United League of American Base B

Lakesiders Dethrone Superbas
Podres Dominates as Barons Nab First Pennant
CLEVELAND (Oct. 1) -- All the pieces seemed to be in place for Cleveland to mount a real shot at a title:
1. A proven power ace lands to father an already impressive young starting staff.
2. Veteran co-captains Eddie Mathews and Harvey Kuenn, war torn, but ready for their first real battle.
3. Youngbloods Curt Flood and Bernie Allen pumped and primed to take the next step into superstardom.
4. Top-flight plate protector with wheels and a winning reputation.
5. A scout-touted rookie ready for his Grande debut.
6. An injection of Moose meat to give a frothing offense more head.
7. Gold Gloves or Gold Glove adjacents at almost every position.
8. A balanced bullpen and big-star bench strength.
9. Glen Reed out of the equation.

   Despite Johnny Podres anchoring a shutout in his Cleveland debut, the Barons stumbled out of the gate.
Mathews and Kuenn set the stage by getting off to uncharacteristically slow starts. Three-time Gold Glover Harvey Kuenn even had trouble getting things going at short, committing four errors in the first two weeks (he had four total in '64). Last year's ace Steve Barber continued his nagging injury ways, missing half of the first month. By the end of April, the Barons were one game under .500 and already 9.5 games back of the Superbas. Then a bouquet of May flowers came in the form of Brooklyn injuries to Al Kaline and UL legend Gene Conley. But the Bas never smelled sweeter, and though Cleveland began to win, Brooklyn was still winning more. By June 1st, Cleveland was a seemingly insurmountable 12 games back. Visions of 1960 danced in fans heads, the eggs weren't quite filling the basket. It looked like the final twist of the ash urn's lid would come when team mash leader Moose Skowron tore a calf muscle, laying him out for two months.
   But the Barons wouldn't give up without a fight. Determined to make up some ground and roll into 1966
swinging, they traded old friends Don Drysdale and John Tsitouris for some new friends. Bob Friend came on board in mid-July, bringing with him the buzz of the Barons possibly having the best current four-man
rotation in the UL: Podres, Francis, Barber and Friend. Also now along for the wild ride was speedster Chuck Hinton.
   By July 1, the Barons had made up four games in the standings, and then things got interesting. Brooklyn's injury pot boiled over, spilling slam dunk closer Dick Sisler for the rest of the season, prompting them to trade their number two swinger (second only to Mantle) Felix Mantilla to try and plug the stopper hole. On the Cleveland side, the injury to Skowron was covered nicely by rookies Ron Fairly and Rusty Staub, despite scouts changing their minds about the latter. By mid-July, the Barons were only a handful of games behind, and---for the first time in years----the UL was treated to a pennant race. On July 28, the Baron's claimed first place and never gave it back. The rotation was tired and overworked, but continued to battle. September was made made a little easier by a now blazing Eddie Mathews and the return of the Moose. The Barons topped 100 wins for the first time in franchise history and head into their first World Series appearance with home field advantage.

DeGrass Done in Dallas
DALLAS (Oct. 1) -- Ben DeGrass resigned today as GM of the Dallas Texans. Ben managed five years in the UL with Louisville and Dallas, winning a pennant in 1960 with the Colonels, and leading the Texans to the best record for an expansion team in UL history. Ben joined the league in 1960, managing the Louisville Colonels for two seasons during founder owner Mark Allen's sabbatical. Building on Allen's success, he led the Colonels to the West Division title in his first year with a franchise-best record of 95-59. Louisville fell to second place in 1961 (81-73), and after Allen returned to the league in 1962, DeGrass moved to Turnpike Stadium. Again, DeGrass had a stellar first year, leading a squad of veterans to a 97-65 record, the best ever by an expansion team, and only four games behind the pennant-winning Chicago Colts. The Texans were a .500 ballclub the next two years, although a late season collapse by Los Angeles in 1964 allowed Dallas to finish second place for the second time in three years. In 1965, with an aging roster and with his various business ventures distracting DeGrass from the day-to-day management of the team, the Texans fell to 74-88, their first season significantly under .500, and the fourth worst record in the league.
   DeGrass was popular with the fans in both cities, and Dallas officials heap praise on the three-year GM, whom they consider the father of the Texans. The club will begin the seearch for his successor immediately.

