United League Baseball

'Bas on the Brink
16-Inning Loss Spoils Would-Be Clincher
BROOKLYN (Sept. 15) -- A Gene Woodling error and a Dale Long two-run single in the 16th inning spoiled what could have been a pennant-clinching night for the Brooklyn Superbas. Long, a former New York Gotham who leads Los Angeles with 173 hits, had a career-high five hits in the game.
   With their magic number reduced to one the night before, the Brooks had champagne on ice in the locker room, ready to celebrate their first United League title. But the expansion Outlaws had other ideas.
   The Outlaws are 7-10 against Brooklyn this year -- only Louisville and Washington have more wins against the front-runners. L.A. is just four games under .500 (72-76) and has a two-game lead over New York for sixth place. Brooklyn won six straight from Sept. 4-10 to keep Washington at arm's length, but then lost two of three while the Monuments beat Louisville and swept a pair at Yankee Stadium.
   Heading into the season's final week, Washington's only chance to steal the pennant from Brooklyn is to beat them seven straight times -- the first six to finish the regular season tied, and the seventh a playoff. But still, in the three years of Washington's dynasty, they have won the pennant by an average of 11 games, making this year's finish a veritable nailbiter by comparison. As usual, the more tightly-contested races are further down the league table.
   Three teams are still in contention for third place. Chicago and Louisville are tied at 80-68 and will play each other three times at Parkway Field to end the season. St. Louis (79-69) sits just a game behind the pair and still harbors hopes of a third-place finish, which would end its run of four years in the top two. Los Angeles (72-76) and New York (70-78) are battling for sixth place, and at the bottom of the pile, Detroit and San Francisco are tied for last with identical 54-94 records. The Sound are 9-5 since Sean Holloway took the helm on Sept. 1, and have closed a 5.5 game gap in two weeks to catch the Spiders, who are 3-10 this month.

"Oisk" Eyes First Cy of "New Era"
WASHINGTON (Sept. 18) -- Carl Erskine has eclipsed Brooklyn's Tom Gorman as the Cy Young favorite, according to at least one observer. "Oisk" has won three straight starts to match Gorman's 25 wins, and the Washington righthander has more innings, more strikeouts, and a better ERA than the Brooklyn ace.
   Louisville's Herm Wehmeier is keeping his Cy Young hopes alive. Of the four leading candidates, Herm still has the best ERA, Ratio, and WHIP. He is hurt, however, by the lowest win total (21-5).
   Whitey Ford's chances remain very good. The "Chairman of the Board" has an incredible .880 winning percentage (22-3), and leads the field with 248 strikeouts. Of the Cy hopefuls, only Ford ranks in the top four in ERA, wins, and strikeouts. Ford is 2-0 in September, including a 13-strikeout performance in a 10-5 win over Boston on Sept. 6.
   All four Cy-wannabes are having breakout years, and as a group they have broken the de facto pitching cartel of recent years. Stu Miller, Larry Jansen, Steve Gromek, and Billy Pierce account for 3/4 Cy Young Awards and 6/8 All-Star nominations in the last four seasons. (Ironically, among the four, only Gromek has failed to win a Cy Young, despite being the only four-time All-Star pitcher.)
   This season, Miller (9-4, 2.49) was injured in June after just 18 starts and 148 innings (six below the minimum needed to win the ERA title, which will fall to Wehmeier or Erskine); Jansen (14-8, 3.79) missed a month and a half and is having the worst season of his illustrious career; Pierce (15-13, 3.53), despite being on pace to break his own strikeout record, is a far cry from his Cy Young form of a year ago (24-6, 2.42) and is flirting with .500 for the first time in four years; and most dramatically, Gromek (5-10, 4.83), a 27-game winner last year, isn't even among the four best pitchers on his own team, much less the league.

CY YOUNG CANDIDATES									September
	W-L	ERA	GS	CG	IP	K	R/9	WHIP	W-L	ERA	GS	IP
Carl Erskine, WAS	25-8	2.66	37	17	315.0	175	10.0	1.08	3-0	4.38	3	24.2
Tom Gorman, BRO	25-8	3.00	38	22	306.0	136	11.0	1.19	1-1	2.91	3	21.2
Herm Wehmeier, LOU	21-5	2.58	33	12	272.1	138	9.4	1.02	1-1	2.70	3	23.1
Whitey Ford, CHI	22-3	2.78	30	12	236.1	248	10.4	1.14	2-0	3.71	2	17.0

