[jksander]

SEPTEMBER 19, 1955 . . . Just five games remain in the regular season, and if we win just two of them we’ll break the all-time Cubs wins record for a season. Bud Watkins (1-1, 4.50 ERA, 10.0 IP, 5 K’s, 1.50 WHIP) started in game on at St. Louis, against Willard Schmidt (1-7, 4.66 ERA, 75.1 IP, 40 K’s, 1.63 WHIP). Cohen and Rogovin are unlikely to start again prior to the World Series. St. Louis took a 1-0 lead on a John Moskus RBI single in the bottom of the first, but Gene Baker hit an RBI single of his own in the top of the second to tie it back up 1-1, and Watkins hit a line drive into left that drove home a second run to put us in the lead. Ernie Banks hit a solo blast to left, his 38th of the year, to put us up 3-1 in the top of the third, and Lovett Geeslin came in with the score still 3-1 to start the bottom of the fifth. Banks hit his second homer of the game, this time in the top of the sixth, to score three more runs, and Geeslin got us through three innings. Epitacio Torres came in to pitch in the bottom of the eighth with the lead still at five runs, and he got us through the final two innings to complete the 6-1 road win.

Geeslin picked up the win, improving to 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA through 6.2 innings -- he gave up just one hit, and got three strikeouts, during his three innings thrown. Watkins lasted four innings with just two hits, four strikeouts and three walks, giving up one earned run to improve his ERA to 3.86. And Torres gave us two innings with one hit, keeping his ERA at a solid 2.81. I’m still formalizing our playoff roster, but I’m thinking Torres has earned his spot in our bullpen. We outhit the Cardinals 8-4, led obviously by Ernie Banks, who hit two homers for four RBIs to bring his total on the year to 39, by far the best slugging of his three year career!

Boston has officially clinched the AL Pennant! The Yankees lost 3-2 last night against the Senators on the road, while the Red Sox got to listen on the radio and celebrate on their night off. So we’ve officially got a World Series with two long-suffering franchises -- ours has not won a title since 1908, but we are going to the postseason for the second year in a row. The Sox haven’t won a title since 1918 ... after four titles during the 1910s, the BoSox haven’t been to the Fall Classic since 1946. The Yankees, meanwhile, have now missed out on the postseason two years running, after having won the title in 1947, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952 and 1953.

SEPTEMBER 20, 1955 . . . Robert Diehl (16-8, 1.95 ERA, 230.1 IP, 117 K’s, 0.91 WHIP) pitched tonight against Mike Fornieles (3-4, 2.96 ERA, 48.2 IP, 23 K’s, 1.60 WHIP). Diehl’s command was awful tonight, as he gave up two hits and three walks in the bottom of the first to spot St. Louis a 3-0 lead. He has been iffy late in this season, far from the lockdown guy we counted on early in the year. He settled down from there, getting us through the fifth still trailing 3-0, but our lineup just wasn’t making good contact tonight. Bob Purkey came in to pitch in the bottom of the sixth with one out and a man on second, getting a flyout and a groundout to end the inning without any scoring. Willie Mays hit a two-run homer to right field in the top of the eighth to pull us within a run with his 34th homer of the season. And then Jackie Robinson hit one that completely baffled the Cardinals’ defenders, coming around to score on an inside the park homer that puts him at 43 for the year! That tied us up 3-3. Purkey got us through a third inning without a run scoring, and we went into the top of the ninth with Koufax warmed up and ready. Unfortunately we were unable to get any hits in the top of the inning, so Koufax came in to at least give us a shot at extras. Groundout, strikeout, groundout and we were heading for a tenth! Kaline hit a triple to start the top of the 10th, scoring the go-ahead run off a Robinson flyout to left. Koufax came out in the bottom of the inning with a one-run lead to protect, making quick work of the Cardinals as we won this one 4-3, our 117th win of the season!

Koufax earned the win, improving to 8-3 with a no-hit two strikeout pair of innings, while Purkey got in 5.1 innings with four hits, two K’s and three walks, giving up three runs and dropping his ERA to 2.02. Purkey was solid as usual, giving us three excellent innings with just two hits a strikeout and a walk, dropping his ERA to 1.54 through 35 innings. We outhit the Cardinals 7-6, led by Robinson with two hits, a run and two RBIs, and Mays with one hit (a homer) for two RBIs.

