|
 Closing the Gap
Detroit, Dallas Zero in on
Division Leaders
DETROIT (Aug. 16) -- The second places
teams shaved four and 2.5 games off the division leads in early August, as
both Detroit and Dallas got hot while Brooklyn and Chicago stumbled.
Detroit was 9-3 from Aug. 2-14, including five one-run wins. Pedro Ramos
led the staff with three wins in three starts and a 1.03 ERA.
Reliever John Wyatt pitched 8.2 shutout innings in 7 games. Right fielder
Jim King led the offense, with six homers and 17 RBIs in 14 games, and Jim
Cunningham added 12 RBIs. Newly acquired third baseman Ed "The Glider"
Charles drove in the winning run in a 7-6, 12-inning win at Manhattan on August
14, but did little else, batting just .167 with a .474 OPS in his first 13
games.
Meanwhile, Brooklyn lost six straight games (possibly their longest
skid in years) and went 1-9 from Aug. 2-12, as the offense wilted in the
mid-summer heat. The Bas averaged just 3.2 runs over the 10 game stretch,
and were held to two runs five times. July Player of the Month Mickey
Mantle hit just .227-1-5 in 13 games, and Granny Hamner was the only player with
more than 5 RBIs in 13 August games.
Out West, the expansion Dallas Texans were 9-1 from Aug. 1-10,
including a four-game sweep of St. Louis. Third baseman Frank Thomas
powered the Texans offense with 5 homers and 10 RBIs, overtaking Wally Post for
the team lead with 76. Second baseman Roman Mejias is having the best
month of his season, and probably career, hitting .367 with 9 RBIs in 12 games.
Art Ceccarelli was the club's top pitcher, winning all four of his starts with
31 strikeouts and a 1.35 ERA, while closer Ray Crone notched six saves to become
the league leader with 28, overtaking the Griffins' Tex Clevenger.
West-leading Chicago was swept at St. Louis and lost three of four
at Detroit from July 31 to Aug. 6, before eventually rebounding with a four-game
sweep at Los Angeles. Third starter Tom Sturdivant (5-5, 2.91) has
struggled lately, losing four of five starts from July 24 to August 10, and
reliever Hersh Freeman's woes continued. Freeman had a 9.53 ERA in six
games, after a 6.50 ERA in July.
 Harry
Anderson Wins Player of the Week
LOUISVILLE (Aug. 6) -- Journeyman
outfielder Harry Anderson claimed POW honors today after hitting .563 with three
homers in 8 RBIs for the week. Anderson, 30, a second round draft pick in
1957 bounced around the league, playing for three different organizations in his
first five years, but never appearing in more than 46 games until this year.
Anderson was one of the "other" players in the deal that sent veteran third
baseman Willie Jones and starter Robin Roberts to the Colonels for shortstop
Rocky Bridges and draft picks.
Anderson bats cleanup against righties, and has compiled a .314
average with 7 HR and 40 RBI in 210 at bats. His .514 slugging and .888
OPS are career highs. The North East, Maryland native figures to get even
more playing time at Parkway Field in light of the recent trade sending Al
Kaline to Brooklyn.
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W
E S T D I V I S I O N
by
Charlie Qualls |
E A S T D I V I S I O N |
|
 Hurtin’s
Not For Certain
Don’t tell the Colts they’re leading the league in hard
luck injuries, because they don’t seem to notice. The
starting pitching has hardly missed a beat since the
untimely departure of Carl Erskine. Don Mossi has rebounded
nicely from his ’61 letdown performance. Tom
Sturdivant has been excellent in his role as hole
plugger. Bud Daley, with his measly 3.53 ERA has been the
"worst" of the bunch. Billy Pierce is, well, Billy Pierce,
nailing down his 6th career 20+ win season. The Bullpen has
been another story. Closer
Don Elston had blown 10 saves before finally losing his job
to Hersh Freeman, who’s already blown 5.
