[jksander]

APRIL 17, 1956 . . . It’s opening day at County Stadium, as we roll up to Milwaukee to get this season started! Hy Cohen, fresh off his NL Most Valuable Player and Cy Young awards, will be pitching, facing Milwaukee ace and living legend Warren Spahn. Ernie Banks scored a run in the top of the second, making it home from third on a passed ball, giving us a 1-0 lead heading into the bottom of the inning. Kaline scored a run in the top of the third, coming around to score from second on an RBI single by Robinson, but Banks batted into a double play to end the inning or it could have been much more than a 2-0 lead. Cohen hit a two-RBI double but was picked off trying to extend the double into a triple, making it a 4-0 lead heading into the bottom of the fourth. Al Rosen hit his first homer of the season, a blast to left in the top of the sixth, to make it a 5-0 ballgame, and Spahn was visibly frustrated by his team’s inability to put runs on the board to back him up. Spahn came out in the ninth, and Cohen tried to lock it down in the bottom of the ninth still leading by five runs. But a two-run blast by Hank Aaron put them within three runs, before Cohen managed to set down Eddie Mathews, Joe Adcock and Gene Woodling in quick succession to complete the 5-2 victory.

Cohen started his season out with a 1-0 record and a 2.00 ERA, giving up just six hits with nine strikeouts and the two earned runs. We out hit the Braves 7-6, with the hits being equally spread among seven batters. Al Rosen was the player of the game with his homer, and Cohen batted in a pair of RBIs with his one hit of the night as well. Newcomer Alonso Perry hit once and walked once, and Jackie Robinson had a hit and an RBI.

APRIL 19, 1956 . . . Saul Rogovin pitched in this one, up against Milwaukee’s Johnny Antonelli, who was 15-15 last year with a 3.98 ERA and 152 K’s. Willie Mays put us on the board in the top of the first, batting in a pair of runs with a triple, giving us a 2-0 lead quickly in this one. Willie Mays got his first homer of the year, a two-run jack to the left field side that made it a 4-0 lead in the top of the third. Rogovin stayed in for the bottom of the ninth with the lead still 4-0, protecting the shutout in a game with only eight hits between the two teams! It’s hard to read much into the Braves’ hitting woes in such a small sample size, but I suspect Spahn and Antonelli are going to be as frustrated this year as they were the last two seasons, struggling to win 70+ games.

Saul Rogovin started his year out 1-0, pitching a complete game three-hitter, striking out nine and walking one while keeping his ERA pristine. We outhit them 5-3, getting two hits, a run and four RBIs from Willie Mays and a pair of hits and runs scored by Kaline. But against the Braves’ two top pitchers, we weren’t exactly hitting the lights out either -- we just did our best to make the ones we got count.

APRIL 20, 1956 . . . The Redlegs come into this series undefeated, having beaten the St. Louis Cardinals 6-1 and 6-5 in a pair of games on their home field. Today 32,460 Cubs fans packed Wrigley on a blustery, cold clear day, temps in the upper 40s and the wind blowing in from right at 10 miles per hour. Sandy Koufax got his first start of the season, pitching against Max Surkont, age 33, who last year went 13-7 with a 3.98 ERA and 118 K’s while playing in AAA. Cincy got on the board in the top of the third, a two-run blast by Gus Bell putting them ahead 2-0. And Surkont looked quite good in this outing, not giving up his first hit until Kaline belted a triple to start the bottom of the fourth. Willie Mays got a two-out hit into left field to drive Kaline home, getting us into the top of the fifth trailing just 2-1. Koufax lasted long enough to get us through the fifth without further incident, but he’d thrown 88 pitches and was not going to be staying in further. Ed Bouchee pinch hit for Koufax in the bottom of the fifth with Crandall on first and two outs, but he batted out to center to end the inning, with Larry Jansen ready to come in and pitch. Jansen struck out a pair and then got a groundout at first to get through the sixth, and he got us into the seventh inning stretch unblemished as well. Maris walked in the bottom of the seventh but we weren’t able to get him further on the basepaths, heading into the top of the eighth still trailing 2-1, with Harry Dorish coming in to pitch. Dorish gave up a run via an RBI single for Hal Smith to extend the Redlegs’ lead to 3-1, and he got us two outs in the ninth before giving up a solo homer to Gus Bell that put the Redlegs ahead 4-1 via Bell’s second homer of the afternoon. Kluszewski got his second homer of the season immediately after to extend their lead to four runs, and Bob Porterfield came in to get the final out, sending us into the bottom of the ninth with work to do. Willie Mays hit a two-out homer into the bleachers, making it a 5-2 game with HIS second homer of the year, and Ernie Banks dropped a fly ball into left to take first. But Roger Maris flew out to center and the Redlegs beat us 5-2, dropping us to 2-1 on the season.

