United League Baseball

California Baseball!
McCreight Makes Los Angeles His 1^st Pick
LOS ANGELES (July 16) -- New owner Chris McCreight made his first pick this week, choosing the City of Angels as the home for his United League expansion franchise. The move makes major league baseball a bicoastal affair for the first time, as the league makes good on its goal to expand the game beyond its traditional Northeastern base. McCreight was awarded a franchise in June, and chose Los Angeles from a short list of six possible expansion cities.
   Los Angeles is expected to overtake Chicago in the mid-1950s as the second most populous city in the country, making it a huge market for top flight baseball. Heretofore, baseball was a strictly regional affair, due to the huge travel times involved. But the advent of commercial air travel has opened the door to a truly national pastime, with teams from both coasts competing in the same league.
   The Los Angeles team will play at least two seasons in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, an enormous stadium originally constructed for the 1932 Olympics, while a baseball-only home is built. The ballpark will be refitted for baseball, and is expected to seat approximately 93,000.
   The league's other expansion franchise had not yet been awarded. The five remaining cities on the short list are Atlanta, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and San Francisco. The final decision is expected by mid-August.

Cooley Brings Baseball to the Bay
SAN FRANCISCO (July 16) -- New owner Mark Cooley choose the City by the Bay for his United League expansion franchise. Cooley picked San Francisco over three former major league cities, one of which is more populous, and all of which have larger stadiums. Nonetheless, league president Timothy J. Smith lauded the decision, saying "a California rivalry is good for baseball." The decision where to place the expansion teams was solely up to the new owners, who chose from a short list of owner-approved cities. Cleveland topped the expansion voting with 54% of possible points, but neither owner was obliged to follow the preliminary vote. Smith never tipped his hand during the expansion process, but is believed to have favored West Coast expansion. The move puts two UL franchises on the West Coast, which is convenient for travel and scheduling, but probably precludes divisional play for a least a few seasons.

Robinson Lifts Gothams
NEW YORK (July 16) -- The league's highest paid player earned his paycheck in early July. Gothams' second baseman Jackie Robinson got on base more than half the time, and scored more than a run per game, as New York overtook Chicago to claim third place in the eight-team circuit. Robinson hit .447 (21-47) with 10 walks and 15 runs in 13 games. It was the seventh POW award for the 1952 UL MVP. New York took 3 of 4 at Brooklyn to start the month, then lost a series in Washington before sweeping Detroit. Though they were only 8-6 so far in July, slumping Chicago dropped a spot with a rough 4-10 fortnight. Vic Wertz is having his best month of the season as well. The first baseman hit 6 home runs with 16 RBIs, and now ranks third and sixth in the league, respectively, in those categories.
   New York exploded for 15 runs against Louisville on July 12. Wertz hit a sixth inning grand slam off Hal Brown, and five other Gothams drove in two runs each, as Ewell Blackwell comfortably cruised to his ninth win. Blackwell has won his last three starts, despite twice allowing 6 runs.

Beacons Climb to Fifth
BOSTON (July 16) -- After a dismal (8-17) April landed them in the cellar, the Boston Beacons have played roughly .500 ball (25-26) in May and June. But a 10-0 win at Chicago on July 1 opened the gate to a 9-5 run that lifted the struggling Beantowners to fifth place for this first time this season.
   Boston's bats came to life in the summer heat. Eddie Mathews (.265-15-70), in particular, got some timely hits, driving in 20 runs with seven extra-base hits in 14 games. Meanwhile, Harvey Kuenn and Bruce Edwards each hit over .350, and Gus Zernial had 10 RBIs.
   Harvey Haddix (10-5, 3.46) continues to have a career year. "Kitten" has won five straight starts since June 21. Frank Hiller rebounded from a rough spell with a 3.00 ERA in his last four starts, including a 6-hit shutout on July 1. Warren Spahn's woes continue, however. After winning three straight starts, May 28-June 6, Spahnie has just two wins in his last eight starts (2-4, 4.82).

