[jksander]

JUNE 7, 1955 . . . Seven road games left before we get ourselves a two week, 14-game set back at Wrigley. So far we’re 6-2 on this road trip, with a 41-13 record, so we’re doing very well. But Philly’s nipping at our heels, and this has the feeling of a season where the slightest misstep can provide the momentum a rival needs. If this is a year where two NL teams put up 100+ wins, I don’t want it to be the year the Cubs miss out on the World Series while winning 100+.

Hy Cohen (10-4, 1.54 ERA, 117.0 IP, 99 K’s, 0.73 WHIP) started today’s game against Pittsburgh’s Johnny Kucks (4-4, 3.68 ERA, 78.1 IP, 21 K’s, 1.31 WHIP). We got things going quickly in the top of the first -- Al Kaline hit a single to start the game, then Maris hit a double to drive Kaline to third. Willie Mays ground out to first, scoring Kaline, and then Jackie Robinson hit a triple that almost left the park, driving home run number two! Ernie Banks flew out to right, driving in our third run and we went into the bottom of the first with a 3-0 cushion already for Cohen. Del Crandall hit a solo blast in the top of the fourth to put us up 4-0, his 12th four-bagger of the year, The Pirates got on the board with a solo homer of their own by Rocky Colavito, but though Cohen let two runners into scoring position in the bottom of the sixth, the Pirates blew their chance to add runs as our ace remained locked in to get the final outs. We went into the top of the seventh still up 4-1, and in the bottom of the ninth Cohen gave up only his fourth hit of the game, a triple, allowing a groundout to first to score the Pirates’ second run of the night. They got one more hit out of him and then a flyout to right ended the game as a 4-2 Cubs victory.

Cohen improved to 11-4 with a five hit, six strikeout two run game, keeping his ERA at 1.57 on the season as he completed yet another game on his own, throwing just 116 pitches. We outhit the Pirates 10-5, led by Kaline with three hits and a run scored and by Crandall, who hit three times for a run and an RBI. Maris hit twice for a run on the ground, and Jackie Robinson had a hit for a run and an RBI. Mays has proven to be able to take whatever a team throws at him and make it work on the basepaths, with five doubles, five triples and seven homers since joining our team this spring. He’s also stolen six bases in eight tries, putting up 1.2 WAR in 35 games.

JUNE 8, 1955 . . . Robert Diehl (8-2, 1.66 ERA, 97.1 IP, 46 K’s, 0.79 WHIP) hasn’t had the best luck in his last couple games, but he started tonight’s game ready to put all that behind him and have a great performance. He’ll be up against Pittsburgh’s Dick Hall (4-8, 2.92 ERA, 95.2 IP, 37 K’s, 1.22 WHIP). Pittsburgh got on the board first with a run in the bottom of the first, Rip Repulski flying out to left but allowing Ken Boyer, who walked and reached second on a wild pitch, to come all the way around for an unearned run. Maris got himself a double in the top of the fourth, reaching third on a groundout by Mays to first, at which point Jackie Robinson hit a homer over the right field wall just inside fair territory, putting us in the lead 2-1! That was Robinson’s 11th homer of the year! Robinson got a sharp hit into center field in the top of the sixth, loading the bases, but we couldn’t get anyone in to score. But Diehl was locked in after that single walk in the first, the only baserunner he allowed in the first six innings, and we went into the top of the seventh still leading 2-1. Diehl allowed a second baserunner in the bottom of the seventh thanks to a botched catch by Rosen, which allowed Dale Long to reach second on an error. With one out, Rocky Colavito hit a towering homer to left field, blowing Diehl’s no-hitter and putting Pittsburgh back up 3-2. He finished the inning with a hit and two more strikeouts, and it was time for our bats to give him some support. Al Kaline got a walk to start the inning, and Jackie Robinson came up huge again with two outs, hitting a second homer, this one a two-run blast to left, that put us back ahead 4-3! Dorish stayed out and got three quick contact outs, bringing us up to bat, top of the ninth, with a one run lead and a chance to buy some insurance. Del Crandall got a hit into right field, and AL Rosen walked, giving us a man in scoring position and no outs. Bob Purkey came in to hit for Gene Baker and take over at second base, hitting a slow groundout at first that allowed both runners to advance. With Consuegra ready to come in for the save, we pinch hit Roy Sievers for Diehl, and he hit a sac-fly to right, driving in an insurance run! Kaline then got a hit that bounced off the wall at center, missing being a homer by maybe five feet, an RBI double that put us up 6-3! Strikeout, groundout, flyout and boom, Consuegra got us through the final inning with ease and we stumped the Pirates 6-3!

