[jksander]

SEPTEMBER 22, 1956 . . . We found out this morning that Don Demeter, who has been getting a few chances to pinch-hit at the major league level this September, was named the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League’s MVP for his performances with the Burlington Bees (AA) this season. He hit .335 this year for the Bees, hitting 14 doubles, 10 triples and 45 homers, contributing 108 RBIs to the team which finished 69-57 this season.

Nearly 21,000 fans showed up at County Stadium this afternoon on a blustery, cool, cloudy afternoon in Milwaukee, to see if their 67-81 Braves could hold us off from clinching and snap our absolutely insane 23-game winning streak (the only one longer in major league history was the 26-game streak set by the Giants in 1916). Camilo Pascual (13-8, 2.70 ERA, 196.2 IP, 136 K’s, 1.06 WHIP) started against Bob Turley (9-19, 4.58 ERA, 218.1 IP, 154 K’s, 1.52 WHIP). Roger Maris got us on the board in the top of the third with an RBI single into right, driving Baker in to score from third, and with the bases loaded moments later, Turley walked in a run, sending Robinson to first. Kaline batted in a third run with a single, and we went into the bottom of the inning with a solid three-run lead. Bruton made a bad throw to home after a Pascual ground out, allowing a run to score from third to make it 4-0, and Roger Maris batted him home with a single for a fifth run in the top of the fourth. An incredible confluence of poor pitching helped us add another run, two wild pitches and a flyout by Rosen all in one at-bat driving Maris in to score from third. Once the floodgates unleashed, there was no stopping us -- Jackie Robinson hit his 36th homerun of the season to drive in another pair, and we went into the bottom of the fourth leading 8-0 with a contingent of Cubs fans in the outfield already chanting “Clinch! Clinch!” Milwaukee got on the board with a Gene Woodling RBI double in the bottom of the sixth, but Rosen hit a two-run homer in the top of the eighth, his 19th of the year, and we had a 10-1 lead that was all but insurmountable. Al Kaline added a solo bomb in the top of the ninth, his 27th four-bagger of the season, and Pascual stayed in to complete the game as we beat the Braves 11-1, officially clinching the NL Pennant for the third year in a row and winning our 24th consecutive game!

Pascual is now 14-8 with a 2.63 ERA, allowing eight hits tonight with two walks and a strikeout, with just one earned run after throwing 129 pitches. We outhit Milwaukee 11-8, led by Rosen with a hit, a run and three RBIs, alongside Robinson with the same. Roger Maris hit twice with two runs and two RBIs as well, and Kaline hit twice with a run and two RBIs.

SEPTEMBER 23, 1956 . . . Tom Acker (10-5, 3.51 ERA, 143.2 IP, 110 K’s, 1.14 WHIP) started the final game against the Braves, facing Warren Spahn (11-21, 3.87 ERA, 262.2 IP, 119 K’s, 1.31 WHIP). This is our final road game of the year, and then we return to Wrigley for the final week of the regular season. Jackie Robinson got us on the board with an RBI double in the top of the first. Lots of guys were getting hits, but they were turning into easy pop-outs, thanks to the blistering 16 mile per hour wind blowing in from center that kept holding hits back. Very few were actually landing, and this one turned into a rare pitching duel that involved a lot of soft contact rather than one with gaudy strikeout totals. Al Kaline finally got one that broke past the wind barrier, hitting a powerful blast into left field in the top of the ninth to extend our lead to 2-0 with his 28th homer of the season, and Koufax came out for the bottom of the innning to finish the job, completing the game with an Eddie Mathews popout to left to give us the 2-0 victory and our 25th win in a row as we return to Wrigley.

Acker allowed just one hit in eight innings, striking out seven and walking three, improving to 11-5 with a 3.32 ERA. Koufax came out and allowed a pair of hits but got the outs we needed and got his 23rd save of the year, giving himself a 3.29 ERA through 79.1 innings of work. We outhit the Braves just 5-3 on this inhospitable afternoon, led by Kaline who got three hits out of the leadoff position, scoring twice and driving in a run. Robinson contributed the other RBI for us, while Rosen picked up our other hit, walking three times but never getting anywhere.

SEPTEMBER 25, 1956 . . . Saul Rogovin (22-4, 2.09 ERA, 280.1 IP, 345 K’s, 0.81 WHIP) pitched his final start of the season this afternoon at Wrigley in front of a standing room crowd, going up against St. Louis pitcher Larry Jackson (6-14, 3.90 ERA, 175.1 IP, 72 K’s, 1.25 WHIP). Jackie Robinson hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the first, his 37th of the season, to put us on the board. But St. Louis wasn’t gonna quit in this one, as Jim King hit a RBI double to get them on the board in the top of the second to pull within a pair. Ernie Banks walked in a run with the bases loaded in the bottom of the third to put us back up by three, and Jack Poppell hit an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth that put us up 5-1. A Jackie Robinson flyout to center scored another, and the Cardinals just threw in the towel -- Kaline hit an RBI single, Banks flew out to center for another, and we went into the top of the fifth leading in an all-too-familiar blowout, 8-1. Rogovin struck out Bill Sarni in the top of the fifth for his 349th strikeout of the season, tying the modern-day strikeout record of 349 set by Rube Waddell in 1904! In the top of the sixth, the Cardinals got a little bit to cheer about thanks to a solo homer by Frank Bolling, but the rally went nowhere. Rogovin struck out Jim King in the top of the seventh to break the modern record, striking out Lavern Grace for No. 351 before grounding out to end the inning. Steve Gromek came in for the ninth inning, after Rogovin handed the ball over and accepted a standing ovation from the sold-out crowd, and we won the game easily 8-2, tying the all-time win-streak record.

Rogovin will finish his regular season with a stellar 23-4 record and a 2.09 ERA, striking out eight batters, walking two and giving up just five hits in eight innings, including two earned runs. Gromek remained perfect, getting three outs off soft contact to keep his unblemished ERA. We outhit the Cardinals 14-5, led by Robinson’s two hits, one run and four RBIs. Poppell, Mays and Kaline each hit three times as well.