[jksander]

JUNE 12, 1953 . . . Cavarretta hit a grounder down the left field side and was able to drive in a run in the top of the third, putting us up 1-0, but Willie Mays grounded into a double play as he has cooled significantly over the last few games. We held the lead through six, but in the bottom of the seventh with one out, Hacker loaded the bases and gave up the tying run, and then for good measure he gave up four more. It all happened so fast I couldn’t get a bullpen arm warmed up fast enough, and suddenly in the top of the eighth we were down 1-5 against one of the best teams in baseball. Bob Kelly gave up a run in the eighth, and all that was left was our last shot at a rally as we came in for the top of the ninth, and no rally formed. We lost this one 1-6 and I’m struggling to find any way to inspire the team. It’s also hard to be down on anyone, because we were heavily outmatched and everyone in the press has us getting swept as the Dodgers continue to make what the papers fully expect to be a run for the pennant. We’re a .500 level team that has played above our level for long enough that the crash landing is all the more brutal.

Warren Hacker fell to 8-4 with a 2.69 ERA, throwing seven innings with only seven hits, five of which gave up the five earned runs in the seventh inning. He had four strikeouts against two walks, but threw 103 pitches, nearly 40 of which came in that 7th inning. Bob Kelly came out and played the sacrificial lamb, and did an adequate job ... one hit in one inning, with a strikeout, but the one hit was a homer so what are you gonna do? We were only outhit 8-6 today but it felt WAY worse. Fondy had two hits in four at-bats but didn’t score. Miksis got a hit and scored a run, but Mays, Banks and Jackson all went hitless. We can’t win when our strongest hitters get shot out.

JUNE 13, 1953 . . . Tonight Paul Minner came up against Preacher Roe, and for the first three and a half frames everything was a Pitcher’s Paradise. But in the bottom of the fourth, Minner gave up his first hit of the game, which as it turned out was a two-run homer to right field, and you get an idea of the cloud of bad juju hanging over our heads. And it wasn’t like our bats weren’t popping the ball off either; rather, it was as though the Dodgers’ fielders had rocket packs on their feet and could get every ball, every time. And when Gil Hodges hit a grand slam off of Minner in the bottom of the fifth, it was hard not to start waving our white flag. So they did what you do and kept piling it on, as Duke Snyder hit a homer in the very next at-bat. Unbef---inglieveable. Minner finally got the final out, but he was clearly completely off his game. But he kept fighting, hoping we’d find a way to rally. In the top of the eighth Eddie Miksis bashed a solid 401 foot homer that put two runs on the board, but that was all we got, and Klippstein surrendered two more runs in the bottom of the eighth, all but sealing the deal. We got nothing going in our final frame, losing this one 2-9 and continuing our downward spiral.

Minner had what would have been a great night in any other game, lasting 6.2 innings with only five hits -- but those hits surrendered seven runs, six of which were earned. He had three strikeouts but also walked three, and his ERA has now fallen to 4.74. Klippstein gave up two hits for two runs in 1.1 innings, walking one and strking out no one, dropping his ERA to 5.36. Mays had three hits but couldn’t score or drive in a run. Fondy, Cavarretta, Sauer and Banks each had one hit with nothing to show for it. Miskis finished with that one hit, his second homer of the year, batting in two to give him 16 RBIs on the year. We’ve had five games in a row where we’ve only managed one or two points of offense, dating back to the 11th inning loss to the Phillies on June 8th.
 
JUNE 14, 1953 . . . One last game to end the road trip. Two more days and we’ll all be able to be back in our own beds and see our familes for a couple weeks and pretend these last three weeks didn’t happen. But first we had a game to play. Brooklyn scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth to open up the afternoon’s scoring, and our offensive woes were as woeful as ever. Brooklyn added a run quickly in the fifth, and our defenses were severely roughed up, with passed balls and two errors giving Newcombe all he could handle. By the end of five we were down 0-5, and I could tell the guys were all mentally just ready to get home. But it’s no excuse for our poor defensive play, and for our desperate attempts at turning walks into runs by being repeatedly caught stealing. We just weren’t playing like a team that believes it can be competitive. So we weren’t. I felt the most sorry for Newcombe, because he should have still been in this one -- as he came back in for the sixth inning he’d given up five runs, but NONE OF THEM WERE EARNED! I’ve never seen anything like it!

Newcombe laid into our guys in the dugout, and I let him stay in because I felt he’d earned it, and because it wasn’t like any of our relievers were going to suddenly find a way to make our bats go boom. So he stayed in and finished what he started, blanking the Dodgers through the sixth, seventh and eighth, but we lost 0-5 nonetheless. And the loss was a team effort, only Newcombe came out of the game showing any real pride. He finished with a complete game but took the loss, falling to 3-2, but his ERA improved to 4.20 because he didn’t give up any earned runs. On 139 pitches over eight innings he gave up 10 hits and three walks, striking out five.

The Dodgers out-hit us 10-3, with Fondy, Cavarretta, Mays, Banks and Miksis all blanking from the plate. Most of our scoring opportunities would have had to come from walks, of which we had five, but Fondy was caught stealing in a key moments and Mays and Banks each committed crucial errors. I’m hoping the return to Chicago sparks SOMETHING, because right now I wouldn’t blame the fans for sitting things out.

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As of June 16th we are now 28-31, 11-1/2 games back of first and lucky to not be worse than 5th in the NL. But St. Louis (26-33) has been making strides, and we’re only 7-1/2 games ahead of 7th place Pittsburgh (23-39) who we’ll face in a four game stretch, starting with a Tuesday afternoon doubleheader here at Wrigley this afternoon. We’ll then face the Dodgers again for four on our field, followed by three each against the Phillies and the Giants before we hit the road to end the month at St. Louis. We’re on a six game losing streak, but Pittsburgh’s been good to us this year. So time to see if we can get some of the early-season mojo back in front of the fans who do choose to show up and pony up that beer and hot-dog money.