[jksander]

MAY 20, 1955 . . . In Milwaukee this evening we started Saul Rogovin (6-1, 2.44 ERA, 73.2 IP, 70 K’s, 0.86 WHIP) against Braves ace Johnny Antonelli (3-4, 3.80 ERA, 66.1 IP, 45 K’s, 1.16 WHIP). Kaline hit a double right off the bat in the top of the first, but they got a quick pair of outs to bring up Robinson, who struck out swinging. Gene Baker singled in the top of the third, moving to second on a Rogovin sac-bunt and then to third on a passed ball, with Kaline then walking to give us two on with one out. Maris popped up to Antonelli and Mays struck out, however, keeping it scoreless. And so it went, another taut pitching battle. Jackie Robinson got a hit with two outs in the top of the sixth, successfully stole second, and then was left stranded when Ernie Banks batted out to short. And they finally broke it open with a homer off Rogovin, the first hit he’d surrendered all game long, Bill Bruton’s fourth homer of the year putting the Braves up 1-0 in the bottom of the sixth. He gave up two more hits in the inning but did not surrender more runs, and we started warming Harry Dorish so he’d be ready to pitch after the stretch. Willie Mays got an infield hit in the top of the eighth, taking second on a wild pitch, but Robinson grounded out to first, putting pressure on Dorish to keep us within one run. He did his job, and we came up in the top of the ninth needing SOMETHING to happen on offense to give us a shot. And it didn’t happen. All three of our batters (Banks, Candall and Rosen) batted out and we lost game one to the Braves 1-0.

Saul Rogovin only gave up three hits through six innings, but the homer was enough. He struck out five, walked three, and his ERA slipped to 2.37 thanks to the earned run. Harry Dorish came in for two innings of one-hit ball, throwing a strikeout and continuing to be a lights-out pitcher, with a 1.06 ERA now through 17 innings. We outhit them 5-4 and had three walks but couldn’t get anyone in to score, though Robinson certainly tried -- he hit twice and stole a base, his third steal in four tries since becoming a Cub.

MAY 21, 1955 . . . Camilo Pascual (4-2, 3.35 ERA, 43.0 IP, 38 K’s, 1.14 WHIP) pitched this afternoon against Warren Spahn (3-3, 4.04 ERA, 55.2 IP, 19 K’s, 1.24 WHIP). Al Rosen hit his sixth homer of the year, a solo blast to right in the top of the second, to give us a 1-0 lead on the Braves, and Pascual got us through the second inning with that lead intact, though he’d thrown 47 pitches through two innings, looking a lot wilder than during the complete game he threw in his last outing. Willie Mays got a hit into left in the top of the third, an RBI triple that put us up 2-0, and Pascual got us through another decent inning, though it was becoming clear a five inning effort was likely to be a good one in his case. Good for us, then, that we have a very deep bullpen.

Bob Purkey wound up coming in with one out and a man on first in the bottom of the fifth, with Pascual at over 90 pitches and with his nerves raw. Purkey got two quick outs in the fifth to keep them scoreless, and he proved to be well-matched for long relief, barely breaking a sweat in getting us out of the sixth as well. Roger Maris hit a solo tater into the center field bleachers, his fourth homer this year, and we went into the stretch leading 3-0. And Al Rosen added a solo blast of his own in the top of the eighth to make it 4-0, giving him his seventh of the year. Purkey came out for the bottom of the eighth as well, but a base hit and an an erroneous throw from third to first put runners on base, and we had to bring in Koufax to prevent a collapse. Unfortunately he walked the bases loaded and then gave up a hit into right field, scoring two runs, but he got us out of the inning without further incident. Maris doubled to start the top of the ninth, reaching third on a Mays flyout to right. They walked Jackie Robinson, but Ernie Banks then hit into a double play, sending us into the bottom of the ninth, up two. Koufax stayed in for a second inning of relief, and that turned out to be a disaster. He loaded the bases, and we brought Sandy Consuegra into the high leverage situation to try and prevent the Braves from stealing this from us. A flyout to center held the runners, and then he got an infield hit, letting the runner reach first and making the pickoff play successfully at home plate ... the bases still loaded, but now with two outs, their batter hit a weak popup to right field and we’d done it! Consuegra saved the day and we pulled out the 4-2 road win!

