United League Baseball

Marooned in the Shadow of Monuments
For St. Louis, An MVP, a Cy Young, and Another Booby Prize
ST. LOUIS (Oct. 1) -- The St. Louis Maroons won the first MVP/Cy Young combo in United League history, but again fell short of the pennant, landing in second place for the third straight season. The Maroons have cobbled together a successful run of four straight 80-win seasons, with a club record 93 wins this year, yet will likely go down in history as a mere footnote to the dominance of the Washington Monuments.
   Stan Musial won the Most Valuable Player award that many felt he deserved last year. Musial led the league with 124 RBIs, 184 hits and 117 runs, and was second with 38 home runs. His 338 total bases and 1.021 OPS were head and shoulders above the rest of the league. Last season, Musial went from Triple Crown candidate to MVP runner-up in a matter of weeks, despite outperforming eventual MVP Mickey Mantle in almost every offensive category. This year, there were no real challengers to Musial's prize. The next highest OPS belongs to New York's Larry Doby (.957), and only Ralph Kiner and teammate Roy Campanella joined Musial in the 30-HR, 100-RBI club, and neither of them hit over .300. But if there was vindication for Musial, there was also bitter disappointment at consistently falling short of the title. "It is time we shook this 'Best of the Rest' rap," Musial said. "Before it was a compliment, but now it is a stigma. It's time we got the monkey off our back."
   Early in the season it looked like this might be the year St. Louis broke Washington's stranglehold on the pennant. It started on Opening Day in D.C., when Billy Pierce took a no-hit bid to the ninth against Stu Miller. The Mons rallied and nearly won that game, but St. Louis went on to post the only winning record against the champs (13-11), and Pierce went on to his finest campaign in four UL seasons. The 26-year-old Michigander set the UL strikeout record with 343 Ks, and finished second in ERA (2.42), and wins (24-tied). Pierce was joined in the 20-win club by "Sad Sam" Zoldak. The '51 Cy Young winner returned to form after two rough seasons in which he won a total of 13 games. Youngster Vern "Deacon" Law (9-5, 3.90) was also a late-season revelation, going 3-0 with a 1.38 ERA to win Pitcher of the Month for September.
   Offensively, "Stan the Man" was complemented by Roy Campanella (.295-30-107), who had a career year, surpassing the tantalizing 30-100 barriers for the first time; and Vern "Junior" Stephens (.268-23-95), who continued his reign as the league's premier offensive shortstop. The supporting cast included Willie "Puddin' Head" Jones (.251-16-74) and Gil Coan (.280-10-68).
   St. Louis, like several other teams, faces a looming financial train wreck next year, which has prompted manager Timothy J. Smith to start shopping Campanella in trade channels. Campy, Musial, and Pierce are all coming up for renewal next year. The club will most likely re-sign only two of the three, and the MVP and Cy Young winners seem the logical choices.

Pennant Still Flying in D.C.
WASHINGTON (Oct. 1) -- The Washington Monuments, who raised eyebrows last season when they were compared with the greatest teams of the twentieth century, actually improved in 1954. The Monuments won exactly 100 games, three more than last year, making them the first 100-game winner in UL history, and the first since the 1946 Boston Red Sox.
   The Mons have build their dynasty on pitching, but this year they were also the most improve offensive team, scoring 799 runs, 62 more than last year. The biggest difference, of course, was the return of the Duke Snider. The "Silver Fox" didn't match his pre-war numbers, but still batted .295 with 23 HR and 84 RBI in just 112 games. He platooned with Carl Furillo in right field for most of the season. But center fielder Willie Mays (.291-24-97) had a breakout season, with a UL-record 20 triples and 98 runs, and supporting players like Joe Adcock, Bob Dillinger, and Billy Goodman all brought up their production.
   Pitching-wise, it was more of the same, only better. Stu Miller, Steve Gromek, and Larry Jansen each won at least 23 games, whereas last year, only Miller surpassed 21. The "Big Three" combined for another Big Year, with an aggregate record of 74-29 and a 3.01 ERA. Miller (24-8, 2.39) won his third straight ERA title, but for once ended the season with no hardware, after winning Rookie of the Year in '52 and the Cy Young Award in '53. Gromek (27-10, 3.46) won six more games than last year, despite an ERA almost a full point higher and a career high 263 hits allowed. And Jansen (23-11, 3.21) became the first pitcher to win 20 games three years in a row since Bob Lemon with the 1948-50 Cleveland Indians.