Diehl improved to 9-2 with an eight inning two hitter, striking out five against one walk and giving up three runs (two earned) to keep his ERA at 1.71 while throwing 105 pitches. Consuegra earned his fourth save of the year, striking out one batter and keeping his ERA perfect through 10 innings of work. We outhit the Pirates 9-2, with Robinson dominating offensively with three hits (two homers!) for two runs and four RBIs. Kaline and Maris each had two hits for a run apiece, with Kaline batting in one as well.

Joe Collins has signed a one year extension to remain one of our top pinch-hitting options off the bench, with a slight raise to $33,200 on his contract for next season. We also signed left fielder Charlie Maxwell to join our major league roster as an additional pinch-hitting option -- he has great power and discipline at the plate, and though he’s not a great fielder, he’ll be a good option to have late in games. Though he’s had a few cups of coffee at the major league level, the 28-year-old is still looking for his first real break since Boston released him in 1953. He’ll be replacing Joe Brovia on our bench starting with tomorrow’s final game in Pittsburgh. He’ll make the major league minimum for the remainder of the year ($9,900) and if we like what we see, we can extend him this fall.

JUNE 9, 1955 . . . Camilo Pascual (7-2, 2.45 ERA, 66.0 IP, 64 K’s, 1.08 WHIP) pitched the final game of the Pittsburgh series, up against Don Bessent (3-2, 2.47 ERA, 62.0 IP, 27 K’s, 1.24 WHIP). Pascual struggled in the second inning, giving up three hits and a walk, the last hit an RBI single that scored two runs. Another RBI, this time a double, scored two more, and we went into the top of the third trailing 4-0 with Pascual already having thrown 40 pitches. Pascual gave up a solo homer to Joe Garagiola to make it 5-0 in the bottom of the third, but Gene Baker finally got us on the board with a solo homer to right, his seventh of the year, to make it a 5-1 ballgame in the top of the fifth. Pascual reached base on a fielding error, but Roger Maris hit into an inning-ending double play to stop the rally in its tracks. Pascual gave up another solo homer, again to Garagiola, to make it 6-1 and bringing in Bob Purkey with the hook, two outs, no one on, bottom of the fifth. Jackie Robinson reached first on a throwing error, and then stole second, giving us a runner in scoring position with just one out. Ernie Banks got a hit into center, driving Robinson to third, and Robinson scored on a flyout to left by Al Rosen to make it a four-run game. Del Crandall reached base on another error by the Pirates’ third-baseman, but this time Baker flew out to left, ending the top of the sixth with us still in a 6-2 hole, at which point the game got called on account of rain, the game considered official as a four-run loss.

Pascual took the loss, falling to 7-3, lasting just 4.2 innings with eight hits, three strikeouts, a walk and six earned runs, dropping his ERA to 3.06 on the year. Purkey came in and got one out on four pitches, and was visably frustrated that he wasn’t given a chance to get us back in this one. Pittsburgh outhit us 8-7, Robinson and Baker scoring our only runs. Roger Maris had two hits but we left him twice stranded.

Onward to New York! We have a four-game set against the Brooklyn Dodgers, and then we can return to Wrigley for some early summer weather and see how our fans are doing. With our loss, the Phillies (40-18) pulled within 3.5 games of us, so despite our 43-14 record, we really need these four games against Brooklyn to go well. The Phillies are on a six game winning streak, with three games at home against the Redlegs (30-25) on Saturday and Sunday. The AL, meanwhile, is completely insane, with five teams within 5.5 games of each other, though the Red Sox (36-20) are now 7-3 in their last 10. The White Sox, in sixth, are only 11.5 games back and are 7-3 in their last ten as well. Only Kansas City (16-38) and Baltimore (16-40) are completely out of the picture.