1947-48 Birmingham Vulcans (SPBL)

1947-48 BIRMINGHAM VULCANS
SOUTHERN BASKETBALL LEAGUE
25-25 .500, 4th place

Playoffs:
Lost in Round Robin, 0-3

The Vulcans were owned by Birmingham businessman Jim Price. Price originally wanted Chuck Connors, at the time the property of the Boston Celtics and the Brooklyn Dodgers, to leave the Celtics and be player / coach for the Vulcans, but the Celtics wouldn't release his contract. Wheeler Flemming was then hired as player / coach. The Vulcans lost four of their first five before heating up. Some personnel issues began to flair up with Manny Dorsky and Abe Epsman complaining that they were not being paid. This dust-up with Price, coupled with what Price would later say was an attitude problem, lead to the two's dismissal after the December 15th game against Gadsden. Price continued to mess with the make-up of the team, signing and releasing vaarious players through the first two months of the season. Ben Harrell and Bobby O'Brien would skip out on the club in early January, and Wheeler Flemming resigned on January 23, 1948. Chuck "Cherry" Foster, an experienced collegiate coach, took over the coaching duties and the team continued to float in mediocrity until finally heating up and winning nine games in a row in February (including a controversial forfeit over the front-running Montgomery Rebels.) In the midst of this streak, though, Foster announced that he could no longer continue to coach due to his responsibilities with his construction company. Owner Price took over the coaching duties for the rest of the season, and the squad finished 25-25. The first round of the playoffs consisted of a round-robin since Jackson, who would have been the fourth team, was forced to drop due to injuries. Nashville, Montgomery and Birmingham would play each other and the first team to suffer three losses would be eliminated and the other two would play for the championship. The Vulcans were the first to three losses, dropping all three games they played. The Vulcans, with many of their regular players having walked off the team at the end of the regular season, were forced to sign a bunch of young players fresh out of college for the playoffs.

With the season over, Price was sued by multiple players for salaries they had not yet received. Price agreed some culpability but said he had the funds to catch up with what is owed. The Vulcans franchise would be revamped in the off-season and return next year as the Steelers.

Head Coaches:
Wheeler Fleming (November 21, 1919 - January 2, 2015) 13-14 Also played. See below
Cherry Foster (  ) 5-7
Jim Price ( ) 7-4


PLAYERS:

• Red Allen 

Biography 

• Bubba Ball (March 19, 1922 - November 27, 2018)

Biography

• Fagan Canzoneri (October 20, 1918 - January 28, 1997)

Biography

• Miles Dean (June 18, 1923 - September 27, 2005)

Biography

• Manny Dorsky (October 29, 1919 - November 6, 1991)

Biography

• Abe Epsman (October 5, 1922 - December 4, 2006)

Biography

• Frank Flemming (May 4, 1924 - February 25, 2003)

Biography

• Wheeler Flemming (November 21, 1919 - January 2, 2015)

Biography

• Earl Gartman (June 23, 1920 - March 8, 1995)

Biography

• Jim Glasgow (December 29, 1924 - February 17, 1999)

Biography

• Ben Harrell (January 17, 1923 - April 13, 1995)

Biography 

• Shag Hawkins (September 23, 1920 - March 10, 2005)

Biography

• Ralph Jones (February 14, 1922 - February 18, 1995)

Biography

• Steve Kontos (June 22, 1921 - July 9, 2018)

Biography

• Wheeler Leeth (May 19, 1917 - June 8, 1998)

Biography

• Danny Long (July 23, 1925 - December 27, 2005)

Biography

• Emery Lowery (October 19, 1926 - June 24, 2013)

Biography

• Buford Maddox (December 3, 1919 - April 14, 1979)

Biography 

• Bob O'Brien (January 26, 1927 - September 19, 2008)

Biography

• Horace Peterson (July 10, 1921 - July 7, 2001)

Biography

• J.T. Rakestraw (February 25, 1920 - September 12, 1999)

Biography

• Billy Rigdon (April 10, 1919 - July 9, 1986)

Biography

• Herman Robertson (November 3, 1916 - April 11, 1998)

Biography 

• Charlie Scruggs (April 23, 1923 - March 26, 2010)

Biography

• Bob Steger 

Biography

• Neil Tanner 

Biography

• Bob Teubert 

Biography

• Frank Wadsworth (December 14, 1922 - November 7, 2006)

Biography


Source:
Birmingham Pro Sports 

Southern Professional Basketball League (SPBL)

Greetings, everyone. I am back after a good month off and ready to get back into it. I wasn't sure what I was going to do after the ABL. Do I return to the NBA and move forward, or do I step back and check some older leads from the leagues I had already done and fill some blanks? Or something different.

