United League of American Base B

FOUNDERS CUP 1964 · LOS ANGELES
Gray Sox Win Founders Cup
Anderson Foils Feds' Repeat Bid
Manhattan 5, Boston 2
PASADENA (July 10) -- Bobby Anderson (7-7, 3.47) held Boston to one run in seven innings and five different Gray Sox drove in runs, as Manhattan one its first Founders Cup tournament 5-2 at Arroyo Seco Stadium today. The Sox used three doubles and a single to plate three runs off Chris Short in the third, and added a pair an inning later on a triple by Luis Aparicio and an RBI groundout by Bobby Richardson. The Federals scratched back runs in the fourth and the eighth, the latter on a Gene Freese solo job, but could never sustain a rally long enough to score in bunches.
Anderson was 2-0 in the tournament, with a 0.64 ERA, and Joe torre led the offense, hitting .321-3-12 with a 1.174 OPS in 8 games. The Gray Sox are the third different team to win the tournament in as many years.

FOUNDERS CUP WINNERS
1962 -- Washington Monuments
1963 -- Boston Federals
1964 -- Manhattan Gray Sox

End of An Era
by Shawn Martin
BOSTON (July 20) – The Bob Friend era in Boston is over. The United League’s Boston Federals and Chicago Colts completed a trade last night (July 20) that will send both starting pitcher Bob Friend and outfielder Bob Allison to Chicago for a package including second baseman Nellie Fox. “It was a move that I have been dreading for months,” GM/owner/CEO Shawn Martin stated during his press conference, “Bob Friend has truly been a pleasure to have playing for us and representing our franchise.” In return for Friend, Allison and 3B Ken Hamlin, the Federals will receive Chicago’s 1st and 2nd round draft selections for the 1965 season, Gold Glove Award winning 2B Chuck Schilling and prospect catcher Tom Satriano, in addition to the 35-year old free agent-to-be 2B Fox.
   The Federals have fallen to 4th place in the UL Eastern Division, with a record of 48-48. They had the lead in the division for the month of April, but have fallen hard since that time, going just 32-35 since May 1st. “We all hoped that this would be ‘the year’, but our hopes were short-lived,” Martin said, “Our management team decided that it was time to jettison our plans to win now, and start our re-tooling of the roster.”
   The 32-year old “Warrior” Friend has been with the Federals franchise since the 1951 Inaugural Draft, where he was selected in the 16th round by the then-New York Gothams. He started 13 games in his rookie year, going 9-2 with a 4.36 ERA. His best season was arguably his 1961 campaign, where he went 23-12, with a 3.00 ERA and 347 K’s in 347.2 IP. Unfortunately his 1962 season was limited to just 5 innings as he torn a back muscle during his opening day start. He finishes his 14-season Goth-Feds career as the franchise leader in most pitching categories, including strikeouts (2,266), wins (154), losses (137) and complete games. So far in 1964, Friend has struggled with a 4.63 ERA in 24 starts, giving up an astounding 32 homeruns in those 173 innings pitched.
   The strapping Missouri native Bob Allison was New York’s 1st round pick in the 1959 draft, going 3rd overall. While steeped in talent and potential, the 30-year old Allison was unable to fully take advantage of Fenway Park’s short distance to left field, topping out at 27 HR in 1963. He completes his Federals career with an even 100 HR in six seasons with the club, to go along with a .238/.317/.437 line. In 1964 he has 14 bombs in 88 games, and seems to be improving his pitch recognition, improving his K/BB ratio to 1.33 from last year’s 2.02. He is well renowned around the league for his stellar defense at all three outfield positions, a trait that makes him all the more valuable for the playoff contending Colts.
   After announcing the trade to the media, GM Martin made a surprise trip to a local Ford Automobile dealer, where he purchased two new 1965 Lincoln Continentals, which will be delivered to Chicago and given to Friend and Allison upon their arrival at Comiskey Park. “It is the very least we can do to attempt to show these two gentlemen that our decision to trade them had nothing to do with their contributions to the community,” Martin stated, “I wish them both the best of luck and hope that they can get that championship that they have been aiming for.”

