BROOKLYN
SUPERBAS
92-49   --   5-2

The worst wounds are self-inflicted, which makes the failure to account for all my expiring contracts all the more painful. The mid-season trade for expirees Frank Thomas, Bobby Brown, and Farmer Moore put me one over the edge, knocking me into a deficit contract situation. In the final analysis, it came down to two of Moore, Brissie, and Dorish, with the latter two getting the nod because of their better ratings, despite their advanced age and salary requirements. All my other decisions were fairly easy--core players Minoso, Hodges, Runnels, and Burdette populate the '55 contract tote board.

WASHINGTON
MONUMENTS
86-56   6.5   5-2

There was a great deal of discussion about whom Kaplan would bring back from his talented and deep pool of expirees, but that conversation lands well wide of the mark. That's because the single most important returnee for the Mons won't come off this list, but the disabled list in the form of one Stu Miller. Let the record show that Kaplan is 3-0 versus the field when Captain Stu-bing is at the helm, and 0-2 without him (no, I'm decidedly not counting my proverbial chickens before they hatch, it just makes for a better story that way). As for contract renewals, it's a slam dunk that such valuable players as the Silver Fox, McDougald, Frankie Smith, Don Larsen, and the great Larry Jansen will all be back for another shot at greatness. Now, there was some speculation that the aging Jansen would be let go, but with the biggest cash horde in the league and the opportunity to put together perhaps the greatest rotation the UL will ever see with Miller and Erskine, and Jansen pitching out of the three hole, there's little doubting Kaplan's intentions.

LOUISVILLE
COLONELS
78-64   14.5   4-3

Nowhere does the wheel of talent turn as in the Bluegrass State . Surrender the two best prospects in the expansion draft, and go on to your first winning season on the circuit. Trade a HoF CF, and bring in the best young lefty in the business. And don't worry, there's always Kaline blossoming in the minors. Need a backup receiver? Trade a top-20 prospect. So why should the current round of contract renewals be any different? Renew an HoF second-sacker and wave good-bye to a four-star pitching prospect. Just another day at the office beside the Ohio River . Certainly the weight of all those years of high draft picks has begun to tell, because no team outside of the nation's capitol boasts more raw talent--two-piece or by the bucket, these Colonels are finger lickin' good, so to speak. Long-suffering GM Mark Allen looks to present his boys time and again in coming years as legitimate contenders for King Kaplan's throne.

ST. LOUIS
MAROONS
75-65   16.5   4-3

   So often the bridesmaid, the Dark Reds try to regroup after a year in which they played more like Molly Maid. The core remains intact, with management rewarding St. Louis' favorite son, Stan the Man, with a whopping $11 million a year for the next five years. Musial will complete the contract, and likely his career, at the age of 38 in a uni the color of maroon and cream and in the only city in which he's ever played pro ball. Management's easiest decision was re-upping Cy Young winner Billy Pierce, among the game's very best pitchers.
   But the upcoming re-entry draft has significance for another reason, as GM Timothy J. Smith has a real challenge restoring the Dark Red luster. Outside of Piercey, the starters are old (four will be 34 or older at the start of the '56 campaign) or have been victims of cruel downgrades--witness Vern Law. What's worse, St. Louis loses three young, if unspectacular, pitchers this contract round. Is there a remedy for a staff that's gone from second to fourth and an offense that tumbled all the way from first to seventh? It's not clear. But what is certain is that young Timmy has been able to pound the pavement and turn up whatever piece he needs time and again in his run of a first and three seconds. That magical chain broke in spectacular fashion with the Gromek trade, but already this season Smith's been back at it, snapping up a highly coveted young lefty-hitting infielder for not much.

CHICAGO
COLTS
75-66   17   4-3

Nowhere than in GM Lance Meuller's fashionable La Brea penthouse apartment do the contract decisions get any easier. "Mr. Colt" Ernie Banks and the "Chairman of the Board" are up for renewal. There was much hand-wringing--and a half-hearted last-minute trade attempt--over whether or not to re-sign one-time All-Star Bobby Thomson, but frankly, it was never in doubt. The "Staten Island Scot" hits for power, has a discerning eye at the plate, and can play half the positions in the park. Players of that ilk simply cannot be jettisoned, and certainly not when cash is no obstacle. And indeed, Lancey sits firmly atop one of the biggest war chests in the league, even after springing for a new stop on the el-train across from Wrigley.

NEW YORK
GOTHAMS
69-73   23.5   3-4

Kudos to Gothams owner Don Carrington, who radically improved his performance as general manager and talent evaluator over 1954. Only LOU lost more talent in the expansion and contract derby of '54, as Carrington renewed only a single player--the dearly departed Mike Fornieles. Carrington's abilities as a coach have never been in doubt--he guided the Gothams to their best record ever in his first year at the helm. Perhaps only Kaplan gets more out of his lineup. This year, Don was careful to salt away his best players, including the highly regarded Bob Friend, the most likely candidate to replace Forny in the rotation, if not the hearts of Gotham faithful.

