[jksander]

SEPTEMBER 19, 1953 . . . Willie Mays hit his 43rd homer of the year to drive in the first two runs of the game in the first inning! Jackson added an RBI double in the top of the second to make it 3-0, and Vinegar Bend Mizell helped us walk the bases loaded just in time for Willie Mays to come back up for the second time ... but this time he flew out to center, ending the inning. Jackson batted in another run in the top of the sixth to make it 4-0, and in the top of the seventh Ernie Banks hit a sac-fly to center, allowing Cavarretta to score our fifth run. And Clyde McCullough sealed it with a three-run homer to put us up 8-0. Hacker spoiled the shutout in the bottom of the ninth, but he got three quick outs after the run scored to seal the 8-1 win and keep our pennant hopes alive.

Hacker improved to 27-7 with a 2.31 ERA, giving up just seven hits with an earned run, with six strikeouts and no walks. Cavarretta had three hits with two runs scored, while Randy Jackson added three hits with two RBIs and Clyde McCullough racked up two runs and three RBIs thanks to a hit and a walk. Willie Mays also hit twice, scoring two and batting in two thanks to his home run.

SEPTEMBER 20, 1953 . . . This afternoon St. Louis got on the board first, as Klippstein had trouble finding his rhythm. But he got two strikeouts to end the inning and we had to hope he’d settle in after that. Ernie Banks scored a run on an error to tie it up in the top of the fifth, with Hank Sauer managing to make it to second with just one out, but we weren’t able to get the go-ahead run. But we gave up the go-ahead ourselves in the bottom of the inning thanks to a ridiculous wild pitch. Klippstein kept us in the game, but our offensive struggles were real this afternoon, and we simply could not get that run back. St. Louis shut us down and beat us 2-1, ending our winning streak and putting our pennant dreams in doubt.

Klippstein fell to 15-5 with this loss, though his ERA remains strong at 3.20 thanks to eight innings of four-hit two run ball. He also had seven strikeouts against just one walk, throwing 110 pitches. St. Louis outhit us 4-3 in a real duel -- Sauer had a hit and an RBI, Banks had a walk and a run scored, and Fondy and Mays each added a hit. That was all we could muster.

Milwaukee’s win streak remains intact as we fell to three games back. Brooklyn officially has been eliminated from the pennant race, and Milwaukee now controls their destiny. They can clinch with three more wins, and for us to win they’d need to lose three of four remaining games and we’d need to win out.
 
SEPTEMBER 21, 1953 . . . Willie Mays hit a sac-fly to right, driving Dee Fondy in to score our first run of the night in the top of the first, but Bob Rush gave up a two run homer in the bottom of the third to give the Cardinals back the lead. And our bats were dead silent the rest of the way. The Cardinals scored a third run in the bottom of the eighth, and we left two runners stranded in the ninth as we lost this one, our second in a row, by a 3-1 margin. And that, folks, should pretty much end any hope of us getting the pennant this year.

Rush fell to 14-12 on the year with a 3.94 ERA, giving up six hits and three runs with a strikeout and four walks. Consuegra came in to get the last two outs of the eighth inning, giving up a hit and a walk but it was already too late regardless. Our bats have gone silent at exactly the wrong time. Willie Mays had our only RBI of the night with a single hit, and Dee Fondy got a hit and scored that run. Insanely we were able to outhit the Cardinals 8-7, but six of those hits were left stranded and we never managed to get any walks either, adding to the pressure on Rush to be perfect (or close to).

SEPTEMBER 22, 1953 . . . Milwaukee didn’t clinch because they lost this afternoon to St. Louis 3-4. But now they can clinch with just two wins out of their final three games. We have five games left and no margin for error.

SEPTEMBER 23, 1953 . . . Don Newcombe came in to start this final game at Cincinnati. The Reds got on the board first in the bottom of the first inning, going up 1-0, but Sauer hit a two-run blast to right in the top of the second to put us up 2-1. Cincinnati tied it up 2-2 in the bottom of the third, and Paul Minner came in with no one out in the bottom of the sixth with two men on, getting us out of the jam with a double play and a strikeout to keep it tied up. Minner kept us locked in, but we still couldn’t string together any hits. Top of the ninth, still tied 2-2, we came up with the top of our lineup. Finally Fondy got a single into left field, but Cavarretta hit into a double play to erase it like it never happened. Willie Mays singled to right with two outs, but Ernie Banks struck out. But again Minner kept us in the game, forcing extra innings with three quick outs.

