STANDINGS
  EAST

W

L

GB

Last

Brooklyn

6

2

--

6-2

Washington

6

2

--

6-2

Boston

4

4

2

4-4

Detroit

3

5

3

3-5

New York

3

5

3

3-5
  WEST

W

L

GB

Last

Louisville

8

2

--

8-2

Los Angeles

5

4

2.5

5-4

San Francisco

3

6

4.5

3-6

Chicago

3

6

4.5

3-6

St. Louis

2

7

5.5

2-7

TRANSACTIONS

April 7
                              Trade
  BRO gets: C Yogi Berra ($6.3M)
                   1B Dick Gernert ($680k)
                   C Joe Astroth ($650k)
                   CHI's '57 3rd Rd Rookie pick
   CHI gets:  1B Gil Hodges ($8.3M)
                   1B Eddie Robinson ($2.8M)
                   SP Bob Purkey ($1.4M)
                   C Smoky Burgess ($1.0M)
                  BRO's '58 3rd Rd Rookie pick 

FREE AGENT SIGNINGS

BOS

3B Randy Jackson (minor)

BRO

LF Bob Nieman (minor)

CHI

SP Chuck Stobbs (minor)

DET

C Andy Seminick (minor)

NYG

1B Joe Collins (minor)

SF

2B Red Schoendienst (minor)

STL

MR Johnny Schmitz (minor)
  

INJURED LIST

BOS

LF Gil Coan (2 wks)

BRO

SP Bob Porterfield (5 wks)
SP Tom Gorman (5 wks)

CHI

SP Early Wynn (6 wks)
SP Seth Morehead (4-5 wks)
SP 'Baby Joe' Presko (2-3 wks)

LOU

SP Mike Garcia (1 wk)

NYG

3B Ray "Ike" Boone (3 wks)

STL

SP Bob Keegan (5 days)

WAS

CF Jim Piersall (1 wk)
SP Bob 'Sugar' Cain (1 wk)

United League of American Base Ball Clubs          est. 1951
 
LEAGUE FILE (5/20) · HEADLINES · NEWS LOG · TRANSACTIONS · INJURIES · FINANCES
STANDINGS · BOX SCORES · SCHEDULE · BATTING · PITCHING · FIELDING · LEADERS
LEAGUE RULES · TEAM INFO · ROSTERS · FREE AGENTS · TOP PROSPECTS · TOP FARMS
TOP PERFORMANCES · RECORD BOOK · PAST LEADERS · CAREER LEADERS
BEGINNINGS · CITIES · BALLPARKS · PLAYER PHOTOS (1957) · OOTP 6.1 PATCH
TOTAL UL  · 1951 · 1952 · 1953 · 1954 · 1955 · 1956 · 1957 DRAFTS
4/7 (Season Preview) · 4/17


      April 17, 1957

NEXT SIM
Wed 5/26 (to May 1)
Rosters due 12pm PT
UPCOMING SIMS
 Sat 5/29 (to May 16)
Wed 6/2 (to June 1)
Sat 6/5 (to June 16)


Colonels Fast Out of the Gate
 Skowron Named Player of the Week
LOUISVILLE (Apr. 16) -- The Louisville Colonels won 8 of 10 games to jump to the top of the newly created West Division.  On Opening Day at Parkway Field, Johnny Antonelli shut down rookie Jim Bunning with a solid seven-hit outing, as the Colonels topped Los Angeles 5-3 in front of a packed house of 18,967.  The Cy Young winner then shut down Chicago with a complete game two-hitter on Apr. 11.  Herm Wehmeier also turned in two fine performances, beating L.A. and Chicago with a 2.08 ERA over 17.1 innings.  Wehmeier, 30, has won 36 games with a 2.81 ERA over the last two seasons.
   But the season's first Player of the Week award went to first baseman Bill "Moose" Skowron, who slapped out 19 hits, including eight extra base-hits, in his first 10 games.  On Opening Day against the Outlaws, Moose's two-run homer in the fourth inning tied the game, setting up Pee Wee Reese's go-ahead RBI in the sixth.  It was Reese's first game in red-and-white, after the Louisville native was picked up by the Colonels in the Reentry draft.  Skowron had five hits and four RBIs in his first two games, and added three-hit games on Apr. 13 against Chicago and Apr. 15 against San Francisco.  Moose leads the league in batting (.500), hits (19), doubles (5), RBI (12), extra-base hits (8), and total bases (33).  He is second to Mickey Mantle in OBP, slugging, and OPS.  Skowron, a 26-year-old Chicago native was Louisville's first round pick (fifth overall) in 1955 and immediately broke into the Louisville lineup, batting .291-22-73 to help the Colonels to their first winning season, and narrowly missed the Rookie of the Year award (which went to Brooklyn's Gene Conley).  In 1956, Skowron had 6-RBI and 8-RBI games within four days in July, again hit .290, and boosted his RBI total to 90.
   Other hot Colonels include "Hammerin Hank" Aaron, who tops the league with five dingers and is tied for second with 10 RBIs; and Al Kaline, who is batting .341 (14-41) and appears to finally be settling into a full-time role.

