1964 NL End Of July Report

July is over, and the Giants continue to lead the senior circuit by a wide margin. The Jints did struggle in the latter half of the month, though, dropping 7 of 8 at home to the Colt .45's and Cubs before righting the ship with a sweep at Philly and a win in Pittsburgh. 

Around the league, Don Drysdale continues to show 'em how it's done, while Cubbie third sacker Ron Santo is the loop's most productive batter. 

The standings through July 31st, 1964:

SFG  68-35  ---  (best 1-run record 27-14)
STL  59-45  9.5  (best July record 20-9)
PHI  56-47  12
CHI  52-50  15.5
CIN  53-51  15.5
MIL  52-51  16  (worst 1-run record 13-22)
LAD  50-52  17.5
PIT  49-56  20
HOU 40-65  29 (worst July record 7-21)
NYM 40-67  30

PITCHING (league 3.47)
SFG  2.65  (most K's 758, most saves 26, least RA 312, least HR vs. 68, most SHO 20, 8 more than anyone else.)
STL  2.97  
LAD  3.18  
CIN  3.25  (least SHO 5)
CHI  3.43  (least K's 486, most CG 34, least saves 9)
MIL  3.63  
PIT  3.63  (most HR vs. 87)
HOU 3.63  (least CG 11)
PHI  3.76  
NYM 4.54  (most RA 555, over a hundred more than anyone else)

BATTING (league .239)
MIL  .256 (most runs 489, most 2B 179)
PIT  .252  (most 3B 41)
STL  .251 
PHI  .248  (least CS 16)
SFG  .244  (Most HR 99, least 3B 12)
CHI  .241  
NYM .238  (most GIDP 92)
LAD  .231  (most SB 78, most CS 36, least GIDP 52, least HR 48)
CIN  .223  
HOU  .208  (least runs 289, least 2B 93, least SB 22)

Fielding
least errors--PHI 61, just 9 in July!
most errors--NYM 107
most DP's--CHI 122
least DP's--LAD 53

WINS: Drysdale-la 15-2, Gibson-stl 14-5, Marichal-sf 13-5 

ERA (102 IP): Marichal-sf 1.45, Drysdale-la 1.53, Short-phi 1.86, Jackson-chi 2.16, Craig-stl 2.23, Bolin-sf 2.32, Gibson-stl 2.32, Ellsworth-chi 2.37, Veale-pit 2.41, O'toole-cin 2.52

CG: Drysdale-la 13, Jackson-chi 11, Marichal-sf 11

SHO: Marichal-sf 5, 6 tied with 4

K's: Marichal-sf 148, Gibson-stl 147, Drysdale-la 140, LeMaster-mil 137

SAVES: Pierce-sf 21, Baldschun-phi 20, Schultz-stl 17, Henry-cin 15, McBean-pit 15

IP: Drysdale-la 188.2, Jackson-chi 183, Marichal-sf 173

"I'm a loooooser!"

LOSSES: Farrell-hou 3-15, Cisco-ny 6-13, Jackson-ny 7-12, Simmons-stl 7-12

BA (min. 275 ab): Cepeda-sf .330, Carty-mil .325, Clemente-pit .312, Bailey-pit .307, Aaron-mil .305, Robinson-cin .305, Santo-chi .305, McCarver-stl .303, Maye-mil .302, Torre-mil .301

HR: Cepeda-sf 23, Mays-sf 22, Pinson-cin 21, Allen-phi 19, Hart-sf 19, Santo-chi 19, Howard-la 18

RBI: Santo-chi 87, Pinson-cin 72, Allen-phi 68, Aaron-mil 67, Boyer-stl 67, Cepeda-sf 66

RUNS: Callison-phi 78, Aaron-mil 73, Brock-stl 70, Christopher-ny 69, Allen-phi 66, Robinson-cin 66

2B: Cardenas-cin 37, Torre-mil 30, Maye-mil 28, Robinson-cin 28

3B: Bond-hou 8, Santo-chi 8, Callison-phi 7, Lillis-hou 7

SB: Wills-la 32, W.Davis-la 25, Brock-stl 20, Mays-sf 17

GIDP: Boyer-stl 24, Hunt-ny 17 The winner of this category receives the coveted (?) Victor Martinez Award.

