Low-pressure Lopez

Some hours before his team's double-header in Boston last Sunday, Manager Al Lopez of the Cleveland Indians addressed his big righthander, Bob Lemon.

"Bob," Lopez told him with laconic simplicity, "you'll pitch the first game." Turning to Art Houtteman, another righthander, he said: "Art, you'll work the second."

There was nothing more—by way of injunction or exhortation—that Manager Lopez cared to say. For most of the Sunday double-header, Lopez kept calmly to his dugout; he made no trips to the pitcher's mound. He did step out to third base once for a talk with Umpire Charley Berry. A Boston runner had come into third standing up and been brusquely tagged off the bag by Al Rosen, the Cleveland third baseman. Berry had called Rosen's tag "pushing" and ruled the runner safe. Lopez expressed himself mildly: "My God, Charley," he said, "a man in the big leagues ought to know enough to slide." That was all. Afterward he explained: "It was nothing important, just a difference of opinion."

UNEXCITED—AND RELENTLESS

Calmly, relentlessly, the Indians took both games from the Red Sox, 6-2, 8-1. At the day's end the American League standings read:

[This article contains a table. Please see hardcopy of magazine or PDF.]

If they maintain that .721 pace through the last 25 games, the unexcited Indians will win 111 games, more than any other American League club has ever won, more than any other major league club has won since Frank Chance's fabulous Chicago Cubs took 116 in 1906.

Despite the Indians' great record over the season, it was only last week that Cleveland fans began showing any signs of pennant fever. The fans have been burned too often in recent years, notably in 1951 when their team seemed to have the championship wrapped up and had received bushels of mail orders for World Series tickets, only to be knocked off by the Yankees in the final week. In fact the Indians have aroused remarkably little excitement around the league this year, considering their accomplishments.

One reason is that they are a quiet, well-behaved and low-pressure outfit playing under a quiet and low-pressure manager. Al Lopez is no holler-guy like Durocher or Stanky, nor a colorful crystal-gazer like Stengel. He gets involved in no bitter arguments and utters no fiery quotes. His players, perhaps taking their cue from his behavior, go about their business with a minimum of fuss.

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