Porterfield Out 'Til June
Bas' Injury Woes Continue
BROOKLYN (Apr. 8) -- Bob Porterfield, the prize pick of the 1956 Reentry draft, will be sidelined for six weeks with a strained rotator cuff.  On April 8, in his first start of the year, Porterfield, 32, was forced from the game at Boston.  Complaining of shoulder pain, the veteran right-hander was pulled in the fourth inning, having thrown just 44 pitches.  The Superbas won the championship in 1955, behind the strong pitching of Cy Young winner Tom Gorman, whose season ended on May 31 last season with bone chips in his shoulder.  He isn't expected to be ready to pitch competitively until late May.  In the meantime, GM Glen Reed is making do, with closer Hoyt Wilhelm converted to a starting role, and Mossi, Conley, and Burdette rounding out a five-man rotation.  Don "Sphinx" Mossi has been spectacular, pitching 17.1 innings thus far without an earned run, including a five-hitter against his former team, Detroit, on Apr. 14.  Gene Woodling's three-run homered keyed a five-run eighth, as the Bas ran away from the Sound 7-1.
 
           



T
E
A
M

C
A
P
S
U
L
E
S

Brooklyn Superbas
Glen Reed

Washington Monuments
Jay Kaplan

Boston Beacons
Charlie Qualls

Opening Day:  Lost 8-9 at Boston
Superbas took the lead with a three-run ninth and again in the tenth, but failed to maintain either lead.  Dick Gernert's two-run double off Curt Simmons tied the game 6-6 with two outs in the ninth.  Stan Lopata then tripled, driving in the go-ahead run.  After Earl Torgeson's game-tying homer in the ninth, Brooklyn again went ahead, this time on George Kell's RBI double.  But Fritz Dorish gave up three hits and two runs and the Beeks won the game 9-8. 
 

Opening Day:  Won 5-2 vs. Chicago
Stu Miller allowed four hits and two runs in eight innings of work, and Ted Abernathy shut the door with a hitless ninth.  With the game tied 1-1 in the sixth, Hank Thompson hit a two-run single and the Monuments added two more runs on a fielders choice and a wild pitch.  Dick Groat was 3-for-3 and scored twice.

Opening Day:  Won 9-8 vs. Brooklyn
Curt Simmons allowed nine hits and four runs in his Beacons debut in front of 20,032 at Fenway Park.  Eddie Mathews hit a grand slam off Hoyt Wilhelm in the third inning, giving the Beeks a 5-1 lead, but the Superbas chipped away, eventually going ahead in the ninth.  Earl Torgeson's two-out home run tied the game in the ninth, and after Dave Hillman allowed a run in the tenth, Harvey Kuenn and Jim Gilliam hit RBI singles for the 9-8 win.

Detroit Sound
Sean Holloway

New York Gothams
Jackie Robinson

 
New York ace Frank Lary held Detroit to 
six hits and three runs, and sparked a seventh 
inning rally with a leadoff double.

