United League Baseball

Mays, Hacker Lift Washington
Monuments Beat Brooklyn Five Times, Close Gap
WASHINGTON (July 31) -- Washington beat Brooklyn five days in a row, closing the gap to one game, before the Superbas regrouped to win the final two games in a rare seven-game home-and-home series July 20-26. Brooklyn had strung together another eight-game winning streak heading into the week of July 18, but then lost seven in a row, nearly falling from first place. Then on July 25, in a game that would have pulled the Monuments into a first place tie, Gene Woodling's tenth-inning, two-run homer snapped the streak and preserved Brooklyn's hold on first place. The next day Curt Simmons beat Carl Erskine with a six-hit shutout and Brooklyn was back to its winning ways.
   The losing streak came as a shock to Superba players and fans alike. They lost as many games in seven days as they had in the previous 43 games (36-7 since Memorial Day), and saw a comfortable eight-game lead slice to a single game in the matter of a week.

"Hey, Rocky, Watch Me Pull an Ace Out of My Hat"
   Washington's surge was driven by pitching. In their five wins, Larry Jansen won his 90th career game, and rookie Warren Hacker (6-6, 3.25) pitched a 10-inning five-hit complete game. Hacker won Player of the Week honors with a 0.49 ERA and a pair of wins, allowing just one earned run in 18.1 innings. Hacker, started the year in AAA Baltimore for a fifth straight year, but followed in the footsteps of Dave Koslo. Both pitchers were called to duty after injuries sidelined regular starters, and then won Player of the Month/Week honors. Hacker has won five straight since July 11, with a 2.00 ERA.
   The week prior, Willie Mays (.319-22-74) earned his first POW of the year (sixth overall) with a .480 average and 1.280 slugging percentage. "Say Hey" hit five homers in three games July 13-16 in an 8-for-13 outburst that produced 11 runs. He then cooled off, hitting just one dinger in six games against Brooklyn, before a 4-for-6 game with 4 RBIs in a 11-4 win at Fenway July 28. Mays looks poised to win Player of the Month for July. With one game to go, "Say Hey" is batting .378 with 10 home runs (both league highs), and 31 RBI. Mays had just 12 home runs in the first half, but now stands just two shy of last season's career-best 24.

The Series
Date	Result	Notes
7/20	WAS 7, BRO 1	Jansen tops Conley as four different Monuments homer
7/21	WAS 8, BRO 5	Koslo wins and drives in a pair despite Ryan's cycle
7/22	WAS 5, BRO 2	Mays, Adcock 3 hits each as Erskine wins 19th
7/23	WAS 2, BRO 1 (10)	Adcock GWRBI off Wilhelm in 10th, Hacker 10-inn. CG
7/24	WAS 8, BRO 5	In D.C., Jansen again tops Conley; Snider, Ginsberg HR
7/25	BRO 8, WAS 6 (10)	Woodling 2-run HR give Gorman his 18th win
7/26	BRO 4, WAS 0	Simmons weaves 6-hit SHO; Hodges 3-4; Brown 2 RBI

Bi-Cycle Week at "The Frank"
Schoendienst, Ryan Join Hit Parade
BROOKLYN (July 31) -- Veterans Red Schoendienst and Connie Ryan became the latest players to hit for the cycle, accomplishing the feat just five days apart and just weeks after Bobby Avila's cycle on June 3.
   On July 16 in Brooklyn, Chicago's second baseman collected a double, a triple, and a single, before completing the cycle in dramatic fashion with a ninth inning home run. All four hits came off Gene Conley, who pitched an otherwise solid game for his seventh straight win. The Superbas prevailed 10-6 on eighth-inning homers by Gil Hodges and Bobby Brown.
   Schoendienst, the Colts' switch-hitting leadoff man, raised his average to .319 with the cycle. Red played three seasons with the Maroons before joining Chicago in the 1954 Reentry draft. A consistent contact hitter, his best season was 1952, when he batted .319 and drove in 53 runs. The cycle came in the midst of Chicago's seven-game losing streak. The Colts, once considered one of the top contenders due to Washington's injuries and the pitching tandem of Ford/Pascual, are now 14 games behind, in fifth place.
   Five days later in the same stadium, another leadoff-hitting second baseman collected four hits against Washington. Brooklyn's Connie Ryan hit a double and a triple off Dave Koslo, then homered in the eighth and completed the cycle with a ninth-inning single off Bud Byerly. Like Red's Colts five days earlier, Brooklyn fell short, as Koslo beat Tom Gorman 8-5. Ironically, Washington's leadoff man Enos Slaughter also had four hits in the game, including a double and a triple, falling just a home run short of the first bi-cycle game in UL history.

