[jksander]

AUGUST 1, 1955 . . . Here is our August schedule, for those of you keeping track:

8/1-8/4: vs Pittsburgh (48-61)
8/5-8/8: vs Brooklyn (53-51)
8/9-8/11: vs Cincinnati (58-49)
8/12-8/14: vs Milwaukee (38-65)
8/16-8/18: @ Cincinnati
8/19-8/21: @ Milwaukee
8/23-8/24: @ Brooklyn
8/25, 8/27: @ Pittsburgh (48-61)
8/28-29: @ NY Giants (41-65)
8/30-31: @ Philly (72-38)

This afternoon in the first of four games against the Pirates, we’ve got a beat-up rotation and a somewhat rested bullpen. No doubleheaders this month, however, so we should be able to get back into a semblance of order, though we also don’t have a day off until the 15th, so bullpen management will still be a key component of our gameplans going forward. Camilo Pascual (12-4, 2.73 ERA, 138.2 IP, 152 K’s, 1.02 WHIP) is up next in the rotation, pitching against Bob Friend (9-8, 4.11 ERA, 162.0 IP, 79 K’s, 1.41 WHIP).

Bill Virdon, who was traded from the Giants at the deadline with pitcher Bob DiPietro for catcher Jack Shepard, picked up right where he left off during that Giants series last month, hitting an RBI single to put the Pirates up 1-0 in the top of the first. With the bases loaded, Dale Long took his base on balls and walked in a run by Rocky Colavito, putting the Pirates up 2-0 before we finally got out of the inning with a flyout by Bob Meisner. Not the start I’d hoped for, with Pascual throwing 31 pitches and looking highly vulnerable. But Al Kaline wasted no time in the bottom of the inning, hitting his 11th four-bagger to make it 2-1, and Ernie Banks hit a shot through the gap to bat in the tying run, though Robinson got greedy and tried to round second for third and was tagged out for our second out of the inning. Al Rosen flew out to left and we went into the second inning knotted up 2-2. Colavito hit a two-run blast off Pascual in the second, however, and they were back up 4-2 in the blink of an eye. Pascual got a hit into center field with two men on base in the bottom of the inning, however, and was able to load the bases with no outs, bringing up the top of our order. Kaline flew out to right, barely missing out on a second homer at the warning track, and Baker was tagged out trying to slide home. But with Purkey and Pascual in scoring position, Roger Maris got himself a double and drove in both runners to make it 4-4, sending us into the third inning tied up in a game where no one was missing out on runs. Pascual got us through the top of the fourth with no further scoring, but he’d thrown more than 80 pitches and was not showing his best stuff tonight, so we headed for the bullpen.

Bob Porterfield came out for the top of the fifth with the score still tied 4-4, getting a strikeout before allowing a Virdon single and a Garagiola double to put runners in scoring position. A strikeout of Billy Klaus got us our second out, but Porterfield got us out of it with a grounder to first to end the frame. Epitacio Torres came in with two outs and a man on first in the top of the sixth, helping strand the runner as we went into the bottom of the inning. Torres got us into the stretch still tied at four, and he beat out an infield single to give us a runner in the bottom of the seventh, starting the inning out on a great note. But Kaline hit one to short for out one, and Maris batted into a double play, stranding him. Torres got us through the eighth, and with two outs in the bottom of the inning Ernie Banks got a hit into right field, at which point Al Rosen walked. Bill Serena came in to pinch-hit for Baker, taking over at second base as well, but he flew out to center field and ended the inning still locked up at four runs each. We brought Sandy Koufax in for the ninth, and with a man on, we had a spectacular double play ... Rip Repulski hit a blistering line drive that Robinson caught midair and air-mailed to Rosen at first, a blink-and-you’d-miss-it play that had our fans cheering. Colavito hit a double, and we took no chances with Virdon, intentionally walking him to bring up Garagiola with two outs and a man in scoring position. Both runners advanced on a botched catch by Purkey at catcher, and then Garagiola took a walk on a 3-2 count. And our luck ran out, with Billy Klaus getting off a two-run double -- we got out of the inning with a strikeout after that, but suddenly trailed 6-4. We barely fought it in the bottom of the inning, going down one, two, three to end this one as a 6-4 loss to the Pirates.

