1964 AL End Of August Report

Hello fans! August is over on the A.L. side of my 1964 replay. The Yanks came back to earth just a bit in the month, which is to say they stopped being superhuman, not that they aren't still winning with regularity. Here's the standings through August 31st, with August record in parentheses:

NYY  87-44  ---  (17-12)
BAL  78-55  10  (16-12)
CHI  75-60  14  (14-18)
DET  70-65  19  (18-11)
WAS  67-68  22  (15-12)
LAA  67-69  22.5  (16-12)
CLE  64-70  24.5  (13-15)
MIN  61-71  26.5  (17-11)
BOS  54-79  34  (10-19)
KCA  46-88  42.5  (7-21)

Leaders:

"Fear me, puny mortals!"

WINS: Chance-la 19-7, Ford-ny 18-8, Peters-chi 17-8, Wickersham-det 17-10

ERA (131 ip min.): Chance-la 1.66, Ford-ny 2.17, Peters-chi 2.20, Bunker-bal 2.46, Osteen-was 2.70

LOSSES: Pena-kc 8-17, 3 tied with 15 

IP: Chance-la 249, Kaat-min 229, Peters-chi 229, Horlen-chi 221.1

From out of nowhere, Arrigo Man!

K's: Chance-la 200, Arrigo-min 170, Lolich-det 167, Wilson-bos 164, Pena-kc 161 

SHO: Kaat-min 6, 4 tied with 5

SAVES: Kline-was 31, Radatz-bos 27, Hall-bal 24, Wilhelm-chi 24 McMahon-cle 23

CG: Chance-la 18, Kaat-min 18, Peters-chi 16

Eddie assumes his fielding stance.

ERRORS: Bressoud-bos 36, McAuliffe-det 35

BA (min. 354 ab):  B.Robinson-bal .310, Fl.Robinson-chi .308, Allison-min .297, Fregosi-la .297, Piersall-la .297

HR: Powell-bal 40, Killebrew-min 37, Mantilla-bos 31, Mantle-ny 29, Versalles-min 29, Wagner-cle 28

"Accept that I am a star or perish!"

RBI: B.Robinson-bal 104, Bowens-bal 103, Killebrew-min 91, Hansen-chi 88, Mantilla-bos 88, Maris-ny 88

RUNS: Versalles-min 93, Aparicio-bal 91, B.Robinson-bal 91, Tresh-ny 91, Hall-min 90

2B: Bressoud-bos 38, Davalillo-cle 33, B.Robinson-bal 33, Tresh-ny 32, Howard-ny 30

3B: Hinton-was 10, Oliva-min 10, Rollins-min 10

SB: Aparicio-bal 57, Davalillo-cle 23, Hinton-was 18

"BOGO!"

GIDP: Green-kc 23, Adair-bal 21, Skowron-chi 20, Yaz-bos 20

TEAM REPORTS:

Stottlmyre's medical staff meets over breakfast.

YANKEE DOODLES: Tom Tresh absolutely went off in August for the Yanks, nearly getting into the batting leaders. Let *that* sink in. He was still a dandy little player in '64, but this month he thought he was right there with Mantle and the rest. Meanwhile, Elston Howard, who was scorching hot in July and had taken over the AL batting lead, cooled off badly in August. Rookie phenom Mel Stottlemyre was shelved when he came down with pink eye and chicken pox, the usual childhood ailments. After a few weeks in bed with Mister Cuddle Bear, he is expected back for the final run-up to the inevitable World Series for the New Yawks. 

Brooks and Sam sent away for the brochure.

BIRD DOO: Brooks Robinson is having the season of his life, with Sam Bowens right behind him doing the same. They stand head and shoulders above the rest of the league in RBI, both having already surpassed the century mark. Brooksie also happens to lead the loop in batting average. "It's leg hits," he told reporters with a smirk. Boog Powell's bid for a 50-homer season was derailed when he choked on a plate of ribs and had to leave the line-up for a while, stalling him at 40 dingers. Kid chucker Wally Bunker has been in the league ERA leaders all year, but has only 8 wins to show for it, against 4 losses. He is the king of the no-decision. 

Animated skeletons vie to impress skipper Al Lopez and win jobs as scabs.

SOUTH SIDE HITS: Ron Hansen has emerged as a bonafide run producer, with 88 knocked in so far. Who knew? However, the Good Ship White Sox took on water when as many as 9--yes, 9--players were injured at the same time. In fact, backstop Cam Carreon and kid flyhawk Ken Berry both died and could not be revived. The rest of the team must carry on for the rest of the campaign without their services. This leaves the preposterous duo of J.C. Martin and Gerry McNertney to do the catching. "I got a hit once," bragged McNertney. "Liar!" said Martin, jealous at the very thought. 

