[jksander]

JUNE 28, 1955 . . . Saul Rogovin (11-4, 1.83 ERA, 142.2 IP, 160 K’s, 0.76 WHIP) went up against Bob Buhl (3-7, 5.80 ERA, 85.1 IP, 43 K’s, 1.50 WHIP) in the first of three road games against Milwaukee’s Braves. Al Kaline got things going with a single, and then they walked Maris and Mays, bringing Jackie Robinson up in a bases-loaded situation just minutes into the first inning! He popped out to center, and so did Ernie Banks, but Del Crandall got a good hit into right field, driving in a pair of runs to get us going. Al Rosen added a run-scoring double, and Gene Baker doubled to drive in another pair, bringing up Rogovin to close out the inning with a groundout to first. Half an inning down and we had a 5-0 lead and would be bringing the top of our order up in the second! The scoring, however, stopped after that frame, and both pitchers locked in, keeping the hits few and far between. Rogovin gave up a triple to Johnny Logan in the bottom of the sixth, but didn’t give an inch, holding the runner there and getting three outs in a row to prevent a run. Willie Mays batted in a run with a triple of his own to make it 6-0 in the top of the seventh, and Jackie Robinson added insult to injury with a two run homer, his 22nd of the year, and we went into the stretch leading by eight. The Braves got on the board with an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh, but we got the run back with an RBI single by Al Rosen in the top of the eighth. Rogovin gave up an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth and we brought in Tom Ferrick with a man on and two outs to finish the inning. Jackie Robinson hit his second homer of the game in the top of the ninth, and Ferrick got us through the bottom of the inning to close out the 11-2 blowout win.

Rogovin improved to 12-4 with a nine hit 7.2 inning effort, striking out six with one walk as he gave up two runs, throwing 108 pitches. Ferrick pitched 1.1 innings and gave up no hits, improving his ERA to 5.87 on the season. We outhit them 13-9, led by Robinson with two homers for four RBIs. Al Kaline added three hits, a run and an RBI, and Willie Mays had two hits and two walks for three runs and an RBI.

JUNE 29, 1955 . . . Robert Diehl (9-3, 1.87 ERA, 125.1 IP, 62 K’s, 0.78 WHIP) pitched against Warren Spahn (6-7, 4.54 ERA, 119.0 IP, 53 K’s, 1.42 WHIP) in game two of the series with Milwaukee. And though it’s been a while since Spahn has been able to consistently dominate, he’s still among the best pitchers in the game, held back by the fact that he’s playing for a mediocre team. He came out tonight looking like the Spahn of old, virtually unhittable. Hell, he even managed to hit a triple off Diehl in the bottom of the third, and Johnny Logan batted him in to score with two outs, putting the Braves up 1-0. Sid Gordon batted in a second one in the bottom of the fourth, and we didn’t get our first hit until Al Rosen spanked a double into center field in the top of the fifth, and it didn’t matter -- Spahn got the outs he needed, his team seeming to rise to the occasion. In the top of the sixth we got things going, finally ... Maris and Mays got singles, and then Jackie Robinson hit a triple that tied things up out of nowhere! Crandall batted in the go-ahead run on two outs, and we were headed for the bottom of the inning. Roger Maris added a solo homer in the top of the eighth, his ninth of the year, to give us a 4-2 lead. Spahn stayed out through the top of the ninth, throwing 153 pitches, and Diehl tried to match him by coming out in the bottom of the ninth to complete the win. But he gave up two hits himself without an out, and I brought Koufax in to close this one out. We’d already played with fire keeping him out as long as we had. Koufax struck out Don Buddin, pinch hitting for Spahn, but then a wild pitch allowed the runners to advance, putting both in scoring position. Koufax walked in Sam Mele to load the bases, but got out number two with a great pickoff at home as Johnny Logan took his base on an infield hit. Hank Aaron came up to bat and Koufax got him to hit a weak squib with the count 2-2, makng a quick throw to first for the final out. We won this one 4-2 in an old school duel.

Diehl made it through eight innings with seven hits, four strikeouts, two walks and just two earned runs, barely a blip on his 1.89 ERA. But he threw 151 pitches, as I left him in longer than I should have as he got drawn into the duel with Spahn. Spahn finished with nine innings, eight hits, eight strikeouts, six walks and four earned runs, throwing 153 pitches himself. In the end our bats won out, and Koufax was gold as usual -- no hits, a strikeout, a walk and he had his 11th save of the year, bringing his ERA down to 2.30. Maris led the way with three of our eight hits, scoring two and driving in another, while Robinson added two hits for a run and two RBIs. Willie Mays had a hit and a run, and Del Crandall had a walk and an RBI.