PENNANT RACE: DAY BY DAY

Thu Sept 23

CLE 7, BOS 3
Eddie Mathews, nearing the end of his worst season in nearly a decade, was 4-for-5 with a homer and 4 RBI and Bob Friend went the distance for his 17th win, defeating Dick Donovan, as Cleveland beat Boston for the sixth time in their last seven meetings.
DET 4, BRO 2
Leon "Daddy Wags" Wagner's pinch-hit double in the bottom of the seventh broke a 2-2 tie, and Bob Gibson added a spare rib single to go with his 15th win and 12th complete game.
STL 4, CHI 3
Tony Perez broke up Don Mossi's no-hitter in the seventh and Max Alvis drove in a pair with a bases-loaded single to put the Maroons ahead 2-1, and Roger Maris added a solo homer in the eighth, but the Colts rallied off Whitey Ford to tie the game in the ninth. Wes Covington's pinch single off Russ Kemmerer was the game-winner.

The Barons moved a step closer to both the East Division crown and home field advantage in the World Series with a 7-3 win over Boston, while both Brooklyn and Chicago lost.

East Division
	W	L	GB	MN
CLE	99	56	--	3
BRO	94	61	5

First Overall
	W	L	GB	MN
CLE	99	56	--	6
CHI	97	58	2

Fri Sept 24

CLE 7, BOS 6, 12 inn.
Playing in just his second game since April, Frank "Pig" House could not have picked a better time for his first home run of the year, putting the Barons ahead in the 12th inning with a solo shot off Hal "Porky" Reniff. Eddie Mathews was a hero as well, tying the game with a three-run homer off Billy Loes in the top of the ninth.
BRO 6, DET 2
The Bas stayed alive, but just barely. Dick McAuliffe's three-run dinger off Sandy Koufax in the first set the tone, as Lew Burdette coasted to his 20th win with a five-hit CG. This is Burdette's seventh straight 20-win season, and ninth overall.
STL 7, CHI 1
Irv Noren homered twice and drove in four, and with the pressure of the pennant race gone, Bob Sadowski got his first win in four starts.

After driving in five runs in 10 games, Eddie Mathews had 7 RBI in two games at Boston, including a game-tying three-run blast in the ninth inning on Friday.

East Division
	W	L	GB	MN
CLE	100	56	--	2
BRO	95	61	5

First Overall
	W	L	GB	MN
CLE	100	56	--	4
CHI	97	59	3

Sat Sept 25

MAN 1, CLE 0
Ray Sadecki threw a four-hit shutout, as Felipe Alou's first inning RBI double proved to be the game's only run.
BOS 9, BRO 3
Rico Petrocelli homered and drove in three runs and Orlando Cepeda was 3-for-5 with two runs, as Steve Blass beat Gene Conley. Dick McAuliffe homered for the third straight game, probably setting some kind of record.
ATL 12, CHI 11
In a wild one at Fulton County Stadium, the Toppers scored 11 runs in the last four innings and blew a four-run lead in the ninth before winning it on Billy Cowan's RBI single. Two Atlanta pitchers got blown saves, though Joe Grzenda's was accompanied by a win.

Manhattan's Ray Sadecki shut out Cleveland 1-0, allowing Brooklyn to live another day, though they are hanging by a thread. Meanwhile, Chicago's home field hopes faded with a 12-11 loss at Atlanta.

