United League of American Base Ball Clubs          est. 1951
 
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Monuments Surge Toward 4th Pennant
22-2 Spree Leaves Maroons in Dust
WASHINGTON (Sept. 16) -- An eight-game winning streak extended Washington's lead to 10 games over second place St. Louis, virtually assuring a fourth pennant in five seasons for Jay Kaplan's mighty Monuments.  The streak included wins over Louisville, Boston (2), Chicago (2), Detroit (2), and Brooklyn.  Highlights included Carl Erskine's seven-hit 3-1 complete game win over the Colonels Sept. 6, Warren Hacker anchoring a three-hit shutout of Boston Saturday (the 9th), and a 17-6 blowout at Briggs Stadium Wednesday (the 13th).  The streak came on the heels of a pair of seven-game win streaks, as the Mons went on a 22-2 spree to sprint toward the finish of what was, just five weeks ago, a tight four-way pennant race.
   The Monuments' pennant drive was driven by superb pitching and a phenomenal batting outburst by 27-year-old shortstop Gil McDougald.  McDougald batted just .227 with 34 RBIs in 92 games from May through August 29, then erupted for a .500 average (25-50) and 23 RBI in the last 14 games.  Gil's torrid patch includes eight multi-RBI games, and four homers in three days on Sept. 11-13.  McDougald's outburst has compensated for the cooling off of Washington's key offensive contributors.  Hank Thompson (.325-18-88), has exactly matched his HR and RBI totals from last season.  The second baseman was in the hunt for the batting title, but is batting just .267 in September.  Joe Adcock (.281-21-77) has slumped a bit in September as well.  Adcock had 60 RBIs in the first four months, but has just 17 in his last 37 games.  Meanwhile, Duke Snider (.271-31-97) continues to rank among the league's top hitter.  The "Silver Fox" is fifth in home runs and fourth in RBIs, fifth in slugging, and sixth in OPS.
   Stu Miller (14-5, 3.03) is the team's hottest pitcher.  Miller is 3-0, 1.82 in his last three starts after going 5-1. 2.10 in August.  Warren Hacker (22-7, 3.56) has won seven straight starts since Aug. 17, and 10 of his last 12.  Hacker is tied for the lead in wins with the Colonels' Johnny Antonelli.  Cy Young front-runner Carl Erskine (21-9, 2.40) has won 10 straight decisions; he last lost a game on July 13, the first of three losses at New York that was a turning point for the Monuments.  Since that mid-July sweep at the hands of the Gothams, Washington has won 40 of 54 games (.741 winning percentage).  On July 16, 9.5 games separated the top five teams.  Today, second place St. Louis sits 10 games back.

1,000 Hits and Counting
Stan the Man Reaches Historic Milestone
LOS ANGELES (Sept. 5) --  While his team's pennant hopes evaporated in the late summer heat, Stan Musial achieved a historic milestone today at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.  In the eighth inning of a 13-7 win over the Los Angeles Outlaws, Musial slapped an RBI single off Art Houtteman.  The hit itself was unexceptional.  The Maroons already had the game well in hand, leading 10-5, and Stan finished 1-for-4 on the day.  But the single had broader significance because it was the 1,000th hit of Musial's storied United League career.  Not long ago, Musial, 34, was 7th place on the career hit list.  But his continued excellence allowed him to surpass the likes of Jensen, Mantle, Woodling, and most recently, Minoso and Robinson.  For a spell early in the season, it look like the race to 1,000 would be a three-way dog, cat, and bird fight.  But Musial torrid hitting pace conspired with Minoso's broken face and Jackie's advancing years to give the honor to "the Man" from Donora, Pa.
   In many respects, Stan the Man is having his finest season this year -- which is saying something.  Musial has twice led the league in hits, and narrowly missed the Triple Crown in 1954, his MVP season.  With two weeks left, he has already established a career record with 183 hits.  He is within reach of Jackie Robinson's single season record of 202 hits (he needs 19 hits in 12 games).  His .353 average is 20 points above his previous high, and his slugging (.626) and OPS (1.048) are currently at career highs.  Musial's OPS is almost a full 100 points behind Detroit slugger Ralph Kiner, but Musial ranks 1st, 3rd, and 2nd in the Triple Crown categories, ahead of Kiner each.  Musial has already guaranteed his fourth consecutive .300-30-100-100 season (.300 average, 30 home runs, 100 RBI, 100 runs).
   Despite Musial's impressive hitting feats, for St. Louis, 1956 is shaping up to be another 1954.  In that year, the Maroons accomplish a rare 'double' as Musial won the MVP and teammate Billy Pierce won the Cy Young Award, but the club still finished runner-up to Washington.  This year, though Pierce has faded and is now just one among several Cy candidates, the Maroons seem fated to finish one spot behind Washington for the fourth year running.  Last year, St. Louis finished third for the first time, while Washington was second.  In 1952-54, St. Louis claimed second place while Jay Kaplan built a dynasty in the nation's capital.  "It's getting ridiculous," Pierce lamented in the St. Louis clubhouse.  "Frustrating and ridiculous," Smiley Keegan added.  "F-ing annoying, I'd say," said the foul-mouthed Junior Stephens.  Asked what his next aspiration was, Musial -- who is 2nd in career batting (.326), 3rd in home runs (194), 2nd in RBIs (621), 3rd in walks (446), and the all-time leader in runs (634) -- said simply, "a ring."  When a reported commented that Stan was already married, the usually even-tempered Musial snapped, "not that ring, dumbass!" before collecting himself, smiling, and adding, "and maybe another thousand hits."

