[ifspuds]

Sellers, Adkison Return From Suspension, Pirates In First
by Langford Thomason
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

After the ugly incident in Atlanta in early May that saw Pirates hurlers Levi Sellers and George Adkison go into the stands to confront a belligerent fan, leading to their joint suspension for the remainder of May, the Pirates have weathered the storm to have their rotation intact for the first time in two weeks and remain in first place by a game over the surprising Houston Astros. Ironically, Adkison and Sellers returned to action against the same Atlanta squad to start the month of June, but only Adkison got his measure of revenge on the field.

"Some people told me it was stupid, what I did," said Levi Sellers, the quiet, slow-drawling Tennessee boy. "Fact is, I started gettin' the same sorts a mail Book's been gettin', after I went into them stands in Atlanta. Folks back home, callin' me a traitor t' my race. Way I see it, my race and his race is all the same thin'. Hershel Lee, one of the greatest catchers ever, came from my hometown. I ain't afraid to call a Negro man my friend, and you ain't never met more honorable men than Hershel Lee and Asa Booker."

In the game of May 9th, at Atlanta's Fulton County Stadium, the Pirates and Braves were locked in a 2-2 tie after Sellers was lifted for pinch hitter Vic Stokes, who rapped an RBI single to tie the game. With another pinch hitter, Eric Wellman, at the plate, Asa Booker stood in the on-deck circle while Levi Sellers sat next to George Adkison in the dugout. As it turned out, this vantage gave the two men ample opportunity to overhear the vile taunts hurled Booker's way. "You can't print what they were saying in a family newspaper," said Adkison. "But it was the sort of thing no human being should ever say to another." Neither man will say whose idea it was to go into the stands after the heckler, but both went together. It took the remainder of the Pirates squad, stadium security and a fair number of Braves players to bring order.

With their suspensions past, Adkison took the mound for the June 1st game against the Braves with the Pirates licking their wounds after a 13-0 thrashing the day before. Like he's done so many times for the Pirates in his career, Adkison hung a brilliant complete game effort on the board, leading his teammates to a 5-1 win. He would go on to strike out 25 men in his next two starts, against the Dodgers and Giants. It took Sellers until the 12th of June to notch another win, but it was a sparkling 3-hit shutout of the Giants. All told, the Pirates pull into the second half of June in first place, but the team just a game behind is not the expected Cincinnati Reds, but the Houston Astros. The expansion team, in its 7th season of existence, is starting to make noise in the National League, and with two more games remaining in a 4-game tilt in Pittsburgh, the Pirates need to take one of the two remaining games to ensure they remain in first when the Texas nine leaves town.

The Pirates welcome the Dodgers and Giants next week before hitting the road for showdowns in St. Louis, Philadelphia and New York before they pull into the All-Star break with a 3-game set in Wrigley Field. The Pirates expect to place a number of players on the midseason classic roster, and a case can be made for every one of their starting pitchers to be included as well as a number of hitters. A few tickets remain for the two series against the California teams, but like most games in Pittsburgh these days, even the worst tickets are going fast.

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June 16th, 1968
Overall Record: 41-22, 1st place, 1 game ahead of HOU

Top Hitter: Asa Booker leads the team in OPS, with a .304/.346/.486 line, including a whopping 10 triples. Though he's just 16 steals away from 600 career swipes, he's been getting caught a lot this season and his attempts may be curtailed significantly.

Top Pitcher: Hipolito Castillo has the most wins (11), Levi Sellers has the lowest ERA (1.83), but George Adkison is the top pitcher. He's 7-3 this season, 1.86 ERA, but he still leads the NL in strikeouts (113) despite missing all of the second half of May with his suspension. And he's done that in 101.2 innings. He's holding hitters to a .190 average, and his WHIP is a miniscule 0.90.

Injury News: Tim Crusher's got a stiff shoulder, but he'll only be out another week.

Development News: Nothing of particular interest.

High Points: We snuck into first place in mid-May and we've stayed there. The Astros are a surprise, and most people (including me) have expected them to fade, but they're hanging tough.

Low Points: Not too many. Another exciting season in Pittsburgh. So this is what winning feels like...