Tales from the MABL:
Excerpt from the Cincinnati Star
July 31, 1950

SEEING RED
Amidst COMMIE-troversy, Cincinnati’s MABL Squad Back in First

The Cincinnati MABL club has had an extremely interesting month. A few weeks ago, local groups around the city began to cry out in response to new game programs approved by Team President Josh Check. The covers featured a baseball bat functioning as a hammer, slamming down onto the Midwestern United States and fracturing the other cities of the MABL’s Western League. This naturally caused outrage, as fears over Communist influence reached new heights in recent months. The team’s July 4th Western Open game was opened with a rain of boos directed towards the home team, and despite a resounding 13-2 victory over Rockford, Check drew the fans’ ire for his poor judgement.

This mishap proved quite a problem for the club’s reputation, regardless of their current performance. Ticket sales for the city’s top squad have only seen a marginal dip, but their Community Ownership Group has its hands full in keeping the team away from the recent bad press. Check and the club’s top brass have issued a statement pledging undying devotion to the United States, and furthermore, they would be exploring new naming options for the upcoming season. Here at the Star, we’ve made the decision to begin calling them the Buckeyes in an effort to convince the team to change their name.

On the field, however, the team couldn’t be better. On the final day of July, Cincinnati now holds the Western League’s top spot after going 10-2 in Major League play. While including a few squeakers, the team took over this afternoon in Cleveland. The high-flying offense of Barnard and Townsley combined for 7 hits, with the second-year second baseman falling just a double short of the cycle. Randy Midkiff has fallen to fourth in the starting rotation with an ERA approaching 5.00, but got the win today after seven shutout innings.

Their victory today looks to be a microcosm of their season. Despite Jerry Inscoe, Ed Stutts, and Jon Brownlow playing far worse than in ‘49, the Unicorn and the rest of the pitching staff have clawed this team back to the top. The Travellers 7-5 July could be an indication of baseball’s biggest surprise coming back down to Earth, but the team is poised for a showdown with Cincinnati in just a few days’ time. Detroit Union’s high-powered offense is in 5th gear, but a sweep at the hands of Indian Parks (Louisville) and walk-off loss to Milwaukee has them exactly four games back in the standings. Most importantly, however, is the Republics recent fade. Losing two of three to a Wells-less Lakers didn’t help, but losing all three in their Cincinnati series has started a five-game losing streak. If Chicago wants to continue flaunting baseball superiority, they’ll have to come out of quite the hole.

Over in the East…
City Athletic also went 10-2 this month, re-taking a 5-Game lead over the Jays and 9 games over Boston’s Bees. The team looks to be clicking heading into the final two months of the season, it looks like we should be gearing up for a tight Western Pennant race to face the Boroughers in the Roosevelt Cup.

Last edited by H-Town1141 (2/06/2025 5:22 am)