Opening Day:  Lost 3-4 vs. New York
At Briggs Stadium, Sandy Koufax made his major league debut, allowing three hits and one run in 3.1 innings.  3B Frank Malzone homered in his first UL at-bat, tying the game 1-1 in the second.  Malzone singled in the fourth, giving the Sound a 2-1 lead, and Toby Atwell's RBI single put them up 3-2 in the sixth.  But reliever Tom Brewer allowed a double and a triple to lead off the seventh, the Gothams scored two runs, and held on for a 4-3 win. 

Opening Day:  Won 4-3 at Detroit
Frank Lary, making his first start as an 'ace', held the Sound to six hits and three runs, and Bob Hooper got the save with a perfect ninth inning.  Hobie Landrith and Squirrel Sievers had RBIs as the game was tied 2-2 after five and a half, when the Sound went ahead.  But in the top of the seventh, Frank Lary doubled and Larry Doby tripled, scoring on Sievers' groundout for a 4-3 lead.  Lary and Hooper then stifled Detroit, allowing just a single baserunner in the final three innings. 
 

Louisville Colonels
Mark Allen

Los Angeles Outlaws
Chris McCreight

San Francisco Spiders
John Nellis

Opening Day:  Won 5-3 vs. Los Angeles
Ace southpaw Johnny Antonelli began his Cy Young defense with a seven-hit, three-run outing, striking out nine.  After falling behind 3-1, Jackie Jensen singled and Bill Skowron homered to tie the game in the fourth.  Pee Wee Reese hit the go-ahead single in the sixth, and the Colonels added an insurance run on Cass Michaels' throwing error in the eighth.  Ed Bailey and Reese each had three hits, and Skowron and Reese each had two RBIs.  Cloyd Boyer earned his first career save.

Opening Day:  Lost 3-5 at Louisville
Rookie ace Jim Bunning held Louisville to just three earned runs, but was burned by two errors and took the loss in his UL debut at Parkway Field.  Willie "Puddin Head" Jones atoned for his second inning throwing error with an RBI single in the third, and Frank Robinson homered to give the visitors a 3-1 lead.  But the Outlaws never scored again, getting just two hits in the last six innings as Cy winner Johnny Antonelli cruised to a 5-3 win.  Roy Campanella was 2-for-4.
 

Opening Day:  Won 2-1 at St. Louis
Tom Sturdivant was on fire, silencing 33,974 Maroon faithful and besting Billy Pierce with a four-hit complete game gem.  Sturdivant had control issues in the third, walking three straight batters after Bill Bruton's single.  But from that point on, St. Louis could muster just two hits in the final six innings.  Rocky Colavito led off the fourth with a double and scored on rookie SS Charlie Neal's single.  The score stood at 1-1 until the eighth, when CF Sam Mele homered off George Susce for the go-ahead run.  Mele was 2-for-4 in the game

Chicago Colts
Lance Mueller

St. Louis Maroons
Tim Smith


San Francisco Spiders centerfielder Sam Mele hit a game-winning home run off George Susce in the eighth inning to beat St. Louis at Sportsman's Park.
 

Opening Day:  Lost 2-5 at Washington
Jim Finigan doubled home Smoky Burgess in the top of the fifth, tying the game 1-1, but Whitey Ford allowed three hits, two walks, and wild pitch in the bottom half of the frame, as the game slipped away.  Johnny Pesky had a RBI single in the eighth, after Ford's leadoff single, but it was too little too late as Miller and the Monuments prevailed 5-2 at Griffith Stadium.

Opening Day:  Lost 1-2 vs. San Francisco
Billy Pierce allowed just four hits and one run, but left the game in the seventh inning for a pinch hitter with the score tied 1-1.  Reliever George Susce got the loss after serving up a solo homer to CF Sam Mele in the eighth.  CF Bill Bruton extended his hitting streak to a career high 12 games, stole a base, and scored the Maroons' only run.  Vern Stephens was 2-for-4.
                          

