight Mutuals … The Mutuals struck back by pounding out 22 hits in the second game, led by Wheels Brown going 6-for-6 (stealing two bases along the way, and clubbing a grand slam in his last at-bat) … Grays were rolling in the third game before the Mutuals stunned Bull Zielinski with a pair of ninth inning homeruns, including a pinch hit two-run shot by Score Board Scott; Greenville also welcome Dog Dalhousie back from injury this game in what feels like the start of something big for the Mutuals. HOT: Brown (Greenville) Grossko (Jackson) NOT: Smythe (Greenville) Miller (Jackson)

Springfield Colonels vs. Fairview Saints (2-1 Saints)

The struggling Colonels shake up their lineup, benching Elbows Cockrell and bringing in Roy Fitzgerald to play first base and bat fifth; Fitzgerald doesn’t pass the “eye test” but he’s the only bat that’s shown results for Springfield on the young season.

Saints rode another strong start by Win Southerland to victory in the opener … Howie Razzo goes two innings to save a much-needed win for Springfield, though he owes an assist to the wind at Lake Front Field, which turned Hi Litmer’s potential go-ahead, pinch hit homerun into a long out to end the eighth … Saints break it open late to take the series, as Mel Voiselle goes the distance. HOT: Merrano (Fairview) Noyes (Springfield) NOT: Rauch (Fairview) Klaus (Springfield).

Asked about his teams woes after the game, Colonels skipper Cal Malone said, “Well, our problem is we can’t hit. And we can’t pitch, either.” It’s looking like a long season for Springfield.

Madison Maroons vs. Clayton Brown Stockings (2-1 Brown Stockings)

Home at last, and riding high from their series win in Greenvile, Gus Cross’ Brown Stockings arrive at War Memorial Park a happy squad, eager to stake uncontested claim to first place over the visiting Madison Maroons. Beef Burgo, especially, seems like a new man, convinced he can shake his recent cold spell thanks to an adjustment in his swing. The Maroons, meanwhile, are also a cheerful squad, feeling like they are playing with house money after bouncing back to win their own series versus Greenfield.

The opener was a “pitcher’s duel,” as Ned Vines went the distance for Madison despite surrendering eight runs on 14 hits (because his own guys managed 15 runs on 21 hits) … Clayton got length from the next day’s starter in Lou Trask, who went 7 2/3 to earn the victory, backed up by Dink O’Leary … Brown Stocking out-slugged the Maroons to take the rubber game in a series where both teams swung hot bats. Clayton team batting .296, Madison .306! HOT: Lettke (Madison) Rosen (Clayton) NOT: Goldsteain (Madison) Drucker (Clayton)

Burlington Pilots vs. Kingston Keystones (3-0 Pilots)

A leaping grab by First Baseman Dave Berg sealed the second straight complete game shutout for Burlington’s Joe Horton in the opener … A trio of Pilots pitchers combined to keep Kingston scoreless in a second straight game … Kingston tempers boil over after Digger Doughitt complains at being spiked when Ralph Blosell slid into second; Keystones were fired up, and finally scored a couple runs, but not enough to avoid getting swept at home. HOT: Blaylock (Kingston) Berg (Burlington) NOT: Van Duyne (Kingston) Cavano (Burlington)

Burlington Pilots vs. Centerville Blues (3-0 Pilots)

Two teams couldn’t have been more different coming into this series. The Pilots arrived on wings of angels, fresh fromn their sweep against Kingston, harmonious and stronger than ever thanks to the return from injury of Second Baseman Hands Callison. The Blues were as fractious as ever, fighting with each other and most of all with skinflint owner/manager Fred Bancroft, who couldn’t be bothered to put in fresh sod at Tri County Fairgrounds, leaving the park a minefield of crab grass and gopher holes.

