United League of American Base B

Romano Leads Monuments' Title Defense
1963 FOUNDER'S CUP
CLEVELAND (July 8) -- Washington catcher Johnny Romano hit five homers in three days, sparking the Monuments offense and leading the defending Founder's Cup champions to the top of Group A. The 28-year-old backstopper from Hoboken, N.J. hit two homers in a 14-2 win over Manhattan, and followed up with a homer hat-trick and 6 RBIs in Washington's 11-0 drubbing of Detroit in Day 4 of Founder's Cup action. The Mons lost their opening game 2-0 to Brooklyn, but rattled off four straight wins against Manhattan, Cleveland, Detroit, and Los Angeles to top Group A, setting up a quarterfinal meeting with San Francisco. Romano is hitting .500-5-12 in four Founder's Cup games.
   Romano, Washington's first round draft pick in 1960, hit 27 home runs last year, driving in 77 runs, but has improved his eye and is hitting for more power this year (.380 OBP, .538 SLG).
   Other Monuments heroes from the group stage include Willie Mays, who has homered three times, Ron Santo, who is hitting .318 and hit the game-winning homer in the 1-0 win over Los Angeles in game five, and the starting trio of Art Houttman, Don Larsen, and Bob Shaw, who all have ERAs under 1.20.

Outlaws Land Aaron
LOS ANGELES (July 8) -- Los Angeles Outlaws GM Peter Vays acquired all-star right fielder Henry Aaron for a package of prospects and draft picks today. Louisville got first baseman Willie McCovey, shortstop Dick McAuliffe, and four draft picks, including #1 picks in the next two drafts.

In a packed press conference at Arroyo Seco Stadium, Vays shared his thoughts about the trade, which he called a "make or break" deal:

McCovey - I think will be better then his numbers show right now but I can place Frank Robinson or Willie Stargell at first and probably not miss a step so in case he does not get better I took a chance trading him.

McAuliffe - I am happy with Maz and Tresh up the middle so I made him available. If Tresh does not come back from injury then this could leave me with a hole at SS but hey I had to put something in the deal.

2nd and 3rd rounder - I have not found a lot of value in these picks but again I would have loved to keep these but I had to match other offers.

2 first rounders - this hurt a lot as I still need pitching and now I can't draft it. The only thing that helped me with this decision is seeing that the bottom few picks in the next few drafts don't look to be great. Guys like Tony Perez and Oliva will be coming out but I am not sure what I can grab with a late pick which hopefully my team will have.

Aaron - a top 10 hitter in the game, in his prime, good contract. I can't get this in FA, it is hard to draft and gives me a lineup that could help make up for my lack of pitching. His defense may also help my pitchers.

Overall, this could be a make or break move for my team. I see two scenarios.

1 - Lineup of Pinson, Maz, Stargell, Aaron and Robinson (maybe Tresh if he returns to form) club many other teams which allows my starters to give up 4-6 runs a game and still compete.

2 - I score many runs but can't stop anyone and end up as a .500 team with no AAA system and no picks so basically no hope for 3 years. The good news in this ugly scenario is that some of the heart of the organization will still be around in 3 years:
    Pinson will be 27
    Mahaffey will be 28
    Aaron will be 31
    Stargell will be 26
    Robinson will be 30
    Maz will be 29
    Tresh will be 28

GROUP A

GROUP B

DAY 1

Brooklyn 2, Washington 0
Conley anchors 2-hit shutout
Detroit 5, Cleveland 0
Joe Nuxhall anchors 5-hit shutout
Los Angeles 3, Manhattan 2
Hector Lopez game-winning home run in 9th

Chicago 12, San Francisco 4
Lenny Green grand slam in 1st; Demeter 4 RBI
Louisville 9, Dallas 1
Bernie Allen 4 RBI, Dick Stuart HR, 3 RBI
Boston 6, St. Louis 5
Tony Tayler game-winning squeeze bunt in 9th

DAY 2

Brooklyn 3, Detroit 0
Burdette 3-hit shutout, 10 K
Los Angeles 4, Cleveland 3
Bill Sarni game-winning RBI in 9th, McCovey 3-4
Washington 14, Manhattan 2
Johnny Romano 2 HR, 5 RBI; Mays 2 HR

