NO-HITTER!
Early Wynn Writes UL History
Teammate Church Throws One-Hitter Next Day
NEW YORK (July 28) - New York righthander Early Wynn threw the United League's first no-hitter Monday, in a 6-1 win over the hapless Detroit Sound. The game was far from perfect - Wynn walked seven and the shutout was gone in the fourth when three walks and a hit batter plated Ralph Kiner -- but was a milestone nonetheless. Jackie Robinson homered twice in the game, and Vic Wertz and Frank Thomas added solo shots off a battered Bob Porterfield.
   Not to be outdone, teammate Bubba Church turned in a one-hit shutout the next night. Jackie Robinson homered again in the 3-0 triumph over Bob Rush. Church, like Wynn, started the season in the Gotham bullpen, a victim of former manager Greg Bish's youth movement.  Before today, Church had never allowed fewer than six hits in 11 previous starts.
   Wynn was the Gothams' fourth pick in the Initial Draft (after Ted Williams, Jackie Robinson, and Gil Hodges). After an excellent season in the UL's inaugural year (19-8, 4.30), in which he led the club in wins, innings pitched, and strikeouts, Wynn struggled to stay in the rotation in 1952, going 10-13 with a 6.67 ERA. With youngsters Billy Loes and Mike Fornieles earning starting jobs this spring, Wynn was relegated to a relief role, struggling with a 5.33 ERA thru June 15. He did not make his first start until June 9. But in late June, Early entered the rotation full time, and after a few rocky starts, he has dominated of late, going 3-0 with a 1.69 ERA in his last four games. 
   After batting .020 (1-51) in the first two games, Detroit went on the split the series, with 4-3 and 16-3 wins in the last two games. George Kell was 3-for-4 Wednesday as Roberts nipped Blackwell, and the Sound took out their aggressions on Frank Sullivan in a 17-hit outburst Thursday (Willard Marshall and Fred Marsh each had four hits).
   New York has struggled to get a foothold again this year in the absence of their star slugger Ted Williams.  Despite a revamped rotation and a new manager, through 100 games the Gothams find themselves in a familiar place, hovering around .500 and in the middle of the pack.

Armistice in Korea
PANMUNJOM, Korea (July 27) -- After two years of failed negtiations, the United Nations and the NPRK signed a ceasefire agreement today at this small village 38 miles north of Seoul.  Truce talks began on 10 July 1951, but stalled over issues such as the repatriation of prisoners and the positioning of the armistice line.  The inauguration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower in January and the sudden death of Soviet leader Josef Stalin in March were factors leading to the cease fire. With the change in leadership on both sides, the negotiations seemed to speed to a conclusion. Troops from both sides were to pull back 2000 meters from the last line of military contact, creating a "Demilitarized Zone" across the peninsula. As many as 3 million civilians and combatants have died in the three-year conflict.
   "The task now is an enduring settlement," General Mark Clark of the U.N. Command stated after the ceremony.
   Ballplayers like Ted Williams and Duke Snider will be anxious to report back to their United League clubs, but Pentagon officials indicated that no soldiers would return Stateside until fall.

Billy Hitchcock Killed in Action
Detroit Minor Leaguer Crippled
SEOUL (July 25) -- Former Brooklyn Superbas shortstop Billy Hitchcock was killed in action near Seoul during the final U.N. offensive before the signing of the armistice. The official cause of death was a "North Korean bullet." Hitchcock, who was not re-signed by Brooklyn after the 1952 season, died just six days shy of his 36th birthday. Hitchcock was a regular in 1951, batting .271-4-35 in 133 games. His playing time diminished in 1952. He appeared in just 58 games, batting .288-1-10.  He was drafted into the Army in July, and was left unsigned by the Superbas at season's end. Although he had not formally retired, it was widely expected that the Inverness, Alabama native would not return to the big leagues.
   Another UL war casualty was Detroit prospect Gene Stephens, a 20-year-old right fielder from Gravette, Arkansas. Stephens was the Sound's fifth round autopick in the 1952 rookie draft. He was partially decapitated when his rifle went off while he was cleaning it. When informed of the career-ending injury to his #7 prospect (out of 8), Detroit manager Brad McNeely replied, "Eh, no biggie."

Bauer's 3 Homers Not Enough
ST. LOUIS (July 19) -- Hank Bauer hit the year's first homer hat trick today, but his three solo shots were not enough, as the St. Louis Maroons beat the Louisville Colonels 9-8. Sauer's first dinger, a 386-foot shot to left, was the middle homer of a back-to-back-to-back sequence in the first that had starter Ken Raffensberger reeling. The second was a leadoff homer in the sixth to almost the identical spot. His third homer was 407 feet to left-center with one out in the eighth, and cut the lead to 6-5. But Del Ennis' two-run homer anchored a three-run St. Louis eighth, rendering Alvin Dark's three-run shot in the ninth meaningless.
   The Colonels tallied a total of six home runs in the game, all but Dark's a solo shot, and all but Dark's off Raffensberger, but were playing catchup from the fourth inning on.  Raffy brought his homer numbers down last season (30 in 276.0 innings, 2.6 per 100 BF), but has already allowed more circuit clouts in 1953 (34 in 180.2 innings, 4.4 per 100 BF). Only Chicago's Don Newcombe has a higher HR/9 ratio (1.8 to 1.7). Bauer is the fifth player in UL history to hit three home runs in a game -- the first since Brooklyn's Minnie Minoso on Sept. 27, 1952, and the first to do it with three solo shots.

Parnell, Miller in Classic Pitchers Duel
CHICAGO (July 27) -- Washington and Chicago battled through 12 scoreless innings before Yogi Berra hit a solo shot in the bottom of the 13th to win the game. The Colts had just one hit in the first 12.2 innings, a Gus Bell single to lead off the eighth, as Stu Miller pitched nine one-hit innings, only to come away with no decision. Bud Byerly, Frank Smith, and Bob Chakales continued the magic, retiring the first eight of nine batters (Byerly walked Bell in the tenth). But with the score still 0-0, the game could end on any pitch, and it finally did when Berra lifted a Chakales fastball 389 feet to right-center, clearing the fence. Bobby Avila narrowly missed a walk-off homer when he deep fly was reeled in by Monuments right fielder Jim Piersall.
   On his end of the duel, Colts starter Mel Parnell threw nine shutout innings, allowing just five hits and two walks, but, like Miller, getting no decision. Dizzy Trout allowed just one hit in his 2.2 innings, and Joe Ostrowski fanned the only batter he faced (Piersall), and got the soft-luck win.

AROUND THE HORN