Baby Boom
Colonels Stockpile Draft Picks
LOUISVILLE (July 31) -- Louisville GM Mark Allen loaded up on draft picks on the eve of the trading deadline, acquiring five more draft picks in next year's draft, bringing its total to 10 draft picks in addition to its own, including four first round picks.  The youth movement is a dramatic reversal of Allen's approach of a year ago, when he traded away prospects and picks for a handful of 30-something veterans in a failed effort to catch Chicago.  At the time, Allen acknowledged the strategy was a roll of the dice, and the result was a 82-80, third place finish, 19 games behind the division winners.
   Allen has traded away his best pitcher, his two best hitters, and several other key veterans and prospects to stake a claim of a large slice of the 1964 draft class.  In a period of 18 months, Allen has shifted gears to the most aggressive "win now" strategy in league history to perhaps the most aggressive rebuilding efforts.
   The most recent spate of trades saw the Colonels bid farewell to third baseman Willie "Puddin Head" Jones (.320-8-33 in 93 games) and starter "Baby Joe" Presko (7-6, 4.93 in 13 starts).  Louisville has Brooklyn, Los Angeles, and St. Louis' first round picks next year, in addition to its own.  The Colonels will have 11 of the first 36 picks in next year's draft, and will have three first round picks in 1965.  Louisville had the second worst first half record (31-47) and have been even worse in the second half (13-27, including 4-20 in their last 24 games).  The club ranks dead last in ERA (5.16) and runs allowed (5.5 runs per game).

Howser Eyes MVP
Monuments Youngster Batting .404
WASHINGTON (August 16) -- Washington Monuments second baseman Dick Howser is quietly compiling one of the best seasons in UL history and is emerging as a leading contender for the 1963 MVP Award.  Howser, 27, who took Rookie of the Year honors in 1961, could make a run for the first .400 season in UL history and is well-positioned to break Granny Hamner's record for hits in a season.  The native Miamian hit .500 in early August (27-54 in 13 games), averaging better than 2 hits a game to raise his season average to .404.  Howser is hitting .459 (113-246) since June 1, a 59-game hot streak in which he raised his average from .337to .404, and which included a 29-game hitting streak.  Howser cracked the .400 mark on August 10 after hitting 3-for-5 in a 3-2 win at Cleveland and has three or more hits in 5 of his last 7 games.  The flirtation with .400 is all the more incredible in light of Howser's 1962 stats.  The top rookie in '61 suffered a textbook sophomore slump, batting just .226 or nearly 50 points below his rookie average.
  His 181 hits puts him more than 30 hits ahead of the pack ("Mr. Colt" Ernie Banks, his chief rival for MVP consideration, is second with 150 hits).  Banks (.344-31-96, 1.060) does enjoy a sizable advantage in the power numbers (1st in OPS, 2nd in RBI, 3rd in HR), which combined with playing for a first place team probably makes him the smart money, but if Howser continues to flirt with .400 and manages to break some batting records set by Hamner--the modern day Ty Cobb--he stands a chance to bring the first MVP to the Nation's Capital since Willie Mays in 1958.

Re-Erecting the Monuments
   Howser is the poster child of the new generation of Monuments.  After two last place finishes, GM Doug Aiton's rebuilding process is beginning to pay dividends.  The Mons are in third place (61-58) and have a good shot at their first winning season since 1958, the last of their seven years of 90+ win seasons.  The four-time champions were heartened by their Founder's Cup win last year, which they hope is a harbinger of greater things to come.
   The heart of the team is still, naturally, the great Willie Mays.  Still only 31, the "Say Hey Kid" is in his 13th season and is closing in on 400 home runs and 2,000 hits.  But the club has been completely rebuilt from the ground up around the Mays keystone.  Despite Mays' indisputable lifetime achievements, it is actually catcher Johnny Romano (.257-26-77, .907 OPS), 28, who leads the club in home runs and RBIs this season.  Third baseman Ron Santo, 23, shortstop Ron Hansen, 25, first baseman Don Mincher, 25, and left fielder Jim Hickman, 26, all figure big in Washington's future, and don't forget Carl Yastrzemski, 23, still cooking down in Baltimore.
   The big question mark is the pitching.  A ballclub that once prided itself on the best pitching foursome in the league now faces the prospect of a bare cupboard in a couple years.  Of the four starters, on Bob Shaw, 30, is under 34.  Don Larsen (17-14, 3.01), once a bit player, is enjoying his best year ever and has earned the job of staff ace.  But at 34, Larsen will be long gone by the time the youngsters hit their prime.  Lefty Jim Kaat, 23, is a likely candidate to fill Larsen's spot when he departs, but who will replace Art Houtteman, 36, and Robin Roberts, 35, both of whom figure to retire before Larsen?  The Baltimore Terrapins have the worst pitching staff in the International League.  Only Phil Ortega has an even marginal chance of making into a major league rotation.

