Chicago White Sox Will Win Pennant As Yankee Dynasty Crumbles to Ruin

Every spring, for well over a decade, American League baseball fans have been able to confront the future only by nourishing the outlandish hope that the New York Yankees can be beaten. And year after year, such wishful thinking has proved to be insane; New York has won the pennant in 13 of the last 15 seasons.

But this year, for the first time in , the Yankees' chances of winning the pennant seem genuinely slim. New York still has a good team, of course, but the Yanks needed a stirring stretch drive to beat out Chicago and Baltimore last year. These two clubs are at least as good as they were last season. But so many question marks surround the Yankees, and the American League is so much improved, that New York will need good fortune even to finish third in 1965.

The league seems to shape up as a four-team race among New York, Chicago, Baltimore, and Cleveland. Because of their brilliant and experienced pitching staff, the White Sox seem the most logical candidate for the American League pennant.

How They'll Finish

1. Chicago

2. Baltimore

3. Cleveland

4. New York

5. Minnesota

6. Boston

7. Los Angeles

8. Detroit

9. Washington

10. Kansas City

Chicago had three of the best pitchers in the league last season--Joel Horlen, Gary Peters, and Juan Pizzaro--and this could conceivably win 60 games in 1965. Horlen, in his second full major-league season, had a 13-9 record and compiled 1.88 earned run average, which was second best in the league. Peters, rookie of the year in 1963, won 20 games last season and should be a star for many, many years. Pizarro had an excellent 19 mark in 1964. Aging knuokleballer Hoyt Wilhelm heads a strong White Sox bullpen. In 73 games last year, Wilhelm won 12, lost 9, saved 21, and recorded a 1.99 ERA.

This quartet gave the White Sox the best pitching staff in the league last year, and a young rookie named Bruce Howard could make it even better this season. Howard had a 15-8 record at Indianapolis and joined the White Sox in September. In 22 innings of pitching he yielded two earned runs, struck out 17 men, and won two games.

You Can't Have Everything

If Chicago's hitting were as good as its pitching, the White Sox would be a shoo-in for the pennant. But you can't have everything, and manager Al Lopez has always put a premium on pitching, speed, and sound defense. Tho only three reliable batters on the Sox are outfielder Floyd Robinson (.301), first baseman Bill Skowron (.282, 17 homers), and infielder Pete Ward (.282, 23 homers). The White Sox won't leave too many opposing pitchers shell-shocked, but with Pizzaro, Peters, Horlen, Howard, and Wilhelm, they don't need to.

Baltimore finished only a game behind Chicago last season; the Orioles have a pitching staff which is just as deep and almost as good as the White Sox'.

Baltimore's best pitcher last year was amazing Wally Bunker, who had a 19-5 record his rookie year. Among the other Oriole stalwarts are veterans Robin Roberts (13-7) and Harvey Haddix (5-5), Milt Pappas (16-7), reliefer Dick Hall (9-1), and Steve Barber, who won 20 games two years ago but had a disastrous season in 1964.

Despite this array of talent, Pappas is the only Oriole starter who is a sure thing to have a good season. Roberts and Haddix are getting old. Barber will have to show that he can regain his 1963 form. Bunker will be confronting the sophomore jinx, and had an unimpressive spring training.

Like Chicago, Baltimore does not possess overwhelming hitting, but they do have a few full-fledged stars. Brooks Robinson was named last year's most valuable player after a brilliant season in which he hit .317, belted 28 homers, and knocked in 118 runs. John "Boog" Powell could be one of the coming young stars in the league. Only 23, he hit 39 homers and batted .290 last year.

If Baltimore is to win their first pennant since joining the league, their pitching staff will have to click 100 per cent, and there are just too many doubts surrounding Bunker, Barber, and Roberts. But the Orioles should get enough pitching and enough hitting to finish second.

The dark horse team of 1965 is the Cleveland Indians. Long buried in the second division, the Tribe has made several good trades which give them one of the most a wesome lineups in the league: Rockey Colavito hit 34 homers for Kansas City and batted .274. Leon Wagner blasted 31 homers last year. Chico Salmon hit .307 in his rookie season. Chuck Hinton has been the Washington Senators' top player for the past two seasons.

Cleveland has no pitcher like Peters or Pappas who can be counted on for 15 or 20 wins, but has a number of promising youngsters and almost-over-the-hill old timers who could lift the Tribe into third place.

