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jksander · 07-06-2023, 02:01 AM

AUGUST 4, 1953 . . . Don Newcombe came out to pitch tonight in game one against the Giants and gave up a homer on the first pitch. No, I’m not kidding. He got his subsequent three outs on just seven additional pitches, but it was unnerving how quickly we were in a one run hole. So seemingly arbitrary and capricious of the baseball Gods to do us like that. He then gave up a second solo homer on his first pitch of the SECOND inning, leaving our fans silently questioning -- did that really just happen TWICE? But Randy Jackson got us tied all up at 2-2 in the bottom of the second thanks to a two-run homer of his own, and like many things in baseball it just doesn’t pay to dwell too much on the absurdities. Newcombe settled in well after those first two innings, and Willie Mays hit an RBI triple in the bottom of the fifth to put us up 3-2! Sauer hit a sacrifice fly to right, driving Mays home to give us a two run lead, and Newcombe came in to pitch his sixth inning having thrown just 55 pitches all night. Sandy Consuegra came in for one final out in the top of the eighth, keeping the score at 4-2 to strand the runner Newcombe had left on base, and we went into the top of the ninth just needing three outs to seal the deal. Consuegra got them one, two, three and we won this one 4-2!

Newcombe improved to 6-3 on the year with a 3.79 ERA, giving up just four hits with four strikeouts and three walks. That two of those hits resulted in homers can now just be seen as a funny aside, since we came out of it with the win. Consuegra, in just his second appearance, went 1.1 innings and got the save, giving up just one hit and keeping his ERA perfect at 0.00 through four innings of work. Willie Mays led the offense with three hits for a run and an RBI, while Cavarretta, Jackson and Chapman each added a pair of hits as we outhit the Giants 10-5.

We have Hacker and Klippstein ready to go in the next two games which take place tomorrow, which should hopefully put us in a really good position to keep the wins coming.

AUGUST 5, 1953 . . . Willie Mays hit his 29th homer over the left-field ivy in the bottom of the first in the first game of today’s double-header, quickly putting us up 2-0 on the Giants. Ernie Banks hit a solo bomb to right just a few minutes later with two outs, making it 3-0. Hacker, who was incredibly efficient with just 15 pitches over the first two innings, hit a bit of a rocky patch in the third inning, giving up two runs in the process, and he gave up the tying run with two outs and two men on in the top of the fourth. Hacker stayed strong through the remainder of the game, however, and he got the final strikeout in the top of the ninth to send us up, tied 3-3, in the bottom of the inning hoping we could find a way to walk it off. But it wasn’t to be. Extra innings, everybody!

Hacker came into the top of the 10th having thrown 123 pitches, but he said he was fresh enough to stay in and try to finish this inning out, but I got Fear and Consuegra warming up in the bullpen just in case. Strikeout, flyout, flyout and the top of the inning was over! Hacker got a single in the bottom of the 10th, but Fondy hit into a fielder’s choice and they tagged Hacker out at second. Cavarretta walked, giving us two men on and one out. And then Willie Mays hit it deep enough into right field to drive Fondy home, giving us the 4-3 win in ten innings!

Warren Hacker won his 18th game, improving to 18-5 with a 2.53 ERA, pitching 10 innings of 10 hit ball, giving up three runs (one earned) with five strikeouts and no walks in 135 pitches. Willie Mays got four hits in five tries, scoring once and driving in three while bringing his average up to .370! Banks and Hacker each had two hits, and Hacker’s average has risen to .195 on the season.

Hey hey, let’s play two! Klippstein took the mound immediately following our 13th extra innings game of the year, and though he pitched as well as ever, his luck let out in the top of the second when he surrendered the game’s first run to the Giants, though he quickly got the third out via strikeout. And the Giants had good luck hitting up the gap in the third inning, giving Klippstein fits as he loaded the bases with just one out. He was able to get a fly-out to center that held all the runners in place, and Sauer slid to the side on one leg to make one of the most spectacular catches in left I’ve ever seen to keep the score 1-0 as we headed for the bottom of the inning. Fondy finally put us on the board in the bottom of the fifth, hitting a double with the bases loaded to give us a 2-1 lead before the inning ended on a double-play. Willie Mays hit a solo moonshot to right to add a run in the bottom of the sixth, his 30th of the season, but Klippstein gave up back-to-back triples to let the Giants back within one, and a sac-fly to left allowed the tying run in.

