1964 NL End Of May Report

Hello fans! The merry month of May is over in the National League and the Giants continue to lead. They were up by as much as 6 and a half games, but a late-month swoon pared that down just a bit. The standings:

SFG  31-17  ---
MIL  26-19  3.5
STL  27-20  3.5
PHI  24-21  5.5
LAD  23-22  6.5
CIN  23-24  7.5
CHI  19-25  10
NYM  21-28  10.5
PIT  20-27  10.5
HOU  18-29  12.5 

Pitching (league--3.39)
SFG  2.67  (tied most cg 17, most saves 12, least RA 140, most shutouts 10)
STL  2.73  
LAD  3.02  (tied most HR against 38)
CIN  3.05  (most K's 338)
HOU  3.13  (least cg 2--nine less than anyone else) 
MIL  3.33  (tied most cg 17, least HR against 24)
CHI  3.78  (tied least saves 5, least K's 200)
PIT  4.00  (tied most HR against 38)
PHI  4.03  
NYM  4.22  (tied least saves 5, most RA 231)

HITTING (league--.238)
SFG  .257  (least triples 2, tie most HR 45)
PIT  .256  (most triples 23, tie most HR 45, most CS 14)
PHI  .256  (least CS 6)
MIL  .253  (most runs 224, most doubles 91)
STL  .251  
CHI  .238 
CIN  .226  (least GIDP 24)
LAD  .219  (least HR 19, most steals 39) 
NYM  .212  (most GIDP 51)
HOU  .211  (least runs 113-- 32 fewer than anyone else. least doubles 43, least steals 7)

FIELDING (avg is innings pitched divided by errors)

best--SFG 16.00 (least errors 27)
worst--PIT  8.06  (most errors 52)
most DP's--CHI 60
least DP's--LAD  18

ERA (minimum 44 IP)

Drysdale--la 1.71, Craig-stl 1.74, Spahn-mil 1.83, Short-phi 1.87, Jackson-chi 1.99, Hendley-sf 2.03, Marichal-sf 2.03, Maloney-cin 2.05, Bunning-phi 2.10, O'toole-cin 2.35

WINS
Craig, stl 7-1
Gibson, stl  7-2
Marichal, sf  7-3

LOSSES
Jay, cin 2-8
6 tied with 6

IP
Drysdale, la  84
Maloney, cin 83.1 
Short, phi  82

K's

Maloney, cin  86
Koufax, la  79
Short, phi 72
Drysdale, la  71

SAVES
Baldschun-phi, R.Miller-la, and Schultz-stl all have 8

SHUTOUTS

Hendley and Marichal sf + Stallard and Jackson ny all have 3.

AVG (minimum 119 ab)

Cepeda-sf .382, Bailey-pit .349, Santo-chi .335, Torre-mil .322, Brock-chi .320, McCarver-stl .315, Clemente-pit .314, J.Alou-sf .311, Aaron-mil .309, Clendenon-pit .297, Taylor-phi .297

HR
Cepeda-sf 10, Pinson-cin 10, Hart-sf 9, Mays-sf 9, Shannon-stl 8

RBI
Santo-chi 39, Cepeda-sf 37, Torre-mil 37, Clendenon-pit 33, McCarver-stl 30

RUNS

Mays-sf 36, Aaron-mil 34, Bailey-pit 33, Brock-chi 33, Boyer-stl 32, Callison-phi 32, Menke-mil 30

DOUBLES
Menke, mil 17
Torre, mil 16
Maye, mil 15

TRIPLES
9 tied with 4

GIDP
Boyer, stl 10
Hunt, ny 10

ERRORS
Groat, stl 19
Pagan, sf 15

TEAM REPORTS WITH MAY RECORD

'60, '64, just go with it!

BAY BABBLINGS (20-13)  The Giants lead the league in ERA, BA, and fielding, so no surprise they are in first place, despite losing their last 5, and 6 of their last 7. Cepeda has been smashing every pitch he sees, but Mays is tied with Lanier (!) in rbi with just 20. The Giants have one of three remaining Paul Schaal Award candidates. (Awarded to the last player, with a team from opening day, to get a hit) Duke Snider is 0-for-18.

