End of Series 16

The standings

                                                W      L    Pct.     GB
Guilford Quakers                   29     18     .617     ---
Fordham Flashes                  25     23     .521     4.5
Lincoln Park Black Caps       23     23     .500     5.5
Raymond Rams                    23     25     .479     6.5 
Ortonville Orators                  22     25     .468     7
Baltimore Orioles                  20      28     .416     9.5

Series 17
Orioles at Flashes (3)
Rams at Quakers (3)
Orators at Black Caps (3)

Series 16: Orators take two of three from Orioles

Orators 22-25, Orioles 20-28

Game One: Orioles 10, Orators 9
WP: Leonhard (1-3)
LP: Danforth (1-1)
Save: Richert (4)
HR: F Robinson (16), Ashburn (2), Hendricks (5)

Game Two: Orators 7, Orioles 2
WP: Jenkins (7-5)
LP: Phoebus (2-5)
HR: Hendricks (6), Cuyler (6)

Game Three: Orators 10, Orioles 2
WP: Shocker (5-3)
LP: Cuellar (4-5)
HR: F Robinson (17)

The Orators averaged 8.7 runs and 13.3 hits per game in the series against the Baltimore pitching staff.

The first game featured late-inning fireworks, as the Orioles put up a pair of four-run innings in the eighth and ninth while the Orators scored four in the eight but only managed one in the ninth. Richie Ashburn was 5-for-5 for Ortonville with three runs and four RBIs; he had a three-run homer in the eighth and also doubled and walked. For Baltimore, Elrod Hendricks and Frank Robinson each had two-run homers, Hendricks in the eighth and Robinson in the ninth.

A Mark Belanger error in the third inning of the second game opened the door to four Ortonville runs. Ferguson Jenkins was given a 7-0 lead after four innings and went the distance, allowing seven hits and one earned run. Baltimore relievers Dave Leonhard and Dick Hall retired all 12 men they faced.

The finale was a rout, as the Orators scored three in the second, four in the third, one in the fourth and two in the fifth -- this despite grounding into three double plays in the four innings. Kiki Cuyler went 3-for-4 for the game with three runs. Urban Shocker went the distance for the Orators, allowing two runs on eight hits.

Pitcher availability: After two straight complete games, the Orators bullpen is fully rested. For the Orioles, Dick Hall should sit the next game. Lopez worked two innings in the finale.

Projected rotations: Orators -- Davis-Sutton-Jenkins-Wingard-Shocker. Orioles -- McNally-Palmer-Hardin-Cuellar-McNally-Phoebus

Series 16: Quakers take two of three from Flashes

Quakers 29-18, Flashes 25-23

Game One: Flashes 8, Quakers 6
WP: Haines (5-3)
LP: Lyons (7-4)
Save: Ryan (3)
HR: Hafey (11), Perez (11)

Game Two: Quakers 7, Flashes 3
WP: Faber (8-4)
LP: Nehf (3-2)
HR: Doby (8), Perez (12), Ferrell (1)

Game Three: Quakers 8, Flashes 6
WP: Kaufmann (4-1)
LP: McQuillan (3-3)
Save: Blake (5)
HR: Ferrell (2), Bottomley (9)

The first-place Quilford Quakers expanded their lead to 4.5 games by taking two of three from second-place Fordham.

The Flashes started off well, scoring three runs in the first inning of the opener, with Chick Hafey hitting a two-run homer. Tony Perez tied it in the third with a three-run shot off Jesse Haines, but Hafey's triple in the fifth keyed a two-run inning and the Flashes added two more in the sixth. Haines allowed three earned runs and eight hits in 8.1 innings for the win.

The Quakers stormed back with three homers in the second game. Larry Doby and Tony Perez each had three RBIs to back Red Faber, who didn't allow a run in the first six innings and allowed three runs in eight innings in all. Doby tripled and homered, while Perez and Rick Ferrell hit back-to-back homers in the eighth.

The Flashes scored two runs in the top of the first of the third game but left the bases loaded against Tony Kaufmann. After Ferrell and Jim Bottomley exchanged homers, the Quakers took the lead with three runs in the third, with Doby driving in two with a double. Guilford blew it open with a three-run eighth that started with three consecutive walks. The Flashes scored three runs in the final two frames, but all that accomplished was to set up a save for Sheriff Blake.

Pitcher availability: Blake pitched one inning for the Quakers; all other relievers are fully rested. For the Flashes, Mule Watson worked one inning in the finale; other relievers are fully rested.

Projected starters: Quakers -- Aldridge-Lyons-Faber-Jacobs-Kaufmann-Lyons. Flashes -- Grimes-Haines-Barnes-Nehf-Grimes.

