Continuing League -- Baseball Weakly

********** BASEBALL WEAKLY ********** Volume 65, Number 2 ALLENTOWN (CLP): With all three defending pennant winners unable to get above .500 in the early going, the 1965 CL is off to a hotly-contested start in all three divisions. Stepping into the breech with the CL's top record is the Allentown Allnighters, fresh off a 111-win season and picking up where they left off. But it hasn't been expensive Buffalo import Brooks Robinson (.260, 2 hr) leading the way--it has been veterans like Gordy Coleman (.327, 7 hr) and Wes Covington (.294, 9 hr) and a bullpen ace in little Stu Miller (1.46, 8 saves) doing the job. But wait, who is that only one game back in the CL Central? It is the reborn Kansas City Monarchs, who spent big to get names like Willie Mays (.325, 15 hr) and Rocky Colavito (.231, 5 hr) and find themselves back in the hunt. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Liberty may lose as many games as they won in their record breaking season last year following their big garage sale. In the East, the Worcester Ruby Legs and the revived Anchorage Attack are off to good starts. Worcester's Ron Perranoski (4-0, 0.44, 7 saves) has shut down the opposition in every appearance, while the Attack have relied upon Sam McDowell (7-2, 1.77) and Milt Pappas (7-2, 2.55) and good production at the top of the order from big-ticket rookie Joe Morgan (.301, 25 runs). The defending pennant-winners in Boston lag even behind the HAL-led Miami Phish. As expected, the West may be the division most up-for-grabs, with Northbrook and Death Valley dead even. Northbrook's Sandy Koufax (7-3, 1.20) has lived up to expectations, and Hoyt Wilhelm (8 saves) has not been scored upon in 11 closing appearances, although the Atoms have been struggling at the plate. Not so for Death Valley, where Carl Yastrzemski (.397, 9 hr) has been possessed by the ghost of Ted Williams and Mel Stottlemyre (9-0, 2.91) is on pace to break the CL single season wins record. However, the Gila Monsters need more consistency out of the rest of their rotation. NEWSPAPER STYLE RECAP FOR 1965 Continuing League Date: 5/11/1965 TEAM WON LOST BATTING AVERAGE HOME RUNS RUNS BATTED IN 1965 WOR 25 11 C.Yastrze DVA .397 W.Mays KCM 15 H.Killebr BOS 37 1965 ANC 24 15 H.Aaron BOS .331 F.Whitfie ORL 14 H.Aaron BOS 36 1965 MIA 22 17 Z.Versall ALL .327 R.Swoboda MIA 13 W.Mays KCM 36 1965 BOS 20 20 J.Alou GAT .327 L.Wagner AUS 13 K.Harrels GAT 35 1965 GAT 18 21 W.Mays KCM .325 K.Harrels GAT 13 OTHERS TIED W 34 1965 AUS 15 25 WINS SAVES ERA 1965 ALL 26 10 M.Stottle DVA 9 B.Pleis BTR 11 S.Koufax NOR 1.20 1965 KCM 26 12 S.McDowel ANC 7 S.Hamilto ORL 9 B.Hoeft GAT 1.62 1965 SUN 18 18 M.Pappas ANC 7 S.Miller ALL 8 S.McDowel ANC 1.77 1965 PHO 19 19 C.Osteen KCM 7 F.Linzy KCM 8 B.Bolin NAS 2.01 1965 NAS 18 21 S.Koufax NOR 7 H.Wilhelm NOR 8 R.Washbur MIA 2.23 1965 PHI 7 32 CUR HIT STREAK MVP POINT CY YOUNG POINT 1965 NOR 23 16 J.Wynn BUF 17 C.Yastrze DVA 149 M.Stottle DVA 334 1965 DVA 23 16 W.McCovey ORL 17 H.Aaron BOS 145 S.McDowel ANC 324 1965 BTR 19 20 C.Yastrze DVA 15 W.Mays KCM 143 S.Koufax NOR 313 1965 ORL 18 21 J.Alou GAT 12 J.Calliso DVA 141 J.Nuxhall ANC 194 1965 BUF 16 20 OTHERS TIED W 11 F.Whitfie ORL 136 D.Cardwel KCM 186 1965 SEA 8 31 YESTERDAY'S GAMES TODAY'S SCHEDULE AND PROBABLE STARTERS GAT 7 at PHI 0 GAT-Raymond(4-1, 2.82) at PHI-Talbot(3-7, 4.59) AUS 5 at WOR 6 AUS-Perry(2-3, 3.99) at WOR-Pascual(2-1, 3.45) DVA 10 at PHO 0 DVA-Roberts(2-4, 3.47) at PHO-Bouton(1-3, 6.40) BOS 3 at KCM 4 BOS-Aguirre(2-4, 4.73) at KCM-Barber(6-2, 3.54) BUF 5 at SUN 1 BUF-Maricha(4-5, 2.62) at SUN-Law(3-5, 3.25) ORL 0 at NAS 3 ORL-McCormi(2-2, 3.95) at NAS-Veale(3-4, 3.47) ANC 2 at MIA 4 ANC-Monbouq(0-4, 4.18) at MIA-Stock(5-2, 3.67) ALL 9 at SEA 4 ALL-Buzhard(3-2, 4.07) at SEA-Perry(1-7, 5.50) NOR 3 at BTR 1 NOR-Blasing(2-4, 4.21) at BTR-Lonborg(2-2, 2.33) YESTERDAY'S BEST PERFORMANCES BATTER TM OPP AB R H RB BB Ks HR SB G.Coleman ALL SEA 5 2 3 4 0 1 2 0 J.Wynn BUF SUN 3 1 2 4 2 0 1 1 G.Oliver WOR AUS 5 3 2 2 0 0 2 0 W.Covington ALL SEA 4 2 2 2 0 0 2 0 J.Sullivan KCM BOS 3 1 1 3 0 0 1 0 PITCHER TM OPP INN H R ER BB Ks HR WLS L.Tiant DVA PHO 9.0 3 0 0 4 6 0 W T.Cloninger GAT PHI 9.0 6 0 0 2 10 0 W B.Bolin NAS ORL 7.0 4 0 0 2 8 0 W M.Lopez NOR BTR 8.0 5 1 0 