[jksander]

JUNE 21, 1955 . . . Saul Rogovin (9-4, 2.09 ERA, 124.2 IP, 139 K’s, 0.75 WHIP) is up in the rotation, less than a week after he obliterated the Giants with 18 K’s to set the new NL record! He’ll be pitching fire today against Brooklyn’s Johnny Podres (6-7, 4.83 ERA, 98.2 IP, 67 K’s, 1.25 WHIP). Though Rogovin had an odd start to his game, pitching to a lot of contact and only striking out one batter in the first three innings, he came up in the bottom of the ninth and hit a towering homer to center, putting us up 1-0 with his first homer of the year, batting in just his sixth run! And that proved to be our only offense of the night, as we went into the top of the ninth leading 1-0 with Rogovin staying in to try and complete the shutout. He got two quick outs, then Carl Furillo reached first safely on a dropped catch, though Frank Thomas then batted out to center for an easy catch as we shut the Dodgers down 1-0!

Rogovin was the star of the afternoon, scoring our only run and improvng to 10-4 with a four-hit shutout! He had six strikeouts against a pair of walks and threw 124 pitches, bringing his ERA down to 1.95 through 133.2 innings. We only hit four times as well - Podres had a great start, striking out five, walking two and giving up just the one run -- but our defenses held and we got it done in the end.
 
JUNE 22, 1955 . . . Hy Cohen (13-4, 1.50 ERA, 144.0 IP, 123 K’s, 0.70 WHIP) pitched today against Larry Jansen (8-6, 2.81 ERA, 112.0 IP, 64 K’s, 1.07 WHIP). Cohen currently leads the NL in wins and has the best ERA, staking his claim as the best young ace in baseball at just 24 years of age. Jackie Robinson hit a three-run blast to right, giving us a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first with his 15th homer of the year, getting this one started quickly. The wind was playing in our favor; Al Rosen hit a solo homer to left in the bottom of the second to make it 4-0, a 420 footer that almost went out to Waveland, giving Rosen 11 homers for the year. Ernie Banks hit a two-run blast in the bottom of the third to make it 6-0, giving him 18 already this year, on track to shatter his career high of 27, set back in 1953. Willie Mays had an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth, and then Jackie Robinson cleared the bases with his 16th homer of the year and second of the afternoon, making this a 10-0 blowout! Mays batted in another run in the bottom of the eighth and Cohen stayed in to complete the shutout as we destroyed the Dodgers 11-0.

Cohen improved to 14-4 on the year with a 1.41 ERA thanks to a nine inning three-hit shutout, nine strikeouts, no walks. We outhit the Dodgers 15-3 with four homers. Jackie Robinson led the team with two homers and six RBIs ... since coming to Chicago he’s hit .260/.341/.610 with seven doubles, eight triples and 13 homers, batting in 39 runs and stealing eight bases in 12 attempts. Ernie Banks hit three times, batting in a pair and scoring a run on the ground. And Willie Mays added three hits for two runs and a pair of RBIs. Mays, who has won back to back MVPs, currently is hitting .296/.355/.515 with 16 doubles and 13 homers, with 4.3 WAR, but Hy Cohen, with 6.5 WAR already in the season, is on pace to potentially win both the Cy Young AND the MVP!

JUNE 23, 1955 . . . Camilo Pascual (8-3, 2.63 ERA, 85.2 IP, 89 K’s, 1.07 WHIP) got the start today against Brooklyn’s Billy Loes (3-6, 4.33 ERA, 87.1 IP, 43 K’s, 1.27 WHIP). Brooklyn got a homer from Duke Snyder to put them on the board 1-0 in the top of the first, Duke’s 16th home run of the year, but Jackie Robinson hit a two-run blast himself in the bottom of the inning, his 17th of the year, to put us up 2-1. Pascual gave up a three run blast via Bobby Morgan to put Brooklyn back up 4-2 in the top of the second, and it took until the bottom of the fourth for us to score again -- Ernie Banks, batting in his 50th run of the season, drove Robinson in to make it 4-3. Banks then stole second, reaching third on a groundout by Crandall at first. Banks tied it up 4-4 when Al Rosen flew out to center, and this game was just getting started!

Harry Dorish came in to pitch in the top of the sixth, but he struggled and loaded the bases, letting a run score before suddenly getting red hot, striking out three in a row to get out of the inning -- throwing only 14 pitches in the process. Dorish stayed in through the top of the eighth, and in the bottom of the inning Jackie Robinson hit a two-run blast, his second homer of the game, jacking his 18th homer of the season out of the park to put us up 6-5! Dorish stayed in to close the game out, capping the one of the best games of his career by far, stifling the Dodgers’ bats to win this one by a run!

Coming in for four full innings of relief, Dorish gave up just three hits and a run, striking out eight against four walks through 72 pitches, improving to 5-0 on the season! Pascual threw 94 pitches through five innings, giving up three hits with six K’s and two walks, giving up four earned runs. His ERA dropped to 2.88 on the year, while Dorish’s is now 1.19 through 30.1 innings! We outhit the Dodgers 8-6 in this high scoring pitching duel, easily led by Robinson who hit three times for two homers, three runs and four RBIs. Maris hit twice and scored a run, and Ernie Banks added a hit for a run and an RBI.

We couldn’t use Consuegra in this one because we’d completed a deal late this morning with the New York Yankees that sends him, Elston Howard, left-fielder Charlie Maxwell and minor-league utility infielder Don Voigt to the Bronx in exchange for outfielders Don Demeter (#19, BNN) and Ed Bouchee (#16, BNN), two top prospects to help build our farm up. Consuegra was tough to let go of, but he’s in his mid-30s and gaining two huge prospects made it worth sending him to New York. And with Del Crandall having dominated since coming here as a 25-year-old catcher, we decided it was worth taking advantage of Elston Howard’s trade value ... Crandall is a durable starter and Howard’s ability to start regularly was diminished because of it. Our fans, while upset to lose those two, will eventually come around -- we needed to make sure our team is built for the future as well as for the present.

This move, of course, requires us to make some moves to our roster. Bouchee will come up to join us immediately on the main Cubs roster, while Demeter will join our single-A affiliate in Macon to develop further. We’re moving Sandy Koufax back into the bullpen as our closer out of necessity, though I plan to look for a full-time closer in free agency in the offseason so he can return to the starting lineup if deemed ready. Bill Serena and Joe Brovia will be coming up to join the team at least temporarily as bats off the bench as well. For now, reliever and utlity infielder Bob Purkey will be our backup catcher.