Series 16: Black Caps take two of three from Rams

Black Caps 23-23, Rams 23-25

Game One: Black Caps 5, Rams 3
WP: Streeter (5-1)
LP: Stoner (1-1)
HR: Palm (7)

Game Two: Black Caps 5, Rams 2
WP: Holland (6-3)
LP: Collins (2-5)
Save: McDonald (2)

Game Three: Rams 6, Black Caps 5
WP: Holloway (5-2)
LP: Currie (2-3)
Save: Dauss (7)
HR: Blackwell (3)

Spoony Palm's two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth gave gave Sam Streeter a vultured win in relief in the opener. Phil Cockrell went eight innings, allowing two runs, but Hilton Smith and Streeter combined to allow Raymond to tie it in the top of the ninth. Lil Stoner, relieving Red Ruffing in the ninth, got the first batter, but then Art Pennington singled and Palm hit the game-winning homer.

Bill Holland came out of the bullpen to throw three innings of shutout ball to collect the win in the second game. Vic Harris went 4-for-5 with a run and two RBIs, and Jerry Benajmin scored twice.

The Rams jumped on Rube Currie in the finale for five runs in the first and another in the second. Phil Rizzuto had a three-run double in the big inning, which turned on a Dick Seay error on a likely double-play grounder. After Currie was hit for in the bottom of the second, the Black Caps got four shutout innings from Webster McDonald and three more from Streeter as they chipped away at the lead. Charles Blackwell hit a two-run homer, and Red Parnell had a pinch hit RBI double. Ken Holloway wriggled out of a first-and-third, one-out jam in the sixth, but the biggest escaped came in the ninth. The Black Caps, down a run, loaded the bases with no outs. But Hooks Dauss got Alec Radcliff and Pennington to pop up, and then got Bill Perkins on a grounder to third for the final out.

Pitcher availability: For the Orators, Ed Wells and Dauss each pitched one inning in the finale. All other relievers are fully rested. For the Black Caps: McDonald sits for five games. Williams, Holland, Cockrell and Streeter need two games to start, one to relieve. Currie should sit a game for either purpose.

Projected starters: Rams -- Perry-Ruffing-Whitehill-Collins-Perry-Ruffing. Black Caps -- Mathis-Drake-???

End of Series 16

The standings:

Division A

Franklins   24   15  .615   ---
Obamas   23   15  .605   .5
Teddys   23   16   .590   1
Kennedys   19   19   .500   5.5
Ikes   13   25   .342   10.5

Division B

Crawfords   23   15   .605   ---
Homestead  20  18   .526   3
Garfields   17   22   .436   6.5
X-Giants   17   22   .436   6.5
Hilldale   13   25   .342   10

Player of the series: Ben Taylor, X-Giants
Pitcher of the series: Slim Jones, X-Giants

Series 17:

X-Giants at Franklins (2)

Ikes at Teddys (3)

Kennedys at Obamas(3)

Hilldale at Garfields (3)

Crawfords at Homestead (3)

Series 16: Kennedys take two of three from Teddys

Teddys 23-16, Kennedys 19-19

Pitcher use: Carlton and Waddell need three games, Mathewson and Seaver need two games, Marichal and Alexander need one game. McGinnity pitched one inning in finale, Fingers faced two batters.

Game One: Kennedys 5, Teddys 1
WP: Marichal (4-4)
LP: Alexander (2-6)
Save: Koufax (1)
HR: R. Jackson (4)

Game Two: Teddys 11, Kennedys 2
WP: Mathewson  (4-4)
LP: Seaver (3-4)
HR: Aaron (10), Bresnahan (2)

Game Three: Kennedys 4, Teddys 2
WP: Carlton (4-4)
LP: Waddell (3-4)
Save: Fingers (8)
HR: Baker (2), Cobb (2)

---

A pair of tough losses for the Teddys drops them into third place in Division A, one game behind the Franklins and a half game behind the Obamas.

The opener was a taut duel between Juan Marichal and Pete Alexander, 1-1 after seven innings, but the Kennedys loaded the bases for the red-hot George Brett, who tripled and then scored on Hank Aaron's single.

The Kennedys had pinch-hit for Marichal in the process, and Don Drysdale relieved. But after the first two Teddys reached, Sandy Koufax entered, and he retired six straight Teddys, two on strikes, to secure the game.

The Teddys responded by pounding Tom Seaver for six runs in the second inning of Game Two and added another four in the fifth on Roger Bresnahan's grand slam. Christy Mathewson allowed seven hits in his complete game win.

