[jksander]

August 17, 1956: Vic Raschi (9-4, 2.81 ERA, 150.1 IP, 67 K’s, 1.18 WHIP) started against Cleveland’s Mike Garcia (11-6, 2.63 ERA, 185.0 IP, 117 K’s, 1.16 WHIP). We took the lead in the top of the third with an RBI single by Walker and an E8 error that let Bollweg score from second, followed by an RBI double by O’Connell that put us up 2-0. But they tied it up in the bottom of the fourth with a two-run homer by Rocky Colavito. We retook the lead in the top of the sixth with a line drive single by Astroth that scored two runs, but they got a three-run blast from George Crowe to flip themselves back into the lead 5-4 with one out in the bottom of the inning. Al Gettel came out and got us through without futher scoring ... but our bats were silent from there on, and we lost 5-4. Raschi took the loss and fell to 9-5, allowing four hits three walks and five earned runs with four strikeouts, all the runs coming off a pair of homers. We actually outhit them 7-4, but the longball killed us; Don Bollweg was the offense’s leader with two hits and a run scored.

August 18, 1956: Larry Jansen (2-7, 4.97 ERA, 83.1 IP, 38 K’s, 1.54 WHIP) started against Cleveland’s Ray Moore (3-0, 2 SV, 2.33 ERA, 19.1 IP, 15 K’s, 0.88 WHIP). Daryl Spencer batted in a run with a hit into a fielder’s choice in the top of the first, and he batted in another in the top of the third with a flyball double! Al Rosen hit a solo homer to get Cleveland on the board in the bottom of the fourth, however, and they took control in the bottom of the sixth with a three-run homer by Rocky Colavito that pushed them into the lead. Bill Harrington came out to pitch in the bottom of the eighth, and we would go on to lose this one in the end 5-1. Jansen fell to 2-8 with a 4.98 ERA, allowing six hits, two walks and four earned runs with three strikeouts. We matched them with nine hits in total, but they got four of their five runs off just two homers. Metkovich led our team with three hits, a walk and a run, while Spencer had a hit and two RBIs.

We got some good news after the game, in that our waiver claim on 26-year-old defensive catcher Del Crandall was executed successfully! The Milwaukee Braves waived him a week ago, despite his .239 average, 10 doubles, 10 homers and +2.0 zone rating ... he’ll take over fur as as our starting catcher, with Joe Astroth covering for him off the bench. His salary of $36,000 has mostly been paid, and will make him one of our top paid players next year, but our catchers were both aging and having a young solid defender is going to help us in the long term.

August 19, 1956: Today we have a doubleheader ... Art Ditmar (2-2, 5.26 ERA, 25.2 IP, 12 K’s, 1.40 WHIP) started in the first game against Early Wynn (10-6, 3.52 ERA, 176.1 IP, 101 K’s, 1.33 WHIP). Daryl Spencer again got us into the lead in the top of the first, this time by walking in a run, but they tied it up in the bottom of the first off a passed ball. Pafko batted in a run via Harry Walker from second off a line drive single in the top of the fifth to give us back the lead, but again we collapsed in the bottom of the inning, this time thanks to a Vic Power solo homer, an Al Rosen RBI single and another passed ball. Moe Drabowsky came out in the bottom of the sixth trailing by two, and we were completely outmatched from there, losing 7-3. Ditmar fell to 2-3 with a 4.70 ERA, allowing four hits, three walks and four runs (one earned) with two strikeouts. They outhit us 9-7, our team led by Andy Pafko with a hit and an RBI, and by Spencer who hit once, walked once and batted in a run.

