Erskine Joins Pierce on DL . . .
Colts' Top 2 Starters Out For Season
CHICAGO (Sept. 3) -- On a dark and foreboding early September weekend, the Chicago Colts' West Division lead was cut to five games, and they lost their second star pitcher in under a week.  On Saturday, the Southsiders rallied back from a 6-2 deficit to pull within a run of the visiting Spiders, only to have reliever Barney Shultz cough up two decisive runs in the ninth.  Louisville's 14-3 drubbing of St. Louis allowed them to gain a game for the third game-date in a row, after an off day Friday.
   The Colts rallied to a 5-3 win on Sunday, but suffered a major setback when their dominant righthander Carl "Oisk" Erskine was forced from the game with a strained elbow ligament that will likely sideline him until Halloween.  Erskine (19-9, 2.90), 4th in ERA and Ratio, and 5th in wins, joins ace Billy Pierce (16-7, 2.63) on the DL.  The duo were the main reason the Colts turned the corner this year to become the dominant team in the West.

. . . But Horsies Smell the Pennant
Colts Pull Away With Parkway Wins
LOUISVILLE (Sept. 14) -- Chicago edged closer to its first pennant with a pair of wins yesterday and today in its last series with Louisville this year after splitting a pair with the Colonels last week at Comiskey.
   Chicago won 6-3 yesterday.  Sherm Lollar was 3-for-3 with a homer in three RBIs in a 6-3 win as Bill Henry, filling in for the injured ace Billy Pierce, held Louisville to six hits in eight-plus innings in just his second start of the year.  In the second game, a 5-3 win, Bud Daley (10-8, 4.16) pitched seven innings of three-hit ball, as center fielder Lenny Green led the offense with a double and a triple.
   The wins give Chicago a nine-game lead with 15 games left, a seemingly insurmountable lead; all the more reason nervous Colt fans, keenly cognizant of the club's history, will be closely following every at bat until the division is clinched.

20-20-20-20-20 Vision
BROOKLYN (Sept. 6) -- Don't tell Brooklyn ace Gene Conley that he is a longshot to pick up his fourth Cy Young Award this season.  Conley flirted with a no-hitter today en route to his third shutout and 20th win, as Brooklyn edged Washington 1-0.  Conley's no-hit bid was busted up by pinch hitter Norm Larker, a late pick in the 1958 draft who is having one heck of a year (.330/.385/.408).  Sammy Taylor (.231-13-60) bunted over Larker to put the tying run in scoring position, but Dick Howser struck out and Dick Cole grounded to second to end the game.  Granny Hamner singled home Mickey Mantle in the first inning for the game's only run.
   The shutout was the 16th in Conley's career, and the victory makes him the first player in UL history to win 20 games in five straight seasons.  Conley's teammate Lew Burdette (17-7, 3.03) pitched the league's first perfect game on June 12.

Monuments No Longer Erect
WASHINGTON (Sept. 15) -- The league's Cinderella team fell back to earth--hard.  The Washington Monuments, celebrated overachievers who battled for second place for much of the season, are 1-10 since Sept. 1 and have fallen from third to fifth place in the UL's East Division. 
   The Mons are four-time UL champions three years into what is perhaps the UL's most total rebuilding process.  After a franchise worst 57-97 record last year, nobody expected much from the Mons in '61.  With a roster chock full of rookies or recent rookies, the conventional wisdom held that even modest success lie a few years in the future.  But the Monuments got out of the gate fast with a 14-9 April, and boasted the league's third best record into late June.  Even after an 9-14 July, the Monuments held onto second place, by the narrowest of margins--only four games separated second from fifth.
   The recent 1-10 skid can be pinned mainly on pitching.  The club has given up 10 runs three times this month, including back-to-back blowouts in Cleveland (13-2 and 11-5) on Sept. 12 and 13.  Stu Miller, Toothpick Sam Jones, and Jim Kaat are a combined 0-8 with a 7.85 ERA in their 8 starts, and closer Bob Chakales has turned into absolute pooh.  After 24 saves thru August, including 7 in the month of August, Chakales has a 19.29 ERA in his last three games.