The best of the young pitchers is Luis Tiant, who had a 15-1 record at Portland last year, came to Cleveland at midseason, and won 10 of 14 decisions with a 2.82 ERA. Sam McDowell, who has been touted as the coming Cleveland star of the future for several years, began to live up to his press notices last season with an 11-6 record. Another promising sophomore is Sonny Siebert, who had a 7-9 mark but a fairly good 3.23 ERA. Among the veterans on the staff are Gary Bell 8-6); Jack Kralick (12-7); Ralph Terry, an acquisition from the New York Yankees; and Dick Donovan, a 20-game winner in 1962 who has had two lacklustre seasons since then. If a few of these pitchers have good seasons, Cleveland could finish as high as third.

Last season the Yankees got great performances from Mickey Mantle (.302, 35 ), Elston Howard (.313), Whitey Word (17-6), and Mel Stottlemyre (9-3), and won the pennant on the next-to-last day of the season. While the White Sox, Orioles, and Indians have gained talent and experience during the past year, the Yanks have just gotten a little older and their joints a little creakier. Howard is . Mantle is 33, and apparently his ailing are still in extremely bad shape. Ford is 26, and needed an arm operation last winter. Stottlemyre was brilliant in last year's stretch run, but he is still largely an unproved pitcher.

Not a Chance

To win their sixth straight pennant, the Yanks must have great performances from this quartet again. And the chances are negligible of their having one youngster and three ageing men, two of them injury-prone, all click together.

The rest of the Yankee lincup is not particularly awesome. Besides Ford and stottlemyre, the other New York starting pitchers are Jim Bouton (18-13) and Al Downing (13-8). Bouton will have a good season, but Downing has always been wild and erratic. Although he led the league in strikeouts last year, the southpaw fastballer walked 120 men in 244 innings. The New York bullpen is totally inadequate, with nonentities like Pete Mikkelson, Hal Reniff, and Stan Williams.

Howard, Mantle, and Roger Maris are all consistent hitters, but the Yankees' batting is still not what it was in the days of yore. Outside of this big three, the Yankees' leading hitter last year was Bobby Richardson, who batted an anemic .267.

There seems to be a fairly sizeable gap between the top four clubs and the rest of the league. Minnesota, Boston, Los Angeles, and Detroit should occupy fifth through eighth places, but all four of these teams have the potential to finish higher, Washington and Kansas City clearly will occupy ninth and tenth places.

Minnesota has a fantastic array of power hitters: Harmon Killebrew (.270, 49 homers), Tony Oliva (.323, 32 homers), Bob Allison (.287, 32 homers), Jimmie Hall (.283, 24 homers), and Earl Battey (.272, 12 homers). But the Twins had all these sluggers last year, and still finished in sixth place, a living testimony to the maxim that pitching is 75 per cent of baseball. Only Camilo Pascual (15-12) and Jim Kaat (17-11) had decent seasons, and unless Minnesota comes up with another reliable pitcher, they won't be able to finish higher than fifth.

Could Be Disastrous

Similarly, Boston has two of the finest hitters in the league: Tony Conigliaro, who hit .290 in his rookie season; and Carl Yastrzemski, who led the league in batting in 1962. Boston's pitching staff is named Dick Radatz. The 6-5, 235-pounder is the best relief pitcher in baseball, and he got plenty of opportunity to work last year. Unless hurlers like Bill Monboquette (a 20-game winner in '62), Dave Morehead, and Earl Wilson can better their 1964 performances, Boston could have a disastrous season.

Los Angeles has Dean Chance, and that's about all. Chance won the Cy Young Award as the best pitcher in baseball last year. He won 20 and lost 9 with the mediocre Angels and had a magnificent 1.65 ERA. With a better team he could win 30, but with some assistance from pitchers Ken McBride and Fred Newman might carry the Angels as high as fifth.

Detroit has several top-notch sluggers in Norm Cash, Bill Freehan, Don Demeter, and Al Kaline, but their mound staff is not good. Dave Wickersham (19-12) and Mickey Lolich (18-9) are the only two reliable hurlers--and two is not enough.

The league seems to shape up as a four-team race among New York, Chicago, Baltimore, and Cleveland. Because of their brilliant and experienced pitching staff, the White Sox seem the most logical candidate for the American League pennant.