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 x
|
|
Out Of The Blue, Into The
Fire
Boss DeGrass has taken a ragtag bunch of misfits, and
turned them into an elite fighting squad. Dick “W” Donovan
was on his way to serious Cy Young contention before being
sidelined for 6+ starts. Curt Simmons may not be able to
fill those shoes down the stretch. Tom Brewer and Art
Ceccarelli are posting career years, but have suffered from
lack of run support. Bob Miller has been his rock
steady self, but at 35, leaves us wondering how much he’s
got left. The pen seems to be blessed as well. Ray Crone
had notched only 4 saves in his UL career until this year.
He
currently leads all ’62 stoppers with 28 saves. It’s a
career kind of year as Taylor Phillips and Frank Sullivan
are also shooting far more accurately than either ever has.
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 x |
|
Antonelli And What The Helli?
Things are looking grim for the once mighty Colonel
rotation. Johnny Ant’s getting his sugar, but the fun stops there.
Herm Wehmeier’s keeping his old stuff in order, but has a losing record
to show for it. 37-year-old Tom Gorman’s big money days are behind
him as he comes to the end of a contract year. Newcomer Jack Kralick
has shown promise, but not enough. Ken
Johnson knows how to strike out batters, but his mastery ends there.
The bullpen has suffered a loss of Face, and is having trouble finding
a steady closer to replace him.
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x |
|
 Where
Can I Score Some Herb?
The Maroons are having some trouble getting help for their Ace.
Herb Score is working his butt off. He’s dusting the opposition in K’s
(313, that’s 12 1/2 K’s per 9 innings!!) Bill Monbouquette is swimming
along nicely, but is still a work in progress. Larry Jackson showed
what he can do last year, but seems to have forgotten how he did it. Bob Bruce is showing
signs of steadiness in his early going. But beyond that, nuttin’!
Frank Lary and Arnie Portocarrero were busted back to the kid’s table,
and Hamilton and Craig can’t be far behind. But Skipper Smith has to be
happy with his bullpen. Duren, Hoeft, McDaniel and
rookie Radatz have kept things from getting out of hand. Jim Brosnan’s
’61 magic seems to have worn off, however.
|
 x |
|
 Firing
Blanks
Traffic is a lot less congested in LA, thanks to the
league’s 11th ranked staff. Not a winning record in the
bunch. When Hank Aguirre’s the closest thing to an Ace you
can find, it might be time to re-shuffle the deck. New meat
Art Mahaffey hasn’t been terrible, but he hasn’t helped much
either. Bob Rush and Jim
Bunning are just happy to have jobs. The bullpen has been
the only thing keeping this staff from total ruin. Ray
“Gun” Narleski has been the bright spot, hoisting a 1.26 ERA
and 17 saves. Youngsters Dick
Stigman and Joe Horlen have been a Godsend as they have kept
their ERA’s under 4.
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Out Of Arm’s Way
At least Skipper J. Nellis got the memo that just because
you’re called the Spiders, doesn’t mean you should have only eight arms. But the help that was called seems
to be phoning it in. Even Ron Kline’s perennial over-
achievement hasn’t kept the Spider
pitching staff from being the UL’s premiere whipping boys.
Juan Pizzaro’s still only 25 and is definitely crumbling
under the pressure of being asked to do so much so soon.
The bullpen has not fared much better. Luckily,
Willard Schmidt and Johhny Klippstein have
bounced back from horrible ’61 efforts. But antiques Hoyt
Wilhelm and Bob Hooper just don’t seem to have it in them to
help out.
