United League Baseball

Monuments Catch Maroons
11-4 Surge Lands Washington in First Place Tie
WASHINGTON (June 1) -- A 9-2 surge found the Washington Monuments tied with St. Louis at the one-third mark of the season. Hot months by Stu Miller (5-1, 2.25) and Pitcher of the Month Dave Koslo (4-1, 2.32) anchored a staff that allowed just 83 runs in 29 games (2.9 runs per game).
   The offense benefited from the resurgence of Duke Snider, who batted .337 with a .640 slugging percentage, and the still-hot bat of Hank Thompson (.358-3-33), who surprisingly leads the team in batting, RBI, hits, and walks. Thompson was particularly hot in May, when he led the league with a .395 average, had 11 extra base hits and drove in 21 runs in 25 games. Centerfielder Willie Mays also emerged from an April slump to bat .380 with 4 HR and 17 RBI in May.
Other Washington highlights in late May included Hank Thompson's 5-RBI game May 16, Duke Snider's 2-HR game May 18, Carl Erskine's four-hit shutout against Louisville May 20, and Koslo's four-hit shutout May 23.

Miller Near-Perfect
WASHINGTON (May 18) -- Stu Miller came within two outs of the United League's third no-hitter -- and were it not for Miller's own error in the fourth inning, and pitcher Dick Donovan's "cheesy single" down the left field line (barely eluding the grasp of third baseman Bob Dillinger), would have made UL history with the young league's first perfect game. Instead Miller had to settle for his 17th career shutout. Miller struck out a season high 11 in the game, a mark that would be surpassed just two starts later with a 12-K day in a 3-1 extra-inning loss to Chicago May 26.

Fornieles Falls, Career "Likely Over"
Gothams Fans Lament 'Sad Day for Baseball'
BOSTON (May 22) -- It was one of baseball's saddest days. New York right-hander Mike Fornieles fell victim to a career-ending injury in a game against Boston on Sunday. He complained about pain after throwing a pitch to Mickey Mantle, then suddenly collapsed. After x-rays were taken the diagnosis was a torn rotator cuff. Team doctors later confided that the 23-year-old Cuban will never pitch again.
   Fornieles was one of the Gothams brightest pitching prospects. The Havana native was drafted fourth overall in the 1952 rookie draft and immediately entered the rotation at age 20. He posted an 11-11 mark and 4.53 ERA in 30 starts his rookie year, but then had a career year in 1952, winning 18 games with a 3.52 ERA in 30 starts and inheriting the mantle of staff ace.   Last year, Fornieles set career highs in starts, innings pitched, and strikeouts, but had his first losing season (16-18) despite a respectable 3.94 ERA. Like much of New York's pitching, Mike was struggling this year (3-7, 4.85 in 12 starts). He leaves the game with a career record of 48-46 and a 4.06 ERA. He appeared in 111 games, all of them as a starter, and struck out 377 batters in 844 innings.
   Earlier in the month, teammate Bob Friend fell to a pulled bicep that sidelined him for 4-5 weeks. And just five days before Fornieles' injury, centerfielder Larry Doby suffered a herniated disk in his back after a diving catch, an injury expected to sideline him for 9 weeks. Doby, a 1954 All-Star and Gold Glove, is batting .281-3-21 with a .402 OBP in 46 games.

Fain, Larsen Out for Season
Two other players fell to season-ending injuries this month. On May 8, Detroit 1B Ferris Fain tore his ACL in a game at New York. "Burrhead" won a Gold Glove in 1952 and was on pace for a career year, with personal highs in batting-OBP-SLG (.342-.426-.495).
   Washington lost Larry Jansen (5-3, 2.90) for a month with a bicep tear on May 10, but got a second dose of bad news when rookie Don Larsen tore his bicep on May 21 -- a serious injury that will bench him for the season. Larsen posted a respectable 4.43 ERA in 11 starts, with a 4-6 record. Dave Koslo (4-1, 2.23) has filled in nicely in Jansen's absence, and will likely take Larsen's spot in the rotation when Jansen returns. In the meantime, manager Jay Kaplan doesn't appear to have any appealing candidates. His best pitcher at AAA Baltimore is Bob "Sugar" Cain, with an ERA of 4.41. But Cain himself is out two weeks with a ruptured bicep, which leaves Warren Hacker (1-5, 5.29), Paul "Lefty" LaPalme (1-4, 5.47), and Duane "Dee" Pillette (1-3, 4.52), all of whom are struggling to avoid demotion to AA Nashville.
   For a full list of May injuries of more than one week, see sidebar (left).

Features of "The Frank"
by Glen Reed
BROOKLYN (June 1) -- This is the first entry in an occasional series looking at the waterfront marvel that is Frank Thomas Memorial Stadium. But first, let's bid adieu to Ebbets Field-- remarkable in its own right as the hallowed ground where Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier and site of the first televised baseball game. While it'll be forever remembered as the home of the now-defunct Dodgers and host to the 1916, '20, '41, '47 and '49 World Series, Ebbets was no longer famous for its character, but for being a charicature of a modern ballpark.
   Enter the Frank: Two years in the making and financed entirely with private money, the new Frank Thomas Memorial Stadium is the shining jewel of the borough--and closer to Wall Street and Rockefeller Center than even Yankee Stadium. This state-of-the-art yard is nestled against the East River and features majestic views of the Manhattan skyline. And credit the newly created New York City Transit Authority for contributing a new subway station across from the park, making it easy for disgruntled Gothams' fans to catch a Superba game. And in a marketing ploy aimed at capturing New Yorkers despondent over the Great Gothams Roster Purge of '54 and Forny injury of '55, Superba ownership has sworn to honor all Gotham season tickets. How's that for mud in your eye?

