1964 N.L. End Of August Report

Whoa, hold the presses! The Cardinals, 13 games back at the all-star break, and 9 and a half games out at the end of July, have come roaring from behind while the Giants have stumbled. The Redbirds are now just 3 lengths out, with a month to go. Hang on to your hats!

The NL was basically a win-one-lose-one affair for 8 of the 10 teams during August. The two exceptions were the horrible Houston Colt .45's, who went 7-20 and have lost 41 of their last 55, and the Cardinals, who went 19-9. The standings through August 31st, with August record in parentheses:

SFG  81-51  ---  (13-16)
STL  78-54  3  (19-9)
PHI  72-59  8.5  (16-12)
CIN  68-63  12.5  (15-12)
CHI  66-64  14  (14-14)
MIL  66-66  15  (14-15)
LAD  65-66  15.5  (15-14)
PIT  63-70  18.5  (14-14)
NYM 52-80  29  (12-13)
HOU  47-85  34  (7-20)

LEADERS:

Affable Bob says, "May the best team win!"

WINS: Gibson-stl 17-5, Drysdale-la 16-5, Perry-sf 16-7, LeMaster-mil 15-9

LOSSES: Farrell-hou 5-17, Jay-cin 5-17, Cisco-ny 9-16

ERA (min. 130 IP): Drysdale-la 1.80, Short-phi 1.87, Marichal-sf 1.88, Gibson-stl 2.13, Jackson-chi 2.23, Craig-stl 2.60 

CG: Drysdale-la 14, Jackson-chi 14, Short-phi 14

K's: Gibson-stl 178, Marichal-sf 177, Short-phi 176, LeMaster-mil 175, Perry-sf 175

Mr. Drysdale at his day job.

IP: Drysdale-la 229.2, Jackson-chi 222, Marichal-sf 220.3

SHO: 5 tied with 5

SAVES: Pierce-sf 24, Schultz-stl 24, Baldschun-phi 21, McBean-pit 21, Henry-cin 20

BATTING (min. 351 ab): Cepeda-sf .318, Bailey-pit .309, Williams-chi .309, Robinson-cin .307, Clemente-pit .304, Santo-chi .304

Kitty says hello to homers.

HR: Cepeda-sf 33, Mays-sf 33, Hart-ny 26, Pinson-cin 26, Williams-chi 25

RBI: Santo-chi 117, Boyer-stl 92, Williams-chi 89, Pinson-cin 87, Cepeda-sf 84

RUNS: Callison-phi 92, Allen-phi 90, Brock-stl 87, Mays-sf 87, Aaron-mil 86

My legs! I haven't got any legs! Let me out of this wooden box!

2B: Cardenas-cin 42, Groat-stl 37, Maye-mil 36, Robinson-cin 36, Torre-mil 36

3B: Santo-chi 13, Boyer-stl 9, Brock-stl 9

STEALS: Wills-la 41, W.Davis-la 33, Brock-stl 25

GIDP: Boyer-stl 26, Hunt-ny 20

ERRORS: Pagan-sf 35, Groat-stl 31

TEAM REPORTS:

The fans are sticking right by their team. Pretty much. Well, some of them are.

THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS: It is nervous time by the bay. The Giants turned in the second worst mark in the NL for August and have lost 27 of their last 53. Juan Marichal seems permanently stuck at 14 wins. The offense depends far too heavily on 3 hitters--Mays, Cepeda and Hart. They are the top three homer hitters in the loop, and all have in excess of 70 rbi, but the fourth best run producer on SF is Hal Lanier (!) with just 40. If it weren't for Gaylord Perry, goodness knows where the Giants would be. He just keeps winning when all about him are losing their heads. Injuries to Harvey Kuenn and Jose Pagan had more effect than you might imagine, because it left the team with little maneuverability and no real right-handed pinch hitter. In essence, everything that went right in the first half is going wrong in the second half. It would be an epic choke if they don't right the ship.  

Barney Schultz loves ya, man.

