[jksander]

March 28, 1947: Diomedes Olivo got the start for us against Cleveland, and with this being his fourth start of the spring, and he being our rotation leader, I am looking to see how deep he can go -- I expect an ace starter to be able to complete games, and today was his chance. The game became an instant blowout in our favor, however, before he ever threw a pitch -- Robinson singled, Walker got him to second with another single, Vern Stephens walked the bases loaded with one out, and Wally Judnich hit a grand slam homer to put us up by four just minutes into the game! Wally Moses would add an RBI triple and he scored himself off a passed ball as we whipped the Guardians 6-0 heading into the bottom of the first. Olivo struggled in the bottom of the second, letting them on the board with a run-scoring wild pitch, but we still led 6-2 heading into the top of the third. He loaded the bases in the bottom of the third but got out of the jam with nobody scoring. And his day continued to drag on as in the fourth inning they got another run in, thanks to an RBI double by Dale Mitchell, and Olivo’s pitch count continued to rise. A strong play at the plate kept a fourth run from scoring and we got into the fifth still ahead 6-3, but Diomedes’ control was off and it was difficult to pinpoint a specific issue. Even then, he got us through six innings with the lead still safe, at which point Ned Garver took over. And though Garver retired the side on eight pitches in the seventh, he had a terrible run in the eighth ... two walks and a three-run homer by Ken Keltner that tied the score and blew everything from our solid start away. He got us into the ninth tied 6-6, Stan Zoldak taking over in the bottom of the inning to send this one into extras. He pitched the rest of the way, and Cleveland wound up walking it off with a homer out of right by Al Cihocki in the bottom of the 11th, as they beat us 7-6. Olivo actually had a decent night, with six innings of eight hit four walk four strikeout baseball, allowing three runs. But those walks were critical, if he had avoided those free passes he could have kept this game from going to the pen until much later. Zoldak (3-1, 2.05 ERA) took the loss, but pitched 2.1 innings with two hits a strikeout and the one run. We outhit them 12-11, led by Judnich who had two hits and four RBIs.

March 29, 1947: In the top of the first against Detroit, Vern Stephens hit an RBI double to again give us an early lead. But yesterday when that happened we then went ten innings without scoring again. Tonight Larry Walker made sure that didn’t happen again, hitting a solo homer to lead off in the top of the third, extending our lead to 2-0. Dutch Leonard was great in the first four frames, but in the bottom of the fifth he showed cracks, and Detroit capitalized with an RBI double by Eddie Mayo to cut our lead to 2-1. Moments later they tied it on a single by Lennie Pearson and we had ourselves a ballgame. We retook the lead in the top of the sixth with a bases-loaded walk by Jackie Robinson, but they led off with a homer by Jimmy Outlaw in the bottom of the inning to tie us again at 3-3, taking the lead in the bottom of the seventh on two outs when Outlaw hit an RBI double to pile on. Al Jurisich took over in the bottom of the eighth, still trailing by a run, and his first batter faced hit a homer out of right to signal us that this just wasn’t our game. They would hit another homer off us moments later, a two-run shot to pretty much the same damned spot, and though we got a run back in the ninth we lost a rough one 7-4. Leonard (1-1, 3.52 ERA) had a good night with seven innings and just six hits, but he walked three against just two strikeouts, and four runs scored on him. We again outhit our opponent, this time 10-9, led by Robinson’s two hits, a walk, two runs and an RBI, but our bats were inconsistent when it counted, and we’re struggling to find ways to score the runners we get on base.

Bob Muncrief has passed through waivers and still refuses to go to the minor leagues. We’ve agreed to send him to the Cubs alogn with $5,000, about a third of his salary, rather than pay to cut him outright. If he can find a spot on their 25-man roster, more power to him. But my bet is he’ll soon wind up a free agent regardless.

March 30, 1947: Philadelphia took the lead in the top of the second against us today with a solo homer by Buddy Rosar, and Fred Sanford got into trouble in the third, loading the bases without an out -- Al Smith walked in a run to extend their lead, but amazingly we escaped further damage on a brilliant 4-6-3 doubleplay, so we still had a chance to calm the waters. But our bats weren’t making good contact, and Sanford’s in the middle of our rotation for a reason. He got us through six innings but we were down 3-0 when Stan Ferens took over in the top of the seventh, and even with Ferens pitching perfectly for three innings, we never even made a squeak offensively. The Athletics won easily 3-0, outhitting us 9-6. Sanford only allowed eight hits in his six innings, striking out three with two walks and three earned runs. But that was enough. Ferens pitched three innings with a hit, two walks and a strikeout, and our offense (as it was) was led by Arky Vaughn, who hit twice to nowhere.