ERR: Pagan-sf 33, Groat-stl 28

Team Capsules with July record:

Get in front of it, Jose! Get in...oh never mind!

BAY BABBLINGS: (15-13) The Giants, not too hot with the stick the past two months and 7th in the NL in runs scored with just 387, have survived on their pitching. Marichal (13-5), Perry (11-6), Bolin (10-4) and Sanford (10-5) are the bulwarks of a staff with all starters' ERA's below 3. They need to be good, with the hitting sub-par. Willie Mays (22,53,.253) barely cleared the Mendoza Line for July. Cepeda, who had slumbered for weeks after a torrid start, finally woke up at month's end to preserve his lead in batting average and HR's. Stone-gloved Jose Pagan has made 33 of the Giants' 79 miscues all by himself. Whee!

Spraying hits and expounding at length is Mr. McCarver.

BIRD BATH: (20-9) The Cardinals were the hottest team in the NL in July and shaved 4 and a half games off their deficit. Dick Groat (0,42,.279), happy hitting behind Lou Brock, had 46 hits in the month including 12 doubles and 2 triples. Bill White (15,58,.296) was also hot. Tim McCarver goosed his average above .300 and would love to tell you all about it. The Redbirds do miss kid flyhawk Mike Shannon (11,35,.242) who had only 13 ab's in the month due to an accident involving hedge clippers and his ear. Get better, Mike! I say, GET BETTER. Oh forget it. Reliever Barney Schultz, bullpen ace and purple dinosaur, boasts an incredible 0.50 ERA in 53 innings of work and was not scored upon all month.

He can play 1st base or outfield.

Phillie Follies: (14-15) The Quakers failed to take advantage of the Giants slowing down, largely due to an awful 3-4-5 in the rotation, all with ERAs in excess of 5, and injuries, which shelved many Phillies during the month. Also, their dismal 1-11 showing head to head with SF doesn't help a bit. The Phils missed Tony Gonzales (.280 with 21 doubles) at the top of the line-up against right-handers. He was replaced by Cookie Rojas (.219) and occasionally John Herrnstein (.193).  Not the same, fans. 

It's hard to be humble when you're perfect in every way...except for having on the wrong uniform, but hey.

Wrigley Wrap-Up: (19-10) Cubs win! Cubs win! The second hottest team in the NL was the Cubbies! They moved from the lower levels all the way up to the giddy heights of 4th place. Ron Santo has produced like no other NL batter, Billy Williams (17,63,.297) gets on all the time ahead of him, and Ernie Banks (15,61,.229) overcame his tendency to do poorly for me by blasting several Spaldings into the stands. Superannuated mound addition Lew Burdette has contributed 4-3, 3.35 for the baby bears, and similarly acquired reliever Bobby Shantz (4-2-4 3.38) plugged the gaping bullpen hole that the team had suffered with all year. The high point of the month (season?) was a 4 game sweep of the league leaders at Candlestick mid-month. Finally, Paul Popovich got called up for about minute and went 1-for-1. "I lead the league in hitting!" he crowed.

Baseball immortality. It is thine.

Rhineland Rumblings: (16-14) The Reds have, surprisingly, had only one losing month, even though it seems like they've stunk all season. They just don't hit. Vada Pinson (21,72,.215) produces a lot despite his bad batting average, the opposite of Frank Robinson (13,50,.305) who pokes out useless singles and pesters the manager to let him be skipper instead. But the biggest failure on the Cincinnati crew is Deron Johnson (8,32,.211) who contributed a whopping 4 rbi all month. But never mind all that! The Reds boast this year's NL Paul Schaal Award winner, Mel Queen, who continues hitless on the season at 0-9. Wtg, Mel! 

Big Mon says "A" is for Assholes trying to buy the team!

