[jksander]

APRIL 16, 1953 . . . We drove down to St. Louis where we get to put our perfect record on the line against the 0-2 Cardinals. Willie Mays got things going quickly in this one, hitting a triple that drove in Phil Cavaretta with just one out in the first, and Frank Sauer then hit a sacrifice fly to deep right that drove Mays in, making the score 2-0 before most Cardinals fans had a chance to finish their first beers. Ernie Banks then hit his first major league double, but Randy Jackson’s deep shot to left was caught, ending the inning. But it was an auspicious beginning, setting up our starter, Paul Minner, nicely.

Of course their outfield is absolutely vast, and thus is tough for fielders on both teams, so we didn’t hold the shutout for long. St. Louis answered with a run in the first, but strong defense allowed us to keep the lead, and then the defenses for both teams took control of the game. Both teams left runners stranded in the fourth, and we left two more stranded in the fifth thanks to an inning-ending double play by the Cardinals defense, and still we held our 2-1 lead through the end of five.

McCullough opened the sixth with a one out single, followed by a double by Eddie Miksis to put runners on second and third and pitcher Paul Minner at the plate. Minner struck out swinging, sending our lead-off man, Dee Fondy to the plate with hopes of adding to our lead, and that he did! Doubling to deep right, he drove in both runs, making it a 4-1 lead! Phil Cavarretta then promptly singled, hitting it deep enough to drive in Fondy all the way from second, setting Willie Mays up at the plate, all this with two outs. That wound up being the end of the rally, but the damage was done and we went into the bottom of the sixth with a commanding 5-1 lead and Paul Minner rested and ready for more from the mound.

Ernie Banks hit a towering homer in the seventh, nearly 430 feet, to put us up 6-1 with his first four-bagger in the majors, further cementing the rout-in-progress, and in the top of the ninth, when I brought Fred Baczewski in to close the game out, we were still up by that margin. He put two batters down quickly, but surrenedered a solo homer to St. Louis shortstop Solly Hemus, but that was all she wrote. We held tough to win this one 6-2, improving to 3-0 on the young season.

In eight innings pitched, Paul Minner gave up five hits and the one first-inning run, with one strike and three walks as he pitched mostly to contact. Cavarretta had three hits, scoring one and batting in one, bringing his three-game slash line to .667 / .714 / .833. Ernie Banks also had a pair of hits in his five at-bats, scoring one and driving in another. In total we out-hit the Cardinals 14-6, sending us into the long drive to Cincinnati feeling damned good.

We play the Reds Saturday afternoon, before a double-header on Sunday.

APRIL 18, 1953 . . . From the moment we opened this game with a four-run first inning, we had the Reds completely on edge. But the Reds picked up a couple runs in the second and a third run in the bottom of the fourth, so the game was not the blowout it might have been. McCullough hit a hot grounder down the left side for a triple that sent home two more runs to give our pitcher more breathing room in the top of the fifth, but Newcombe gave up a solo homer in the bottom of the inning, eating into our insurance and ensuring it was just a 6-4 lead heading into the sixth inning, with the home crowd really starting to wake up. We brought Frank Baumholtz in to pinch hit for Newcombe with two outs and a man on third in the top of the seventh, and he batted in a run to make it 7-4, and Fondy kept the rally going by batting in another with a single to right, giving us a four run lead heading into the bottom of the seventh, with Bob Kelly soming in to hopefully finish out the game. We tacked on another run in the top of the ninth, and Kelly closed things out perfectly including two strikeouts in the bottom frame as we won 8-4, completed our fourth win in a row to start the season!

Kelly picked up his second save in four games, going three innings for the second time with three K’s, two hits and three walks. Don Newcombe earned the win with six innings pitched, giving up eight hits and four runs, though only two were earned. He had two K’s and two walks, throwing nearly 100 pitches in the six frames. Clyde McCullough went 2 for 4 with two triples, driving in two runs and scoring once. Ernie Banks also had two hits in four at-bats, scoring twice and driving in one. Dee Fondy struck out twice swinging, but he also had two hits in six at-bats, and his .350 average and .419 on base percentage has made him potent in the lead-off position.

Tomorrow we have a double-header to finish the series here on the road against Cincinnati, with the first game starting at 3:05. We’ll be starting Bob Rush in the first game, with Johnny Klippstein likely starting the second.

APRIL 19, 1953 . . . In the opening game of the double-header, we took a two run lead in the first inning, but in the bottom of the fourth Rush got himself into some trouble and gave up three runs of his own, putting us behind in what was a tough atmosphere despite the small local turnout. Rush got on base with a walk to start the fourth, however, and with two outs Hank Sauer hit a single that drove him home, tying the game up, and Ernie Banks hit a grounder to the left that barely stayed in, getting himself to second and driving Sauer in for the go-ahead run! Unfortunately the Reds hit a two run homer off Rush in the bottom of the fifth to retake the lead, and this one seemed destined to stay back and forth the whole way. Randy Gumpert came in with one out in the bottom of the seventh to put out the fire after Rush walked in a run with the bases loaded to give the Reds a two-run lead, and he got two strikeouts to end the inning. And he pitched well through the eighth inning, but we were unable to pick up any runs and lost this one in the end 4-6. Rush (1-1, 4.38 ERA) took the loss.

In the evening game, Sauer hit a two-run homer with two outs in the first to give us a 2-0 lead, but the Reds answered with a triple and a single to bat in a run in the bottom of the first, and in the second the Reds took a 2-3 lead on us some aggressive baserunning, ensuring this was going to be as tough to win as the afternoon game. The game was a pitchers’ duel from there, and heading into the top of the ninth, desperately needing a run, we still trailed the Reds 2-3.

Top of the 9th: Hank Sauer got a great hit to right, opening the inning by getting on first. Then Ernie Banks hit a brilliant shot all the way to the center field wall and the defender BARELY MISSED IT, allowing Banks to get to second, and for Sauer to beat the ball back to home, scoring the tying run! They walked Randy Jackson, and Eddie Miksis sacrifice bunted, getting himself out but advancing the runners. I brought Clyde McCullough to pinch hit for Toby Atwell, and he hit it into deep left, driving in Banks AND Jackson and putting us in the lead by two runs! Frank Baumholtz came in to pinch hit for Klippstein, as I have Bob Kelly warming up to come in and close, but he couldn’t get the ball out of the infield, ending our part of the inning and giving us just three outs left to secure the come-from-behind win. The Reds got in one desperation run before Kelly was able to complete the save, and we came out of this one with a 5-4 victory to improve to 5-1 on the young season!

Klippstein got the win, pitching eight innings of four hit ball, striking out five batters while giving up just two walks. Bob Kelly, meanwhile, got his third save of the year and only gave up one run, giving him a 1.29 ERA through seven innings. Clyde McCullough, pinch hitting for the first time this year since he’d caught a game earlier in the afternoon, was obviously the hero, knocking in the difference-making runs. Hank Sauer, with two hits and two scored runs in four at bats, was also a key to our win tonight.