How They'll Finish

1. Chicago

2. Baltimore

3. Cleveland

4. New York

5. Minnesota

6. Boston

7. Los Angeles

8. Detroit

9. Washington

10. Kansas City

Chicago had three of the best pitchers in the league last season--Joel Horlen, Gary Peters, and Juan Pizzaro--and this could conceivably win 60 games in 1965. Horlen, in his second full major-league season, had a 13-9 record and compiled 1.88 earned run average, which was second best in the league. Peters, rookie of the year in 1963, won 20 games last season and should be a star for many, many years. Pizarro had an excellent 19 mark in 1964. Aging knuokleballer Hoyt Wilhelm heads a strong White Sox bullpen. In 73 games last year, Wilhelm won 12, lost 9, saved 21, and recorded a 1.99 ERA.

This quartet gave the White Sox the best pitching staff in the league last year, and a young rookie named Bruce Howard could make it even better this season. Howard had a 15-8 record at Indianapolis and joined the White Sox in September. In 22 innings of pitching he yielded two earned runs, struck out 17 men, and won two games.

You Can't Have Everything

If Chicago's hitting were as good as its pitching, the White Sox would be a shoo-in for the pennant. But you can't have everything, and manager Al Lopez has always put a premium on pitching, speed, and sound defense. Tho only three reliable batters on the Sox are outfielder Floyd Robinson (.301), first baseman Bill Skowron (.282, 17 homers), and infielder Pete Ward (.282, 23 homers). The White Sox won't leave too many opposing pitchers shell-shocked, but with Pizzaro, Peters, Horlen, Howard, and Wilhelm, they don't need to.

Baltimore finished only a game behind Chicago last season; the Orioles have a pitching staff which is just as deep and almost as good as the White Sox'.

Baltimore's best pitcher last year was amazing Wally Bunker, who had a 19-5 record his rookie year. Among the other Oriole stalwarts are veterans Robin Roberts (13-7) and Harvey Haddix (5-5), Milt Pappas (16-7), reliefer Dick Hall (9-1), and Steve Barber, who won 20 games two years ago but had a disastrous season in 1964.

Despite this array of talent, Pappas is the only Oriole starter who is a sure thing to have a good season. Roberts and Haddix are getting old. Barber will have to show that he can regain his 1963 form. Bunker will be confronting the sophomore jinx, and had an unimpressive spring training.

Like Chicago, Baltimore does not possess overwhelming hitting, but they do have a few full-fledged stars. Brooks Robinson was named last year's most valuable player after a brilliant season in which he hit .317, belted 28 homers, and knocked in 118 runs. John "Boog" Powell could be one of the coming young stars in the league. Only 23, he hit 39 homers and batted .290 last year.

If Baltimore is to win their first pennant since joining the league, their pitching staff will have to click 100 per cent, and there are just too many doubts surrounding Bunker, Barber, and Roberts. But the Orioles should get enough pitching and enough hitting to finish second.

The dark horse team of 1965 is the Cleveland Indians. Long buried in the second division, the Tribe has made several good trades which give them one of the most a wesome lineups in the league: Rockey Colavito hit 34 homers for Kansas City and batted .274. Leon Wagner blasted 31 homers last year. Chico Salmon hit .307 in his rookie season. Chuck Hinton has been the Washington Senators' top player for the past two seasons.

Cleveland has no pitcher like Peters or Pappas who can be counted on for 15 or 20 wins, but has a number of promising youngsters and almost-over-the-hill old timers who could lift the Tribe into third place.

The best of the young pitchers is Luis Tiant, who had a 15-1 record at Portland last year, came to Cleveland at midseason, and won 10 of 14 decisions with a 2.82 ERA. Sam McDowell, who has been touted as the coming Cleveland star of the future for several years, began to live up to his press notices last season with an 11-6 record. Another promising sophomore is Sonny Siebert, who had a 7-9 mark but a fairly good 3.23 ERA. Among the veterans on the staff are Gary Bell 8-6); Jack Kralick (12-7); Ralph Terry, an acquisition from the New York Yankees; and Dick Donovan, a 20-game winner in 1962 who has had two lacklustre seasons since then. If a few of these pitchers have good seasons, Cleveland could finish as high as third.

