United League of American Base Ball Clubs          est. 1951
 
LEAGUE FILE (8/4) · 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 (1958) · OOTP 6.1 PATCH
TOTAL UL  · 1951 · 1952 · 1953 · 1954 · 1955 · 1956 · 1957 · 1958 Draft
3/8 · 4/7 · 4/17 · 5/1 · 5/16 · 6/1 · 6/16 · 7/1

1958: The Year of the Horse
ANALYSIS BY GLEN REED
With all due respect to the Chinese, 1958 in United League terms will be remembered as the year of the Chicago Colts, not for what they've done on the field, but in the front office. In three short months encompassing the re-entry and rookie drafts, and the first half of the league schedule, veteran GM Lance Mueller restocked the talent shelves with an incomprehensible haul of young stars-in-the-making.
   The scheming Mueller, an entertainment industry mogul who runs his operation out of an LA-area penthouse, relied on guile and biggie buckets of ducats to swoop up the first-round re-entry pick of the cash-strapped New York Gothams.  Lancie galloped past the rest of the league on his way to drafting former five-star pitching prospects Johnny Kucks and Tom Sturdivant with his own re-entry pick and that of the Gothams.
   If that weren't enough, Mueller swooped from the rookie draft the highly coveted lefty-mashing Johnny Roseboro, a twenty-something catcher who much like a character out of the old board game Clue also happens to bring some wheels, leather, and a gun with him when he shows up to the park. Lancie saved the best for last though, bringing on one of the five most talented players in the league in 25-year old Mickey Mantle.  If you figure that the throw-ins to the trade all offset each other, then in just three short months, Mueller can be credited with adding five-star prospects Mantle, Kucks, and Sturdivant, along with Roseboro, for the sum total of $2.6MM in salary, Bob Purkey, and Don Drysdale.
   This calls to mind the great cartoon short "Thank You, Masked Man" by Lenny Bruce, wherein the settlers ask the Masked Man why he wants Tonto the Indian and a horse in exchange for repeatedly pulling their fat out of the fire and he says, "For an unnatural act!"  And that's almost certainly what Mueller will be perpetrating on the rest of the league in a few short seasons after the maturation of his constellation of young stars.
   Meanwhile, Boston GM C. Benson Qualls used Mantle and a separate deal to address his biggest need -- starting pitching.  Quallsie Bear can now cuddle up to two five-star pitching prospects of his own in the newly acquired Billy O'Dell and Don Drysdale.  In addition, he filled a gaping defensive hole in the middle of the park by adding a GG-caliber CF.  This looks an absolute necessity to compete in the rough-and-tumble East Division, in which four of five teams are over .500 and even the cellar-dwelling Gothams would sit just six games back and be eager participants in the clusterfuck that is the weak-tit West Division of the United League.

Brooklyn, Washington Pull Ahead
EAST ROUNDUP

BROOKLYN was 18-8 in June, pulling ahead of the pack.  The Bas swept the Monuments in convincing fashion June 1-3, winning by scorelines of 13-7, 16-1, and 10-5, adding 11-6 and 9-2 wins a fortnight later.  Bobby Brown had six RBI in the June 2 massacre.  Amoros, Hamner, Landrith, and Noren all batted over .350 for the month, and five players had at least 15 RBIs, led by Minnie Minoso's 22.  Also instrumental in the Bas' hot June was the quality of its starting pitching, particularly the trio of Gene Conley, 'Sphinx' Mossi, and Lew Burdette.  Burdette was just 3-4 heading into June, but rattled off five wins and a 2.89 ERA in seven starts.  Conley was also 5-1 for the month, extending his record to 13-2 overall, and the 'Sphinx' is 9-2, 2.87 since May 1.  

WASHINGTON's 1-5 record against Brooklyn in June is the difference between the two clubs.  The Mons were 15-7 against all other opponents.  Washington won eight straight June 20-27, keeping the pressure on Brooklyn.  Ted Kluszewski's hitting streak was snapped at 24 games after he was hitless in a pinch hit at-bat on June 6.  'Big Klu' was so pissed at being used as a pinch hitter when he was just two games shy of the UL record that he went out the next day and hit 4-for-5 against L.A.  Later in the month, Gil McDougald extended his hitting streak to 17 games.  In addition to 'Big Klu', Willie Mays (6/8), Joe Ginsberg (6/11), and Bob Skinner (6/23) each had four-hit games.  Ned Garver threw a 6-hit shutout against L.A. on June 29 and was named Player of the Week 6/30.  Carl Erskine -- two-time All-Star but zero-time Cy Young winner -- is 9-0, 1.67 in his last 10 starts.

