STANDINGS
  EAST

W

L

GB

Last

Brooklyn

27

 8

--

10-2

Detroit

18

19

10

8-6

New York

15

21

12.5

5-8

Cleveland

13

22

14

3-9

Washington

13

22

14

6-6
  WEST

W

L

GB

Last

San Francisco

23

11

--

8-3

St. Louis

20

17

4.5

10-3

Louisville

18

16

5

4-8

Chicago

16

20

8

4-9

Los Angeles

15

22

9.5

5-9

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

SP Tom Gorman (3 days)
SS Johnny Logan (6 days)

CHI

SP Whitey Ford (6 weeks)
SP Bill Henry (2 days)

CLE

SP Bud Daley (5 weeks)
MR Luis Arroyo (season)
SP Billy O'Dell (1 weeks)

STL

SP Warren Hacker (1-2 weeks)

SF

SP Sam Jones (8 weeks)
2B Red Schoendienst (1 wk)

United League of American Base Ball Clubs          est. 1951
 
LEAGUE FILE (3/6) · 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 · 5/16


      May 16, 1959
 
NEXT SIM
 Thu 3/10 (to June 1)
Rosters due 6pm ET

UPCOMING SIMS
 Mon 3/14 (to June 16)
Fri 3/18 (to July 1)
Tue 3/22 (to July 16)


Kiner Hits 300th Homer
Brooklyn Builds Huge Lead with Hot Bats
BROOKLYN (May 16) -- The Brooklyn Superbas' offense came to life in early May, as the defending East Division champions averaged nearly seven runs per game in a 13-2 run, stretching a 10-game lead over the second place Detroit Griffins.  Ralph Kiner was one of three Ba's with double-digit RBIs in early May.  The 35-year-old leftfield snapped out of an April swoon (1 HR in 22 games) to crush homers in three straight games May 2-4, including the historic 300th dinger of his nine-year United League career.  Kiner is the UL's all-time home run leader, having averaged 37 HR a year over his career -- despite only one HR title (41 in 1953).  Kiner hit #300 on May 3 at Wrigley Field off Bull Lawrence.  Kiner, acquired in a midseason trade with Detroit last summer, is in his last year of a $9.95 million contract and is expected to be a free agent next year.
   Other hot Superbas in May include Richie Ashburn (.383-0-11 in 12 games) and Hobie Landrith (.381-1-14 in 11 games).  They join Granny Hamner and Sandy Amoros atop the league batting leaders, harkening back to 1957, when Superbas jammed the top four spots in the batting race, and five of the top six.
   However, like '57, the Superbas are doing it with pitching as well.  In fact, their hottest player is probably pitcher Gene Conley, who is 4-0, 1.08 in his last four starts.  Conley has essentially carried the staff.  Lew Burdette is 3-0 despite a 4.37 ERA, and Dick Donovan is winless in four May starts, with a 5.84 ERA.
   A key contributor has been Sandy Amoros, who twice won games off the bench with timely pinch hits.  On May 3 at Chicago, Sandy stroked a three-run double that launched a seven-run eighth inning en route to a 10-8 win, and five days later against Cleveland Sandy crushed a two-run double in the eighth to break a 5-5 tie.

Porterfield: Picasso of the Plate
by Glen Reed
   Bob Porterfield, the undisputed ace of the San Francisco Spider pitching staff, 1958 WS MVP, and UL pitcher of the month for April, has arrived on the big stage at the age of 34. A frequent victim of the league's unforgiving financial calculus, the angular righthander with the pinpoint control shuffled through four UL teams on his circuitous route to pitching stardom.
   His resume reads like something out of the all-star SP handbook--top 10 in WHIP five consecutive years; ERA, innings, and CGs three times; wins twice; and threw 250 or more innings for six consecutive years, mostly for a Detroit side that crumbled around him. Indeed, the Brooklyn scouting report on Porterfield includes this line: He can throw the ball into a tea cup from sixty feet, six inches. His control is legendary--he doesn't paint corners, but render them in the abstract.
   But toiling away in Motown came at a cost--Porterfield tied for the league lead in losses in 1953, and only twice in his first five seasons played for winning teams. What's more, his exploits were overshadowed by pitching greats in Washington and St. Louis, such that he received no recognition until taking over the 1958 World Series and almost single-handedly delivering the title to the Bluegrass State.
   Identified by Flatbush scouts as the pride of the 1956 Re-entry draft class, GM Glen Reed pulled out all the stops to acquire the native of Newport, VA, shipping a passle of picks and prospects to his former masters, Detroit. But Erwin Coolidge Porterfield was a victim of circumstance in New York's most famous baseball borough--stablemate and 1955 Cy Young winner Tom Gorman broke his arm early in '56, snuffing out Brooklyn's title defense. Meanwhile, Porterfield's massive contract broke the Brooks' budget, effectively ending his stay at the Stadium by the Bay. In a cruel move that would come back to haunt the Screaming Bats, Porterfield was demoted to spot starter status during the 1957 season.
   Frustrated at being benched for the first time in his illustrious UL career, and cashing massive game checks for riding the pine, the situation in the clubhouse at The Frank was untenable. Reed traded Porterfield to the then-first-place Colonels of Louisville at the 11th hour in the 1957 season, unwittingly sealing the Superbas' 1958 World Series fate and sending Porterfield to his date with UL destiny.
   