Holloway Flips His Lid
by Sean Holloway
DETROIT (July 10) -- In what is becoming an increasingly bizarre scene in the Motor City, Detroit Griffins manager, GM and owner Sean Holloway was seen pulling up to a tattoo parlor near 8 Mile and Schoenherr in his Cadillac Escalade. As he wove his way through the band of Harley bikers loitering in the parking lot, passersby began inquiring as to what he was doing "in the Hood". "Rolling on 20s and looking for that punk Eminem" was all Holloway stated before disappearing into the tattoo parlor. (Editor's note - Holloway was born and raised at 11 Mile and Schoenherr, much closer to Detroit than Mr. Mathers *ever* got).
   If this wasn't enough for the throng of onlookers that was beginning to develop, things really got interesting after Holloway was in the parlor. Once inside, the driving force behind the Griffins mediocrity grabbed a pair of scissors and began to cut his hair off. Stunned onlookers had trouble following Holloway's actions and began urging him to shave off all his hair, yelling "if you're gonna do it, do it right!" Holloway heeded the parlor's occupants and had a 6'8" biker finish the job by shaving his head.
   As if that wasn't enough, the man who has guided Detroit to obscurity within UL then shouted "Ink me - aight!!!" To which the parlor's best tattoist sat down and inked a pair of crossed Louisville sluggers above the initials "TT" on his wrist and "Wit OBP - Allen in da house!" in black, white and pink letters on his left hip. Observers understood the reference in the latter but are still lost as to the meaning of the first.
   Before his newly acquired ink (and blood) dried, Holloway, on the verge of tears, shot out of the parlor, screaming "where's my radio show?" and "put the smack down on your ass, Quallsie!" Commented another observer who wished to remain anonymous "We just saw a nowhere near huge celebrity on the verge of a nervous breakdown. He seemed really distraught and disturbed. He was very scatterbrained. It was crazy, very surreal. He's definitely crying out."

Founding Fathers: L. Michael Mueller
Ferris Mueller's Day Off, or,
The Best GM Never to Win the Series
Number 6 in an 8-part series
by Glen Reed
Every OOTP league has one. Some assume the title by virtue of bad luck, bad timing, or both. It's a title at once exalted and frustrating--Best GM Never to Win the Series. In the now decade-and-a-half-old United League, this can only be one L. Michael Mueller, whose teams have dominated a division for the better part of four seasons running with nary a World Series title to show for it.
Credit bad luck--the 1961 career-ender to staff ace Carl "27-straight wins" Erskine, arguably the best pitcher in the league at the time, must certainly have snatched a title from Mueller's mitts. And so too can you cite bad timing--the run of his Chicago Colts exactly coincided with the peak of rival Superbas' diamond prowess.
   Mueller's success rests on an uncanny ability to pluck quality players from free agency and the trade market at little or no cost, reportedly inspiring the much later, and much more gay Air Supply tune, "Making Love Out of Nothing at All." Indeed, his side was voted the league's most improved three seasons running, 1958-60, laying the foundation for Colts' current success. Much can be traced to work done in 1958, when he pulled off a trade for Mickey Mantle and picks in exchange for Don Drysdale, among others. That year also featured the famous re-entry draft double of Kucks and Sturdivant, hailed at the time as the best double swoop since Mueller's own 1953 selection of Whitey Ford and Ernie "Mr. Colt" Banks. The transformation was completed in 1960, with the acquisition through trade and free agency of several central figures in King Kaplan's Washington dynasty, including Erskine, Hank Thompson, and Joe Adcock, among others.
   What's more, Mueller's reputation as perhaps the league's greatest bargain shopper was cemented by the 1963 free agent acquisition of former Brooklyn waterboy Ray Herbert, who promptly won 20 games, showing himself to be a legitimate UL ace, and a rare diamond indeed to slip through Superba GM Glen Reed's pitching grasp.
   Past is prologue: Certainly, the debilitating injury to Erskine must have seemed eerily familiar to Mueller, whose Colts looked set to claim the UL's first-ever pennant and get the veteran Micro League manager off the UL schneid before he ever knew he was on it, but for a season-ending injury to staff ace and first-round initial draft pick Don Newcombe. Indeed, Colts led the circuit by as many as 11 games in 1951, and were in first place as late as August 29, but faded without their star pitcher to finish two places back of the hardware.
   But lest you shed a bitter tear for Mueller's seeming uninterrupted run of bad luck, consider that he did survive the UL's short-lived controversial draft lottery system to snag both the top 1953 rookie and re-entry picks, landing Whitey Ford and Ernie Banks, the foundational player for all his team's future success.

FOUNDERS CUP -- GROUP STAGE

GROUP A

GROUP B

DAY 1

Chicago 5, San Francisco 4
Demeter game-winning homer in 9th
St. Louis 4, Washington 3
Maris homers twice, including game-winner in 8th
Cleveland 6, Dallas 2
Mathews 3-4 with 4 RBI

Brooklyn 16, Louisville 2
Gentile grand slam, Hamner 3-4, 4 RBI
Manhattan 9, Los Angeles 2
Ward 3-4, HR, 3 RBI, Wehmeier 5-hitter thru 8
Boston 8, Detroit 0
Friend 7-hit shutout, 9 K

DAY 2

Chicago 5, St. Louis 4
Demeter 3-4, HR, 3 RBI
Dallas 9, Washington 1
Ceccarelli 4-hit complete game
Cleveland 4, San Francisco 0
Francis 2-hitter thru 8 shutout innings

Brooklyn 10, Manhattan 2
Gibbon chased in six-run 1st inning
Boston 6, Los Angeles 2
Short 5 hits, 1 run in 7.1 innings
Detroit 5, Louisville 1
Ramos 6-hit CG, Larry Brown 2-4, 2 RBI

