Word: balled
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...record this year, the best seems yet to come for Rocky. His happy combination of mental zeal and physical weal long ago caught the approving eye of Boston's great Ted Williams, who has tried to get the young muscleman to curb his passion for bashing the ball-any ball -and to wait for a good pitch. Says Williams: "Some day Rocky is going to take the league apart...
...Luis Aparicio of the Chicago White Sox has become the finest shortstop in the majors, an agile acrobat with a rifle arm, who can make gaudy plays on balls hit from within 20 ft. of third base clear over to second. The son of a Venezuelan shortstop, Aparicio made the White Sox in 1956, and with tobacco-chawing little Second Baseman Nellie Fox now forms the nucleus of the White Sox defense. At bat, Aparicio is hitting only .260, but his speed makes him the most dangerous man in the league, once he gets on base. He leads the majors...
...began the year on the bench. In Cleveland, Francona was soon coaxing players to pitch to him by the hour in the empty stadium, gradually improved a swing that had always been basically sound. Manager Joe Gordon took a hand. "He got me to swing down on the ball-what he calls 'tomahawk' it-so I'd level out my swing," says Francona. In June, Francona broke into the starting line-up (at first or center-field), last week was hitting .389, with 14 home runs and 60 runs batted...
...proportion to the teams' records, has been rewarded beyond any fan's wildest hopes-this year they have not just one, but two pennant contenders. The Giants, who went to San Francisco a disheveled team of weary veterans and untried rookies, have settled down into a hustling ball club that last week led the Braves by three games and the Dodgers by 2½. The Giants have solid pitching anchored by Sad Sam Jones (15-11), a morose-faced Negro with a crackling curve, and slick Johnny Antonelli (16-6), the pop-off lefty whose feud with newsmen...
Last year the Dodgers finished seventh, 21 full games from the top. But this year the Dodger veterans and kids have meshed to produce a balanced ball club. The Dodger pitching staff, founded on the cross-fired fast balls of young Don Drysdale, has become one of the best in the league. But the Dodgers will rise or fall in the stretch on the play of three old pros, who are hustling like sandlotters. On third, Junior Gilliam, 30, is having the best season of his seven-year major-league career (.312), has been on base in more than...