[jksander]

MAY 2, 1957 . . . We’ve signed a new pitcher to join our team via the Baton Rouge Rebels of the Evangeline League! Don Gross, a 25-year-old left-handed pitcher, has been floating around the unaffiliated leagues for the past five years, having peaked at the AAA level back in ’51. This year with the Rebels he’s built a 6-1 record with a 2.26 ERA and 46 strikeouts through 55.2 innings of work. We’re looking to convert him from a starter to a reliever, where his above-average stuff, movement and control will be an asset despite his reliance primarily on a plus fastball and little else. He will be taking Larry Jansen’s place on the major league squad where I am hopeful he’ll be able to make an immediate contribution. All it cost us was his team’s $28,000 price to purchase his contract -- he’ll earn the league minimum $11,200 salary through this season and will then be eligible for arbitration.

Tonight in Philadelphia, we’re starting Sandy Koufax (0-1, 4.80 ERA, 15.0 IP, 10 K’s, 1.13 WHIP) against Philly’s Robin Roberts (2-0, 2.16 ERA, 16.2 IP, 5 K’s, 0.84 WHIP). Al Rosen quickly got us on the board with an RBI double, giving us a 1-0 lead heading into the bottom of the first. Rosen then popped out to center field in the top of the third, driving Poppell in to score his second run of the game and give us a 2-0 advantage! The Phillies got on the board with an RBI single by Richie Ashburn in the bottom of the third. Ernie Banks bought us some insurance in the top of the sixth with a solo blast to right, his third homer this year, and in the top of the seventh, Jack Poppell hit the first home run of his career, increasing our lead to three runs! Jackie Robinson hit a triple that drove in two more runs, and a Banks popout to left quickly scored another. That sent us into the stretch leading 7-1, the first time in quite a while that our lineup has strung that many hits together in a single inning. Dick Drott came in to pitch in the bottom of the eighth, and he got us through the remainder of the game with little fuss -- we beat the Phillies 7-1, the first time all season we’ve won two in a row.

Sandy Koufax had an excellent start, giving us seven innings with eight hits, six strikeouts and an earned run -- no walks, giving him a 1-1 record and a 3.68 ERA through his first three starts! Dick Drott pitched two innings with two hits and a walk but did not give up any runs, improving his ERA to 6.35 through 5.2 innings of relief. We outhit the Phillies 11-10, but had a double, a triple and two homers which helped us put them away. Jack Poppell led the team with three hits, scoring three runs and driving in another while picking up four steals, bringing his total through the first 15 games to 21 stolen this season! Rosen, Robinson and Banks each hit twice as well, with Rosen hitting .340 and reaching base at a .469 clip, walking nearly as many times as he’s hit this year.

MAY 3, 1957 . . . Saul Rogovin (1-2, 2.62 ERA, 24.0 IP, 26 K’s, 0.79 WHIP) is up against Philly’s Don Newcombe (0-2, 6.94 ERA, 11.2 IP, 9 K’s, 1.97 WHIP) in the second game of our three-game road set. Poppell scored a run on a double-play groundout by Maris to give us a 1-0 first-inning lead, and we added to it in the top of the second when Kaline hit a double to drive Banks in for our second run. Maris hit an RBI single to score a third run in the top of the third, and we held that 3-0 lead heading into the fourth inning. Rogovin loaded the bases in the bottom of the fourth but got out of the jam without any runs scoring, and Willie Mays hit a solo homer in the top of the sixth to make it 4-0 Cubs -- that’s his fifth homer already this season, tying him with Robinson! Banks doubled, and Kaline singled to send him to third. Crandall hit a sac-fly to center that was deep enough for Banks to score our fifth run. We loaded the bases in the top of the seventh, Banks batting in another run with a single to keep them that way with two outs, but Kaline hit into a fielder’s choice to send us into the stretch leading 6-0. Rogovin blew the shutout in the bottom of the seventh when relief pitcher Law Burdette hit a solo homer to make it 6-1. But that was all they’d get. He stayed out to complete the game, as we easily beat the Phillies by five runs.