BIRD SEED: Just as in real life, the acquisition of flyhawk and speedster Lou Brock has sparked the Cardinals from the middle of the pack into serious contention. The pitching has really made a return to their April form, when they were dominant. Curt Simmons (such a nice last name!) went 5-0 in August and fireman Barney Schultz picked up 7 saves while Bob Gibson got nasty with opposing hitters. Ken Boyer, who mostly just grounded into double plays in July, went off his nut in August, bashing the ball all over the place. They're the hottest team in the National League and feel like they can take the flag in '64. We'll see. 

Doctors desperately try to save Frank Thomas from a massive overdose of fake testosterone. Oh wait...wrong Frank Thomas. Close!

Quaker Oats:  The Phillies are a rotten tease. They get hot, and look like world beaters, but just when you think they might have a chance, they tank. Rinse and repeat. They do lead the league in fielding, so they don't beat themselves, but perhaps the offense relies too much on Callison and rookie hotshot Richie Allen. Allen knocked down fences in August, but Callison snoozed his way through the month until his torrid July just seemed like a dream. Another problem was reliever Jack Baldschun, who faltered badly and lost his job to Ed Roebuck after notching just one save in a month's time. The Phils acquired slugger and general dipshit Frank Thomas from the Mets some time ago, but had to wait until he healed from an injury before sticking him in the line-up. In his first Phillie at bat, he singled. Whee! But in his second, he was beaned and carried off the field, clutching his 1.000 Quaker batting average to his bosom with his broken hand. It's unclear how he broke his hand while being beaned, but don't quibble with me. The ballclub will be lucky to get a week's work out of the guy before the season ends. 

Another hopeful who just doesn't seem quite good enough.

RED SCARE: Here's a fun fact: even though it seems like they've done little else but lose all season, the Reds have actually only had one losing month. In August, they even put a little bit of daylight between themselves and .500. "We have achieved mediocrity!" they crow, dousing each other with soda pop. (Champagne seemed presumptuous.) This is an odd Reds team for the era. They have pitching up the yin yang, but can't hit to save their lives. Pete Rose struggles just to stay above the Mendoza Line, and it is doubtful whether the kid will stick in the majors--the smart money says "no." You read it here first. Vada Pinson hits homers and drives in runs but is also mired in the .200-.210 range. Only Cardenas and Robinson hit well, and even Robby hasn't been finding his HR stroke with any regularity. With rosters expanded for September, club brass looked to see who could be called up and found...no one. Arriving at Grasshopper Junction, the Reds contingent found Landfill Park padlocked and all the players gone home to their various malaria-ridden towns. There is simply no one to call up. 

Andre gets ready to peg it over to first.

WRIGLEY RANTS: The Cubs sometimes look pretty scary! When Santo, Williams, and Banks all get it going at once, they can beat the pants off anybody. Even Andre "Andre The Cub" Rodgers can hit some. If they get so much as half decent pitching, the club can do some damage. But...remember how Bobby Shantz arrived and settled what had been an erratic bullpen? Well, Bobby's been sold off to Philadelphia, cos, who really likes to win anyway? And so, Lindy McDaniel is once again serving up gopher balls and easy wins to opponents around the league. Nonetheless, any time Ron Santo takes the field, he's worth the price of admission all by himself. He leads the circuit in rbi by a whopping 25!

They have faith in Bobby Bragan.

TEEPEE TALK: Rico Carty is bitter because he lacks ten at bats from being the league's second leading batter, as he was at the end of July. However, a detached tonsil kept Rico shelved for a few days and cost him his spot, at least for now. Hey, remember back in April when Denis Menke looked like a real slugger? You don't? Well, neither does he; he's sucked ever since. While the Braves do lead the NL in runs scored with 618, too often they look meek up there at the dish. 1964 Hank Aaron just isn't your usual Hank Aaron, and Joe Torre pretty much took June and July off, before rebounding with 20 rbi in August. Spare part Mike delaHoz got his average up to .300 in the month, and is rumored to be slotted to take over for .160-hitting Frank Bolling. However, this has happened a couple of times before, and as soon as skipper Bobby Bragan gets an eyeful of delaHoz's "fielding"--mostly a spastic kind of interpretive dance involving kicking the ball away or flinging it into the stands--he reverts to penciling in "Bolling" on his line-up card again, along with his usual doodles, pleas for help, and florid love notes intended for Ginger on "Gilligan's Island." Good heavens, lovey, a Yale man! 