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x
|
|
|
BATTING
AVERAGE |
HOME RUNS |
RBI |
OPS |
RUNS
SCORED |
|
Granny Hamner,
BRO |
.368
|
|
Joe Cunningham, DET |
.331
|
|
Bill Skowron,
LOU |
.318
|
|
*Davey Williams,
DET |
.315
|
|
Ernie Banks, CHI |
.315
|
|
Frank Thomas, DAL |
.310
|
|
*Sandy Amoros,
BRO |
.306
|
|
Mickey Mantle,
BRO |
.303
|
|
*Billy Williams,
SF |
.302
|
|
*Joe Adcock, CHI |
.302
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Willie Mays, WAS |
35
|
|
Wally Post, LOU |
28
|
|
Roger Maris, STL |
27
|
|
Jim King, DET |
26
|
|
Hank Aaron, LOU |
24
|
|
Norm Cash, CHI |
24
|
|
*Bill Skowron,
LOU |
24 |
|
*Frank Thomas,
DAL |
24
|
|
*Ernie Banks, CHI |
23
|
|
*Harmon Killebrew,
SF |
23
|
|
Frank Robinson,
LA |
23
|
|
|
|
|
|
Granny Hamner,
BRO |
101
|
|
Willie Mays, WAS |
93
|
|
Mickey Mantle,
BRO |
88
|
|
Ernie Banks, CHI |
87
|
|
Roger Maris, STL |
83
|
|
Leon Wagner, DET |
81
|
|
*Jim King, DET |
80
|
|
Frank Thomas, DAL |
76
|
|
Dick Kokos, STL |
75
|
|
Wally Post, DAL |
75 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Eddie Mathews,
CLE |
.999 |
|
Mickey Mantle,
BRO |
.973
|
|
Granny Hamner,
BRO |
.971
|
|
Ernie Banks, CHI |
.958
|
|
Willie Mays, WAS |
.945
|
|
Roger Maris, STL |
.943
|
|
Joe Cunningham, DET |
.927 |
|
Bill Skowron,
LOU |
.925
|
|
*Jim King, DET |
.900
|
|
*Joe Adcock, CHI |
.879
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
BROOKLYN
|
668
|
|
CHICAGO
|
612
|
|
DETROIT
|
573
|
|
DALLAS
|
571 |
|
ST. LOUIS
|
568
|
|
LOS ANGELES
|
525
|
|
LOUISVILLE
|
510
|
|
WASHINGTON
|
500
|
|
CLEVELAND
|
488
|
|
BOSTON
|
487
|
|
MANHATTAN |
472 |
|
SAN FRANCISCO
|
465
|
|
|
EARNED
RUN AVERAGE |
WINS |
STRIKEOUTS |
RATIO |
RUNS
ALLOWED |
|
Lew Burdette,
BRO |
2.01
|
|
Johnny Antonelli,
LOU |
2.26
|
|
Billy Pierce, CHI |
2.29
|
|
Pedro Ramos, DET |
2.37
|
|
Gene Conley, BRO |
2.55
|
|
Carl Erskine,
CHI |
2.63
|
|
Joey Jay, DET |
2.63
|
|
Whitey Ford, BRO |
2.80
|
|
Don Mossi, CHI |
2.98 |
|
Johnny Podres,
MAN |
3.00
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dick Donovan, DAL |
20
|
|
Billy Pierce, CHI |
20
|
|
Pedro Ramos, DET |
20
|
|
Johnny Antonelli,
LOU |
19
|
|
Lew Burdette,
BRO |
18
|
|
Bob Miller, DAL |
16
|
|
Jim Perry, BRO |
16
|
|
*Art Ceccarelli,
DAL |
15
|
|
Gene Conley, BRO |
15
|
|
Sandy Koufax,
DET |
15
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Herb Score, STL |
313
|
|
Johnny Antonelli,
LOU |
262 |
|
Billy Pierce,
CHI |
243
|
|
Toothpick Jones, BOS |
237
|
|
Art Houtteman,
WAS |
224
|
|
Bob Miller, DAL |
223
|
|
Whitey Ford, BRO
|
219 |
|
Gene Conley, BRO |
207
|
|
Pedro Ramos, DET |
205
|
|
Sandy Koufax,
DET |
203 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Johnny Antonelli,
LOU |
8.9
|
|
Billy Pierce, CHI
|
8.9
|
|
Lew Burdette, BRO |
9.0
|