SEPTEMBER 21, 1955 . . . Camilo Pascual (18-5, 2.59 ERA, 205.0 IP, 227 K’s, 1.00 WHIP) pitched this evening in St. Louis, facing Bob Grim (6-24, 4.69 ERA, 216.2 IP, 101 K’s, 1.54 WHIP). Kluszewski (47) and Mantle (46) are still battling it out for the Home Run Crown, with Robinson and Williams (43) tied for third -- though Ernie Banks (39) has jumped into fifth place. St. Louis got on the board in the bottom of the first with a solo jack by Jim King, but Jackie Robinson tied it with his 44th homer of the year in the top of the second! It’s a windy, rainy night and the ball is flying off the bats -- Bill Sarni put the Cards back up 2-1 with a solo homer of his own in the bottom of the second, but then Pascual started throwing strikeouts and our batters remained off balance and the scoring quickly slowed. Pascual struck out nine through the first five innings, but we still went into the top of the sixth trailing 2-1. Robinson tied us up, however, in the top of the sixth with an RBI triple, and Grim walked Rosen and Daniel Howard to load the bases with two outs. Crandall flew out to center, however, and we went into the bottom of the inning knotted 2-2. Ernie Banks hit an RBI double in the top of the seventh to put us ahead 3-2, but Pascual gave up a two-run homer to Dick Stuart that put the Cards back up 4-3. But in the top of the eighth Del Crandall hit his 22nd homer of the season to put us back up 5-3 as he scored a pair of runs. Harry Dorish came in to pitch in the bottom of the eighth, striking out the side, and Willie Mays batted in a run with a double in the top of the ninth to make it 6-4! Rosen hit a triple to drive in our seventh run of the game, and Crandall hit one into center that extended our lead to 8-4. A Danny Lynch flyout to left ended the inning, but we’d done enough damage not to need Koufax tonight. Dorish stayed out to finish the game, striking out another pair as we beat the Cardinals 8-4 for the sweep.

Pascual gave us seven innings with just five hits to go with 13 K’s against zero walks, improving to 19-5 with a 2.67 ERA in his rookie season. Dorish got his fourth save of the year, giving us two innings with five K’s and no hits, dropping his ERA down to 1.04! We outhit St. Louis tonight 12-5, led by Banks with three hits two runs and an RBI, and by Robinson with two hits, two walks, a run and a pair of RBIs. Rosen, Crandall and Lynch each also had a pair of hits.

SEPTEMBER 24, 1955 . . . We brought Dave Hillman (1-1, 8.36 ERA, 14.0 IP, 5 K’s, 1.93 WHIP) up to pitch in this one and keep our main starters rested for the playoffs. He threw against Tom Poholsky (9-11, 3.82 ERA, 202.2 IP, 84 K’s, 1.36 WHIP) in the first of our final two against the Redlegs of the season. Ernie Banks hit a homer in the top of the first, his 40th, and then Jackie Robinson hit his 45th out to left, quickly putting us up 2-0 after half an inning. Wally Post hit his 10th of the year to make it a 2-1 ballgame in the bottom of the second, immediately followed by Dick Groat’s fourth of the year to tie us up 2-2. All homers all day, the way the wind’s blowing. Al Kaline hit his 18th blast to give us a 3-2 lead in the top of the third, but Gus Bell tied things up with an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth, and an RBI single by Wally Post put them back ahead 4-3. With Dorish warming up, the Redlegs scored a third run this inning with an RBI single by Dick Groat, before Hillman finally got the final out and we went into the top of the sixth trailing 5-3. Dorish came in with one out in the bottom of the sixth, no one on, and quickly got us out of the inning with the lead still at two for the Redlegs. And they were able to hold that lead, preventing a ninth inning rally as they bested us 5-3 to give their fans a little bit to cheer about as September winds to a close. We play our final game of the year tomorrow before getting ready for the Fall Classic!

