Boston, Detroit Close In on Monuments
BOSTON (Aug. 16) -- A year ago today, the East Division race was all but over; Detroit had an 8-game lead over Washington and Boston sat 15 games back.  Of course, the story had a different ending, with the Griffins collapsing at the end an Boston climbing to within four games by the season's end.  This year the same three teams are neck-and-neck atop the East with 40 games to go.

Boston lost 5-3 to Chicago today, spoiling a chance to move into first place in the East Division, after the division leading Washington Monuments ended a six-game skid with a pair of wins at Dallas yesterday and today.  The Mons scored three runs or less in five of the six losses and were swept by Los Angeles at home.  The slump allowed the defending champs' close pursuers to tighten the race.

Aces Wild
Washington's hitting woes were compounded by the poor pitching of Don Wilson and Johnny Podres.  Wilson, who was 12-4 through July 20, is 0-4 with a 7.77 ERA in his last four starts.  The slump was contagious, as Podres was chased after four and two innings in a pair of blowout losses on Aug. 3 and Aug. 8.  Podres finally snapped out of the funk on the 13th with a six-hit gem in a 13-1 win over the Texans, his first win in six starts.  Richie Hebner and Bernie Carbo each had four hits in the 19-hit onslaught that ended the losing streak, and Ron Blomberg was the hero today with three runs and three hits in a 8-5 win to keep the Mons in first, for now. . .

Koosman Carries Feds
Boston southpaw Jerry Koosman has allowed just two earned runs in his last three starts (2-0, 0.75), helping the Feds to six wins in seven games that close the gap with Washington.  However, Boston hit a buzzsaw against Atlanta, who swept a three-game set at Fenway.  Atlanta on Aug. 9 won the first game 9-7 on a three-run homer in the ninth by Ellie Hendricks, and won 3-1 the next day on a three-hit gem by Tom Timmermann.  Tempers flared in the finale, a 15-2 Atlanta rout.  Toppers reliever Mike Corkins plunked Dick McAuliffe after he homered in the eighth and Rico Petrocelli homered in the ninth. 

The Boston shortstop charged the mound, inciting a bench-clearing brawl.  The Feds took the first two games over Chicago in a pair of one-run decisions, but lost the Aug. 15 finale when Tony Perez hit a game-winning 3-run homer off Ray Crone, killing the Feds' chance to claim first place, for now. . .

Hoernering the Market
Detroit also got into the act, going 5-2 since Aug. 7 to pull within one game of the slumping division leaders.  Joe Hoerner notched three saves in four days, slicing his ERA to 1.98, and Dick Allen had a homer hat trick in a 7-6 win over Manhattan on Aug. 10.  The Griffs kept winning despite the absence of Frank Howard, who will miss all of August with a torn quadriceps.  Howard, Allen, and Reggie Jackson are all on pace for 30 HR/100 RBI seasons, which would make them only the second trio of teammates to accomplish the feat since the '64 Colts (see sidebar).

Blessing in Disguise?
Injuries to Billy Williams and Joe Rudi could help San Francisco and Washington.  Williams has been an offensive liability, batting just .225 with a .708 OPS, and his -3.2 VORP means he gives a negative contribution to the Spiders' offense.  Larry Hisle, his likely replacement, is second only to Mike Andrews in slugging percentage and is a defensive upgrade in left field.
Rudi is suffering one of the year's worst sophomore slumps, hitting .243/.261/.346, 60 and 90 points under last year's OBP and SLG numbers.  His fill-in, Lee Thomas, has a .854 OPS in 95 games and the second highest VORP on the club. 
 

WEST DIVISION Sal Bando is crossing the plate at a blistering pace.  His 107 runs puts him on pace for 145 for the season, just 11 behind Mickey Mantle's 1964 record.   Rod Carew is 11 shy of 1,000 career hits, leading all Under-25s by a wide margin (Reggie Smith is second with 608).      Jimmy Wynn's -17.9 VORP makes him the worst hitter in the league.  Outlaws won 8 of 9 from Aug. 5-13, led by Larry Dierker, who is 2-0, 1.44 in 3 August starts.      Nolan Ryan is 3-0, 2.04 in August, with more strikeouts than innings.  Reggie Smith is hitting .378-4-9 in his last 12 games.  After a 5.16 ERA in his first 21 games, 38-year-old Ted Abernathy has a 0.82 ERA in his last 14.   After going worst to first last year, Chicago has a chance to drop back to worst.  Their offense dropped from 5th last year to 11th, thanks to a club low .245 batting average.   Bob Moose, Dick Bosman, Fergie Jenkins, and Mike Hedlund gave up three runs in four days Aug. 12-15.  Thurmon Munson is hitting .400 with a .955 OPS in August.

EAST DIVISION Don Wilson (161), Andy Messersmith (155), and Johnny Podres (146) all figure in the closest strikeout title race in league history.  Mons are a combined 8-15 vs. Boston and Detroit.   Spanky Spangler could use more discipline at the plate; the 38yo LF is hitting .042 in his last 7 games.  Feds are 11-3 vs. Manhattan.      The hitting exploits of Detroit's big three bashers has eclipsed a fine year at the plate for Bobby Bonds (.258-20-62), who would be the top run producer for fives clubs (BRO, CHI, CLE, SF, and WAS).   Phil Niekro is 6-0, 1.53 in his last 8 starts and needs just three wins to join Larry Jansen, Steve Gromek, and Gene Conley as the only pitchers with 15 wins in each of their first four seasons.      Frank Reberger is having a breakout year (10-9, 2.21, 1.15 WHIP).  Club has 37 home runs, average of one every 3.2 games.  Johnny Callison (11) is the only player with more than five.   The Bas bullpen has been a rare bright spot in an otherwise dismal season, led by closer Ray Lamb (0.55, 14 SV, 23 straight shutout innings) and Dick Selma (7-0, 2.29)