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 Shuffled
Barons Gel in June
Newbies Lead
Club on 11-3 Run
CLEVELAND
(June 16) -- The Cleveland Barons staked a solid claim on the East
Division's second place with a strong 11-3 run in early June that
distanced them from division rivals New York, Washington, and
Detroit. Ace Billy Pierce, the crown jewel of the 14-player
blockbuster trade on May 1, overcame a slow start (2-2, 3.42 in 5
starts) to win five straight games from May 24 to June 10, before
finally losing to New York June 15, which ended the Barons'
five-game winning streak.
Cleveland won series at Washington and Louisville, and
at home against New York, San Francisco, and New York again.
Second baseman Billy Goodman led a Cleveland lineup with a .375
average and 13 RBI in 12 games, including his first POG of the year
in a 9-4 at Griffith Stadium on June 2.
 Spiders
Climbing Out of Cellar
San Francisco
Narrows Gap with 18-6 Run
SAN FRANCISCO
(June 16) -- The defending champion Spiders were written off in some
quarters after an abysmal 12-26 start found the club 10 games back
just six weeks into the season. But don't put away those glass
slippers just yet. Last season's cinderella team is riding the
crest of a 18-6 run that moved them into a fourth place and within
spitting distance of the first place Louisville Colonels.
Juan Pizarro (8-3, 2.62), who had fans questioning his
nearly $5 million contract after an 0-3, 5.14 start, won eight
straight starts before leaving after two innings with a sore
shoulder on June 15. Pizarro held opponents to three runs or
less in all but one of those eight starts, posting a 1.63 ERA.
Ace Ron Kline (7-3, 2.77) has been equally hot, if not so
fortunate. Kline won Player of the Game in six straight starts
from May 21 to June 10, allowing no earned runs in the first and
then just a single run in five consecutive starts for a 0.95
ERA. Unfortunately for Kline, only first first three of these
stellar outings produced wins, as the 28-year old righthander
suffered a series of no-decision in late Spiders wins. On June
2, shortstop Tito Francona homered in the 10th in a 3-2 win over Los
Angeles. On June 6, Herb Score blew a save, but the Spiders
rallied with two in the ninth to edge Washington 4-3. And on
June 10, the champs plated a pair in the ninth to break a 1-1 tie at
Detroit.
 Founding
Fathers: Charlie Qualls
Bitten by the
Demon Spahn of Underachieving Hell
#3 of 8 part
series by Glen Reed
Charles Benson Qualls is one of the winningest GMs in MicroLeague
baseball history, though he's yet to turn that impressive pedigree
into sustained OOTP success. His recipe is simple enough--all
pitching, all the time. When it works, no teams are better than
Chuck's. But when it doesn't, the let-down can be palpable.
In
the spirit of pitching-first, Qualls spent three of his first five
1951 Inaugural Draft selections on guys you may have heard
of--Warren Spahn, Ed Lopat, and Bob Lemon. Unfortunately for Beacon
faithful, Iron Mike apparently never got the memo. Spahn,
Boston's first-ever draft pick, went all of 75-82 in five
disappointing seasons atop the red dirt hill at Fenway Park, won
twenty games once and finished in the top ten in wins twice, but in
losses thrice. The lefty ranks with Newk and Robin Roberts as the
truly great disappointments in UL history (did somebody mention
Mickey McDermott?).
Unfortunately,
our narrative runs from bad to worse when we move to Lopat and
Lemon--two real-life tough guys that wilted in the UL sun, producing
losing records in five Boston seasons, as well as seeing
significant time in the minor leagues.
Contrary
to Qualls' reputation as a pitching hound, he demonstrated his
class in the initial draft and after through his selection of
position players. Indeed, his first two ever position player picks
were 1953 MVP Mickey Mantle (in the second round!) and Gus
"Ozark Ike" Zernial. Mantle's career arc has been much
discussed in this space; Zernial has been mostly overlooked.
The slugging native of Beaumont, Texas breathes some rarefied UL
air--he sits #2 all-time on the home runs and runs batted in tables,
and is #1 all-time in doubles.
Among
Qualls' other notable entry-draft selections were Bobby Brown, Eddie
Bressoud, Earl Torgeson "The Earl of Snohomish", Chico
Carrasquel, and Suitcase Simpson, as well as personal favorite and
current Brooklyn Superba manager, Phil "Scooter" Rizutto.
One can't talk about CBQ's place in league history
without reviewing two other notable contributions. He's the first to
relocate and rename a team, trading in Boston and the
pitcher-unfriendly confines of Fenway Park for Cleveland's expansive
Municipal Stadium. Cleveland Muni is often referred to as "The
Mistake by the Lake," but that doesn't befront Qualls as long
as it holds homers down.
But certainly the greatest change Chuck can be said to
have wrought is remaking the league's draft structure. The
league enacted a controversial rookie draft lottery structure in
1954, a system that would stay in place through 1957, when it
was stricken from the books on grounds of constituting cruel and
unusual punishment. In those four years, Qualls' Boston Beacon sides
lost draft position every year, and gave up seven spots in all.
The cries of indignation were loudest in 1957, when Charlie's team
fully deserved the first pick in a draft that featured not one but
two Hall of Fame starting pitchers, but was cruelly knocked down
three notches to fourth. (In an interesting aside, Charlie caught a
break that year courtesy of Louisville owner Mark Allen, who
inexplicably drafted Don Cardwell third overall, leaving 1957 Rookie
of the Year Roger Maris for the fourth pick. This mirrored the great
entry draft snafu, when Allen chose Mickey McDermott, rather than
Mickey Mantle, leaving the Commerce Comet for Qualls to swoop in the
second round.)
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