3 6 0 W B.Sadowski BUF SUN 9.0 6 1 0 3 2 0 W ALL-STAR SELECTIONS BY POSITION C J.Edwards(ALL) 316,839 E.Howard(PHI) 281,660 1B F.Whitfield(ORL) 691,484 H.Killebrew(BOS) 601,366 2B J.Morgan(ANC) 466,814 P.Rose(SUN) 432,685 3B D.Wert(NAS) 463,276 D.Allen(DVA) 431,087 SS B.Campaneris(AUS) 415,647 R.Hansen(KCM) 302,410 LF C.Yastrzemski(DVA) 892,790 R.Swoboda(MIA) 515,198 CF W.Mays(KCM) 789,177 J.Wynn(BUF) 502,731 RF H.Aaron(BOS) 814,035 J.Callison(DVA) 760,344 Pi M.Stottlemyre(DVA) 857,078 S.McDowell(ANC) 804,351 S.Koufax(NOR) 753,828 J.Nuxhall(ANC) 350,571 D.Cardwell(KCM) 330,782 S.Barber(KCM) 320,122 C.Osteen(KCM) 316,611 R.Perranoski(WOR) 311,136 M.Pappas(ANC) 297,427 M.Lopez(NOR) 294,531 D.Chance(SUN) 283,091 R.Washburn(MIA) 281,206 ********** BASEBALL WEAKLY ********** Volume 65, Number 1 The times they are a changin' here in 1965, and the CL should be no exception. After a draft which saw a lot of cash flying on a few players, neither of the two '64 Series participants have enough position players to field a team, and the other two playoff squads in Boston and Allentown did not have particularly impressive draft days either. Unless some big trades start soon, the '65 playoffs might have a quite different look this year. Here's a quick rundown from one perspective: CL EAST: The ANCHORAGE rental agency cashed in some of its chips in a big way this season, with Joe Morgan breaking the $400 barrier for the first time in CL history. But other solid additions in Allison, Gonzalez and Gosger give the Attack some offensive punch to go with their excellent maturing staff. WORCESTER also acquired some pop in the form of Skowron, Blefary, and Hinton, as well as perhaps the best bullpen in the league. The Rubies depth may give them an edge over Anchorage at the season's end. BOSTON lost far more in cuts than they picked up in the draft and shouldn't come near last season's win totals, but the team's core of Killebrew and Aaron is sufficient to keep them in contention. PHLORIDA sports a solid pitching staff but after Banks and newcomer Harrelson the offense drops quickly. MIAMI's "two dollar solution" may make them the K-Mart of 1965; there is enough quantity to keep opponents honest but not enough quality for a .500 record. AUSTIN had a thin draft and is looking to rebuild. CL CENTRAL: The Central looks to be the strongest top-to- bottom this season. NASHVILLE has been absent from postseason play recently and in a major housecleaning they did not re-sign Mantle and Boyer. But the '65 Metros are powerpacked and the depth is there with Pinson, Oliva, and others poised for big years and Gibson, McClain and Veale anchoring the staff. ALLENTOWN's pickup of Brooks Robinson before the draft signaled a serious drive for the pennant, and the Allnighters have enough talented part-timers to make for an interesting lineup. This could be another classic NAS-ALL battle. KANSAS CITY has some power top to bottom and a million pitchers to choose from; this should be the best Monarch squad we've seen for a while. PHOENIX had an excellent draft and could contend for many years to come. PHILADELPHIA sports Mays, Clemente, and two talented rookie pitchers in Palmer and Hunter, but there are too many holes in the dike for the Liberty to fill; could they fall to fifth? SUNVILLE's slow build continues; the team should improve but will have trouble escaping the cellar in this division. CL WEST: Once the crown jewel, the West looks like the weak sister this season--anyone could win this one! NORTHBROOK has an unhittable Sandy Koufax and a slew of veterans like looking for one last day in the spotlight. DEATH VALLEY has big boppers like Allen and Howard, and Tiant and Friend heading a solid staff--the Gila Monsters should be in the hunt. BATON ROUGE may have the best balance in the division and their best pennant hopes since the 50's. BUFFALO sold Robinson in a gamble that hasn't paid off, and the Buffs will need to scramble to field a complete team, but landing a couple big fish could put them back at the top. ORLANDO picked a good time to evacuate the Central but many key players aren't having career years. SEATTLE is under new management and with names like Mantle, Maris, Ford, Frank Robinson and Boog Powell, should draw the fans--but 1965 may not be their year.