Koufax took the loss, falling to 4-3 as he gave up two hits, with three walks and a strikeout, allowing two runs and bringing his ERA down to 2.52. But with Pascual only lasting four innings with six hits and four earned runs against four strikeouts and two walks, we never should have stayed in this one. Porterfield gave us 1.2 innings of solid work, just two hits with three strikeouts and a pair of walks, and Epitacio Torres, the 33-year-old career minor leaguer, came up big in 2.1 innings with no hits and three strikeouts through 24 pitches in just his second major league game. Both teams had 10 hits apiece -- Maris led us with two hits for a run and two RBIs, and Kaline’s homer in the first helped us get started. Ernie Banks added a pair of hits and an RBI, and Pascual got a pair of hits and scored a run on the ground before getting the hook.

AUGUST 2, 1955 . . . Hy Cohen (22-4, 1.28 ERA, 231.1 IP, 203 K’s, 0.67 WHIP) is ready to go against Pittsburgh’s Johnny Kucks (7-8, 3.38 ERA, 151.2 IP, 42 K’s, 1.31 WHIP) and he’s not looking for any nonsense. So of course he got a strikeout to start the game and then gave up a solo bomb to Rip Repulski on just the ninth pitch of the game to put the Pirates up 1-0 -- it’s just been that kind of week. And in the bottom of the third, Cohen had a terrible stretch, loading the bases and giving up a three-run triple to Virdon, our new nemesis, to make it 4-0 Pirates. This is a managerial nightmare! By the time we got out of the third inning Cohen had thrown 61 pitches, the Pirates led 5-0, and the fans on our side were starting to turn ugly. Funny how winning 85 games in the first two thirds of a season starts to spoil people ... at least they calmed down when Al Rosen hit an RBI triple in the bottom of the third to get us on the board, and Cohen got a hit into right field to drive him home, making it 5-2 Cubs. Maris hit a two-out double, but Mays grounded out to first and we headed for the fourth inning trailing by three runs. Rosen and Baker got on base in the bottom of the fifth with no outs, and Cohen laid down a sac bunt to move both of them into scoring position. But, as has been our luck lately, we were unable to do anything with them, and Cohen fell apart in the sixth, loading the bases with one out and forcing my hand. Harry Dorish came in for him, snapping an incredible streak of quality starts for Cohen, to get the two outs we needed. A pair of strikeouts did it and we were lucky to not add to our deficit.

Dorish loaded the bases himself in the top of the seventh, but he picked a man off trying to score, struck Garagiola out swinging and then got Klaus to pop out to Banks, getting us out of the high leverage situation with no runs scoring. But our bats were dead, and despite our luck in not having this game blow up completely on us, we weren’t doing anything to help our pitchers. Bob Purkey came in for Dorish in the top of the eighth and handled his business, and Bob Porterfield did the same in the ninth, sending us into the bottom of the final inning still three down. Roger Maris laid down a perfect hit into right field, coming out with a leadoff double, and they walked Mays, but the wind blew down a wicked shot by Robinson, taking what might have tied things up and turning it into an easy right field out. BUT ERNIE BANKS HIT ONE TO LEFT, LEAVING THE PARK AND TYING THINGS 5-5! OH MY LORD ... that’s 27 homers for Banks, and this one came at the perfect time! Crandall batted out to center, but they hit Rosen in the shoulder to put him on base, but Bill Serena struck out swinging and this one was headed for bonus baseball!
 
