[jksander]

OCTOBER 8, 1956
WORLD SERIES GAME FIVE
Chicago Cubs (3-1) at New York Yankees (1-3)

1:05 PM -- Yankee Stadium ... Attendance: 46,593
Weather: Partly Cloudy, 57 Degrees ... Wind blowing in from right at 14 miles per hour

CHICAGO STARTER: Tom Acker (12-5, 3.21 ERA, 159.2 IP, 118 K’s, 1.08 WHIP)
NEW YORK STARTER: Allie Reynolds (0-1, 5.62 ERA, 8.0 IP, 5 K’s, 1.88 WHIP)

With two outs in the top of the first, Willie Mays got a hit into the right field corner, coming out of it with a double, but Jackie Robinson grounded out to first, keeping us from drawing early blood. And Acker gave up a homer to Minosa on just the fourth hit of the game, bringing the Yankees fans in this place to their feet. He loaded the bases, then struck out Yogi Berra, holding all the runners again as Howard popped out to right. He then walked in a run via Hank Thompson to make it 2-0, finally getting out of it with a popout to short. One inning, 34 pitches, two runs for the Yankees. Banks, Maris and Crandall each got hits with just one out in the top of the second, however, loading the bases for us only for Acker and Poppell to come up empty. But we made up for it in the top of the third, with Rosen getting a base hit followed by a long-ball by Mays that tied the score 2-2! Rosen had a chance to put us up in the top of the fourth, but he popped out to short to come up empty. But Acker stepped up his game as we played on, and Ernie Banks got a hit into left that loaded the bases again for us in the top of the fifth, and we took the lead on a wild pitch, going up 3-2. We had them on the ropes in the top of the sixth, when Al Kaline hit a run-scoring single that extended the lead to 4-2, but the Yankees got one back in the bottom of the frame thanks to Charlie Maxwell, and we went into the seventh inning holding a one-run lead.

Carl Erskine came in for the bottom of the seventh, with Acker having thrown over 110 pitches, and New York took advantage -- Mickey Mantle hit an RBI single to tie the game with two outs, tying the game at 4-4. Poppell got on base with a single in the top of the eighth, stealing second and then advancing to third on a groundout by Rosen. They intentionally walked Mays, but Robinson popped out to center and drove Poppell in from third to put us back up 5-4. Kaline batted in another with a single, sending us into the bottom of the eighth with a two run lead, with Larry Jensen coming in to pitch. Jensen struggled almost immediately, and with Vern Law trying to warm up quickly, pinch-hitter Bob Cerv hit a two-run double to tie things up again 6-6. Law came in with one out and men on the corners, and McDougald batted out to center while Cerv held at third, followed by Mickey Mantle hitting a blast straight to Mays for the final out. With two outs in the top of the ninth, Law got himself a hit into left, taking first safely, but Poppell struck out swinging. With two outs and Roy Sievers and Hank Thompson on second and first respectively, Law pitched to Grady Hatton, putting him on first via balls to load the gun. Bob Cerv, who had stayed in to play right field, then hit it to third, and Robinson made a great throw to first, getting the out and putting us into extra innings.

We went nowhere in the top of the tenth, and Law tried to stay out, putting runners on first and second before we brought Koufax in ... belatedly, I’ll admit. And the decision proved costly, as Koufax loaded the bases, though the runners all held on a popout by Sievers to Rosen. Yogi Berra wound up being the man to put the dagger in, getting a walk-off hit into center field and giving the Yankees the 7-6 lead. This one’s on me as a manager -- we outhit the Yanks 14-9 and still kept finding ways to lose. We’ll head back to Chicago and hope the friendly confines of Wrigley help us finish what we’ve started.

Acker did everything he could to help build a foundation, coming back from that opening at-bat homer to give us six innings with just two hits, four walks, four strikeouts and three runs (two earned). But Erskine and Jensen each blew save opportunities, and Vern Law took the loss, giving up an unearned run with two hits two walks and a strikeout in 1.2 innings of work. Jansen, with two earned runs and just one completed out, took in his first playoff relief appearance and wasn’t at all up to the task -- and he’s taking it hard. As for our bats, Rosen, Mays, Banks Maris and Crandall each had two hits, with Mays leading the way with two runs and two RBIs as well. Robinson and Kaline each batted in runs, but we just didn’t have anything left for the extra inning.