We loaded the bases in the top of the 11th with two outs and then Ernie Banks flew out to right. Sandy Consuegra came in to pitch in the bottom of the inning and got a strikeout, gave up a base hit, and then got a force-out at second. A flyout to left later and we were heading for more.

Top of the 13th: Randy Jackson gets a single to right and Consuegra, still in it, sac-bunts to get Jackson to second. Dee Fondy flies out to first, driving Jackson to third, and ... OH MY GOD! FINALLY! Jackson gets home thanks to a wild pitch, and we’re up 3-2! Cavarretta walked, then Willie Mays got hit by a pitch while they were trying to throw low and inside, but then Ernie Banks grounded into first to end the inning with just the one run lead. Would it be enough? Sandy Consuegra got a quick out in the bottom of the 13th, but then let two runners reach base, so I had to bring Fred Baczewski in to stop the bleeding. He got the second out, catching the runner advancing to second on a fielder’s choice, leaving runners on first and third with two outs. A fly out to right and we did it! We won this one in 13 innings by a 3-2 margin!

Newcombe threw five innings of six-hit ball, giving up two runs with three strikeouts and a walk, while Minner then came in to throw five innings with no hits, three strikeouts and a walk to get us through the tenth inning still tied. Sandy Consuegra wound up taking the win, making it through 2.1 innings with three hits a strikeout and a walk, and Baczewski got his first save of the year, getting two outs with no hits, walks or strikeouts to close the game out. Cincinnati outhit us 9-8 but we kept fighting and wore them down in the end. Sauer was, of course, the hero with his one hit, one run scored and two RBIs, and Chapman and Jackson each had a run themselves. Fondy, in the leadoff position, kept his hit streak alive with two hits in six at-bats but never made it around to score.

SEPTEMBER 25, 1953 . . . Today we had a double-header, starting with the resumed game which began months ago against the Cardinals. We start out in the bottom of the seventh knotted 1-1, leading the Cards 6-3 in hits to this point. Warren Hacker gets to first on an error, and Fondy takes the perfect opportunity to put us up 3-1 thanks to a two-run homer, his 11th of the season! Cavarretta and Mays each singled, and then Ernie Banks loaded the bases with a single of his own, setting up Sauer at the plate with just one out. Sauer flew out to left but allowed a fourth run to score, and Randy Jackson was hit by a pitch which allowed another! By the time McCullough flew out to end the inning we were now up 5-1 in a game that had been sitting tied up for months! Warren Hacker closed out his game perfectly and we won in the end 5-1, improving Hacker’s record to 28-7 with a 2.30 ERA. In this game, including the stats that had held over, he finished with a complete game seven hit one run record, with 10 strikeouts against a pair of walks. Cavarretta, Mays and Banks each had two hits, and we out-slugged the Cardinals 10-7.

Klippstein came out to pitch in our one full game of the double-header, and in that game the Cards got out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first thanks to a triple off the second pitch of the night putting them in scoring position. Klippstein kept us in the game, but it was as if we’d used up all our allowed runs on the three-inning first game and had nothing left to get back in this one. But FINALLY in the bottom of the seventh, Randy Jackson delivered a solo homer to center field, tying the score 1-1. Vern Fear came in with one out in the ninth after a half-hour rain delay that finally ended Klippstein’s night, and he successfully got a double play to end the inning with the score still tied 1-1. In the bottom of the ninth, Mays and Banks eached safely reached their base, bringing up Kenneth Chapman with no outs and a chance to walk this one off. But he hit into a double play, leaving it to McCullough to safely single through the gap to drive the winning run home! We beat the Cardinals 2-1, earning our 93rd win and still staying in the hunt for the pennant until someone says they won’t let us anymore.

Klippstein finished with 8.1 innings and only seven hits with four strikeouts and a pair of walks, bringing his ERA down to 3.13 for the year. But Vern Fear took the win, improving to 3-1 with a 4.45 ERA, giving up a hit but getting two outs successfully. We outhit the Cardinals 8-6, but it was a team effort, with Fondy, Cavarretta, Banks, McCullough and Jackson getting hits.

We have two games left against St. Louis here at home on September 26 and 27. Milwaukee has two games left against Cincinnati on the road September 26 and 27. We trail the Braves by two games, meaning they need to lose both and we need to win both in order to force a playoff game to determine a winner.