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BASEBALL'S WEEK
AMERICAN LEAGUE
With the score tied, Twins runners on first and second, two out in the sixth inning and a 3-2 count on Don Mincher, Washington Manager Mickey Veinon tried some ingenious strategy. He ordered, so all could see, an intentional fourth ball. The plot: while Mincher stood idly by, Bennie Daniels would cioss him up with a sneak third strike. Unfortunately, Daniels missed Mincher walked, and the Twins scored five times. Things got so bad that Jimmy Piersall asked to be benched "I'm just plain lousy," he explained Most of the Los Angeles hitters could have said the same, for they hit .240. Only good pitching by Don Lee and Dean Chance, the first two Angels 10 throw complete games back to back, kept the Angels in fifth place. After being knocked out of the box for the fourth straight time. Bo Belinsky said, "I had good stuff, but I wasn't right mentally " Detroit Manager Bob Scheffing, suffering three one-run losses, had an additional worry: Would Frank Lary's shoulder ever mend? During one bright spot in the week, Charlie Maxwell got two RBIs on a sacrifice fly when one runner scored from third and Jake Wood dashed all the way home from second Willie Kirkland of Cleveland got eight RBIs in two games and hit .625. Bridge-playing Manager Mel McGaha had little time for his favorite avocation but was able to smile over a small slam (a three run homer) by Kirkland that put the Indians back in second place New York players hit eight homers to help the Yankees take first place. But it was the Yankees' three shutout's in a row that had opposing hitters blinking. Myopic in the field was Baltimore's Jackie Brandt. When asked why he rushes in on fly balls and then slows to almost a walk to make the catch, he answered, "When I run hard my eyeballs jump up and down I have to slow down so I can draw a bead on the ball." Catcher Darrell Johnson was sidelined with muscle spasms caused by a salt deficiency. In Kansas City the deficiency was more serious—runs. The Athletics, who had been averaging five runs a game, scored just eight and lost four of five games. Boston had run trouble, too. It scored plenty (19 in two games), but it managed to give up more, and it had man trouble. Gary Geiger went out with a concussion, Chuck Schilling with a fractured index finger and Carl Yastrzemski, a .380 hitter at home, hit .200 on the road. "I can't eat when I'm away," Yastrzemski lamented, and vowed he d see a doctor. After losing 1-0 and 2-1 games and missing a chance to move into the first division, Chicago Manager Al Lopez was ready for his own doctor—the losses were to a pair of former White Sox pitchers, Ken McBride of the Angels and Jack Kralick of the Twins. Kralick, Jim Kaat and Joe Bonikowski pitched consecutive complete games and, although Minnesota's three homers were its lowest weekly output of the season, the team won four of six.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
A ball in the hand is worth two in the glove, Chicago's Don Cardwell found out. Fearful that hitters were reading his pitches, he had been winding up with the ball in his glove, then snatching it out at the last instant to make his pitch. Last week he went back to his old delivery and after winning said, "I feel better with the ball in my hand." Charlie Metro took over as head coach and said, "I'm a driver." It was Los Angeles' Walt Alston who was in the driver's seat, however. His Dodgers won five of eight and were in first place. Houston, in need of flying accommodations out of Pittsburgh, rented the Dodgers' other driver, Captain Bump Holman, and LA's $2.5 million jet. It was a good investment. Back in Houston, the Colt .45s beat the Dodgers 13-1. Roman Mejias, who hit only 17 homers in six seasons with the Pirates, got his 16th of the year. "I can't help it," he said. "I feel so strong." Pittsburgh hitters should have felt so good. They batted .253. Dick Stuart, batting .247, was the butt of this local gag: "I hear Stuart's in the hospital for an operation." "What for?" "He's having the bat taken off his shoulder." Actually, a three-run homer by Stuart gave the Pirates their lone win in eight games. New York won twice, ending a 17-game losing streak. Mrs. Charles Shipman Payson, in Europe, got daily cables on the Mets' games, and her chauffeur sent her completed score-cards for each home game. Manager Freddie Hutchinson of Cincinnati did not need anyone to tell him what the score was; it was against his Reds. They lost five in a row before Bob Purkey won his 10th game. Even so, patrons danced in the aisles at Crosley Field as a 24-piece twist band played between innings on Youth Night. St. Louis players, after ending an eight-game losing string, were making music of their own with a five-game winning streak During a clubhouse celebration Gene Oliver played a ukulele, Stan Musial rat-a-tat-tatted with two coat hangers against a stool and Curt Flood clapped together a pair of shoe trees. The sweetest music of all, though, came after the most off-key incident of the year. Ray Sadecki, fined $250 by Manager Johnny Keane for 'the poorest exhibition of effort I've ever seen on a major league diamond" (pitching indifferently and fielding worse, he faced five Cincinnati batters, made two errors and gave up five runs), was given a starting assignment anyway and pitched a man-sized, gritty 8-4 win over the Giants. San Francisco, despite a slumping Orlando Cepeda and a homer-or-bust Willie Mays, scored plenty of runs but managed to lose four of six. Philadelphia, by contrast, enjoyed a pleasant week for a change, winning four of six. Tony Taylor, after an offseason in 1961, was fielding superbly and hitting .279. His steady play, plus .409 hitting by John Callison, a shutout by Cal McLish and four-hitters by Art Mahaffey and Dennis Bennett, revitalized the Phillies. Tony Gonzalez had been hitting .335 when someone convinced him his uniform number (22) was a jinx. He switched to No. 25 and last week batted . 174. Milwaukee got a lift in more ways than one when the county board switched its decision and allowed fans to carry beer and other beverages into County Stadium The Braves won their first doubleheader in almost a year, and the distributors of six-packs had a handy selling spiel.
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Boxed statistics through saturday, June 9
TWO PHOTOS
EX-BATTING CHAMPS who hit well were Red Sox' Pete Runnels (.500 BA) and Colt .45s' Billy Goodman (game-winning pinch single).