 

L
E
A
G
U
E

L
E
A
D
E
R
S

BATTING AVERAGE

HOME RUNS

RBI

OPS

 RUNS SCORED

Bill Skowron, LOU

.500

Mickey Mantle, BOS

.452

Cass Michaels, LA

.424

Ernie Banks, CHI

 .400

Granny Hamner, BRO

.387

Willie Jones, LA

.361

Hank Thompson, WAS

.348

Sam Mele, SF

.343

Frank Robinson, LA

.342

Al Kaline, LOU

.341

  

  

Hank Aaron, LOU

5

Frank Robinson, LA

4

Ralph Kiner, DET

3

Ted Kluszewski, WAS

3

Bill Skowron, LOU

3

   9 tied with

2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bill Skowron, LOU

12

Hank Aaron, LOU

10

Willie Jones, LA

10

Mickey Mantle, BOS

10

Frank Robinson, LA

10

Dick Kokos, STL

7

Ted Kluszewski, WAS

7

Gene Woodling, BRO

7

   10 tied with

6 

 

 

 

 

Mickey Mantle, BOS

 1412

Bill Skowron, LOU

1405

Frank Robinson, LA

 1103

Hank Aaron, LOU

1093

Cass Michaels, LA

1093

Ernie Banks, CHI

1090

Willie Jones, LA

 1022

Frank Malzone, DET

953

Sam Mele, SF

 950

Daryl Spencer, LA

938

  

  

LOS ANGELES

58

LOUISVILLE

47

BROOKLYN

40

WASHINGTON

38

BOSTON

36

SAN FRANCISCO

36

DETROIT

29

ST. LOUIS

28

CHICAGO

26

NEW YORK

21

 

 

EARNED RUN AVERAGE

WINS

STRIKEOUTS

RATIO

 RUNS ALLOWED

Don Mossi, BRO

 0.00

Tom Sturdivant, SF

1.00

Harvey Haddix, BOS

 1.23

Pedro Ramos, DET

1.23

Billy Pierce, STL

1.47

Stu Miller, WAS

1.62

Larry Jansen, WAS

 1.65

Bubba Church, NYG

1.69

Herm Wehmeier, LOU

 2.08

Don Drysdale, CHI

2.12

  

  

Johnny Antonelli, LOU

 2

Bubba Church, NYG

 2

Gene Conley, BRO

 2

Stu Miller, WAS

2

Don Mossi, BRO

 2

Tom Sturdivant, SF

2

Herm Wehmeier, LOU

 2

 

  

 

  

 

 

 

  

Johnny Antonelli, LOU

 18

Jim Bunning, LA

 18

Whitey Ford, CHI

 18

Ewell Blackwell, NYG

 14

Don Drysdale, CHI

 14

Tom Sturdivant, SF

 13

Vinegar B. Mizell, LOU

 12

Don Mossi, BRO

 12

Billy Pierce, STL

12

Robin Roberts, CHI

 11

 

  

Tom Sturdivant, SF

 6.5

Don Mossi, BRO

 6.8

Stu Miller, WAS

7.0

Bubba Church, NYG

7.3

Harvey Haddix, BOS

 8.6

Gene Conley, BRO

 8.6

Herm Wehmeier, LOU

 8.8

Whitey Ford, CHI

9.0

Johnny Antonelli, LOU

 9.3

Larry Jansen, WAS

9.4

  

   

BROOKLYN

22

NEW YORK

27

WASHINGTON

27

CHICAGO

36

DETROIT

36

LOUISVILLE

36

ST. LOUIS

36

LOS ANGELES

38

BOSTON

41

SAN FRANCISCO

60
     
   

 

H
O
N
O
R

R
O
L
L

BATTER OF THE MONTH

 

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

MILESTONES

APR

 

4/14

Bill Skowron, LOU

7/14

  

Irv Noren, NYG
200th double (Apr. 13), #6 all-time
Earl Torgeson, BOS
200th stolen base (Apr. 14), #3 all-time
Stu Miller, WAS
1,00th strikeout (Apr. 7), #3 all-time

MAY

  

4/21

  

7/21

 

JUN

  

4/28

  

7/28

 

JUL

  

5/5

  

8/4

 

AUG

  

5/12

 

8/11

  

SEP

  

5/19

 

8/18

  

PITCHER OF THE MONTH

5/26

 

8/25

  

APR

 

6/2

  

9/1

     

MAY

  

6/9

  

9/8

  

JUN

  

6/16

  

9/15

  

JUL

  

6/23

  

9/22

  

AUG

  

6/30

  

9/29

 

SEP

  

7/7