STANDINGS
  EAST

W

L

GB

Last

Brooklyn

17

 6

--

9-4

Cleveland

10

13

7

4-9

Detroit

10

13

7

6-7

New York

10

13

7

7-6

Washington

7

16

10

4-9
  WEST

W

L

GB

Last

San Francisco

15

 8

--

10-3

Louisville

14

 8

0.5

9-3

Chicago

12

11

3

4-9

Los Angeles

10

13

5

6-7

St. Louis

10

14

5.5

6-8

TRADES

March 8

CHI gets:

MR Howie Judson ($500)

CLE gets:

OF Walt Moryn ($500)

March 8

BRO gets:

CHI 1959 Reentry picks

CHI gets:

MR Danny McDevitt (minor)
BRO '60 3rd Rd Rookie pk
BRO '60 4th Rd Rookie pk

March 8

CLE gets:

LOU '59 1st Rd Rookie pk

LOU gets:

SP Lou Brissie ($3700)
CLE '59 2nd Rd Reentry pk

INJURED LIST

BRO

SS Johnny Logan (3 weeks)

CHI

SP Whitey Ford (8 weeks)
SP Bill Henry (2-3 weeks)

CLE

MR Luis Arroyo (season)
SP Billy O'Dell (3 weeks)

SF

2B Red Schoendienst (3wks)

United League of American Base Ball Clubs          est. 1951
 
LEAGUE FILE (3/1) · 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 (1959)
TOTAL UL  · 1951 · 1952 · 1953 · 1954 · 1955 · 1956 · 1957 · 1958 · 1959 DRAFT
 4/7 · 4/17 · 5/1


      May 1, 1959
 
NEXT SIM
Fri 3/4 (to May 16)
Rosters due 6pm ET

UPCOMING SIMS
Tue 3/8 (to June 1)
 Sat 3/12 (to June16)
Wed 3/16 (to July 1)


No-No Johnny!
Antonelli Nearly Perfect at Parkway
LOUISVILLE (Apr. 24) -- Louisville ace Johnny Antonelli tossed a no-hitter against Washington today, allowing five walks and five strikeouts, as the Colonels eked out a 1-0 win with late heroics.
   Wally Post won the game in dramatic fashion, with a double in the bottom of the ninth off Bob Chakales to plate the game's only run.  Washington's Stu Miller stuck with Johnny inning for inning, pitching seven four-hit shutout innings before leaving the game with a no-decision.
   Antonelli's was the fifth no-hitter in United League history, the first by a Louisville Colonel, and the first since "Sad Sam" Zoldak and Hal "Skinny" Brown tossed no-hitters within two weeks in August 1955.
   Antonelli, 29, was originally drafted by Brooklyn in the 1953 Reentry draft, but was traded to Louisville where he has been a fixture in the Colonels rotation for six years.  He won the Cy Young Award in 1956, posting a 24-10 record and 2.42 ERA while leading the league in wins, innings, strikeouts, and shutouts.  His 372 strikeouts that year stands as a league record.  Antonelli won 24 games again last year (24-8, 2.63), but fell short in the Cy Young balloting to Washington's Carl Erskine.


Porterfield Leads Crawl to First
Two Firsts in Frisco, as New Look Spiders Rise
SAN FRANCISCO (May 1) -- Freshly acquired ace Bob Porterfield made the most of his first month in orange and black, winning the first monthly award not only for himself, but for the San Francisco Spiders franchise.  Porterfield, 34, led the league in wins, ERA, and Ratio in April, posting a 5-1 record and 1.09 ERA in six starts.
   The San Francisco Spiders are the least-accoladed team in the circuit.  In their three-plus years of existence only five Spiders have won Player of the Week, and no Spider has taken home a monthly award.  Even fellow expansion team Los Angeles has won two BOMs and one POM.
   The Spiders have won 10 of their last 13 games, including back-to-back sweeps of division rivals Los Angeles and Chicago.

Erskine Streak Snapped at 27 Wins
WASHINGTON (Apr. 22) -- Times were when there was only good news in the Washington sports pages.  After all, the Monuments grabbed four league title in five years and have won at least 90 games in every season since 1952.  Things rarely turned for the worse, and on the few occasions they did, the Monuments typically rallied.  But 1959 is shaping out to be the beginning of a new era in the Nation's Capital -- an era of hardship and difficulty this franchise and its fans are not familiar with.  The early season omens don't look good.  Take the events of April 22-24.  In back-to-back games, Carl Erskine's 27-game winning streak was snapped and the Mons were victims of the first UL no-hitter in almost four years.
   Erskine's defeat came on Tuesday (4/22).  Fresh off a convincing 4-2 win over none other than Billy Pierce, Erskine battled and lost to Louisville's Herm Wehmeier.  "Oisk" last lost a game on May 1 last year, and fell just eight days shy of achieving an undefeated calendar year.  Erskine's streak is in that slim category of 'records that might never be broken.'  The next-longest win streak is less than half Oisk's mark -- 13 games by Brooklyn's Gene Conley and Erskine himself.  In fact, Oisk's previous streak of 13 wins concluded the 1957 season, he then went 2-3 at the start of 1958 before starting his 27-game streak.  Thus from July 31, 1957 until Apr. 17, Erskine compiled the almost unfathomable record of 42-3.

