Bill Parsons Project
Underrated Colt No-Hits Maroons
ST. LOUIS (Aug. 25) – On a rotation that features Cy Young winner Bill Singer and former 1st round pick Wilbur Wood, it easy for a guy like Bill Parsons to get lost in the shuffle.  The 25-year-old righthander has rarely been in the limelight in his four years with the Colts, but he has been a consistent contributor and has generally exceeded expectations, posting 13 wins and a 3.31 ERA in his rookie year and 12 wins and a 3.42 ERA last year after spending much of 1972 in the bullpen.

Born in Riverside, Calif., Parsons was a late third-round pick in 1971 and jumped to the big leagues after just three starts in Triple-A Kansas City.  Though he never seriously challenged Singer or Wood for the top of the rotation, he managed to log 72 starts in his first three seasons, earning 32 wins against 29 losses.  This year he has trimmed his walk and hit ratios and was 7-2 in the months of June and July before hitting a rough August.  Parsons suffered a four-start winless streak coming into his 23rd start of the season in St. Louis on Aug. 25.  His last time pitching in Sportsman's Park, he suffered one of his shortest outings of the year, going just 5.1 innings in a 7-4 defeat.  But the second time was a charm, as Parsons mowed down Maroons hitters, allowing just four walks and driving in Buddy Bell with an RBI groundout for the game's only run.

The last pitcher to pitch a no-no was Cleveland's Jim Palmer on July 24, 1973 and the last Colt was Bill Singer in 1972.  Chicago sits two games out of the playoff spots, but the schedule favors them.  The Colts play series against San Francisco and Manhattan--the two teams ahead of them in the wildcard hunt--and face the clubs with the three worst records in the league--Dallas, St. Louis, and Denver.  San Francisco faces the most difficult schedule, with series against Atlanta, Chicago, and Los Angeles.
 
Contender Notes

Atlanta
The Toppers are sitting a comfy six games ahead of the next closest team, making the inaugural Commissioner's Trophy theirs to lose. . .  Dave Parker had his best hitting month with a .398 average in August, claiming his second Rookie of the Month and solidifying his lead in the batting chase. . .  Rookie reliever Mark Littell posted a 1.10 ERA in his last 10 games.

Cleveland
Burt Hooton pitched a pair of shutouts in his last three starts, slicing his ERA to 2.26, second best in the league.  The Barons boast the league's second best ERA despite missing Rick Reuschel since mid-May.  Big Daddy is expected to return just in time for the playoffs. . .  The league's worst offense took another hit on Aug. 24, when shortstop Ron Hunt suffered an injury that will sideline him through September.  Hunt's 54 RBIs are third on the team. . . Cleveland plays 15 of their last 19 games on the road.

San Francisco
How have the Spiders managed to stay in the playoff hunt without Bob Moose?  It comes down to three players: Fergie Jenkins (13-8, 3.03), Mike Hedlund (11-12, 3.15), and Vic Albury (12-7, 3.02).  Jenkins is just picking up where he left off last year, but Hedlund is having the best year in his six-year career and the rookie southpaw Albury has exceeded all expectations.  Another rookie, Doyle Alexander, is 4-3, 2.85 in nine starts.  And the closer tandem of Terry Forster (2.31, 25 SV) and Tug McGraw (1.65, 7 SV) is one of the best in the league.

Manhattan
Ken Brett (15-5, 2.99, 181 Ks) is having the club's best pitching season since Bob Anderson in 1970.  "Kemer", 25, is second (tied) in wins, third in VORP, and fifth in strikeouts. . .  Rookie Craig Swan, the UL's #7 prospect, has performed well (1-2, 3.80 in three starts) since replacing the injured Don Gullett in the fifth starter role. . .  The Gray Sox are the only team in the top 6 in both batting and pitching. . .  Ken Griffey (.330) and Craig Robinson (.327) are both in the top five in batting.

