United League of American Base B

Colts Grab Fifth Pennant
Chicago Red Hot as Maroons Fold
CHICAGO (Sept. 23) -- The streaking Chicago Colts won seven in a row to clinch their fifth straight West Division title, pulling away from the faltering St. Louis Maroons, who suffered a pitching meltdown in the season's penultimate week. Norm Cash went on a homer frenzy, smacking four longballs in four days, and catcher Ed Bailey hit grand slams two days in a row, as the Colts extended their lead to 12 games and pulled within one game of Cleveland for home field advantage in the World Series. In the East Division, the Barons maintained their four-game lead over Brooklyn, but had yet to clinch the division going into the last week.
   The Horsies clinched their fifth straight appearance in the Fall Classic with a 7-2 win over Atlanta on Sept. 19. Don Mossi earned his league-leading 24th win of the year, and the 200th of his career, becoming the sixth pitcher to reach that milestone.
   The Colts have won 14 of their last 17 and are 27-7 since Aug. 17. The Maroons meanwhile have lost seven of their last 11 and are 9-11 in September after keeping the pressure on Chicago with a 22-8 record in August.
   Norm Cash has been the league's hottest hitter this month, hitting .319 with a 1.130 OPS and leading the league with 8 HR and 49 total bases. Joe Adcock continues to hit well, batting .319-5-14 in 20 games.
   But if one had to pick an MVP for Chicago's pennant drive, it would have to be Mossi hands down. "The Sphinx" has won all 10 of his starts since Aug. 7, posting a 2.53 ERA. Mossi, 36, has been a key cog in the Colts winning machine since 1960, when he came to the Windy City after three years in Detroit and another three in Brooklyn. Mossi has averaged better than 20 wins a year in his six seasons as a Colt, and has a shot at equalling his career best 25 wins (1963). His 2.28 ranks second in the league, and shatters his career best of 3.06 (1962). Despite his success, the Sphinx has never won an "Ullie" (All-UL team), and until this year has been overshadowed by dominant aces like Gene Conley, Carl Erskine, and Billy Pierce. His role as second fiddle has suited him well, taking the spotlight off of him and allowing him to focus on his craft.

Dick Allen Breaks RBI Record
DETROIT (Sept. 17) -- Slugging rookie first baseman Dick Allen broke the single-season RBI record today, ripping a two-out triple, his second of the day, off Tony Phillips to plate his 144th and 145th RBIs of the year. Allen hit the milestone with 13 games left to play, giving him the opportunity to not only break, but shatter, the previous mark of 144 by Dallas' Frank Thomas in 1963. In the 15-year history of the league, only eight players have hit 130 or more RBIs in a season. Thomas' 144 shattered the previous record of 133 by Washington's Willie Mays in 1958.
   Allen, a 23-year-old native of Scranton, Penn., was the second overall pick in 1964, and tore up the International League, batting .358-33-127 with an OPS of 1.070 to win the Swish Nicholson Award, the Triple-A MVP. Breaking into the bigs this year, Allen burst out of the gate, batting .351-10-30 in April to win Rookie of the Month. And he has barely slowed down, batting .309-36-150. He is second in slugging (.582) to Ernie Banks, and fourth in OPS (.950), and paces the circuit in both runs (109) and extra-base hits (79).