Spahn Slumps Hard, Boston Slips to 8th
Beacon Fans Await 'Great Pitching Purge'
BOSTON (July 31) -- Boston southpaw Warren Spahn (7-14, 5.49) has not had a spectacular United League career. Nobody would confuse him for a Stu Miller or a Billy Pierce. But even by Spahnie's mediocre standards, July was a dreadful month. Spahnie lost six starts in a row, before finally salvaging a no-decision on July 29. All told, Spahn is winless in his last nine starts (0-6, 8.57), and is 2-11 since May 9.
   Spahn, 33, is in the last year of his $7.6 million contract, and is likely to be just one of several big-contract pitchers to be shown the exit this fall at Fenway. Of Boston's 11 expiring contracts, the five fattest belong to pitchers, two of whom (Bob Lemon and Ed Lopat) have been wallowing all year at AAA Philly, while the other three (Spahn, Fred Hutchinson, and Ralph Branca) have combined for a record of 18-29, with a 5.34 ERA in 62 starts.
   Most owners are likely to preside over major changes this offseason as the hefty initial five-year contracts come up for renewal, but none are as likely as Charlie Qualls to make wholesale changes. The Boston GM is as likely as not to cut loose all five underachievers (with the possible exception of Branca), a move that would lop off nearly $25 million from the Boston payroll. The Beacons have several pitching prospects ripening in Philly, including this year's #1 pick Larry Jackson, 24, who has already progressed from Single-A Oklahoma City all the way to AAA, where he is 5-2 with a 3.00 ERA.