Don Mossi (5-5, 3.91 ERA, 76.0 IP, 42 K’s, 1.29 WHIP since coming to Kansas City) started game two, facing Tom Cheney (9-4, 2.36 ERA, 160.1 IP, 114 K’s, 1.21 WHIP). We took the lead in the top of the fourth with a solo homers by Spencer and Bollweg, but Vic Power scored off an RBI single by Al Smith to cut our lead to a run heading into the fifth inning. Mossi got us through the sixth inning without giving up that lead, and Al Gettel came out in the bottom of the seventh, protecting the lead around a pair of hits. Don Bessent came out with one out and men on first and second in the bottom of the eighth, getting the outs we needed, and with our bats unable to buy any insurance runs in the top of the ninth, he stayed out and held his ground as we were able to get out of Cleveland with a 2-1 win. Mossi picked up his sixth win as an Athletic, allowing nine hits with three walks, four strikeouts and a single earned run through six innings. Gettel held it, his fourth this year, and Bessent picked up his 10th save with two walks, a strikeout and no earned runs, bringing his ERA down to 1.12 through 16 innings of work.

We’ll now head to Baltimore, where our 48-71 A’s will face their 49-68 Orioles for a pair. Right now we’re in dead last place in the American League, so the most exciting thing yet to come in this season will be the draft class reveal.
 
August 21, 1956: Juan Pizarro (5-16, 3.55 ERA, 185.0 IP, 138 K’s, 1.24 WHIP) pitched against Ruben Gomez (7-13, 3.68 ERA, 186.0 IP, 77 K’s, 1.26 WHIP). We had a 3-0 lead going into the bottom of the fourth, and Pizarro went and got himself smacked down, five runs scoring before he could get out of the bottom frame. Johnny Sain came out in the bottom of the fifth with two outs, a man on first and the lead at 6-3 for the Orioles, and he got rung up in the bottom of the sixth with three more runs. Erskine got us through the remainder of the game, but we lost badly, 9-4. Pizarro took his 17th loss, allowing 10 hits and six earned runs with four walks and four strikeouts and only making it through 4.2 innings. We were outhit 16-10 which certainly didn’t help, but we have made a bad habit out of building leads and then completely collapsing. Andy Pafko led the way with two hits, two runs and two RBIs, while Metkovich added two hits and an RBI.

August 22, 1956: Vic Raschi (9-5, 2.91 ERA, 148.2 IP, 66 K’s, 1.17 ERA since coming to Kansas City) pitched against Bob Kuzawa (5-11, 3.98 ERA, 160.2 IP, 85 K’s, 1.49 WHIP) in game two against the Orioles, and we had a chance going into the bottom of the eighth trailing by a single run. But with two outs and men on first and second, Moe Drabowsky let Gus Triandos hit a three-run homer and we were done. We put up no resistance in the top of the ninth and lost this one 6-2. Raschi has gone from winning nine of his first 11 games in a stretch from May 7th through August 1st to losing his last four in a row. Tonight he lasted seven innings with seven hits and three earned runs, no walks, no strikeouts. We matched them with nine hits, Harry Walker leading the way with two hits and a run scored.

We’ve got three games now against Washington and a pair on Sunday against the Red Sox and then we get a few days off around a one-game trip to New York, and then a three-game weekend set against Detroit. By then we should be mathematically eliminated from what remains of the pennant chase.

August 23, 1956: Larry Jansen (2-8, 4.98 ERA, 90.1 IP, 41 K’s, 1.33 WHIP) pitched against Washington’s Duke Maas (9-8, 3.51 ERA, 136.0 IP, 62 K’s, 1.35 WHIP). In the top of the sixth we took the lead with a sac-fly by Don Bollweg, and Al Gettel came out to protect the lead in the bottom of the sixth, pitching around a single by Eddie Yost to get us out of there still leading by a run, and Bill Harrington did the same in the seventh, though his three outs were split up by a 25-minute rain delay. We added to our lead in the top of the eighth with a two-run homer by Del Crandall, his first as a member of our team, but Harrington gave a run back in the bottom of the inning, so Don Bessent came out with one out and a man on first to get us through. Once again he got our final five outs and we were able to get out of there with a 3-1 victory! Jansen got the win, improving to 3-8 with a three-hitter through five innings, a walk and five strikeouts helping improve his ERA to 4.72. Gettel and Harrington held the lead, and Bessent got his 11th save and second in the last week, getting his ERA down to 1.02 thanks to no hits and a pair of strikeouts. We outhit the Senators 6-5, led by Crandall who had two hits, a walk, a run and two RBIs.