Stever Carlton allowed a pair of homers in the first two innings of the finale but then faced just 19 men in the next six innings. He allowed seven hits and struck out seven. Rollie Fingers popped up Sam Crawford with the bases loaded in the ninth to end it.

Brett was 4-for-11 in the series with five RBIs.

Series 16: Crawfords take two of three from X-Giants

Crawfords 23-15, X-Giants 17-22

Pitcher use: Jones needs four games, Trent and Dihigo three, B. Foster and Donaldson two, Day and Brewer one.

Game One: Crawfords 7, X-Giants 4
WP: Brewer (3-5)
LP: Donaldson (3-3)
HR: B. Taylor 2 (2), Beckwith (7)

Game Two: Crawfords 3, X-Giants 1
WP: B. Foster (7-2)
LP: Dihigo (2-6)
HR: Santop (1), Monroe (3), Wright (7), Beckwith (8)

Game Three: X-Giants 16, Crawfords 0
WP: Jones (6-1)
LP: Trent (3-3)
HR: B Taylor (3), Jones (1), Bell (2)

---

The Crawfords reduced their magic number in the Division B race to four by taking two close games from the X-Giants. The X-Giants, for their part, may well have both the player and the pitcher of Series 16.

The X-Giants kick-started the opener with a three-run homer from Ben Taylor, and John Donaldson held the Crawfords hitless through four innings. But Chet Brewer retired 16 straight X-Giants (second through seventh innings) and the Crawfords picked up one run in the fifth and two more to tie it in the sixth, before getting a back-breaking grand slam from John Beckwith in the eighth. Taylor's second homer of the game did little for the X-Giants.

Beckwith had five RBIs, Taylor four. Both Brewer and Donaldson went the distance, Brewer allowing just five hits without a strikeout..

The offenses in the middle game were nothing but solo home runs -- three of them for the Crawfords, two of them (Bill Wright and Louis Santop) back-to-back shots in the second inning.

Bill Foster held the X-Giants without a baserunner until Bill Monroe homered with one out in the sixth. Foster finished with a four-hitter, striking out eight with one walk. Martin Dihigo allowed 10 hits ins seven innings for the loss. Beckwith was 3-for-4 with a homer; Ray Dandridge was 3-for-3

The X-Giants took out a lot of frustration against Ted Trent in the finale. They pummeled the righty for four runs in the first inning, six runs in the fifth (including a three-run homer from pitcher Slim Jones) and three more in the sixth. Then they roughed up reliever Leon Day for three runs in three mop-up frames.

Jones was superb for the X-Giants, a four-hit shutout with seven Ks. He retired the first 10 Crawfords.

Ben Taylor was 5-for-5 with three triples and a homer. He drove in eight runs and scored three. For the series, the X-Giants first baseman was 7-for-13 with three homers (his first three of the season), three triples, five runs scored and 12 RBIs.

Series 16: Obamas take two of three from Franklins

Franklins 24-15, Obamas 23-15

Pitcher use: Feller and Ryan need three games; Hubbell and Johnson need two; Covaleski, Pennock, Plank and Grove need one each. Walsh and Willis pitched two innings in finale, Gomez one.

Game One: Obamas 9, Franklins 6
WP: Gomez (2-2)
LP: Grove (4-5)
HR: Boudreau (3), Schmidt (11), Cronin (6), Gehrig (9), Mantle (12), Ott (7)

Game 2: Franklins 6, Obamas 5
WP: Covaleski (2-1)
LP: Johnson (4-4)
Save: Dean (5)
HR: Boudreau (4), Gehringer (3), Foxx (10)

Game 3: Obamas 16, Franklins 12
WP: Gomez (3-2)
LP: Covaleski (2-2)
Save: Walsh (4)
HR: Vaughn (3), Mantle (13), Foxx (11), Schmidt (12)

---

In a slugfest series filled with home runs, big innings, comebacks and short starts, the Obamas made the already-tight Division A race even tighter.

It was the Obama bullpen that made the difference; their relief corps limited the potent Franklins to one run in 10 innings.

Lou Boudreau's walk-off homer in the opener climaxed a dogged comeback for the Obamas, who fell behind 6-0 in the first three innings. The Franklins hit three homers in the second off Eddie Plank, but they could do nothing the rest of the way against Jack Chesbro (one inning), Vic Willis (three innings) and Lefty Gomez (two innings).

Meanwhile, the Obamas got a two-run homer from Mike Schmidt in the fourth, a two-run bomb from Mickey Mantle in the seventh, and stole the game with a four-run outburst against starter Lefty Grove and closer Dizzy Dean in the ninth, ended with Boudreau's three-run homer.

Jackie Robinson, who pinch-hit for Plank in the third and remained in the game at second base, was 3-for-4 with a double and and RBI triple. The Obamas used their entire bench and all but one relief pitcher in the comeback.