...and starring Larry Sherry as The Beaver!

TIGER TALES: I have good news and bad news, Tiger fans. The bad news is, the bats turned to mush in August. The good news is, the pitching over-performed and the team got healthy. As a result, the club was able to forget the misery of July and win as many as 8 in a row during August. Fred Gladding, suddenly iffy, lost his closer spot to Larry Sherry, who notched his first 3 saves. Dave Wickersham went 5-1 in the month and soutpaw Mickey Lolich pitched brilliantly though his .500 record doesn't show it. When Ed Rakow and Denny McLain fell down a hole together, Phil Regan and Buckeye Joe Sparma stepped in to fill the gap. 

"But it wouldn't be make-believe if you believed in me la la la..."

WASHING-TOON:  Just when it seemed safe to make fun of the Senators again...they keep getting back up like a monster in a cheap horror flick. I mean, c'mon, they traded their best hitter, Moose Skowron, to Chicago for freaking Frank Kreutzer. Also, when even I was shamed at my over-use of sore-armed Tom Cheney and sent him off to Crocodile Springs to rest for the remainder of August, one would think they would fade with ass clowns like Dave Stenhouse and Alan "Cokehead" Koch starting games. But, no. With their top hitter for average being oft-injured backstop Mike Brumley at .248, they came back from 4 games under .500 at month's start, to go back over the break-even mark before falling a smidge short at the end, despite a winning month. How are they doing it? That old black magic is as good an explanation as I have, and I played the games. 

He likes Wall Of Voodoo

HOLY WRIT: The Angels have gone 34-24 since July 1st and actually moved into the first division for a day before falling a half game behind the redonkulous Senators again. Dean Chance seems a shoo-in for the AL Cy Young award. The Halos' 2.67 team ERA is a third of a run ahead of any other team. Too bad they suck at hitting, having scored 50 fewer runs than the next wimpiest team. Ancient Joe Adock (23 HR) is their only real power hitter, though Jim Fregosi has an unexpected 20 blasts. When Jim had to sit out a couple of games, the Angels turned to versatile Tom Satriano at shortstop and it didn't turn out well. Lead-footed late bloomer Felix Torres went on a late August homer binge to get his total up to 12. He was interviewed on the Mexican radio but no comprende, what does he say?

He's 3-12 with a million strikeouts! Whee!

TRIBE WAMPUM:  Stupid Cleveland, if they could just once catch a baseball, or throw it, without comical mishap, they might go somewhere. But no, they lead the league with a whopping 161 errors. Add to that the fact that as Daddy Wags goes, so goes the offense. Leon Wagner has 28 HR and 81 ribbies, but the rest of the line-up is a hodgepodge. Gone are the halcyon days of July, when Woodie Held swallowed TNT and hit everything he saw out of the park. He has turned back into a pumpkin. They can't find a middle infielder who can hit Twiggy's weight, let alone his own. On the mound, they have a stable of young power arms, but the results aren't there yet. And the bullpen is superannuated Don McMahon and a bunch of dolts with C's on their caps. "Watch and learn, kids," chuckles Don.

They've been called up to The Show.

MINNY HA HA'S: Okayyyy, HERE's the Twins team we've been waiting to see! The usual home run barrage continued unabated, but the big news is, the pitching did much better in August. Jim Kaat tossed five (!) complete games and increased his win total to 15 while shaving half a run off his ERA. Camilo Pascual found the win column a few times, too, and Gerry Arrigo fanned everybody he could find, to surge into second place in the league in K's with 170 K's in 170 innings. The bullpen still isn't all that reliable, though, placing last in the league in saves, despite mid-season additions. Tony Oliva, a season-long disappointment in terms of batting average, finally woke up and improved his batting mark to .265. Whee. With rosters expanded in September, the Twins now call up everyone who isn't nailed down or dead from their Moldview Unsightly Stains farm club, giving them 40 faces to choose from each day from here on in. 

Therrrrre's Johnny!

BOSTON BEANINGS:  The crew of sedated lap dogs the Red Sox call a pitching staff continues to get shelled at every opportunity, leading to a sorry total of an even 700 runs against so far. Moreover, the hitting went quiet for almost the entire month. Dick Stuart, despite a respectable .280 average, has but 18 HR. Frank Malzone was discovered to be asleep at third base, and except for Yaz and upstart retread Felix Mantilla, the will to win just isn't there. The Carmine Hose don't even have their one claim to fame left anymore, having been surpassed by the Yankees in double plays turned. (See "Malzone, slumber")  Skipper Johnny Pesky is rumored to be on the hot seat, and has, in fact, burst into flames. 