DAY 3

Chicago 3, Cleveland 2
Cash 2-4, HR, 2 RBI
San Francisco 2, Washington 1, 11 inn
SF scored on passed ball in 8th, error in 11th
Dallas 5, St. Louis 2
Versalles 2-4, HR, 2 RBI

Brooklyn 9, Detroit 2
Burdette 5-hit complete game
Manhattan 4, Boston 1
Anderson 7 shutout innings, Ward HR, 2 RBI
Louisville 5, Los Angeles 2
Grant 7 shutout innings, 5 hits

DAY 4

DAY 5

Chicago 1, Dallas 0
Sturdivant 2-hit shutout
Washington 3, Cleveland 2
Antonelli 6-hit CG, Yastrzemski HR, 2 RBI
St. Louis 7, San Francisco 2
Skowron 2-4, HR, 3 RBI

Brooklyn 9, Boston 0
Perry anchors 6-hit shutout, McAuliffe 4-5, 2 RBI
Los Angeles 10, Detroit 1
Aguirre 7-hit CG, Haller 3-5, HR
Manhattan 6, Louisville 5, 10 inn
Tasby 2-run HR in 8th, game-winning SF in 10th

DAY 6

Washington 4, Chicago 3
Mays game-winning 2-run HR in 6th
Dallas 2, San Francisco 1, 14 inn
Powell game-winning HR in 14th
St. Louis 3, Cleveland 1
O'Dell 7.2, 7 H, 1 R

Los Angeles 2, Brooklyn 1
Lopez game-winning single in 9th
Manhattan 3, Detroit 0
Chance 4-hit shutout, 8 K; Ward 2-4 HR
Louisville 4, Boston 3, 10 inn
Hart tying HR in 9th, McDermott WP in 10th

Group A	W	L	Run Diff
Chicago	4	1	+3
Dallas	3	2	+7
St. Louis	3	2	+4
Cleveland	2	3	+4
Washington	2	3	-8
San Francisco	1	4	-10

Group B	W	L	Run Diff
Brooklyn	4	1	+37
Manhattan	4	1	+6
Boston	2	3	-1
Los Angeles	2	3	-4
Louisville	2	3	-15
Detroit	1	4	-23

QUARTERFINALS

Chicago
	Chicago
Los Angeles

Dallas
	Boston
Boston

Brooklyn
	Brooklyn
Cleveland

Manhattan
	Manhattan
St. Louis

Chicago 8, Los Angeles 0
Don Demeter's three-run homer off Ken Johnson in the first inning set the tone, as the Colts rolled to an 8-0 win behind Ray Herbert's five-hit shutout. Demeter homered again in the ninth, going back-to-back with Ernie Banks off Dick Stigman to put the game away.

Boston 6, Dallas 5
Orlando Cepeda's three-run blast off Gaylord Perry in the ninth capped a six-run comeback. After Dallas built a 5-0 lead, Tommy Davis' bases-clearing triple in the seventh cut the lead to 5-3 and Cepeda's dinger booked a spot in the final four for last year's Cup winners.

Brooklyn 11, Cleveland 9, 11 inn.
The Barons tapped Duke Maas for four runs, rallied to tie the game 7-7, and took a 9-7 lead in the 11th, but Terry Fox surrendered four runs without getting an out in the bottom of the 11th. Fox came into the game with a 0.79 ERA, having allowed just one earned run in 22.2 innings, but walked Jim Gentile and gave up singles to Felix Mantilla and Dick Williams to set up Del Crandall's walk-off homer. Harvey Kuenn's bases-loaded double put the Barons on top briefly, but Brooklyn's heroic rally allowed Johnny Kucks to get the win. The clubs combined for 29 hits, including four each by Bernie Allen and Mickey Mantle.

Manhattan 9, St. Louis 8
Frou RBIs by Roger Maris and three more by Bill Skowron were not enough, as Bill Monbouquette and Arnold Earley blew an 8-3 lead. Joe Torre homered twice and drove in four runs against his former team. The Sox' bullpen trio of Bear Owens, Monster Radatz, and Bobby Tiefenauer held the Maroons to just one run in 5+ innings after Herm Wehmeier allowed seven in 3.2.

SEMIFINALS

Boston 1, Chicago 0
Bob Friend topped Billy Pierce in a classic pitcher's duel, as Boston reached the Founders Cup Final for the second year in a row. Friend tossed a four-hit shutout, striking out seven, for his 10th win and second shutout of the year. For his part, Pierce allowed just three hits, but walked two, and allowed the game's only run on Bob Allison's solo homer in the fifth. Friend also won last year's semifinal, beating Manhattan 3-1.

Manhattan 5, Brooklyn 4, 10 inn
Manhattan rallied with runs in the eighth and tenth to edge Brooklyn 5-4 and advance to their first Founders Cup Final. Bobby Richardson and Jimmie Hall doubled off Lew Burdette in the seventh to tie the game, and Richardson and Torre doubled in the 10th to score the go-ahead run, as the Gray Sox handed Burdette just his fourth loss in 21 starts.