United League Baseball

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W E S T D I V I S I O N		E A S T D I V I S I O N
	Chicago Colts Lance Mueller		Boston Beacons Charlie Qualls

	Los Angeles Outlaws Chris McCreight		Brooklyn Superbas Glen Reed

	Louisville Colonels Mark Allen		Detroit Griffins Sean Holloway

	St. Louis Maroons Tim Smith		New York Gothams Shawn Martin

	San Francisco Spiders John Nellis		Washington Monuments Jay Kaplan

Payroll Cap Targets League Deficits
Attendance Down, Budget Crunches Ahead
NEW YORK (Oct. 1) -- For the fourth time in five seasons the United League lost money in 1957, posting a record shortfall of $103 million, up from last year's $82 deficit. League officials cited declining attendance as the primary culprit. Average attendance per game was down 11.4% this season, from 21,700 to 19,200. More than half of the attendance decrease is attributable to the two New York franchises, a fact which worries league officials who considered the Big Apple a baseball mecca. The New York Gothams attracted 40% fewer patrons than last season, dipping from 1.96 million to 1.18 million. Brooklyn, Chicago, and Washington all had turnstile shortfalls of 300,000+ compared to last season. The only teams to post increases were San Francisco, which fielded a surprisingly strong team, and Louisville, which packed 19,000-seat Parkway Field in more than two-thirds of its home dates.
   The problem a year ago was vastly increased payrolls as a result of the 'superstar renewal' year. The five-year contracts penned in 1951 all came due last year, prompting many clubs to overspend in order to keep their marquee players. The league's total wage bill skyrocketed from $514 million in 1955 to $617 million last year, a 20 percent increase. This year, payrolls remained fairly constant, edging up less than one percent. Only two of ten clubs turned a profit in 1957 -- Boston and Detroit, the clubs with the smallest payrolls. League president Timothy J. Smith commended owners Charlie Qualls and Sean Holloway for their 'fiscal sanity', citing the new payroll limits as a way to reign in costs. "It means that clubs no longer have the luxury of throwing wads of cash at marginal players, or at least they do so at their own peril." Under the new cap scheme, each team's payroll is tied to its own revenue potential. He added that divisional play and particularly the revival of the World Series, would be major revenue-producers, both in terms of fan interest and in the new phenomenon of television broadcasts of baseball games. The league just negotiated a new national television contract that gives each club $3 million more per year through 1961.
   "We are in a transitional phase right now," Smith elaborated. "We are still digesting expansion in some ways, and the full effect of the new payroll caps won't be felt until after two or three cycles of contracts. But I fully expect club payrolls to more closely match reality very soon." The belt-tightening will begin sooner rather than later for several clubs. Los Angeles, New York, and Washington are already over their cap limits, and will have to pass the Reentry draft unless they can dump payroll, an unlikely scenario since most clubs aren't much better off financially (the average club lost over $10 million this year). Not surprisingly, Detroit and Boston have the most cap space ($20.1 million and $14.8 million, respectively) heading into the Reentry draft.

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BATTING AVERAGE

HOME RUNS

RBI

OPS

RUNS SCORED

Granny Hamner, BRO	.356
Minnie Minoso, BRO	.353
Richie Ashburn, BRO	.351
Sandy Amoros, BRO	.342
Gene Woodling, STL	.319
Hobie Landrith, BRO	.314
Willie Mays, WAS	.312
Jim Busby, NYG	.311
Dale Long, LA	.311
Al Kaline, LOU	.308

Gus Zernial, BOS	46
Ralph Kiner, DET	41
Rocky Colavito, SF	36
Hank Aaron, LOU	35
Gil Hodges, CHI	34
Willie Mays, WAS	33
Ed Bailey, LOU	31
Ernie Banks, CHI	31
Dick Kokos, STL	27
Eddie Mathews, BOS	26
*Frank Robinson, LA	26

Ralph Kiner, DET	130
Granny Hamner, BRO	109
Gus Zernial, CHI	108
Rocky Colavito, SF	107
Ernie Banks, CHI	102
Minnie Minoso, BRO	100
Bill Skowron, LOU	95
Hank Aaron, LOU	94
Jim Lemon, SF	93
Gene Woodling, STL	93

Minnie Minoso, BRO	.966
Ralph Kiner, DET	.953
Willie Mays, WAS	.950
Granny Hamner, BRO	.941
Sandy Amoros, BRO	.931
Hank Aaron, LOU	.925
Ernie Banks, CHI	.919
Gus Zernial, CHI	.915
Gene Woodling, STL	.896
*Frank Robinson, LA	.889

BROOKLYN	835
WASHINGTON	759
LOUISVILLE	736
SAN FRANCISCO	736
CHICAGO	735
DETROIT	731
ST. LOUIS	710
LOS ANGELES	695
BOSTON	680
NEW YORK	676

EARNED RUN AVERAGE

WINS

STRIKEOUTS

RATIO

RUNS ALLOWED

Gene Conley, BRO	2.40
Billy Pierce, STL	2.79
Carl Erskine, WAS	3.08
Johnny Antonelli, LOU	3.27
Pedro Ramos, DET	3.29
Whitey Ford, CHI	3.30
Bob Friend, NYG	3.31
Spec Shea, STL	3.35
Don Mossi, BRO	3.44
Stu Miller, WAS	3.53
*Hank Aguirre, BOS	3.53

Carl Erskine, WAS	27
Gene Conley, BRO	26
Pedro Ramos, DET	23
Herm Wehmeier, LOU	23
Stu Miller, WAS	20
Bubba Church, NYG	19
Billy Pierce, STL	19
Dave Koslo, WAS	18
Johnny Antonelli, LOU	17

Herb Score, SF	289
Gene Conley, BRO	222
Johnny Antonelli, LOU	206
Billy Pierce, STL	179
Stu Miller, WAS	167
Johnny Podres, DET	167
Vinegar B. Mizell, LOU	166
Herm Wehmeier, LOU	165
Whitey Ford, CHI	161
Robin Roberts, CHI	160

Gene Conley, BRO	9.2
Billy Pierce, STL	9.6
Whitey Ford, CHI	10.4
Bob Friend, NYG	10.4
Carl Erskine, WAS	10.5
Lew Burdette, BRO	10.7
Johnny Antonelli, LOU	11.2
Sam Zoldak, STL	11.2
*Spec Shea, STL	11.2
Robin Roberts, CHI	11.3

BROOKLYN	610
ST. LOUIS	665
WASHINGTON	672
LOUISVILLE	686
NEW YORK	748
DETROIT	749
CHICAGO	759
BOSTON	765
LOS ANGELES	808
SAN FRANCISCO	831

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BATTER OF THE MONTH	PLAYER OF THE WEEK		MILLSTONE
APR	4/14	7/7	1 : either of two circular stones used for grinding (as grain) 2 a : something that grinds or crushes 2 b : a heavy burden, such as Jackie Robinson or Clem Labine
MAY	4/21	7/14
JUN	4/28	7/21
JUL	5/5	7/28
AUG	5/12	8/4
SEP	5/19	8/11
PITCHER OF THE MONTH	5/26	8/18
APR	6/2	8/25
MAY	6/9	9/1
JUN	6/16	9/8
JUL	6/23	9/15
AUG	6/30	9/22
SEP		9/29