[jksander]

MAY 24, 1955 . . . After Dobson’s abrupt retirement, we’ve called up left fielder Joe Brovia, age 33, for a shot at continuing his career in the majors. He’s a career minor leaguer, having had just 27 at-bats last year for the Red Sox before being traded here late in the season. Robert Diehl (7-0, 1.21 ERA, 74.1 IP, 35 K’s, 0.82 WHIP) pitched this afternoon against Ron Kline (2-4, 2.79 ERA, 42.0 IP, 18 K’s, 0.93 WHIP). Al Kaline scored a run for us in the bottom of the first, off a flyout by Banks to center, giving us a 1-0 lead after the first inning. In the bottom of the third, Maris doubled and then Willie Mays singled to left, allowing Maris to go to third and birnging up Robinson, who hit a deep shot into left, coming out with an two-RBI double to make it 3-0! Ernie Banks popped out to first but Robinson was ready, taking third quickly. Del Crandall hit an RBI double himself to make it 4-0, giving us a healthy cushion heading into the fourth inning. Willie Mays saved a possible two-run homer at the warning track in the top of the fourth and we finished the frame with a double play. Ernie Banks hit his 10th homer this year, putting us up 5-0 with two outs in the bottom of the fifth. Diehl completed the game, finishing the 5-0 win on a double play, completely stumping the Cardinals in the shutout victory.

Diehl is now 8-0 through 10 starts, throwing a three hitter today with five strikeouts and a walk. His ERA is now 1.08 through 83.1 innings and if he can keep up this level of pitching, there’s no one in his league in the NL right now. We had eight hits, led by Mays who had two hits (one of them his homer), scoring a run, while Robinson and Banks each had a hit, a walk and two runs batted in.

MAY 25, 1955 . . . Saul Rogovin (6-2, 2.37 ERA, 79.2 IP, 75 K’s, 0.87 WHIP) pitched against Dean Stone (2-2, 3.18 ERA, 45.1 IP, 17 K’s, 1.26 WHIP) in our second game against the Cardinals. Rogovin had eight strikeouts with one out in the top of the fourth, but he gave up a hit and a walk and then Ray Jablonski hit his second homer of the year and suddenly it was St. Louis leading 3-0. He struck out his ninth man and got a flyout to end the inning, but we were going to need to back him up with some runs! Rogovin put on a goddamned clinic out there, striking out the side in the fifth, but Gene Stone was just as good, taking a no-hitter through the sixth. Rogovin tied the Cubs regular season record of 13 strikeouts with a fanned batter to end the top of the seventh, and he broke the record in the top of the eighth, adding three strikeouts around a pair of hits. But our bats were still completely silent -- though Mays had broken the no-no in the seventh with a hit, it had been our only one. A clearly frustrated Rogovin stayed in and finished the ninth inning, but we went into the bottom of the last frame trailing still by three runs. Roy Sievers got a hit in place of Rogovin with one out, but Kaline struck out swinging and Maris popped up to the second baseman, ending this incredibly disappointing 3-0 shutout loss.

Rogovin fell to 6-3 with the loss, giving up four hits in nine innings with 16 STRIKEOUTS against a single walk, but that three-run homer killed him. That may be one of the most brutal losses I’ve experienced as a manager. Maris and Sievers had our only hits, and even two walks couldn’t help us manufacture anything.

MAY 26, 1955 . . . Camilo Pascual (4-2, 3.04 ERA, 47.1 IP, 43 K’s, 1.18 WHIP) pitched in the rubber match tonight against St. Louis’ Bob Grim (1-6, 4.37 ERA, 57.2 IP, 22 K’s, 1.61 WHIP). Willie Mays hit a 380 footer into the left field stands to put us up 1-0 with his 11th homer of the season in the bottom of the first. Jackie Robinson then hit his ninth of the year, back to back blasts to make it a 2-0 lead! St. Louis got a run back in the top of the third, and Pascual gave up the tying run via an RBI single by Bill Sarni, tying things at 2-2 in the top of the fourth. Roger Maris hit an RBI single through the gap into center in the bottom of the fifth to put us back up 3-2 and Mays hit a double to drive Roger Maris round the horn to score, making it 4-2 thanks to a no-throw by the right fielder. They walked Robinson to give us two men on, and Ernie Banks hit a line drive to left, collecting his 25th RBI this year as Mays came around to score! By the time they finally got that final out, we’d built a 5-2 lead out of a tie. Pascual hit a sac fly to center that allowed a run to score, putting us up 6-2 in the bottom of the sixth, and I brought Bob Purkey in to throw in the seventh. Purkey stayed in and closed out the game, maintaining our four run lead with a three-inning save as we beat the Cardinals 6-2 here at home.

Pascual improved to 5-2 with a 3.04 ERA, lasting six innings with five hits, eight strikeouts, a walk and the two earned runs. Purkey dominated through three innings, collecting his first save as a Cub and fourth of the season, with no hits or walks and a single strikeout. Mays led the team with two hits, two runs and two RBIs, while Banks had two hits for an RBI and Robinson had a hit and a walk for a run and an RBI.