Injured Erskine Battles Antonelli in Cy Chase
WASHINGTON (Sept. 16) -- Carl Erskine's torn bicep muscle came too late in the season to affect Washington's pennant drive, and could very well have no effect on the ace's Cy Young bid.  The Sept. 11 injury wipes out four starts for Erskine, who is 21-9 in 35 starts and leads the league with a 2.40 ERA and 9.0 ratio.
  Other Cy Young candidates include Erskine's teammate Warren Hacker (22-7, 3.54), who suffers from a relatively high ERA but co-leads in wins; Louisville's Johnny Antonelli (22-9, 2.49), who leads the league with 338 strikeouts, co-leads in wins, and has a realistic shot at winning the Triple Crown; and St. Louis' Billy Pierce (21-10, 3.10) and "Sad Sam" Zoldak (18-5, 2.58).
  If the voting were today, Erskine would probably walk away with the Cy Young Award, but Antonelli had four starts remaining, including three at home.  Since Aug. 1, Antonelli is 8-0 with a 1.43 ERA.  If he maintains anything resembling that form, he will eclipse Erskine and become the first Louisville pitcher to earn a Cy Young.  Billy Pierce still has an outside shot at winning his second CYA.  Pierce is just one win and three strikeouts behind Antonelli, and has 14 CGs to Antonelli's 12.  However, Antonelli has six shutouts, and hence a chance to equal Stu Miller's record of eight shutouts in 1952.

Mega-Slump
The M&M Brothers' Fabulous Flaccid Bats
BOSTON (Sept. 16) -- The Boston Beacons had dropped hard and fast in the second half.  Boston was 32-45 at the Midsummer Break, and stood within 2.5 games of 6th place.  Since then, they are 19-46 (.246), tied for last, and 15 games out of 8th place.  Boston had a rough season last year (69-85), but finished well ahead of San Francisco and Detroit and had some solid offensive years from Mickey Mantle (.317-28-109) and Eddie Mathews (.295-27-97).  The M&M's powered the league's third best offense (805 runs) and narrowly missed posting joint .300-30-100 seasons.
   Boston's offense ranks #8 this season, thanks in large part to the lack of output of the M&Ms.  Mathews, who was an All-Star in 1954 and nearly hit .300 last year, is batting just .233.  Barring a torrid final fortnight, Mathews (.233-26-77, .782 OPS) will finish 1956 with his lowest hit, RBI, and run totals, and lowest batting average, in his four seasons as a regular.  The word "slump" fails to convey the intensity and duration of Mathews' recent impotence.  He is a human Viagra commercial.  Mathews started slowly, batting just .216 with 24 RBIs in the first two months.  But in June and July, he got it up, batting .331-12-33 in 50 games.  But since Aug. 1, the once "Steady Eddie" has earned the moniker "Mr. Flaccid" for his inability to get it up.  Mathew is batting an incredibly sour .133 (20-150) in his last 41 games.  His average is so far below the Mendoza line, that you could stack another Eddie Mathews on his shoulders and he could still nearly limbo under it.
   "The Commerce Comet" hasn't fared much better.  Mantle's season numbers (.256-20-69, .800 OPS) are slightly better, but he has shared in Mathews' late season mega-slump that has contributed to the Beacons' current 6-23 skid.  Mantle had a solid May (.330-4-20), but after a back injury on June 9, his numbers dipped.  And since Aug. 1, Mantle, like Mathews, has completely imploded as a hitter.  Mantle has just 31 hits in 41 games, for a .197 average, and has driven in just 17 runs.  As the Beacons' season disintegrates before their very eyes, Mantle appears to be "playing for the personal stats."  He leads the league with seven home runs in September.  But he has just three other hits all month and has the sixth worst September batting average (.189) in the league.  Incredibly, that paltry number is only the fourth worst on Boston.  Jim Delsing (.125), Mathews (.132), and Earl Torgeson (.186) all rank below him.
   Boston has been shut out four times in their last 11 games and have scored three or less runs in 18 of their last 26 games.  Harvey Kuenn's .255 leads the team in September.  Take away Mantle, and the rest of the team has combined for just 26 RBIs in 14 games.