In contract news, Harry Dorish signed a one year extension worth $57,000 for next season, giving us one of our key bullpen pieces for at least one more season. Dorish is 5-0 with a 1.19 ERA through 31 innings over 18 relief appearances this year, with 31 K’s, an 0.96 WHIP and a 327 ERA+, and we’re glad we got him in that trade from Cleveland last year. He qualified for a ring for having played six games with the Guardians last year, though he spent most of the season playing for us and turned it down, telling the press he’d rather win one than stake a claim on a title he didn’t win. Here’s to getting him one this year and fighting for a repeat in the next!

JUNE 30, 1955 . . . This afternoon we have Hy Cohen (15-4, 1.39 ERA, 162.0 IP, 140 K’s, 0.67 WHIP) pitching against Johnny Antonelli (7-8, 3.37 ERA, 141.1 IP, 79 K’s, 1.19 WHIP) in the final road game in Milwaukee before our big Independence Week Homestand in Chiacago. Jackie Robinson allowed a run to score in the top of the first with a flyout that drove Al Kaline in from third, putting us up 1-0 quickly. Willie Mays added a solo blast in the top of the third, his 17th of the year, to put us up 2-0. Johnny Logan got the Braves on the board with an RBI triple in the bottom of the fifth to make it 2-1, but Willie Mays batted in a third run for us in the top of the seventh, though Al Kaline got caught stealing third and ended the inning before we could do more damage. In the bottom of the eighth, Hank Aaron hit a homer into the center field bleachers, pulling the Braves again to within a run, down 3-2, but Cohen got us through the final out without conceding the tying run. Koufax came out for the bottom of the ninth, struck out Gene Woodling, then walked Gene Mauch and Dick Wilson, bringing up Sam Mele, pinch hitting for Antonelli. Mele flew out to center, leaving enough room for Mauch to make it to third, and then leadoff man Ron Jackson batted a grounder to Banks, who made the throw to second for the final out as we held on to win 3-2. The sweep completed, we now have a 10-game win streak going!

Cohen improved to 16-4 with a 1.43 ERA, thanks to five hits, five strikeouts and five walks that led to two earned runs. Koufax notched his 12th save of the season, striking out one and walking a pair but not giving up the tying run, coming through in the clutch to improve his ERA to 2.25 through 48 innings. Jackie Robinson’s eight-game extra base hit streak came to an end, though he took a walk and managed to bat in a run with a sacrifice. Willie Mays led the way, getting three of our seven hits for a run and two batted in, and Gene Baker had two hits for a run on the ground as well, and Kaline hit twice and walked once, scoring a run.

It’s now July, people -- we’re almost to the All Star break, and our 62-16 Cubs have pulled away in the NL pennant race, now 12 games up on the Philadelphia Phillies (50-28). Cincy (41-34, 19.5 GB) is the only other team with a legitimate shot to climb back, with Pittsburgh and Brooklyn now more than 25 games behind us. The Braves, Giants and Cardinals are each more than 30 games back. In the American League, the Boston Red Sox are starting to dominate -- they’re on an 8-2 tear of late, giving them a 50-26 record to lead that division, with Cleveland (44-29, 4.5 GB) and New York (41-31, 7 GB) still fighting. Detroit (39-33, 9 GB) and Washington (41-36, 9.5 GB) still have potential as well in a league dominated by lower scoring pitching battles. Both our team (+236) and Philly (+89) are out-hitting the entire American League in run differential, ours being so high we’re actually performing three games below what our Pythagorean record would suggest.

The long-time Cubs fan in me has to wonder if there’s any way we can possibly sustain this without a letdown.

Jackie Robinson was named the NL’s Hitter of the Month in June, batting .294 with 13 homers, driving in 38 runs, scoring 27 times, and reaching base nearly 35 percent of the time! That’s a hell of a year for anyone, let alone a guy who is 36 years old! Hy Cohen, meanwhile, was named NL Pitcher of the Month, going 7-0 with 52 K’s in 61 innings, compiling a 1.18 ERA for the month.

We have eleven games left before the All Star break: four against St. Louis here from July 1-3, two against Cincy at Wrigley on July 4, two here against Milwaukee July 6-7, and then three on the road against St. Louis July 8-10. We then have a tough road stretch, with two at the Giants July 14-15, four at Philadelphia (July 16-18), two at Brooklyn (July 20-21) and four at Pittsburgh (July 22-24). We then have three weeks in a row at home through mid-August, involving 22 games in 20 days without an off day.