AROUND THE HORN

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BROOKLYN SUPERBAS 68-38 -- 8-7	Tom Gorman was 6-1, 3.07 in July, and Lew Burdette was 5-1, 2.29. Gorman (19-7, 3.20) is 12-3 since May 23 and ranks among the league's Cy Young candidates, though probably behind Louisville's Herm Wehmeier, who is an incredible 18-2. . . After no shutouts through June, Gorman, Simmons, and Burdette each toss one in July. . . Thomas and Woodling each had 5 RBIs in a 16-4 thrashing of Chicago on July 14. . . Runnels/Minoso are still 1-2 in batting by a wide margin.
WASHINGTON MONUMENTS 64-42 4 11-4	Further evidence that Jay Kaplan is the best judge of pitching talent in the game is the performance of Marian Fricano. A fifth round selection in the 1952 draft, Fricano made his UL debut on May 30, pitching seven shutout innings, and has compiled 20.2 innings with a 1.74 ERA. . . The Monuments had two seven-game winning streaks in July, the first from July 9-16 included sweeps of both expansion teams. . . Stu Miller has the lowest HR% in the league, he's allowed just 2 HR in 610 BF (0.1 HR/9).
LOUISVILLE COLONELS 59-47 9 9-7	The Colonels lost both catchers within three days when Harry Chiti went down with a season-ending broken hip July 16 and Ed Bailey pulled an ACL on the 18th. GM Mark Allen dipped into the evaporating free agent pool to hook veteran Clyde Kluttz, who returns to Louisville after been cut loose after last season. Don't expect the 36-year-old to contribute much offensively -- in 1954 Kluttz batted .200 with just two extra base hits in 87 plate appearances.
ST. LOUIS MAROONS 58-47 9.5 9-6	Rookie third baseman Hector Lopez went homer-happy in July. After just two home runs in his first 216 at-bats, Lopez cranked 10 in his next 54 ABs. A .263 hitter through May, Lopez first turned up the batting (.346 in June) and now has turned up the power (.717 SLG in July). . . In a pitching shakeup Spec Shea has entered the rotation and Andy Hansen returns to the closer role. Shea was 1-1 in his first three starts, while Hansen tallied six saves in six appearances, with no earned runs. . . Won 8 straight home games July 7-23, second best home record (33-19).
CHICAGO COLTS 54-52 14 5-11	Whitey Ford is undefeated since May 28. He is 8-0 with a 2.20 ERA and has 88 strikeouts in 82 IP. . . Rookie Camilo Pascual has cooled off after a 7-3 start. Since June 11, he is 1-4 with a 5.90 ERA in 8 starts. . . The Colts are 10-20 in July, and dropped 10 games and three places in the standings. . . Scored 4 or fewer runs in 10 of last 14 games. . . Cold July: Zernial .214-4-12 in 23 games, Thomson .226-5-13 in 21 games.
NEW YORK GOTHAMS 53-53 15 10-5	Seven straight wins, four over Boston, three against Chicago -- moved up a spot to sixth place. . . Bob Friend, back from injury, is 4-1, 2.61 in six starts since returning. He pitched a 7-hit shutout with 12 strikeouts against Washington on July 6. . . Bob Hooper leads all relievers with 2.15 ERA and is second with an 88.9 SV%. . . Jackie Robinson hit a 465-ft home run off Warren Spahn on July 24. Not to be outdone, Irv Noren blasted a 468-ft dinger on the 28th (off Joe Ostrowski).
LOS ANGELES OUTLAWS 48-57 19.5 8-7	Mel "Dusty" Parnell led the team in July with a 4-2 record and 4.04 ERA. Dusty was Chicago's 8th round Initial Draft pick and won 61 games in four seasons with the Colts. . . Ray Narleski notched 8 saves in July -- bringing his season total to 22 -- despite a 6.55 ERA. . . Roy Campanella drove in an amazing 34 runs in 27 games in July, with only a .323 batting average. He is batting .378 and slugging .673 with RISP. . . Les Moss has been a solid backup to Campy. The rookie catcher is batting .319 with 15 RBI in 40 games. With just one home run in his first 87 at-bats, Moss launched a 455-ft moon-shot off New York's Bob Friend on July 19.
BOSTON BEACONS 48-58 20 5-10	Since entering the rotation in place of the injured Fred "Stone Face" Hutchinson, Frank "Dutch" Hiller is 2-0 in four starts. Overall, Hiller was 5-0, 4.13 in July. . . Catcher Bruce "Bull" Edwards led the club in batting (.350), HR (6), and RBI (20) in July. . . Boston is first in runs scored (Mantle 77, Mathews 66, Delsing 65) and second in home runs (Mantle 19, Mathews 19, Delsing 13, Edwards 13), and second in stolen bases (Gilliam 27, Lindell 13, Mantle 12, Reese 12).
SAN FRANCISCO SPIDERS 40-66 28 6-9	Ewell "The Whip" Blackwell (the club's second-highest paid player) suffered a pulled bicep on July 15 that will sideline him 4-5 weeks. "The Whip" leads the team with 167 IP, but has struggled with a 6-14 record and 4.84 ERA. . . The most wins (9) and best ERA (4.34) belong to Hal Brown, who was 3-17 last year as a Colonel. . . The team ranks 9th in runs scored and 8th in runs allowed. . . Wertz hit .302 with 8 HR and 22 RBIs in July, all season highs. . . In the midst of an otherwise forgettable rookie season, catcher Elston Howard had a four-hit game against Boston on July 20.
DETROIT SOUND 36-68 31 5-10	Ace Robin Roberts (9-12, 3.82) had his first winning month, going 4-1 with a 4.13 ERA in July. . . Ralph Kiner's quest to top his own HR record (41) presses on. He has 32 clouts and is on pace for 47. No other Detroit player have more than 7 home runs, and his 88 HR are nearly double that of Lou Klein (.237-7-45), the next most productive hitter. . . The Sound are batting .244 as a team and are on pace to score just 589 runs for the season, more than 100 runs less than the UL record-low run total (708 - '52 Detroit). . . Gene Stephens, who was killed in Korea in May 1953, was released from the team on June 16.