I noticed last year when compiling the 2018 In Memoriam video that a few players who played in the short-lived Southern Basketball League had passed. Knowing how few players remain from the 1940's, I figured there can't be many Southern League players remaining. I had spoken to Julie Silverman's daughter about a year ago, and I knew that he was still with us, but who else from that league was around? I figured I'd give this one a go.

The SBL (or SPBL) lasted two seasons before folding. Formed in 1947 with Nashville Tennessean sportswriter Raymond Johnson (1904-1991) as commissioner, they started as a six-team league with teams in Nashville, Montgomery, Jackson (Mississippi), Memphis, Gadsden (Alabama) and Birmingham. The league was a more-offensively focused league, unlike their American Basketball League counterparts. The PBLA, which also opened play this year, folded within their first month, and a few of their players wound up in the SBL. The fortunes of certain teams were not rosy. Memphis, saddled with a 4-16 start, would relocate to Mobile, Alabama, in January. Their fortunes didn't change much as they finished with a paltry 13-33 record. Gadsden dropped their first 8 games before moving to Bessemer, Alabama. They ran up three-straight wins after an 0-11 start, but never really improved their fortunes as they would finish the season 7-30.

The Montgomery Rebels were a wrecking machine. They rolled through the schedule with little resistance, winning 34 of their first 36 games and finishing at 44-6. The Rebs were 26-1 at home, losing only to the Nashville Volunteers. Nashville, Jackson and Birmingham were fairly even throughout the season, but at the end of the season, the Jackson club had called it quits. A three-team round-robin was devised for Nashville, Birmingham and Montgomery. The Birmingham Vulcans were ousted in the round-robin, and in a best-of-5 championship series, Montgomery grabbed the crown in four games after being blown out in the opener.

The SBL was now without Jackson, and Mobile and Bessemer withdrew as well. The Vulcans dropped out, but a new Birmingham contingent took their place, named the Steelers. The league also added the Laurel (Mississippi) Oilers and the New Orleans Sports to make the league a 5-team league for the 1948-49 season.

Montgomery again was the team to beat, but the new Birmingham club and the Laurel contingent made it a closer race. Montgomery still managed to win 2/3 of their games, but Birmingham finished 3 games back, Laurel 4. Nashville never really found their rhythm, and New Orleans cut their season short and finished buried in last place. The league was now a wreck financially, and the prospects of playoffs were dim. The league scrapped the playoffs, declaring Montgomery the champions again based on the regular season title. The off-season saw the intentions of a third season fs the Southern League, with possible new teams in Georgia and Florida. However, with the major basketball leagues siphoning talent and the lack of a decent support in small market towns, the Southern League disbanded in the summer of 1949.

A few good players rolled through the SBL on their way to the NBA, but the impact of the league on the national scope or the region is miniscule. It was more or less a distraction in their home towns until baseball season started.

I managed to find a lot of the box scores for this league, but am probably missing around 24 games. Still able to piece together decent scoring statistics but would like to fill these gaps one day so I can publish complete league stats.

In Memoriam: Mel Hutchins

Jay Drew, Salt Lake Tribune, Dec 21, 2018

Former BYU basketball standout Mel Hutchins, who led the Cougars to the NIT National Championship in 1951, died Wednesday, December 19, 2018, near his home in Encinitas, Calif., at the age of 90.

Hutchins (No. 14) and his former BYU teammate Roland Minson (No. 11) had their jerseys retired at the Marriott Center during a 2013 game against Portland.

“These players helped put BYU basketball on the map,” BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe said in the halftime ceremony.

When BYU won the 1951 NIT at Madison Square Garden in New York City, it was considered an equivalent to the NCAA tournament. Hutchins was also the MVP of the 1951 College All-Star Game.

