[jksander]

SEPTEMBER 18, 1956 . . . We could tie our all-time longest win-streak tonight if we can find a way to beat the Giants on their field tonight -- they’re 64-81 but itching to play spoiler in any way possible. We play there tonight and tomorrow, and our magic number is at five, putting us incredibly close to clinching our third consecutive NL pennant. We’ll be doing it this series without the services of “Jackrabbit” Poppell, who has come down with an early case of the flu -- we’re going to be cautious and let him rest for this series and the one this weekend at Milwaukee. He’ll return to the lineup for next weeks’ final four home games.

I want to rest Rogovin until tomorrow’s game, so we’re going with a second bullpen start for Carl Erskine (6-3, 3.87 ERA, 79.2 IP, 72 K’s, 1.17 WHIP) against the Giants’ right-handed starter Jack Sanford (3-6, 3.53 ERA, 119.2 IP, 60 K’s, 1.31 WHIP). Roger Maris will be batting leadoff, with Gene Baker in the number eight spot as our second baseman. And Maris, for the second game in a row batting leadoff, opened the game with a towering home run, giving us a 1-0 lead with just his 17th homer of the season! Though we got a couple runners on base after his blast, we didn’t add any damage, and the Giants came up to bat itching to put us in our place. Instead we added another solo blast in the top of the second, Del Crandall’s 17th homer of the year, to make it 2-0, and Erskine proved to be quite consistently able to keep them off balance from the mound. But Erskine helped them load the bases in the bottom of the third, a run scoring on a sac-fly by Bill White, and Norm Cash delivered an RBI single to tie it up! Maris got a base hit in the top of the fifth and stole second without a throw, coming around to to third with an outfield hit by Al Rosen. Willie Mays then pulled off a successful squeeze play to take first on a bunt, Maris coming home to score the go-ahead run! And with two outs, Ernie Banks hit a three-run blast into the left field stands, his 34th of the season, and suddenly this close battle had become a 6-2 Cubs lead heading into the bottom of the fifth. Don Demeter came in to pinch hit for Erskine in the top of the sixth and took his first major league base on balls, but wasn’t able to do anything with it as the next two batters struck out swinging, and Vern Law came in to pitch in the sixth with a four-run lead in his hands.

The Giants were pissed off and hungry, however, and they came out swinging in the bottom of the sixth -- Don Blasingame hit an RBI single to cut our lead to three runs, but despite allowing two runners on base after that, Law held his ground and did not let them score further, and Jackie Robinson got the run back for us with a solo blast to right, giving him 35 home runs this season, sending us into the stretch with a 7-3 advantage. Del Crandall picked up a triple in the top of the eighth, scoring off a wild pitch to make it a five-run lead,, and with an out and a man on second in the bottom of the inning we brought in Steve Gromek to close things out, with Law reaching his physical limit. Ed Bailey took full advantage, hitting an RBI double to start what the Giants hoped could be a legitimate rally, but Gromek quickly got the next two outs to send us into the ninth leading by four. Willie Mays notched a triple with one out in the frame, and Kaline twisted the dagger, hitting his 26th homer of the year to put hopes of a Giants comeback to sleep while driving in a pair. Gromek wasted no time, getting three quick outs to finish the 10-4 win in style. That’s 21 in a row, folks! Our Cubs will have a chance to make club history tomorrow afternoon!

Carl Erskine is now 7-3 with a 3.93 ERA, allowing six hits and two earned runs -- no walks, no strikeouts -- in a five inning effort. Vern Law then threw 58 pitches in 2.1 innings, allowing five hits, a walk and two earned runs, while Gromek then came in and gave us 1.2 innings with just one hit. Not a bad day by any stretch, let alone for a 36-year-old who played his whole career for Cleveland only to get ditched! He doesn’t have the strong pitches to be counted on in a tight situation, but he’s still capable of earning a living. As for our offense, we outhit them 13-12 in a slugfest, but our power won out yet again ... four homers and two triples! Maris, Mays, Kaline and Crandall each had two hits apiece, with Kaline and Banks combining for five RBIs. Not bad!

Our magic number is now down to three, with this win and a loss by the Dodgers at home this evening against St. Louis, Brooklyn falling 12-5. The Yankees have lost two games in a row in the AL, but they still lead the Guardians by 8.5 games and have a magic number of one. The only way they don’t clinch is if they lose their final nine games and Cleveland win all of theirs. They’re on a tough road stretch right now, with three games this weekend, with sets against Boston and Baltimore, but their clinching is one of those inevitable facts of September baseball at this point. And local media here in Chicago are already salivating over a chance to see this Cubs lineup face the Bronx Bombers in October.
 
