August 1, 1976
NEXT SIM:
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Cha-Cha New Home Run King
Cepeda Hits #635 Off Phil Niekro in L.A. 
LOS ANGELES (July 18) -- Orlando Cepeda entered the record books as the UL's all-time home run king, wholloping home run number 635 in the sixth inning of a 4-2 Barons win over the Outlaws at Arroyo Seco Stadium. Cepeda, 38, has hit 30 or more home runs in all but one of the last 15 seasons and is on pace to equal his record haul of 56 dingers in 1972.
Drafted as the second overall pick by the New York Gothams in 1958, the 20-year-old Puerto Rican quickly earned a starting job, batting .284-14-85 in 525 at bats. His breakout year came in 1962, when he cracked the 30-HR, 100-RBI and .500 SLG plateaus. He won four straight Gold Gloves from 1959 to 1962, and was named to the All-UL Team in 1964, 1967, 1968, and 1973, and MVP Awards in 1967 and 1973. On August 1 of last year, he was traded from Boston to Cleveland, where he reached a string of major milestones: 600th home run on Aug. 25, 3,000th hit on May 8, and the historic home run today. Closing in on his 39th birthday in mid-September, Cepeda ranks in the top five in home runs, RBIs, and OPS. 
Mons Close Gap
WASHINGTON (Aug. 1) -- The hottest team in the East climbed to within two games of division leading Brooklyn with a 13-game winning streak between July 10-23. The streak included sweeps of Cleveland, Atlanta, and Montréal, and series wins over Chicago and Boston. A pair of hot Joes (Rudi and Torre) picked up the slack for the slumping Als (Oliver and Bumbry). Torre rebounded from a June slump (.232) with a .360 average and 1.036 OPS in July, and Rudi hit .367, mostly off the bench. Third baseman Eric Soderholm hit .368 with a 1.027 OPS in July to climb into the top 10 in VORP. Washington ranks 3rd in runs scored and 4th in runs against, making them the only team besides Seattle in the top five in both categories. Lefty starter Vida Blue and closer Milt Wilcox have lifted an otherwise average pitching staff. Blue is 16-4 with a 2.59 ERA and figures to be the club's first 20-game winner since Johnny Antonelli in 1964. Wilcox, 25, is having a breakout year at the back of the bullpen with 24 saves and a 1.62 ERA. His blown save in Denver on July 27 ended a run of 21 games in which he notched 16 saves without allowing an earned run. |
WEST DIVISION
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EAST DIVISION
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Fergie Jenkins was 4-0, 0.64 in 5 starts, and inked a four-year, $40 million deal on July 19... The West leaders within a week lost two key relievers for the duration of the season: Terry Forster (3-1, 2.70) on July 17 and Mike Kekich (5-2, 3.32) on July 23.
Rod Carew hit .389 in July to make his first appearance in the top 10 in batting. Chris Chambliss hit .313-9-17 for the month and the Rainiers moved ahead of L.A. for second place.
The Outlaws were 10-14 in July and dropped from two to nine games behind their archrivals San Francisco. Larry Dierker was 6-0, 1.40 in July, but the rest of the rotation was 4-10 and the bullpen was 0-4. Bando, Dietz, Thomasson, and Tenace all batted below .200.
Nolan Ryan struck out 10 in 5.1 innings in July and notched six saves without allowing a run. Rookie Dennis Eckersley was 0-4, 4.67 in July and is winless in his last seven starts. Mike Hargrove has increased his batting average and home run total every month, batting .344-5-14 in July, and debuted on the batting chart at number 7.
The 14ers climbed to fifth place for the first time after the most successful month in club history. Denver was 16-8 behind the stellar pitching of #2 starter Roger "Spider" Nelson (4-0, 1.59 in July, 7-2 since June 2), and the torrid hitting of Mickey Rivers (.412), Willie Randolph (.378), John Wockenfuss (.370-7-19), Tony Perez (.353), and Garry Templeton (.341).
The Colts slumped hard in July (8-16) and have lost 11 of their last 13 series. Ron Guildry is 2-8 since June 1, after a 6-4 start, and Bill Parsons is 1-4, 8.00 in his last 8 starts, and Carl Taylor hit just .171 in July, dropping his season average to .203. Chicago is 1-8 vs. Seattle, including seven straight losses.
The league's worst pitching team dropped 15 of 24 games in July. The Toppers were victimized by a six bullpen losses, including three by Grant Jackson (0-3, 8.10 in 7 games), and the bats dried up in the Atlanta heat. Bernie Carbo, who had 94 RBIs for Washington just two years ago, drove in a single run in 62 at-bats in July. The lone bright spot has been rookie 3B Butch Hobson (.253-7-17 in July).
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Mike Schmidt led the Bas with a .393 average and 18 RBIs in July, despite missing the last 8 days with an elbow injury that will sideline him until September. Rookie Chet "The Jet" Lemon hit .352 in July and cranked 5 dingers in his last 18 games after hitting just 4 in his first 50. Rick Wise, 30, is on pace for a career year, with a 13-6 record and career lows in ERA (3.03) and WHIP (1.02).
The Monuments are 12-3 in extra innings and 20-11 in one-run games, due in large part to closer Milt Wilcox (1.62, 24 saves).
Tom Grieve leads the league in HR (34), RBI (89), and extra-base hits (51), putting him in the running for a third straight MVP award. Craig Robinson's batting average has dipped below .375 just two days all year (April 7 and June 18); he leads Willie Randolph by 24 points in the batting race.
Last in HRs last year, the Barons rank 4th this year, thanks to the slugging tandem of Orlando Cepeda (32) and Dave Kingman (27). Kingman has just 37 singles and is batting .192 with a .435 SLG and a 35% strikeout rate. Jim Palmer (8-8, 3.79) missed three weeks with a sore shoulder.
The V's batting woes can be pinned largely on Bobby Grich, whose average has dropped from .326 last year to .238 this year, including a .204 July. Bill Singer tossed a three-hit shutout at Manhattan on July 16, ending a five-start winless streak.
Bake McBride hit for the cycle on July 24, the first Feds cycle since Orlando Cepeda in 1967. Rick Waits (1.98) and Bert Blyleven (2.28) had stellar months. Sixto Lezcano hit .394 in July.
Otto Velez is in the heat of the home race with 32, just a pair behind Tom Grieve. He hit 7 in July, but 23 of his homers were solo shots, which accounts for his low RBI tally (58). Jerry Reuss (2-14, 5.51) is on pace for one of the lowest winning percentages in league history.
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BATTING LEADERS
BATTING AVERAGE
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HOME RUNS
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RUNS BATTED IN
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VORP
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PITCHING LEADERS
EARNED RUN AVERAGE
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WINS
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STRIKEOUTS
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VORP
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FIELDING LEADERS ZONE RATING
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TRADES
February 1 (358)
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February 1 (360)
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May 16 (362)
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June 16 (364)
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