TWIUL: SIM NOTES (by Glen Reed)

We're happy to announce a new feature: This Week in the United League: Sim Notes. In our first tour around the UL, we take a look at player development news.
ST. LOUIS MAROONS 33-20 -- 7-8	Where have you gone Roy Campanella? Maroon fans turn an injury-blackened eye to you. That's because young backstop Del Crandall will be lost for the bulk of June to cracked ribs, leaving the Dark Reds with a dark choice indeed--start the aging Bruce Edwards or career minor leaguer Sammy White behind the dish. On the player development front, part-time player Johnny Lipon saw his plate discipline and bat speed hit the skids (pun intended). It's a tough break for St. Louis, who may have to shelve their plan to move slugging SS Vern "Junior" Stephens to third in place of another departed All-Star, Puddin' Head Jones.
WASHINGTON MONUMENTS 33-20 -- 11-4	Developments in the nation's capital are all bad, but in classic Monument fashion, Washington just keeps winning. Slaughter, Thompson, and Koslo all took hits of one sort or another; meanwhile, the Mons are the hottest team in the league. The biggest news in Washington isn't on the talent front, but in the infirmary. Jansen, Miller, and Larsen all were felled by injuries, the latter for the full year. That puts three-quarters of the Opening Day starting rotation out of commission. But figure this--in the two games following Larsen's injury, the bullpen filled in to the tune of one run allowed in two wins. Classic Kaplan.
CHICAGO COLTS 31-21 1.5 8-7	All's quiet on the Midwestern front: The Colts - finally playing like the UL's most-improved team - have little to complain about on the player development front, as a slew of downgrades have all essentially come among career minor leaguers, or in spots of little consequence. For example, young fireballing closer Don Elston saw his duration drop a notch. If only my downgrades could be so modest!
LOUISVILLE COLONELS 31-21 1.5 11-4	In Louisville, the lone blemish on what is by far the best season in Colonel history comes in the form of hits to the middle infield combination of Nellie Fox and Alvin Dark. Two-time Gold Glove-winner Fox has lost a step around second base, while "Blackie" has lost some bat speed, threatening his career .300 average. I'm sure long-suffering owner Mark Allen will take those bumps in exchange for the franchise's first winning season on the circuit.
BROOKLYN SUPERBAS 28-24 4.5 7-8	Iron Mike giveth, and Iron Mike taketh away: In Brooklyn, talent downgrades have robbed two of the Superbas' brightest young stars of some of their promise, as Sandy Amoros and Bob Grim both were knocked unceremoniously from their pedestals in recent sims. Amoros lost some pop, and Grim no longer has a good feel for his stuff. But both of those guys were Iron Mike creations in any event, as talent upgrades in previous years made them better prospects than their initial ratings would've led you to believe.
BOSTON BEACONS 26-27 7 8-7	Oh, the humanity! In Beantown, there's no telling the disappointment on GM C. Benson Qualls' face when he learned that studly young centerfielder Mickey Mantle had taken a hit to his range. Just 22, there's no explaining how the Mick lost a step on the pitch. The good news is that he's still an MVP-caliber player capable of serving up plenty of taters at the dish. Iron Mike has been just as cruel in meting out talent downgrades to the venerable Fred Hutchinson. Acquired in a pre-season trade to add class to a punchless Beacon rotation, the Hutch has held up his end of the bargain so far in '55. He leads the club in wins and quality starts at 7 apiece, and the Bostonians are 10-4 in games in which he's pitched. Nevertheless, the row gets a lot tougher to hoe from here on out due to not one but two hits to his stuff. On a positive note, prospect Tom Brewer received a handful of talent bumps late last year, making the young hurler one of the best pitching prospects in the game.
LOS ANGELES OUTLAWS 23-30 10 7-8	In Los Angeles, there's been but one development development all year--youngster Johnny Kucks has improved his endurance. But that's okay, McCreight got all his gifts in the form of an off-season trade that yielded two All-Stars and two first-round picks for the aging Gromek, who's been relegated to spot-starter status in St. Louis. (Apparently they only let Gromie out of the 'pen to pitch gems against Brooklyn!)
NEW YORK GOTHAMS 23-30 10 8-7	Bronx Bombed: Forny's career is over. What else is there to say? In what seems a case of adding insult to injury, Frank Sullivan took a hit to his endurance, and third-sacker Sibby Sisti (successor to the Ed Yost/Bobby Brown platoon of years past) is making less contact. In what must be cold comfort to Gothams owner Don Carrington, we hear that Bubba Church can go deeper into games. How does a guy replace Forny? Perhaps a return to the rotation of personal favorite "Baby Joe" Presko? Or call up first-round pick Frank "Mule" Lary?
SAN FRANCISCO SPIDERS 21-32 12 5-10	In Seals Stadium, the newly hatched arachnids were bitten by downgrades to Priddy and Zuverink. Much like their partners in expansion, they've staked their hopes on a blockbuster trade with a pretender to Kaplan's throne. Interesting sidelight: the Superbas almost ended up with the newly downgraded Zuverink. Also in the discussion was then-super-prospect Sandy Amoros, which I paid a huge price to keep, only to see lose power and star ratings almost as soon as the deal closed!
DETROIT SOUND 14-38 18.5 3-12	Some hope amid the gloom in Detroit: Young southpaw Johnny Podres gained better control of his pitches, even as his movement improved, making this kid the next Antonelli (himself touched by Iron Mike's benevolent hand, and I don't mean that in a weird Catholic priest sort of way). And while it hurts to lose Ferris Fain for the season, it's nice to know that his replacement, Joey "don't call me Richie" Cunningham, got bumps to hitting for average and power.