Maris Ties Hitting Streak Record
Baron Slugger Wins POM After 26-Game Tear
CLEVELAND (May 1) -- Roger Maris went 0-for-3 today in a 5-0 shutout loss to Louisville's Lou Brissie, snapping a 26-game hitting streak that tied the UL mark established by Roy Campanella and Bobby Brown.  Maris, 24, was Boston's first round pick (4th overall) in the 1957 draft.  The Hibbing, Minnesota native won Rookie of the Year honors with a stellar freshman campaign (.288-23-89) before suffering a mild sophomore slump last season (.253-19-80).  With the departure of franchise man Mickey Mantle in a midseason trade last year, GM C.B. Qualls called upon Maris to step up his game to fill the Mick's shoes.
   Maris hit safely in his first 19 games, which tacked on to a seven-game hit streak at the end of 1958 to match the league record.
 



T
E
A
M

C
A
P
S
U
L
E
S

W E S T   D I V I S I O N

E A S T   D I V I S I O N

SAN FRANCISCO SPIDERS
 John Nellis

BROOKLYN SUPERBAS
 Glen Reed

Ranks #1 in opponent's BA (.241), led by Blackwell (.185) and Porterfield (.186)
Reliever Herb Score has yet to allow an earned run in 8 appearances.
Jim Busby leads the team in Runs Created, and hit .385-2-7 in his last 6 games.

 

#1 in hits, OBP, SLG, and OPS, led by Granny Hamner, who is 1st in hits and OBP, and 3rd in OPS.
Richie Ashburn had 5 hits against Washington on 4/28, coming on the heels of 4-hit games by Del Crandall, Pete Runnels, and Hobie Landrith earlier in the month.
Fourth starter Dick Donovan is 3-0, 1.52 in his last 3 starts and ranks 2nd in Ratio and 4th in ERA.

 

 

LOUISVILLE COLONELS
 Mark Allen

   

CLEVELAND BARONS
 Charlie Qualls

The Colonels are 1st in runs allowed, but 9th in runs scored.  
Catcher Ed Bailey, an All-Star catcher the last two seesons, is hitting just .145 with 3 RBIs in 10 games.
Lou Brissie threw a pair of shutouts nine days apart, but is 0-3, 4.36 in his other four starts.

 

Roger Maris (.387-6-17) and Yogi Berra (.373-5-14) lead the league's most prolific offense.
Harvey Kuenn leads the league with a .559 road batting average.
Rookie fourth starter Carl Willey has been a pleasant surprise, leading the staff with 3 wins and a 2.84 ERA.

 

 

   

CHICAGO COLTS
Lance Mueller

DETROIT GRIFFINS
 Sean Holloway

The Colts are 1-9 in their last 10 games, thanks to the wholesale implosion of their starting rotation.  Ace Whitey Ford was injured 4/19 and will miss 6-7 weeks.  Meanwhile, Sturdivant, Kucks, and Roberts are a combined 1-7, 6.84 during the skid.
The biggest offensive flop has been catcher and leadoff man Johnny Roseboro (.209-0-3)
Gus Zernial was Player of the Week 4/21, hitting .360-4-9 in 25 AB.
 

 

Pedro Ramos (4-1, 3.14) threw a 2-hit shutout against San Francisco on 4/29.  The 24-year-old Cuban won 23 games in 1957.
Bobby Richardson leads the team in batting (.388) and is 7-17 (.412) in his last 6 games.
The Griffins are 2nd in batting, but only 9th in runs, thanks to the lowest HR total (7) and second lowest walk total (58).

 

 

LOS ANGELES OUTLAWS
 Chris McCreight

NEW YORK GOTHAMS
Shawn Martin

Third starter Hank Aguirre (1-4, 3.02) has the odd distinction of leading the team in both ERA and losses.  One reason: unearned runs.  Hank let in five of the suckers in a 9-5 loss to New York on 4/30.
The Outlaws won six straight games Apr. 23-28, including a three-game sweep of Chicago.

 

Larry Doby homered and drove in 7 runs in a 15-2 blowout against Los Angeles on 4/29.  Doby hit a first inning grand slam off Spec Shea, and followed up with a three-run shot off Ray Herbert in the 7th.
Roy "Squirrel" Sievers was Player of the Week for 4/21, batting .524-2-7 in 21 AB.

 

 

ST LOUIS MAROONS
 Tim Smith

WASHINGTON MONUMENTS
 Steven Giovanelli

Rookie callup Roger Craig is the leading candidate for hard-luck pitcher of the year.  In his 4/20 debut, Craig allowed 1 run in 7 innings, only to lose to Washington 3-0.  In his next start, he allowed no earned runs in seven innings, and lost to Detroit 4-0.  He finally beat Chicago 4-2 on 4/30.