The Franklins won a back-and-forth second game despite another go-ahead homer from Boudreau, this one in the eighth inning. The Franklins led 4-2 after six innings behind Carl Hubbell, but Jimmy Foxx homered in the seventh to tighten the margin to one, then Boudreau's two-run bomb put the Obamas ahead.

But Walter Johnson came one out shy of locking down the win. With two out and Mel Ott on in the ninth, Babe Ruth tripled. Rogers Hornsby singled the Babe home, and this time Dean closed it out, despite Mantle's leadoff double.

Bob Feller and Nolan Ryan promised a finale of fastballs and strikeouts, but what transpired were walks and long balls. Ryan walked 10 men in four innings; the Franklins added eight hits, seven of then doubles, to the mix for 11 runs.

But Feller wasn't much better. He walked the first three Obamas he faced, then grooved one to Mantle. He gave up a three-run homer to Foxx in the second  and left for a pinch hitter after just three innings (Paul Waner had one of the doubles against Ryan).

Herb Pennock, who has pitched poorly all season, got the call with an 11-7 lead and held the Obamas scoreless for three innings. But the Franklins tried to get a fourth from him, and he didn't retire a man in the seventh. By the time Stan Covaleski finally got three outs, the Obamas had scored seven runs -- four charged to Pennock, three to Covaleski -- and a 14-12 lead.

The Obamas had Big Ed Walsh work two innings to close it down, and Mike Schmidt gave the spitballer some insurance with a two-run homer in the eighth.

Mantle was 6-for-13 in the series with seven RBIs and four runs. Boudreau had five RBIs. Rogers Hornsby was 7-for-13 with four runs. Ruth was just 2-for-11 for the series. Vic Willis had five shutout innings of relief for the Obamas.

Series 16: Garfields take two of three from Homestead

Homestead 20-18, Garfields 17-22

Pitcher use: D. Brown and Galvin need three games; Welch, Paige and Radbourn need two; Manning, Wickware and Young need one. Bell pitched one inning in finale.

Game One: Garfields 8, Homestead 7 (12 innings)
WP: Clarkson (1-3)
LP: Bell (2-1)

Game Two: Homestead 9, Garfields 2
WP: Paige (6-2)
LP: Welch (3-5)

Game Three: Garfields 8. Homestead 1
WP: Galvin (1-5)
LP: D. Brown (4-2)

---

Homestead is in danger of sliding out of the Division B race with the Crawfords after dropping their third straight series.

John Clarkson threw four innings of one-run relief to get the win in the opening marathon, but stood to get the loss before his mates roughed up William Bell for two runs in the 12th. Jimmy Collins and Monte Ward had the RBI singles for the Garfields in the final inning. George Davis scored three runs for the Garfields, including the winner.

Satchel Paige was strong in the second game -- nine innings of two-run ball with eight strikeouts -- and Homestead drilled Mickey Welch for six runs in the third inning to give Paige plenty of margin. Josh Gibson sat this one out after catching 11 innings in the previous game, his first game off of the season.

The Garfields beat up Dave Brown in the finale -- eight runs in four innings -- and Pud Galvin went the distance, scattering six hits.

Jimmy Collins went 7-for-11 in the series, with two runs and four RBIs.

Series 16: Ikes, Hilldale split

Hilldale 13-25, Ikes 13-25

Pitcher use: Wynn and SJ Williams need three games, Spahn and Redding need two. Newhouser pitched two innings in finale, Hensley and Wilhelm one each.

Game One: Hilldale 2, Ikes 1
WP: Redding (4-4)
LP: Spahn (2-6)
Save: Cooper (5)
HR: Allen (1), Mathews (10)

Game Two: Ikes 7, Hilldale 5
WP: Wynn (2-7)
LP: SJ Williams (2-8)
Save: Wilhelm (6)
HR: T. Williams 2 (8)

---

Cannonball Redding outdueled Warren Spahn in the opener of this series between two also-rans. Newt Allen hit his first home of the season to lead off the ninth and break a 1-1 tie.

Redding allowed four hits and three walks in eight innings. Spahn allowed seven hits and eight walks in 8.3 innings. He walked home a run in the first inning.

Ted Williams dominated the second and final game of the two-game set. He hit a pair of homers, singled and walked, drove home four runs and scored two.

Early Wynn left after six innings of five-run ball, but with a 6-5 lead. Hal Newhouser (ERA 12.65) relieved with two shutout frames, and Hoyt Wilhelm wrapped it up in the ninth

Ted Williams was 4-for-6 with three walks, two homers, four RBIs and two runs,