United League of American Base B

Mantle Surge Drives Bas' Pennant Drive
BROOKLYN (Sept. 2) -- Brooklyn center fielder Mickey Mantle won Player of the Month honors with a .377 average and 1.128 OPS in August. Mantle is hitting .374 with 35 RBI since July 1, and is on pace for career highs in runs, hits, average, and OBP. The 31-year-old could be the most sought after free agent in league history, as, with a month before the end of the seaon, the Superbas have yet to renew his $9.95 million contract. On July 29, Mantle became the second player in UL history (after Willie Mays) to collect 2,000 career hits.
Brooklyn leads the East by 11 games going into the final month and appears to have a lock on its eighth consecutive divisional title. The Bas are on a 105-win pace, below last year's record tally of 115 wins, but sufficient to extend their run of 100-win seasons to six years (it would have been eight were it not for a 99-55 record in 1958, known in these parts as the "lean year" or the "Great Depression").
Mantle leads the club with 29 homers, but the team's RBI leaders are Granny Hamner (.359-7-84) and Felix Mantilla (.300-19-82). Hamner, another potential free agent at the age of 36, is on target to bat over .350 for the sixth time in eight years. The four-time MVP quietly achieved another landmark this year, surpassing Ted Williams for the best career batting average (currently .3313 to Teddy Ballgame's .3302). For his part, Puerto Rican third baseman Mantilla, 30, is having a career year, earning an All-Star Game slot and a POM award for June.

Ace-less Outlaws Fade Away, Colts All But Clinch
LOS ANGELES () -- Next year won't come soon enough for disappointed Los Angeles Outlaws fans, who saw their time emerge as a contender this spring only to lose their ace and wilt in the summer heat of Pasadena. An 11-3 run in early June saw L.A. climb to within two games of Chicago, but the clubs subsequently have charted opposite trajectories. Since June 17, Chicago is 41-23, while Los Angeles has puttered along at 29-27. Ace righthander Art Mahaffey was lost for the season June 19 after posting a 8-5 record and 2.42 ERA in 14 starts. The 26-year-old was fifth in the league in ERA and VORP at the time of his injury.
Dick Ellsworth has proven to be an unworthy successor in the ace role. The 24-year-old Rusk, Wyoming native is 4-8 in 14 starts and has managed to maintain the ace job despite a 6.22 ERA, while club win and ERA leader Jim Bunning (18-9, 3.55) toils away in the #3 slot.