Porterfield stayed out to start the top of the 10th, but we brought Koufax in with one out and men on the corners, and he cut the runner down at home plate on a grounder to third, putting Ken Boyer on first via fielder’s choice. But Rip Repulski batted in the go-ahead run with an RBI double before Koufax could get the final out via strikeout. Koufax used good plate discipline to take a walk to start the bottom of the 10th, however, and Al Kaline said let’s finish this out, nailing a power bomb into the center field bleachers that nearly started a riot as we walked this one off 7-6! That ... was ... INCREDIBLE!

Cohen needs to buy Koufax beers for the rest of the year! He only made it through 5.1 innings, giving up five hits and five runs with five strikeouts and four walks through 99 pitches, but Koufax got us the win, improving to 5-3 with a hit and a strikeout, so all Cohen lost was his streak of quality starts. Dorish, Purkey and Porterfield gave us four innings of great work, but the hits were flying -- combined they had eight hits against four strikeouts and a walk, but only Porterfield surrendered a run -- not bad at all! We were outhit by the Pirates 14-9, but took full advantage of the hits we did get. Ernie Banks had two hits for a run and three RBIs, and Kaline had his hit and two RBIs in the 10th that sealed the deal. Maris and Baker each had two hits apiece as well, with Maris walking once and scoring a run as well.

AUGUST 3, 1955 . . . That was a LOT yesterday, so we’re hoping to have an afternoon with less tension as we face the Pirates for the third of four games here at Wrigley. Saul “Strike Force” Rogovin (17-6, 1.94 ERA, 213.0 IP, 247 K’s, 0.82 WHIP) is up in the rotation, facing Dick Hall (7-14, 3.73 ERA, 181.0 IP, 72 K’s, 1.31 WHIP). With the bases loaded in the bottom of the second, Del Crandall batted in a run via fielder’s choice base hit, putting us up 1-0 on the Pirates. Rogovin struck out the side in the top of the fifth, and he remained sharp through the top of the seventh, but Dick Hall also did well pitching to soft contact, and we went into the top of the eighth still leading by the 1-0 margin. Harry Dorish came in to pitch, striking out Virdon with Ripulski and Colavito on base, with Garagiola flying out to Maris at left to end the frame. Kaline hit a one-out triple in the bottom of the eighth, and Maris flew out to right, driving him in for an insurance run! With Koufax needing rest, Dorish stayed out for the top of the ninth, and though he struggled and loaded the bases on two outs, he got the third via a Rip Repulski flyout to right, preserving the 2-0 shutout win!

Rogovin earned his 18th win of the season, improving to 18-6 with a 1.88 ERA, giving up just two hits with six strikeouts and one walk. Dorish lasted two innings with three hits, a strikeout and two walks, bringing his ERA down to 0.87 through 52 innings and earning his third save of the year. The Pirates outhit us again, this time 5-4, but Kaline hit twice for a run, Maris added an RBI via sac-fly, Robinson scored a run with just a walk, and Crandall batted in a run with a hit. We may not have been able to string much together, but we played well as a team and made it happen.

St. Louis (32-73) has become the first team in the majors to be mathematically eliminated from pennant contention ... at 51.5 games back, But in the NL, the only team with any shot of coming back and stealing our World Series shot is Philly, and they remain 14 games back. Cincinnati (59-50) will just have to settle for fighting to stay above .500 ... their fans continue to be frustrated by owner Bobby Gray, who constantly meddles in the team’s interests and has shown no willingness to do anything that doesn’t make him huge profits.

