United League Baseball

Erskine At Home in Mons #3 Spot
Washington Hurler Fills Gromek's Shoes
WASHINGTON (May 2) -- Young Carl Erskine faced a big challenge coming into this season. For the last three seasons, the pitching trio of Miller, Jansen, and Gromek dominated the league, leading the Monuments to three straight United League titles. But with the departure of Steve Gromek, Erskine was called upon to fill the #3 slot in the league's best rotation. He has responded with flying colors.
   Erskine was solid, if not dominant, last year, going 14-13 with a 4.40 ERA in 34 starts as the #4 starter. But in his first month as the #3 man, "Oisk" was 5-0 with a 1.75 ERA in six starts, leading the staff in wins, ERA, and ratio, and winning Pitcher of the Month honors (to add to Miller's four and Jansen's two). Jansen (4-1, 3.50) is off to another fine start, as he goes for his fourth straight 20-win season, while Stu Miller (3-2, 2.18) continues to be one of the league's ERA leaders, despite just three wins in seven starts.
   The Monuments are in second place with a 15-10 record, four games behind red-hot St. Louis.

Kokos Gives St. Louis a Lift
Maroons Stay Hot, Thanks to Stan and Dick
ST. LOUIS (May 2) -- St. Louis finished April as hot as they started it, winning 9 of 11 games and extending their lead to four games over second place Washington. The offense was particularly prolific during the last 11 games, in which the Maroons tallied 74 runs (6.7 per game) during a 9-2 stretch that included wins of 8-4, 8-2, 9-8, 15-2, 10-2, and 9-3.
   Dick Kokos homered four times and drove in 10 runs in his last five games, surging to the top of the home runs and RBI leaderboards. Stan "The Man" Musial also heated up last week, batting .519 (14-27) and scoring 10 runs in six games. Other key contributors were Vern "Junior" Stephens, whose 5 HR and 17 RBI rank him in the top ten, and rookie third baseman Hector Lopez (.261-1-16). Kokos and Lopez have (so far) filled the offensive gap created by the departure of Roy Campanella and Willie "Puddin Head" Jones.

Colonel Fans Stunned At Club Success
by Mark Allen
BROOKLYN (May 2) -- In a surprising start to the long beleaguered Louisville fans, the Colonels are off to their best start in team history at 14-10 and in 3rd place. This may very well be the first time the team has ever been over .500 this far into the season!
   When Aaron went down very early in the season it did not look good for the Colonels. If they can keep this up until his return anything is possible. What has led to this success?
   Probably most of the credit should go to Herm Wehmeier and Johnny "Rocket" Antonelli. Both have emerged this year as truly dominant pitchers; both have ERAs under 3.00 and are a combined 9-1.
   Offensively, Jackie Jensen is once again leading the team. He and the surprising Sid Gordon have combined for 39 RBIs, while Nellie Fox is having a career year so far hitting .343 in the leadoff spot vs. RHP. Rookie Bob Skowron has filled the Colonels 1B vacancy nicely so far, hitting .269 with 4 HR and 14 RBIs. Once again the team is also leading the league in steals with 35 while closer Tom Morgan is finally pitching to his ability with a fine 2.25 ERA and 5 saves in 5 opportunities.
   Here's hoping the success continues.