I brought Consuegra in for the top of the eighth, with Klippstein already at 100 pitches and looking faded. And though he gave up a hit, a flyout and two strikeouts got us to the bottom of the inning, at which point McCullough hit a run-scoring single to put us back in the lead 4-3, with two men still on and only one out! A double-play ended any chance of additional insurance runs, but we went into the top of the ninth ahead by a run and wanting this one to stay that way. Vern Fear came in to handle the frame, and he handled it flyout to right, groud-out to first ... and then he allowed a single to left and walked a batter, giving us two outs, two men on, and everyone on pins and needles hoping for the best. Another grounder to first and we were done, however, winning this one safely 4-3!

Klippstein pitched seven innings with eight hits and three earned runs, but it was Consuegra with the one-hit two strikeout no run eighth inning that earned our 32-year-old reliever his first win of the year. He’s now 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA after five innings pitched and looking like he may wind up being very valuable to us down the stretch this year. Vern Fear earned his second save in his eighth appearance as a Cub this year, giving up a hit and a walk but bringing his ERA down to 1.17 after 15.1 innings. Willie Mays remains red hot, hitting three times in four tries with a run scored and an RBI, while everyone else except Consuegra and Fear got hits as well (and they didn’t get hits because neither got a chance to bat, so who knows? Maybe they would have!)

Tomorrow we face the Giants for the final game of the series and we’re definitely on a roll. Paul Minner (7-9, 4.97 ERA) will get the start.

AUGUST 6, 1953 . . . Minner gave up a run in the top of the first, thanks to a triple and an RBI single, but Willie Mays slugged his 31st homer over the left field ivy and put us quickly back on top 2-1 in the bottom of the inning. But Minner got rung up in the second inning -- triple, RBI single, wild pitch -- and it looked like the inning was going to devolve quickly. But he recovered to get three flyouts in quick succession and we got out of the top of the second with the tie still intact. The Giants had a solo homer to start the top of the fourth, but Sauer hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning (his 14th of the year) to put us ahead 4-3.

Minner got through six innings but threw a ton of pitches and wore himself out to the point where I knew we’d be bringing in Consuegra, who is certainly durable as hell, for the seventh inning. Hank Sauer hit his second homer of the night in the bottom of the sixth to make it 5-3, and Clyde McCullough pinch-hit for Minner, driving Randy Jackson to third with two outs, but Fondy flew out to center to end the inning. In the bottom of the seventh, Willie Mays hit HIS second homer of the night, never one to be out-done, and then Kenneth Chapman hit his first homer as a Cub to make it a 7-3 lead! In the bottom of the eighth, Consuegra hit a double with two outs, and Dee Fondy then hit an RBI single to drive our reliver home, increasing our lead to five runs. Consuegra came out for the ninth, set them down three in a row, and closed out the 8-3 win still perfect!

Paul Minner got out of this one with a win, improving to 8-9 with a 4.95 ERA, but he only lasted six innings with seven hits, three earned runs and two strikeouts and a walk. Sandy Consuegra, now perfect through eight innings, lasted three innings with NO HITS, plus a strikeout and a walk as he’s quickly becoming a fan favorite. Willie Mays hit three times and walked once, scoring twice and driving in three more, bringing his average up to .377 with a .799 slugging percentage. Not to be outdone, Hank Sauer had two hits to score twice and drive in three, getting him to 51 RBIs this year, 15 homers, and a .234/.324/.391 slash line. Dee Fondy also had three hits with a run and an RBI, his 40th RBI of the season.

Having swept the Giants in four games, we now welcome Philadelphia into town -- we, at 61-47, have a half-game lead on the Phillies and we’re only half a game behind the Dodgers for second place. But we’re all trailing the Milwaukee Braves (73-38) by 10 to 11 games. We have three against the Phillies and four against Cincinnati (45-68) before the Braves come to town at the end of next week. I would very much like to be firmly alone in second place when that happens.