The opener had a little bit of everything — including Hands Callison getting tossed for a suspect bat, and a bench-clearing brawl after Lyndon Motte buzzed one up and in to Dave Berg — but while the brawl fired up the Blues a bit, it was still a laugher for Burlington, as the Pilots plated ten runs on 17 hits … In the opener of the series-ending doubleheader, Blues end Joe Horton’s scoreless innings streak but still lose in extra innings, in a sloppy game where their concentration and fielding did them no favors … In the second half of the twin bill, the Blues ran out of pitchers and had to put a badly hung-over Mickey Hendricks on the mound, who was roughed up in a tie game to take the loss. HOT: Cavano (Burlington) Benson (Centerville) NOT: Callison (Burlington) Stevens (Centerville)

And so the Burlington Pilots ride an eight-game winning streak into first place in the Century League, while the Centerville Blues have hit bottom, and started digging. The difference in team chemistry was stark in this series, which every break going Burlington’s way. Something has to change in Centerville, or the Blues are going to burn their ballpark to the ground (which might improve its ambiance).

Standings after three weeks of play:

Nights 11, 12, 13

Night 11

Boston 1 @ New York 5

Toronto 0 @ Detroit 5 … shutout for Detroit’s Bassen, while Wings score two short-handed goals

(Blast) Montreal 2 @ Chicago 5 … Canadians survived an early scoring flurry from Bobby Hull, as well as some costly penalties, and pulled to within one of the Blackhawks in the third … but then Hull scored his fourth of the game, and Chico Maki got his first goal of the year (a shorthander) to go with his 19 assists, salting it away for Chicago.

Chico Maki

Night 12

New York 4 @ Chicago 4 … Rangers shut out Chicago’s top line, but could manage no better than a tie when the Blackhawks pulled their goalie, and Doug Mohns scored at the horn.

Toronto 3 @ Montreal 4

(Blast) Detroit 3 @ Boston 1 … Bobby Orr scored on a wrister as Bernie Parent made the save and keys the breakaway in the game’s opening seconds. But from then on, it was all Detroit. Seconds later, Norm Ullman tied it up with a blistering shot that only a spectacular save from Parent could have stopped. Detroit took control in the second period, first scoring on the powerplay after Boston took a major, then piling on with a Bruce MacGregor goal after Bryan Watson laid out Orr with a cheap shot. Detroit kept up the pressure to seal the win in a game they just seemed to want more — they controlled the face-off circle and momentum was on their side most of the night, especially benefitting Detroit goaltender Hank Bassen, who was a star of the game.

Hank Bassen

Night  13

Boston 1 @ Toronto 4

Chicago 4 @ Detroit 2

(Blast) Montreal 4 @ New York 2 … Ed Giacomin made two spectacular saves in the first period, but a third was too much to ask as Henri Richard scored on the deflection, then Gilles Tremblay followed up seconds later with a cranker from the face-off circle. Rangers netted a pair in the third to make it close, but it was too little, and too late. A big night for Montreal’s top line, which tallied ten points.

Standings after 13 of 20 games … this is still Chicago’s season, top to bottom:

Back To The Short Tracks

After a pair of road course races the Pioneers series returned to the short tracks at the half mile dirt oval at Columbia. Lee Petty sat pole for a race that felt more like a demolition derby, with a duel between Cotton Owens and Herb Thomas setting off a massive wreck on laps 136, putting six cars out of the race, including race leader Petty. Herb Thomas briefly inherited the lead before Buck Baker powered past, then held off the field with superior reflects to collect his third win of the season and take over the championship lead.

22 cars started, 13 finished. Winner: Buck Baker #87 Olds (3)

Buck Baker had plenty of momentum coming out of his Columbia win, and he put his Olds on the pole at Occoneechee for a 200-miler on the one-mile dirt track. Baker faded at 2/3rd distance, falling to a hard-charging Fireball Roberts. But it was Dick Rathman who beat Roberts out of the pits in the final stop to claim the victory.