AROUND THE HORN

WASHINGTON MONUMENTS 58-31 -- 12-2	Billy Goodman is hitting .426 in July (11-20 in last 6 games) after hovering around .260 for the last two months. The 28-year-old second baseman has never hit below .307 for a season, and his July spurt raised his average 23 pts to .299. . . Larry Jansen is 3-0, 1.38 in his last three starts. . . Fourth starter Carl Erskine had his best start of the year on July 13: a 2-hitter in a 3-1 win over Brooklyn.
ST. LOUIS MAROONS 54-35 4 11-3	Billy Pierce has six straight complete game wins, in which he has allowed just two earned runs (6-0, 0.33, 6 GS, 6 CG, 4 SHO, 54 IP, 70 K). . . Pierce, Sam Zoldak, and Ken Raffensberger are a combined 9-0 in July. . . Stan Musial has a career-best 14 game hitting streak. Stan "The Man" has hit safely in every game since July 1, and is hitting .365 (23-63) with 6 HR and 21 RBI during that streak. Teammate Roy Campanella holds the UL record for longest hitting streak (26 games).
NEW YORK GOTHAMS 49-40 9 8-6	Swept Detroit July 8-10, then lost 3 of last 4. . . Early Wynn is 2-9, 5.28 since May 23. . . Vic Wertz hit a grand slam for his 20th home run in a 15-7 rout of Louisville July 12. . . Catcher Matt Batts is batting .393 (11-28) with 7 RBI in the last 7 games. . . .500 or better vs. every team except Washington. . . AAA Cleveland leads American Association by 8 games. Key players are 1B Wally Moon (.325-10-63) and SP Bob "Sugar" Cain (8-1, 2.59, out for season with torn bicep).
CHICAGO COLTS 46-43 12 4-10	1-6 since July 8 . . . League low .258 batting average. . . Andy Seminick hitless in last 18 at-bats. . . Cold July: Bobby Thomson .162 (6-37), Jim Delsing .222 (8-36), Yogi Berra .233 (7-30). . . Roughed Up: Mel Parnell 1-2, 7.15 in last 4 starts, Don Newcombe 0-2, 5.48 in last 3 starts, Bill Henry 0-3, 5.40 in last 3 starts.
BOSTON BEACONS 42-48 16.5 9-5	6-2 since July 7. . . Second in walks (342: Mantle 44, Gilliam 37, Mathews 37) and stolen bases (84: Torgeson 26, Mantle 21, Gilliam 19). . . Hot Bats: Bruce Edwards .519 (9-17), 5 RBI in last 6 games, Harvey Kuenn .423 (11-26) in last 7 games, Gus Zernial .357 (5-14), 2 HR, 6 RBI in last 5 games, Eddie Mathews .353 (6-17), 7 RBI in last 5 games. . . Gene Hermanski was 3-for-4 with a home run and 2 runs July 13 against Detroit.
BROOKLYN SUPERBAS 40-49 18 2-12	The club fell into its worst slump of the season, losing 12 of 14 games, in which it scored 6 runs just once. Seven of the 12 losses were by two runs or less or in extra innings. . . Gil Hodges drove in 4 runs with a pair of homers on July 7, but then had seven games without driving in a single run. . . Also slumping is #2 hitter Minnie Minoso, who batted .130 (6-46) through the slump. . . Fred Hutchinson is 0-4, 5.85 in his last 5 starts. . . Hoyt Wilhelm is 1-0 with 7 saves and a 0.00 ERA in his last 9 games.
DETROIT SOUND 34-55 24 4-10	1-7 in games away games from June 25-July 10, including weekend sweep at St. Louis and New York. Road slump finally ended on July 15 with 8-5, 10-inning win at Brooklyn. . . Jerry Priddy and Toby Atwell are both batting .500 in their last 18 at-bats. . . Ralph Kiner is slumping again, hitting just .065 (2-31) in his last 8 games. Only 2 HR in last 17 games, 8 HR in 14 previous games. . . Cal McLish is not working out as the #5 star. He has lost all 5 games he has started, with an 11.28 ERA.
LOUISVILLE COLONELS 34-56 24.5 6-8	Lost four straight at Washington July 1-4, beat Brooklyn 12-2 July 5: 6-hitter by Herm Wehmeier and home runs by Jackie Jensen and Joe Collins. . . Sam Jones tossed a 3-hit shutout on July 15. "Toothpick" is 2-0, 1.38 since rejoining rotation on July 4. His 33 strikeouts in 26 innings are third only to Whitey Ford and Billy Pierce for July. . . After 14 RBI in June, Sid Gordon has just two RBI in the first half of July. He is batting .211 in the month and is hitless in his last 14 AB.