Gray Sox Skipper No Newbie
by Glen Reed
Jeffrey Gurganus brings a compelling fantasy baseball resume to the Big Apple, as well as great expectation for a turnaround in the fortunes of the city's second side. Gurganus occupies a lofty position in Micro League baseball history, with a curriculum vitae that touts some of the best sides
in the history of the competition. As an aside, the UL's East Division is now home to what I believe to be the three winningest managers in ML history, but don't quote me on that. But we do know for sure that Gurganus's final entry in the now-defunct circuit was a pennant-winning World Series team, though I can't tell you if he's a winner or a loser in the Fall Classic, as we never actually got around to playing the games.

Interestingly enough, Jeffro's opponent in that final tilt was none other than current Brooklyn Superbas owner G. Richard Reed, who's thrilled at the chance to renew the Micro League rivalry across two of the city's five boroughs. In fact, rumor has it that Reed has long been promoting a mid-season derby between in-town rivals, and such a practice seems an excellent way to generate fan interest in the nation's media capitol for a newly minted franchise.

Gurganus will have to succeed where others have failed, however, if the Gray Sox are to swing more than the limpest of sticks. The recently departed Bronx-based Gothams franchise suffered mightily under the stewardship of three blunderful ownership groups between the 1953 departure of founding
owner Gregory Bish and 1957 arrival of steady-hand Shawn Martin. Many analysts find Martin's so-called "sir tanksalot" long-term strategy to be perfectly suited to a current environment in which Brooklyn's Screaming Bats are in full throat, but that's been cold comfort to the fan base. To
wit, the team has been last or next-to-last in attendance three years running despite being nestled in the nation's most populous, and baseball mad, city. Rather than stand the heat, Martin got out of the kitchen (moving to Boston), creating the opening for our man Jeff.

Gray Sox Seek Expansion Success
Gurganus Pins Hopes on Solid Rotation
MANHATTAN (April 20) -- The expansion Manhattan Gray Sox got off to an 8-4 start, thanks in large part to excellent starting pitching.  Manhattan ranks third in runs allowed and fourth in ERA, and three Gray Sox hurlers rank in the top 10 in baserunners per nine innings (Podres, Church, and Sanford).  Some highlights from the franchise's first three weeks:

April 3 -- MAN 3, BOS 0 -- Johnny Podres (right) throws a 3-hit shutout in his Gray Sox debut
April 5 -- MAN 5, CLE 2 -- Billy O'Dell anchors a combined 6-hitter
April 7 -- MAN 4, CLE 2 -- Podres allows two unearned runs, anchoring a combined six-hitter with Ted Abernathy, who notches his 150th career save.
April 12 -- MAN 4, DET 0 -- Bubba Church throws a 2-hit shutout to beat Sandy Koufax
April 14 -- MAN 4, DET 1, 10 inn -- Jack Sanford allows 4 hits and 1 run in 8 innings, striking out 9.  Jim "Bear" Owens earns his 1st career save.

George, We Hardly Knew Ye
Spiders Lefty Has 11-Day Career
ST. PAUL (April 11) – St. Paul Saints pitcher George "Lefty" Brunet completed the league's shortest career this week.  The San Francisco Spiders prospect, who was drafted in the 4th round, 39th overall pick just two weeks ago, will never pitch again after suffering a career-ending injury here today with Double-A St. Paul.  Brunet, a 26-year-old lefty out of Houghton, Michigan, was 0-1 with a 5.71 ERA in three starts with the Saints.
   Six days after Brunet's tragic injury, the Spiders lost two players on their big league roster.  Ace pitcher Ron Kline () and shortstop Chico Carrasquel will each miss 4-5 weeks after suffering arm injuries in the Apr. 17 loss to St. Louis at Seals Stadium.

SP Short Hopes His Career Isn’t
by Shawn Martin
BOSTON (April 8) – Federals starting pitching prospect (TINSTAAPP?) Chris Short knows that a career in baseball can be as volatile as the stock market, or America’s “Cold War” against Communism.  That said, the left-handed hurler knows that when he gets his opportunity in the bigs, it is up to him to prove that he belongs there.  It appears that time is now.  With superstar franchise starter Bob Friend hurt during Opening Day in Manhattan with a severely torn muscle in his lower back, GM Shawn Martin has decided to hand the ball to his prized rookie, c alling Short up yesterday from AAA Philadelphia rather than one of his other veteran arms.  “What the hell do we have to lose?” Martin stated, “Losing Friend basically throws our season out the window, so we felt that giving the rook a shot was worth the potential risk.”

Known as Style because of his meager wardrobe as a minor leaguer, the 6'4" Short was the NY Gothams’ 2nd round selection in the 1960 rookie draft.  A freak injury while batting during his first year in the minors left him with a fractured eye socket, and out for 10 weeks.  He then breezed through low-A ball, and ended up spending the majority of his time in AA starting ten games, going 2-5 with a 5.23 ERA.  Another injury (this time to his pitching arm) sidelined him in 1961 for two months, but when he came back in June he proved why the G-Men were so high on him, shellacking AA hitters with a 2.76 ERA along with a 1.13 WHIP.  His callup to AAA went well, as he made 9 starts there, putting up a 4.20 ERA in 60 I P.  "The kid's got a lot of heart, he really works out there," Martin continued, "I think the fans at Fenway will love him.  We hope that his string of bad luck is over."