Chicago
Bill Singer (15-8, 2.51) is within shouting distance of his fourth win title in five years. . .  After starting the month 16-9, the Colts lost four straight to Atlanta to end the month. . .  Chicago's .237 batting average is the club's lowest in more than a decade; among regulars, only Carlos May (.267) and Amos Otis (.259) are hitting over .250.

Washington
At four games back with 19 to play, the Mons are playoff outsiders, but they have the benefit of a weak schedule, consistent starting pitching, a hot closer, and a leading MVP candidate.  All five starters have ERAs under 4.00, and the ageless Johnny Podres leads the league with 16 wins is fourth in ERA (2.52). . .  John Strohmayer has 11 saves and a 0.52 ERA in his last 14 games. . .  Bernie Carbo (.326-29-85, 1.033 OPS) is the league leader in VORP (74.4) and is second in OPS.

Los Angeles
The Outlaws 19-10 August thrust them into contention, but they remain outsiders four games behind the Arachnids and Sox. . .  Both Dave Roberts are hot: the starting pitcher Dave Roberts is 2-0, 1.01 in his last four starts and catcher D.W. Roberts is batting .533 with 3 homers in his last 8 games. . .  L.A. has series with all three West teams ahead of them in the standings (Atlanta Sep. 2-4, Chicago Sep. 9-11, and San Francisco to close the season, Sep. 19-21).

Sugar Kings Win 5^th IL Title
The Manhattan Gray Sox farm team captured their fifth International League title, and first since 1968, by steamrolling to seven consecutive playoff wins.  The Havana Sugar Kings swept Philadelphia  3-0 then manhandled the Houston Generals 4-0 in the Governor’s Cup final.  Havana won the IL’s South Division by a single game over wild-card winner Houston, but the best two clubs in the regular season, Philly and Seattle, were both swept in the semifinal series.

Havana ranked fifth in batting and pitching, but clicked at the right time, led by ace Chuck Dobson, who was 3-0 with a 0.69 ERA and 18 Ks in three playoff starts.  Jim Bibby and Kevin Kobel were 2-0 in the playoffs.  Kobel, the 16^th overall pick in the 1973 draft, led the S-Kings in wins with an 11-5 record.  Third baseman Steve Ontiveros was the club’s top hitter, batting .303-4-59 in the regular season and leading the club with 11 hits and a .407 average in the playoffs.

The Seattle Totems, the affiliate of the San Francisco Spiders, posted the IL’s best regular season record (82-48), the highest win total in four seasons.  Totems LF Ron LeFlore led the league with a .377 average, .569 slugging, and .997 OPS, and pitcher Doyle Alexander was 15-3 with a 1.73 ERA in just 20 starts.  LeFlore and Alexander are favorites to win the first tandem Swish Nicholson (batting) and Bob Muncrief (pitching) awards since Havana’s Ken Harrelson and Tom Seaver in 1968.

Philadelphia won the East Division handily with the league’s top pitching staff, led by starter Bob Sadowski (14-9, 3.70) and closer Ray Corbin (18 SV, 1.83), and Houston captured the wildcard spot with a tiebreaker win over Toronto.

Other top performers included Twin Cities 1B Tony Horton (.267-34-109) who led the circuit in homers, RBIs, and total bases; Toronto’s Mario Guerrero, who led the league with 162 hits; and Baltimore Terrapins’ Bill Stoneman, the league’s strikeout king with 188. 

Lookouts Reach the Top
In Double-A American Association, the Chattanooga Lookouts won their first league title with a 3-1 series win over the Durham Tobacconists.  The Lookouts team ERA of 2.95 with a full 1.40 points better than the next best team, led by Martin Pattin (10-5, 2.42) and Joe Sparma (11-5, 3.58).   Sparma, 32, is the AA’s all-time leader in wins (66), games started (162), complete games (30), innings pitched (1131), and strikeouts (564).

Nashville’s Lee Thomas (.319-15-54, 1.089) was the league leader in OPS and VORP, but Andy Kosco (.298-20-70) of the Asheville Tourists was the HR and RBI leader.  The playoff loss was Durham’s second in a row.  They lost the 1973 series to the Charleston Cadets.