SEPTEMBER 19, 1956 . . . Saul Rogovin (22-4, 2.03 ERA, 274.1 IP, 337 K’s, 0.80 WHIP) is ready to go today against Seth Morehead (14-14, 3.57 ERA, 244.2 IP, 152 K’s, 1.32 WHIP). Kaline’s batting leadoff for us today, with Maris batting seventh and Baker again hitting eighth and playing second base. Rogovin needs 12 strikeouts today to tie the all-time single-season strikeouts record ... can he do it? It was certainly set up to be a pitching duel, with both teams playing stellar defense and all the contact anyone could find was soft contact. By the time we got to the top of the fourth, Rogovin had three strikeouts, we’d outhit the Giants 2-1, but no one had scored a thing. Robinson got a base hit with an out in the top of the fourth, but Banks flew out to center and they walked Crandall, putting a runner in scoring position with Maris at the plate. Maris got a good hit, but it came off the bat slow and was an easy out at right -- two stranded. And Rogovin’s control lapsed to start the bottom of the inning, with Bill White picking up an infield hit and Norm Cash whallopping one out of the park at right, putting the Giants up 2-0, though Rogovin picked up another pair of strikeouts in getting out of the inning. Robinson picked up a double in the top of the sixth, reaching third on a single by Banks. Crandall flew out to left for our second of the inning, and it wasn’t deep enough for Robinson to take the jump. But Maris came through in a pinch, getting a hit just out into right field, driving in our first run!

Rogovin stayed out for the bottom of the seventh but gave up a solo homer to Ed Bailey on his 99th pitch of the night to make it 3-1 Giants, and we decided to put Porterfield in, bringing his night to a close four strikeouts away from the record and he wasn’t happy about it ... I get it, he wanted to stay in and try for the win, but it’s not worth losing him for the playoffs or something stupid like that. Ernie Banks gave us a chance in the top of the eighth, hitting an RBI double to cut the Giants’ lead to one, and we went into the top of the ninth still trailing. Demeter took another walk, and Kaline hit a line drive to right, coming out with a double that put the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position with just one out! Al Rosen walked the bases loaded, and they walked Mays to tie it up! Their pitcher was in shambles, walking Robinson to put us in the lead, and they still didn’t pull him! Morehead stayed out there as Banks got a hit into right that added another, giving us a two-run lead in the top of the ninth, still just one out. Crandall and Maris popped out to end the frame, but I’d say it was downright criminal that they kept Morehead out there. What better way to say you have no bullpen? Koufax came in to close the game out for us, and he got us through with flying colors as we beat the Giants 5-3 and won our club-record 22nd consecutive game!

Saul Rogovin finished with just five hits, three walks and eight strikeouts, allowing for three earned runs in a six-inning no decision. Porterfield gave us two no-hit innings with two strikeouts, earning the win as he improved to 5-3 with a 3.13 ERA. And Koufax saved his 22nd game, walking one batter but allowing no one into scoring position. He now has a 3.33 ERA through 78.1 innings, just two outs away from equaling his innings count from his rookie season. We outhit the Giants 10-5, but the Giants still had a chance had they not walked in two ninth-inning runs. Ernie Banks led our offense with three hits and two RBIs, while Robinson had two hits including his game-clinching homer, walking twice as well.

SEPTEMBER 21, 1956 . . . Hy Cohen (30-3, 1.87 ERA, 283.1 IP, 275 K’s, 0.82 WHIP) got the start tonight, going up against Johnny Antonelli (19-12, 2.44 ERA, 280.2 IP, 141 K’s, 1.07 WHIP) in what may be his last start of the regular season. With a win tonight and a loss by the Dodgers we’d be able to clinch, and I know he relishes any chance he gets against another club’s ace to lock in and show his skills. And what a duel it turned into! Cohen capped four scoreless innings with a great double play that kept Milwaukee from getting anything going, and Antonelli had worked well with his fellow defenders to keep any of our five baserunners from scoring, even when in good position to do so. We had opportunities in the fifth, however. Willie Mays got himself a hit in the top of the inning and Robinson walked, but Banks was robbed of a hit by a spectacular diving catch by Bill Bruton out at center. Crandall walked the bases loaded with just the one out, and Roger Maris batted in a run with a single. But Gene Baker hit into a double play, so we had to settle for just the 1-0 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth, and it stayed that way into the seventh inning stretch, with Antonelli locking in and fighting to keep his team focused. We loaded the bases in the top of the ninth, but Banks hit into a fielder’s choice, with Antonelli getting the out at home though the bases remained loaded with two outs, and Crandall hit out to right field to get the Braves into the bottom of the ninth with one last chance to get on the board. Cohen struck out Johnny Logan, and Hank Aaron hit one into right field that the wind kept in, for an easy catch by Kaline for out number two. And Eddie Mathews hit one straight to Mays at center and we were able to get out of this one with another 1-0 victory!

Cohen improved to 31-3 with a 1.82 ERA, allowing five hits with eight strikeouts and no walks in his 97-pitch complete game. We outhit the Braves 10-5, so it’s a testament to their stellar defense that we were stuck in a one-run game the whole way. Rosen and Maris were our two batters with two hits each, Mays scoring our only run and Maris driving it in. How’s that for symmetry?

The Yankees clinched the American League Pennant with a 7-2 win over the Red Sox on the road this afternoon. We are now a win away from clinching ourselves, but Brooklyn wasn’t willing to help us. They blanked the Pirates this afternoon 4-0 to keep their dwindling hopes alive for at least twenty more hours.