[jksander]

JULY 1, 1956 . . . Doubleheader Day! For game one we started Hy Cohen (14-2, 1.39 ERA, 149.2 IP, 171 K’s, 0.68 WHIP) against Milwaukee’s Bob Turley (5-8, 3.65 ERA, 106.0 IP, 66 K’s, 1.40 WHIP), with Wrigley Field a virtual sellout at the time of the 12:05 p.m. first pitch. Poppell opened the bottom half of the first with a walk, then took second on a wild pitch! Al Rosen was walked, as Poppell took advantage of the pitcher’s distraction, stealing third without a throw. And Robinson got a hit into center field, giving us a 1-0 lead before most families had gotten their kids settled in with a hotdog and a coke. Willie Mays then broke it wide open, hitting a three-run blast to left, and fifteen minutes into the game we held a 4-0 lead thanks to Mays’ 29th dinger of the year. Turley was getting absolutely rocked ... Al Kaline got on first, still no outs, moving Banks into scoring postion, and then with two outs, Hy Cohen himself came up to the plate and slammed a three-run blast into the left field seats, completing our batting around and making the lead 7-0. Poppell was barely caught out at first to finally end the inning, with Turley having thrown 41 pitches. Milwaukee got on the board with a homer by Johnny Logan in the top of the second, cutting our lead to six, and Gene Woodling scored two more in the top of the third with a flyout to center, making it 7-3 Cubs. But Al Rosen added an RBI single in the bottom of the third, giving us an 8-3 lead a third of the way through the game.

Gene Woodling hit an RBI single in the top of the fifth to make it 8-4, and Cohen was starting to show rare signs of struggling. We loaded the bases though in the bottom of the inning, and Jackie Robinson walked in another run to put our lead back at five runs. Carl Erskine came in with the lead 9-4 at the start of the eighth inning, giving up a solo homer to Johnny Logan to cut the lead to four runs. But Kaline hit his 10th homer of the year in the bottom of the eighth, a two-run blast that put us at 11-5, and with the bases loaded Jackie Robinson batted in three more with a triple. Erskine stayed in to close the game out as a 14-5 blowout victory, giving us a chance to play for a sweep in the second game.

Cohen had a rougher day than usual, only making it through seven innings, giving up nine hits with two walks, five K’s and four earned runs in the win -- improving to 15-2 with a 1.56 ERA in the process. Erskine allowed one hit with one strikeout, giving up the homer but keeping his ERA at 4.50. We outhit the Braves 15-10, led by Poppell (two hits, one walk, two runs, two steals), Al Kaline (three hits, two runs, two RBIs), Hy Cohen (two hits, one walk, two runs, three RBIs) and Jackie Robinson (two hits, one walk, one run, five RBIs).

Saul Rogovin (10-2, 1.95 ERA, 129.1 IP, 170 K’s, 0.72 WHIP) pitched in the second game against Richard Sovde (2-4, 3.83 ERA, 44.2 IP, 32 K’s, 1.34 WHIP). Poppell got a hit to start the bottom of the first, stole second, and then they walked Rosen. Poppell got another steal, this time taking third while no one was even quick enough to make a throw, and we thought we were on our way to a surefire score, until Willie Mays batted into a double play to end the inning scoreless. Ernie Banks tripled to start the bottom of the second, but again we weren’t able to get him around to score. Jackie Robinson beat out an infield squib to start the bottom of the fourth, taking second on a flyout by Mays. He stole third with two outs and the count 1-0 to Kaline, but Kaline then struck out swinging, AGAIN stranding a runner in scoring position. Maris beat out an infield hit to reach first to start the bottom of the fifth, and they walked Les Moss, Poppell hitting into a fielder’s choice for an out at second. With runners on the corners, this time Roger Maris hit a blistering blast to left field, turning it into a triple that scored two and put us up 2-0! Moss flew out to center in the bottom of the sixth but batted in Banks from third to make it 3-0, Rogovin got into his first jam, with runners on the corners and no outs in the top of the seventh, but he got two quick outs via soft contact, and struck out Fred Hancock swinging to get us into the stretch with the shutout intact. Hersh Freeman came in to replace Rogovin in the eighth with one out and a man on second, getting a double play off a popup to Banks off Gene Woodling, with a quick throw to second to keep the lead at three runs. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth, Maris hit a line drive into right that scored another run, and Moss hit a sac-fly to center that scored our fifth run of the game. They walked Freeman to load the bases, and a pop-out to center by Poppell scored yet another run! We went into the top of the ninth leading 6-0, and Freeman handled his business with aplomb, completing the shutout for Rogovin as we swept the Braves in the series.

