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Show Pennant's Fhating-Ifs Your Guess LOS ANGELES has been through the heat of a pennant race before and emerged victorious like last year. In fact, they seem to get tougher as the race gets more hectic. hec-tic. They have the best pitching staff in baseball as epitomized by the incomparable Sandy Koufax, and their teamwork is unsurpassed. If the Dodgers are at all close to the top spot by mid-September, I wouldn't bet against their finishing finish-ing kick for all the carpeting in the Astrodome. In summary, how does Los Angeles An-geles vs. Baltimore in the '66 World Series sound? their recent history has been one of el Foldo" in the stretch. 'St. Louis and Cincinnati have only outside chances of winning and even then it would probably have to be a case of slipping in the back way while the leaders tear each other apart out front. But, wasn't that how the Cardinals won in 1964? The two teams who have the best chances of succeeding are Philadelphia and 'Los Angeles. The Phillies are going all out this time. They have traded youth for veterans, vet-erans, who, they hope, will provide the necessary stability and inspiration inspir-ation for a strong finish. Many feel that this is their year. First, however, the Phils must beat out the Dodgers and that's much easier said than . done. Pittsburgh's Pirates are currently on top by a gnat's eyelash thanks to a phenomenal .280 team batting average. Their pitching has been spotty, however, and rumors are flymg hot and heavy that the team will nose-dive because of inner dissension dis-sension and discontent with their outspoken manager, Harrv "The Hat" Walker. THE SAN Francisco Giants have the horses to pull ahead of the pack, but they have already blown 4 and 5-game leads this vear an By KENNETH LOVELL Chronicle Sports Writer As September draws nearer, the 1 professional baseball teams are priming for all-out stretch drives. No teams have been mathematically eliminated as yet and the World Series is just over a month away. TEAMS THAT appear to 'be out of it, however, are the Houston Astros, Chicago Cubs, and New York Mets in the National League, and Washington, Kansas City, Boston, Bos-ton, and the once "mighty" New York Yankees in the American. The Yankees, who are in seventh place, are destined for a major overhaul before next season. It is likely that some of their bigger name players will be traded. One bright spot this year, however, has been Mickey Mantle, who has hit 21 home runs and leads the team in batting. "The Mick" has played in ' only 23 of the games this season, but he seems to be getting healthier as the schedule progresses. The 'crosstown Mets will undoubtedly un-doubtedly make 1966 their winning-est winning-est year ever, and, in addition, will make an historic move by vacating the cellar for the first time, leaving that spot to Leo Durocher's Chi-cubs. Chi-cubs. The Mets, who have never won more than 53 games in a single sin-gle season, already have 50 wins so far with 45 games left to play. THE KANSAS CITY Athletics have been less than overpowering since they entered the major leagues, but they have great potential poten-tial for the future. Three of their minor league teams are leading their respective leagues and another is in second-place. This, along with their capable manager, Alvin Dark, might provide the A's with a big jump in the standings before too many years. Is the American League just stronger this year or is it a "fat-cat" "fat-cat" attitude that led to thedemise of last year's kingpins, the 'Minnesota 'Minne-sota Twins, who are currently mired in sixth place? IN SUPPORT of the stronger-league stronger-league theory come the Baltimore Orioles who, With the addition of Frank Robinson and the resurgence of "Boog" Powell, are definitely stronger this year. Led, as usual, by their Most - Valuable - Player, Brooks Robinson, the Orioles are leading the AL by ten games and should be in the World Series come October. When discussing pennant races and fine players, you must, of necessity, arrive in short order to the National League. This year, as per script, it's scramble-time in the senior circuit. |