PENNANT RACE: DAY BY DAY
Thu Sept 16
CHI 9, ATL 5 Ray Herbert got his first win in four starts, and 15th overall, as the Colts hammered out 15 hits at home against the Toppers. Norm Cash homered twice and Ernie Banks and Bob Allison each had three hits. SF 10, STL 3 Rocky Colavito homered and drove in four runs, as the Spiders crushed Glen Hobbie and two relievers. CF Albie Pearson, playing his first game in three weeks after a ligament strain, fractured a finger in the third inning. CHI leads STL by 10, magic number 5	CLE 4, BOS 3 With the score tied 3-3, Ron Fairly led off the eighth with a triple off Dean Stone, then scored on a Bernie Allen groundout, giving Terry Fox his league-coleading 8th win as a reliever. Cleveland's Curt Flood and Boston's Orlando Cepeda each had three hits. BRO 3, MAN 1 The Bas bested their crosstown rivals for the 15th time in 21 meetings behind a complete game seven-hit effort by Lew Burdette, who picked up his 19th win. CLE leads BRO by 4 games, magic number 11
Fri Sept 17
CHI 4, BRO 1, 14 inn. The Colts scored three off Diego Segui with four hits and two walks in the top of the 14th. Gene Conley pitched 6.1 shutout innings, but Tom Acker blew a 1-0 lead in the eighth, when Norm Cash tied the game with a solo homer, his third in two games, and seventh in his last 13. It was Norm's 30th homer, equalling his 1962 career high. CHI leads STL by 11 games, magic number 3	CLE 11, STL 7 The Barons chased Bob Bruce with a 6-4 lead after five, then piled on against the Maroons' bullpen. Johnny Roseboro drove in four runs, and Eli Grba improved to 3-0 with a 2.95 ERA in 4 starts. xx xx CLE leads BRO by 5 games, magic number 9
Sat Sept 18
CHI 4, BRO 1 Tom Sturdivant won his 18th and Russ Kemmerer saved his 17th, as the Colts turned back an early 1-0 deficit. Don Demeter tied the game with an RBI single in the seventh, and Norm Cash, Joe Adcock, and Ernie Banks put the Horses on top with successive run-scoring extra-base hits in the eighth. CHI leads STL by 11 games, magic number 2	STL 2, CLE 1 In a battle of last year's Cy Young (Whitey Ford) against this year's Cy front-runner (Johnny Podres), it was Roger Maris who provided the heroics, reaching 30 HRs in style with a walk-off solo shot with two outs in the ninth. CLE leads BRO by 5 games, magic number 8
Sun Sept 19
CHI 7, ATL 2 Don Mossi's 200th career win was a memorable one, as the Colts clinched their fifth West Division title with a 7-2 win at Comiskey Park. Mossi (24-4) allowed six hits and two runs in six innings. Jerry Lynch's grand slam keyed the five-run fifth, and Norm Cash homered for the fourth time in four games. DAL 12, STL 1 St. Louis' pitching woes continued, as Bob Sadowski was shelled and the Maroons, who have lost six of their last eight, were eliminated with 11 games still to play. Billy Consolo had four hits, including a pair of doubles and a triple, and Curt Blefary walked four times. Gaylord Perry (12-18) went the distance with a five-hitter, in a game that featured four wild pitches and a balk. CHI clinches West Division	WAS 8, CLE 5 The Barons blew a 5-1 lead at Griffith Stadium. Dick Stuart's two-run homer put the Mons ahead in the seventh, and Frank Robinson added a pair of spare ribs in the eighth. Eddie Mathew and Mack Jones homered, driving in all five Cleveland runs. BRO 4, BOS 1 Johnny Kucks fanned 10 and anchored a five-hitter, and Ted Lepcio drove in two runs without getting a hit, as the Superbas sliced a game off Cleveland's lead. CLE leads BRO by 4 games, magic number 8
Mon Sept 20
CHI 6, ATL 4 Ed Bailey won the game with a ninth-inning grand slam off Fre Talbot, erasing a 4-2 Hilltoppers lead. STL 9, DAL 6 Willie Horton's two-run homer in the eighth broke a 6-6 tie, as the Maroons' rallied after trailing 4-1. Bob Purkey pitched well (7.0, 5 H, 1 ER) but was let down by his bullpen, especially Dave Boswell (0.2, 3 H, 4 R, 0 ER), and defense. Billy Hoeft notched his 17th save, his first in three weeks.	CLE 7, WAS 6 Left fielder Joe Christopher was 2-for-3, including a bases-clearing double in the fourth, helping Steve Barber to his 12th win. Johnny Romano and Hector Lopez had three hits each, and Bob Veale took his 15th loss. BOS 3, BRO 2 Willie Davis' two-run single in the seventh broke a 1-1 tie, and Steve Blass' six-hitter spoiled Lew Burdette's bid for his 20th win. RF Alex Johnson drove in both Brooklyn runs. CLE leads BRO by 5 games, magic number 6
Tue Sept 21
CHI 13, STL 9 Ed Bailey hit a grand slam for a second straight day, and Glen Hobbie was rattled for a third straight start, running up his September ERA to 9.98. Joe Adcock had three hits, including a homer, and Al Spanger was 3-for-6 with 3 RBI. Bud Daley left trailing 5-2 after three innings, allowing Billy Pierce (5-10) to benefit from the Colts comeback. It was Pierce's 279th career win.	BOS 4, CLE 3 Catcher Earl Averill singled home Willie Davis for the game-winner in the ninth, after Eli Grba and Chris Short battled to a 3-3 tie. Orlando Cepeda hit a two-run double, and Bob Chakales got his league-best 23rd save. BRO 1, DET 0 Gene Conley pitched six shutout innings, but Baby Joe Presko got the win and Ray Narleski the save, as Charlie Neal drove in the game's only run with a ninth inning double off Bill Fischer, spoiling Pedro Ramos' eight shutout innings. CLE leads BRO by 4 games, magic number 6
Wed Sept 22
STL 4, CHI 2 Max Alvis was 3-for-4 with 2 RBI, and Bob Bruce got his 10th win, holding the Colts to four hits and two runs in six innings. Ernie Banks hit his 45th home run and Smoke Sturdivant lost his 12th.	CLE 1, BOS 0 Johnny Podres shaved his ERA to a microscopic 1.85 with seven shutout innings, earning his 22nd win along the way, and singled home Bernie Allen in the second for the game's only run. Herb Score lost his sixth in a row after a 12-10 start. BRO 6, DET 0 xDenis Menke broke up Jim Perry's no-hit bid with one out in the seventh, but held on for his 18th win. Jim Gentile was 4-for-5 with a homer, and Dick Williams hit a two-run homer off Joey Jay (20-11). CLE leads BRO by 4 games, magic number 5

Au Revoir Louisville
by Glen Reed
"Summertime in Montreal," as Francois, my U-Dub summer intensive language program roommate and native of Mount Royal once said, "is like summertime in no other city in the world." As opposed, I guess, to San Francisco, where summertime is like wintertime in every other city in the world. But I digress. Montreal is indeed home to famed jazz and comedy festivals and the Canadian Grand Prix, to say nothing of Raines, Wallach, Carter, Dawson, Valentine, Cromarite, Le Grande Orange, El Presidente, The Big Cat, Delino, Marquis, Larry Walker, Moises Alou, Cirque du Soliel, and the aforementioned Francois, who tooled around Seattle wearing high socks, running shorts, and a memorable mustache. To that impressive list can now be added America's pastime, in the form of the Montreal Alouettes (nee Louisville Crackers). Admittedly, the minor league affiliate of the worst team in UL history won't make Montrealers forget the city's famed fireworks on the lake, but it's the best we can do under the circumstances.