[jksander]

AUGUST 16, 1953 . . . Bob Rush got the start in this one as we hope to find our way to a victory against the Braves in game three. Frank Baumholtz hit an RBI double to get the scoring going in the bottom of the second, but we ended the inning with three consecutive strikeouts, preventing us from adding more runs. But Bob Rush was on his A-game from the opening pitch, and Willie Mays added a two-run moonshot to center to make it 3-0 in the bottom of the third. Clyde McCullough walked the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth with no one out, and Bob Rush then walked in his own insurance run to make it 4-0. Northey added a run on a wild pitch, and then Fondy doubled to make it 7-0, an incredible lead to have after four innings against the best team in the National League! We gave up a solo shot by Del Crandall to put the Braves on the board, but Eddie Miksis added an RBI double in the bottom of the sixth to put us back up by seven, and Willie Mays batted in our ninth run with a single to right field to make it 9-1 after six. In the bottom of the eighth we quickly loaded the bases again with no outs, and Ernie Banks drove Fondy home with a sac-fly to center to make it 10-1, and Rush stayed in to complete his game on 139 pitches, winning this one for us 10-1!

With the victory, Bob Rush improves to 9-10 on the season with a 4.64 ERA, throwing a six-hit game with seven strikeouts, three walks and just a single earned run. Willie Mays dominated with three hits and a walk, scoring one and driving in three to reach 104 RBIs on the season. Miksis, Jackson, Baumholtz and Northey each added two hits, and Bob Rush hit once and walked once for a run and an RBI, bringing his average up to .210!

Our homestand is now complete, and we’ve got to spend the rest of the month on the road. We’ll start on Tuesday with three games at St. Louis, followed by four games in three days against Milwaukee, three at Brooklyn, two at Philly and three at the Giants, followed by one road game against Pittsburgh. We’ll then return to Wrigley for three games against Cincy from September 5-6 and two games against Milwaukee on the 7th. We’re currently 70-48 and just 7-1/2 games behind Milwaukee, but we’re only a half game up on Philly, so it’s not the time to get cocky.
 
AUGUST 18, 1953 . . . Tonight we decided to try something somewhat novel and, with Minner up to pitch in the starting rotation, we brought Sandy Consuegra out to “open” the game, which I felt would give Minner a better shot at going deeper into the game if Consuegra could get outs quickly against the top of the St. Louis rotation. Vinegar Bend Mizell came out to pitch for the Cardinals, and the game was predictably low on hits. Consuegra gave up a run in the bottom of the second and a run in the bottom of the fourth, but we got a run back in the top of the fifth when Kenneth Chapman belted a solo homer to left, at which point Paul Minner came in at the top of the fifth to take us the rest of the way. We went into the top of the ninth still trailing 2-1, but our batters couldn’t get anything going and we lost this one in a tight battle by a single run.

Consuegra took the loss, falling to 1-1 with a 3.21 ERA after four innings of three-hit ball. He gave up two runs, but struck out two batters and didn’t walk anyone ... it was just bad luck. Paul Minner pitched four innings and gave up three hits with three strikeouts and a walk, improving his ERA to 4.92. 23-year old St. Louis pitcher Vinegar Bend Mizell won his 15th game this year, and he was dominant throughout, as the Cardinals outhit us 6-4. Chapman led our batters with two hits in four tries for a run and an RBI thanks to his 4th homer since donning a Cubs uniform.

AUGUST 19, 1953 . . . This game was tight from the very start, with Warren Hacker facing off against Chet Nichols, who despite his 5-10 record was having a really solid outing tonight. Hacker gave up a triple and a single to left to start the bottom of the fifth, allowing St. Louis to take the lead after a scoreless first eighty minutes, but he got out of the inning without further incident and it was clear that Chet Nichols was wearing down while Hacker was still spry and ready to go. Dee Fondy opened the top of the sixth with a single through the gap, and Ernie Banks sacrificed himself at first to move Fondy to second. Willie Mays walked, but Kenneth Chapman struck out, sending Hank Sauer to the plate with two outs and two men on. And he sruck out too, keeping us scoreless. But we drove Nichols out of the game, as the Cardinals went to the bullpen for the top of the seventh. But Hacker got no run support AT ALL, and we went into the top of the ninth trailing 1-0, needing SOMETHING to get this game out of the pits, and it didn’t happen ... flyout, double play and Hacker’s ten game streak of wins came to an ignonimous end.

It’s not like he didn’t try. In eight innings, Hacker gave up six hits and just one run, striking out five and walking one as his record fell to 21-6 with a 2.37 ERA. Where were the runs, guys? We got outhit 6-5, but everyone got stranded. Cavarretta had two hits, while Fondy, Banks and Sauer settled for one each.

AUGUST 20, 1953 . . . Klippstein gave up a two-run homer to Solly Hemus to put St. Louis on the board 2-0 in the bottom of the first. And our bats have gone ice cold, leaving our pitchers out there to hang and dry on the line. Hank Sauer hit a homer in the top of the fourth to bring us within a run, but Klippstein gave up a run in the bottom of the fourth, preventing a second with a double play, and St. Louis, one of the worst teams in the majors, seemed to be having their way with us on their way to a sweep. We loaded the damned bases in the top of the sixth with three walks, and then blew it three times in a row to come out with NOTHING. All the while, Klippstein just kept pitching and doing everything he could to keep us in this one for when our bats might finally wake the f--- up. Clyde McCullough hit a solo homer to center in the top of the eighth, pulling us to within a run of the Cardinals, and Ernie Banks scored on a Hank Sauer double, reaching home from third on an error to tie things up 3-3. We failed to score in the top of the ninth, however, sending Klippstein out in the bottom of the inning needing to get three outs to allow us the privlege of extra innings, and it was too much to ask. He got two outs, but the men on base kept advancing and it wasn’t enough. This has been the story of our season .... we win a lot of games, but we also play down to the level we expect from our competition, and teams like St. Louis and Pittsburgh ring us up and keep us from staying in the race with the likes of Milwaukee. It’s hard to say this series cost us the pennant, but it damned well might have.

Klippstein gave it all he had, throwing 8.2 innings of five-hit ball, but giving up four runs (three earned) with four strikeouts and a walk, taking his third loss of the year. I’m absolutely livid because we outhit them 7-5 and just couldn’t get s--- going when we needed it! It’s embarassing that our guys can throw up eight or nine run innings to back up our worst starters, but they go completely anemic when it comes to teams like St. Louis. Cavarretta and Sauer each had two hits and were our only real bright spots offensively. Cavarretta also walked twice, scoring once and batting in another, and Sauer walked once, scoring once and batting in one.

Let’s put this sweep behind us and hope it’s not a sign of how we’re going to treat the rest of this road trip. We have to suck it up and get ready for Milwaukee, four games in three days, and they’re ALL must-win. We should have Hacker and Klippstein ready for the August 23rd double-header, but we need to get something good going for the first two games or we’re sunk.