ALL-STAR GAME EDITION
Otis Elevates Hosts
West Ends 3-Year Drought with 6-4 Win
SAN FRANCISCO (June 27) -- Chicago center fielder Amos Otis homered, singles, and stole a base, winning MVP honors and leading the West to their first All-Star Game win since 1966 with a late comeback in an exciting back-and-forth contest.  The East took the lead three times, 2-0, 3-2, and 4-3, but each time the West responded quickly, finally pulling ahead in the seventh and holding on for a 6-4 win.

The East took an early 2-0 lead off a shaky Ray Narleski, but Otis tied the game with a two-run homer in the fourth.  But the turning point came in the top of the 7th, when Lou Brock homered off Jerry Koosman to tie the game and Jimmy Wynn singled home Carl Taylor three batters latter for a 5-4 West lead.

Inning By Inning
Top 1st - West leaves to men stranded when 4-5 hitters Frank Robinson and Felix Mantilla pop up.
Bot 1st - Carbo walks and score on Al Oliver's double.  After a wild pitch and two walks, Narleski keeps the inning from spiraling out of control by fanning Petrocelli and Ward and inducing a Pinson groundout. (1-0 East)
Top 2nd - Otis singles and swipes second, but is left stranded.
Bot 2nd - Charles leads off with a triple and Carbo, Oliver, and Torre hit three straight singles to load the bases.  But Reggie Jackson and Petrocelli popup to end the threat.  The East leads 2-0.
Top 3rd - Don Wilson plunks Taylor, but retires the other three batters he faces.
Bot 3rd - Dick Bosman retires the West in order.
Top 4th - Carew reaches on Petrocelli's error, and Otis crushes two-run homer off Larry Sherry to tie the game 2-2.
Bot 4th - Carbo singles off Francis, who retires the other three batters.
Top 5th - With Pedro Ramos pitching, Fregosi singles and Taylor walks, but like the 1st inning, the 3-4 hitters choke when Robinson grounds into a DP and Mantilla strikes out.
Bot 5th - The East regains the lead, 3-2,  off Bob Moose.  Petrocelli walks and eventually scores on Perez' error.
Top 6th - Carew cranks a leadoff triple off Bob Anderson and scores on Bailey's sac fly, tying the game 3-3.
Bot 6th - Cash singles off Bill Singer, moves to 2nd on Howard's bunt, and scores when Taylor throws into the outfield on a steal attempt.  (4-3 East)
Top 7th - Brock homers off Jerry Koosman to tie the game, and the West takes their first lead, 5-4, on singles by Taylor and Wynn.
Bot 7th - Billingham survives a walk and a passed ball.
Top 8th -Ramon Hernandez walks Monday, who moves to 2nd on a bunt and scores on another catcher throwing error, this time by Torre to extend West lead to 6-4.
Bot 8th - Clay Carroll holds the lead with a perfect inning, including a strikeout of Cash.
Top 9th - Consolo singles, but Phil Niekro retires Taylor and Robinson to end the inning.
Bot 9th - Jackson doubles off Ken Tatum, but is gunned down by the "Toy Cannon" Jimmy Wynn trying to stretch it into a triple.  Ward flies to center for the last out, and the West wins 6-4.

Mons Lead Field With 8 Selections
SAN FRANCISCO (June 27) -- It comes as no surprise that the team with five of the top ten batting averages and far-and-away the league's top offense would lead the league in All-Star selections.  And the East leading Washington Monuments did just that, with 7 position players plus ace Don Wilson joining the East squad in San Francisco today for the UL's eighth midsummer classic.  Washington is averaging 5.1 runs per game, 0.6 more than the next-best team, the same margin that separates 2nd from 9th.  Only LF Bernie Carbo and 1B Al Oliver will be penned in to the starting lineup by East manager Rick Magar, who has come out of retirement for one day to lead his East Division charges.  The East lineup packs considerable punch, with Manhattan's Joe Torre (14 HR), Detroit's Reggie Jackson (18), and Boston's Rico Petrocelli (14) making up the Murderer's Row.  And any team with Rocky Colavito and Frank Howard on its bench is looking at serious power potential.  Both Detroit and Manhattan had six All-Stars, while Brooklyn and Cleveland--both pennant winners in recent years--had only three between them.

The hosting San Francisco Spiders boast six Stars--including the outfield trio of Lou Brock, Rick Monday, and Billy Williams--as do Chicago and Dallas, who send both their corner sackers to to Seals Stadium (the Colts' Carlos May and Tony Perez and the Texans' Rod Carew and Bob Bailey).  Atlanta had just two selections, and St. Louis three.  The biggest All-Star snub this year was perhaps Atlanta's Harmon Killebrew, who is 3rd in RBI and tied for 1st in HR.  But he faced stiff competition at first base, with Carew and May representing the top two teams in the division, and voters were likely turned off by his paltry .218 batting average and hefty whiff tally.

