Only in Los Angeles

HEAVEN CAN WAIT! screamed the eight-column headline on the sports page of the Los Angeles Times. ANGELS IN 15T ON 4TH. Then a postscript: AND DODGERS, TOO.

It was the Fourth of July, Independence Day, the hallowed day on which baseball's league leaders traditionally become favorites to win the pennant,* and Angelenos could scarcely contain their pride. In Washington, D.C., the American League's Los Angeles Angels swept a doubleheader from the Senators and edged a half game past the New York Yankees into first place. In Chavez Ravine, the National League's Los Angeles Dodgers swept a doubleheader from the Philadelphia Phillies, clung tenaciously to a half-game lead over the second-place San Francisco Giants. Not since 1956, when the Yankees and the old Brooklyn Dodgers tangled in the last of New York's "subway series," had one baseball-crazy U.S. city had so much to cheer about.

Who's That? That the talent-laden Dodgers sat atop the National League astonished no one. But the Angels were the shock of the year. They did not even exist until last season, when Cowboy-Singer Gene Autry (himself a Dodger fan) forked over $2,150,000 for a franchise and a crew of ballplayers unloaded by other American League clubs. Last year the Angels were lucky to win 70 games and finish eighth in the ten-team league. Most sportswriters picked them for eighth this season--and on paper, the estimate still looks generous.

The Angels are the second worst fielding team in the league. No Angel batter is hitting .300. The team roster reads like a page from Who's That? Centerfielder Albie Pearson is a 5-ft. 5-in. shortie who hits a golf ball better than a baseball, and sings rock 'n' roll on the side. Star Pitcher Bo ("No Hit") Belinsky is an unreconstructed pool shark. A retread catcher plays leftfield, and the Angels' double-play combination has toiled for a grand total of 16 other clubs. Manager Bill Rigney was sacked by the Giants, and General Manager Fred Haney was fired by the St. Louis Browns and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Angels do have some cause to crow. Outfielder Leon Wagner leads the league in home runs (24) and RBIs (63), and Second Baseman Bill Moran (lifetime average: .242) is batting .295, has already knocked in more runs than in his three previous big-league seasons put together. But more important, the Angels have a special spirit--the camaraderie of the condemned. They call themselves "The Un-believables," and the more unbelievable, the better. "We always take the gamble," says Manager Rigney. "For instance, we have eleven pitchers, and we use them all --maybe all in one day. What the heck? We play strictly for today. It may rain tomorrow." Living for the moment, the Angels are living well: they have been permanent residents of the first division for more than a month.

"They Killed Us." Hardly anybody seriously expects the Angels to stay on top of the American League (though nobody expected them to get there, either), but nearly everybody in Los Angeles expects the Dodgers to run away with the National League flag. The Dodgers have everything: speed, power, and the best pitching staff in the majors. Between them, Shortstop Maury Wills and Centerfielder Willie Davis have stolen 64 bases. Leftfielder Tommy Davis is on top of the National League in batting (.345), hits (119) and RBIs (88). So devastatingly deep is the talent that the Dodger farm clubs would give most big-league teams a tussle. "Don't send that B squad of yours over to play my Mets again," Casey Stengel griped loudly to a Dodger executive last spring. "Nobody ever heard of those kids, but they killed us."

In Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax, the Dodgers have the best pair of front-line pitchers since Warren Spahn and Johnny Sain ("Spahn and Sain, and a day of rain") hurled the Boston Braves to a National League pennant in 1948. For the first time, Righthander Drysdale has put a lid on his volcanic temper, and with a halfway mark of 15 wins, four losses, he is aiming for a 30-game season. Koufax has won fewer games (twelve), but he is even sharper: his earned-run average (2.26) is the lowest in the National League. He averages eleven strikeouts a game, and just for good measure, fortnight ago Koufax pitched a no-hitter against the New York Mets.

* Because they usually do. Since 1901, the American League leader on July 4 has won the pennant 41 times, the National League leader 37 times.

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