He can't bear to look.

MULE SHIT: The A's staggered through a month in which they won just 7 games and sank ever further into the far reaches of last place. Between them, chuckers Pena, Segui and Drabowsky have taken it on the chops for the "L" 47 times. The A's have been even more generous to opposing batters than the Red Sox, having given up 703 tallies to date. In August, Jim Gentile refused to set down his lemonade and get busy. He swatted just one lonesome HR and knocked in a paltry 5. "I'm resting," he opined. Dick Green did what he could, and Ray, er, Ed Charles surpassed the 20 HR plateau, but it was all wasted effort. Nonetheless, both players insist that they see World Series play in their futures. Stop sniffing glue, fellas. In a last ditch effort, the ballclub called up a bunch of schmoes en masse from their Whiskey River farm team, including personal pet Larry Stahl, who is 2-for-3 with a grand slam in an earlier cup of coffee with the big club. 

Come back in a few days for the NL report. Things have really tightened up!

 

 

1964 AL End Of July Report

July is over, the sparklers are dust, and the Yankees have been torrid--bad news for the rest of the American League! However, the mighty man of the month is a surprise--Sam Bowens, a corner outfielder for the Orioles, went off and knocked in a whopping 35 runs in the month! Whoa Sam! Dint know your own strenth!

Here's the standings:

NYY  70-32  ---  (best July record 23-7)
CHI  61-42  9.5
BAL  62-43  9.5
DET  52-54  20  (worst July record 10-22, best x-inn record 10-4)
WAS  52-56  21  (best 1-run record 22-11)
CLE  51-55  21
LAA  51-57  22
BOS  44-60  27
MIN  44-60  27
KCA  39-67  33  (worst 1-run record 11-21, worst x-inn 2-7)

PITCHING (league 3.67)
LAA  2.70  (most CG 31)
NYY  2.83  (least RA 310, most SHO 17)
CHI  2.99  
BAL  3.31  (most saves 31, least HR vs. 80)
DET  3.47
WAS  3.87  (least K's 529)
CLE  4.19  (tie least SHO 6)
BOS  4.38  (least CG 13, most RA 547)
MIN  4.44  (most K's 737, least saves 14, tie least SHO 6)
KCA  4.57  (most HR vs. 113, tie least SHO 6)

BATTING (league .232)
BAL  .246  (least triples 16, most SB 59)
BOS  .242  (least SB 11, most doubles 161)
NYY  .242  (tie most triples 33)
CHI  .239  (tie least HR 70, least doubles 118, most CS 28)
DET  .236  (tie most triples 33)
MIN  .233  (most HR 140, least CS 13, most runs 477)
CLE  .232  (least GIDP 55)
LAA .225  (tie least HR 70, least runs 372)
KCA  .214  (most GIDP 103)
WAS  .212  

FIELDING
least errors--NYY 42
most errors--CLE 128
most DP's--BOS 106
least DP's--LAA 57

LEADERS

"Behold my works, ye mighty, and despair!"

WINS: Chance-la 15-6, Ford-ny 15-7, Peters-chi 14-5, Wickersham-det 12-9

ERA (min. 102 IP): Chance-la 1.70, Peters-chi 1.85, Ford-ny 1.89, Bunker-bal 2.35, Pizarro-chi 2.41, Belinsky-la 2.54, Aguirre-det 2.69, Downing-ny 2.81, Horlen-chi 2.84, Buzhardt-chi 2.86

Jack is tireless, devoted, hard-working. Cleveland sucks anyway.

IP: Chance-la 196, Peters-chi 180.1, Kaat-min 177, Kralick-cle 175

CG: Chance-la 14, Kaat-min 13, Peters-chi 13

K's: Chance-la 156, Wilson-bos 142, Pena-kc 135, Kralick-cle 121, Wickersham-det 121, Lolich-det 120

SHO: Ford-ny 5, Downing-ny 4, Peters-chi 4

"Here I come to save the day!"

SAVES: Kline-was 23, Wilhelm-chi 23, Hall-bal 22, Radatz-bos 22, McMahon-cle 18

LOSSES: Narum-was 5-13, 3 tied with 12.

"Watch me leg out a nubber!"

