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1967 · 11/1 · 3/1 · 4/1 · 4/16 · 5/1 · 5/16

Antonelli Wins 300
Edges Spiders for Milestone Win
LOS ANGELES (May 10) -- It took three attempts, but Los Angeles ace Johnny Antonelli finally notched his 300th career win today, edging their upstate rivals 4-3 to help the Outlaws maintain their grip on first place in the West.  The 38-year-old southpaw was 4-0 in five April starts before losing back-to-back outings on May 1 and May 6.
   Antonelli was on his way to victory against Atlanta, leading 2-1 in the fifth, when he gave up a two-run homer to Ron Hunt, his first of the year.  The clout proved to be the game-winner as Jim Palmer cruised to his fifth win in a four-hit effort.  Five days later at Comiskey Park, Antonelli suffered his worst outing in years, coughing up nine hits and eight runs and getting the hook after just 2.1 innings.  "He plays it cool with this 300 business," catcher Tom Haller said, "but it's been eating away at his nerves.  He'll be glad when it's over and these press guys leave him alone."  And on May 10, it was over, thanks to Frank Robinson, whose eighth inning homer was the game-winner, and no thanks to rookie reliever Mike Paul, who did his best throw the game away, giving up two runs in the ninth before nailing down the 4-3 win.
   On the day Antonelli reach 300 wins, his closest rivals, Gene Conley (BRO) and Billy Pierce (retired) and had 279, and Lew Burdette (STL) had 275.  And while the milestone further burnishes his credentials as the best pitcher in UL history, one glance at the record books suggests that his claim was already well established.  He tops the all-time leaderboards in games started (584), shutouts (52), innings pitched (4482), and strikeouts (4253), and is fourth in ERA (2.90) and complete games (165).  And while Gene Conley won his four Cy Young Awards in a seven year period from 1957-63, Antonelli's first and fourth awards were a decade apart, and many of his non-Cy years were better than other pitchers' Cy years.  Case in point, Johnny went 24-8, 20-10, and and 25-8 in the three years before his back-to-back Cys in 1961-62.  His eight All-UL selections are matched only by shortstop Ernie Banks.

The Ba That Got Away
Antonelli was drafted by Brooklyn (1st round reentry draft) but was traded to the Louisville Colonels nine days later with Dick Donovan for Richie Ashburn.  [Ashburn was a good defensive center fielder and leadoff man, hitting .303 with a .350 career OBP, but his last full season was 1962.  Antonelli is 96-64 since then.]
   Antonelli pitched 10 1/2 seasons with the Colonels, leading them to a championship in 1958 and a pennant in 1960, and setting some single season records along the way.  In 1956, Johnny claimed his first of four Cy Young Awards, going 24-10 with a 2.42 ERA, and racking up 372 strikeouts, edging Billy Pierce by one, to establish the single-season K record (since surpassed by Herb Score, 421 in 1962).  In 1961, Antonelli set the single-season win record, with an eye-popping 30 wins, breaking Stu Miller's eight-year-old record, en route to the first of two back-to-back Cys.  The following season, he set the UL record with 375 innings, complimenting a 25-12 record and 2.35 ERA, for his third Cy Young.
   Antonelli was traded to Boston for 2B Ron Hunt and two others in 1963, the same year he reached 3,000 strikeouts.  He joined the Washington Monuments as a free agent in 1964 (his 7th 20-win season), and was traded to Los Angeles on Aug. 1, 1965, for Al Kaline, Mike De La Hoz, and Hector Lopez.  He won his fourth Cy Young in 1966 (19-6, 2.43)  In just over 2.5 seasons with the Outlaws, Antonelli is 50-23 with a 2.59 ERA in 90 starts, and he was instrumental in leading the club to its two best finishes in its 13-year history in 1966 and 1967.  But second place has never been good enough for Antonelli, and ten years after his first World Series ring, he is hoping for a second.

Who Will Be the Next to 300?
Conley (3-4, 3.07 in 10 starts) is 37 and stands a good chance to reach 300 next year.  He only needs to average 11 wins this year and next and is coming off of 19- and 15-win seasons.  Burdette is 40, but is still in good form (5-3, 3.28 in 8 starts) and is enjoying excellent run support in St. Louis.  He just signed a contract extension that will keep him with the Maroons through 1969, but he will have to average 15 wins this year and next, and is coming off the worst year of his career last year (9-8, 5.27 in 18 starts).  Further down the road, Detroit's Pedro Ramos (age 33, 222 wins), who had 72 wins in the last five seasons, is quickly closing in on 300.

Maroons Scoring in Bunches
ST. LOUIS (May 16) -- The St. Louis Maroons overtook Los Angeles as the most prolific offense in early May, scoring at least five runs in 9 of their last 10 games to slice the Outlaws' lead to 1.5 games.  St. Louis leads the circuits in runs scored, batting, OBP, slugging, OPS, and extra-base hits, and is second in hits and home runs.  The team is averaging 7.2 runs a game since May 5, and has won sluggers' fests and some lopsided contests, like the 16-9 rout at Brooklyn May 12.
   St. Louis' #1-2 hitters, Joe Morgan and Jim Fregosi, rank second and first in OPS in the month of May.  Fregosi is hitting .385 and slugging .827, thanks to 13 extra base hits in 13 games, while Morgan is hitting .380 with a .508 OBP thanks to 12 walks.  The Maroons are averaging 6.2 runs per game and are on pace to shatter Brooklyn's 1962 record of 907 runs.  That great Brooklyn team featured the UL's answer to Ruth and Gehrig, with Mickey Mantle and Granny Hamner combining for 389 hits, 240 runs and 259 RBIs.  In contrast to that team, the '68 Maroons have a balanced attack, with five players on pace to end the year with over 40 VORP.  New free agent catcher Johnny Romano is hitting .316-6-35 with a .908 OPS, Reggie Smith is hitting .285-10-34 with an .883 OPS, and Willie Horton is hitting .333-6-20 with a 1.016 OPS.