[jksander]

APRIL 28, 1955 . . . Brooklyn has been on a downward slide the last week or so, so they’ve got a 5-9 record as we come into town for a three game set. But over the last couple years they’ve been one of the teams we’ve struggled against, so I’m not taking them lightly. Robert Diehl (2-0, 1.52 ERA, 23.2 IP, 17 K’s, 0.93 WHIP) is up in the rotation against Dodger starter Billy Loes (1-1, 4.12 ERA, 19.2 IP, 10 K’s, 1.37 WHIP). Brooklyn got a couple hits in the first two innings but was unable to get anywhere, and Loes shut us down completely in the first three innings, so the game was knotted 0-0 heading into the bottom of the third. Diehl gave up a pair of hits, a double and a single to Reese and Hodges, and Brooklyn got on the board 1-0 thanks to a groundout to first by Snyder. Campanella grounded out to third, moving Hodges to third, and Carl Furillo batted out to cener to end the inning with just the one run. Willie Mays got us a double with one out in the top of the fourth, our first hit of the game, but Loes struck out Maris and Banks to end the frame scoreless. A Del Crandall walk in the top of the fifth turned into a stranded runner thanks to a double play. But Diehl pitched admirably for us and kept it a 1-0 game heading into the top of the sixth. Alas, Loes was just having a much better time of it.

We had a grand total of four baserunners through seven innings, and only one came via the bat, and we went into the bottom of the seventh still trailing by the one run. Harry Dorish came in for the bottom of the eighth, the Dodgers still up 1-0, and he got us the three outs we needed to still give us a shot in the top of the ninth, and he was up first to bat in the inning. With Sandy Koufax coming in to warm up in case we prolonged the game, Roy Sievers came in to hit for Dorish, and Loes walked him! He walked Kaline as well, and Joe Collins came in to pinch hit for Deacon Jones as the Dodgers went to the bullpen, bringing in Russ Meyer (0-1, 7.71 ERA, 7 IP, 4 K’s, 1.39 WHIP) to try and save this one. Collins, with the count 2-2, took a line drive all the way into the left field corner, eking out a triple and stunning the home crowd by driving in two runs! Suddenly just like that we had a 2-1 lead! Mays flew out to center and Collins was picked off trying to make it home, but Roger Maris singled into left and then Banks flew out to center to end the frame. But we now had a chance! Collins stayed in to play first base, and Koufax came in to close it out. Frank Thomas got on base with an infield grounder, beating out the throw from third, and then he advanced to second on a wild pitch, but Bobby Morgan flew out to left for out number one. Jackie Robinson flew out to Banks at shortstop, bringing up pinch-hitter Solly Hemus, who flew out to Roger Maris in left, who made a spectacular diving catch to secure the ball -- Cubs win this one 2-1!

Diehl lasted seven innings with just five hits, two strikeouts, three walks and the one earned run, but he’d thrown 98 pitches and the pressure of trailing had him gassed. Harry Dorish came in for one inning and got the win, improving to 3-0, getting three outs via just FIVE PITCHES, and Koufax gave up a hit but kept it locked down as usual, earning his fourth save of the year as our bullpen remained perfect through 16 games! Dorish and Koufax have combined for 20 innings of work and have given up just 10 hits combined between them.

The Phillies kept chase, shutting out Milwaukee 9-0 this evening, to win their 14th game as former Cubs starter Don Newcombe pitched a five hitter. The Phillies have now won nine straight, and our upcoming series on their turf is starting to look like a hell of a set! In other news, we’ve signed lead scout John Dupuis to a four year extension, giving him a raise to $11,460 per year through 1959, and our team trainer Chris Dickey to a five year $8,380 extension that keeps him on staff through the 1960 season. Our Bench Coach and our 1B and 3B coaches are still in their contract year, but negotiations continue ... we may look for outside replacements in the offseason if contract talks continue to stall.