Rogovin improved to 11-2 with a 1.84 ERA, pitching a four-hitter with two walks and eight strikeouts, while Freeman got his sixth save of the season, lasting 1.2 innings with a hit and a strikeout through 13 pitches. We outhit the Braves 10-5, led by Ernie Banks with three hits and two runs. Roger Maris hit twice with a run and an RBI, and Jack Poppell hit once for a run and an RBI, stealing two bases -- through just 12 games as a major leaguer, Poppell has hit .302/.345/.340 with one triple and 12 stolen bases in 15 attempts! We’re now within half a game of the Dodgers, heading into a two-game set here at Wrigley against the last-place Cardinals (24-49). We then have an Independence Day doubleheader at Cincinnati (27-45) and then a four-game set at Milwaukee (30-40) before the All Star weekend.

JULY 2, 1956 . . . Camilo Pascual (4-6, 3.12 ERA, 86.2 IP, 60 K’s, 1.21 WHIP) pitched in game one against the Cardinals, facing Vinegar Bend Mizell (5-7, 5.19 ERA, 119.2 IP, 61 K’s, 1.46 WHIP). Al Rosen hit a two-run single in the bottom of the third inning to give us an early 2-0 lead against the Cardinals. Del Crandall hit a double in the bottom of the fifth with a pair of outs, bringing up Poppell, who was quickly walked. Rosen got a hit up the middle to advance Poppell to third while driving in a third run. We still led 3-0 heading into the bottom of the seventh, and we quickly loaded the bases, though we were unable to add any insurance runs. Pascual struck out the side in the eighth, having easily the best game of his season, shutting them down in the ninth to complete the complete game 3-0 shutout!

Pascual improved to 5-6 with a 2.82 ERA, pitching a complete game three-hitter, striking out 11 with only one walk. We had eight hits, led by Al Rosen (two hits, a walk and three RBIs) and Del Crandall (two hits and a run). Poppell hit once, walked once and stole a base but was unable to come around and score.

JULY 3, 1956 . . . Tom Acker (2-2, 3.18 ERA, 51.0 IP, 37 K’s, 1.18 WHIP) pitched in the second game of the series, facing Mike Fornieles (6-7, 3.52 ERA, 130.1 IP, 53 K’s, 1.15 WHIP). St. Louis took an early 1-0 lead thanks to a solo homer by Wally Moon, but we quickly took the lead back in the bottom of the inning off a two-run triple by Banks that gave us a 2-1 lead. Del Crandall had to leave the game with an injury, forcing us to go to Les Moss to play at catcher starting in the top of the third. In the bottom of the inning Jackie Robinson hit a run-scoring triple, and we went into the fourth inning up 3-1. Tom Acker hit a run-scoring double in the bottom of the fourth, but in the top of the sixth the Cards got a run back off a single by Orlando Cepeda to make it 4-2. With one out and a runner on second, Carl Erskine came in to pitch, getting a pop-out at right field and then giving up a two-run blast to Jim King that tied it up at 4-4. He got us out of the inning with a strikeout, and it was a new ballgame from there. Bob Purkey came out with one out and men on first and second in the top of the seventh, loading the bases thanks to a botched catch-and-throw by Banks to Poppell for an error. With the bases loaded, Wally Moon hit a shallow fly out to center for out number two, keeping the bases loaded but allowing no one to score. And Banks and Poppell redeemed themselves with an almost mirror replay of the error earlier in the inning to get us into the stretch still tied 4-4, stranding three Cardinals runners in the process. Jackie Robinson hit a solo homer to right, his 14th of the year, to give us a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the seventh, and seconds later Willie Mays hit his 30th of the year into the bleachers at left, making it a two-run lead! Purkey stayed out and closed the game down in the ninth, helping us save the bulk of our bullpen for tomorrow’s doubleheader as we beat the Cardinals 6-4, keeping our win streak alive!

Acker gave us 5.1 innings with five hits, four strikeouts, two walks and three earned runs, and Erskine blew his first save of the year, giving us an inning with two hits, one strikeout, one walk and one earned run. So Purkey, who came in for 2.2 innings to finish the game, got the win with no hits and one strikeout, improving his ERA to 4.09 with a 3-0 record in decisions! We outhit the Cardinals 10-7, led by Jackie Robinson (three hits, one run, one RBI), Willie Mays (two hits, two runs, two RBIs) and Ernie Banks (one hit, two RBIs). Mays remains our best hitter this year, batting .303/.346/.680 with 10 doubles, 12 triples and 30 homers. But Robinson has remained potent as well despite being halfway to 38, hitting .278/.387/.560 with 15 doubles, 10 triples and 14 homers, continuing to add to what should be an easy case for Hall of Fame consideration whenever he does decide to call it quits -- hopefully years in the future!

