1947-48 New Holstein Cheesemakers (WSBL)

1947-48 NEW HOLSTEIN CHEESEMAKERS

WISCONSIN STATE BASKETBALL LEAGUE

1st Half: 9-3, .750, T-1st place

Won tie-breaker over Manitowoc, 2-0
2nd Half: 9-3, .750, 1st place

Finals: Defeated Manitowoc, 2-0

The Cheesemakers were a strong team, wining the first half title in a play-off and then winning the league championship over Manitowoc. Fritz Engel, a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin who joined the team after being declared academically ineligible, averaged over 20 points per game in the 18 games I found box scores for. Fred Nimz, a basketball veteran who had played in the NBL and ABL previously, joined the team in late December or early January  and averaged 15 points per game.

Head Coach:

• Norm Peterson (September 15, 1912 - July 11, 1986) Also played. See below

Fritz Engel

PLAYERS:

• Fritz Engel (January 12, 1928 - June 10, 2015)
• Ray Heim (June 23, 1926 - November 4, 2011)
• Harold Hoffman (June 1, 1924 - March 7, 2003)
• John Meier (November 24, 1923 - March 4, 2006)
• Fred Nimz (April 22, 1914 - May 9, 1992)
• Norm Peterson (September 15, 1912 - July 11, 1986)
• Marvin Pivonka (April 9, 1929 - February 28, 2008)
• Orville Ross (April 17, 1920 - November 14, 2012)
• Charlie Ryan (August 16, 1923 - January 20, 2005

1947-48 Neenah Bluejackets (WSBL)

1947-48 NEENAH BLUEJACKETS

WISCONSIN STATE BASKETBALL LEAGUE

2nd Half: 9-3, .750, T-2nd place

Carlton Giese

The Neenah Police, also know as the Bluejackets, was a successful semi-pro team before being asked to join the WSBL for the second half to replace Plymouth who had withdrawn. They were tied for first with Manitowoc with the last game of the regular season against that club, but got drubbed 95-61 to finish in a tie for second with New Holstein.

Head Coach:

• 
  

PLAYERS:

• Bill Ciske (b. May 23, 1928)
• Carlton Giese (April 28, 1928 - May 13, 2014)
• Don Hesselman (July 11, 1925 - February 19, 2004)
• Bert Huus (September 30, 1926 - February 17, 1999)
• Eugene Johnson (March 23, 1925 - February 4, 2005)

• 

  Fred Trish

  Jim Johnson (March 12, 1929 - August 21, 2004)
• Ed Kalfhaus (October 3, 1927 - February 22, 2013)
• Bob Koser (November 21, 1926 - January 2, 2012)
• Tom Stilp (July 11, 1927 - February 15, 2016)
• Fred Trish (September 12, 1913 - March 5, 1978)
• Bud Werner (August 11, 1921 - December 2, 2005)
  
• Bob Wessenberg (February 25, 1928 - December 13, 1999)
• Vern Wollerman (March 14, 1926 - June 24, 1992)

Bud Werner

Gene Johnson

1947-48 Manitowoc Braves (WSBL)

1947-48 MANITOWOC BRAVES

WISCONSIN STATE BASKETBALL LEAGUE

1st Half: 9-3, .750, T-1st place

Lost tie-breaker to New Holstein, 2-0
2nd Half: 10-2, .833, 1st place

Dick John

Finals: Lost to New Holstein, 2-0

The pre-season favorite, Manitowoc finished in a tie with New Holstein for the first half title, but lost the tie-breaker series. They would play even better in the second half, winning the division outright despite a good 2nd half performance from New Holstein and Neenah. In the finals with New Holstein, the two teams battled in close games but New Holstein would sweep the best-of-three series from the Braves.

Head Coach:

• Rube Lautenschlager (September 7, 1915 - January 5, 1992) Also played. See below

PLAYERS:

• Ron Carlson 
• Joe Chavez (June 22, 1922 - October 4, 2014)
• Art Edinger (April 3, 1924 - January 22, 2001)
• Ted Fritsch (October 31, 1920 - October 4, 1979)
• Adolph Gorychka (April 8, 1911 - October 6, 2004)
• Dick John (October 21, 1919 - September 9, 1983)
• Ken Keuper (November 14, 1918 - May 23, 1997)
• Stan Kramer (June 3, 1921 - June 23, 1997)
• Rube Lautenschlager (September 7, 1915 - January 5, 1992)
• Gene Muchowski (August 22, 1926 - August 25, 2006)
• Gordy Wotruba (November 19, 1928 - April 6, 1999)

 

1947-48 Kimberly Papermakers (WSBL)

1947-48 KIMBERLY PAPERMAKERS

WISCONSIN STATE BASKETBALL LEAGUE

1st Half: 6-6, .500, 4th place
2nd Half: 1-11, .083, 7th place

The Kimberly (Kimberley Recreation Association or KRA) team, aided by the three Van Cuyk brothers, had a decent first half of the season, winning half of their games. The second half would turn out to be disastrous, with a February 3 victory over Sheboygan being their only notch in the win column. Chris Van Cuyk, a minor league pitcher, was the high-scorer at 17.3 PPG. He would be named to the All-Star team, but failed to show for the All-Star game and on February 21 was suspended for the remainder of the season.

