Colts Galloping Down Homestretch
Eight-Game Win Streak, Magic Number is 5
LOS ANGELES (Sept. 1) -- The Chicago Colts won eight straight games, opening up a 10-game lead over Los Angeles and slicing their magic number to five, as they close in on their third straight West Division title.  After LA swept the Colts on Sept. 4-6, cutting their lead from 10 to 7 games, the Horsies rattled off successive sweeps of divisional rivals Louisville, St. Louis, and San Francisco.  Ray Herbert (1.35) and Tom Sturdivant (1.48) lead the rotation in ERA this month, and both are in the top six in ERA and wins.  Don Demeter (who has split his time between 1B, 3B, LF, and CF) led the Chicago offense with 4 home runs and 10 RBI in 14 games, and jumped to 6th in OPS and 7th in home runs.  Demeter (.313-31-89) is having a career year, having already doubled his best HR total and notched career highs in hits, RBIs, and average. 
   Three  Colts starters are also having career years.  Don Mossi (23-7, 3.02) has career bests in wins and ERA; Ray Herbert (22-10, 2.84) is having one of the biggest breakout years in UL history, having not won in double-digits since 1958; and Tom "Smoke" Sturdivant (22-7, 2.67), has sliced his ERA nearly a full point and won 20 games for the first time.
   Chicago's rotation matches up well against Brooklyn this year, and provided everyone stays healthy, the Colts have a better shot and taking the Superbas this year than in their previous two World Series meetings.

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Brooklyn Clinches
BROOKLYN (Sept. 5) -- The Brooklyn Superbas wrapped up their seventh consecutive East Division title here today, in a most anticlimactic fashion, losing 7-2 to their crosstown rivals Manhattan, while Boston was shut out 1-0 by Pedro Ramos in Detroit.  The losses maintained Brooklyn's 24-game lead, while 23 games to play.  With two weeks to go, Brooklyn stands at 106-42, on pace to demolish both their record win total (106) and winning percentage (.706) of 1960.  Brooklyn is winning at a .716 clip and is on pace to win 116 games.
 

Conley Moves to #1 on Career ERA List BROOKLYN (Sept. 14) -- Three months to the day after joining the 200-win club, Gene Conley etched two more milestones into his UL resume.  Conley moved to #1 on the all-time ERA list and reached 2,000 career strikeouts after pitching seven shutout innings in a 6-0 over Detroit.  Conley's career ERA of 2.876 edges Carl Erskine, and the 32-year-old righthander from Muskogee is the 7th pitcher to reach 2,000 Ks.

Hamner Rises Again After hitting just .271 in June and July and .301 in August, Granny Hamner has quickly climbed the league batting chart, batting .423 in his last 14 games to jump from 9th to 5th in batting.  Hamner, 35,  is hitting .325 in 130 games, his lowest average since beginning a string of five batting titles in six years in 1957.  Hamner, a career .329 hitter, hit better than .350 in each of his batting title seasons (1957-59, 61-62).

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Howser Breaks Hits Record
.395 Average With 14 Games to Go
DETROIT (Sept. 13) -- Dick Howser poked his 218th hit of the year today in Washington's 8-3 win over the Griffins, eclipsing Granny Hamner's 11-month old record for most hits in a season.  The historic hit was a bunt single off Sandy Koufax in the eighth inning.  Through Sept. 16, Howser has 221 hits, of which 193 are singles, 40 more singles than the previous record.  Coming into this year, Hamner's name occupied the top four spots on the single-season hit list, with only Jackie Robinson joining him in the 200-hit club.  With 14 games left, Howser it hitting just five points under .400, and needs to hit .464 (26-56) in his last 14 games to reach .400, assuming he maintains his pace of exactly four at-bats per game.  Lest you think .464 is unattainable over two weeks, Howser hit .473 in 21 games in June.

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Havana Wins Governor's Cup
INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE SEASON SUMMARY
HAVANA (Sept. 14) -- The Havana Sugar Kings won the inaugural Governor's Cup today, capturing the best-of-five International League championship series 3-1 over the San Diego Admirals.  Havana, farm team of the Manhattan Gray Sox, dominated the IL this year, posting a 101-29 record, one game behind the Philadelphia Keystones in heavily imbalanced junior circuit.  Of 12 clubs, only four fielded strong teams, three of which were in the North Division, which allowed San Diego, the West Division champs and Los Angeles affiliate, to sneak into the playoffs with a 72-58 record.
   Havana won the weak South Division by an incredible 63 games.  (The division's other three teams happen to be the worst three teams in the League, and the Atlanta Crackers' 38-92 was good enough for second place!)  Havana led the league in nearly every pitching category, with a 2.20 team ERA, .199 opponent's average and just 2.1 walks per nine.  To ensure playing time for all of their promising youngsters, the Sugar Kings employed a novel six-man rotation that yielded four 15-game winners and four ERAs under 2.10.  Ray Sadecki (16-5, 1.78) was the nominal ace, but Dave McNally (17-3, 1.53) actually put up the best numbers, leading the league in ERA, and baserunners per nine (7.53).  While most IL teams struggled to get even three decent starters on their roster, Havana had 11.  To give you an idea of the quality of the staff, consider that Dick Ellsworth (13-6, 3.40, 1.26 WHIP) had the worst numbers by far, Jim Bouton (15-5, 2.63, 0.96 WHIP) was second worst, and 8 of the 11 pitchers had ERAs under 2.50.  Ray Sadecki and Tony Cloninger each pitched a no-hitter.
   Havana had the third most productive offense, led by MVP favorite CF Jimmie Hall (.301-37-108) and 3B Pete Ward (.313-24-87).

