- Publish date:
BASEBALL'S WEEK
NATIONAL LEAGUE
He threw nine pitches in the first inning and struck out three Mets, and for more than half the game the big question was whether Sandy Koufax of Los Angeles would break the single-game strikeout record. The Dodger left-hander did not even equal the mark of 18 strikeouts, a feat achieved by only two men, including himself, since 1900. He did, however, match a performance equaled by 43 other National Leaguers since 1900—a no-hit game. Shoddy pitching by Johnny Podres, Joe Moeller and Stan Williams hurt the Dodgers. Podres failed for the ninth and 10th consecutive times to complete a game, Moeller for the 11th and 12th times; Williams gave up 10 runs in 10 innings. At home the team record was only 19-17. Philadelphia finished its best home stand in five years (9-4) and climbed to seventh. After his first complete game in nearly a year, Chris Short was asked why he was two minutes late coming to bat in the fifth inning. "I was changing my sweat shirt and the buttons kept popping every whichway," Short answered. St. Louis batters were hitting every whichway: .289 BA, 53 runs and a team high of 11 homers for the week. And there were shutouts by Cardinals Larry Jackson, Ray Sadecki and Curt Simmons. New York had neither good hitting nor good pitching. The Mets proved to be opportunists, however, scoring 10 runs on just four hits in one game. Their secret: 16 walks from the Dodgers. Milwaukee's Braves split six games, but might have done better had they not hit into so many double plays. In one game they hit into five, raising their total to 71 and putting them on course for the league record of 166 set by the 1958 Cardinals. Pittsburgh was inconsistent, losing by scores such as 4-3 and 5-0 and winning by 13-3 and 17-7, but hung on to third place. Chicago was even more erratic. The Cubs started the week by winning a doubleheader, then three days later they were shut out twice. Chicago did get four wins, two by 21-year-old Cal Koonce, who pitched the team's first complete game in 24 tries, and two by 33-year-old Bob Buhl. Interspersed were five losses, more than enough to keep Mrs. Charlie Metro, wife of the Cubs' head coach, well fed. Her husband takes her out to dinner each time the Cubs lose. Houston's Dick Farrell dined on aspirins. He took nine one day to deaden the pain in his side. Farrell then pitched his third straight three-hitter but for the second time in a row lost 2-0. In all, the Colt .45s batted .207 and lost four of five. Don Mc-Mahon had one exceptionally bad day. After missing the team bus for the trip from New York to Philadelphia, he hurried to the railroad station, missed a train and had to wait an hour for the next one. That night he worked in relief and gave up a hit that beat Houston. Cincinnati Coach Pete Whisenant had somewhat the same trouble. He received a phone call in his hotel room at 12:30 p.m. urging him to rush to Candlestick Park for a 1 o'clock game. Whisenant smiled: he knew the Reds were playing a night game. Minutes later Manager Fred Hutchinson called. It wasn't a night game. As it turned out, the Reds would have been better off had they not shown up: they lost three games to the Giants. One of the Reds' defeats came when San Francisco's Ed Bailey hit a grand slam off Joey Jay, one of his partners in the J & B Oil Co. of Spencer, W. Va. Billy O'Dell and Bob Bolin each won twice as the Giants took over first place.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
He began his career as a catcher, but when he broke his left hand he pitched batting practice to stay in shape. Since then Earl Wilson of Boston has always been a pitcher. His closest link with Sandy Koufax was the obscure fact that he was born in the same year, 89 days before the Dodger pitcher back in 1935. Last week, four days before Koufax pitched his no-hitter, Wilson became the 52nd American Leaguer to pitch a no-hit game. Lou Clinton and Gary Geiger each hit three homers, and Bill Monbouquette pitched a four-hitter and a five-hitter as the Red Sox won five of seven. New York had the same record. The Yankees won the longest game ever played (seven hours) when Jack Reed hit a home run in the 22nd inning against the Tigers. Reed had the bunt sign on the first pitch but was allowed to swing away at the second. Two days later the Tigers lost under similar circumstances. It was the 12th inning and Cleveland's Al Luplow noticed that the bunt sign was off. He faked a bunt on the next pitch, took a short backswing and hit a two-run homer. Catcher John Romano was bruised on the head, collarbone and both legs by foul balls in one game, but Manager Mel McGaha was even more concerned that his team lost five of seven. Kansas City's Dick Howser was more badly hurt: he suffered a broken bone in his hand. His replacement, former Angel Billy Consolo, had seven hits in his first 12 at bats. Chicago did not even average that many hits a game. The White Sox did score 19 runs, all after two were out, and won three games. Although Detroit went 31 innings without scoring, the Tigers, mostly thanks to shutouts by Jim Bunning, Paul Foytack and Hank Aguirre, split eight games. Rocky Colavito's .412 hitting and 10 RBIs also helped. There were 11 shutouts in the AL, with Baltimore's Milt Pappas and Steve Barber each getting one. Chuck Estrada, however, was on the wrong end of a shutout for the fifth time, losing 1-0. Los Angeles (see page 16) won games with home runs, sacrifice flies, hitting splurges and good relief, and stayed in the pennant fight. Poor relief work cost Minnesota four games. Camilo Pascual shut out the Yankees, but that win was drowned in six losses. Washington played tight ball, and although the Senators lost four of seven, they never finished more than three runs behind. Fine pitching by Claude Osteen (22), Steve Hamilton (25), Tom Cheney (27) and Dave Stenhouse (28) enabled the Senators to cut their team ERA from 5.96 to 4.19 in eight weeks. This did not bring many victories, but it gave the Senators a youthful, if last-place, appearance.
[originallink:10511351:42470]
Boxed statistics through Saturday, June 30
TWO PHOTOS
PITCHERS Earl Wilson of Red Sox, Sandy Koufax of Dodgers threw no-hitters, first time two were hurled in one week since June 1938.
