Circuit clouts  Official Newsletter of the United League
LEAGUE FILE (7/7) · CONTRACTS · INFO · HISTORY · FORUM
1966 · 2/28 · 3/1 · 4/1 · 4/16 · 5/1 · 5/16 · 6/1 · 6/16

 
Barons Win 12 Straight
Podres: 22 Shutout Innings
CLEVELAND (June 16) -- The Cleveland Barons reversed a 4-10 skid with a 12-game win streak, including six wins over the Washington Monuments, who first place at the beginning of June, but whose pennant hopes seem to be evaporating by the day, with a seven-game deficit and Willie Mays out for the year.  Cleveland's streak began on May 31 with a 3-2 win over Boston and came to an end with a 6-1 loss to Detroit on June 13. 
     The Barons have allowed just 32 runs in 14 June games (2.3 per game), including a five-game stretch (June 8-12) when they allowed just four runs.  In three June starts, Johnny Podres is not only undefeated but has yet to allow a run in 22.1 innings.  Bob Friend (3-0, 1.64), Earl Francis (2-0, 1.77), and Billy O'Dell (3-0, 2.00) have been nearly as dominant.  The league's top rotation combined for a 10-0 record and 1.40 ERA in 14 games.  The Barons' 3.08 team ERA is on pace to be the sixth best in league history, and the best in three years.  Podres, in particular, is having a monster season, with a 1.47 ERA and 0.93 WHIP to go with his 8-3 record in 18 starts.  Though GM Charlie Qualls has him on a pitch count and he has yet to complete a game, Podres has not allowed a run in eight of his 18 starts, including two no-decisions, and has only allowed three runs twice.  The 34-year-old southpaw recently inked a contract extension that will pay him $23.5 million over the next two years, which should make him the highest paid player in the league.  The record for best single-season ERA is owned by Gene Conley, who posted a microscopic 1.79 for the Brooklyn Superbas in 1959.  Podres fell .026 short of breaking the record in 1965.
     Cleveland remains one of the league's worst offenses, ranking last in extra-base hits, 11th in home runs, and 8th in runs, but some unlikely heroes stepped up in June to compensate for slumps by Bernie Allen and Johnny Roseboro.  Dick Groat, the 36 year-old shortstop, was the surprise star, batting .351-3-10 in 13 games after hitting just .183-0-8 in 28 games in May.  First baseman Norm Siebern also broke out of a May slump, with .310/.383/.524 in 14 games, and new acquisition Jim Busby had a .413 OBP since joining the Barons on June 1.

Wallbanger
Lee Walls Hitting .622 in June
DETROIT (June 16) -- A 31st overall pick 15 years ago with lead hands who has never played much beyond 300 ABs a year is the league's hottest hitter.  Detroit right fielder Lee Walls went on an incredible 23-37 tear in his last 12 games, and hit .696 (16-23) over six games June 5-12, including five three-hit games.  Walls entered the season a lifetime .259 hitter who never had more than 80 hits in a season.  His recent hot streak, and Frank Howard's power surge (.333-7-21 in 13 games) has helped Detroit bounced back from one of their worst months in franchise history (7-22) with an 8-1 run to start the month of June before losing a pair at Cleveland.  The third game of that series was a wild one, as both teams scored in the third and took the 1-1 tie to the 16th inning, when a Carl Yastrzemski grand slam put the Griffins up 6-1, giving reliever Fred Gladding his first UL win.  Righthander Joey Jay has also been on fire, winning two of three starts with a 1.13 ERA, and Pedro Ramos five-hit the Federals in a 2-1 complete game win June 15.
 