Rogovin improved to 2-2 on the young season with a 2.18 ERA, thanks to a 10-hit game with nine strikeouts, a walk and just one earned run. We outhit them 12-10, led by Ernie Banks with two hits, two runs and an RBI, and by Jack Poppell who hit once, reached once on error, scored two runs and, in the process, stole five bases to tie the NL’s regular season single-game record. He now has 26 stolen bases and is on an incredible record-breaking pace. More importantly we’re now 8-8, caught up in a three-way tie for second in the NL with Pittsburgh and St. Louis, with the entire league outside of Brooklyn bunched up within a game of each other.

MAY 4, 1957 . . . Bob Purkey (1-1, 2.37 ERA, 19.0 IP, 3 K’s, 0.84 WHIP) is up tonight against Harry Coe (0-0, 9.00 ERA, 1.0 IP, 1 K, 2.00 WHIP) who is starting for the first time this season. Purkey was damned near perfect until the bottom of the fifth, when Alvin Dark grounded out to first while driving home the Phillies’ first run of the game to put them up 1-0. But we tied it up in the top of the sixth when Roger Maris hit a sac-fly that scored Poppell from third to make it 1-1. Don Demeter came in to pinch hit for Purkey in the top of the eighth, and for the first time all year he failed to get a hit, same with Poppell and Rosen, who sent us into the bottom of the eighth still tied at one. Carl Erskine came in to pitch, getting three outs around a single hit to get us into the top of the ninth where we again could not buy a hit. Dick Drott came in to pitch in the bottom of the inning, giving up a hit but getting a great double play off a grounder by Del Ennis. We got out of the inning safely and into extra innings, with this 1-1 game refusing to break open. Don Gross came in for his first major league appearance in the bottom of the tenth, two outs, men on first and second, and he crumbled, walking his only two batters and letting Philly have it 2-1. It all happened so quickly, it hardly seemed real.

Purkey gave us seven innings with just two hits, walking two and striking out three with one earned run, improving his ERA to 2.08. Erskine had a solid outing, and Drott lasted 1.2 innings with two hits, two walks and (eventually) the earned run -- I should have stuck with him to get out of his jam rather than putting it all on a rookie. That’s gonna eat at me a bit, but it is early in the year, we’re going to make mistakes. Philly outhit us 5-2, so our bats weren’t getting us anywhere regardless. Poppell walked once and stole one base, scoring our only run, which Maris batted in off a sac-fly. Ernie Banks had a hit and a walk, and Purkey got a bunt in for a hit. It just wasn’t enough.
 
MAY 5, 1957 . . . First off, some waiver news -- Larry Jansen has been claimed by the Redlegs, and will be heading their direction immediately. Meanwhile, we’ve made the trip from Philly to New York for a three-game set against the Giants which begins today with a doubleheader. We then have two games against the Pirates on Tuesday and Wednesday, before returning to Wrigley for a two-and-a-half week stretch that opens with a four game weekend set against the Redlegs.

Hy Cohen (1-2, 3.41 ERA, 31.2 IP, 23 K’s, 1.14 WHIP) got the start today in the first game, facing Jack Harshman (1-1, 1.29 ERA, 14.0 IP, 6 K’s, 1.14 WHIP). Cohen continues to struggle in giving up homers -- this time it was a two-run blast by Wally Post in the bottom of the first, and it’s hard not to see it bothering him considering he’s never had issues with movement before this season. Last season he gave up just 0.4 homers per nine, and this season he’s been giving up more than two on average, so it’s definitely a matter of concern. Robinson and Banks quickly got on base in the top of the second, however, and Del Crandall hit a line drive into left that he turned into an RBI double to get us on the board, and Poppell got off a hit with two outs and men in scoring position, driving in the tying run, quickly stealing second to put two runners again into scoring position. But Al Rosen hit a groundout to first to end the frame knotted rather than giving us the lead. Jackie Robinson got a hit in the top of the third with two outs, stealing second and third while Ernie Banks took the count to 1-2. Banks got a great fastball and hit one into right, driving in the go-ahead run with a single, sending us into the bottom of the inning with a 3-2 lead. Cohen got off a hit in the top of the seventh but couldn’t get anywhere, so we went into the stretch leading by a razor-thin 3-2 margin.