APRIL 29, 1955 . . . Camilo Pascual (1-1, 3.00 ERA, 12.0 IP, 7 K’s, 1.17 WHIP) got his third start of the year, facing Brooklyn starter Connie Johnson (2-1, 3.47 ERA, 23.1 IP, 10 K’s, 1.41 WHIP). Rosen and Kaline each hit doubles to start the top of the first, with Kaline making it around to home via an error, putting us quickly up 1-0. Mays and Maris flew out to center, but Rosen made it to third on the Maris out, with Ernie Banks up to the plate. Banks rocked the place with a two-run blast to left, putting us up 3-0 with his sixth homer of the season, and this one was definitely going our way! Carl Furillo doubled and then Frank Thomas hit a two-run blast to left in the bottom of the fourth inning to pull the Dodgers within a run, amd then Jackie Robinson hit a homer into the right field stands, tying the game 3-3 heading into the top of the fifth. Del Crandall put us back on top with a two run moonshot to left, putting us in the lead 5-3 in the top of the sixth, his fourth homer of the year. Pascual gave up a hit and then an error at short allowed Frank Thomas to reach second safely on a base hit by Bobby Morgan. A passed ball allowed Thomas and Morgan to both advance, putting two runners in scoring position, and we brought Harry Dorish in with just one out to try and save us in the high leverage situation. He loaded the bases by walking Jackie Robinson on purpose, then walked Monte Irvin on six pitches, driving in a run of Pascual’s which goes down as unearned for Dorish. He then struggled some more, walking in the tying run, Pee Wee Reese taking his base and sending Morgan in to score. That’s two “unearned” runs, but now Gil Hodges was at the plate, and Dorish was not looking good. A flyout to center got us out second out, however, and Roger Maris made a spectacular throw to Crandall at the plate, getting Jackie Robinson out by a nose. So we headed into the top of the seventh knotted 5-5, and Dorish will get a blown save despite not giving up a run of his own, with Tom Ferrick warming up to take over in the seventh regardless of the outcome of our at-bats.

Deacon Jones came in to hit for Dorish, striking out swinging. Kaline struck out as well, and Al Rosen batted out to right, sending us into the bottom of the seventh still tied 5-5. Ferrick came in for the first time this season, getting two outs, but he gave up a hit to start the inning and then Frank Thomas hit a two run blast to right, putting the Dodgers up 7-5 and ending our scoreless bullpen streak. With two outs in the top of the eighth, Ernie Banks singled to reach first, and Roy Sievers doubled to send both runners into scoring position. And Del Crandall hit a towering blast into the left field stands, his second high leverage homer of the game, giving him five homers on the year -- that trade’s paying off in spades! -- and we took an 8-7 lead, with Koufax warmed up in the bullpen! Danny Lynch got a hit into left to prolong the inning, and we brought Gene Baker in to pinch hit for Tom Ferrick, but he was unable to add any insurance, batting out to first to send us into the bottom of the inning. Koufax threw eight pitches and then gave up a double to Jackie Robinson, and then got a quick flyout from pinch hitter Sully Hemus, bringing up the top of the order. Pee Wee Reese took another walk, but Hodgess popped up to Koufax for out number two, bringing up Duke Snyder with two on and two outs. Koufax then slipped up, his slider not sliding and allowing Snyder to blast a line drive to right, scoring two to blow the lead, reaching second as the Dodgers took a 9-8 lead. Roy Campanella doubled to drive in a 10th run for the Dodgers, Furillo batted in another with a double, and then finally Koufax got the final out -- all this happened so fast we weren’t able to activate anyone else in the bullpen, he had to handle the damage himself. We went into the top of the ninth trailing by three, But this one wasn’t over! Kaline got an infield single and reached base safely, then Al Rosen doubled to put two in scoring position, with Willie Mays up to bat and no outs! Mays singled into left field, driving in a run to pull us within two, and then Maris and Banks flew out to right and center. Roy Sievers came to the plate with men on first and third, two outs, and flew out to left, ending this one as a 9-11 defeat featuring all the offense you could handle and then some.

Pascual only lasted 5.1 innings in this one, giving up eight hits with four strikeouts and five earned runs to start the bleeding, dropping his ERA to 3.63. Dorish blew the first save attempt but got us two outs -- still no earned runs for him, but he walked three and looked completely out of it. Tom Ferrick gave up two hits and two runs in his first outing, giving him a staggering 18.00 ERA, and Sandy Koufax blew his save attempt and fell to 0-1 on the season, giving up four hits and a walk for four earned runs, dropping his ERA to 2.92 through 12.1 innings of work. We were bound to have a game like this -- his WHIP is still 1.38, he just needs to work on putting fewer balls into play. The Dodgers outhit us 14-13 in this one. Del Crandall did his best to keep us fighting, hitting two homers for 5 RBIs, and Ernie Banks added a pair of hits for three runs and two RBIs. Al Kaline was solid as well, hitting three times and scoring twice. Kaline is hitting .311 in the leadoff spot, and Crandall has a spectacular .294/.368/.647 slug line through 51 plate appearances, with 0.8 WAR through his first 14 games, putting him on pace to more than double his best season’s output.
 