The 6-foot-6 power forward and center was selected in the 1951 NBA draft and played in the league until 1958 with the Milwaukee Hawks, Fort Wayne Pistons and New York Knicks. He led the NBA in rebounding in 1951-52 as a rookie, with 13.3 per game.

He played in four NBA All-Star games, and finished fourth in the MVP voting in 1956.

Hutchins’ sister is 1952 Miss America winner Colleen Kay Hutchins, and he is the uncle of former two-time NBA All-Star Kiki Vandeweghe.

After his professional basketball career, Hutchins worked in real estate and became an avid golfer who competed in various high-level amateur tournaments in Northern California.

Hutchins was born in Sacramento and played high school basketball in Arcadia, Calif.

Biography

Vic Yanz Identified

Originally listed as "Vic Yanze," I couldn't find anything except a reference to playing basketball at Massachusetts  State College. And then nothing else. Nothing in Ancestry.com, either.... until today when I revisited him and tried again. This time, I found a reference to "Vic Yanz." No "E" at the end of his name, so that lead me onto a new direction. I found an obituary for "Vic Yanz" in the Chicago Tribune, which lead me back to Ancestry and his widow in the obit. I found that "Yanz" was shortened from Yozonaitis (or Yanzanaitis). Feeling confident, I got confirmation from a family member the this "Vic Yanz" did indeed play basketball, with a Lithuanian team around Chicago in the 30's. We found our guy. Not sure if he ever really did play at UMass or if it is just a mistake in the Sheboygan Press article.


https://peachbasketsociety.blogspot.com/2017/04/vic-yanze.html

Skeets Lonoff Identified

I have pretty much decided that the Newark Joe Fays (ABL) player previously listed as Al Lonoff is actually Abe Lonoff, Newark-area athlete and later businessman.

Biography

Bill Lane (Detroit Eagles 1940-41) Identified

Didn't have a lot on him before, but found his childhood address which lead to family members which lead to full name which lead to obituary.

William Bradfield Lane (1916-1997)


Biography

In Memoriam: Lou Decsi

Lou Decsi (1923-2018)

Biography

Obituary


Louis Decsi, Jr., 95, passed away November 19, 2018 in Englewood Florida. He lived most of his life in Glastonbury, CT and 12 years in Old Saybrook, CT before moving to Englewood Fl.Raised in Akron Ohio, he served in the Navy for 3 years in WWII. He graduated from Bucknell University with a B.A. in Economics in 1948 attending Harvard University via its ROTC program and the Navy's V-12 program at Bucknell. He was a member of Sigma Chi fraternity at Bucknell and was captain of Bucknell's basketball team and co-captain of Harvard's basketball team that went to the NCAA basketball tournament held in Madison Square Gardens. He continued his basketball career professionally with the Sunbury Mercuries from Sunbury, PA and tried out for the Boston Celtics who sent him to their farm team, the Hartford Hurricanes, in Hartford, CT.He was an Assistant Treasurer of the Hartford Insurance Group and ITT Hartford, retiring after 37 ½ years of service. He was past president of the Hartford Insurance Group's Men's Club, captain of their All-Insurance Basketball Team and captain of their Men's All-Insurance Duckpin Bowling team. He was a past life member of Englewood's Elk's Club, a life member of VFW post 10420, a member of Rotunda American Legion and a member of Senior Friends.Lou was an avid golfer who golfed at least twice weekly into his early nineties (his years not his score!). He enjoyed playing cards, both bridge and poker. He and his wife of over 40 years, Ellen, loved to dance. Lou continued dancing after her passing, meeting his companion of over 10 years, Maye Pikiel of Rotunda, Florida. He leaves many dear friends in the community of Englewood, FL including Joe and Jean Demko, and Mickey and Beverly Beaudoin He leaves his children Mary-Kate Russell of Fort Lauderdale, FL; Michael Decsi of Whitehall, NY; and Brigid Nessing of Manchester, CT; and his grandchildren Frederick and Sarah Russell, Paul Decsi and Brian Nessing. There will be a mass in his remembrance at St Raphael's Church, Englewood Florida, Tuesday December 4 at 10AM. In lieu of flowers, donations made be made in Lou's memory to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association PO Box 417005 Boston, MA 02241-7005 or a charity of your choice.