The starting lineups stack up like this:
EAST: Carbo, Oliver, Torre, R Jackson, Petrocelli, Ward, Pinson, Charles
WEST: Fregosi, Taylor, F Robinson, Mantilla, Carew, Bailey, Perez, Otis

The top starting pitchers are Bob Anderson (MAN), Jerry Koosman (BOS), and Don Wilson (WAS) for the East, and Bill Singer (CHI), Jack Billingham (DAL), and Bob Moose (SF) for the West.

Rumors Swirling of All-Star Game Fix
Smith, Harris Ties Scrutinized
SAN FRANCISCO (1 July) -- Rumors are circulating throughout professional baseball today after East All-Star team manager Rick Magar alleged that his Western counterpart, United League Commissioner Timothy J. Smith, may have conspired with Boston Federals team officials and All-Stars to swing the game in his team's favor, giving the West its first All-Star win in four years.

Speaking to reporters in San Francisco, where he is enjoying some hard-earned vacation after his one-day return to the UL, Magar claimed that St. Louis Maroons' assistant GM Aidan Smith was seen "hobnobbing suspiciously" with Federals players during batting practice.

Commissioner Smith and Federals GM Brendan Harris both denied any allegations of misconduct, although Harris acknowledged that his players had not lived up to the expectations of the Mid-Summer Classic.  "I certainly understand why Rick might feel that Boston's finest let him down.  I mean, it just seemed like we were on the wrong side of almost every critical play," said Harris.  Indeed, Feds shortstop Rico Petrocelli and left fielder Rocky Colavito combined to go 0-3 at the plate, stranding 8 runners.  Feds pitchers Larry Sherry and Jerry Koosman were no better, combining over 2 innings to allow 4 runs and 2 homers.  Petrocelli did score one run for the East team after a walk and a defensive error, but committed another error himself that led to a Western run.

Controversy is nothing new for UL chief Smith, who has been maligned in the past for draft improprieties, wacky scoring, and other so-called "technical issues."  The latest allegations, however, have spurred greater scrutiny into the relationship between the two Smiths and Harris, a rookie UL manager.  Initial reports indicate that Harris may have managed against Aidan Smith in a semipro league in the past, and the two likely reconnected when the UL was headquartered in Vienna, Austria.
 

Won 5 straight, and 11 of last 14.  1st in ERA.  Bill Singer 4-0, 0.81 in last 4 games, leads league in ERA, W, IP, VORP, K, and WHIP.  Bob D. Johnson 8 SV, 0.59 in last 14 games.	18-5 in June, 4 of 5 losses to Cleveland.  17-1 in last 18 games not against Cleveland.  Bernie Carbo .455 in last 10 games.  Floyd Robinson .455 in last 10 games.  Don Wilson 2-0, 0.96 in last 3 games.
2nd in ERA, led by Jack Billingham (2.31).  SPs Conley, Merritt, and Perry out for season.  Rick Reichardt .120 in last 18 games.	2nd in OBP and SLG.  9-2 in last 11 games.  Tex Clevenger 6 SV, 1.17 in last 12 games.  Vern Fuller .091 in last 20 games.
38-16 since May 1.  2nd best bullpen.  Mike Paul league-high 17 saves.  Ken Tatum 6 SV, 0.47 in last 19 games.  Tommie Agee .129 in last 24 games.	4th in runs and runs allowed.  Manny Sanguillen .450, 3 HR in last 14 games.  Lost 4 straightafter winning 6 of 7.
2-14 since June 9.  2nd in OBP and runs.  Joe Morgan league best 60 runs.  Johnny Romano .114 in last 10 games.  Nolan Ryan out for season.	11th in runs and runs allowed.  Turk Farrell 7.80 in last 14 games.  Paul Schaal 0-23 in last 7 games.  5-1 since June 21 (2.0 runs allowed per game, shutouts by Boswell and Foster).
5-14 since June 5.  Leads league in HR (76): Killebrew 18.  Frank Linzy 0-3. 7.80 in 4 games.  Ellie Hendricks .133 in last 89 games.	Joe Torre leads league in BA, OBP, SLG, and VORP.  Bob Anderson 2nd in ERA (1.93) and 1st-T in SHO (3).
Won 4 straight.  Lou Brock 5 hits in a game June 19, league-best 49 SB, .472 in last 12 games.  Jim Ray 1.10 in last 12 games.	Lost 11 straight June 9-22.  Shut out 4 times in last 11 games.  Last in runs and runs allowed.  Hank Aaron played just 3 games since May 12, injured again June 27. Pat Kelly .091 in last 17 games.
FOUNDER'S CUP PREVIEW
Group A 1 Chicago 2 Detroit 3 Los Angeles 4 Manhattan 5 Atlanta Format: 4-game round robin group stage. Can use 3-man rotation. Top 2 from each group advance to semis. Tiebreakers: head-to-head, run differential. Defending pennant winners play two three-game series.	Group B 1 Washington 2 Dallas 3 Boston 4 Cleveland 5 San Francisco