Fourteen consecutive wins shot the Chicago White Sox to the top of the American League at the end of May. This feat has overshadowed a number of other surprises of the first quarter of the major league baseball season.

Paul Richards has collected a fast, heavy-hitting club for his first year as Chicago manager. Shortstop Chico Carrasquel and rookie centerfielder Jim Busty are the only two regulars the White Sox brought into the majors. The rest of the team has been picked up one at a time. Eddie Robinson, the former Cleveland first baseman, has been with the club for two years.

This year Richards has bought Minoso from Cleveland, Dillinger from Pittsburgh, Fox from Philadelphia, and Zarilla from Boston. The team is batting .291 and leading the New York Yankees by three and a half games and the Red Sox by four and a half. The team has stolen 27 bases; New York is second with 15.

Praying for Pitching

Chicago cannot hope to win the pennant unless its pitching holds up; and Richards made Hal Newhouser a winner when Paul was the Detroit catcher. Joe Dobson has won four without losing. Randy Gumpert is 3-1, Ken Holcombe 4-2, Billy Pierce 7-2, Howie Judson 2-0. If they stay hot, so do the White Sox. Whatever happens, Richards' hustling, aggressive club seems to have bulled its way into the first division for good.

The favored New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox are meanwhile battling for second place and playing very well. The Yanks are knee-deep in first-rate players, and their two top pitchers have a combined '16-'4 record. Two rookies, Gil McDougald at third and Mickey Mantle in right, are learning new positions quickly and hitting steadily. The second base combination of Rizzuto and Coleman is fielding superbly and hitting around .310. Mize and Collins are sharing first base with good results. Yogi Berra is still the best catcher in the league.

Despite the failure of Joe DiMaggio and the retirement of Tommy Henrich, the Yanks still have outfielders of the calibre of Bauer, Mapes, and Woodling, in addition to the even younger Jensen and Mantle. But Reynolds and Shea leave much to be desired this year as third and fourth starters behind Lopat and Raschi. And the collapse of Joe Page has left the club without a reliable relief hurler.

With the kind of pitching the Red Sox have been getting, the Yankees need not give up. The earth-shaking purchase of Rae Scarborough and Bill Wight from Chicago has produced three wins and seven losses so far. Ellis Kinder has been miserable, and only Mel Parnell, Willard Nixon, and Chuck Stobbs have been adequate.

Nevertheless, the team is hustling for the first time in a decade. The transfer of Junior Stephens from short-to-third has given the defense a huge boost, which outweighs even Lou Boudreau's 250 hitting. And Johnny Pesky is always ready to take Boudreau's place. Only the catching is bad, but it is very bad. Les Moss, bought from St. Louis to replace Birdie Tebbetts, is just barely keeping his batting average over 200.

Cleveland on Comeback Trall

Cleveland got off to a terrible start, highlighted by Bob Lemon's failure and Luke Easter's injuries. Now Lemon has recovered completely, Bob Feller is at his best in three years, and Early Wynn and Mike Garcia are pitching well. Easter has regained his health and his batting form. Rosen, Doby, and Hegan are starting to hit. Bob Avila is becoming an excellent second baseman. The only weaknesses are at short and left, where Ray Boone and the usually extremely reliable Dale Mitchell have started very badly. Only six games behind Chicago and four behind New York, the Indians still have an excellent chance at the pennant.

Detroit is still in the slump which struck it last September. George Kell and Vic Wertz are the best third baseman and right fielder in the game, but only Hal Newhouser is pitching adequately. Hoot Evers, easily the best left fielder in the league last year, is hitting .133 and sitting on the bench. Johnny Lipon's fielding at short has fallen apart after a great year. Only catcher Myron Ginsberg has shown improvement.

Washington started the season well on the strength of fine pitching, but Connie Marrero alone has maintained the pace.

Rarely have two teams looked worse than Philadelphia and St. Louis. Put together, they would still be at the bottom. Ferris Fain, the Athletics' first baseman, is leading the league in batting, and Ned Garver has won seven of the Browns' 13 victories. Eddie Joost and Gus Zernial of the A's and Joe Coleman of the Browns are hitting well. The rest are best forgotten. Bankruptey is more probable than sixth place for either of these two--already over, 15 games behind.