Podres: Poised for Pennant Push?
Two Games Back, Mons' Ace Returns
WASHINGTON (Sep. 24) - Johnny Podres, who led the Cleveland Barons to pennants in 1965 and 1967, his first two Cy Young seasons, returns from the DL this week with a chance to knock his former club out of first place and swipe a fourth consecutive East Division crown for the Washington Monuments. 

With seven games remaining in the 1973 United League season, all eyes are on the Washington Monuments ace, who is set to return to the mound after three months with a bum shoulder.  The 40-year-old southpaw was 7-2 with a 2.01 ERA before the June 9 injury.  Since then, Don Wilson has stepped into the ace role, with a 10-1 record and 1.99 ERA in 15 second half starts, and Ron Blomberg has paced the offense with 22 home runs and 89 RBIs. 

Joe Rudi took Player of the Week Sept. 17 after batting .538 with 12 RBIs in six games.  Rudi was part of the 1970 rookie crop then launched the Monuments from worst to first, where they have resided ever since (at least on October 1).  Washington has won three straight pennants, but faces elimination if they fail to close the two-gap margin behind the Cleveland Barons, who are fighting for the third pennant in their 23-year history.

The Monuments have a history of dramatic finishes.  They trailed Detroit by two games going into the final week in 1970 and forced a one-game tiebreaker, which they won; and they clinched the 1971 pennant on the last day after Boston closed the gap in the final days.

Super Cooper
CLEVELAND (Sep. 24) -- The Cleveland Barons have had a top four pitching staff in eight of the last nine seasons--leading the league four times--but haven't had a winning season in four years and ranked dead last in runs three seasons running.  Cleveland still ranks only 8th in run production, but with a rotation that reads Palmer, Richard, Cuellar, Reuschel, Hooton, 8th place is good enough to catapult the Barons to first place in the East Division.  With seven games to go, Cleveland holds a two-game lead over the three-time division champs Washington, and if one had to single out one player who transformed the team, it would be Cecil Cooper, hands down.

GM Charlie Qualls engineered several key acquisitions in the offseason to address his lumber inadequacy, including 3B Don Demeter, SS Ron Hunt, and C Tim McCarver, but none has been as instrumental to the Barons' surge in offense as the 22-year-old first baseman from Brenham, Tex.  Acquired from Chicago in the 1971 deal that sent Dave Boswell and Toby Harrah to Chicago [yes, the Dave Boswell that went 14-9 in 1972 to help the Colts recapture the pennant, and yes, the Toby Harrah who recently hit for the cycle], Cooper has quickly developed into one of the league's premier power pokers.  A decidedly unimpressive rookie campaign in '71 (.210-4-26 in 96 games) had pundits wondering aloud whether the Colts' overshot with the 12th overall pick.  But Cecil answered his critics with a solid sophomore effort, doubling his at bats to over 400 and finishing second on the club in home runs and fourth in RBIs.

Coop exploded on the scene this year, smacking 8 home runs by May 1--already half as many as last year's club leader Johnny Callison, and raised his average over the summer (batting .345 in July and .313 in August) while maintaining his power production.  Cooper is currently fifth in home runs (26) and RBIs (95), and is on pace to hit the most Baron home runs since Johnny Callison in 1968 (27), and the most RBIs since Bernie Allen in 1967 (99).

The club still ranks next to last in home runs, but they are no longer the "Hitless Wonders" that snuck into the 1967 World Series with the third worst OPS in the league.  The Barons rank third in hits and batting average, and have the fewest strikeouts.  Mexican RF Jorge Orta (.286-6-50) is a solid Rookie of the Year contender, and Ron Hunt (.347 OBP and 75 RBIs) has proven equally adept at setting the table and cleaning up the scraps.

The Barons' quest for pennant #3 comes down to seven final games: three at home against the Boston Federals, who have rolled over and are playing dead, two with Manhattan, and two at Detroit, where the only remaining drama is which of Bobby Bonds, Reggie Jackson, and Tony Perez will emerge as the team HR leader (they are all knotted up with 25 dingers apiece.)  Cleveland has a commanding advantage over Boston this season (11-4) and is 9-7 against the Sox, but they will strongly prefer wrapping up the pennant before the weekend trip to Motown; the Griffins lead the season series 9-7 and have the best home record (50-26) in the league.