[jksander]

JUNE 22, 1956 . . . We’re 4-4 against the Pirates heading into this four-game series. Camilo Pascual (3-5, 3.38 ERA, 74.2 IP, 49 K’s, 1.21 WHIP) got the start this evening against Bob Friend (5-6, 3.19 ERA, 110.0 IP, 46 K’s, 1.15 WHIP). Poppell got things started by beating out an infield squib to take first safely, and they walked Rosen, bringing up Robinson. Poppell stole third successfully with the count 1-0 on Robinson, and though Robinson batted out to short, Mays came up next and hit a towering blast into the stands at center and just like that we were up 3-0 with his 24th homer of the year. Mays hit his 25th of the year in the top of the third, extending our lead to four runs, In the top of the fifth, Poppell started out the inning with another hit, then stole second, allowing the Pirates to walk Rosen. With the count 1-0 on Robinson, Poppell stole third safely, his fifth stolen base in just three days, which allowed him to score when Robinson batted into a double play, making it 5-0 Cubs -- the kid’s instincts on the basepaths are incredible! Poppell and Rosen had back to back hits in the top of the seventh, and Poppell stole his FOURTH BASE OF THE GAME, taking third, as Robinson swung and missed on a changeup. Robinson got a hit into center field, driving Poppell home yet again for our sixth run of the night, and at this point I’ll give that kid the green light any time! Who needs slug when you can get the extra bases with speed and guile? Al Kaline hit an RBI single to allow Rosen to score, and we went into the stretch in control of a 7-0 shutout lead.

Pascual loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning, walking in a run, but he got two quick outs at home plate off grounders, and Mays made a spectacular catch at the wall to save us from a grand slam, keeping our lead at 7-1 heading into the eighth. We loaded the bases in the top of the eighth, and this time the grand salami made it into the stands, as Willie Mays knocked in four runs to make it 11-1, tying the Chicago Cubs single game record with three homers in this game! Carl Erskine came in for the eighth and ninth with little doubt aboutt he outcome of this game, getting six quick outs and silencing their fans as we blew out the Pirates by 11 runs.

Pascual improved to 4-5 with a 3.20 ERA, giving us seven innings with five hits, five strikeouts, four walks and a single earned run. Erskine then came out and threw the last two innings, with one walk and two strikeouts -- no hits -- bringing his ERA down to 5.75 through 20.1 innings since joining our club from Brooklyn. We outhit them 14-5, led by Willie Mays’ staggering night: four hits (three homers) for three runs and eight batted in! On any other night, Poppell would have been the star -- the 23-year-old hit three times and stole four bases, giving him a .462 average and .500 on base percentage with six steals in his first three games. It’s a small sample size, but we’ve all been enjoying the spark he’s bringing to the team.

JUNE 23, 1956 . . . Hy Cohen (12-2, 1.36 ERA, 132.2 IP, 152 Ks, 0.64 WHIP) started this afternoon against Pittsburgh’s Dick Hall (5-5, 3.24 ERA, 89.0 IP, 38 K’s, 1.24 WHIP). Al Rosen got us started with a solo homer in the top of the first, his 11th of the season, giving us a 1-0 lead heading into the bottom of the inning. Ernie Banks batted in a run with a single in the top of the second, but the score stayed that way from there, as both pitchers locked in. Pittsburgh did get on the board in the bottom of the fifth, with catcher Johnny Romano hitting his second homer of the year to make it 2-1, however, and we struggled to get baserunners, heading into the top of the seventh still leading by just the one run. With two outs, Al Rosen and Jackie Robinson each reached base on balls, but Mays struck out swinging to send us into the stretch. Kaline got on base with a single in the top of the eighth, advancing to second thanks to a single by Banks. He stole third with Crandall at bat, his second steal of the afternoon, but Crandall hit into a double play to end the inning. But Cohen stayed red hot, striking out the side in the bottom of the eighth, sending us into the ninth with a one run lead and one last chance at getting some insurance. Al Rosen reached first with a single, taking second on a wild pitch, giving them room to walk Robinson. Willie Mays loaded the bases with an infield single, and then Kaline grounded out to first to keep us from scoring. Koufax came in to close it out in the bottom of the ninth, getting three quick outs to seal the 2-1 victory heading into tomorrow’s doubleheader!

Hy Cohen improved to 13-2 with a 1.34 ERA, striking out 11 batters with eight hits and one earned run. Koufax struck out a pair and dropped his ERA to 3.65 without giving up a hit in his eighth save of the year. We outhit the Pirates 9-8 in a tight battle, led by Kaline (two hits, one run, two steals) and Banks (two hits). Al Rosen added his solo homer in the first that got things started, but Poppell had a tough night, going hitless -- though he was almost walked twice, taking Pirates pitchers to full counts on both occasions. So I am confident he’s got the eye to really go places in the leadoff role.