Bailey Cream of Rookie Crop
LOUISVILLE (Oct. 1) -- Rookie catcher Ed Bailey took became the first player to win a Gold Glove and Rookie of the Year in the same season. The Louisville backstopper took both honors with a stellar rookie campaign. Bailey took over the full-time catcher job from Clyde Kluttz, and hit .247 in 133 games. He led all rookies with 67 RBIs and 119 hits. Bailey was the Colonels' second round pick in 1953 (10th overall), and appeared in 26 games last year (.241-0-4), not enough to qualify for rookie status.
   Other top rookies this year included Chicago third baseman Jim Finigan (.315-0-26, 109 games) and first baseman Johnny "Cotney" Hopp (.284-2-27, 81 games), Boston outfielder Gene Hermanski (.333-4-28, 109 games). The top rookie pitcher was Washington's Carl "Oisk" Erskine (14-13, 4.40, 34 games), who spent two years in the minor leagues and one year in the service after been drafted in the 26th round of the Initial Draft in 1951. "Oisk" appears poised to inherit the third starter vacancy created by Steve Gromek's departure.

Gothams' (Out)Field of Gold
NEW YORK (Oct. 1) -- Last year it was the celebrated All-Star infield of the St. Louis Maroons that grabbed headlines. This season, the New York Gothams are turning heads with the first sweep of all three Gold Gloves for outfielders. The awards were announced today, with left fielder Frank Thomas and center fielder Larry Doby each earning his second prize, while right fielder Irv Noren took home his first hardware. Thomas led all left fielders with 295 total chances, a .983 fielding percentage, and a 2.32 range factor. Doby led all outfielders with 421 total chances and a 3.11 range factor, and was second only to Richie Ashburn with 13 assists.
   Boston was the only other team with multiple Gold Glove winners, though Harvey Kuenn and Warren Spahn failed to win third successive awards. Instead, first baseman Earl Torgeson won his second straight and 22-year-old Eddie Mathews stole the third base award from two-time winner Willie "Puddin' Head" Jones.

Gromek, Robinson Four-Time All-Stars
St. Louis Leads League with Four Selections

Stop! In the Name of Glove
by Charlie Qualls
When the melee was finally over, there were several drops of blood on the locker room floor as well as two unclaimed teeth, four ripped jerseys and a Snoopy hairbrush. No serious injuries were reported by team trainer, Ben Dage, and the mood was surprisingly light after the misunderstanding was cleared up. Beacon skipper Charlie Qualls skirted around the issue at the ensuing press conference but finally gave an explanation. “Um, well it’s sorta my fault. I wanted to surprise Eddie (Mathews) so I put his Gold Glove Award in his locker. When he found it, he thought someone was playing a joke on him and he sort of flipped out.” Qualls went on to explain the reason that so many other players jumped into the fray was because they were supposedly blowing off steam after another disappointing season. Qualls added, “Apologies were abundant and everything seems to be OK now.”
   When finally reached for comment outside Cheesebeans Eating House, Mathews was coherent and hardly drunk at all. He explained, “Yeah, I mean, although I try real hard, I wasn’t exactly brought in here for my fat hands at third. Oh, and tell Cal Abrams I’m sorry for kicking him in the… well, he knows, and tell him he will be missed.”

Outlaws Commit Another Robbery
by Charlie Qualls
At least one pundit was shocked and amazed by a recent trade between UL’s resident “Second-hand Rose”, St. Louis Maroons and newly formed L.A. Outlaws: Me. The trade revolved around L.A.’s first steal, the increasingly disposable 27-game winner Steve Gromek. Many teams sought to add Gromek to their roster (including me), but the best bait came from St. Louis: premier catcher Roy Campanella. In my opinion, despite Gromek’s value, Campy and a swat on the ass should have been plenty to woo the aging Mek Daddy and Danny O’Connell. But that swat on the ass came in the form of solid 3B Willie Jones, comparative stud reliever Ray Narleski AND a first round rookie pick.
   OK, true: Tim needed to take a salary dump, but be careful not to blow an O-ring! Campy’s contract is up soon and he’s poised to be the highest paid player yet.
   OK, true: next year’s rookie class may be one of the weakest so far, so the loss of a draft pick isn’t fatal.
   OK, true: St. Louis is probably the closest to having a “glut” of relievers, so Narleski won’t be missed much.
   But the Questions:
1. Did Tim give away too much while adding instant star power to an L.A. team that shouldn’t be this good for at least a couple years?
2. Will a 36-year-old Gromek adjust to life in St. Louis -or- Will he fetch enough on the open market to keep STL in contention?
3. Can Crandall/O’Connell come anywhere near the production of Campy/Jones?
   Only time will tell.