Kindly old poop, or Beelzebub?

SO L.A.: Don Drysdale, the scourge of the league all year, won just once during August, suffering two setbacks and a slew of no-decisions. In fact, the best pitcher on the Dodgers during the month was the ridiculous Phil Ortega, who divided his time between pitching and churning out Mexican food for grocery store shelves. Hitting continues to be the bugaboo for this team. Wills has 41 steals but doesn't get on enough, Tommy Davis languishes in the .220's, and the team sits last in the league in HR with just 64, six less than preposterous Houston. But there's this: the Dodgers are last in DP's turned, with 66, but have also hit into the fewest DP's themselves--66. What does it mean? 

"And then there's Gene Alley....just a 7 shortstop in '64 and his hitting card has..."

PITT-BURGERS: Oh who cares about the Pirates anyway? They hit, they don't pitch, they trundle along in 8th place and that's it. Bob Bailey continues to have a rocket up his butt, and actually has a chance at the batting title, should Orlando Cepeda falter. If that isn't reason enough to disband this bunch, then how about the Strange Case of Bill Virdon? Bill hit under .200 in the first half and over .300 in the second. Meanwhile, Roberto Clemente seems subject to the same bizarre damping field affecting Hank Aaron. He's hitting .304, good for most players, but not for one who is supposed to hit nearly .340. And then there's Willie Stargell, who spent the entire month knocking down fences with bookoo extra base hits, only to finish the stanza with just 12 rbi. 

The Mets bring state of the art methods to bear in figuring Christopher's and Hunt's batting marks!

METS-ALLANEOUS: When I played 1969 NL, the Expos and Phillies did the old switcheroo with each other. The Expos finished 5th in the east with a bad but not awful record, and the Phillies took their place in the cellar with just 57 wins. Well, the Mets have done that with the Colts, it would seem. The Metropolitans finished August with just one less win than their actual season total of 53, while the Colts can't seem to lose fast enough. Joe Christopher (.303) and Ron Hunt (.299) had hot months and both moved into the top ten in batting. Nonetheless, the Mets sit 8th in the league in scoring. When Charlie Smith is your Big Man, you're probably doomed. A veteran of the goshawful 1961 Phillies, Charlie has come to New York to undo first the Mets, and eventually the Yankees as well. But...but...won't the arrival of hurlers Denis Ribant and Tom Parsons make all the difference???? No. 

Houston's new base running coach, shown with a prospect.

HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM: Ugh. The Colts, as mentioned earlier are on a 14-41 "tear." They have scored a microscopic 351 runs, 119 fewer than the popgun Dodgers. They have 37 fewer doubles than the next lowest team. They are next to last in HR with 70. They don't even run, with a sickly 24 steals (and 24 caught.) September brings opportunity for call-ups from their Slough O' Despond farm team, offering the likes of Johnny Weekly, Walter "No-Neck" Williams and and Dave Adlesh. Goodness, who wouldn't want to sit in mosquito-infested heat-scorched Colt Stadium and watch them stagger to another loss? Skipper Harry Craft can't chug the Lone Star fast enough to keep the despair from enveloping him totally. Food for thought: the Colts "boast" 41 players, more than any other team. Right now they have injuries, but should the team become completely healthy, one player would have to be left off the 40-man roster. Can you imagine being the one player so bad that even the Colt .45's tell you to go home, they can't use you? It could happen.

 
 See you next time for the final results!

Who will win? Sylvia Plath says she's sticking with the Giants.