Last season the Yankees got great performances from Mickey Mantle (.302, 35 ), Elston Howard (.313), Whitey Word (17-6), and Mel Stottlemyre (9-3), and won the pennant on the next-to-last day of the season. While the White Sox, Orioles, and Indians have gained talent and experience during the past year, the Yanks have just gotten a little older and their joints a little creakier. Howard is . Mantle is 33, and apparently his ailing are still in extremely bad shape. Ford is 26, and needed an arm operation last winter. Stottlemyre was brilliant in last year's stretch run, but he is still largely an unproved pitcher.

Not a Chance

To win their sixth straight pennant, the Yanks must have great performances from this quartet again. And the chances are negligible of their having one youngster and three ageing men, two of them injury-prone, all click together.

The rest of the Yankee lincup is not particularly awesome. Besides Ford and stottlemyre, the other New York starting pitchers are Jim Bouton (18-13) and Al Downing (13-8). Bouton will have a good season, but Downing has always been wild and erratic. Although he led the league in strikeouts last year, the southpaw fastballer walked 120 men in 244 innings. The New York bullpen is totally inadequate, with nonentities like Pete Mikkelson, Hal Reniff, and Stan Williams.

Howard, Mantle, and Roger Maris are all consistent hitters, but the Yankees' batting is still not what it was in the days of yore. Outside of this big three, the Yankees' leading hitter last year was Bobby Richardson, who batted an anemic .267.

There seems to be a fairly sizeable gap between the top four clubs and the rest of the league. Minnesota, Boston, Los Angeles, and Detroit should occupy fifth through eighth places, but all four of these teams have the potential to finish higher, Washington and Kansas City clearly will occupy ninth and tenth places.

Minnesota has a fantastic array of power hitters: Harmon Killebrew (.270, 49 homers), Tony Oliva (.323, 32 homers), Bob Allison (.287, 32 homers), Jimmie Hall (.283, 24 homers), and Earl Battey (.272, 12 homers). But the Twins had all these sluggers last year, and still finished in sixth place, a living testimony to the maxim that pitching is 75 per cent of baseball. Only Camilo Pascual (15-12) and Jim Kaat (17-11) had decent seasons, and unless Minnesota comes up with another reliable pitcher, they won't be able to finish higher than fifth.

Could Be Disastrous

Similarly, Boston has two of the finest hitters in the league: Tony Conigliaro, who hit .290 in his rookie season; and Carl Yastrzemski, who led the league in batting in 1962. Boston's pitching staff is named Dick Radatz. The 6-5, 235-pounder is the best relief pitcher in baseball, and he got plenty of opportunity to work last year. Unless hurlers like Bill Monboquette (a 20-game winner in '62), Dave Morehead, and Earl Wilson can better their 1964 performances, Boston could have a disastrous season.

Los Angeles has Dean Chance, and that's about all. Chance won the Cy Young Award as the best pitcher in baseball last year. He won 20 and lost 9 with the mediocre Angels and had a magnificent 1.65 ERA. With a better team he could win 30, but with some assistance from pitchers Ken McBride and Fred Newman might carry the Angels as high as fifth.

Detroit has several top-notch sluggers in Norm Cash, Bill Freehan, Don Demeter, and Al Kaline, but their mound staff is not good. Dave Wickersham (19-12) and Mickey Lolich (18-9) are the only two reliable hurlers--and two is not enough.

This quartet gave the White Sox the best pitching staff in the league last year, and a young rookie named Bruce Howard could make it even better this season. Howard had a 15-8 record at Indianapolis and joined the White Sox in September. In 22 innings of pitching he yielded two earned runs, struck out 17 men, and won two games.

You Can't Have Everything

If Chicago's hitting were as good as its pitching, the White Sox would be a shoo-in for the pennant. But you can't have everything, and manager Al Lopez has always put a premium on pitching, speed, and sound defense. Tho only three reliable batters on the Sox are outfielder Floyd Robinson (.301), first baseman Bill Skowron (.282, 17 homers), and infielder Pete Ward (.282, 23 homers). The White Sox won't leave too many opposing pitchers shell-shocked, but with Pizzaro, Peters, Horlen, Howard, and Wilhelm, they don't need to.

Baltimore finished only a game behind Chicago last season; the Orioles have a pitching staff which is just as deep and almost as good as the White Sox'.

