Texans Lose Conley, Win 8 Straight
Rookie Billingham Picks Up Slack
DALLAS (June 1) -- Four-time Cy Young Award winner Gene Conley suffered a season-ending injury that threatens the 39-year-old's Hall of Fame career.  Conley, 39, the league's all-time ERA leader (2.74) and second winningest pitcher (309), torn a cruciate ligament on May 16 in a game against St. Louis, ending his campaign with a 4-5 record and 3.34 ERA in 10 starts.  Conley pitched a dozen years in Brooklyn, including eight straight 20-win seasons from 1957-64, overlapping exactly with the Superbas eight-year run atop the East Division.  Conley pitched two partial seasons in Cleveland before joining the Texans last July.  He was instrumental in the late surge that lifted Dallas to its second best record in club history, going 6-1 with a 1.72 ERA in 11 starts, prompting high hopes for the 1970 season.

Dallas is 10-4 since Conley's injury, including an eight-game win streak that pulled them into second place in the West Division.  Rookie righthander Jack Billingham (2nd round, 20th overall pick this year) is 5-1, 1.65 in his last eight straight starts, and lefty Gaylord Perry, a 1st round draft pick in 1964 who has underperformed, has won four of his last five with a 2.74 ERA.

The Texans swept first place Washington and held Manhattan to three runs in three wins.  The streak came to an end with a 6-2 loss to Cleveland on May 31.

Superjew and Bahnsen Burner
Outlaws Back from the Abyss With 16-2 Run
LOS ANGELES (June 1) -- The Los Angeles Outlaws balanced a 5-22 April with a 22-7 May, winning 16 of their last 18 to halve their deficit to eight games behind West-leading Chicago.  Mike "Superjew" Epstein and Stan "Bahnsen Burner" Bahnsen doubled up Batter and Pitcher of the Month for just the second time in team history.  Epstein hit .307-6-14, but was actually fourth on the club in RBIs behind Frank Robinson (19), Tommie Agee (18), and Tom Haller (18), while Bahnsen went 5-1 with a 2.16 ERA in 6 starts.  Bahnsen, perhaps best known for one of the worst World Series performances by a pitcher in UL history in his rookie year in 1968, was a 19-game winner last year.  Other stars are Larry Dierker, who after losing his first six starts went 4-1 in his last five, and Mike Paul, who has seven saves in the last 17 days.