Seventh Heaven
Colts Clinch 7th Pennant
CLEVELAND (Sept. 11) -- The Chicago Colts clinched their seventh West Division title today with a 4-3 win over the Cleveland Barons at Municipal Stadium.  The clincher came with 16 games left in the season, giving manger Lance Mueller time to give his regulars some much needed time off after a grueling season.  It was the first flag for the Windy City since winning six straight titles from 1961-66, including the 1965 UL championship.

The clincher was a thriller.  The Colts took a 2-0 lead on Merv Rettenmund's two-run homer in the fourth, but the Barons rallied with a solo shot by Ed Brinkman in the fifth and an RBI groundout by Vic Davalillo in the sixth.  The score held at 2-2 until the 11th, as Dooley Womack and Bob D. Johnson allowed just one hit in four innings of relief work.  Starter Dave Boswell and reliever Steve Mingori were equally solid for Cleveland.  But with Bob Humphreys on the hill in the 11th, Gene Michael and Albie Pearson singled, and Clay Dalrymple reached on an error, loading the bases.  Amos Otis was then hit by a pitch and Carl Taylor singled, giving the visitors a 4-2 lead.  With two outs, Johnny Callison hit a solo shot off Harry Parker, halving the lead, but after a 12-pitch battle, including eight foul balls, Parker retired Walt Williams for the final out.

It was the earliest a team wrapped up either division since 1964, when Chicago clinched the West Division on Sept. 15.  The last three West Division titles were clinched on Sept. 25 (Atlanta '67), Sept. 22 (Los Angeles '68), and Sept. 30 (St. Louis '69).

Maris Injured, Could Miss World Series
News of the clinched pennant was muted somewhat by the injury to cleanup hitter Roger Maris two days earlier.  Maris (.268-17-91), sprained his ankle Sept. 9 against Manhattan, effectively ending his season and any chance for his 7th 100-RBI season (and fifth in a row).  Doctors said Maris would be out of action for four weeks, making him questionable for the World Series unless it goes six or seven games.

Monuments Sweep Detroit, Cut Lead in Half
WASHINGTON (Sept. 14) -- Washington used a 5-1 run, including a three-game sweep of Detroit, to halve the Griffins' East Division lead to four games with 15 to play.  Rick Wise and Nelson Briles pitched back-to-back gems in 2-1 and 6-0 wins, and Al Oliver broke a 4-4 tie in the ninth with a dramatic game-winning hit that climaxed with a close play at the plate, and a safe call, to complete the sweep.  Briles is 2-0, 0.56 in his last two starts, and 14-7, 3.40 for the year, trailing only Andy Mesersmith in wins and Don Wilson in ERA among starters.  Rookie LF Joe Rudi has been the man at the plate of late, driving in 12 runs in his last 10 games, including six in a 17-4 rout at Dallas.

Washington has 9 of its last 15 games at home, and six against last place Brooklyn, while Detroit has 12 of 15 at home, but has three games at Chicago before closing the season with three games against Boston.  The Federals were part of a three-way East Division race before a 12-16 August (and Detroit's 19-9 August) effectively ended their pennant hopes.