TEEPEE TALK (20-11)  Warren Spahn, who should suck, leads the team in cg with 5, has a 4-1 record and a 1.83 ERA. The reason for this is Bobby Bragan's judicious use of the old geezer. Bobby has been a much better skipper ever since Your Impartial Goddess had him lobotomized. Rico Carty just missed the batting leaders with his .324 average because he is short 8 ab's.)

Roger the Cardinal....

...or Roger the Goon?

CARDS DEALINGS (17-16) The Redbirds saw their team ERA rise almost a full run in May, but they still sit second in that category. The hated Roger Craig, hated because he is always over-carded, is 7-1 with a 1.74 ERA as the 4th starter. Actual 20-game winner Sadecki is off to a rough start at 1-6 despite a not-awful 3.54 ERA. The loss of team HR leader Mike Shannon to injury has hurt the offense. 

QUAKER QUIPS (15-15)  Bunning and Short have been studs, but the rest of the rotation (Bennett 7.07, Mahaffey 6.44, and Culp 6.69) have been resounding duds. I'm starting to understand why Gene Mauch rode his two aces so much down the stretch. Johnny Callison, a favorite of mine, has not been a run producer so far, with 5, 18, and .287. Allen is better at 6, 27, .286. John Herrnstein had a 7 rbi game late in the month. He has only 2 other rbi all season!

DODGER DOPE  (16-13)  The Dodgers are dead last in HR's, and are scuffling with averages like .186 (Tommie Davis) .194 (Fairly) and .174 (Howard). Wally Moon is another of the three Paul Schaal candidates, at 0-for-17.

RHINELAND RAMBLINGS  (14-17)  The Reds are very frustrating because they just don't hit. Frank Robinson hit 1 HR in April and 1 more in May. "I'm pacing myself," he opined. He's at 2, 17, .255. Pinson has 10 HR but is only hitting .219. Rounding out our Paul Schaal trio is Mel Queen, who has been around all year but has yet to bat at all. "Bench me or trade me!" Okay, Mel, you're benched!

NORTH SIDE NEWS  (13-17) Larry Jackson and Dick Ellsworth have been good, though Ellsworth is a hard-luck 2-5, but the rest, yuck. Lindy McDaniel is the "ace" of the bullpen with lots of blown saves and a bloated 5.79 ERA. Perhaps the Cubs will deal for a pitcher before the deadline?

METS-ALLANEOUS  (17-17) By sweeping 4 at home from the Giants to close the month, and taking 9 of their last 11 (including a 4 game sweep at Houston), the Mets came up with a .500 month! Gee! They have 9 shutouts, second only to the Giants. Don't ask me how. The acquisition of superannuated Frank Lary from Detroit allows them to move Bill "Woke" Wakefield to the bullpen, along with his 1-6 record. 

PITT-BURGERS  (11-21) The Buccos entered the month at 9-6, but nothing went right at all for them in May. Injuries to Stargell and Pagliaroni left them short-handed, and the bullpen exploded. Even Bob Veale (3-5) couldn't win despite a very decent 2.82 ERA. Al McBean has been good, with 7 saves and 1.83, but the rest of his bullpen pals carry personal cans of gasoline for putting out fires. 

HOUSTON WE HAVE A PROBLEM  (14-17)  The Colt .45's have pitching, but no hitting. They are on pace to score less than 400 runs. Walter Bond did get hot near month's end, including a 3-HR game with 6 rbi, for season totals of 7, 20, .239. Bob Aspromonte came out of a dreadful April to rise to 3, 18, .237, but nobody else is even worth mentioning except in cruel jest. Jim Wynn tops the team with a .257 avg. but has only 1 HR and 6 rbi. They have been blanked 9 times, but most of them in April and during one awful stretch of May when they were shut out by the Mets for 3 games running. 

AL report soon!