Robinson Homers in 4 Straight, L.A. in the Hunt LOS ANGELES (June 16) -- Frank Robinson hit seven homers in seven games June 7-15, including four straight games against San Francisco and Washington.  Arroyo Seco Stadium is supposedly a pitcher's park, but Frank has homered in seven of his last eight home games and going yard in just three of his first 16 home games.  The 31-year-old Beaumont, Texas native is on pace for one of the best hitting months in UL history, batting .420-8-20 in just 12 games.    The Outlaws are on an 18-4 run, thanks to the league's most home runs and best bullpen.  In addition to Robinson's league-leading 22 clouts, Hank Aaron has 11, Felix Mantilla has 10, and three others have at least seven.  As for the pen, rookie John Hiller leads all relievers with a 0.75 ERA with 9 saves. Monuments, Spiders Fading Away? WASHINGTON (June 16) -- After enjoying brief tastes of first place in late May, the Washington Monuments and San Francisco Spiders fell from the pack in early June, suffering extended slumps that dropped them to third and fourth place, respectively.  Washington was 13-6 from May 13-31, but then lost 11 of its next 14 games to drop back to .500.  The slump proves just how much the club relies on Willie Mays, who suffered a season-ending torn ACL on May 29 -- or does it?  While Mays' replacements in centerfield have struggled at the plate (Davey Williams .237-1-6 in 38 AB and Willie Kirkland .229-0-4 in 29 AB), the Monuments are still 2nd in runs scored.  The real cause of the current slide is the meltdown of the Monuments young rotation, which boasted three 7-game winners at the end of May.  GM Doug Aiton was always rolling the dice with two rookies anchoring his starting rotation, and at first the gamble paid off, with ace Dick Hughes going 7-4, 3.49 in his first 15 starts, #2 starter Don Wilson going 7-3, 3.51 in his first 12.  But things turned sour quickly when the calendar flipped to June -- Hughes is 1-3, 9.16, including 2-10 and 4-12 losses, and Wilson has lost his last three starts, with an ERA of 7.90.  Only Rick Wise has improved in June (2.77 in 4 starts vs. 4.63 in 7 May starts), but he left the game with a strained back on June 11 and will miss 1-2 weeks.      As for the Spiders, after leading the West Division on May 19, they went into a 4-17 tailspin, including back-to-back sweeps by Cleveland, Atlanta, and St. Louis.  Unlike Washington, San Francisco is scoring runs okay, but has managed to give up more than they have scored.  No game better illustrates this trend than the June 11 loss at St. Louis, in which the Spiders scored 10 runs on 11 hits, including three homers, but still lost 11-10.  The club has lost seven straight one-run games, despite the third best bullpen in the league (George Culver 2.63, Grant Jackson 2.81, Paul Lindblad 2.89, Clay Carroll 3.00), in part because of a nasty habit of starters giving up runs in the middle innings.  Fergie Jenkins is 1-4 in his last five starts, Luis Tiant is 0-4 in his last five, Fred Newman is 0-3 in his last four, and Ron Kline is 0-2 in his last six.	Rare Contagious Back Spasms Tip Texans Into Free Fall DALLAS (June 16) -- Injuries to Roberto Clemente, Boog Powell, Pat Jarvis, and Jim Merritt have tipped an already wobbly Dallas Texans club into a free fall.  According to team doctor and GM Eric Clemons, an extremely rare strain of contagious back spasms is the culprit, shelving rookie pitcher Pat Jarvis for the season and slugger Boog Powell for the month of June.  Back spasms are not typically contagious, according to CDC, but in this case, it seems that Powell's injury on May 27 directly led to Jarvis' three days later.  Asked how Powell got the back spasms in the first place, Clemons cited the bruised ribs he suffered on a defensive play on April 20, which likely "punctured his spasm gland."  "The Texas heat surely played a part as well," Clemons said.  On June 2, southpaw Jim Merritt left a game early, complaining of a blister on his finger, but sources close to the team say he likely contracted the spasm virus as well.  On May 5, Roberto Clemente scratched his cornea, despite repeated warnings from his mother to leave his itchy cornea alone.  His condition worsened the following week, when he picked a scab after forgetting to wash his hands before dinner.      The rash of injuries have taken a toll on the field, where the Texans have been the worst team in baseball of late.  Dallas opened June with nine straight losses and was 1-12 in the month before beating St. Louis 3-2 on June 15.  The club has managed to score more than three runs just three times in 14 games, and has lost quality starts by Merritt (0-3), Gaylord Perry (1-3), and Ken Holtzman (2-3).  But the team has lost some real stinkers too (2-8, 3-9, 3-8, 1-11, and 1-8).  Catfish Hunter has been especially thrashed, going 0-3 with a 9.00 ERA in three starts since taking Jarvis' place in the rotation.  The club has struggled mightily on the road (8-28 overall and 3-16 since May 10), suffering sweeps at St. Louis, Detroit, and Chicago.    If there is a silver lining, it is the performance of rookies Rod Carew and Rich Nye.  Carew (.332-3-18, .822 OPS) is fifth in batting and 10th in VORP and won Rookie of the Month twice, while Nye is 4-1, 2.60 in 13 games, including nine starts.