Other IL playoff teams:
Philadelphia Keystones (102-28):  Boston's farm team had the best record in the league, thanks to the most prolific offense and a pitching staff second only to Havana's.  Catcher Earl Averill, who washed out of the majors after seven seasons and a career average of .205, found his groove in the junior circuit, batting .351-25-75 with a league best .464 OBP and 1.022 OPS.  1B/2B Ken Hamlin (.319-15-98), a relatively unknown 3rd round draft pick from 1957, led the team in RBIs and SS Andy Carey led the league with a .354 average.  Ace Jay Hook (33rd overall pick in 1959), was the IL's only 20-game winner (20-4, 2.87).  The Stones won the North Division by seven games over Toroton, but were upset by San Diego in the playoff semifinals.
San Diego Admirals (72-58):  Actually the IL's fifth best team, the Los Angeles affiliate slipped into the playoffs because of the IL's divisional format, despite winning 10 fewer games than the Pittsburgh Maulers, who played the same schedule but finished third in their division.  By all accounts, San Diego over-achieved.  They were 6th in both runs and runs allowed, and beat out Kansas City and Denver by four and six games in the league's only pennant race, despite a roster of just 17 men.  Phil "The Vulture" Regan (19-13, 2.80, 176 Ks) was the team's best player, and CF George Thomas (42nd overall pick in 1962) led the offense with .305-13-65.  The Admirals were routed in their first two playoff games in Philly, 14-1 and 8-2, but rallied in sensational fashion with three straight wins at home to advance to the Governor's Cup.
Toronto Marlies (95-35): While Griffins fans suffered a dismal year in Motown, fans north of the border got to see the future (and some past) Detroit stars.  Toronto was 2nd in runs and 3rd in runs allowed, and finished seven games behind Philadelphia to claim the wildcard slot.  C Charlie Lau (.339-19-67) and SS Woodie Held (.312-16-78) led the offense, Bennie Daniels (16-3, 3.35, 34th overall pick in 1959) led the staff with 16 wins in a mix of 12 starts and 47 relief appearances, and both Bob Gibson (13-0, 1.14) and Sandy Koufax (7-0, 1.29) were undefeated in 14 appearances.

IL Outlook:
In its first year as a full-fledged minor league, the International League had some growing pains.  The league is plagued by an acute lack of parity, with three or four dominant teams and several clubs barely able to field a full team, but this is a reflection of the lack of depth at the big league level.  League officials predict that parity will improve over time, but point to the top clubs producing a major-league level product.  In the meantime, several teams took their lumps in 1963.

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Zernial, Miller Hang Up Cleats
IL Players who announced their retirement this week:
BOS -- SP Stu Miller, 3B Cass Michaels
BRO -- 3B Jack Dittmer, SP Tom Gorman, MR Don Johnson
CLE -- RF Gus Zernial
DAL -- SP Norm Bass
DET -- CF Dusty Rhodes, SS Johnny Temple, MR Carl Scheib, C Sherm Lollar, 2B Eddie Miksis, CF Whitey Lockman, 3B Danny O'Connell
LA -- C Ray Katt, RF Bubba Phillips
LOU -- MR Luis Arroyo, CL Roy Face, CF Johnny Groth
MAN -- MR Hersh Freeman, LF Jim Greengrass
STL -- 2B Bill Serena
SF -- MR Bob Hooper, MR Clem Labine, SS Tommy "Buckshot" Brown,

Fakeys -- MR Bill Faul (BRO), 3B Cliff Cook (BRO), CF Bob Saverine (BRO), SP Norm Bass (DAL), MR Dan Pfister (LA), CF Ken Hunt (LA), CF Dan Dobbek (LOU), RF Brock Davis (SF), LF Bob Perry (SF), LF Leo Posada (WAS), RF Sam Bowens (WAS), CF Al Heist (WAS), CF Earl Robinson (WAS)