07-06-2023, 02:01 AM	#61
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,599	AUGUST 4, 1953 . . . Don Newcombe came out to pitch tonight in game one against the Giants and gave up a homer on the first pitch. No, I’m not kidding. He got his subsequent three outs on just seven additional pitches, but it was unnerving how quickly we were in a one run hole. So seemingly arbitrary and capricious of the baseball Gods to do us like that. He then gave up a second solo homer on his first pitch of the SECOND inning, leaving our fans silently questioning -- did that really just happen TWICE? But Randy Jackson got us tied all up at 2-2 in the bottom of the second thanks to a two-run homer of his own, and like many things in baseball it just doesn’t pay to dwell too much on the absurdities. Newcombe settled in well after those first two innings, and Willie Mays hit an RBI triple in the bottom of the fifth to put us up 3-2! Sauer hit a sacrifice fly to right, driving Mays home to give us a two run lead, and Newcombe came in to pitch his sixth inning having thrown just 55 pitches all night. Sandy Consuegra came in for one final out in the top of the eighth, keeping the score at 4-2 to strand the runner Newcombe had left on base, and we went into the top of the ninth just needing three outs to seal the deal. Consuegra got them one, two, three and we won this one 4-2! Newcombe improved to 6-3 on the year with a 3.79 ERA, giving up just four hits with four strikeouts and three walks. That two of those hits resulted in homers can now just be seen as a funny aside, since we came out of it with the win. Consuegra, in just his second appearance, went 1.1 innings and got the save, giving up just one hit and keeping his ERA perfect at 0.00 through four innings of work. Willie Mays led the offense with three hits for a run and an RBI, while Cavarretta, Jackson and Chapman each added a pair of hits as we outhit the Giants 10-5. We have Hacker and Klippstein ready to go in the next two games which take place tomorrow, which should hopefully put us in a really good position to keep the wins coming. AUGUST 5, 1953 . . . Willie Mays hit his 29th homer over the left-field ivy in the bottom of the first in the first game of today’s double-header, quickly putting us up 2-0 on the Giants. Ernie Banks hit a solo bomb to right just a few minutes later with two outs, making it 3-0. Hacker, who was incredibly efficient with just 15 pitches over the first two innings, hit a bit of a rocky patch in the third inning, giving up two runs in the process, and he gave up the tying run with two outs and two men on in the top of the fourth. Hacker stayed strong through the remainder of the game, however, and he got the final strikeout in the top of the ninth to send us up, tied 3-3, in the bottom of the inning hoping we could find a way to walk it off. But it wasn’t to be. Extra innings, everybody! Hacker came into the top of the 10th having thrown 123 pitches, but he said he was fresh enough to stay in and try to finish this inning out, but I got Fear and Consuegra warming up in the bullpen just in case. Strikeout, flyout, flyout and the top of the inning was over! Hacker got a single in the bottom of the 10th, but Fondy hit into a fielder’s choice and they tagged Hacker out at second. Cavarretta walked, giving us two men on and one out. And then Willie Mays hit it deep enough into right field to drive Fondy home, giving us the 4-3 win in ten innings! Warren Hacker won his 18th game, improving to 18-5 with a 2.53 ERA, pitching 10 innings of 10 hit ball, giving up three runs (one earned) with five strikeouts and no walks in 135 pitches. Willie Mays got four hits in five tries, scoring once and driving in three while bringing his average up to .370! Banks and Hacker each had two hits, and Hacker’s average has risen to .195 on the season. Hey hey, let’s play two! Klippstein took the mound immediately following our 13th extra innings game of the year, and though he pitched as well as ever, his luck let out in the top of the second when he surrendered the game’s first run to the Giants, though he quickly got the third out via strikeout. And the Giants had good luck hitting up the gap in the third inning, giving Klippstein fits as he loaded the bases with just one out. He was able to get a fly-out to center that held all the runners in place, and Sauer slid to the side on one leg to make one of the most spectacular catches in left I’ve ever seen to keep the score 1-0 as we headed for the bottom of the inning. Fondy finally put us on the board in the bottom of the fifth, hitting a double with the bases loaded to give us a 2-1 lead before the inning ended on a double-play. Willie Mays hit a solo moonshot to right to add a run in the bottom of the sixth, his 30th of the