[jksander]

JULY 9, 1954 . . . Robert Diehl (7-3, 2.97 ERA, 94.0 IP, 44 K’s, 1.11 WHIP) will pitch today against St. Louis’ Vinegar Bend Mizell (12-5, 2.20 ERA, 163.1 IP, 120 K’s, 1.18 WHIP) who is having himself a Cy Young caliber year, having won nearly a third of his team’s games this year. I feared for our bats coming into this one, and for Diehl if we couldn’t give him any support. Sure enough, St. Louis found their way to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second off a two-run single by Mizell himself, and this looked to be a long game from there. Ernie Banks got a single into right that drove Al Rosen in to score a run with two outs in the top of the fourth, and Carmen Mauro got one into left on an error by the Cardinals at shortstop that loaded the bases! Diehl made solid contact but was easily out at right to end the inning, but we at least got ourselves within a run heading into the bottom of the inning. Bill Serena pinch hit for Carmen Mauro in the top of the sixth, driving in two runs to give us a 3-2 lead, and suddenly this game was a battle. A flyout to center scored a run from third to tie the game 3-3 in the bottom of the inning, but Frank Baumholtz got us the lead back in the top of the eighth, driving a hit deep into the left corner to drive in two runs via a triple! Vern Fear came in to pitch in the bottom of the eighth, but he was injured getting his first out, and we had to bring in Tom Ferrick to pitch immediately with Consuegra warming up. Ferrick got the two outs he needed under intense pressure, and with the lead still at two runs, Consuegra came in to close in the bottom of the ninth. It only took him nine pitches to get the three batters out via contact and we held tough to upend the Cardinals 5-3!

Vern Fear looks to be day to day, with what he is describing as back pain. He got an out on one pitch and got a hold, but I’m concerned about his fragility. Hopefully he’s back and ready to play when we need him. Diehl improved to 8-3 with the huge win, giving up seven hits and three earned runs while striking out three and walking one through seven innings, his ERA slipping slightly to 3.02. Tom Ferrick earned his second hold this year, getting two outs with no hits, improving his ERA to 4.26. And Consuegra saved his 15th game of the year with three quick flyouts, improving his ERA to 1.80 on the year. We outhit St. Louis 9-7, led by Cavarretta who had two hits. Ernie Banks came in for Chapman in the fourth and wound up with a hit, two runs scored and a run batted in that helped get us back in this one. Rosen, Howard and Mays each scored runs as well.

JULY 10, 1954 . . . We’ve sent Bob Shaw down to AAA so he can get more development time, as we have also signed free agent reliever Jim Konstanty, formerly of the Chicago White Sox, who will be stepping into our bullpen having signed a $57,000 contract for the current season. The 37-year-old isn’t expected to be a long-term addition to the team, but should give us a touch more depth out of the bullpen so we don’t rush Shaw’s development too much right out of the gate. Tonight we’ve got Hy Cohen (7-5, 3.85 ERA, 107.2 IP, 64 K’s, 1.11 WHIP) going up against the Cardinals’ Tommy Byrne (3-6, 4.87 ERA, 98.0 IP, 54 K’s, 1.63 WHIP) in game two of our three-game set.

Hy Cohen gave up a homer to Ray Jablonski on just his second pitch of the evening, but the game was a scorcher from a pitching perspective from there. By the time Frank Baumholtz got our first hit in the top of the fifth it was only the third hit of the game for either team. And a Clyde McCullough two-run homer later in the same inning gave us a 2-1 lead on the Cardinals and totally silenced the crowd via his fourth homer of the season. Kaline legged out a triple with one out in the top of the sixth, and Gene Baker followed it with a two-run blast over the wall at left to make it 4-1 Cubs, his sixth homer this year! Baumholtz took a walk to load the bases, still with just one out, and Kenneth Chapman hit one into left to score another. Carmen Mauro walked to drive in our fourth run of the inning, and by the time Hy Cohen batted out to center we had built a 6-1 lead on the Cards. St. Louis got a solo homer in the bottom of the sixth thanks to Andy Carey to pull within four, but Cohen had been sharp all night -- that was only his third hit given up all game through six, and it didn’t matter anyway since we got the run back in the top of the seventh off a solo blast by Al Rosen, his 15th of the year. The Cardinals scored a run again in the bottom of the seventh to pull within four yet again, but Cohen kept them from doing any damage in the eighth, coming in to finish the game off in the bottom of the ninth with the four run lead still intact. He gave up a triple and a run scored on a sac-fly to left, but a fly-out at center ended the game and we’d held tough to preserve the 7-4 victory!