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

The Spiders are 2nd in ERA, led by Porterfield (8-2, 1.71), but Ewell Blackwell is 2-0, 1.93 in his last 3 starts, and Toothpick Sam Jones (3-2, 3.04) ranks 6th in Ratio and 10th in ERA.
SS Eddie Bressoud (.339-2-17) has been a pleasant surprise, leading the club in batting, RBIs.
Rookie Harmon Killebrew (.246-4-13) slugged four homers in three days, including  two against Cleveland on 5/3, after 12 games without a clout.
 

 

Granny Hamner (.398-1-27) is comfortably on pace for his third straight 200-hit, 100-RBI season.  
Gene Conley (9-1, 2.02) is 4-0, 1.08 in his last 4 starts, and has returned to his 1957 Cy Young-winning form.  Conley is 59-9 since 1957.
CF Richie Ashburn's POW was the first award of any kind of his eight-year UL career.  The 32-year-old, in the last year of a $9.4 million contract, is having his best season (.369-.418-.577-.995).

 

 

ST LOUIS MAROONS
 Tim Smith

DETROIT GRIFFINS
 Sean Holloway

The Maroons have solved three-quarters of their rotation puzzle.  Billy Pierce, Warren Hacker, and Roger Craig were a combined 8-0, 1.66 in 10 May starts.   Hacker was 3-0, 1.50 in his first 3 UL starts after a full season in AAA.
Bob Anderson (2-4, 5.02) continues to struggle and will likely be replaced by rookie Bob Monbouquette, who is 6-1 at Triple-A St. Paul.
Stan Musial has come to life in May, batting .342 (.169 in April), and now co-leads the club with 20 RBI.
 

 

Pedro Ramos is the league's hottest pitcher, cranking out 30 1/3 shutout innings between 4/25 and 5/8.  
Dusty Rhodes has the hot bat in May, batting .382 with a .997 OPS and 12 RBI in 14 games.  Dusty had five hits against Chicago on 5/7 -- his 2nd 5-hit game.
Bobby Richardson has gone stone-cold in May, dropping his .388 April average to .122 (5-41) in 13 May games.

 

 

LOUISVILLE COLONELS
 Mark Allen

NEW YORK GOTHAMS
Shawn Martin

The Colonels' 4-8 skid coincided with slumps by 3-4 hitters Hank Aaron and Bill Skowron.  Hammer hit .185-0-2 in his last 7 games, and Moose was .200-1-2 in his last five.
Lou Brissie tossed his third shutout of the young season on 5/11, and won his first Player of the Week.
Wally Post leads the club in HR (7) and RBI (23), despite hitting just .195
 

Lou Brissie

The Clemente/Cepeda tandem is beginning to click on all gears.  Arriba hit .471 in his last five games, and Cha Cha hit .429 in his last six.  The Puerto Rican pair had four-hit games back-to-back 5/10 and 5/11.
Panamanian Hector Lopez (.357-5-20) stayed hot in May.  The second baseman ranks fourth in OPS and fifth in batting.
Bob Friend (4-5, 2.29) is the only pitcher in the top 8 ERA leaders with a losing record.
 

 

 

   

CHICAGO COLTS
Lance Mueller

   

CLEVELAND BARONS
 Charlie Qualls

Ernie Banks (.346-8-27) is the only player other than Ralph Kiner with 100 RBIs in each of the last three seasons.  "Mr. Colt" hit .533-2-5 in his last five games, and is tied for 2nd in HR and RBI.
The Colts have dropped from 8th to 10th in ERA this season, thanks to Whitey Ford on the DL and lackluster performances by Robin Roberts (3-5, 4.72), Tom Sturdivant (3-5, 5.24), and Johnny Kucks (2-4, 6.28).
Rookie Don Demeter (.267-5-9) hit two homers against Brooklyn on 5/3.
 

