The Heart-Stoppers

In the ninth inning the San Francisco Giants trailed Philadelphia 7-5, and faced the awesome task of making up the deficit against the Phillies' Dick Farrell, best relief pitcher in the National League. But not a fan stirred to leave Seals Stadium. Instead, the crowd settled back expectantly for the last of the ninth.

The explosion came quickly. Farrell put the tying runs on base with walks, and Rookie First Baseman Orlando Cepeda doubled them home. Two more walks filled the bases, and a moment later the crowd roared with delight as Farrell wildpitched the winning run home to give the Giants a three-game sweep of the series. "How's that for a way to win a game?" crowed Manager Bill Rigney. "We seem to find a new way every day."

Such heart-stopping heroics have won the Giants 16 last-inning victories this season (six of them since July 4), and made last year's ragtag New Yorkers the darlings of San Francisco. Some 800,000 San Franciscans had crowded into tiny (capacity: 23,144) Seals Stadium to watch their heroes (more than the team drew all season in New York). At week's end they cheered frenziedly as the Giants whipped the Pittsburgh Pirates and barged boldly past the Milwaukee Braves into first place.

All this has been achieved in spite of the prolonged slump of Willie Mays, whose batting average has dropped 52 points in the last month (to .342) as he poked along at an anemic .231 clip. The key to the 1958 Giants lies with a phenomenal crop of rookies.

Most teams are lucky to turn up one rookie regular a year. The Giants have six rookies playing more or less regularly, and playing well. Cepeda, a good-humored Puerto Rican with a zest for clowning who addresses his teammates as "my boo-days," is hitting both for average (.311) and distance (19 homers, 59 runs batted in). Catcher Bob Schmidt shows power (12 homers) and ability to handle pitchers. Third Baseman Jim Davenport is a fielding fiend, tightens the once porous infield. Slugging Outfielders Leon Wagner (.343) and Willie Kirkland (8 homers) are taking up the hitting slack for Mays, and Outfielder Felipe Alou provides sound insurance. The Giant veterans are performing well, too. Shortstop Daryl Spencer, always a flashy fielder, is hitting as he never hit before, has already matched his 1957 homer and RBI figures; Third Baseman Ray Jablonski made 40 hits count for 38 runs.

The result is that the Giants lead the league in scoring runs. But their problem is pitching. Behind Veteran Lefthander Johnny Antonelli (10-7) there is an undistinguished troupe: in-and-out Al Worthington (8-5), flashy but unsteady Mike McCormick (7-1), and Junkballer Stu Miller, whose slow stuff is so slow that Announcer Russ Hodges once cracked: "There's one that almost turned around and went back." A pennant-contender club needs three solid starters, and the missing man is Righthander Ruben Gomez, a 15-game winner last year who has been blasted consistently in recent starts. Of his rickety pitching staff, Rigney says hopefully: "All they have to do is go out there and hold 'em for awhile, because this club is going to score runs."

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