[jksander]

MAY 31, 1953 . . . Willie Mays hit his 15th homer of the year, a two-run shot to center of 414 feet, to put us up 2-0 in the top of the fourth inning, and it was a much needed one, since this was a game where stringing together hits or even getting on base was at a premium. Thankfully we had Bob Rush wheeling and dealing from the mound, which meant that a two-run lead was better protected than with a lesser pitcher. Still, I knew we could really use a little insurance heading into the top of the seventh with the same 2-0 lead. Rush got things going with a hard-hit grounder up the right side to get on base, and Fondy hit a blooper that Eddie Yuhas just couldn’t reach, allowing him to reach first without the ball leaving the infield. But Ernie Banks hit into a double play, moving Rush to third but leaving us with two outs. And Hank Sauer quickly batted out to right for an easy out, ending the inning. McCullough opened the second by reaching second on a fielding error, and Rush hit a hard fly-out to right that was deep enough to allow McCullough to reach home, giving us an insurance run! And though Rush gave up a run in the bottom of the ninth, he held tough to get the last two outs he needed, winning this one for us 3-1 as we manage to stay just a little bit ahead of the Cardinals, and above .500 on the season by improving to 24-22.

Rush only gave up four hits in his nine innings pitched today, improving to 6-5 with a 3.52 ERA in 87 innings over 12 starts, striking out five batters with only one walk and the one earned run. Sauer got a hit and scored a run, while also walking once, but he’s still struggling to find his rhythm. Mays had his homer, keeping his batting average at .394 and his slugging just a couple dozen points from .800, and Randy Jackson added two hits in four at-bats as well.

We only have the one game against St. Louis, so now we’re hitting the road for a long trip to play a night game tomorrow at Pittsburgh (15-32), the first of three before we drive to New York to play four against the Giants (25-23). We then will have three against the Phillies (25-21), meaning these next ten games in nine days could give us a boost right back into the heat of the NL chase if we can string some wins together. Welcome to June baseball in the National League!

JUNE 2, 1953 . . . First off, some news from our bullpen -- Dutch Leonard caught me this morning as we pulled into Pittsburgh on the team bus, and told me he’s decided to retire at the end of the season. He’s 44 years old, so that’s hardly a surprise, but I know how hard it is to see a guy step away from this game.

Hacker was ready to pitch on short rest, and he’s been on fire lately so we’re using him to start this tough nine-game stretch so hopefully we can build some momentum. He jokingly has started calling me Captain Hook for taking him out of that game against the Reds on May 30th, since “if anyone’s going to give up my ninth inning runs it should be me!” Hopefully we’ll give him more run support tonight and it won’t be a factor against this sputtering Pittsburgh team.

Randy Jackson hit a pop fly to left that was an easy catch in the top of the fourth, but it was good enough to let Cavarretta score the first run of the game via the first hit for either team in the game -- Howie Pollet and our Warren Hacker were putting on a hell of a pitching clinic in this one. But Sauer had an error in the bottom of the fourth that allowed a runner to reach second, and Willie Mays had a rare missed catch in deep center field, allowing a run to score for the Pirates -- an unearned run for Hacker, but still a run. Pittsburgh got a pair of hits in the inning but Hacker shut them down in the end, keeping it knotted 1-1 heading into the fifth. The game stayed tied, and both starters stayed in, at least until the ninth inning when Pittsburgh finally pulled the tiring Pollet, and we weren’t able to add any runs, sending us to the bottom of the 9th, tied 1-1, and Hacker said “keep me in, Captain!” He struck out the first two batters, and then gave up a hit to Frank Thomas on a ball that snuck through in the middle to get him to first. He then walked Joe Garagiola, his first walk of the day against eight strikeouts, but a fly-out to right was corralled by Cavarretta, and this one was going to extra innings!

Cavarretta doubled in the top of the 10th with a deep slash to center field, driving in Miksis and Fondy to put us up 3-1 with two outs, so with some insurance to work with Hacker stayed in with his hot hand to close things out, and he did it perfectly, pitching to contact and getting three consecutive outs to win the game 3-1 on his 125th pitch of the night, with ten innings pitched for just five hits and one unearned run with eight strikeouts against one walk. Unbelieveable! His ERA dropped all the way down to 2.01 after this one as he improved to 8-2.

We out-hit the Pirates 6-5 in this tightly contested battle, with Cavarretta hitting two of five with a run scored and two batted in, while Eddie Miksis broke out of his recent slump with two hits in four at-bats, scoring a run himself. Mays, Sauer, Banks and Jackson were all held hitless, though Mays got on base once with a walk and Jackson did drive a run home with his sacrifice out in the fourth inning.