 
 

 

 

 

LOS ANGELES OUTLAWS
 Chris McCreight

WASHINGTON MONUMENTS
 Steven Giovanelli
 

Bubba Church has a league-leading seven complete games.   

 
 

Stu Miller has the lowest run support in the league (3.1 runs/game).  Erskine's support is fourth worse (3.2).

 
  

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

Sandy Amoros, BRO

.357

*Hobie Landrith, BRO

.371

*Richie Ashburn, BRO

.369

Hector Lopez, NYG

.357

Gus Bell, CHI

.351

Ernie Banks, CHI

.346

Chico Carrasquel, SF

.344

*Eddie Bressoud, SF

.339

Gil McDougald, WAS

.331

 

 

Gus Zernial, CHI

9

Ernie Banks, CHI

8

Mickey Mantle, CHI

8

Willie Mays, WAS

8

*Wally Moon, NYG

8

Larry Doby, NYG

7

Roger Maris, CLE

7

*Frank Robinson, LA

7

*Wally Post, LOU

7

 

 

 

 

Larry Doby, NYG

30

Ernie Banks, CHI

27

Granny Hamner, BRO

27

*Hobie Landrith, BRO

26

Frank Robinson, LA

26

*Ralph Kiner, BRO

24

Gus Zernial, CHI

24

Willie Mays, WAS

23

*Wally Post, LOU

23

 

 

 

 

Granny Hamner, BRO

1.012

*Richie Ashburn, BRO

.995

Ernie Banks, CHI

.994

Hector Lopez, NYG

.993

*Larry Doby, NYG

.975

Sandy Amoros, BRO

.950

Roger Maris, CLE

.947

Dick Kokos, STL

.936

Hank Aaron, LOU

.929

*Frank Robinson, LA

.928

 

 

BROOKLYN

198

CLEVELAND

182

ST. LOUIS

172

NEW YORK

171

DETROIT

169

LOS ANGELES

166

CHICAGO

164

SAN FRANCISCO

152

LOUISVILLE

125

WASHINGTON

123

 

 

EARNED RUN AVERAGE

WINS

STRIKEOUTS

RATIO

 RUNS ALLOWED

*Roger Craig, STL

1.54

Bob Porterfield, SF

1.71

Gene Conley, BRO

2.02

Bob Friend, NYG

2.29

Don Mossi, BRO

2.35

*Pedro Ramos, DET

2.44

Lew Burdette, BRO

2.64

Johnny Antonelli, LOU

2.76

Carl Erskine, WAS

2.88

*Sam Jones, SF

3.04

 

 

Gene Conley, BRO

9

Bob Porterfield, SF

8

Johnny Antonelli, LOU

6

*Lew Burdette, BRO

6

Pedro Ramos, DET

6

Herm Wehmeier, LOU 

5

*Billy Pierce, STL

5

    7 tied with

4

 

 

 

 

 

 

Johnny Antonelli, LOU

58

Sandy Koufax, DET

53

Bob Porterfield, SF

53

*Gene Conley, BRO

52

Bob Friend, NYG 

52

*Billy Pierce, STL

50

Billy Loes, NYG

49

*Bob Purkey, NYG

43

*Pedro Ramos, DET

41

*Dick Donovan, BRO

38

 

 

Bob Porterfield, SF

7.5

Gene Conley, BRO

7.8

Pedro Ramos, DET

8.0

Bob Friend, NYG

9.7

*Roger Craig, STL

9.9

Sam Jones, SF

 10.1

Herm Wehmeier, LOU

10.1

Lew Burdette, BRO

10.3

*Billy Pierce, STL

10.7

Carl Erskine, WAS

10.8

 

 

BROOKLYN

125

LOUISVILLE

126

SAN FRANCISCO

129

WASHINGTON

158

ST. LOUIS

162

NEW YORK

172

DETROIT

175

LOS ANGELES

184

CLEVELAND

190

CHICAGO

201

  

  

  

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

   

Ralph Kiner, BRO
300th home run (May 3), #1 all-time
Billy Pierce, STL
150th win (May 1), #1 all-time
(2 weeks after 2,000th strikeout)
Harvey Haddix, CLE
1,000th strikeout (May 14), #10 all-time
Johnny Antonelli, LOU
20th shutout (May 10), #2-t all-time

MAY

  

4/21

Gus Zernial, CHI

7/14

 

JUN

  

4/28

Roy Sievers, NYG

7/21

 

JUL

  

5/5

Richie Ashburn, BRO

7/28

 

AUG

  

5/12

Lou Brissie, LOU

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