The Team to Beat

The long-jawed, loose-jointed giant sprawled inelegantly on the Dodger bench. Speaking with the authority of an eight-game winning streak and 33 1/3 scoreless innings, Dodger Pitcher Don Newcombe reduced the game of baseball to its bare essentials. "I can say this," he announced with magnificent aplomb. "I feel fine, so there's no reason why I shouldn't win. But the best pitcher in the world can't win if his club doesn't get some runs. Give him a couple of runs to work on and he'll win more often than he'll lose."

Next time he bestirred himself, Big (6 ft. 4 in., 225 Ibs.) Newk took on the Phillies, and his teammates got him what he wanted. They got four runs in the first inning, fielded flawlessly as the pitcher worked away with a lazy grace. His big curve snapped wickedly off the corners of the plate, his fast ball boomed into the catcher's mitt, and his sneaky change-up gave the batters fits. For six innings he had a no-hitter. Then Philadelphia First Baseman Marv Blaylock blooped a single. Catcher Stan Lopata backed it up with a home run. But the Dodgers ran it out, 5-2, and Big Newk had the best record in the majors (18-5). He had run up 39 2/3 scoreless innings (6 2/3 behind Giant Carl Hubbell's National League record), was riding a nine-game winning streak that included a victory over every club in the National League. With Big Newk leading the way, the Dodgers at week's end were in second place, only 1 1/2 games behind Milwaukee's Braves.

The climb back toward the top had been a painful journey, marred by some nightmarish detours into the bush. A dismal five games into third place in mid-July, Manager Walter Alston had to read the riot act to his world champions before they finally got themselves untracked. Duke Snider, the league's leading homerun hitter, began to hit a few (32 at week's end). Cleveland Castoff Sal Maglie started pitching the kind of games he once turned in for the Giants, going the distance in all five of his victories, two of them shutouts. With the team's right-handed power hitters beginning to get those couple of runs, the Dodgers put together an eight-game winning streak, won 21 out of 29, and pulled past the slugging Cincinnati Redlegs.

When they look at the schedule ahead, the Dodgers know that they are sitting pretty. Now, mostly second-division clubs stand between them and another pennant, while the other contenders try to belt each other out of the race. In the sprint to the finish, the second-place Dodgers are once again the team to beat.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.