August 24, 1956: Art Ditmar (2-3, 4.70 ERA, 30.2 IP, 14 K’s, 1.40 WHIP) pitched against Camilo Pascual (3-18, 5.78 ERA, 187.0 IP, 116 K’s, 1.79 WHIP), and he immediately got spotted a lead when Catfish Metkovich hit a flyball double that drove in a pair for us in the top of the first. Metkovich got another RBI, a single, in the top of the third and Daryl Spencer made it a 4-0 lead with a groundball single of his own. But Drabowsky had to come in for Ditmar in the top of the sixth, bases loaded and no outs, as the young starter did his damndest to blow this one for us, and Drabowsky DID blow it ... his second pitch of the night giving them a grand slam off Willie McCovey’s bat, tying the score at 4-4. We got out of the inning without giving them the lead, but the gutpunch was bad enough on its own. Drabowsky got us through the seventh and eighth without further incident, but, unable to add any runs in the top of the ninth, Al Gettel came out to get us through and into extra innings, and though it took more effort than we’d hoped, he got us there ... with an excellent throw by Metkovich to get the final out of the first nine innings at home plate. Gettel would get us through the 10th inning, and Al Harrington came out for the bottom of the 11th ... he got us through three innings with the score still knotted at four. Don Bessent came out in the bottom of the 14th, at 12:14 a.m., and with the bases loaded in the top of the 15th inning on one out, Del Crandall hit a sac-fly to center field that gave us the lead! Bessent stayed out and got the three outs we needed and we were able to get out of there at nearly one in the morning with a 5-4 victory!

Moe Drabowsky could have let that seventh blown save of the year drag him down, but he got us through three innings with just the one hit and a walk, and he was only saddled with a single earned run, so he now has a 5.37 ERA through 58.2 innings. Gettel and Harrington then added five combined innings with two hits, a walk and six strikeouts, setting up Bessent nicely for the win -- he is now 2-1 with a 0.92 ERA after tonight’s two innings without a baserunner, with 12 K’s through 17 innings as well. We outhit them 19-7 through 15 innings, so it would have been maddening to lose this one. Metkovich hit three times with three RBIs, Spencer had four hits, a walk and an RBI, and Danny O’Connell had three hits and scored three himself as we won our 50th game of the season.

August 25, 1956: Don Mossi (6-5, 3.73 ERA, 82.0 IP, 46 K’s, 1.34 WHIP) pitched against Bill Kennedy (1-3, 4.78 ERA, 99.0 IP, 57 K’s, 1.56 WHIP). We took a 2-0 lead in the top of the fourth thanks to an RBI single by Metkovich and a groundout to first by Crandall. We added a pair in the top of the sixth to give Mossi more breathing room thanks to singles by Spencer and Mossi himself, but our starters continue to collapse in the middle innings ... this time Mossi couldn’t handle himself in the bottom of the sixth, loading the bases and walking in a run, though he got out of the inning without doing a ton of damage. Carl Erskine came out to pitch in the bottom of the seventh, still leading by three runs, and he completed the three-inning save as we held tough to win 4-1. Mossi improved to 7-5 with a 3.58 ERA since joining our team, allowing four hits with four walks and three strikeouts with just the one earned run, while Erskine’s third save improved his ERA to 3.53 through 132.2 innings (20 of them out of the bullpen). We outhit the Senators 10-6, led by Metkovich who hit twice, walked once, scoring a run and batting in another.

We remain in last place in the AL, just half a game behind the Senators with our record now at 51-73 ... another dozen wins and we can say we improved over last season’s first year in Kansas City. Boston (58-66) will now host us for a pair before we then travel to New York to play a Wednesday game against the 81-45 Yankees. We’ll then play three against Detroit (65-57) before returning home where we’ll play 19 of our last 24 games.