March 31, 1947: Jackie Robinson helped end our offensive drought with an RBI triple in the top of the first against the White Sox, and we scored runs in the second and third as well before Tom Seats got shellacked in the bottom of the inning to give up four runs and the lead. It’s the time of spring where we need to see if he can dig out of things, so Seats stayed out there ... particularly since three of the runs had come off one hit by Minnie Minoso, so it was going to also be key to see if our bats could find ways to get hits late in a game to keep us competitive -- so far, most recent games have suggested they cannot. Ned Garver got the ball with no outs in the sixth, score still 4-3 in Chicago’s favor with a runner on base, and he pitched well to keep them from scoring ... but with two outs in the seventh and a runner on, Ken Silvestri hit a two-run bomb out of right to put a nail in. We went into the eighth inning trailing by three runs, and our late-game offense is non-existant of late. Ferens gave up a run in the eighth and we lost this one 7-3, our bats showing no bite once the lead was gone. Seats (1-2, 4.56 ERA) had five innings with 10 hits, a walk, a strikeout and four runs (three earned), and we were outhit 15-12. Robinson looked good with three hits and a pair of RBIs, but no one else shined at all.
 
April 1, 1947: Jack Kramer started for us today against the Senators, and he dug us a hole early, Washington scoring two each in the second and third to take control. He got his five innings, but had to pitch around loaded bags in the fifth (nobody scored) which shortened his day significantly. Garver took over in the top of the sixth, still trailing 4-0, and nothing beyond that mattered. Our offense remained nonexistant, and we got shut out in this one 5-0 ... I’m no longer seeing any of the good signs we’d been noting early in the spring, as this team seems to be fully on autopilot. Am I looking at leading a 60-win team at best this year, even with our added talent from free agency? I certainly hope not. This has to be a slump ... and all slumps come to an end eventually. Jack Kramer finished with nine hits, a walk, three strikeouts and four earned runs in his five innings, and the Senators outhit us 11-8 ... Even Jackie Robinson was unable to spark anything, going 0-5 while leaving four runners on base.

April 2, 1947: We’re seeing that, as expected the Tigers, Yankees, Red Sox and Guardians look to have the best all-around teams at this early point in the year. We only won 60 games last year and should have no expectations of significant improvement, but we did bring in strong bats in free agency, so I’m confident this slump will ebb eventually. Goal one is to get a win today against the Yankees. Diomedes Olivo pitched his fifth start of the spring, and he pitched confidently, shutting the Yankees’ batters down one by one and giving us time for ours to find their footing. Harry Walker hit a solo homer for us in the bottom of the third to give us a 1-0 lead, but a Snuffy Stirnweiss triple and a Phil Rizzuto homer back to back got New York into the lead 2-1 in the top of the fourth, and Olivo did not react well ... Joe Dimaggio hit a triple into left and quite quickly the Yankees loaded the bases, but Olivo was able to hold them off and get out of the inning still with the one run deficit. We tied things up in the bottom of the fifth with a triple of our own by Wally Moses, but the Yankees struck again in the sixth, scoring two off a single by Nick Etten to go up 4-2. Sam Zoldak took over in the top of the seventh, and we got a run back in the bottom of the inning when Harry Walker hit an RBI single into right to score Johnny Berardino. In the bottom of the eighth we tied it with an RBI single by Joe Schultz, and finally I got to see this team show life late in a hard-fought game! Zoldak got us through the ninth safely, and in the bottom of the inning we walked it off on two outs with a line drive single by Vern Stephens, Harry Walker scoring the winning run as we took this one 5-4! Zoldak (4-1, 1.80 ERA) got the win, pitching three innings with two hits and two walks, and we outhit them 10-9, led by Walker who had two hits, a walk, two runs and two RBIs.

Olivo has a 1-0 record and a 3.41 ERA through 29 innings over five spring starts, and though he hasn’t always looked like a guy who can put up complete games and help us dominate pitching duels, he’s done what a rookie can to show he’s got the skills to compete at this level. He’ll get one more start to show his stuff before opening day, but his spot at the top of our rotation is secure. With seven games left of the spring season, we’re close to having our final roster lined up, but there are still plenty of innings left before the final cut has to be made.