season, but Klippstein gave up back-to-back triples to let the Giants back within one, and a sac-fly to left allowed the tying run in. I brought Consuegra in for the top of the eighth, with Klippstein already at 100 pitches and looking faded. And though he gave up a hit, a flyout and two strikeouts got us to the bottom of the inning, at which point McCullough hit a run-scoring single to put us back in the lead 4-3, with two men still on and only one out! A double-play ended any chance of additional insurance runs, but we went into the top of the ninth ahead by a run and wanting this one to stay that way. Vern Fear came in to handle the frame, and he handled it flyout to right, groud-out to first ... and then he allowed a single to left and walked a batter, giving us two outs, two men on, and everyone on pins and needles hoping for the best. Another grounder to first and we were done, however, winning this one safely 4-3! Klippstein pitched seven innings with eight hits and three earned runs, but it was Consuegra with the one-hit two strikeout no run eighth inning that earned our 32-year-old reliever his first win of the year. He’s now 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA after five innings pitched and looking like he may wind up being very valuable to us down the stretch this year. Vern Fear earned his second save in his eighth appearance as a Cub this year, giving up a hit and a walk but bringing his ERA down to 1.17 after 15.1 innings. Willie Mays remains red hot, hitting three times in four tries with a run scored and an RBI, while everyone else except Consuegra and Fear got hits as well (and they didn’t get hits because neither got a chance to bat, so who knows? Maybe they would have!) Tomorrow we face the Giants for the final game of the series and we’re definitely on a roll. Paul Minner (7-9, 4.97 ERA) will get the start. AUGUST 6, 1953 . . . Minner gave up a run in the top of the first, thanks to a triple and an RBI single, but Willie Mays slugged his 31st homer over the left field ivy and put us quickly back on top 2-1 in the bottom of the inning. But Minner got rung up in the second inning -- triple, RBI single, wild pitch -- and it looked like the inning was going to devolve quickly. But he recovered to get three flyouts in quick succession and we got out of the top of the second with the tie still intact. The Giants had a solo homer to start the top of the fourth, but Sauer hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning (his 14th of the year) to put us ahead 4-3. Minner got through six innings but threw a ton of pitches and wore himself out to the point where I knew we’d be bringing in Consuegra, who is certainly durable as hell, for the seventh inning. Hank Sauer hit his second homer of the night in the bottom of the sixth to make it 5-3, and Clyde McCullough pinch-hit for Minner, driving Randy Jackson to third with two outs, but Fondy flew out to center to end the inning. In the bottom of the seventh, Willie Mays hit HIS second homer of the night, never one to be out-done, and then Kenneth Chapman hit his first homer as a Cub to make it a 7-3 lead! In the bottom of the eighth, Consuegra hit a double with two outs, and Dee Fondy then hit an RBI single to drive our reliver home, increasing our lead to five runs. Consuegra came out for the ninth, set them down three in a row, and closed out the 8-3 win still perfect! Paul Minner got out of this one with a win, improving to 8-9 with a 4.95 ERA, but he only lasted six innings with seven hits, three earned runs and two strikeouts and a walk. Sandy Consuegra, now perfect through eight innings, lasted three innings with NO HITS, plus a strikeout and a walk as he’s quickly becoming a fan favorite. Willie Mays hit three times and walked once, scoring twice and driving in three more, bringing his average up to .377 with a .799 slugging percentage. Not to be outdone, Hank Sauer had two hits to score twice and drive in three, getting him to 51 RBIs this year, 15 homers, and a .234/.324/.391 slash line. Dee Fondy also had three hits with a run and an RBI, his 40th RBI of the season. Having swept the Giants in four games, we now welcome Philadelphia into town -- we, at 61-47, have a half-game lead on the Phillies and we’re only half a game behind the Dodgers for second place. But we’re all trailing the Milwaukee Braves (73-38) by 10 to 11 games. We have three against the Phillies and four against Cincinnati (45-68) before the Braves come to town at the end of next week. I would very much like to be firmly alone in second place when that happens. __________________ A Fledgling “Free Agency” Movement in the Post-War World -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Daily Double Baseball (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)