PLAYER of the MONTH

The Player for the Month of May 1943 is the first baseman of the North Dallas Forty Elbie Fletcher.  Elbie has 
been a dominate first baseman for North Dallas since he was drafted 24th overall back in 1934.  For the month 
of May he batted .391 (45-115) with a slugging percentage of .565 which included five doubles and five homeruns.  Elbie 
appeared in 28 games in May and had two or more hits in 13 of those games including two four hit games and a five hit game.  
He knocked in fifteen teammates and was aided by batting in front of Jeff Heath which allowed him to score a league 
leading 34 times. Elbie was walked 19 times and increased his batting average from .317 to .365 and had one game winning RBI.




Other Player of the Month Candidates:

SS	Luke (Old Aches and Pains) Appling of Muskegon who has been one of the most dependable shortstops in 
DBS history, continues to produce.  Luke batted .402 (39-97) in May with a slugging percentage of .588 with 
seven doubles, four triples and one home run.  Luke also scored 24 times and produced fifteen RBI.

1B	Frank (Buck) McCormick of Montgomery who batted .368 (42-114) with a slugging percentage of .605 
which included twelve doubles and five home runs.  Frank also knocked in 23 teammates and scored 17 runs.

1B	Johnny McCarthy of Freemont who was a free agent signing back in 1937 and has spent most of his 
career in the minors had the month of his career thus far.  Johnny batted .358 (29-81) with a slugging 
percentage of .580 with four doubles, four triples and two homeruns.  He ended up hitting in ten RBI and 
scored seventeen times himself.




The Pitcher of the Month of May 1943 is the Starting Pitcher of the North Dallas Forty Jim (Abba Dabba) 
Tobin.  Prior to May Jim was off to a poor start, he came into the month with a record of 1-1 and an ERA of 
4.95.  After the month was over his record jumped to 6-1 and he lowered his ERA to 2.98.  For the month he 
was 5-0 with an ERA of 2.14 allowing eleven earned runs in 46.33 innings of work.  Jim started the month 
much like the moth before with a no decision against Harlem, after that he won his next five starts which 
included four complete games, one a shutout.  Jim struck out fifteen opponents and helped himself out at 
the plate batting .350 (7-20) with one home run, four runs scored and two RBI.



Other Pitcher of the Month Candidates:

RP	Al (Cotton) Brazle of Brooklyn who was 2-1 with eight saves in twelve appearances in May.  Al 
finished with an ERA of 2.00 allowing four earned runs in eighteen innings of work, including seven strikeouts.

SP	Schoolboy Rowe of St. Louis who was 4-1 for the month in six appearances which included five 
starts, four complete games and a shutout.  Schoolboy’s ERA in May was 2.34 with eleven earned runs in 
42.33 innings of work with eighteen strikeouts.

SP	Hi (Sosa) Bithorn of Brooklyn who was 3-1 in May with an ERA of 2.40 with thirteen earned runs in 
48.66 innings of work.  He started six games completing two of them and struck out 25 batters, but does 
have a problem with the long ball giving up five homeruns.  Hi was the 26th pick in the 1942 draft and is 
showing the low draft picks can produce.