AUGUST 4, 1955 . . . Robert Diehl (14-4, 1.80 ERA, 170.0 IP, 77 K’s, 0.84 WHIP) pitched in our final game against the Pirates in this homestand, facing Dick Bessent (6-7, 3.87 ERA, 107.0 IP, 46 K’s, 1.43 WHIP). Jackie Robinson singled and then reached third on a single by Ernie Banks in the bottom of the second, and Del Crandall drove in the first run of the afternoon on a flyout to center field. Diehl used good discipline to take a walk to load the bases, and Al Kaline added to the lead with a base on balls himself, keeping the bases loaded. Bessent lacked control, walking Maris as well, and then Willie Mays got a blistering drive into the right field corner, getting himself a bases-clearing double that put us up 6-0! Pittsburgh brought in a replacement pitcher after just five outs, and finally were able to get Robinson out on strikes to end the inning. Diehl gave up a run in the top of the fourth via an RBI single by Klaus that scored Colavito, and suddenly he was visably in pain and, after a mound visit, we had to pull him.

Bob Porterfield had to come in with no warning, with two outs and men on first and second. Danny O’Connell smelled blood in the water, hitting a blazing triple off the wall at center to drive in a pair, but Porterfield got us out of the inning by striking out Ronald Minnich and we still had a 6-3 lead heading into the top of the fifth. Repulski hit his 14th homer of the year to put the team within a pair in the top of the fifth. Ernie Banks hit a double in the bottom of the inning and then stole third -- too bad Crandall grounded out to first and kept us from adding insurance. Epitacio Torres came in with two outs and a man on in the top of the sixth, getting a strikeout to keep the lead at 6-4, and Al Rosen came out and hit a blazing jack into the center field bleachers, putting us ahead by three with no outs in the bottom of the inning, his 16th bolt of the season. Roger Maris hit a flyball double, allowing Torres and Kaline to score runs, but Maris was injured sliding into second and we had to bring in Bob Will to pinch-run (and play right field, with Kaline moving over to left), the score now 9-3 but with two players now out with unspecified injuries. This could be bad.

Willie Mays flew out to right for our second out, with Will moving to third on the no-throw. Robinson walked, and then Banks got a flyball into center field, scoring our 10th run. Del Crandall loaded the bases, and then they finally got the third out via Rosen, who went down swinging. Cubs 10, Pirates 4, end of the sixth inning. The Pirates got a run back in the top of the seventh, thanks to a Ken Boyer RBI single. But our batters went on a tear in the bottom of the inning, Al Kaline adding a run-scoring double, Jackie Robinson adding an RBI single, and then loading the bases again, exiting the inning with a 12-5 lead that could have been much bigger. Tom Ferrick came in to pitch in the eighth, getting us through the last two innings as we beat the Pirates 12-5, leaving the field having taken a beating ourselves.

Diehl lasting only 3.2 innings turned this one into another bullpen game we didn’t need ... and he’d been pitching well, with just three hits, and a pair of strikeouts, to go with three unearned runs. Bob Porterfield had to come in without a proper warmup, and lasted two innings in spite of it, taking the win and improving to 2-0 with a 2.58 ERA, giving up just two hits and a run with three strikeouts and a walk. Torres got a 1.1 inning hold (his second!) with two hits, two strikeouts and a single earned run, giving him a 1.93 ERA through three appearances. And Ferrick, the 40-year-old uber-veteran, gave us two innings with three strikeouts, a walk and no hits, getting his ERA down to 6.60 as he continues to play the thankless role of “mop-up guy.” We had 12 hits to their seven, led by Ernie Banks with three hits, a run and an RBI and by Mays, who had a hit and three RBIs. We walked 12 TIMES in the game, which is just insane.

Of course now we have to deal with the injury report, and it’s extensive: Epitacio Torres strained an oblique muscle and will be day to day for at least a week. Roger Maris strained HIS oblique muscle as well, but much more severely ... he’ll be out SIX WEEKS at least, and his season is now at risk. Diehl, thankfully, just had back spasms, and should be fine to return for his next start. But losing Maris really hurts. We’ve had to put him on the 15-Day IL, and we’ve called Joe Brovia back up to the majors from AAA Los Angeles. Brovia will be our starter at left, but we’ll be playing the position by committee, with Will and Collins alternating in. It’s not optimal, but it is what we have right now heading into our four game set against the Dodgers.