United League Baseball

Expansion Teams, Then Detroit, to Open Rookie Draft
Chicago Moves Up Two Spots, Clemente Figures to Go #1
WASHINGTON (March 6) -- The Detroit Sound won the draft lottery today, winning the #3 overall pick behind the expansion Los Angeles Outlaws and San Francisco Spiders. The second United League Rookie Draft lottery yielded few major surprises, though the biggest winner was the Chicago Colts, who moved up two positions from their order of finish. Under the new system begun last season, all eight teams are entered into a lottery to determine the rookie draft order, with an increasing number of chances the lower the team in the standings. Detroit had 40 out of 100 chances, and got the first pick, which this year means the third overall pick. Chicago, with just 9 out of 100 changes, drew the next position, and will draft fourth instead of the sixth that would follow from a strict order-of-finish draft position, such as that used by the Reentry Draft.
The top players in this year's rookie class include outfielder Roberto "Arriba" Clemente, and third baseman Ken Boyer. The perception coming into the draft was that the pitching was weak, but what GMs will do on draft day is anybody's guess.

Pay Raise Implemented
NEW YORK (March 6) -- The United League implemented an across-the-board $200k pay raise for dozens of players in the league's lowest pay range. Every player earning less than $1 million per year was given the boost, which was a concession won by the players union. The new league minimum salary is now $500k. The move was timed with expansion to minimize the negative payroll effect, which averaged about $2.5 million per team. The rookie payscale was also roughly doubled. First round picks are now guaranteed $1 million for 3 years, with sliding bonuses for the top three overall picks, up from the former rate of $500k. Second round draft selections will start at the new league minimum, $500k.

TOTAL ATTENDANCE			TOTAL REVENUE
1954		Change	1954 ($ million)		Change
WASHINGTON ST. LOUIS NEW YORK CHICAGO BROOKLYN DETROIT LOUISVILLE BOSTON Total Average	2,281,050 2,209,604 2,028,883 2,020,453 1,243,295 884,855 840,555 807,445 12,316,140 1,539,518	(62,958) 113,161 513,408 308,953 (46,178) (657,367) 28,223 (262,941) (65,699) (0.5%)	WASHINGTON ST. LOUIS NEW YORK CHICAGO LOUISVILLE BROOKLYN DETROIT BOSTON Total Average	69.23 64.19 63.95 63.92 53.87 51.85 51.12 50.07 468.20 58.53	1.84 1.74 5.71 3.56 0.55 (0.23) (6.40) (2.47) 4.30 0.9%
PLAYER EXPENSES			NET PROFIT
1954 ($ million)		Change	1954 ($ million)		Change
ST. LOUIS LOUISVILLE NEW YORK WASHINGTON CHICAGO BOSTON DETROIT BROOKLYN Total Average	65.56 64.22 61.71 59.94 59.67 57.51 56.42 56.03 481.06 60.13	3.29 10.86 2.52 2.52 7.89 7.91 0.79 3.26 39.04 8.8%	WASHINGTON CHICAGO NEW YORK ST. LOUIS BROOKLYN DETROIT BOSTON LOUISVILLE Total Average	9.29 4.25 2.24 (1.37) (4.18) (5.30) (7.44) (10.35) (12.86) (1.61)	(0.68) (4.33) 3.19 (1.55) (3.49) (7.19) (10.38) (10.31) (34.74) (158.8%)
CASH
1954 ($ million)		Change
WASHINGTON CHICAGO NEW YORK ST. LOUIS DETROIT BOSTON LOUISVILLE BROOKLYN Total Average	45.12 38.67 26.77 15.71 13.77 10.95 4.03 0.78 155.80 19.48	19.27 12.83 1.29 (2.69) (3.45) (4.49) (3.90) (4.87) 13.99 (9.9%)