Sandy Koufax took the loss, starting his season out 0-1 with a 3.60 ERA, giving up four hits with three strikeouts and four walks in five innings, to go with the two earned runs. Jansen was excellent in his two innings, giving up just one hit with two K’s through 31 pitches, but Harry Dorish gave up four hits and three runs in 1.2 innings, starting his year out on the wrong foot. Porterfield’s five pitches to get the final out kept the game from becoming a complete blowout, but it was what it was. They outhit us 10-5, and when that happens you don’t win a lot of ballgames. Willie Mays has been our offensive bright spot, with two hits, a run and two RBIs today. The rest of the team has been mediocre with the bats, with even Kaline struggling at .214 through three games.

APRIL 21, 1956 . . . Camilo Pascual got his first start of the year, going up against Cincinnati’s Tex Clevenger, their 23-year-old top 50 prospect who is up for his first major league start. Kluszewski hit a solo homer in the top of the first with two outs to put the Redlegs up 1-0 quickly in this one as he makes it clear he hopes to win another home run title this season. But Kaline reached first on an error to start the bottom of the inning, and they walked Perry, allowing Robinson to load the bases with a well-timed hit into right field. Willie Mays walked in the tying run, and Ernie Banks hit into a double play but allowed a second run to score from third. So we went into the second inning leading 2-1! We scored a third run in the bottom of the third, as Banks doubled with a line drive to center, but Kluszewski hit his second dinger of the game to get them a run back in the top of the fourth, leaving Pascual looking shell shocked by how quickly it happened. Roger Maris hit his first bomb of the season to make it 4-2 in the bottom of the fourth, and Pascual struck out the side in the top of the fifth, truly looking like himself for the first time today ... CONFIDENT. Alonso Perry got a great hit into the outfield in the bottom of the inning, getting himself a double, and he came around to score a run thanks to a deep Willie Mays single to right, increasing our lead to 5-2!

Pascual got out of a jam in the eighth, putting two runners on but not allowing them to score, and we went into the bottom of the eighth still up 5-2, with Hersh Freeman warming up for his first save opportunity. But Freeman came out and absolutely blew up this game, walking Albie Pearson to start the inning, with Pearson taking second as Elmer Valo took first on a fielding error. He then allowed Bob Skinner to reach base on balls as well, and Norm Larker batted in a run to make it 5-3 ... still no outs. Larry Jansen took over, bases still loaded, and kept the runners in place with a shallow flyout by Wally Lockman, bringing up the top of the order. He then got a great flyout by Nellie Fox that popped straight into a double play at second, and we came out of this with a 5-3 victory by the skin of our teeth.

Pascual came out of this one with a win, starting his year out 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA, giving up just five hits with seven strikeouts and a walk to go with the two earned runs. Freeman nearly blew it, but instead came out of it with one hit, two walks and an unearned run, but did not complete a single out. Jansen came in fired up, however, and got through the inning thanks to his solid defense, keeping his perfect ERA through three innings. We outhit the Redlegs 7-6, led by Mays with two hits and two RBIs, while Maris’ homer will hopefully break him out of a miserable slump ... he’s only hit .071 through the first four games. Big Money Man Alonso Perry also has work to do -- though he got a hit today and a walk, scoring twice, he’s only hitting .133 with a .235 on base percentage.

Bob Purkey is eligible to return from his injury, and will be stepping back into a bullpen role as a high leverage reliever and a potential spot starter. He’ll be available for our doubleheader tomorrow against the Redlegs as we currently share first place in the NL with them and the Brooklyn Dodgers.