We are now officially tied with the Dodgers in first place -- our record at 51-23 and theirs at 50-22, though we’ve played more games than them so far and therefore they hold a tiny edge in win/loss percentage. With Pittsburgh 12.5 games back at 39-36 and Philly right behind them at 38-36, it’s looking like the race is going to be between our two teams at the top for who gets to control the National League. The Yankees, meanwhile, are 51-25 and leading the AL by five games over Detroit (44-28). Boston (38-35), Cleveland (37-36) and Kansas City (35-40) all remain within 12 to 16 games, but the Yankees have missed the last two World Series, and look determined to stay in top form so they can get the fans back on their side.
 
JULY 4, 1956 . . . Happy Independence Day! We’re in Cincinnati today for a double dose of America’s favorite pastime along with fireworks, though with the Redlegs twenty games under .500, there’s not a ton of celebrating going on in the stands -- just under 8,000 fans showed up, in fact. Hy Cohen (15-2, 1.56 ERA, 155.2 IP, 176 K’s, 0.72 WHIP) pitched in the first game, facing Bobby Shantz (5-7, 5.17 ERA, 116.2 IP, 44 K’s, 1.51 WHIP). Willie Mays quickly put us up 2-0 in the top of the first with a two-run blast that went over 450 feet and nearly left the ballpark. That gives him 31 bombs this season! But the Redlegs got on the board in the bottom of the inning with a two-run homer by Kluszewski (his 25th of the year), tying the score at 2-2. Al Kaline hit a three-run blast in the top of the third, blasting us to a 5-2 lead with his 11th of the season, and the scoring stopped from there completely, the game turning into a duel between the two starters. Cohen drove Shantz out after six innings, but he stayed in to complete the game for us, shutting the Redlegs down as we won game one 5-2, all seven runs coming off homers.

Cohen improved to 16-2 with a 1.59 ERA, allowing just four hits with seven strikeouts and two earned runs, despite allowing six walks -- an unusually wild afternoon on his part. We had eight hits ourselves, led by Mays (two hits, two runs, two RBIs) and Kaline (one hit, one run, three RBIs).

Saul Rogovin (11-2, 1.84 ERA, 136.2 IP, 178 K’s, 0.72 WHIP) got the start in game two, going up against Don Drysdale (4-10, 4.73 ERA, 104.2 IP, 61 K’s, 1.53 WHIP). Cincinnati got on the board first in this one, a Bob Elliott RBI double giving them a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second. Jackie Robinson hit a leadoff homer in the top of the fourth to tie it up 1-1, his 15th homer of the year, and it stayed knotted up from there. In the top of the ninth, still tied up 1-1, Al Kaline got a hit into right field, legging out a double, and they walked Maris. Del Crandall hit a sac-bunt to advance both runners into scoring position with just a single out, and Ed Bouchee came in to pinch-hit for Rogovin, reaching first safely though they successfully threw Kaline out at home to prevent the run. They walked Jack Poppell, and Rosen popped out to first, ending the inning and sending us into the bottom of the ninth with Koufax coming in looking to get us into extras. He got three outs with a walked batter inbetween them, and we were headed for the 10th. We quickly loaded the bases, and with two outs, Del Crandall got a hit into right field, driving in a pair of runs to put us up 3-1! And Koufax did his job, closing things out perfectly to finish out the two-run victory as we beat the Redlegs twice in front of their openly frustrated fans..

Rogovin had a great night, giving us eight innings with six hits, 10 strikeouts and just one earned run, improving his ERA to 1.80, while Koufax improved his record to 5-5 with a 3.25 ERA, allowing just one hit in two innings, with two strikeouts and a walk. We outhit them 8-7, led by Robinson with two hits, a walk, two runs and an RBI. Kaline and Maris each hit twice as well, and though Poppell didn’t get a hit, he did walk once, reached base a second time thanks to a fielder’s choice, and stole two bases, bringing his stolen bases total to 15 through just 16 starts over two weeks! He is now just one stolen base away from being in the top five for the year already, and he’s only been caught three times!

More important, we’ve officially overtaken the Dodgers in the standings, with a one game lead on them for the NL Pennant! All that stands between us and the All Star break is a four-game road trip to Milwaukee (33-41), bringing an eight-game winning streak with us. The All Star teams should be announced on the 8th, and we’re expected to dominate the NL’s nominations list as we’ve become the most dominant team in the league.