21 cars started, 16 finished. Winner: Dick Rathman #120 Hudson (1)

The .625-mile paved oval at North Wilkesboro hosted the eighth race of the Pioneer series, and saw 22 drivers take the green, let by pole-sitter Dick Rathman, looking to claim his second victory in a row. But it was all downhill for Rathman after the start — he was the first driver out, with mechanical problems. Plenty of action with four lead changes, but the one that counted most was Curtis Turner outdueling Jim Reed in the final laps for the win. Turner’s win, on top of a solid season so far, puts him in second place behind Buck Baker in the points standings. Herman Beam’s run of finishes was threatened when Beam pitted with black smoke coming from under his hood, but the crew got Beam going again and he was again running at the end.

22 cars started, 15 finished. Winner: Curtis Turner #26 Ford (1)

Turner doesn’t drive a convertible in this series, but this is too cool not to share

Standings after eight of 42 races:

Decade League — Half-Season Mark

With completion of “Night 10,” the Decade League 1966-67 season has reached the half-way mark.

The season is 20 games long, and each “Night” features three games. The most interesting game is generally conducting using Hockey Blast from Plaay, with the remaining game quickly resolved using Shoot-Out Hockey. Full(ish) stats are kept.

Using two game engines offers flexibility in working through the schedule and keeps the gameplay experience fresh. With lines and goalie usage set by Shoot-Out, transition between the two engines is effortless. It is easy to change engines at period breaks, and when the game is a blow-out it is sometimes a relief to finish out the third period in a handful of minutes.

Night 10

Chicago 2 @ New York 2 … Rangers jump out to a two-goal lead, but get in penalty trouble in the third; Chicago sub Fred Stanfield scores game-tying power play goal in final seconds.

Boston 4 @ Detroit 2

Blast Montreal 2 @ Toronto 1 … Chippy and sluggish game frequented by log lulls, but the action perked up in the closing minutes of the third period. With the score tied, Montreal’s Jean-Guy Talbot forced a turnover and sparked a Montreal break-away; Yvon Cournoyer scored on the rebound to give the Habs the lead with just four three minutes to go. The Leafs gained control of the puck with a minute left and pulled their goalie, but could not develop a shot, falling to their national rivals in an uninspiring game before a packed home crowd that wasn’t afraid to express their displeasure.

Jean-Guy Talbot

Standings at the mid-way point. Chicago is running away with it, Boston is over-achieving, and the rest of the league is lagging:

Several Blackhawks are smashing their real-life scoring pace … an eighteen-year old rookie named Bobby Orr is doing pretty good, too:

Chicago dominating at both ends of the ice:

Detroit, Montreal, and New York are competitive when it comes to penalty minutes, at least:

Century League Week 2

Burlington Pilots vs. Springfield Colonels (2-1 Pilots)

Two teams with losing records on the young year meet in Springfield, both hoping to turn their seasons around, or at least generate a little momentum toward better days to come. The Colonels’ shell-shocked pitching staff are just happy to see the Brown Stockings headed out of town.

After giving up 26 runs to the Brown Stockings in their opening series, Mud Puddle Ripley rallied the Colonels with a complete game performance in a surprise start for the second-year man … The Pilots’ own second-year man, Ash Tray Edwards, returned the favor with a complete-game shut out for Burlington in the second game … And the Colonels continue their last-place form by blowing a five-run lead in the final game, allowing seven runs in the last three innings; Burlington’s Judge Geary had a blown save but inherited the win in the getaway game. HOT: Timms (Burlington) Noyes (Springfield) NOT: Youell (Burlington) Mazzarelli (Springfield)

Fairview Saints vs. Kingston Keystones (2-1 Keystones)

Beer Bottle Burley has two homeruns and six RBIs but it isn’t enough, as Sarge Allard’s bases-clearing double drives the Keystones to a 8-7 victory … Both squads send youngster to the mound with Buzzard Lum and Sid Monroy; neither did well, but Buzzard was the more luckless by far, leaving just too much ball over the plate, and getting taken deep by Buddy Blaylock for three of his five RBIs in the Keystones win … String Bean Sammons was the stopper in the third game, salvaging a win for the Saints, thanks to some able work by the bullpen and a running stab by LF Full Moon Mazur with the bases loaded and two out in the bottom of the ninth. HOT: Syzmanski (Fairfield) Blaylock (Kingston) NOT: Alcantar (Fairfield) Bennet (Kingston)

Centerville Blues vs. Jackson Grays (2-1 Grays)

Home at last, the Grays welcome the Centerville Blues for the first half of their traditional “Civil War” series. For the Blues it certainly is brother against brother, with the Centerville squad showing plenty of fight everywhere except between the lines.