LOS ANGELES
OUTLAWS
68-73   24   4-3

If Chicago has it best, Outlaw owner Christopher McCreight has it worst of all. He is faced with the option of renewing not one but two $7.5 million men. One is former Superba and Maroon Roy Campanella. Campy's all but assured of his fourth turn on the UL All-Star team, and his well-timed MVP drive means a certain renewal that will push him into the rarified salary air above $10 million per annum. The other biggie is Don Newcombe, acquired in a pre-season trade with Mueller's prancing ponies. The deal looks an astute salary dump for Lancie, and the least productive of McCreight's considerable moves. That's because Newk struggled mightily--both before and after the deal--and now finds himself laboring at AAA Dallas. It's not inconceivable that Newk's mediocre ratings, massive salary, and poor track record (his career ERA is in excess of 5 in almost a thousand innings of work) mean the career of this 1949 and '50 Brooklyn Dodger All-Star could be at an end at the age of 28. If so, it would rate as one of the most spectacular flame-outs in UL history.
   It's another tough call between Erv Palica and a second former Colt, Bobby Avilla. The 30-year-old swarthy second-sacker looks a likely second choice to Palica, who's gone a mind-boggling 16-8 for the first-year franchise with the Skoal Bandit for a mascot. Palica's ratings are actually one tick better than Newcombe's, but that's where the similarities end--Palica earns our vote for being younger, cheaper, and having a better ERA and win pct. To reject Avila would be to leave McCreight with nothing to show for Pesky, Seminick, and Jones. It'll take considerable fortitude to make the call, but the bet here is that LA's founding owner, who established so much credibility quickly by thoroughly dominating the expansion draft, will let Avila walk and not throw good money after bad.

BOSTON
BEACONS
64-78   28.5   2-5

Money, so they say, is the root of all evil today. What's evil, as GM C. Benson Qualls can attest, is an investment of upwards of $25 million in big-name hurlers with no rate of return. Spahn, Lopat, and Lemon--first-, third-, and fifth-round picks in the all-important initial draft--have been nothing short of spectacular disappointments and account for the Beacons' inability to peek above .500 so far in their brief history. And Fred Hutchinson, brought over in a bid to make a pennant run through an expansion-depleted field, was absolutely destroyed by talent downgrades, effectively ending his Boston career before it ever started. There is a beacon of hope amid the gloom in Beantown--the pitching purge clears the way for Qualls to bring up his terrific trio of AAA starters – Jackson, Brewer, and Portocarrero – all rated as top-20 prospects. Add to that other solid young pitchers in Worthington and Hillman, and the brilliant young closer Leo Kiely--who's managed to compile a whopping 80 career saves despite never playing for a winning team (and all before his twenty-fifth birthday) and Qualls may just have the makings of a pitching staff worthy enough to match his sensational offense.

SAN FRANCISCO
SPIDERS
51-91   41.5   0-7

The bulk of the young Arachnids' 1955 contract expirees will be renewed . . . by Brooklyn. New GM John Nellis offloaded Brown, Thomas, and Moore--all of whom were up for renewal this year--in exchange for players and picks. This all in the name of weaving his own roster web, rather than tread the rough ground left him by founding owner Mark (not-so) Cooley. For Nellis, the renewals he was left with added up to a case of addition by subtraction--the waiving of Ned Garver lops $4.5 million off the payroll and considerable dead weight off the rotation. Garver--about whom it was once said, "you can't spell 'boned' without 'Ned'"--broke the hearts of no less than three UL GMs, and was the object of scorn and ridicule heading into the expansion draft, when he was inexplicably taken seventh overall by previous Spider management.

DETROIT
SOUND
49-92   43   4-3

It's fashionable now to call Reconstruction the second Civil War. Somehow this strikes me as a media conceit, but it's relevant for our purposes because it gives you some idea how difficult the task facing new GM Sean Holloway in unmaking years of not-so-benign neglect. Brooklyn and Louisville were the worst two teams in the league in 1951 and only now have they staked an enduring claim to the top half of the table. Perhaps you could argue that expansion has thinned the field, making Holloway's job easier, that the revitalization of this moribund franchise won't be the biggest comeback since some guy named Lazarus. You could argue that, but I think you'd be wrong. Look at the Sound's company below the mid-line--the expansion teams bring a significant edge in prospects and/or picks, while Boston features a dynamite young offense and pitching prospects to match. Still and all, you can't count out the multi-lingual international financier with a ream of advanced degrees and a penchant for blockbuster trades (I refer you to the Barry Bonds/Vladi Guerrero mega-deal of a league past, or future, I suppose).