|
Pedro Ramos, DET |
9.1 |
|
Johnny Podres,
MAN |
9.4
|
|
Gene Conley, BRO |
9.8
|
|
Whitey Ford, BRO |
9.8
|
|
Carl Erskine,
CHI |
9.9
|
|
Bob Miller, DAL |
10.1
|
|
*Herb Score, STL |
10.5
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
BROOKLYN
|
427
|
|
CHICAGO
|
452
|
|
DETROIT
|
476
|
|
DALLAS
|
514
|
|
CLEVELAND
|
535
|
|
BOSTON
|
540
|
|
MANHATTAN |
550
|
|
ST. LOUIS
|
551
|
|
LOUISVILLE
|
553
|
|
WASHINGTON
|
587
|
|
LOS ANGELES
|
589
|
|
SAN FRANCISCO
|
665
|
|
|
|
BATTER OF THE MONTH |
PLAYER OF THE WEEK |
MILESTONES |
|
APR
|
Roger Maris, STL |
4/9
|
Roger Maris, STL |
7/9 |
Marv Throneberry,
DAL |
Harvey
Kuenn, CLE |
|
MAY
|
Willie Mays,
WAS |
4/16
|
Don Mueller, LOU |
7/16
|
Mickey Mantle, BRO |
1,500th hit
(Aug. 13), #12 all-time |
|
JUN
|
Ernie Banks,
CHI |
4/23
|
Carl Erskine, CHI |
7/23
|
Lew Burdette, BRO
(2) |
Whitey Ford, BRO |
|
JUL
|
Mickey
Mantle, BRO |
4/30
|
Whitey Ford, BRO |
7/30
|
Sandy Koufax, DET |
2,000th
strikeout (Aug. 3), #4 all-time |
|
AUG
|
|
5/7
|
Bill White, CLE |
8/6
|
Harry Anderson,
LOU |
|
|
SEP
|
|
5/14
|
Bill Skowron, LOU |
8/13
|
Johnny Antonelli,
LOU |
|
|
PITCHER OF THE MONTH |
5/21
|
Joey Jay, DET |
8/20
|
|
|
|
APR
|
Gene Conley,
BRO |
5/28
|
Willie Mays, WAS |
8/27
|
|
|
|
MAY
|
Billy Pierce,
CHI |
6/4
|
Granny Hamner, BRO |
9/3
|
|
|
|
JUN
|
Johnny Podres,
MAN |
6/11
|
Wally Post, DAL |
9/10
|
|
|
|
JUL
|
Lew Burdette,
BRO |
6/18
|
Ernie Banks, CHI |
9/17
|
|
|
|
AUG
|
|
6/25
|
Lew Burdette, BRO |
9/24
|
|
|
|
SEP
|
|
7/2
|
Orlando Cepeda,
BOS |
10/1 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
UNITED LEAGUE CHAMPIONS |
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
|
CY YOUNG AWARD
|
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
|
|
1951 |
ST. LOUIS MAROONS
|
Ralph Kiner, DET |
Sam Zoldak, STL |
Jackie Jensen, LOU |
|
1952
|
WASHINGTON MONUMENTS
|
Jackie Robinson, NYG |
Larry Jansen, WAS |
Stu Miller, WAS |
|
1953
|
WASHINGTON MONUMENTS
|
Mickey Mantle, BOS |
Stu Miller, WAS |
Smoky Burgess, BRO |
|
1954
|
WASHINGTON MONUMENTS
|
Stan Musial, STL |
Billy Pierce, STL |
Ed Bailey, LOU |
|
1955
|
BROOKLYN SUPERBAS
|
Roy Campanella, LA |
Tom Gorman, BRO |
Gene Conley, BRO |
|
1956
|
WASHINGTON
MONUMENTS
|
Ralph Kiner, DET |
Johnny Antonelli, LOU |
Frank Robinson, LA |
|
1957
|
BROOKLYN SUPERBAS
|
Granny Hamner, BRO |
Gene Conley, BRO |
Roger Maris, BOS |
|
1958
|
LOUISVILLE COLONELS
|
Willie Mays, WAS |
Carl Erskine, WAS |
Orlando Cepeda, NYG |
|
1959
|
SAN FRANCISCO SPIDERS
|
Granny Hamner, BRO |
Gene Conley, BRO |
Vada Pinson, LA |
|
1960
|
BROOKLYN SUPERBAS |
Hank Aaron, LOU |
Gene Conley, BRO |
Joe Gibbon, NYG |
|
1961 |
BROOKLYN SUPERBAS |
Granny Hamner, BRO |
Johnny Antonelli, LOU |
Dick Howser, WAS |
|
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