Cohen improved to 8-5 with the complete game win, giving up four earned runs off just five hits, with four strikeouts and four walks, keeping his ERA at 3.86. We had nine hits to their five, with Kaline and Rosen each getting a pair of hits, and Baker and McCullough each notching homers and two RBIs. Rosen and Baumholtz each scored two runs as well.

The win improves our record to 60-26 with one game left before the All Star break as we continue to outright dominate the NL. All-Star rosters bear out how thoroughly we have dominated -- the following Cubs made the list:

SP Warren Hacker
SP Johnny Klippstein (INJURED)
RP Harry Dorish
CL Sandy Consuegra
1B Phil Cavarretta
SS Ernie Banks
CF Willie Mays
RF Al Kaline

I was surprised Al Rosen didn’t make the cut, but we’re definitely well represented!

JULY 11, 1954 . . . Everyone’s happy about a chance to relax a bit after today, take a couple days off, except all our All Stars who will be putting in more work to pay the fans back for all their support. This afternoon in St. Louis, Joe Dobson (2-1, 3.51 ERA, 25.2 IP, 14 K’s, 1.17 WHIP) took the mound against Dick Tomanek (1-0, 1.29 ERA, 7.0 IP, 4 K’s, 1.14 WHIP), the 23-year-old prospect St. Louis just acquired from Cleveland in a recent trade. Elston Howard got a hit in the top of the second that went deep into center, batting in Rosen and Banks to give us a nice 2-0 advantage early. But St. Louis struck back, getting a run back with no outs off a pair of doubles, though Dobson was alert and was able to get us out of the inning via a groundout and a double play, maintaining a one run lead heading into the third inning. Wally Moon got an RBI double to tie the game in the bottom of the third, but Ernie Banks hit a solo homer in the top of the fourth, his 13th of the year, to put us back up 3-2. We loaded the bases in the top of the sixth with just one out, and Bill Serena came in to pinch hit for Dobson, keeping the bases loaded though they made the throw successfully to home, preventing a score. And Kaline batted out to center, ending the inning with all runners stranded and the lead still 3-2 as Dorish came in to keep the lead safe. And Roger Maris bought us a bunch of insurance, hitting a three-run blast to right, his sixth of the year, to push the lead to 6-2 in the top of the seventh! Tom Ferrick came in with two outs and a man on first in the bottom of the eighth, successfully getting the final out to send us into the ninth up four runs. Ferrick stayed in for the bottom of the ninth and closed things out perfectly as we swept the Cardinals with a 6-2 victory.

Dobson has been solid since the trade from Boston, improving to 3-1 with a 3.52 ERA thanks to five innings of six hit ball, walking three batters and giving up two runs. Harry Dorish earned his fifth hold, a 2.2 inning one hit two strikeout two walk effort, as his ERA continues to shrink to 1.40! And Ferrick finished things out perfectly, pitching 1.1 innings with no hits and a walk, improving his ERA to 3.98 on the season through 20.1 innings. We outhit them 11-7 tonight, with Elston Howard hitting three times and batting in two runs, while Mays, Banks and Rosen each had a pair of knocks. Roger Maris hit only once, the homer, but it batted in three, giving him 26 RBIs this year -- he slugs well, but has struggled to keep his average above .200, but I think he’s proven himself worthy of the opportunities. He has the skills to be an All Star, and his speed on the basepaths coupled with his rapidly improving fielding ability out in left make him a valuable piece of our future.