BA (min 275 ab): Howard-ny .318, Fl.Robinson-chi .314, B.Robinson-bal .307, Aparicio-bal .305, Fregosi-la .297, Piersall-la .296, Stuart-bos .291, Yaz-bos .288, Hall-min .287, Kaline-det .277

He is humbled to appear on the same leader board with Don Lock.

HR: Powell-bal 32, Killebrew-min 30, Lock-was 24, Wagner-cle 24, Mantle-ny 23, Gentile-kc 22, Mantilla-bos 22

RBI: B.Robinson-bal 80, Bowens-bal 74, Killebrew-min 72, Hansen-chi 69, Pepitone-ny 69, Powell-bal 69

RUNS: Aparicio-bal 75, Mantle-ny 75, Hall-min 70, Versalles-min 70, B.Robinson-bal 69

He should not have eaten that third hot dog. Vic is the AL's leading annoying little bastard.

2B: Davalillo-cle 27, Howard-ny 26, Tresh-ny 26

3B: Oliva-min 9, Rollins-min 8

If Davalillo can just steal a quick 30 bases, it'll be a race! But he would still be annoying.

STEALS: Aparicio-bal 49, Davalillo-cle 16, Hinton-was 15, Weis-chi 12

GIDP: Green-kc 18, Battey-min 17, B.Robinson-bal 17

Mac is the Jose Pagan of the AL.

ERR: McAuliffe-det 28, Howser-cle 26, Bressoud-bos 25, Brinkman-was 22

TEAM REPORTS (with July record)

All the Yankees sent away for this pamphlet.

YANKEE DOODLES (23-7) The Bronx Bombers have gone 44-16 over the past two months to turn a close race into a rout. Ellie Howard has overcome a slow first half take over the AL batting lead! Yankee fans love watching this right hand hitting beer truck beat another one out! But it is pitching that has the Bombers riding high. The worst ERA in any number of innings on the entire staff is Jim Bouton's 3.59. Let that sink in!

He hits better than you, too!

WHITE SOX LAUNDRY (20-11) The Chisox played bang-up ball in July and still lost 3 and a half games in the standings. Gary Peters emerged as the ace of a very impressive staff, even tossing a no-hitter at the Tigers during the month! But the rest aren't bad either, as 3 other Sox hurlers made the top ten in ERA. Hoyt Wilhelm stopped blowing ballgames and now finds himself tied for the league lead in saves. Don Mossi (1.27) and Eddie Fisher (2.06) help out in relief as well. 

Hi, Bob!

BIRD DOO (18-12)  Play it again, Sam! Sam Bowens (16,74,.263) enjoyed opponents' habit of pitching around Boog Powell (32,69,.268) and made them pay with an incredible 35 ribbies in the month. The whole Oriole aviary was flapping its wings and banging out hits. Only Willie "Captain" Kirkland (1,2,.111 in 81 ab) was a dismal failure and is rumored to be on the block. A more successful reserve is Bob Johnson (1,16,.310 in 100 ab) who spells Looie Aparicio when his legs fall off from running the bases. Starting pitching has been a bugaboo for the Birds, with only kid righty Wally Bunker (6-3, 2.35) getting it done when he can manage to stay healthy. Sidearm specialist Dick Hall also is out, and the O's miss him. 

Detroit's drooling dipwad.

TIGER TALES (10-22) Dear me, what an awful month the Tigers just suffered through. They fell from 6 out to 20 out as they just could not find the winning method. Terry Fox (3-6, 4.91) made every disaster worse by showing up with his gas can, while Tiger flyhawks dropped like, well, flies, necessitating starts from Mickey Stanley (.125) and Jim Northrup (.037). They may be fine young men and they may mature into stars eventually, but right now they aren't ready. Backstop Bill Freehan (7,33,.254) hasn't hit as expected, and Don "The Drooling Dipwad" Wert (2,27,.215) only gets hits if everyone promises not to look. Even previous powerhouse Dick McAuliffe (20,59,.226) only hit two dingers in July and saw his average drop 20 points while looking lost at shortstop.

Jim needs no refrigeration.

WASHING-TOON (11-19) What happens when you deal Bill Skowron (12,49,.270 with Washington) for Joe Cunningham (.167) and lefty Frank Kreutzer (0-1,12.73 with Chicago) and then sign ancient relic Roy Sievers (1,4,.059) to replace the fallen Mr. Cunningham? Even Richie knows that's a bum deal. Opposing skippers routinely walk Don Lock (24,55,.251) any time the score is close because there's only retread Don Zimmer (8,39,.240) and Jim "Sky" King (13,41,.178) hitting behind him. And so Don was limited to 6 HR in July, most if not all coming when the game wasn't close. The pitching went all to hell, with ace Claude Osteen (8-8, 2.90) seeing his ERA put on half a run in flab, and previous bullpen phenom "Mrs." Duckworth pouring out his sub-2 ERA and replacing it with 5.40. "I sleep on a bed of pancakes," he confided to reporters before being threatened with demotion to class B Bus Stop City in the Circulatory Ailment League. 

