Robinson's Season Over
Three-Time All-Star Shelved with Arm Injury
NEW YORK (Aug. 28) -- New York lost more than its four-game winning streak and its pride today in a 14-1 defeat at the hands of last place Detroit.  Also lost was star second baseman Jackie Robinson, former league MVP, who left the game after a freak throwing injury in the third inning.  Robinson threw out pinch hitter Johnny Groth and then clutched his right arm. Later examinations revealed Jackie had a torn bicep muscle and would miss the remainder of the season.  Robinson missed five weeks early in 1951 to a severe groin pull, but bounced back and finished the season with the first of two batting titles, with a .371 batting average.  He won the league MVP award in 1952, with a .362 average, league-best .588 slugging percentage, 202 hits and 112 runs.  Jackie's power numbers suffered last season.  He hit only .304 after two seasons above .360, and his slugging percentage dropped 100 points to .498.  Robinson, the UL's all-time hit leader (690), will finish the season with a .346 average, 13 HR and 65 RBI.
   Coming into the Detroit series, the Gothams were on a 10-2 run that solidified their grasp of third place, including a three-game sweep at Washington and a sweep of the rival Superbas.

Church Excommunicates Colonels
LOUISVILLE (Aug. 18) -- New York righthander Bubba Church shut out the Colonels on two hits today, as the Gothams crushed Art Houtteman for a 10-0 win.  Church (2-3, 3.77) earned just his second win in eight starts, and his first complete game.  Jackie Robinson homered and drove in four runs, and Larry Doby and Joe Astroth added solo homers in the rout.
   Church, 28, was the Gothams' eighth overall pick in the 1951 Initial Draft, and the third pitcher (after Early Wynn and "Baby Joe" Presko).  However, the Birmingham, Alabama native has failed to live up to expectations, compiling a 24-25 record and 4.88 ERA in 62 starts in four seasons with New York.

Miller Throws Two Shutouts
WASHINGTON (Sept. 1) -- Stu Miller threw back-to-back two-hitters in wins over Detroit and Brooklyn Aug. 14th and 18th, and later took home August's Pitcher of the Month Award to complement his April award.   Miller's August 18th win was his 20th of the season, making the Monuments the first team with three 20-game winners in back-to-back seasons since the deadball era.  For the month, Miller posted a 1.62 ERA and a 6-1 record, allowing just 34 hits in 61 innings of work.  He now has 16 career shutouts, a league record.
                                                                                                                                  

EXPANSION '55
Outlaws Build Solid Rotation
NEW YORK (Sept. 1) -- The Los Angeles Outlaws opened the 1955 expansion draft with Ray Herbert, a 23 year-old Louisville pitching prospect.  Herbert was drafted by the Colonels at the age of 20, and was their 14th pick in the 1951 Initial Draft, but was rushed into big league service.  He had 15 saves in 1951 but was then demoted to the minor leagues for more development.  Owner Chris McCreight followed up the Herbert pick with three more pitchers: Art Houtteman, also of Louisville, Washington superstar Steve Gromek, and Chicago veteran Saul Rogovin.
   Most observers had pegged Gromek as the cream of the expansion crop.  In a telephone interview from his Hollywood bungalow, Charlie Qualls said: "The day before the draft, the headline reads 'Gromek: Un-freaking-hittable!!!'  We all saw the yawning guy, right?  Sure he's 34, but Iron Mike loves him.  Why wasn't he the 1st pick?  Maybe the bigger question is why was Gromey up for grabs in the first place?  Oh well, who am I to question a 3-peater?  I guess realistically, a young squad's not going to contend for a while, so a 34-year-old doesn't help much.  But a proven and potential 20 game winner makes everyone look better."
   Washington owner Jay Kaplan responded by saying that Don Larsen is ready for big league action, and that he was sorry to see Gromey go, but he had a good run.  Then, in a bout of extreme wishful thinking, he added, "I was hoping that Gromek would slip through because of his age."  Well, the funny thing about guys who win 20 games year in and year out is that age doesn't really matter.  Besides, nobody was particularly drooling over Harry Perkowski and Ted Kluszewski, Gromey's expansion grid groupmates.  
   McCreight has hinted that Gromek might be used as bait to fish for quality youngsters.  His rationale for taking Gromek was that he could trade him for two good players, so he was a two-fer.

Spiders Look Offensive
   Up the coast in San Francisco, Mark Cooley was quietly assembling a solid offensive team.  With his third pick, the expansion Spiders took Sound second baseman Jerry Priddy, probably the best overall infielder in the draft.  Priddy, 33, is one of the league's better defensive second-sackers, and is having a career year at the plate, batting .313 with a .386 OBP.  Shortstop Solly Hemus is another high OBP guy, and Louisville first baseman Joe Collins was a sleeper pick in the 12th round.  Collins, 30, is a career .298 hitter with a good eye at the plate (.359 OBP and more walks than strikeouts), and some pop in his bat (averages 17 HR per year).
   S.F. didn't shirk on pitching though, picking up four-star prospect Ron Kline in the first round, Gothams former 20-game winner Ewell "The Whip" Blackwell in the second, and Louisville and now Boston castoff Ned "The Perpetual Prospect" Garver.
   Cooley admitted that his draft strategy was not all that well planned out.  "I'm flying by the seat of my pants," he mused, between a Klippstein and an Umphlett.  Other than a focus on OBP, a glance at the draft log suggests an affinity for funny-sounding names (Zuverink, Umphlett, Ridzik, Astroth, Carrasquel, Rocky Bridges).

AROUND THE HORN