League of the Absurd

The sensible way to contemplate the state of affairs in the American League last week was in what yoga enthusiasts call the Sirsasana position--standing on one's head. With the season two-thirds over, the Baltimore Orioles, last year's first-place team, were in eighth place, and the Chicago White Sox, last year's fourth-place team, were in first. Add to that the fact that the three toughest clubs in the league at the moment were 1) the Washington Senators, 2) the California Angels, and 3) the Boston Red Sox, all of which were patsies last year, and the plot for the 1967 pennant race was purely theater of the absurd.

The Washington Senators have spent the last 20 summers vacationing in the second division, and there is no apparent reason for them to travel abroad this year. Their team batting average, for example, is a horrendous .223. But last week the Senators beat the Kansas City Athletics 6-4, for their 14th victory in their last 19 games. The California Angels are hardly less startling. They do have a first-rate pitcher in Jim Mc-Glothlin, but only two men in the lineup are batting over .250. Even so, until they lost two out of three to the Red Sox last week, the Angels had dropped only one series to another team in more than a month.

The Red Sox? Boston has not won a pennant since 1946, when Ted Williams hit .342, six other players batted over .300, and Pitchers Tex Hughson, Dave Ferriss and Mickey Harris combined to win 62 games. Last year the Red Sox ranked last in the American League in pitching and fielding, and second sloppiest in stranding base runners and grounding into double plays. The only thing that saved them from the cellar was the New York Yankees--by the slim margin of half a game.

Early to Bed. What a difference a year makes. And a new manager. Last week, with crewcut, 38-year-old Dick Williams at the helm, the Red Sox led the American League in hits (828), runs (438), home runs (101) and RBIs (402). Four Boston hitters ranked among the top dozen in the league: Leftfielder Carl Yastrzemski was batting .327 with 25 homers and 72 RBIs; Rightfielder Tony Conigliaro had 19 homers and a .305 average; First Baseman George Scott was hitting .290 and Shortstop Rico Petrocelli was at .280. On the mound, the Sox had Righthander Jim Lonborg, whose 14-4 record makes him the winningest pitcher in all of baseball. Last week, with 14 victories in 17 games, Boston was in second place, only a game behind the Chicago White Sox.

A former utility infielder-outfielder who spent two successful years managing the Toronto Leafs in the strong Class AAA International League, Williams (no kin to Ted) wasted little time letting the Sox know who was boss when he reported for work this spring. "My job is to get togetherness on this ball club," he announced. "If these guys don't hustle, they're in trouble." Williams fined Slugger Conigliaro $1,000 for missing a bed check. He benched Third Baseman Joe Foy for being overweight, First Baseman Scott for striking out too often. By last week he seemed satisfied that his Sox had caught the proper spirit. "This," he said, "is as loosey-goosey as any team I've ever seen." Relief Pitcher Dan Osinski supplied the translation: "When we come into a game now, we know we're going to win. The only question is by how much."

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