JUNE 24, 1956 . . . Doubleheader Day! Tom Acker (2-2, 2.55 ERA, 42.1 IP, 31 K’s, 1.06 WHIP) gets the start in game one against Johnny Klippstein (6-6, 3.70 ERA, 112.0 IP, 61 K’s, 1.01 WHIP). Poppell opened the game perfectly, hitting his first career triple! He made it home safely off a sac-fly to center by Robinson, and just like that we were up 1-0 with only five minutes elapsed! Willie Mays then slapped a homer into the bleachers at center, his 27th of the year, and we went into the bottom of the first frame leading 2-0. Acker stumbled in the second inning, letting them load the bases, and he walked in a run via Joe Garagiola to make it 2-1 with just one out. But he held the runners with a flyout to left, and then struck out Bill Virdon to end the inning with the lead intact. Mays batted in a run with a single in the top of the third, and an Ernie Banks flyout to left drove another in to make it 4-1. Rocky Colavito hit a homer for the Pirates in the bottom of the third to pull them within two. Poppell got another base hit in the top of the fifth but was picked off trying to steal second, the first time in seven tries he’s failed to get the base he wanted. We brought Carl Erskine in, bottom of the fifth, men on second and third, but a failed pickoff play at home allowed the Pirates within a run, before Erskine then locked in and got two quick outs via popouts to center and shorstop. We loaded the bases in the top of the sixth but were unable to score. Robinson got a triple with one out in the top of the seventh, and they walked Mays, who promptly stole second -- he hasn’t been quick to take the signal this year, but he’s two of three so far in 1956! They walked Kaline to yet again give us loaded bases, but again we struck out (this time it was Maris) and left the inning clinging to a 4-3 lead as the crowd stood up to stretch.

Hersh Freeman came in with a man on second and one out in the bottom of the seventh, getting us the outs we needed to protect our lead, and he held it through the eighth as well. We went into the bottom of the ninth still leading 4-3, but kept Hersh Freeman in too long -- we brought Koufax in with men on the corners and no outs, and he STILL got out of the jam perfectly, striking out Johnny Romano and then getting Bill Virdon out via a pitch-perfect double play as we closed out the 4-3 victory!

Carl Erskine came out with the win, improving to 2-1 with a 5.24 ERA thanks to two innings of one hit, one strikeout baseball, following Acker’s 4.1 inning five hit, three strikeout, two walk, three run start. Hersh Freeman was lucky to come out of it with a hold, his second, rather than a blown save, though he did last 1.2 innings with just a hit and a walk. And Koufax saved his ninth game, striking out one batter and improving his ERA to 3.58. That may have been his best save of the year, at least from a high leverage standpoint -- three outs on five pitches. We outhit them 11-7, led by Robinson with three hits, a run and an RBI. Mays had two hits, a run and two RBIs, and Poppell hit twice and walked once, scoring a run. He is hitting .364/.417/.455 since signing with us, and he’s already building buzz in the hometown papers. I can’t wait for the fans to get to meet him when we return to Wrigley.
 
Saul Rogovin was set to pitch the second game of the doubleheader, but with us up three to nothing in the series, I’d rather save him for the Brooklyn series that’s upcoming. So I’m bringing Bob Porterfield (2-0, 0.66 ERA, 13.2 IP, 6 K’s, 0.66 WHIP) in for the spot start, facing Pittsburgh’s Gene Conley (5-7, 2.93 ERA, 123.0 IP, 84 K’s, 1.10 WHIP). In the top of the third, Jack Poppell reached first with a single, and then made it around to third on a single by Rosen! Robinson batted out to left, but Poppell was incredibly quick and made his run for home, sliding in for the go-ahead run! Willie Mays hit a deep fly to center, legging out a double to put two runners in scoring position, but Banks flew out to right, preventing us from breaking this one wide open. And Portefield gave up a pair of hits to start the botom of the third, allowing the Pirates to tie it up 1-1 with an RBI single by Gene Conley. With two outs in the bottom of the third, Ken Boyer hit an RBI single of his own to drive in the go-ahead run for the Pirates, and we went into the top of the fourth trailing 2-1. Bob Purkey came in with one out in the bottom of the sixth, no one on, and he got one out before giving up a pair of hits that put runners in scoring position. A groundout to Rosen ended the inning safely, however, and we went into the top of the seventh still trailing 2-1.

Roger Maris singled to start the top of the seventh, and after a Jarvis flyout, and Maris advanced to second on a 5-3 groundout by Purkey. Jack Poppell safely reached first on an E6 error, and then with Al Rosen up to the plate, he stole second -- and an E2 throwing error allowed him to advance to third, sending Maris around to score the tying run! Rosen flew out to center to end the frame, but we went into the stretch tied 2-2 and still right in this one. Purkey got us safely into the eighth inning, at which point Willie Mays safely reached first on another error, stealing second on a no-throw. They walked Kaline intentionally, and then Mays stole third, coming round for home thanks to an E2 throwing error, putting us up 3-2 and advancing Kaline to third! They intentionally walked Maris, and we pinch-hit Crandall for Jarvis, another run scoring thanks to an E4 error that allowed Crandall to take first, advancing Maris to second and scoring Kaline from third -- that’s their SIXTH ERROR OF THE GAME! Purkey got us through the eighth inning as well, without hardly breaking a sweat, and with our bullpen fairly beat up, we let him finish the game out, getting three more outs to close the door on our 4-2 victory!

Porterfield had a great start, 5.1 innings with just three hits, three walks, two strikeouts and two runs (one earned) to give him a 0.95 ERA through 19 innings. But he was outshined by Bob Purkey, who lasted 3.2 innings in only his third appearance of the season, giving up four hits but no runs, bringing his ERA down to 6.14 through 7.1 innings. We were outhit 7-5 by the Pirates, but they committed six errors and walked three of our batters, which really flipped the script. Mays had two steals to give him four on the season, while Poppell got his seventh steal of the week along with a hit, scoring his sixth run! Robinson had a hit for an RBI, and Mays, Maris and Kaline all scored runs on the ground.

The sweep of Pittsburgh sends us into the Brooklyn series with a 43-22 record, just 3.5 games behind the 46-18 Dodgers. We can’t take the lead with this series, but we can definitely head back to Wrigley in a much stronger position of we at least win this series. We’ve split the series 4-4 against them thus far. We should have Rogovin, Pascual and Cohen for the three games thanks to Porterfield’s strong start in today’s doubleheader.