Top Rookie: Colonel Moose?
The 1955 Rookie of the Year will come down to two players: Louisville first baseman Bill "Moose" Skowron and Brooklyn pitcher Gene Conley. Skowron leads all rookies with 148 hits, 22 HR, and 72 RBI, and has been a key factor in Louisville's emergence this season. Los Angeles' Bobby Clemente leads all rookies with a .304 batting average, but has only half the homers and ribs as the Moose. New York first baseman Wally Moon has 69 RBI and leads the league with 15 triples, despite a meager .242 average.
Among rookie pitchers, Gene Conley (17-9, 4.16) leads the pack with 17 wins, 231.2 innings, and 135 strikeouts. Warren Hacker (11-12, 3.44) has the best rookie ERA, and the Colts' Camilo Pascual (10-9, 3.76) also had a solid first year. The safe money is on Conley to take the prize. The 24-year-old, originally drafted by Detroit, is the fourth man in a stellar staff that is on the verge of producing Brooklyn's first pennant.
Only one pitcher has won UL Rookie of the Year honors (Stu Miller, 1952), and the last two awards went to backstoppers (Superba Smoky Burgess and Colonel Ed Bailey).

Where Are They Now? (#1s)

Where Are They Now? First-Rounders
In this week's second installment we look at the careers of each team's #1 pick in the UL's Initial Draft (ID) (and #1 expansion picks for Los Angeles and San Francisco). After each player's name is his 154-game average. An assessment of the best and worst picks of the First Round is at the bottom.

BROOKLYN
SUPERBAS
96-52 -- 4-3

Initial Draft #1: C Roy Campanella (.294-30-116, 695 games)
Five years after the Initial Draft, Campy is with his third team, and is on the verge of his first MVP Award with the expansion Outlaws. The slugging catcher flirted with 100 RBIs in each of his first three seasons, first with Brooklyn, then St. Louis, before breaking out in 1954 with a .295-30-107 year. As of this writing, at age 32, Campy is batting .345-28-124, and has a fair shot at winning two legs of the Triple Crown, and is a shoo-in for his fourth All-Star award. He ranks 2nd all-time in RBIs, 3rd in doubles, and 5th in home runs.

WASHINGTON
MONUMENTS
90-58 6 4-2

Initial Draft #1: CF Willie Mays (.279-25-94, 684 games)
Few players had the upside potential of Willie Mays in 1951. At the tender age of 18, Mays may have been rushed into the starting lineup, but by 1952 he was batting .300. His development as one of the league's top stars was a slow one, but he won a Gold Glove in 1953 and he batted .291-24-97 in 1954, ranking 5th in slugging and OPS. Mays is the all-time triples leader, and at the age of 23, figures to climb most of the UL's offensive charts for many years to come.

CHICAGO
COLTS
80-68 16 5-2

Initial Draft #1: SP Don Newcombe (13-13, 5.11, 140 games)
When it came time to decide the Colts' expansion draft protected list, Lance Mueller had no problem deciding Don Newcombe's status. The righthander was a flop in his four seasons with Chicago, never winning more than 14 games, and only once cracking .500. His 5.11 career ERA is the second worst among the top 24 picks, and he never came close to earning his $7.5 million salary.

LOUISVILLE
COLONELS
80-68 16 2-4

Initial Draft #1: SP Mickey McDermott (7-15, 6.10, 123 G)
The McDermott pick (5th overall) sparked criticism from the moment it was announced (see Charlie Qualls' critique from Apr. 3, 1951 "The Wrong Mickey"). But even GM Mark Allen's harshest critics couldn't have foreseen the depths of McDermott's ineptitude. "Maury" has a disappointing first year (9-16, 6.35) and even worse 1952 (2-11, 6.72) before being dropped from the regular rotation. He has notched 19 wins in five seasons, and earned $37.5 million for it. That's nearly $2 million per win, making him the biggest draft flop in the history of the league.

ST. LOUIS
MAROONS
79-69 17 4-4

Initial Draft #1: 1B Stan Musial (.321-36-116, 685 games)
"Stan the Man" has been one of the most consistently productive players in the United League. After a solid, but not spectacular first season, his 1952 season was cut short, killing what might have been an MVP bid. In 1953, Musial was 2nd in batting, slugging, and OPS, losing out to Mickey Mantle in a controversial MVP vote (Musial had the better numbers), but Stan struck back in '54, when he took home the MVP Award with season highs in hits, HR, RBI, SLG, and OPS (.331-38-124). Stan ranks 3rd all-time in batting, hits, HR, RBI, and runs, and at age 33, was just signed to a 5-year, $11 million contract that makes him the highest paid player in the league.

