[jksander]

JUNE 24, 1953 . . . Newcombe had a hard time in the first inning, getting himself rung up for two runs before he could get out of it. And we’re resting McCullough, Jackson and Banks, so we’re not expecting to be particularly explosive on offense tonight. But we’ll fight for it, and hopefully he’ll be able to settle in and not wear himself out so much in later innings. Eddie Miksis did well for himself in the bottom of the first, doubling with two outs to drive in a run, and Newcombe started to settle in as the game went on. When Cavarretta singled to right, sending in the tying run, we started to breathe a little easier -- this team CAN string things together without forcing our best hitters to destroy their bodies day in, day out. Willie Mays singled in a third run, scored by Fondy, and we were able to go into the top of the third holding a 3-2 lead on the Phillies.

Newcombe gave up the tying run in the top of the third; clearly like the rest of the season nothing was going to come easily. The Phillies took a 3-4 lead in the top of the fourth, but Hank Sauer hit a solo homer to right in the bottom of the fifth to tie things up, his 10th homer of the season! Dutch Leonard gave up a run in the top of the eighth, and in the bottom of the frame we brought Ernie Bnaks to pinch hit for Tommy Brown, Randy Jackson to pinch hit for Ramazotti, and Frank Baumholtz to pinch hit for Dutch Leonard, who we planned to replace in the top of the ninth with Klippstein. Would it be enough to rally our team back into the lead? Banks hit what should have been an easy double but their center-fielder made a spectacular diving cactch for out nubmer one. Randy Jackson was quickly tagged out at first for out number two. And same went for Baumholtz, which left us in a real hole -- yeah, the top of the lineup would be taking the field in the bottom of the ninth, but we needed Klippstein to pitch well and then for our bats to liven up for anything to happen.

Klippstein did his part, finishing the ninth inning with a double play to keep the score at 4-5 heading into our last frame. Cavarretta singled to center with one out, but Willie Mays’ would-have-been-a-homer blew back by the wind and wound up being an easy catch. So with two outs and the tying run on first, Hank Sauer came up for all the marbles. And he flew out to center as well, ending this one as another one run loss on our ledger.

Newcombe threw 5.2 innings of eight-hit ball, giving up four runs (three earned) with two strikeouts and a walk, while Dutch Leonard, who can’t seem to catch a break, came in and threw 2.1 innings of two-hit ball, giving up the go-ahead run and taking the loss. He’ll fall to 0-2 on the year with a 5.52 ERA as he inches nearer to his announced retirement at age 44. Klippstein got through his inning with no hits, no strikeouts and no walks, but the double play was a thing of beauty. His ERA stands at 5.25 on the year. Fondy handled himself well again today with two hits and two runs scored, while Cavarretta added two hits, a run and an RBI to go with a walk. Mays added a hit with an RBI, and Sauer hit twice to score one and drive another in. We just gave up too many runs -- this was a good offensive night considering how many of our stars were on the bench.

As we inch nearer to the All Star break and the ensuing trade deadline and fall further below the .500 mark, it’s becoming more likely that ownership will choose to push our GM to sell at the deadline -- I can only hope we do well enough to keep this team from being completely gutted. The fans deserve better than an August and September with no hope.
 
JUNE 25, 1953 . . . Tonight Warren Hacker took the mound, while only Willie Mays sat out today to rest giving Baumholtz a chance to be in the lineup at center field as a starter. Ernie Banks hit a triple in the bottom of the first, sending Fondy home to score the first run, giving Banks his 30th RBI of the season, and Banks would quickly score on a passed ball to make it 2-0 with just one out! Jackson hit a line-drive triple right by the ear of the third baseman and into the deep left corner, allowing Hank Seuer to score, and we went into the top of the second leading 3-0 against Philly. McCullough doubled in the bottom of the third and Miksis got himself an RBI single by driving McCullough home, increasing our lead to 4-0 heading into the fourth. Dee Fondy came up for the third time in the bottom of the fourth, and we hoped the third time through the lineup would allow us to really put some distance between us and the Phillies, but Karl Drews finally started to find his rhythm, and he quickly got through the inning. Instead it was Hacker who got rung up quickly in the top of the fifth, loading the bases and giving up two quick runs before I even thought we needed to consider bringing anyone up in the bullpen. By the time Klippstein got properly warmed up, Hacker had gotten out of the inning, but the score was suddenly tied 4-4.

