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JUNE 8, 1953 . . . Today was an interesting lineup, since Cavarrettta, Sauer and McCullough all were out taking rest days, so we had to bring in guys like Toby Atwell, Frank Baumholtz and Ron Northey, which made for a potentially low-scoring group. But those were the guys who stepped up early in this one -- Atwell doubled in the top of the second, and with two men out Atwell hit a well-placed single up the ap that gave Atwell room to run all the way home to give us a 1-0 lead! But Newcombe surrendered a two-run homer in the bottom of the second, putting the Phillies back in the lead. We loaded the bases in the top of the third but left them all stranded. And while Newcombe got out of the third inning with no extra runs surrendered, he was quickly tiring, having already thrown 72 pitches. Frank Baumholtz was able to tie things up with a massive solo homer in the top of the fourth, his first of the year, and we stayed knotted 2-2 through six.
In the top of the seventh Baumholtz hit a triple, his second HUGE effort in this game to keep us in the position to win, but no one was able to bring him home. And this one stayed knotted into extra innings as Klippstein went 2.1 innings without a run and Bob Kelly came in to pitch the last 1.2, saving the ninth inning with a runner on third and only one out! I’m still checking my pulse after that one. So we went into the top of the tenth with Kelly up to bat, so I started warming up Joe Hatten and pinch hit Clyde McCullough, who ripped a line drive hard to right, reaching first and bringing up the top of the order. Fondy grounded out to first, but McCullough made it safely to second by the skin of his teeth. Eddie Miksis hit it right up the middle to take his base safely, driving McCullough to third with only one out. But Willie Mays grounded into a double play and our inning was over. But Hatten set them down one, two, three and we were out of the 10th safely and into the 11th. But we couldn’t get anyone on base in the top of the inning, and they wound up walking it off with an RBI double, beating us 2-3 in a real heartbreaker. We did everything right -- considering this lineup, the fact that we fought back twice from deficits to even BE in extra innings, that shows our grit and determination.
Hatten closed the game out with 1.1 innings of two hit ball with a strikeout, but he gave up the final run so he took the loss and fell to 0-2 with a 6.75 ERA. Newcombe threw 96 pitches in five innings, giving up five hits and two earned runs with a strikeout and a walk. Klippstein managed 2.1 innings of two-hit ball, with no runs scored and a strikeout, and Bob Kelly was impressive in his 1.2 innings, giving up just one hit and one walk and then getting out of the jam to allow the extra frames in the first place.
Baumholtz is the batter of the night, with a homer and a triple in four at-bats, scoring one and driving in another, bringing his average up to .349 in 25 appearances and 43 at-bats. Atwell also had a crucial hit, and though his average is only .189, don’t let that fool you -- he did what we needed him to do today, and that’s what matters.
Tomorrow we’ll be back at full strength offensively, and we’ll have 20-year-old phenom Dick Brodowski (2-1, 1.38 ERA) on the mound.
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