BOSTON is 6-8 since the Mantle blockbuster.  Newcomer Gil Hodges was 2-for-4 with a home run in his Beeks debut, and is 6-19 (.316) in his first eight games, primarily as a platoon vs. lefties.  Hodges second home run in brown-and-beige on June 24 was the 250th of his UL career, second only to Ralph Kiner.  Al "Red" Worthington and Larry "Crappy Ass" Jackson were inserted in the bottom of the rotation, with generally poor results.  "Red" took over Harvey Haddix' old #3 slot and was crushed in his season debut June 19, but won his second start 5-3 at Detroit five days later.  Jackson (0-3, 15.09) was crushed not once, not twice, but three times, including a 10-2 blowout June 25 in which he was chased after allowing seven hits and six runs in 1.1 innings.

DETROIT is 4-7 in its last 11 games, falling to .500 for the first time since April 11.  Art Ceccarelli (4-6, 3.99) has a 2.12 ERA in his last four starts, including a seven-hit shutout of Brooklyn on June 21.  June 14's 13-3 win at Washington was notable on several fronts: Joe Cunningham set a new UL record with five walks, third baseman Alex Grammas had five RBIs, and leadoff man Tom Umphlett was 4-for-6 with 4 runs.   Ralph Kiner (.286-21-70) has been a model of consistency.  Kiner had exactly 20 walks in each of the first three month, an average ranging from .282 to .293, and RBIs ranging from 20-26.  His 70 RBIs are 10 more than any other player.

NEW YORK has the worst home record and the worst record against right-handed pitchers, so it comes as no surprise that the Gothams were shut out by Stu Miller, Ned Garver, and Vern Law during Washington's recent visit to Yankee Stadium.  Last year's two quality starters -- Bubba Church and Bob Friend -- are heading in opposite directions this year.  Church (19-17 last year) has cut his ERA from 3.81 to 3.19, while Friend's has ballooned from 3.31 to 4.72.  Fifth starter Frank Sullivan (0-3, 9.57 in last 4 starts) is an living example of why four-man rotations are so popular.  1B Orlando Cepeda leads all rookies in hits, home runs, and RBIs -- and in fact leads the Gothams with 41 ribbies, 21st in the league and the fewest for a team RBI leader.

Colonels Hold On, as Maroons, Colts Start to Fade
WEST ROUNDUP

LOUISVILLE expanded its narrow lead to 2.5 games over San Francisco in the tightly contested West Division.  Johnny Antonelli won six straight from May 26 to June 26, and leads the league with 14 wins at the Midsummer Break.  The Colonels offense has been fueled by Hank Aaron and Moose Skowron, who had 19 RBIs each in the month of June.  Nippy Jones homered twice and drove in all five runs in a 5-3 at Chicago on June 21.

SAN FRANCISCO is hobbling along at two games under .500, but finds itself in second place and positioned at Louisville's main challenger.  'Toothpick Sam' Jones has been a revelation in the #3 starter spot, going 4-1, 3.93 in 7 starts since his June 1 debut.  Ewell 'The Whip' Blackwell is having a career year (8-5, 3.22) and is 6th in ERA, 4th in strikeouts, and 9th in Ratio.  Chico Carrasquel continues to set the table for the heavy hitters.  Chico hit .330 with a .398 OBP in June, drove in 18 runs and scored 15.  Wes Covington led the league with 27 RBIs in June.

LOS ANGELES got a strong month out of Dale Long.  Long was .293-5-16 in 23 games, second only to Campy in RBI, and won Player of the Week 6/23.  #1 rookie pick Albie Pearson had five hits in a game against San Francisco June 24.  After a 7-1 start, Bob Rush had a tough time in June, going 1-4, 5.16 in six starts.  The whole rotation suffered, going 4-14 with a collective ERA around 5.70.  Ray Narleski has 13 saves and 0.63 ERA since May 1.

ST. LOUIS continues to have major pitching woes.  Paul Minner, who had a nine-game win streak spanning three seasons snapped May 16, proceeded to lose eight straight decisions.  In 14 starts, Billy Pierce (2-7, 4.05) has managed just two wins, thanks in part to a league-worst run support (2.5 runs per game).  He is 0-5 in his last 10 starts and hasn't won since Apr. 19.  The offense continues to slump as well.  Only Gene Woodling managed a June batting average over .275, though newcomers Cass Michaels (.389 in 22 games) and Gus Triandos (6-for-17 with 4 doubles in first 5 UL games).

CHICAGO was 10-15 in June, despite Ernie Banks' hottest month of the season.  'Mr. Colt' hit .351 with 14 extra base hits for a .688 slugging percentage, and 22 RBI, winning June's Batter of the Month prize (the 4th BOM of his career).  Harvey 'Kitten' Haddix lost his first two starts as a Colt, allowing 16 hits and 11 runs in 16 innings (6.19 ERA).  New Colt Mickey Mantle was 1-for-11 in his first three games, including and 0-for-4 with four strikeouts, but homered in his fourth game, on June 21.  He then homered in back-to-back games June 29-30 to finish the first half with 14, on pace for his best homer tally in three years.