Dick Drott came in to pitch for us in the bottom of the eighth, allowing a hit and then getting two outs with ease, but then Don Blasingame hit an RBI single to tie the game up at 3-3. Hector Lopez hit a single that drove Blasingame over to third. He scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch before Drott finally got us out of the inning with a popout to short. We have a talented bullpen but they have struggled mightily this year and have for the most part been a liability to our starters in close games. Top of the ninth: Del Crandall batted out to right, but Don Demeter walked to get us a baserunner. He advanced to second on a deep right-field popout by Poppell, advancing to third on a single by Rosen. Roger Maris then became the hero of the game, hitting an RBI single to tie it up 4-4, though we were unable to take the lead when Mays hit a hard shot to right that barely missed blowing out of the park, landing in the right fielder’s glove instead. Carl Erskine came in to pitch in the bottom of the inning, giving up a hit to Walt Dropo who advanced to second on a sac-bunt by Red Wilson. He struck Aparicio out swinging and walked Bill Taylor, bringing up Bill White who popped out to right and sent us into extras. Our batters unable to make anything happen, Vern Law came out and pitched a solid inning in the bottom of the 10th to extend the game further. In the top of the 11th, with Poppell on third and Rosen on first with two outs, Maris came up and hit a power bomb to center, and though it didn’t go over the wall, it caromed off it, giving him enough time to take third and drive in two runs! Mays hit a line drive up the gap to make it a three-run lead, and we went into the bottom of the inning ready to put this one to bed. Don Gross came in to pitch, and with the three-run cushion he was able to quickly complete the final frame as we beat the Giants 7-4 in the 11th inning.

Hy Cohen gave us six innings with four hits, three walks and three strikeouts, allowing two earned runs through 111 pitches to improve his ERA to 3.26. Drott blew the save, his second of the year, but Erskine got through his inning with a hit a walk and a strikeout, followed by a hit and a walk for Law who got the win, improving to 1-0, his ERA unblemished through three innings. Gross picked up his first save of the season with two strikeouts, an impressive effort by the 25-year-old rookie. We outhit the Giants 13-8, with a solid night of baserunning all around -- Poppell stole three bases in four attempts, hitting three times while scoring a run and batting in another, while Mays had a hit and a walk, stealing three bases and batting in a run. But Roger Maris was the star this afternoon, hitting three times, picking up his first stolen base of the season and scoring a run while driving in three. He’s been a real quiet part of our lineup this year, and continues to show improvement, particularly as a fielder.

For game two we brought out Camilo Pascual (2-0, 3.65 ERA, 24.2 IP, 17 K’s, 1.14 WHIP) to pitch against Jack Sanford (0-1, 5.33 ERA, 27.0 IP, 12 K’s, 1.59 WHIP). Willie Mays got a hit in the top of the second, picking up two stolen bases and coming around to score off an RBI double by Robinson to put us up 1-0! Pascual picked up a base hit in the top of the third, but wasn’t able to get anywhere ... he’d have needed a deep hit to even advance on a flyout, as his baserunning abilities are pretty much non-existent. Jackie Robinson hit a run-scoring triple in the top of the fourth, increasing our lead to two runs and picking up his 20th RBI of the season. We loaded the bases in the top of the seventh, Al Rosen batting in two more runs with an RBI single, sending us into the stretch leading 4-0 and with Pascual having the best start of his career -- not a single baserunner through six innings! He kept it that way through two outs, but Bill White got a hit to drop into center field to break up the no-no and the perfect game via a double. Pascual barely seemed to acknowledge it, striking out Wally Post to get us out of the inning with the shutout intact. Pascual stayed out to finish the game, a dominating performance, completing the 4-0 shutout to guarantee a win in the series. We’ll have one more game tomorrow, but this has been a great start here in New York, and for the first time this year we have a winning record at 10-9!

Pascual improved to 3-0 with the complete-game two-hitter, striking out six batters without a walk to earn the shutout victory. He now has a 2.67 ERA through four starts and 33.2 innings of work -- he’s finally putting it all together and we love what we’re seeing. We had six hits ourselves, led by Jackie Robinson with two hits, a walk and two RBIs, while Willie Mays had a hit, a walk, two stolen bases and two runs scored. He now has three stolen bases this year in four attempts.