Dallas 4, St. Louis 3
Boog Powell 3-5, 2 RBI
Chicago 4, Louisville 3, 12 inn.
Spangler game-tying RBI in 9th, WP in 12th
San Francisco 4, Boston 3
Colativo, Killebrew HRs in 9th

DAY 3

Manhattan 4, Brooklyn 3
Willie Tasby game-winning PH RBI in 8th
Washington 5, Cleveland 1
Bob Shaw 8.0, 5 H, 1 R, 2-3, 3 RBI
Los Angeles 7, Detroit 1
Bill Mazeroski 2-5, 2B, 3 RBI

Louisville 7, St. Louis 3
Vic Davalillo 3-4, RBI; Rocky Bridges 2 RBI
Chicago 1, Boston 0
Tom Sturdivant 5-hit shutout
Dallas 10, San Francisco 3
Frank Thomas 3-5, 2 2B; Gene Green 3-5

DAY 4

DAY 5

Brooklyn 11, Los Angeles 0
Whitey Ford 5-hit SHO, 14 K; Hamner HR, 4 RBI
Manhattan 6, Cleveland 0
Johnny Podres 8.0, 0 R; Alou, Orsino 2 RBI
Washington 11, Detroit 0
Johnny Romano 3 HR, 6 RBI

St. Louis 5, Chicago 2
Harry Simpson grand slam in 1st
Boston 5, Dallas 4
Eddie Bressoud 3B, HR, 2 RBI
San Francisco 3, Louisville 2
Harmon Killebrew 3-4, HR; Eddie Kasko 3-3

DAY 6

Cleveland 3, Brooklyn 1
John Tsitouris 3-hit CG, 1 R, 7 K
Washington 1, Los Angeles 0
Houtteman 8.0, 4 H, 0 R, 10 K; Santo HR in 1st
Manhattan 5, Detroit 1
Bobby Anderson 7.0, 3 H, 1 R; Umphlett 3-5

Dallas 9, Chicago 3
Bill Virdon 3-5, 2 HR, 4 R; Bilko 3 RBI; Groat 3-5
Boston 7, Louisville 0
Antonelli 4-hit shutout; B. Brown 4-4, 4 RBI
San Francisco 7, St. Louis 4
Killebrew 2-2, 2 RBI; Williams, C Boyer 2 RBI

Group A	W	L	Run Diff
Washington	4	1	+26
Brooklyn	3	2	+13
Manhattan	3	2	-2
Los Angeles	3	2	-4
Cleveland	1	4	-14
Detroit	1	4	-19

Group B	W	L	Run Diff
Boston	3	2	+7
Dallas	3	2	+5
Chicago	3	2	+1
San Francisco	3	2	-10
Louisville	2	3	+3
St. Louis	1	4	-6

QUARTERFINALS

Washington
	San Fran.
San Francisco
		Brooklyn
Brooklyn
	Brooklyn
Chicago
			Boston
Boston
	Boston
Los Angeles
		Boston
Dallas
	Manhattan
Manhattan

San Francisco 3, Washington 2
Harmon Killebrew's solo homer in the 8th broke a 2-2 tie, as "Fat Jack" Fisher (215 pounds) held the defending Founder's Cup champs to 2 runs, despite allowing 10 hits and 4 walks. Killebrew drove in all three Spider runs, with an RBI groundout in the 1st and a sac fly in the 3rd. Don Mincher was 3-for-3 for Washington, and Marshall "Fox" Bridges took the loss.

Brooklyn 3, Chicago 0
A rematch of the last two World Series produced a familiar result, as Gene Conley anchored a 4-hit shutout en route to his 15th win. Jim Gentile homered off Tom Sturdivant and Sandy Amoros was 2-for-2 with 2 walks, as Brooklyn advanced to the semifinals. The Bas are the only semifinalist from last year's inaugural tournament to return to the final four this year. The Louisville Colonels dispatced Brooklyn 6-5 in the semifinals last year.

