[jksander]

March 25, 1947: We faced off against Washington today, with Fred Sanford on the mound -- Sanford started on the 14th and the 21st, and is coming off a one earned run performance over six innings that suggests he has the chance to be our #3 starter if he can keep the strong innings coming. He acquitted himself well in a pitching duel today, but Washington drew first blood in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI single by George Binks, just the second hit they’d had all day. They’d add another just moments later to take a 2-0 lead, but we loaded the bases and walked in a run in the top of the sixth to keep this one close. Sanford got us through the bottom of the sixth inning safely, and was rewarded in the top of the seventh when Bob Dillinger tied it with an RBI triple, our boys taking the lead off a line drive double by Harry Walker to lead 3-2 heading into the stretch! Al Jurisich took over in the bottom of the inning, and in the top of the eighth we bought insurance with an RBI single by Vern Stephens. Zoldak took over with two outs and a man on first in the bottom of the eighth, getting the out that got us into the ninth safely. He then finished the ninth on three quick outs to ease us into the 4-2 win! Sanford is looking great after his second win, a six inning effort with four hits, two walks, five strikeouts and a pair of earned runs, giving him a 3.71 ERA. We outhit the Senators 8-5, led by Dillinger, who had two hits, a walk, two runs and an RBI.

March 26, 1947: The Yankees were our opponent this afternoon, with Jack Kramer and his 7.71 ERA taking the mound for us. He and Bob Muncrief (8.68 ERA) are fighting to be a back-end starter or long relief out of the bullpen, and neither has much room for error. Kramer understood the situation and played like he really wants to be on our opening day roster, pitching four shutout innings before giving up a run in the bottom of the fifth as Marvin Williams hit an RBI double to givbe the Yankees a 1-0 lead. We answered in the top of the sixth with an RBI single by Arky Vaughan, and Kramer got us through the sixth with verve, keeping us in the game with three quick outs as he got his ERA under 5.00 for the spring. Stan Ferens took over in the bottom of the seventh still tied 1-1, and Ned Garver came out in the eighth with it unchanged, but the Yankees took the lead off a single by Bobby Brown, bringing us up in the top of the ninth trailing by a run. Al Zarillo hit a leadoff single in the top of the ninth, and catcher Joe Schultz hit one moments later that drove Zarilla to third. That’s when Phil Cavarretta, with one out against us, hit a single into left field to drive in the tying run! They walked Robinson to load the bases, and Bob Dillinger then came up and got us the lead, hitting a flyball single with two strikes against him to drive home two more runs and leave the Yankees stunned. The game quickly turned into a rout, our boys scoring seven total in the inning to take a six run lead into the bottom of the frame as Tom Seats came in to clean up. Seats got the outs we needed as we shut them down 8-2. Kramer was solid with six innings and just five hits, a walk, two strikeouts and one earned run as his ERA improved to 4.85. Garver (1-2, 6.23 ERA) got the win despite allowing two hits a walk and a run in his inning -- our bats came through big in that ninth inning as we outhit them 12-9, led by Dillinger with two hits, two runs and two RBIs.

March 27, 1947: Bob Muncrief came into today’s game against the Boston Red Sox playing for his roster spot ... through two starts and two bullpen outings over 9.1 innings, he’s given up NINE earned runs off 16 hits and four walks, and he desperately needs to show us he can put something together or he’s headed for AAA. He came out focused and steady early, getting two solid innings in before we took our first lead off a sac-fly by Phil Cavarretta to go up 1-0 heading into the top of the third. But Boston answered quickly with an RBI triple by Johnny Hopp to tie the score in the top of the third, and a two-run homer by Dom DiMaggio shot them into the lead. Muncrief got some breathing room when we made a comeback in the bottom of the inning, thanks to a two-run triple by Jackie Robinson that tied the score 3-3. He safely pitched through the fourth inning, but when he opened the top of the fifth with a hit into left by Happ, we had to pull him for Tom Seats, who was ready to put in a few innings if he needed to. He got the three outs quickly to bring us back up to hit, and a solo homer for Harry Walker put us back on top 4-3 heading into the sixth. We added on another pair in the bottom of the sixth inning, and Seats got us into the stretch still ahead by the three-run margin. Vern Stephens hit a two-run blast in the bottom of the inning, which was followed by a solo bomb for Robinson, and this game was officially ours for the taking. Jarisich came in with a six-run advantage in the eighth, and he quietly got his six outs to finish off the 9-3 victory. Muncrief finished with six hits, a walk, two strikeouts and three more earned runs, keeping his ERA at 8.10, failing to get through the fifth inning ... but we outhit Boston 11-8 with four homers as a team, including two for Jackie Robinson who finished with four hits, three runs and four RBIs to lead the team. Seats got the win, improving to 1-1 with a 4.34 ERA through 18.2 innings over three starts and two relief appearances.

Muncrief has refused to be demoted, and has been put on waivers. We’re officially down to 27 men on our roster, and we’ll likely cut one more player from the bullpen and one more from the outfield before spring training is done, in order to have our roster “opening day compliant.” Thirteen spring games remain, with opening day set for April 14 (our first game coming on the 15th).