AROUND THE HORN

ST. LOUIS MAROONS 19-6 -- 9-3	Won seven straight from Apr. 11-17, and six straight from Apr. 23-29. . . Bullpen is combined 4-0, with 6 saves and 1.29 ERA, five earned runs in 35 innings (Bob Chipman 0.00, 6 IP, Billy Hoeft 0.00, 3.2 IP, Bob Buhl 0.00, 3 IP, Spec Shea 1.08, 8.1 IP, 3 SV). . .
WASHINGTON MONUMENTS 15-10 4 8-4	Won five straight, including three-game sweep at Los Angeles. 14-1 win on Apr. 30 featured a 10-run fifth inning and Don Larsen's first career win. . . Team ranks first in fewest HR allowed (just 10 in 25 games), and second in runs allowed (3.6 per game). . . Duke Snider leads team in HR (5) and RBI (15). . . Catcher Sherm Lollar is batting .410 (16-39) in 14 games.
LOUISVILLE COLONELS 14-10 4.5 5-6	Herm Wehmeier (5-0, 2.44) and Johnny Antonelli (4-1, 2.32) are both in the top 10 in wins and ERA. Tom "Plowboy" Morgan has 5 saves in 5 chances, and a 2.25 ERA (last year: 6.80 ERA, 17/25 save opportunities). . . Hank Aaron has 2-3 weeks left on his fractured wrist injury. . . New Orleans (AA) 2B Billy "Whitey" Gardner is out for season with torn calf muscle suffered on opening day (Apr. 5).
BROOKLYN SUPERBAS 14-11 5 5-7	Second in attendance with 409,541 visitors to "The Frank" in first 13 home dates (31,503 per game). . . Pitching looks solid: club ranks third in ERA and runs allowed, and second in OBA and walks. . . Top pitchers are Tom Gorman (6-0, 2.70 in 7 starts) and Lew Burdette (4-2, 2.25 in 6 starts). Bullpen has been less effective, with Lou Brissie (3.00 in 6 IP) the only reliever under 4.50. . . Minnie Minoso was Batter of the Month. He leads the league with a .388 average and is tied for second in RBI (22).
CHICAGO COLTS 14-11 5 9-3	Whitey Ford threw a four-hit shutout at San Francisco Apr. 30, striking out eight. Ford is unbeaten at 5-0, with the third best ERA (2.06). . . Fourth starter Bill Henry is at the other end of the spectrum, with a 1-4 record and the league's worst ERA (9.64). . . Hot bullpen: Elston, Jones, Ostrowski, and McDonald have a combined 1.11 ERA in 32.1 IP. . . Rookie CF Bill Virdon is batting .366 with 7 SB and 17 runs in 23 games.
BOSTON BEACONS 14-12 5.5 8-5	The league's biggest payroll is producing the most runs (6.3 per game) with a balanced offense: Mickey Mantle (.278-3-21), Jim Delsing (.338-4-17), Earl Torgeson (.271-4-17), Eddie Mathews (.300-3-17), Harvey Kuenn (.436-0-16), Jim Gilliam (.359-1-15). . . Warren Spahn is 4-0, 1.00 with 4 complete games in last 4 starts. . . Staff has allowed a league-high 31 home runs (Spahn 8, Hutchinson 7, Schmitz 7).
LOS ANGELES OUTLAWS 11-14 8 4-8	Leads league in attendance with 437,780 fans in first 12 home dates (36,482 per game). Large home crowds don't seem to be helping. The Outlaws are 2-10 at home, 9-4 on the road. . .
NEW YORK GOTHAMS 10-15 9 4-8	Homers: New York has the biggest disparity between home and road winning percentages. The Gothams are 8-5 at home and 2-10 on the road. Ten straight road losses since opening the season with two wins at San Francisco. . .
SAN FRANCISCO SPIDERS 9-16 10 4-8	Club has lowest batting average (.240) and fewest runs scored (2.8 per game), but ranks fifth in ERA in runs allowed. Pitching heroes include fifth starter Cliff "Lefty" Chambers (3-0, 2.78, 35.2 IP) and closer Steve Ridzik (1-0, 0.00, 5 SV in 7 games). . .
DETROIT SOUND 5-20 14 3-9	Sore spots: Detroit is 1-12 on the road, 1-3 in extra innings, and 2-8 in one-run games: all league worsts. . . Not a single pitcher has yet to win two games. Starters are a combined 3-12. . . First baseman Ferris Fain is third in the league with a .364 batting average. . . Catcher Toby Atwell leads the team with 16 RBI. . . Ralph Kiner is batting just .235, but is tied for third with 6 HR, leads the league with 25 walks (in 25 games), and has a .409 OBP.