 

The Mons are dead last in offense, thanks to weak starts by Joe Adcock (.122-3-10 in 82 AB), and rookies Steve Boros (.151-0-4, 73 AB) and Sammy Taylor (.208-0-6 in 77 AB).
Shortstop Gil McDougald is the only hot bat (.360 in 75 AB).

 
  

L
E
A
G
U
E

L
E
A
D
E
R
S

 

BATTING AVERAGE

HOME RUNS

RBI

OPS

RUNS SCORED

Granny Hamner, BRO

.400

*Bobby Richardson, DET

.388 

Roger Maris, CLE

.387

Gus Bell, CHI

.378

*Chico Carrasquel, SF

.368

Gil McDougald, WAS

.360

Sandy Amoros, BRO

.357

Hector Lopez, NYG

.350

Ernie Banks, CHI

.329

Joe Cunningham, DET

.325

 

 

*Gus Zernial, CHI

8

*Ernie Banks, CHI

6

*Larry Doby, NYG

6

Roger Maris, CLE

6

Yogi Berra, CLE

5

*Dick Kokos, STL

5

Hector Lopez, NYG

5

*Mickey Mantle, CHI

5

Willie Mays, WAS

5

   4 tied with

4

 

 

Larry Doby, NYG

23

*Granny Hamner, BRO

21

Ernie Banks, CHI

20

*Gus Zernial, CHI

19

*Joe Cunningham, DET

18

*Dick Kokos, STL

17

Roger Maris, CLE

17

*Yogi Berra, CLE

14

*Hector Lopez, NYG

14

Willie Mays, WAS

14

*Frank Robinson, LA

14

Roger Maris, CLE

1.167

Hector Lopez, NYG

1.053

Granny Hamner, BRO

1.033

*Dick Kokos, STL

.987

Ernie Banks, CHI

.976

*Mickey Mantle, CHI

.959

*Chico Carrasquel, SF

.935

*Sandy Amoros, BRO

.899

*Joe Cunningham, DET

.888

*Hank Aaron, LOU

.884

 

 

CLEVELAND

122

BROOKLYN

117

CHICAGO

110

NEW YORK

110

LOS ANGELES

109

ST. LOUIS

107

SAN FRANCISCO

96

DETROIT

94

LOUISVILLE

79

WASHINGTON

72

 

 

EARNED RUN AVERAGE

WINS

STRIKEOUTS

RATIO

 RUNS ALLOWED

Bob Porterfield, SF

1.09

Lew Burdette, BRO

1.84

Bob Friend, NYG

2.31

Dick Donovan, BRO

2.37

Don Mossi, BRO

2.42

*Johnny Antonelli, LOU

2.42

*Herm Wehmeier, LOU

2.57

*Gene Conley, BRO

2.68

*Billy Loes, NYG

2.72

Carl Erskine, WAS

2.76

 

 

Gene Conley, BRO

5

Bob Porterfield, SF

5

Herm Wehmeier, LOU 

5

Johnny Antonelli, LOU

4

Pedro Ramos, DET

4

   8 tied with

3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Johnny Antonelli, LOU

33

Sandy Koufax, DET

33

*Sam Jones, SF

32

Bob Friend, NYG

30

*Bob Porterfield, SF

30

*Hank Aguirre, LA

29

*Billy Loes, NYG

29

*Ewell Blackwell, SF

27

Carl Erskine, WAS 

27

Robin Roberts, CHI

26

 

 

Bob Porterfield, SF

7.3

*Dick Donovan, BRO

8.3

Pedro Ramos, DET

8.4

Lew Burdette, BRO

8.8

Gene Conley, BRO 

9.0

Herm Wehmeier, LOU

9.4

*Bob Friend, NYG

9.4

Johnny Antonelli, LOU

10.1

*Sam Jones, SF

 10.7

Carl Erskine, WAS

10.8

 

 

LOUISVILLE

68

BROOKLYN

75

SAN FRANCISCO

85

CLEVELAND

108

NEW YORK

107

WASHINGTON

107

DETROIT

111

CHICAGO

114

ST. LOUIS

117

LOS ANGELES

124

  

  

  

H
O
N
O
R

R
O
L
L

BATTER OF THE MONTH

 

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

MILESTONES

APR

Roger Maris, CLE

4/14

Roger Maris, CLE

7/7

  

Johnny Antonelli, LOU
No-hitter vs. WAS (Apr. 24), 5th all-time
Billy Pierce, STL
2,000th strikeout (Apr. 17), #1 all-time
Roy Campanella, LA
800th RBI (Apr. 21), #3 all-time
Gus Zernial, CHI
800th RBI (Apr. 29), #4 all-time 

MAY

  

4/21

Gus Zernial, CHI

7/14

 

JUN

  

4/28

Roy Sievers, NYG

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

Bob Porterfield, SF

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