Monuments Defend Title
WASHINGTON (Sep. 13) -- The Washington Monuments clinched their second United League pennant on Wednesday, Sept. 9, after Chicago's 6-0 at Boston eliminated the Colts. Washington has lost six of their last seven, but are still within grasp of the first 100-win season in the League's brief history (a 9-4 finish would do it). The club also entered the record books as the first UL team to boast three 20-game winners after Steve Gromek went the distance in a 5-1 win at Fenway Park on Sep. 5.
   The Monuments won their second league championship with the most dominant pitching staff in recent baseball history. As of Sep. 14, Washington's team ERA is 3.28, a full 1.10 better than the league average and 0.75 better than second-best Detroit. The club has allowed just 517 runs, 125 fewer than any other team, and an incredible 175 runs fewer than the league average. The staff is anchored by its Big Three starters, who have combined for a record of 65-25.  Stu Miller (25-7, 2.27), Steve Gromek (20-8, 2.43), and Larry Jansen (20-10, 3.08), rank #1-3 in ERA and baserunners/nine. Miller is still in the hunt for the pitching Triple Crown, though he trails St. Louis' Billy Pierce by 16 strikeouts with just two weeks to go. Miller, 25, is  a shoe-in to win the Cy Young Award, which will come on the heels of his Rookie of the Year honor last season. Teammate Larry Jansen was the Cy Young winner last year, and Steve Gromek is a two-time All-Star.

Burned by Vern
Crandall, Stephens Star in Sweep of Former Team
BROOKLYN (Sep. 13) -- St. Louis took two wins from Brooklyn in a pair of thrilling nailbiters at Ebbets Field this weekend. The teams are locked in a four-way battle for second place, far behind league leaders Washington, who clinched their second pennant on Sept. 9. The wins kept the Maroons within a game of the Chicago Colts, who swept the Monuments at Griffith Stadium.
   St. Louis and Brooklyn are linked by a series of major trades. The first, which sent slugging catcher Roy Campanella out west, helped the Maroons seal the pennant in the UL's inaugural season. That deal, struck July 31, 1951, sent Fred Hutchinson to Brooklyn, where he won 21 games and was a UL All-Star last year. A year later to the day, Brooklyn shipped struggling lefty Ken Raffensberger and slugging shortstop Vern Stephens to the Maroons, in exchange for Eddie Joost, Tom Gorman, and a Reentry pick. Then on the eve of this season, St. Louis traded the league's #1 pitching prospect, Lew Burdette, to the Brooks for Roy Face, Del Crandall, and Russ Meyer.
   Raffensberger battled Hutchinson through seven scoreless innings here Saturday, before Red Schoendienst's solo homer put the Maroons on the scoreboard in the top of the eighth. But with Johnny Klippstein on the hill for the save in the ninth, St. Louis shortstop Johnny Lipon booted a routine grounder by Ransom Jackson, who stole second and scored on Gil Hodges' single. In the tenth, Hutchinson escaped trouble when Vern Stephens hit into a double play, and Richie Ashburn missed a home run off Klippstein by a matter of feet. Hutchinson was relieved in the eleventh by Joe Dobson, who surrendered a one-out home run off the left field foul pole by Del Crandall.  Crandall, Brooklyn's third round Reentry pick this spring, was hitless in his first nine UL at-bats. Andy "Swede" Hansen shut down the Superbas in the bottom of the eleventh for his tenth save.
   In Sunday's game, Vern Law faced Curt Simmons.  Law came into the game winless (0-3), despite a 3.60 ERA in seven previous starts. 
Three hits and a Stan Musial error plated two runs in the fourth, giving the Superbas a 3-1 lead. But the Maroons struck back in the sixth. Dom DiMaggio halved the lead with leadoff homer off Simmons, and after Del Ennis singled, Vern Stephens launched a two run blast for his league leading 110th RBI and a 4-3 Maroons lead. Law held Brooklyn to two singles in the last four innings, en route to his first win and first complete game of the year.

Musial's Triple Crown Hunt Stalls
Stan Musial's Triple Crown bid hit a snag in early September, as the St. Louis slugger fell into a production slump. Stan the Man hit .298 in 11 games, but hit only one home run and 4 RBIs in that span. Musial has gone seven games without an RBI since driving in his 99th run on Sept. 4, his longest RBI drought of the season. Musial (.333-35-99) leads the league in batting by a comfortable 17-point margin over Washington's Billy Goodman, but sits 2 home runs behind Ralph Kiner and 11 RBI behind teammate Vern Stephens, who jumped into the league RBI lead with 7 RBI in a pair of wins at New York Sept. 4-5.
   Musial was a Triple Crown contender in 1952, before losing the last two months of the season with a broken wrist.

Down to Wire for Consolation Prize
WASHINGTON (Sep. 13) -- With the championship clinched and three teams wallowing at the bottom of the league table, the only race left heading into the final two weeks is for second place. Four teams are battling for bragging rights as "the best team other than Washington." The Chicago Colts presently hold a one-game lead over St. Louis, with New York and Brooklyn close behind. Chicago has won three straight, including a mini-sweep at Washington, to keep the hot Maroons at bay. St. Louis is 8-4 in September, including 5-1 against other runner-up contenders. 
   St. Louis manager Timothy J. Smith is counting on another "September surge" from his charges. Last year the Maroons were four games behind Detroit heading into September, but overtook the Sound with a 17-9 surge to finish in second place. In 1951, is was a late August surge that allowed St. Louis to overtake Chicago en route to the inaugural UL championship.

AROUND THE HORN