Baltimore's best pitcher last year was amazing Wally Bunker, who had a 19-5 record his rookie year. Among the other Oriole stalwarts are veterans Robin Roberts (13-7) and Harvey Haddix (5-5), Milt Pappas (16-7), reliefer Dick Hall (9-1), and Steve Barber, who won 20 games two years ago but had a disastrous season in 1964.

Despite this array of talent, Pappas is the only Oriole starter who is a sure thing to have a good season. Roberts and Haddix are getting old. Barber will have to show that he can regain his 1963 form. Bunker will be confronting the sophomore jinx, and had an unimpressive spring training.

Like Chicago, Baltimore does not possess overwhelming hitting, but they do have a few full-fledged stars. Brooks Robinson was named last year's most valuable player after a brilliant season in which he hit .317, belted 28 homers, and knocked in 118 runs. John "Boog" Powell could be one of the coming young stars in the league. Only 23, he hit 39 homers and batted .290 last year.

If Baltimore is to win their first pennant since joining the league, their pitching staff will have to click 100 per cent, and there are just too many doubts surrounding Bunker, Barber, and Roberts. But the Orioles should get enough pitching and enough hitting to finish second.

The dark horse team of 1965 is the Cleveland Indians. Long buried in the second division, the Tribe has made several good trades which give them one of the most a wesome lineups in the league: Rockey Colavito hit 34 homers for Kansas City and batted .274. Leon Wagner blasted 31 homers last year. Chico Salmon hit .307 in his rookie season. Chuck Hinton has been the Washington Senators' top player for the past two seasons.

Cleveland has no pitcher like Peters or Pappas who can be counted on for 15 or 20 wins, but has a number of promising youngsters and almost-over-the-hill old timers who could lift the Tribe into third place.

The best of the young pitchers is Luis Tiant, who had a 15-1 record at Portland last year, came to Cleveland at midseason, and won 10 of 14 decisions with a 2.82 ERA. Sam McDowell, who has been touted as the coming Cleveland star of the future for several years, began to live up to his press notices last season with an 11-6 record. Another promising sophomore is Sonny Siebert, who had a 7-9 mark but a fairly good 3.23 ERA. Among the veterans on the staff are Gary Bell 8-6); Jack Kralick (12-7); Ralph Terry, an acquisition from the New York Yankees; and Dick Donovan, a 20-game winner in 1962 who has had two lacklustre seasons since then. If a few of these pitchers have good seasons, Cleveland could finish as high as third.

Last season the Yankees got great performances from Mickey Mantle (.302, 35 ), Elston Howard (.313), Whitey Word (17-6), and Mel Stottlemyre (9-3), and won the pennant on the next-to-last day of the season. While the White Sox, Orioles, and Indians have gained talent and experience during the past year, the Yanks have just gotten a little older and their joints a little creakier. Howard is . Mantle is 33, and apparently his ailing are still in extremely bad shape. Ford is 26, and needed an arm operation last winter. Stottlemyre was brilliant in last year's stretch run, but he is still largely an unproved pitcher.

Not a Chance

To win their sixth straight pennant, the Yanks must have great performances from this quartet again. And the chances are negligible of their having one youngster and three ageing men, two of them injury-prone, all click together.

The rest of the Yankee lincup is not particularly awesome. Besides Ford and stottlemyre, the other New York starting pitchers are Jim Bouton (18-13) and Al Downing (13-8). Bouton will have a good season, but Downing has always been wild and erratic. Although he led the league in strikeouts last year, the southpaw fastballer walked 120 men in 244 innings. The New York bullpen is totally inadequate, with nonentities like Pete Mikkelson, Hal Reniff, and Stan Williams.

Howard, Mantle, and Roger Maris are all consistent hitters, but the Yankees' batting is still not what it was in the days of yore. Outside of this big three, the Yankees' leading hitter last year was Bobby Richardson, who batted an anemic .267.

There seems to be a fairly sizeable gap between the top four clubs and the rest of the league. Minnesota, Boston, Los Angeles, and Detroit should occupy fifth through eighth places, but all four of these teams have the potential to finish higher, Washington and Kansas City clearly will occupy ninth and tenth places.