Pascual lasted just 4.1 innings, giving up only three hits, but striking out five against four walks. So though he had given up no runs, he’d thrown 91 pitches and therefore I couldn’t keep him out there. Bob Purkey came in for 2.2 innings in his Cubs debut, giving up one hit, with three walks and two runs (one earned) to earn the win, starting out 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA. Koufax got a hold, lasting one inning with two hits and three uncharacteristic walks in the ninth that got him no outs, but thanks to Consuegra his ERA improved to 1.57 as no one scored. Consuegra got the three outs without a hit, earning his third save of 1955 and keeping his ERA perfect, though he’s only thrown 4.2 innings this year. We outhit them 9-6, led by Al Rosen with three hits for two runs and two RBIs, while Mays got a hit and a walk and batted in two runs. Roger Maris also had a good day with two hits for a run and an RBI.

MAY 22, 1955 . . . Time for the rubber match of this road series! Hy Cohen (6-4, 1.87 ERA, 82.0 IP, 63 K’s, 0.74 WHIP) is up in the rotation, ready to go out and outpitch Milwaukee’s Bob Turley (2-5, 6.48 ERA, 41.2 IP, 32 K’s, 1.90 WHIP), as “Bullet Bob” tries to settle in to Milwaukee after playing for us and Boston last year. We took advantage of poor control from Turley early, getting easy hits for Kaline and Maris to put two aboard just minutes after first pitch. Mays walked to load the bases, and Ernie Banks got a sac-fly that scored a run, giving us a 1-0 lead with two outs. Del Crandall batted out to center, but six minutes in and we held a 1-0 lead on the Braves. In the top of the fourth, Jackie Robinson was walked, but he stole a base moments later, and they walked Del Crandall to fill the open base. Al Rosin hit a single into right to load the bases with one out, and Gene Baker walked in a run to put us up 2-0! Turley walked Hy Cohen as well, making it 3-0, and Al Kaline got a hit into left field over the head of the shortstop, driving in another and keeping the bases loaded! Maris walked in ANOTHER run, and then surely Turley made his last mistake of the night, giving a perfect fastball to Willie Mays for a grand salami home run! We took a 9-0 lead, and yes, they had to bring in someone from the bullpen, with Robinson around to bat for a second time in the inning and still only one out on the board. Robinson and Crandall flew out to end the inning, with a hit in between for Ernie Banks, and this one was a bloutout midway through the fourth thanks in no small part to Willie Mays’ ninth homer of the season. The Braves got a run on the board in the bottom of the fourth, but Willie Mays hit a three-run blast in the top of the eighth, and Jackie Robinson hit his 8th of the year moments later to make it 13-1. Hy Cohen completed his game, and we won this one by a dozen.

Cohen improved to 7-4 on the year in his 11th start, giving up just six hits with nine strikeouts, no walks and one run, giving him a 1.78 ERA through 91 innings, his seventh complete game of the season. We scored 13 runs on just 11 hits, and our fearless leader was Willie “Say Hey” Mays, who had two homers with seven RBIs, walking three more times as well! He now has 10 homers this year, just over a quarter of the way through the season, batting .322 with a .625 slugging percentage, on track for nearly 12 WAR! Kaline, Maris and Banks each had two hits as well.

After a day off, we return to Wrigley for three at home against St. Louis (13-23) and three against Milwaukee (13-24) before playing a doubleheader at St. Louis on the 30th that starts a road trip that sends us through Philly (27-12), the Giants (15-26), Pittsburgh (19-22) and Brooklyn (14-22) over a two week stretch. Philly is just 3.5 games back, so our lead is certainly not safe by any means. In the AL, Cleveland (23-13) has a one game lead on Washington (23-15) and a 1.5 game lead on New York (21-14) and Boston (23-16), with Detroit (18-18) still scrapping for a shot despite a -23 Run Dif. We, meanwhile, are 31-9 and, with our +125 Run Dif, we are clobbering teams whwn we can hit. But we’re just 6-5 in one run games, so pitching duels have killed us.

MAY 23, 1955 . . . Joe Dobson has abruptly decided to end his career, effective immediately. The 38-year old has a 1-0 record and a 6.35 ERA through 5.2 innings over two appearances this year. Through 15 seasons in the majors broken up by a three year stretch in World War II, Dobson has played with us, Boston, the White Sox and Cleveland, putting together a 162-124 record with 17 saves, a 3.64 ERA and nearly 1,200 K’s, giving him a 1.32 WHIP, 40.5 career WAR and a career ERA+ of 109. Whether he’s done enough to make the Hall of Fame will depend on the baseball press, but regardless, he’s had an amazing career. I tried to talk him into finishing the season, but he says he wants to spend time with his family, and he’s felt for a while that he’s been holding younger players back from getting a major league shot. And though I have to respect his decision, we’re certainly going to miss his leadership in the clubhouse.