Grays struck first, breaking open a close game in the 7th when Mickey Hendricks brought a can of gas with him to the mound from the bullpen … The Blues chased Bull Zielinski early and put eleven runs on the board in the second game; the only drama was seeing if Freight Train Joseph could get the shutout (he couldn’t, surrending a run after 8 2/3rds) … Any momentum the Blues might have built evporated in the finale, when Grays starting pitcher Virgil Devore had a bases-clearing double to go along with his complete game. HOT: Benson (Centerville) Grossko (Jackson) NOT: Ritter (Centerville) Miller (Jackson)

The Blues just … can’t … quite … get it together. If manager Fred Bancroft didn’t own the team, he might well be fearing for his job.

Clayton Brown Stockings vs. Greenville Mutuals (2-1 Mutuals)

There’s no hot water in the Lewis Park visiting clubhouse (and Clayton can thank the rowdy Centerville Blues for that), but the Brown Stockings hope their bats provide more than enough heat on their own as they open a three-game set in Greenville … but there was grumbling in the locker room, and the Brownies aren’t the same happy crew that left Springfield, despite Skeeter Wilson doing card tricks on the team bus.

Mutuals bullpen provides an efficient outing to take the first game … Word came before the second game that Mutuals catcher Dog Dalhousie would be out indefinitely with a groin issue — Greenville will dearly miss his presence behind the plate; the game itself was a brawl, with Clayton’s Rabbit Dennison leaving in the first after running into Frenchy Clouse, and the Mutuals coming back to win it in the bottom of the ninth by scoring six runs in two innings against Clayton’s punch-drunk bullpen; Brownies salvage a win in the final game, with the Mutual’s Frying Pan Poague going the distance in the loss, thanks to a double-header looming with the Maroons. HOT: Clouse (Clayton) Giaccomo (Greenville) NOT: Burgo (Clayton) Cavano (Greenville)

Greenville Mutuals vs. Madison Maroons (2-1 Madison)

The week-ending double-header is in Madison, as Greenville comes to town, looking to move ahead of Clayton into first place.

Mutuals shock the Maroons with Dixie McCormick’s ninth inning grand slam; Ronnie Rhone has a much-needed good outing to nail down the save … Lip Sullivan encourages his team to shake off the previous night’s disappointment; Maroons respond by winning first game of double header behind a terrific outing from Kingpin Fisk … Maroons outlasted Mutuals in a sloppy second game, as the teams combined for six errors in the gathering gloom; a rubber-armed Cliff Carballa went the distance for a wobbly win. HOT: Goldman (Madison) Giaccomo (Greenville) NOT: Goldstein (Madison) Cavano (Greenville)

With two wins in the series it is Madison that moves into a tie with Clayton for first. Hometown writers wonder if Lip Sullivan’s easy way and calming speech after blowing that first game will end up launching the Maroons onto something special.

Night 9

Night 9

Montreal 1 @ Boston 4

New York 1 @ Detroit 3

Blast Toronto 3 @ Chicago 7 … The Leafs visited Chicago in a meeting of the league’s top two teams, with Toronto hoping to erase the stain of a 9-0 defeat on home ice the first time these two teams hooked up. But it went wrong for the Leafs from the start. Seconds after the opening faceoff, Toronto goalie Terry Sawchuck took a delay-of-game penalty for clearing the puck over the glass; seconds after that, Brett Hull had scored on the powerplay, and it was never really close. Hull would go on to have four goals on the night, twice on the powerplay and once shorthanded, just to rub it in. The season isn’t quite half way over, and the standings are still kind of close, but it looks like there is no stopping the Black Hawks.