East Division
	W	L	GB	MN
CLE	100	57	--	1
BRO	95	52	5

First Overall
	W	L	GB	MN
CLE	100	57	--	3
CHI	97	60	3

Sun Sept 26

CLE 7, MAN 2, 13 inn.
Harvey Kuenn and Eddie Mathews combined to drive in five runs in the top of the 13th at Yankee Stadium, giving the Cleveland Barons a 7-2 win and a trip to their first UL World Series. Johnny Podres battled Joe Gibbon to a 2-2 tie, and Dick Radatz was stellar for the Sox, pitching four shutout innings, but Ted Abernathy got into trouble immediately in the 13th, allowing singles to Rusty Staub and Curt Flood, and biffing Whitey Herzog's bunt attempt to load the bases. Kuenn, the #1 pick in 1952, then plated a pair with a double, and Mathews, who also joined the team in 1952, picked up thei spare with a three-run homer. Mathews has homered in three of his last four games and was instrumental in all three wins. Mathews has come to life in September, slugging .564 after slugging just .382 in August.
BOS 7, BRO 4
The Brooklyn Superbas dynasty came to a silent end in front of 30,488 at Frank Thomas Memorial Stadium, as the Superbas were eliminated with a 7-4 loss to the Boston Federals, ending a run of eight straight East Division titles and five World Series championships. Eddie Bressoud erased a 4-1 Brooklyn lead with a three-run blast in the seventh, and Bill Freehan put the game away with a two-run homer in the eighth. Johnny Kucks (11-10) took the loss. Kucks was 9-1 on June 8, but just 2-9 since then, mainly due to lack of run support.
CHI 8, ATL 4
Chicago reversed a four-game skid after Jim Busby's two-run triple broke a 4-4 tie in the eighth, and Bob Allison added a two-run homer for good measure in the ninth. But the Colts, who have a history of injuries to key players just before the World Series, lost Tom Sturdivant for two weeks with a hyperextended throwing elbow in the fourth inning. "Smoke" could be available for service if the Series reaches six or seven games.

In a fitting climax to a landmark campaign, Harvey Kuenn and Eddie Mathews, who have been with the Barons since 1952, broke open a 2-2 game in the 13th inning to send the club to its first World Series. Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, Suberbas fans lamented the end of an eight-year run of division titles and five straight World Series championships, and in Atlanta, the Colts ended a four-game skid but lost Tom Sturdivant for two weeks.

East Division
	W	L	GB	MN
CLE	101	57	--	*
BRO	95	53	6

First Overall
	W	L	GB	MN
CLE	101	57	--	2
CHI	98	60	3

Mon Sept 27

MAN 9, CLE 8
18 hits and eight runs were not enough for Cleveland, as Turk Farrell plunked Willie Stargell with the bases loaded in the ninth to tie the game 8-8, and Vada Pinson won the game on the next pitch with an RBI single.
CHI 13, ATL 2
Don Mossi pitched a four-hit gem for his 25th win, as the Colts cruised 13-2, but for the second day in a row, they lost a key player to injury. CF Bob Allison left the game after a diving catch in the eighth inning, and was later found to have torn a rib cage muscle and will miss the World Series.

The Colts pulled within two games of Cleveland for home field advantage, but lost another player, this time CF Bob Allison (.261-24-72), who will miss the Series with a torn rib cage muscle.

First Overall
	W	L	GB	MN
CLE	101	58	--	2
CHI	99	60	2

Tue Sept 28

BRO 2, CLE 0
Lew Burdette blanked the Barons at home with a four-hit shutout, striking out eight, handing Earl Francis a hard-luck loss (7.0, 5 H, 2 R). Francis had 18 wins on Aug. 23, but fell one win shy of his first 20-win season after managing only one win in his last six starts, finishing 19-8, 2.88.
SF 9, CHI 2
Fred Newman went the distance, defeating Ray Herbert (15-10), who lost for the third time in four decisions. Lou Brock had three hits and swiped his 100th bases, and 2B Gene Alley hit his first UL home run.

Ray Herbert lost in San Francisco and Lew Burdette blanked the Barons in Cleveland, whose magic number was down to one with two games to play.

First Overall
	W	L	GB	MN
CLE	101	59	--	1
CHI	99	61	2

Wed Sept 29

CLE 12, BRO 1
All nine Barons got a hit, and Chris Hinton and Curt Flood had three each, as the home team denied Gene Conley his 10th win. Steve Barber was stellar, tossing a five-hitter for his sixth CG of the year. Eddie Mathews hit his 30th homer run.
SF 4, CLE 0
Luis Tiant threw a four-hit shutout, his second of the year, and Willie McCovey keyed a three-run eighth with a two-out, two-run single.

The Barons crushed Brooklyn 12-1 to clinch home field advantage in the World Series, while Luis Tiant blanked the Colts at Seals Stadium.