United League of American Base B

Clete's Amazing Feat
SAN FRANCISCO (May 1) -- He is a forgotten 2nd round draft pick from five years ago, is considered "all leather, no wood" by scouts, and had a .219 career batting average coming into this season. His name is Clete Boyer, and he is the UL's unlikely batting leader, with a .413 average through 26 games, 10 of which were multi-hit games. San Francisco's 28 year old shortstop is generating some excitement by the Bay with his hitting exploits. The Spiders have gone through some lean years of late, but Boyer and "Sweet Swingin" Billy Williams are sparking the league's second best offense. San Francisco ranks second in runs, batting, OBP, slugging, extra base hits, and stolen bases, and only dips as low as fourth in hits and walks.
In addition to leading the league in batting, Boyer is 2nd in slugging (.783) and OPS (1.243), and 3rd in OBP (.460) and extra-base hits (16). Billy Williams is hitting .336-7-27, and after hitting .242 over the last two seasons appears to have finally reached his breakout year, catcher J.C. Martin (.355, .412 OBP) appears to have been an inspired acquisition, and Rocky Colavito celebrated a two-year contract extension Apr. 19 by batting 3-for-4 with two doubles and a homer.

Griffin Dick Allen Staking Early Claim on Rookie of the Year
DETROIT (May 1) -- Already at this early date, Dick Allen appears to be a lock for Rookie of the Year. Allen is hitting .351-10-30 in 27 games, and is 2nd in HR and RBI and 4th in OPS. Only 3 of his 10 HR were at Kiner Field.

Injuries Can't Derail
Superba Express
BROOKLYN (May 1) -- Transition to a new manager and a major injury to its top pitcher did nothing to slow down the Brooklyn juggernaught. The five-time defending champions lost the services of Gene Conley for two months on April 2, and Lew Burdette and Granny Hamner suffered shorter injuries, but the club was still 23-5 in April. Sonny Siebert (4-1, 4.03) has ably plugged the hole in the rotation and Jim Perry (3-0, 0.71) leads the league in ERA, but the real engine behind the '65 Bas thus far has been offense. Brooklyn has scored 183 runs in 28 games (6.5 per game), a full 1.3 runs per game more than second best San Francisco. To put this huge margin in context, just consider that the gap between 2nd and 11th is also 1.3 runs.
   Four Brooklyn hitters have OPSs over 1.000, led as usual by reigning MVP Mickey Mantle, who won Player of the Month with a .386 average, 11 HR, 39 RBI, and 1.311 OPS.
   Three of the top four hitters in the league sport screaming bats on their caps (Del Crandall .398, Mantle .386, Felix Mantilla .378). Only the unlikely batting leader Clete Boyer stands in the way of a Brooklyn trifecta. In fact, the current Superbas are starting to win comparisons to the 1957 club. In that year, Superbas Hamner, Minnie Minoso, Richie Ashburn, and Sandy Amoros finished 1-4 in batting, and Hamner won the first of three MVPs.