Brock Shatters Stolen Base Record
Spiders OF Breaks Ashburn's Nine-Year-Old Mark
by Jeff Tonole
SAN FRANCISCO (August 16) -- San Francisco outfielder Lou Brock broke the United League single-season stolen base record on August 12 at Seals Stadium, when he stole second base in the bottom of the 13th inning against the Los Angeles Outlaws. It was Brock's 72nd theft of the year, one more than Boston's Richie Ashburn stole in 1954 when he was with Brooklyn. Brock added another steal on August 14, for a total of 73 swipes in 113 games. Brock has also clubbed 14 home runs and 5 triples in just his second year in the league.
   It's not clear what's more remarkable -- that Brock snapped the record with seven weeks still left in the season, or that he did it while compiling an on-base percentage of just .312 and striking out 90 times. What is clear is that Brock has a green light to run any time he reaches base, and he's taking full advantage -- for example, Brock has stolen third base 29 times, leading to 26 runs. Brock has scored 82 runs so far this season, good for fourth in the league, and he's currently on pace for 96 steals and 108 runs.
   Brock's freedom on the basepaths is part of a broader strategy in San Francisco to help manufacture more runs for one of the league's most anemic offenses. The Spiders lead the league with 142 steals, 25 more than second-place Boston. Spiders rookie Pete Rose is also among the league leaders with 29 steals. Despite their best efforts, however, San Francisco continues to struggle when it comes to run production, averaging less than 4 runs a game.

Robinson Catches Killebrew in HR Race
LOS ANGELES (August 16) -- Outlaw slugger Frank Robinson has erased Harmon Killebrew's comfortable lead in the home run race.  Robinson cranked eight home runs in the last 10 days, including a homer hat trick in Louisville on August 15.  Meanwhile San Francisco's Killebrew has not homered since July 24, a 14-game drought, and will sit out the rest of August with a strained achilles tendon.  Killebrew had 35 dingers by the end of July, eight more than Robinson.  Both Robinson and Killebrew are on a trajectory to break Gus Zernial's 1957 record of 46 home runs.  Robinson (.305-35-81, .969 OPS) has been a key cog in a Los Angeles offense that has been bolstered by the addition of "Hammerin Hank" Aaron.

Manhattan, Dallas Move Up
DALLAS (Aug. 16) -- The league's expansion teams moved up a spot in the standings in early August.  The Dallas Texans, who stunned the league with a 97-65 record in its inaugural season, is the hottest team in the circuit (11-3) this month, overtaking the St. Louis Maroons for third place in the West.  Meanwhile, the Manhattan Gray Sox took advantage of Cleveland's slump to move into fourth place in the East and only 2.5 games out of third place, where they finished last year.
   Dallas' surge was led by Bobby Clemente (.400-2-15 in 13 games), Steve Bilko (.352-5-14), and Bob Purkey (3-0, 1.50).  Dallas won 8 of 10 games against Louisville, and swept the San Francisco Spiders.
   Manhattan swept Cleveland August 11-13 to overtake them in the standings.  Johnny Podres pitched a four-hitter in a 2-1 win, Joe Orsino capped a dramatic comeback with a game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth for a 3-2 win, and Lee Maye hit a three-run homer off Don Elston to break a 2-2 tie in the eighth inning.  The Sox have the third best rotation (3.65), have allowed the third fewest hits, and our fourth in strikeouts.