1955 PREVIEW

BOSTON BEACONS	'55 preview What's that intoxicating smell coming out of Bean Town? It's Ben Gay! The Beacons, tired of waiting on slowly developing youngsters have recruited some proven old-timers to help out. Pee Wee Reese, Johnny Lindell, Jim Delsing and Ernie Johnson bring their experierience to this struggling squad. The biggest addition (hopefully) is Fred Hutchinson. The Hutch could bring some stability to a shaky rotation. Warren Spahn, in the last year of his beefy contract, will be returned to his role as staff ace to try and earn an extension. Expectations are low, but if Haddix and Hiller can continue their steady ways, the Beeks may have a shot at a winning record! Bench and Bullpen took hits in the off season, and remain biggest question marks. -- Charlie Qualls
BROOKLYN SUPERBAS	x
CHICAGO COLTS	New Horses…Same Old Result?? The winds of change were blowing hard in Chi-town this winter and the Colts are entering the ’55 season with a new look, in more ways than one. After four years of being mostly all quiet on the trading front, a flurry of off-season activity saw a lot of players stampeding in AND out of the Colts’ stable. When the dust settled longtime ponies Don Newcombe, Pee Wee Reese, Bobby Avila, and Jim Delsing found new pastures to graze in, and riding in to take their places were Gus Zernial, Johnny Pesky, Gordon Jones, and others. Also joining the team via the reentry draft were aging pitching stars Ken Raffensberger and Early Wynn, who bring veteran leadership to a youthful rotation of Ford, Henry, and Pascual. With the dishing of Reese and Avila and the addition of Zernial – plus a lineup stacked with thumpers like Thomson, Berra, Gernert, Banks, and Bell – the Colts look to be abandoning the “small ball” tactics of the past couple of seasons for an attitude of “get ‘em on and hit it out.” The question is, will it work?? Only time will tell, but word from the front office is that ownership feels the team is pretty solid at every position and, unlike some organizations, is actually looking forward to the rookie draft. Colts management believes you don’t have to be a 5-star prospect to give a 5-star performance…it’s all about finding the right parts to make the machine run better. In the wake of the expansion every team was scrambling to fill roster slots and the UL playing field got a bit more level, and as far as Chicago’s brain trust sees it, every move is an important move. To commemorate this era of expansion and change, the Colts unveiled a new logo, replacing the simple horseshoe shaped “C” with a fiery red stallion’s head in the hopes of pumping new passion into the organization. But can the newbies, new faces, and new look help the Colts break away from the middle of the pack and make a charge for the UL title? Only one way to find out…let’s saddle up and ride! -- Lance Mueller
DETROIT SOUND	x
LOS ANGELES OUTLAWS	x
LOUISVILLE COLONELS	Is It Next Year Yet? There may be hope for Louisville to get out of the cellar [sic] and it just ain't cause of expansion teams. Henry Aaron (AAA .302) will definitely get the starting nod in the OF and Russ Kemmerer (who while always a RP in minors will get shot at a spot in rotation), along with Texs Clevenger in the pen should help bolster the Colonels' pitching. It looks like Herm Wehmeier is one of those classic "late bloomers", as he basically had a breakout year at age 28 going 9-6 with 3.51 ERA in 16 G. Johnny Antonelli showed bursts of brilliance last yr with a 13-11 record even with ERA of 4.13. If he can be more consistent to go along with his fireballing (277K in 233 IP) he could anchor this staff. Big time disappointment Mickey McDermott may get one last shot to earn those big bucks as he spent all last year in AAA going 7-6 in 19 starts with an ERA of 3.67. Other youngsters who may see some time are Wally Post and Al Kaline who are progressing as fast as the Colonels would like. Rumors had it that Chicago was going after Kaline and the only reason team owner did not pull the trigger is that he beleives there is nothing in the draft worth having another pick at the #4 overall spot. This could be an interesting year for the Colonels as their youth may finally be ready to step up to the plate. Look for even more new faces next year as the Colonels bank roll is running low and some higher priced vets might not be resigned such as Mike Garcia, Tom Morgan (another big disappointment), and Sam Jones all rumored to be leaving. One thing affecting the Kaline situation is that Louisville had him up for 7 games in 1953 (reportedly after owner Mark Allen went on a 7 day drinking binge) so his contract is up this year. The Colonels may be forced to play him to see what kind of investment they want to make in him for the future. Also, vet [Elmer] Valo may be shopped to make room in the OF for AAron and/or Kaline. Aging Sid Gordon and Peanuts Lowery may also find new homes this year. -- Mark Allen
NEW YORK GOTHAMS	x
ST. LOUIS MAROONS	x
SAN FRANCISCO SPIDERS	x
WASHINGTON MONUMENTS	x