Hillman took the loss, falling to 1-2 with an 8.38 ERA thanks to 10 hits and five runs, with two strikeouts and a walk through 5.1 innings. Harry Dorish pitched the rest of the game, going 2.2 innings with no hits, no strikeouts and no walks to drop his ERA to 1.00 through 80.2 regular season innings of relief. Cincy outhit us 10-7 -- Banks, Kaline and Robinson each gave us homers, accounting for the entirety of our scoring for the afternoon.
 
SEPTEMBER 25, 1955 . . . Bud Watkins (1-1, 3.86 ERA, 14.0 IP, 9 K’s, 1.43 WHIP) got the final start of the regular season, facing Cincinnati’s Buddy Shantz (8-17, 5.51 ERA, 170.0 IP, 92 K’s, 1.74 WHIP). The Redlegs took a 1-0 lead thanks to an RBI single by Kluszewski, and by the time we got up to bat in the top of the second they had a 4-0 lead and Bob Porterfield was prepping to come in for long relief. Robinson scored from third off a Lynch flyout to left to make it 4-1 in the top of the second, and Bill Serena pinch-hit for Watkins, loading the bases for Kaline, who got a line drive into left to score two more. Ernie Banks drove one into right field to tie it up, and Mays flew out to right to end the frame, sending us into the bottom of the second tied 2-2. The Redlegs got two runs off a Hal Keller flyout to center, giving them a 6-4 lead in the bottom of the third, and a Nelly Fox three-run homer made this one a blwout, heading into the top of the fourth trailing 9-4. Purkey came in and got us through the fourth, and Robinson hit his 20th triple of the season with two outs in the top of the fifth, but was unable to get around to score. Del Crandall hit a two-run homer in the top of the sixth to make it 9-6, his 23rd dinger of the year, but the Redlegs scored a 10th run thanks to an RBI single by Dick Groat, giving them a 10-6 lead heading into the seventh. Geeslin came out midway through the bottom of the seventh and got us the outs we needed to stay within four runs, but that was as close as we’d get it. They shut down the top of our order in the ninth and held tough to beat us 10-6.

Bob Porterfield took the loss and fell to 3-1 with a 3.35 ERA, giving up three hits and five runs with just a walk through two innings, after Watkins (three hits, one strikeout, three walks, four earned runs) only made it through one. Purkey pitched well through 3.1 innings, giving up five hits with two strikeouts, a walk and an earned run, and Geeslin came in for the last 1.2 innings and gave up just two hits with a strikeout and a walk. The Redlegs outhit us 13-10, Kaline leading our offense with two hits and two RBIs. We’ll spend the next couple days ironing out our plans for the postseason, having won a Cubs (and major league) record 118 games this year, winning 76.6 percent of our games!

Final MLB Standings for the 1955 season:

American League
1. Boston Red Sox (96-58)
2. New York Yankees (89-65, 7 GB)
3. Cleveland Guardians (83-71, 13 GB)
4. Detroit Tigers (83-71, 13 GB)
5. Washington Senators (78-76, 18 GB)
6. Chicago White Sox (78-76, 18 GB)
7. Kansas City Athletics (58-96, 38 GB)
8. Baltimore Orioles (51-103, 45 GB)

National League
1. Chicago Cubs (118-36)
2. Philadelphia Phillies (110-44, 8 GB)
3. Brooklyn Dodgers (77-77, 41 GB)
4. Cincinnati Redlegs (72-82, 46 GB)
5. Milwaukee Braves (71-83, 47 GB)
6. New York Giants (62-92, 56 GB)
7. Pittsburgh Pirates (62-92, 56 GB)
8. St. Louis Cardinals (44-110, 74 GB)

Here’s our playoff roster for the upcoming series with the Boston Red Sox:

Starters: Cohen, Rogovin, Pascual, Diehl
Relievers: Koufax, Dorish, Porterfield, Purkey, Torres, Geeslin, Ferrick
Catcher: Crandall, Jarvis
1B: Rosen, Collins
2B: Baker, Lynch
3B: Robinson, Serena
SS: Banks
LF: Howard, Brovis
CF: Mays, Will
RF: Kaline

We open the series with two games at Boston September 28th and 29th, then return to Wrigley for games three and four on the 1st and 2nd of October. If game five is necessary we play it at Wrigley on the 3rd, followed by potential games six and seven at Fenway on the 5th and 6th.