Braves Wampum: (10-19) The Braves were awful all month. Joe Torre (7,59,.301) totally forgot how to hit, my pet Eddie Mathews (12,37,.182) has been less than stellar, and Denis Menke's batting mark fell all the way to .230 before he tripped on a grenade and had to go on the non-existent 1964 DL. Rico Carty surged to second in the league in batting, but he couldn't do it alone. Oh sure, they have Hank Aaron (17,67,.305) who had a nice HR surge near the end of the month, but 32 XBH at the end of July, not to mention 16 GIDP's, isn't really Aaron-like. There's a sense of doom around the team, as crackers from Atlanta keep showing up flashing rolls of dough and spouting, "Hey y'all, how much fer tha whole shebang?" Even miracle "D" Warren Spahn (7-4, 3.27) got tagged with losses at last. 

A hit! Laws, yes.

Dodger Dribblings: (15-13) Don Drysdale IS the Dodgers! In the absence of twice-injured Sandy Koufax (6-7, 2.83, 131 K's in 127 IP) Dandy Don has become the most feared hurler in the league. Sandy did return for a rip-snorting 3 starts, winning two impressively and taking a no-decision in the third when he again came apart at the seams. Local behemoth Frank Howard (18,45,.194) emerged from a season-long funk and started pumping baseballs into the stands while inching his batting average ever closer to the fabled .200 mark. Wally Moon (M-O-O-N spells moon!) avoided Paul Schaal notoriety by bopping his first hit and now boasts a gaudy .038 batting average. 

Gosh, Clarence, can ya help me play an adequate third base?

PITT-BURGERS: (15-13) Willie Stargell (17,57,.231) hit about a buck eighty for the month but drove in 20 runs anyway. Donn Clendenon (13,62,.299, 20 doubles) tore it up while trying to count the N's in his name, and Bob Bailey (7,37,.307 with 64 runs) overcame a dreadful first half of the month, to end up still above .300. The main goal of Bucco hurlers is to amass decisions, regardless of wins or losses. Just ask Friend (10-11), Law (9-10) and Gibbon (8-10). "We want the Big Record!" they cry. 

Mad dogs and Houston fans out in the noonday sun.

Colt .45's Confabulations: (7-21) It all went south for the Texans in July as they wilted like a tainted leaf of romaine lettuce in the mid-day sun.  Turk Farrell went winless to become the circuit's undisputed loss leader, and with Don Nottebart, Dave Giusti and Hal Woodeshick shelved for periods of time, kids in short pants had to be called up from Dumpster Junction of the Household Pest League to fill in. Such luminaries as Joe Hoerner (14.55), Larry "Yellen Degeneres" Yellen (9.15) and Danny Coombs (a surprising 2.35) tried to fill in and were mostly shelled by delighted opposing batters. Nor could the Six Guns hit. They amassed a total of 3 hits in back to back losses to Pittsburgh. At month's end, the Houston nine found themselves only a game up on the Mets, against whom they are a horrible 2-8.

Rhoda says call for the right hander. After all, he's always calling for her!

METS-ALLANEOUS: (12-16) The Mets aren't bad hitters. They not infrequently put up some crooked numbers. Joe Christopher (13,48,.292), Ron Hunt (4,35,.274) and Frank Thomas (9,53,.271 with 25 doubles) dent the plate with fair regularity. Unfortunately, Thomas caught his head in a blender and his Mets season is over. Much more unfortunately, the Mets have given up 102 more runs than any other team. Tracy Stallard (9-7, 3.57) is the best they've got, though he suffers from nightmares about Roger Maris. Starter in trouble? Go to righty Carlton "Your Doorman" Willey (6.06) or lefty Willard "The Giant Rat" Hunter (5.86)! What could go wrong? Toss in the fact that the Metropolitans lead the loop in GIDP's and errors, it is kind of amazing that they have managed to win 40 games so far. 

Not me. But representative of me except for being gorgeous. Details, baby!

See you soon for the AL report!