TOTAL ATTENDANCE			TOTAL REVENUE
1954		Change	1954 ($ million)		Change
WASHINGTON ST. LOUIS NEW YORK CHICAGO BROOKLYN DETROIT LOUISVILLE BOSTON Total Average	2,281,050 2,209,604 2,028,883 2,020,453 1,243,295 884,855 840,555 807,445 12,316,140 1,539,518	(62,958) 113,161 513,408 308,953 (46,178) (657,367) 28,223 (262,941) (65,699) (0.5%)	WASHINGTON ST. LOUIS NEW YORK CHICAGO LOUISVILLE BROOKLYN DETROIT BOSTON Total Average	69.23 64.19 63.95 63.92 53.87 51.85 51.12 50.07 468.20 58.53	1.84 1.74 5.71 3.56 0.55 (0.23) (6.40) (2.47) 4.30 0.9%
PLAYER EXPENSES			NET PROFIT
1954 ($ million)		Change	1954 ($ million)		Change
ST. LOUIS LOUISVILLE NEW YORK WASHINGTON CHICAGO BOSTON DETROIT BROOKLYN Total Average	65.56 64.22 61.71 59.94 59.67 57.51 56.42 56.03 481.06 60.13	3.29 10.86 2.52 2.52 7.89 7.91 0.79 3.26 39.04 8.8%	WASHINGTON CHICAGO NEW YORK ST. LOUIS BROOKLYN DETROIT BOSTON LOUISVILLE Total Average	9.29 4.25 2.24 (1.37) (4.18) (5.30) (7.44) (10.35) (12.86) (1.61)	(0.68) (4.33) 3.19 (1.55) (3.49) (7.19) (10.38) (10.31) (34.74) (158.8%)
CASH
1954 ($ million)		Change
WASHINGTON CHICAGO NEW YORK ST. LOUIS DETROIT BOSTON LOUISVILLE BROOKLYN Total Average	45.12 38.67 26.77 15.71 13.77 10.95 4.03 0.78 155.80 19.48	19.27 12.83 1.29 (2.69) (3.45) (4.49) (3.90) (4.87) 13.99 (9.9%)