Boston 6, Los Angeles 5
The Federals turned back a 3-0 Outlaws lead with a 5-run 6th inning and never looked back. Eddie Bressoud drove in 3 runs, including a 2-run double in the 6th. Chris Short got the win, allowing just 3 hits in 6 innings, and Dean Stone nailed down the win with his 13th save. Hank Aaron was 2-for-3 with a double in his Los Angeles debut and Frank Robinson homered.

Manhattan 4, Dallas 0, 11 inn.
Last year's expansion teams battled for 10 scoreless innings, as Manhattan's Jim O'Toole pitched 8.2 innings of shutout ball, and a trio of Dallas relievers stepped up after Dick Donovan left the game in the third with a sore knee. Donovan, Ray Crone, Taylor Phillips, and Ike Delock held the Gray Sox to 5 hits in 10 innings, before the Sox blew the game open with four runs in the top of the 11th. Terry Francona opened the scoring with an RBI double, Jim Finigan hit an RBI single, and Joe Orsino added a pair with another single. Bill Muffett "Caper" improved to 4-1 with the win.

SEMIFINALS

Brooklyn 5, San Francisco 1
Mickey Mantle doubled and homered, driving in three runs, and Lew Burdette outpitched Jack Kralick, as Brooklyn handily beat San Francisco 5-1 in the first Founder's Cup semifinal. The Superbas jumped to an early lead on Felix Mantilla's 2-run single with two outs in the first, made it three with Mantle's homer in the third, and added two more on his ninth inning double. Rocky Colavito homered in the sixth for the Spiders' only run and Kralick took the loss, allowing 9 hits and 3 runs in 7 innings.

Boston 3, Manhattan 1
Bob Friend and Stan Williams took a 1-1 duel to the seventh, when Bill Freehan broke the game open with a two-run homer. Williams allowed just four hits in a complete game effort, but two of them were home runs, and the Gray Sox offense failed to convert numerous scoring opportunities, plating a single run while leaving eight men on base. Don "Tiger" Hoak had three hits and Ed Bouchee and Terry Francona had two hits each. Friend allowed 8 hits and just one unearned run, notching his 14th win and booking Boston a place in the Founder's Cup final.

FINAL PREVIEW:
BOS Antonelli 6-9, 3.11 (1-1, 0.00 in FC)
BRO Perry 6-5, 2.69 (0-2, 3.95 in FC)

BOS: Bressoud .478, 2 HR, 7 RBI; Brown 8-16
BRO: Kaline .321 (9-28); Gentile 2 HR, 4 RBI

FINAL

Federals Lift the Cup
Antonelli Tosses 23.2 Shutout Innings
Boston 4, Brooklyn 0
CLEVELAND (July 10) -- Less than a month after joining the Boston Federals after nearly a decade with the Louisville Colonels, Johnny Antonelli led his new team to its first hardware today. Antonelli did not allow a single earned run in three Founder's Cup starts, including a four-hit shutout of his former club in the last game of the group stage. The Feds took an early lead on cleanup hitter Bob Allison's 2-run single, and doubled their lead in the ninth on back-to-back doubles by pinch hitter Manny Jimenez and Bobby Brown, who was 4-for-4.
   After going 3-2 in group play, Boston staged a come-from-behind win to edge Los Angeles 6-5 in the quarterfinals, then knocked out Manhattan in the semifinals with Bill Freehan's eight inning home run.
   The Federals are currently in second place in the East Division, with a 45-42 record, and are vying for the first winning season since 1956. Shawn Martin took control of the then New York Gothams in 1957 after the brief interim management of Jackie Robinson and since his first full season in 1958 he has improved the club's record every season except last year, the franchise's second year in Fenway Park.
   In 12 years, the GothFeds have had only three winning seasons, their best year coming in 1954, when the All-Stars Irv Noren, Larry Doby, and Robinson led the Gothams to a 85-69 record and a third place finish. New York's best starting pitcher that year was 22-year old Cuban Mike Fornieles, whose career-ending injury the following May signaled the beginning of the club's decline. After a 73-81 year in '55, the Gothams bounced back to 80-74 in 1956, but club has had six losing seasons in a row since then.

Banks on Fire, Colts Pull Away
CHICAGO (July 31) --