Head Coach:

• Elmer Vander Velden (March 3, 1916 - November 7, 1995) Also played. See below

PLAYERS:

• Sven Bowman (July 30, 1912 - November 22, 1980) 

• Alan Dietzler (b. October 6, 1928)

• Arnie Leaman (February 17, 1919 - October 25, 1998)

• Bill Morris (June 24, 1923 - July 9, 2004)

• Carl Schnese (March 3, 1928 - March 22, 2019)

• Chris Van Cuyk (January 3, 1927 - November 3, 1992)

• Frank Van Cuyk (July 15, 1924 - May 18, 1987)

• John Van Cuyk (July 7, 1921 - July 10, 2010)

• Elmer Vanden Boogaard (July 20, 1920 - October 2, 2009)

• Jim Vanden Boom (October 7, 1925 - May 30, 1986)

• Elmer Vander Velden (March 3, 1916 - November 7, 1995)

• Francis Vander Velden (January 27, 1922 - February 6, 2008)

• Driek Van Dyke (November 13, 1920 - March 29, 2011)

• Red Williams (December 26, 1922 - November 8, 1994)

1947-48 WSBL

Small in scope and geography but fairly decent in talent, the Wisconsin State Basketball League kicked off in the fall of 1947. Not to be confused with the lesser Wisconsin-Michigan Basketball League which ran at the same time, the WSBL consisted of  seven teams, and would split their season into two halves, with the winner of each half meeting in a championship series to be played in the spring of 1948.

The first half turned out to be competitive. The Manitowoc Braves and the New Holstein AC finished knotted at 9-3 and would play a one-game playoff to settle the first half champions. North Fond du Lac had started 6-2 befor esliding out of contention and finishing 3rd. The Plymouth Legionnaires would finish in last and would drop out after the first half. They would be replaced by a team from Neenah.  Manitowoc and New Holstein continued their battle for league supremacy in the second half. However, the new entry from Neenah would also make a run for the second half title. When the final game had been played, Manitowoc would win ten of twelve in the second half and finish one game ahead of New Holstein and Neenah.

The championship series would pit the second-half champ Manitowoc Braves against New Holstein, who won the playoff over Manitowoc for the first half title. In the best-of-three series, New Holstein would sweep the  Braves in two closely-fought games. Manitowoc's Art Edinger averaged 19.3 PPG, second behind New Holstein's Fritz Engel, who had 20.1 PPG. Engel had been attending the University of Wisconsin as a sophomore but was declared academically ineligible, clearing the way for him to play for New Holstein..

Teams
Kimberly Papermakers 
Manitowoc Braves

Neenah Bluejackets (played in second half only)

New Holstein Cheesemakers

North Fond du Lac Tigers

Plymouth Legion Lions (left after first half)

Sheboygan Dicks

Two Rivers Kriseas

Wisconsin State Basketball League (WSBL)

The Wisconsin State Basketball League has another basketball minor league that sprang up out of the post-war boom. Many states and regions were getting into basketball as the sport's popularity was growing.It lasted fur season before disbanding, but the reason I am looking at it is because it was the final league for the one-time major league team, the Oshkosh All-Stars. Oshkosh had been one of the premier teams of the National Basketball League, joining the circuit in 1937 and over their 12 seasons in the NBL would win the NBL title in 1941 and 1942 after three seasons of losing the finals. In 1949, after the All-Stars lost the NBL title to Anderson, the NBL merged with the BAA, and Oshkosh, being a smaller market, was not invited to join the new NBA, and the team looked to join the WSBL. They only played one season in the WSBl, the 1949-50 season, before disbanding for good. 

The WSB footprint is minor, with mainly local players making up the rosters, but since it was the final resting place of on of the earlier successful major league teams, I figured at four seasons, it was worth a look.

Milestone #13 - All-American Basketball League 1947-1951 (AABL)

The All-American Basketball League was another regional minor league that sprung up after World War 2. They did feature a few BAA/NBL cast-off players or coaches and had some moderate success before disbanding as so many minor leagues did as the NBA grew in strength. 

The AABL did get decent coverage by their local media so I was able to identify a lot of the players and record a lot of box scores, although a few players and boxes still elude me.

Here is the AABL by the numbers:


Number of AABL players: 264
Unidentified/unknown whereabouts:21 
Surviving AABL players: 7 assumed to be alive, but none are confirmed survivors. Of the 21 unknown, it is possible there are a few who are still with us.

Longevity:
Of the 264 players, 39 players (14.77%) lived to see the age of 90. 14 men (5.3%) died before the age of 50. (Numbers could obviously change as unknown players get identified.