Minnesota has a fantastic array of power hitters: Harmon Killebrew (.270, 49 homers), Tony Oliva (.323, 32 homers), Bob Allison (.287, 32 homers), Jimmie Hall (.283, 24 homers), and Earl Battey (.272, 12 homers). But the Twins had all these sluggers last year, and still finished in sixth place, a living testimony to the maxim that pitching is 75 per cent of baseball. Only Camilo Pascual (15-12) and Jim Kaat (17-11) had decent seasons, and unless Minnesota comes up with another reliable pitcher, they won't be able to finish higher than fifth.

Could Be Disastrous

Similarly, Boston has two of the finest hitters in the league: Tony Conigliaro, who hit .290 in his rookie season; and Carl Yastrzemski, who led the league in batting in 1962. Boston's pitching staff is named Dick Radatz. The 6-5, 235-pounder is the best relief pitcher in baseball, and he got plenty of opportunity to work last year. Unless hurlers like Bill Monboquette (a 20-game winner in '62), Dave Morehead, and Earl Wilson can better their 1964 performances, Boston could have a disastrous season.

Los Angeles has Dean Chance, and that's about all. Chance won the Cy Young Award as the best pitcher in baseball last year. He won 20 and lost 9 with the mediocre Angels and had a magnificent 1.65 ERA. With a better team he could win 30, but with some assistance from pitchers Ken McBride and Fred Newman might carry the Angels as high as fifth.

Detroit has several top-notch sluggers in Norm Cash, Bill Freehan, Don Demeter, and Al Kaline, but their mound staff is not good. Dave Wickersham (19-12) and Mickey Lolich (18-9) are the only two reliable hurlers--and two is not enough.

Not a Chance

To win their sixth straight pennant, the Yanks must have great performances from this quartet again. And the chances are negligible of their having one youngster and three ageing men, two of them injury-prone, all click together.

The rest of the Yankee lincup is not particularly awesome. Besides Ford and stottlemyre, the other New York starting pitchers are Jim Bouton (18-13) and Al Downing (13-8). Bouton will have a good season, but Downing has always been wild and erratic. Although he led the league in strikeouts last year, the southpaw fastballer walked 120 men in 244 innings. The New York bullpen is totally inadequate, with nonentities like Pete Mikkelson, Hal Reniff, and Stan Williams.

Howard, Mantle, and Roger Maris are all consistent hitters, but the Yankees' batting is still not what it was in the days of yore. Outside of this big three, the Yankees' leading hitter last year was Bobby Richardson, who batted an anemic .267.

There seems to be a fairly sizeable gap between the top four clubs and the rest of the league. Minnesota, Boston, Los Angeles, and Detroit should occupy fifth through eighth places, but all four of these teams have the potential to finish higher, Washington and Kansas City clearly will occupy ninth and tenth places.

Minnesota has a fantastic array of power hitters: Harmon Killebrew (.270, 49 homers), Tony Oliva (.323, 32 homers), Bob Allison (.287, 32 homers), Jimmie Hall (.283, 24 homers), and Earl Battey (.272, 12 homers). But the Twins had all these sluggers last year, and still finished in sixth place, a living testimony to the maxim that pitching is 75 per cent of baseball. Only Camilo Pascual (15-12) and Jim Kaat (17-11) had decent seasons, and unless Minnesota comes up with another reliable pitcher, they won't be able to finish higher than fifth.

Could Be Disastrous

Similarly, Boston has two of the finest hitters in the league: Tony Conigliaro, who hit .290 in his rookie season; and Carl Yastrzemski, who led the league in batting in 1962. Boston's pitching staff is named Dick Radatz. The 6-5, 235-pounder is the best relief pitcher in baseball, and he got plenty of opportunity to work last year. Unless hurlers like Bill Monboquette (a 20-game winner in '62), Dave Morehead, and Earl Wilson can better their 1964 performances, Boston could have a disastrous season.

Los Angeles has Dean Chance, and that's about all. Chance won the Cy Young Award as the best pitcher in baseball last year. He won 20 and lost 9 with the mediocre Angels and had a magnificent 1.65 ERA. With a better team he could win 30, but with some assistance from pitchers Ken McBride and Fred Newman might carry the Angels as high as fifth.

Detroit has several top-notch sluggers in Norm Cash, Bill Freehan, Don Demeter, and Al Kaline, but their mound staff is not good. Dave Wickersham (19-12) and Mickey Lolich (18-9) are the only two reliable hurlers--and two is not enough.