AROUND THE HORN

WASHINGTON MONUMENTS 100-54 -- 2-4 (+3)	x
ST. LOUIS MAROONS 93-61 7 5-1 (+11)	Running to Stand Still "This was our best year yet, as we improved by 11 wins and broke the 90-win barrier for the first time. Unfortunately, Washington keeps getting better, so a run for the pennant will have to wait another year. . . again. Cy Young winner Billy Pierce (24-6, 2.42) was phenomenal. He won just one more game than last year, but sliced his ERA by 1.11, and his 343 strikeouts could set the standard for many years to come. Offensively, it was Musial as usual. Stan the Man made it three straight years with an OPS over 1.000, and established career highs in hits (184), home runs (38), RBI (124), and slugging (.608). Fellow All-Stars Roy Campanella and Junior Stephens added 107 and 95 RBI, respectively. The club ranked first in runs scored, and second in runs allowed. If there was a weakness, it was the lack of a consistent #4 starter (though most teams were struggling with higher slots), and ever-changing bullpen roles. The acquisition of four-time All-Star Steve Gromek in the trade with expansion Los Angeles finally gives us a 1-2 punch that can compete with Washington. But the pressure will be on young catcher Del Crandall (just 50 UL games) and newcomer second baseman Danny O'Connell to fill starting roles. -- Tim Smith
NEW YORK GOTHAMS 85-69 15 4-2 (+6)	Coming Up 3's Everything was coming up 3's for the Gothams this past season. Third in season ending standings (a first), 3rd in fan interest (46%), and 3rd in payroll ($59.5 mil). The hitting carried the pitching with 2nd place finishes in batting averages, home runs and runs scored. The pitching is coming on with 4th place finishes in ERA, HRs allowed and runs allowed. Bob Hooper's 42 saves paced the pitching staff with 22-year-old pitching phenom Mike Fornieles compiling a 16-18 season with a 3.94 ERA. This coming season, the Gothams hope to bolster their pitching staff in the off season through the free agent and reentry drafts. -- Don Carrington
BROOKLYN SUPERBAS 74-80 26 3-3 (-6)	The New Lords of Flatbush In the film, they were crude, unredeeming characters, which more or less sums up the 1954 experience of these United League Brooklyners. The Superbas have been anything but, again finishing as the biggest dissapointment (on a Pythagorean basis) in the league. Pythagoras may have been the light-hitting second baseman in the lineup of great Greek philosphers, but he knew one thing--pitching wins games. That's why it's hard to understand a second year in the last three with a sub-.500 record, when the pitching's been top three in the league. Blame it on a power outage. Despite playing in what's reputed to be the best hitter's park in the circuit, the BROs couldn't push runs across the plate. Perhaps that helps account for the abysmal record in close games--win blowouts and lose a bunch of squeakers. Help is on the way--sort of. A new year brings a new ballpark on prime real estate, which at the very least should help generate interest and address the club's feeble finances. While ownership is thankful for help at the box office, Frank Thomas Memorial Stadium figures to accentuate the positives (and negatives). The field measures out as the least hitter-friendly in the league, which should make a stable of good young pitchers even better. Unfortunately, the downside to the pitchers' park is that a struggling offense is unlikely to get help from the longball. Indeed, Gil Hodges--holder of the home run crown two of the last three years--is already polishing up his concession speech for '55. There's more reason for optimism in that the club emerged from the expansion draft and contract renewal shenanigans looking pretty good relative to the competition: management looks to have a patch job on its hands, rather than out-and-out reconstruction. As a result, it's not unrealistic to think these Superbas could attain that elusive title of "best of the rest" in '55--Pythagoras willing. -- Glen Reed
CHICAGO COLTS 71-83 29 2-4 (-8)	Power Failures and Elbow Strains Well, once again it was a disappointing year for the Colts. . . a strong start, followed by tough times in the summer, and a stumbling finish. Whitey Ford’s injury was the nail in the coffin for the Colts’ ’54 season, but sub-par years from catcher Yogi Berra, two-bagger Bobby Avila, and war returnee Bobby Thomson also took the sting out of the offense. On the bright side, reentry pick up Red Schoendienst had a nice year, first baseman Dick Gernert, outfielder Gus Bell, and shortstop Ernie Banks are rounding into fine form, and rookie third baseman Jim Finigan had a superb year and looks to be making starts at both third and second for many seasons to come. 1955 looks to be an interesting year for the Colts and the United League. It will be interesting to see if expansion will level the playing field a bit and give some other teams a shot at the top tier in the league. If Whitey Ford and the rest of the pitching staff can stay healthy, if key veterans can have on-par years, and if some key acquisitions and trades can be made, look for the Colts to continue to compete for a spot in the top 3. On a more minor note, look for the Colts to unveil a new look for the '55 season. -- Lance Mueller
BOSTON BEACONS 68-86 32 2-4 (-6)	Tea Party’s Over What can I say? We just plain sucked this season. After having career years in ‘53, Torgeson, Kuenn, Mantle, Zernial, and Spahn all decided to take it a little easier this time around. Haddix and Hiller did an admirable job of anchoring the Titanic that is our rotation, but they got no help whatsoever. Even the usually steady bullpen slacked off a bit. On the bright side, the McCullough/Edwards backstop tandem combined for 114 RBIs and Eddie Mathews held his own as a top power performer and earned a rare Gold Glove Award. Outlook: As I expected, most of my reserve outfielders have gone west leaving me short a few lefties. Also, the bullpen will be short handed, leaving me to depend on guys like Bickford and Collum to step it up (yikes!). Bruce Edwards will get a shot at being the every day man behind the plate and new addition Pee Wee Reese should add some speed at the top of the line-up. Branca and Lopat have pitched their last in Boston. So if anyone wants to take them off my hands, I’ll split the bill with you. -- Charlie Qualls
LOUISVILLE COLONELS 64-90 38 4-2 (+6)	Patience Wears Thin "Well, its the end of another disappointing year in Louisville," said team owner Mark Allen. "Once again our pitching is not at the level it should be and team finances are not looking good either. As such, players like Klutzz, Kennedy, Hemus, Sauer and Klein will not be with the team next year. A number of pitchers are also close to getting cut if their performance does not improve next year. My patience is wearing thin with some of these prima donnas. On the bright side young phenom Hank Aaron will very likely make his major league debut next year. We are gonna send him to winter ball to work on a few things but we fully expect him to be in the Colonels lineup come opening day. Kaline is also targeted for winter ball but it will take a monster spring training if he is to make the opening day lineup. Once we see what this years rookie crop looks like and what's available in the re-entry draft, we will better be able to judge what holes some of these players may fill." -- Mark Allen
DETROIT SOUND 61-93 39 2-4 (-6)	"Sure Fire Formula for Losing" "Disappointment" were the words uttered by Detroit GM Brad McNeely. After second and third place finishes in the league the previous two seasons [sic], the Sound fell all the way to the bottom of the league this year. "I thought we had a pretty decent team coming into the year, but we just couldn't pull it all together" McNeely said. Couldn't pull it together is right. Seventh in the league in runs scored and seventh in the league in runs allowed, that is a sure fire formula for losing. There were a few bright spots though, 2B Jerry Priddy had a pretty good season along with RF Willard Marshall. LF Ralph Kiner had another year where he hit at least 35 homers, his 4th in 4 years. The pitching staff, other than Robin Roberts and Bob Porterfield, was horrendous. Roberts and Porterfield were the only ones on the staff that had ERA's lower than 4, and also the only starters with double figure wins. If things don't turn back around this year, McNeely may be the one that is the disappointment, when he is looking for a new job! -- Brad McNeely
LOS ANGELES OUTLAWS (expansion team)	x
SAN FRANCISCO SPIDERS (expansion team)