We came out strong in the bottom of the fifth, loading the bases ourselves with no outs! McCullough hit a fly-out to center, but an E9 throwing error allowed Hank Sauer to score, with Randy Jackson moving to third and Frank Baumholtz advancing to second. They walked Miksis to load the bases again, and Hacker flew out to left but was able to score Jackson to give us a two run lead. The rally lasted long enough that Klippstein was no longer limbered up, so I kept Hacker on the mound for the top of the sixth while immediately getting Joe Hatten warmed up in the bullpen, as Hacker was nearing 90 pitches already, but it wasn’t immediately necessary -- he got three quick outs, and we came up hoping to build the lead further. Instead we came into the top of the seventh with the same 6-4 lead, and Klippstein, freshly warmed up, came in to hopefully keep it that way. Unfortunately he loaded the bases and drove a run home with two outs, and Hatten came in to get the final out with two men on, one in scoring position. He promptly gave up one of Klippstein’s runs, tying the score 6-6, and then gave up the go-ahead run, having thrown just nine pitches. Finally he got the out, but we went into the stretch down a run again and wondering what we had left in the tank.

Bob Kelly came into the top of the eight with us still trailing 6-7, and he got three quick outs to keep the situation from getting any worse. He then made it even better by hitting a single up the gap to open the bottom of the eighth, getting a solid single for the effort and bringing up the top of the order -- rally caps on, people! Cavarretta reached first on a fielder’s choice and then made it to second on a wild pitch, sending Banks up to the plate. Banks then promptly drove a run-scoring triple to the deep right corner, tying the score 7-7 heading into the ninth inning. But Kelly couldn’t hold onto it long enough for us to bat in the bottom of the frame, giving up the go-ahead run with just one out and two men left on, and then piss-poor fielding allowed two more to score, pretty much sealing things. So we’d head into the bottom of the ninth trailing 7-10 and needing a damned miracle. But the baseball Gods would say we’d already wasted the three or four miracles they’d sent our way tonight and they’d gone off the clock for the night. We lost this one 7-10 and completed the act of being swept by Philly.

Can’t we get some relief (pitching)? Hacker deserved better than this -- he shouldn’t have to throw a complete game and 150+ pitches every four days to keep getting wins! As it stood, he finished six excellent innnings, throwing 104 pitches for three hits and two strikeouts, but he gave up three walks. But had we fielded better he wouldn’t have been jammed up so badly -- only two of his four runs were earned, so his ERA remains a very respectable 2.58. Hatten got the blown save, his second of the year, giving up two hits but no earned runs thanks to the guys Klippstein had put on base. And poor, hapless Bob Kelly took his fifth loss of the year, giving up three earned runs on three hits with two strikeouts and a walk -- for a guy who is still drawing a ton of All Star fan interest, he simply can’t find any consistency when under pressure.

We were only out-hit 11-10 tonight, but what an incredible waste of such a good offensive effort. Randy Jackson had a three hit effort with a run scored and an RBI as his average climbed to .280 on the year. Banks scored a run and drove two in on two hits, and McCullough had two hits for a run and an RBI as well.

Now we head into our last three home games of June, against the fourth-place Giants (35-36). We’re now in fifth, at 33-37, 14 games back and fading fast. Rush, Brodowski and Minner are expected to pitch in these games, with only 17 games remaining before the All-Star break. And if we think we’re tired yet, wait until the July 4th weekend ... we’ve got five games between the 3rd and the 5th here at Wrigley, with back to back double headers against the Cardinals and the Reds. So nothing gets easier. In fact, we’ll have FIVE double-headers in July.