1971 FOUNDER'S CUP

Toppers Thwart Texan Three-peat
Rookie Bradley Goes the Distance for Atlanta's 1st Cup
DETROIT (July 10) -- Rookie Tom Bradley pitched a six-hit complete game and Rocky Colavito was 3-for-4 with a home run, as Atlanta rallied to beat Dallas 7-2 in the 10th Founder's Cup Final.  Dallas took an early 2-0 lead on solo shots by Willie Crawford and Cesar Cedeno.  But Bradley, a 24-year-old righthander and 11th overall pick this year, settled down, and the bats finally came to life in the sixth as the Toppers took the lead 4-2 on three singles, three walks, and a hit batsman.  The West Division leaders added a pair in the seventh to put the game out of reach, and Colavito had a hand in both rallies: he singled home Joe Torre for the go-ahead run in the sixth, and singled and scored in the seventh.  Torre, Bernie Allen, and Felix Mantilla each had a pair of hits, and Wayne Simpson took the just his second loss in nine starts.

The five-run margin of victory was the biggest in four years and the second biggest in the tournament's history.  Six of the 10 finals have been decided by three-runs or less, including both of Dallas' titles in 1969 and 1970.  West Division teams have now won three FC's in a row, closing the East's series lead to 6-4.

League officials made a shock announcement at Kiner Field on the eve of the tournament that this would be the last running.  But during the pre-game festivities on the day of the Final, league president Timothy J. Smith held out the possibility that the competition might return at some point in the future, perhaps on a two-year or four-year cycle.  The event had become a loss-making venture in recent years, as fans in one city were reluctant to buy tickets to games not involving their home side and club officials complained of extra costs.  Although host cities earn a $1 million league grant, Detroit officials this week requested extra help to defray the costs of hosting 28 games in nine days.  The Griffins had to pay ticket-takers and concessioners overtime, with the first game starting at 10 a.m. every day and the fourth game often going past 11 p.m.  Kiner Field showed patches of bare dirt in the high traffic areas of the outfield and infield grass.  And the timing of this year's event meant that the Griffins played just one of their six games on a weekend day, and four of the other five were weekday day games.

The triumph was the Hilltoppers second piece of hardware since migrating south from Kentucky.  The Toppers won the 1967 World Series in a sweep over Cleveland.  The Colonels lost the very first Founder's Cup Final in 1962 in Dallas, when they were stymied by the Monuments' Don Larsen in a 3-2 loss.  The Toppers will display the Cup at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium for a year until the League decides what to do with it.

SEMIFINAL: DALLAS 19, SAN FRANCISCO 9
Crawford Powers Dallas to Third Straight FC Final
DETROIT (July 8) -- Willie Crawford homered three times to lead an explosive Dallas offense to 19-9 win, sending the Texans to their record third straight Founder's Cup Final.  Dallas won the last two Founder's Cups, 6-4 over Cleveland and 4-2 over Detroit. 

Dallas scored 13 runs in the first four innings, chasing Dick Bosman after three, and Tom Griffin after he allowed six runs in 0.2 innings in the fourth.  Six Texans had at least three hits in the game, and the tally ran to 24 hits in the game.  Crawford had only six home runs in 75 games before the game, but launched round-trippers in the first, third, and fourth innings -- the last a grand slam off Griffin.

The Spiders led 6-2 in the second after crushing Jim McAndrew for six runs in 1.1 innings, including home runs by Lou Brock and Mike Andrews, but a committee of five relievers held San Francisco to just three runs the rest of the way.  21-year-old righthander Wayne Simpson (5-1, 3.14) is slated to start the final.

SEMIFINAL: ATLANTA 2, ST. LOUIS 0
Carlton Shakes It Off, Toppers Beat St. Louis
DETROIT (July 8) -- Steve Carlton had his worst outing of the year in St. Louis June 30, lasting just four innings after putting on 12 baserunners.  Today he not only put that loss behind him, he made a point, turning in his best outing of the year: eight shutout innings with nine strikeouts, to lead Atlanta to 2-0 win and its first Founder's Cup Final since the inaugural tournament in 1962, when they were still the Louisville Colonels.

Carlton's gem overshadowed a fine performance by Maroons' ace Don Sutton, who allowed just two runs in seven innings.  The Toppers scored in the bottom of the third on Terry Crowley's solo shot and added a run in the seventh on back-to-back singles by Albie Pearson, Crowley, and Sal Bando.  Crowley had three hits in the game to lift his average to .300, and Eddie Watt pitched a perfect ninth to preserve the shutout and the win. 

Both Atlanta and Dallas enter the Final with perfect 5-0 records in the tournament.
Tom Bradley (3-1, 2.89), who beat Cleveland 11-1 in Atlanta's FC opener, will start for the Toppers against Dallas' Wayne Simpson (5-1, 3.14).
 
 

WEST DIVISION After his three hits in the Founder's Cup semifinal, Terry Crowley fell into a .071 slump in his next 8 games. . .     After 6 HR in 75 games, Willie Crawford had 7 in 7 games July 8-15, jumped to 4th in batting, 6th in OPS, and won his second POW of the year.   Frank Robinson is challenging Joe Torre for the MVP after overtaking him in VORP by hitting .382 with 9 homers in his last 20 games.  Joe Gibbon and Fritz Peterson became first teammates with 10 wins on July 5.    Nolan Ryan has apparently fully recovered from his torn-elbow ligament.  After a 5.40 in June, he has a 0.56 ERA in three starts, with more Ks than innings.     After several lackluster seasons, Pete Rose is emerging as a hitting leader, pacing the Arachnids in average, HR, and RBI.   League-worst 22-38 (.371) vs. righthanded starters. . . 2-12 in last 14 road games.

EAST DIVISION Took 4 of 6 games in Series rematch during Founder's Cup. . .  Don Wilson, Johnny Podres, and Rick Wise are a combined 5-0, 1.61 in last 8 starts.   Lost 8 of 10 July 4-16, including six games scoring zero or one run. . . Cesar Tovar, Bobby Bonds, and Charlie Lau are all batting under .125 in July.   Pitching improving from start to finish: Phil Niekro is 4-0, 0.96 in last 5 starts, and Cecil Upshaw is 0.39 with 11 saves in last 20 games.   Jim Coates has pitched 17.1 innings over 12 games without allowing an earned run. . . Jerry Koosman, who got eight wins in the first nine weeks of the season, finally got win #9 six weeks later after going 0-3 in his last 7 starts.    2-12 in extra inning games. . . 1-12 vs. Washington. . . 2-15 since June 1 in Thursday-Saturday games.   Shut out three times in last week, scored just on run in two other games. . . Duane Josephson hitting .063 in last 10 games.