The North American Soccer Football League , also known as the North American Football League , was a soccer league that operated for two seasons, 1946 and 1947.
12-656: Fred Weiszmann was the league founder and first president in 1946 while Leslie O'Connor was the president in 1947 (as elected in December 1946). Financial problems reduced the league to five teams in September 1947. The Maroons and Vikings of Chicago were replaced with the Chicago Tornadoes. The remaining teams were the St. Louis Raiders, Pittsburgh Indians, Toronto Greenbacks, and Detroit Pioneers. The Tornadoes were
24-418: A combination of the best players from the old Vikings and Maroons. The 1946 season featured a 20-match schedule from 7 June to 1 September, with all five teams playing eight matches each. The Detroit Wolverines clinched the title on 24 August after rivals Toronto lost their second-last match of the season. Toronto won their last game of the season over Detroit on 25 August, but still finished one point back in
36-605: A member of the Major- Minor League Executive Council, and then as legal counsel for and president of the top-level Pacific Coast League. As PCL president from 1956 through 1959, he was in office during the tumultuous shift of the Dodgers and Giants from New York City to Los Angeles and San Francisco , which resulted in a significant alteration of the PCL map. During O'Connor's four-year term,
48-489: The 1945 baseball season. He then was named general manager of the White Sox by team owner Grace Comiskey and held that post for three losing campaigns. After the White Sox lost 101 games and finished last in the eight-team American League in 1948 , O'Connor stepped down and was succeeded by Frank Lane . The team won 195 games and lost 262 ( .427 ) during O'Connor's tenure as GM. He remained in baseball, however, as
60-805: The Pacific Coast League . Born in Chicago, Illinois , O'Connor was admitted to the bar and served in World War I as a member of the Judge Advocate General's Corps . When Landis was appointed Commissioner of Baseball in the wake of the 1919 Black Sox Scandal , O'Connor became his top administrator, succeeding John E. Bruce , who had been the top administrator for the National Baseball Commission . O'Connor served at Landis' side for 24 seasons until
72-544: The 1947 Fall season was scheduled to feature seven teams with the return of the Detroit Wolverines. The league decided against adding a team from Cleveland. By the time the season started in September, however, the revised schedule featured just four teams (without the Wolverines, Chicago Maroons, and Chicago Vikings). A fifth team, the new Chicago Tornadoes, was set to replace the two Chicago teams. Despite all
84-422: The commissioner's sudden death in 1944. As Landis' right-hand man, he was involved in investigations, writing Landis' decisions and keeping records. After five months as acting commissioner—head of the three-man council that included league presidents Ford Frick and Will Harridge —during the waning months of World War II , O'Connor stepped aside for Chandler and was his top aide during the transition until after
96-506: The league replaced four teams located in the metro areas of those cities with clubs in Vancouver ( Oakland Oaks ), Salt Lake City ( Hollywood Stars ), Phoenix ( San Francisco Seals ) and Spokane ( Los Angeles Angels ). O'Connor died in Tokyo at the age of 76 while on a visit to Japan . 1945 in baseball The following are the baseball events of the year 1945 throughout
108-651: The league, while both the Detroit Pioneers and St. Louis Raiders were added to the league. The Pittsburgh Indians and Toronto Greenbacks finished tied for first place with 14 points each, thus requiring a two-match playoff to decide a champion. The two matches were played in October (after the Fall Season had started), with Pittsburgh winning both matches to claim the championship. After league meetings in July,
120-588: The schedule revisions, only three teams were in action from 6 September to 4 October: Pittsburgh Indians, St. Louis Raiders, and Toronto Greenbacks. Leslie O%27Connor Leslie Michael O'Connor (August 31, 1889 – January 20, 1966) was an American lawyer and professional baseball executive. He was the assistant to the Commissioner of Baseball from January 1921 until the death of Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis on November 25, 1944; then he filled
132-434: The standings. Detroit and Toronto were then scheduled to meet in a two-match playoff, with Toronto winning the first match on 21 September. Detroit claimed that they did not want to complete the series as they had already won the league's championship. The 1947 season featured a 30-match schedule from 6 April to 30 August, with all six teams scheduled to play 10 matches each. The champion Detroit Wolverines had dropped out of
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#1732782332877144-583: The void as acting commissioner (technically, as chairman of the Major League Advisory Council) until the election of Happy Chandler as Landis' successor on April 24, 1945. After spending another six months in the commissioner's office as Chandler's top assistant, O'Connor became general manager of the Chicago White Sox of Major League Baseball from November 1945 through November 1948, and he later served as president of
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