LOS ANGELES
OUTLAWS
72-76 24 4-3

Expansion Draft #1: SP Ray Herbert (6-8, 5.62, 105 games)
Herbert saved 15 games for Louisville in 1951, at the age of 20, but saw limited action the next three seasons (just 21 games from 1952-54), but was made the first overall pick in the expansion draft because of his highly rated potential. Unfortunately for Los Angeles, his potential was either overrated or still lies far in the future, as he is 7-12 in 26 starts with the worst ERA (5.60) on a team with the second worst ERA in the league.

NEW YORK
GOTHAMS
70-78 26 1-5

Initial Draft #1: LF Ted Williams (.330-27-106, 295 games)
The "Splendid Splinter" was a bright star that burned out quickly, thanks in large part to a year's stint in the U.S. Army in 1953 that effectively truncated his career. In two years in the United League, Williams was one of the very best. He led the league in doubles in 1951 and in runs in 1952, and ranked in the top 3 in OPS both seasons. In 1952, he had a 21-game hitting streak and was named to the All-Star team. Williams is only 34 today, but has been out of baseball for three years. Had he not gone to Korea, he would likely still be playing today.

BOSTON
BEACONS
65-83 31 1-5

Initial Draft #1: SP Warren Spahn (14-15, 4.43, 182 games)
Warren Spahn is another pitcher with unfulfilled promise - but with a twist: unlike McDermott or Newcombe, Spahnie occasionally showed signs of brilliance, aggravating GM Charlie Qualls all the more. In five years, he's only had one winning season, an exceptionally strong 1953 (21-11, 3.94). Much of his struggles has to took with his weak supporting cast, but even then, he has only cracked the top 10 in ERA twice in five years. Spahn will be cut loose to the Reentry pool after this year -- the biggest casualty of the great Boston pitching purge of '55.

DETROIT
SOUND
54-94 42 5-2

Initial Draft #1: SP Robin Roberts (15-14, 3.90, 182 games)
Roberts has been a steady and consistent hurler, and has generally pitched better than his record indicates. In 1951, he was 19-16, 4.01 and was an All-Star nominee, as the Sound took second place. He won 20 games in '52 and had his best year in 1953 (16-12, 3.34) despite a 7th place finish for Detroit. Last year, he had his first losing season, as Detroit sank to last place, and this year, he is 10-17 with the worst ERA of his career, prompting new GM Sean Holloway to float him as trade bait as he contract expires.

SAN FRANCISCO
SPIDERS
54-94 42 3-3

Expansion Draft #1: SP Ron Kline (no major league games)
Kline is the #9-rated prospect in the league. A third round pick in the 1952 rookie draft, Kline has never pitched an inning in the big league, but has had success at the AAA level. This year with Atlanta (AAA) he is 8-5, 3.38. The 23-year-old is one of a crop of young pitching prospects that should lift the Spiders out of the cellar in no time.

With just a week to play in the United League's fifth season, enough time has elapsed to pass judgment on the league's first 24 draft picks back in spring 1951. The following rankings are based on their actual contribution to their teams, not the quality of the pick at the time (which would move Ted Williams higher) or future potential (which would move Willie Mays higher). Washington's Larry Jansen stands out as the best pick, closely followed by Jackie Robinson. Louisville's Mickey McDermott ranks an uncontroversial last.

#	Player	Team	Rd
1	Larry Jansen	WAS	2
2	Jackie Robinson	NYG	2
3	Billy Pierce	STL	2
4	Roy Campanella	BRO	1
5	Stan Musial	STL	1
6	Jackie Jensen	LOU	3
7	Vern Stephens	BRO	3
8	Ralph Kiner	DET	2
9	Yogi Berra	CHI	2
10	Willie Mays	WAS	1
11	Gil Hodges	NYG	3
12	Larry Doby	BRO	2
13	Mickey Mantle	BOS	2
14	Fred Hutchinson	STL	3
15	Duke Snider	WAS	3
16	Robin Roberts	DET	1
17	Bob Porterfield	DET	3
18	Ted Williams	NYG	1
19	Bobby Thomson	CHI	3
20	Richie Ashburn	LOU	2
21	Warren Spahn	BOS	1
22	Ed Lopat	B0S	3
23	Don Newcombe	CHI	1
24	Mickey McDermott	LOU	1