BASEBALL'S WEEK
NATIONAL LEAGUE
The ST. LOUIS Cardinal' young left-hander, Ray Sadecki, once owned a restaurant in Florida, where he gave away cups of coffee to all comers every time he won—a treat which cost him about 400 coffees per victory. Sadecki sold the place before this season, luckily for him, because coffee prices are way up and so are his wins. Last week he won his 16th game, firmly establishing himself as the ace of the Cardinal staff. While Sadecki has stopped giving away both coffee and runs, his teammates have been dishing out plenty of hits. With Bill White (.375) and Lou Brock (.346) leading the attack, the Cards won five of six games and moved up alongside the Reds and Giants, all of them chasing the Phils. The SAN FRANCISCO Giants (4-3) held their own, but nobody could hold onto Willie Mays. After 13 seasons he is already starting to match the career batting records set by Stan Musial—home runs and runs scored—and to top it off he made one of those great Mays catches against the Dodgers which even Willie admitted was better than his famous 1954 World Series extravaganza. The LOS ANGELES Dodgers (3-3) had problems other than battling Willie Mays. They plain did not hit (.222 team BA and only 12 runs scored) and, with sore-armed Sandy Koufax probably out for the remainder of the season, there was no one around who could carry the load. With a .298 team average and two wins by Reliever Bill Hunter, the NEW YORK Mets (4-2) put together their second straight strong week. But alas, the Mets were so deep in 10th place when their 9-for-12 winning spurt began that it was hardly noticeable. HOUSTON Colt (3-3) pitchers allowed only five runs in three victories, beginning with Don Larsen's five-hitter, but then slumped and gave up 13 runs in three end-of-the-week losses. The CINCINNATI Reds (3-2) held on to second place but lost an opportunity to pick up ground on the Phils when they dropped two games to the second-division Mets and Dodgers. Reds' pitching allowed only 12 earned runs, but no one was able to back it up at the plate except normally light hitters Leo Cardenas (.333) and Steve Boros (.313). Eight PHILADELPHIA Phillies (3-3) combined to hit 15 home runs, led by Richie Allen (.370), Wes Covington (.538) and Gus Triandos (.300), who hit three each. The Phils might have won more often if they had not run into MILWAUKEE (3-4) just when the Braves were breaking out of a brief slump. In three games with the league leaders, Milwaukee scored 20 runs on 34 hits and won twice. The PITTSBURGH Pirates suffered through their second consecutive disastrous week, losing five of six and dropping to sixth place. The CHICAGO Cubs (2-5) figured to have a prosperous week playing only the Mets and Colts. But they did not, as the league's worst teams beat them five times in close games.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
"We'd sure love to see these Orioles win the pennant, but Chance and I just can't ease up on 'em. Man, that wouldn't be right," said slugging Outfielder Leon Wagner of the CLEVELAND Indians (6-0) after he and rookie Bob Chance hit back-to-back home runs to beat the Orioles. Fact was, the Indians were not easing up on anyone. With Birdie Tebbetts now managing full time again, the Indians have been sizzling, and last week they ran their winning streak to eight. The Indians' hitters were not overpowering (31 runs in the eight games), but the pitchers allowed just 16 runs. A first-division finish might be easy if only they could keep playing league-leading BALTIMORE (3-4). The Orioles lost twice to Cleveland and fell behind in their season series 5-10. Those defeats, plus two more by the White Sox, temporarily dropped Baltimore into second place, but clutch pitching by Steve Barber and Milt Pappas and six RBIs from Sam Bowens in the week's final two games helped them regain a 1½-game lead. The CHICAGO White Sox (4-5) won three games in the last inning on key hits by Ron Hansen. Don Buford and Floyd Robinson, but the team never scored more than three runs, and only Lefty Gary Peters (two wins) thrived on the meager support. With both the White Sox and Orioles losing, the NEW YORK Yankees were able to pick up a game on the leaders with a 4-2 week. Jim Bouton and a repaired Whitey Ford pitched two victories each, and Joe Pepitone led the Yanks' attack with four homers and 11 RBIs. Buster Narum shut out New York, and Fred Kreutzer won twice as the WASHINGTON Senators (4-2) opened up a comfortable four-game lead over the last-place Athletics and seemed set to escape the cellar this year. KANSAS CITY (1-6) Owner Charlie Finley was more interested in Beatles than baseball. He signed the yeah-yeah-yeah boys for a performance and to publicize it dressed himself and his ground crew in Beatle wigs. LOS ANGELES Angel (4-4) Outfielder Jim Piersall went Finley one better and came up to bat with one of the wigs on, but it was Joe Adcock who was really swinging with a .348 BA and his 300th home run as the Angels moved back up to fifth. The MINNESOTA Twins hit only three homers and lost five of eight when infield errors allowed decisive unearned runs in four narrow defeats. With weak pitching, which permitted 43 runs by the opposition, the BOSTON Red Sox (1-6) fell six games into eighth place, and even Manager Johnny Pesky talked openly of being fired. The DETROIT Tigers (6-2) received timely hitting from Don Demeter, Bill Freehan and Norm Cash and two wins apiece from Hank Aguirre and Terry Fox to move solidly into fourth.
PHOTO
DON DEMETER: HE HITS WHEN IT COUNTS
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Detroit Outfielder Don Demeter is a nice guy's nice guy. He never drinks or smokes and is a devoutly religious man. So when Don, who came to Detroit from Philadelphia for perfect-game pitcher Jim Banning, says, "I don't think the Phillies would be where they are today if I was still with the club," you know he is not putting you on. What Demeter neglects to mention is that the Tigers would not be where they are now—in fourth place—if it were not for him. Demeter is not an exciting player. He fields well (holding the record for errorless games by a center fielder), but not in the electrifying style of a Willie Mays: he hits well, but not well enough to win batting titles; he has power, but hardly enough to be called a slugger. Still, Demeter has done enough of each to spark the Tigers out of the second division. Demeter has driven in only 69 runs, but 26 of them have provided the Tigers with important go-ahead runs and eight of his RBIs produced tying runs in games Detroit has gone on to win. Last week, as the Tigers took six of eight, Don's hitting accounted for the decisive runs in four of the wins, and three of those times he came through in clutch, late-inning situations. He hit a sixth-inning homer that broke a 0-0 tie, an eighth-inning two-run double to win a 5-4 squeaker and, on the following night, a sacrifice fly in the seventh to bring home an 8-7 win. With this type of clutch play, all Detroit agrees Demeter is a nice guy to have around.