He just wants to be done and go home.

TRIBE WAMPUM (14-17) The Tribe looks good on paper. But Siebert (9-9, 3.91), Tiant (5-8, 4.25) and Sam McDowell (3-9, 4.75) have not lived up to their billing, nor has kid infielder Larry Brown (7,19,.152.) And so, too much has been required of veterans like Jack Kralick (10-8, 3.09) and "Daddy Wags" Wagner (24,64,.260). They do what they can, and bullpen ace Don McMahon has fashioned a nifty 1.14 ERA when not handing out sweepstakes prizes. If the game is on the line, call on super pinch hitter Tito Francona (8,25,.212) who has 3, count 'em, 3 walk-off hits this year.

Bo consults with a local nun about his catechism classes.

ANGEL HALOS (18-12)  The Angels rode incredible pitching to their best month by far. Both Dean Chance and Fred Newman went 5-1 in July, and Bo Belinsky was excellent, too. Even spare part Aubrey Gatewood boasts a 1.66 ERA in 11 starts! The hitting wasn't so great, though, with previously red hot Jim Fregosi (17, 60, .297) slumping to less than .150 for the month. Jimmy Piersall (.296) got on quite a bit at the lead-off spot, but nobody really answered the bell offensively. Goll darn it, Clarence, can't ya whip up a slugger or two? 

Stop that, Neil! You've got songs to write.

BOSTON BEANS (14-16)  When your top two starters are only okay, and your other three have ERAs like 6.84, 5.47 and 5.77, you aren't going far. Dave Morehead (0-5) has reached August without a single win in 14 tries. At least there is lefty specialist Arnold Earley with his 0.88 ERA, and Dick Radatz, with 100 K's in 95 innings to place him second on the staff in punchouts even though he is a reliever. Frank Malzone (4,36,.246) and Eddie Bressoud (9,30,.257) slumped badly during July, but Tony Conigliaro (16,56,.256) and Felix Mantilla (22,66,.235) enjoyed their most productive months. Dick Stuart (14,61,.291) continues to hit everything except the home runs he gets paid to slug. Neil Diamond has not yet recorded "Sweet Caroline", and so the scattering of Fenway fans just sit there during the 7th inning stretch, glumly wondering why life is so hard.

Hitting big league deliveries is so easy, Joe can do it with his eyes closed!

TWINS TALK (13-16) This was the month the Twins would finally make a move, I thought. Boy am I one dizzy broad. Oh, they hit homers like they should, and Killebrew mashed 11 to make it to 30 already,  but Tony Oliva (17,57,.253) just refuses to stop going 1-for-4, and the pitching is still just terrible, though more blame lies with the starters and less with the bullpen, now that Al Worthington (2-1-5, 5.30) and Johnny Klippstein (1.98) have arrived. Worthington's inflated ERA is mostly due to one disastrous outing--he's been good most of the time since being shipped over in a crate from Cincinnati. Emblematic of the Twins pitching woes is veteran Camilo Pascual, who is 4-9 with a 4.77 ERA in 20 starts and he has finished what he started just 3 times. "I'm an opener," he opined. One bright spot was rookie flyhawk Joe Nossek, summoned to the big club from Infection City in the Religious Conversion League. Joe got to bat twice and delivered two safeties for a gaudy 1.000 average! 

The A's team bus arrives at the ballpark.

MULE DROPPINGS (9-18)  Rocky Colavito (20,64,.227), scourge of the AL back in May, hit just one HR and knocked in only 9 in July, his second straight awful month. The Rock's average has fallen some 70 points. With Gentile (22,52,.264) out, the A's need Rocky to regroup! Injuries to several players necessitated the call up of a busload of bushers to impersonate big league ballplayers for a while in KC. The pitching staff avoided these die-offs, but sucks anyway, and leads the loop in homers given up. Skipper Mel McGaha, or whoever it is with the audacity to pilot this train wreck of a team, has no solutions for the shoddy defense and inconsistent offense which has combined with laughable pitching to land the Athletics in the American league caboose. Put on your thinking cap, Mel. Sad statistic for the day: the A's are 17 of 44 in steal attempts. It's enough to make you weep.

"Another great report. Ha!"

My fans, they love me!
 
 

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!