APRIL 30, 1955 . . . Our loss last night dropped us to 14-3 and allowed the Phillies, who beat Milwaukee 6-5 for their 9th win in a row, to move half a game up on us in the pennant race. Saul Rogovin (3-0, 2.19 ERA, 37.0 IP, 33 K’s, 0.84 WHIP) pitched this afternoon against Brookyln’s Sal Maglie (0-1, 1.62 ERA, 16.2 IP, 6 K’s, 0.78 WHIP) in another game we fully expect to be a pitcher’s battle. We shuffled the lineup around a bit today, and it paid off early, with Al Kaline getting a single in his first at bat, followed by an Al Rosen RBI double to put us up 1-0! Willie Mays hit a solo blast to right, his second of the year, to make it 3-0. Maris walked, and then Del Crandall hit a two-run blast of his own, homer number six on the year and his third in two days, to make it 5-0 and leave Maglie rocked -- 15 pitches, four hits, two homers, five runs, no outs. He got two strikeouts and a flyout with just one more hit to get out of the inning, but the damage was extensive and Rogovin getting a five run cushion seemed fatal from the start.

Whatever the coaches said to Maglie must have worked -- though his pitch count in the fourth inning was up into the 60s, he’d settled in well and had four strikeouts with just six hits, almost all the damage coming in the first inning. But Rogovin was on fire, none of the Brookyln batters could hit off him. And in the top of the fifth, Del Crandall hit ANOTHER two-run homer into the bleachers, making the score 7-0 and putting him alone in the lead for Cubs homers, with seven -- four of them in the last two games! If he keeps this up, Willie Mays has competition as he fights for an MVP threepeat. Maglie didn’t even make it into the sixth inning, but it didn’t matter. Rogovin blew his no-hitter in the bottom of the sixth with a hit by Jackie Robinson, but that didn’t matter much either. Willie Mays homered in the top of the seventh, his second this afternoon, and I don’t know what he’s eating, but get Del Crandall on a Wheaties box ... he hit a third homer, this one a solo to right, to make it 9-0! Ernie Banks hit his seventh of the year immediately after, making it 10-0 as the fans started throwing things onto the field in disgust. In the inning that wouldn’t end, Gene Baker hit a two-run homer to make it 12-0, before the exhausted Dodgers reliever finally got a strikeout to send us on our way. Seventh inning stretch, Cubs 12, Dodgers 0.

They got smart and walked Crandall in the top of the eighth, even though it meant loading the bases, and they got out of the inning without adding to the bloodbath. And in the bottom of the eighth, Jackie Robinson hit an RBI double to at least get the Dodgers on the board, but you could see he’s visably frustrated with the prospects of this team. Pinch hitter Sandy Amoros got an RBI single to make it 12-2, and they added a third run on a Pee Wee Reese flyout to center. But Duke Snyder struck out to end the rally, and Rogovin set them down quietly in the ninth to end this one as a 12-3 blowout win.

Rogovin pitched a complete game yet again, giving up just three hits with eight strikeouts and a pair of walks, his three earned runs bringing his ERA to 2.35 through 46 innings. But the real story of the night was the offense. We “only” outhit the Dodgers 12-3, but the home runs were flying like bombs into the outfield. Mays had two, Crandall had three, and Banks and Baker added one apiece, giving us seven four-baggers in one game ... that’s got to be some kind of record. Crandall and Banks have 15 homers between them, and Crandall is doing it while hitting for contact as well, with a .327/.403/.818 slug line and 24 RBIs. Tonight he drove in five RBIs on his own, while Mays added three and Baker two.

We now head to Philadelphia, where we have a doubleheader tomorrow and a third game on Monday against the 16-3 Phillies. Can we find a way to snap their 10-game win streak and get ourselves back into the NL lead? Here’s hoping our bats have something left to offer, because these Phillies are coming to play. They last made it to the World Series in 1950, and they’ve finished with 80+ wins in the last three seasons, never finishing above third place. Something about their team seems different, however, and I think this battle’s going to be fierce this year. Our boys getting back to the World Series is far from a given.