SPB
II APRIL 1959 NEWSLETTER

After some technical glitches, the 1959 season finally got
underway for real and the surprise team of the first month was the Southport
Saints who soared to a 16-9 opening month mark and a three game lead in the AL.  In the NL, only two games separated the
first five teams with the Elephants and Cruisers clinging to the lead.

Tito Francona was a big contributor to the Saint’s
success as he led the AL
with a gaudy .395 BA.  Harmon
Killebrew of the Monarchs and Ernie Banks of the Hornets led with nine homers
each while Harold (Skinny) Brown of the Saints had four victories.  In the NL, Hammering Hank Aaron started
his expected assault on the Triple Crown with a .389 BA and was competitive in
homers and RBI’s.  Three
players were tied with seven homers each and diminutive Harvey (Perfect Game) Haddix of the newly
renamed Lafayette Slims led with six pitching victories.

The Cruisers went 7-3 at home and this included several
notable individual performances.
Reliever Jim (Ball Four) Brosnan won consecutive extra inning games
against the Hornets, one of which was ended by a Moose Skowron walk off homer
in the bottom of the 15th and the other with a Clete Boyer suicide
squeeze in the 12th inning.

The Frankfort Fortress ran into an Evanston buzz saw and lost four of five
games.  Particularly galling was
Game Two where the Forts hit four home runs but all came with the bases
empty.  Evanston pinch hitter Pete
Whisenant tied the game with a homer in the bottom of the 9th and
then won it with a three run walk off shot in the bottom of the 12th;
final score 7-4.

The Portland Beavers had two wild home series and took both
3-2 from the Hot Rods and Gladiators.
Two of the Hot Rod games go fifteen innings.  Against the Glads, the magic number was
four, as in four games one team scores four but only wins once; four games were
blowouts.

The Aces go 6-9 at home and hit only .190 as a team.  They lost four of five to the Elephants
and were outscored 35-16 with the Pachyderms blasting the ball at a .337
clip.  The defending champion LA
Surfers could only muster two wins and score 11 runs in the five-game
series.

The Salzburg Bishops won four of five from the Aces and in
Game Four they hit four consecutive homers.  The Hot Rods went 6-9 at home and 11-14
overall and suffered from a serious aversion to clutch hitting all
throughout.  Orlando (the Baby Bull)
Cepeda got off to a slow start, hitting only .234 but he will rebound.  On to May!