Let's Play Two!

[jksander]

MAY 21, 1954 . . . We’re back at Wrigley this afternoon, with Warren Hacker (3-2, 2.98 ERA, 57.1 IP, 29 K’s, 1.12 WHIP) going up against Milwaukee’s legendary Warren Spahn (3-3, 4.44 ERA, 52.2 IP, 28 K’s, 1.33 WHIP) in the first game of a four game set. More than 17,000 Cubs fans are here to enjoy the rainy, windy 58 degree Chicago afternoon. Here’s hoping we don’t get a rainout.

Willie Mays got a single through the gap to get us going with two outs in the bottom of the first, and Ernie Banks hit a single to right which, thanks to an E9 throwing error, allowed Willie Mays to score from second, giving Banks the chance to gain an extra base! Al Rosen batted out to first, ending the inning with us ahead 1-0 in the light drizzle. But Warren Hacker gave up a solo homer to clean-up batter Joe Adcock -- but a stikeout and a really solid diving catch by Sauer in left minimized the damage afterwards, and we came up to bat in the bottom of the second knotted 1-1. But the scoring stalled from there -- heading into the top of the fifth it was still 1-all, Same for the top of the sixth, but Al Kaline got things started in the bottom of the sixth with a single up the middle to center, followed by a Cacarretta single to center that drove Kaline all the way to third. Willie Mays hit a fly-out to left but the runners held, but Banks hit a single to left that the fielder narrowly missed, allowing Kaline to score the go-ahead run! Al Rosen batted into a double play to end the inning, but we had the 2-1 lead heading into the top of the seventh.

Sauer got an infield single in the bottom of the seventh and then reached second on a passed ball, making it to third when Elston Howard batted out to first. And Warren Hacker then bought himself some insurance, hitting a line drive to left that whizzed past the third baseman’s ear, scoring Sauer and making the lead 3-1! Al Rosen walked the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth with just one out, and Elston Howard hit a blistering fly ball to left, scoring two more runs with two outs, increasing our lead to 5-1! Gene Baker hit a blast to center-right, winding up with a 2-run triple that put the game out of reach for Milwaukee. Hacker took a six run lead into the top of the ninth, and though he surrendered a solo homer to Eddie Matthews along with a couple weak hits, he got out of the game with no further damage as we shut down the Braves 7-2 here at home.

Hacker finished with a complete game with only six hits and two earned runs with five strikeouts against three walks on 118 pitches. He improved to 4-2 on the season with a 2.85 ERA. We outhit Milwaukee 11-6, with Cavarretta, Mays and Banks each notching a pair. Al Rosen remains ice cold as a hitter (the only one not to get a hit tonight) but he did come up with a critical walk which allowed him to score a run. Hank Sauer had the best night overall, with a hit leading to two runs scored.

MAY 22, 1954 . . . The rain held off yesterday and fans got a real show from our team, and today 18,000 fans showed up for a bright, sunny day at Wrigley, 57 degrees and the wind blowing in -- great weather for our starter Johnny Klippstein (7-0, 0.76 ERA, 57.1 IP, 40 K’s, 0.87 WHIP) to take on Milwaukee’s Johnny Antonelli (4-4, 2.93 ERA, 67.2 IP, 29 K’s, 1.32 WHIP).

Klippstein struggled to find his form early on, and a walk and a pair of hits led to Milwaukee putting up two quick runs before a double play and a flyout to right got us out of the top of the first. Cavarretta hit a standing double in the bottom of the inning but we weren’t able to do anything with it, keeing the score 2-0 Braves. Al Rosen got us on the board in the bottom of the third, hitting a line drive up the middle to score Willie Mays from third to make it 2-1. Rosen again came up big, this time in the bottom of the sixth, hitting a standup double to start the inning. He reached third on a groundout to first by Sauer, and scored on a flyball single to left by Elston Howard, tying the score at 2-2! Gene Baker batted into a double play to end the inning, but we were right back in this one!

Unfortunately Klippstein gave up a two-run homer to start the top of the seventh, and Harry Dorish came in with one out to keep the damage to a minimum. He got a flyout and a strikeout wrapped around two hits, getting us into the bottom of the inning with the Braves up 4-2. Kaline got a one-out double to start things out, reaching third on a Cavarretta ground-out to first. But Willie Mays struck out, ending any chance at a rally. Reliever Tom Ferrick came in to pitch in the top of the eighth, and he pitched through some early jitters to get us out of the inning without any damage, but our bats remained cold. Ferrick stayed in and gave up a two-run blast, but he made it through the rest of the inning and we trailed by four runs heading into the bottom of the inning, with the bottom of our lineup coming up. Clyde McCullough came in to pinch hit for Howard, getting a single past the third-baseman to get things going. Kenneth Chapman pinch hit for Gene Baker, taking a walk to give us two men on and a runner in scoring position. I brought Hy Cohen in to pinch hit for Tom Ferrick but he struck out swinging. That brought up the top of our order -- Kaline hit a single but they picked off Chapman on a fielder’s choice, giving us two outs and runners on the corner. And Cavarretta hit a weak infield grounder but beat out the throw, reaching first safely and driving McCullough in from third! Willie Mays came up as the potential tying run, with men on first and second, but he struck out swinging as we lost this one 6-3 to the Braves.

Johnny Klippstein’s perfect season is over -- he fell to 7-1 with a 1.27 ERA thanks to three hits, four earned runs, and two strikeouts against three walks. He threw 105 pitches in 6.1 innings, or perhaps he could have stayed in this one longer. Harry Dorish got two outs in the seventh with two hits and a strikeout, bringing his ERA down to 1.29. Tom Ferrick, meanwhile, threw his first two innings in relief this year, giving up three hits for two earned runs, adding a strikeout and a walk. His ERA sits at 9.00 after the appearance. We outhit the Braves 10-8 but they made better use of their runners. Al Rosen hit twice for a run and an RBI, his fifth RBI as a Cub this year and 17th overall, improving his average to .205 as a cub and .289 overall on the season. Kaline, Cavarretta, Mays, Banks, Sauer, Howard, McCullough and Baker each notched hits of their own, but we simply weren’t able to string them together to rally.

Double header tomorrow to decide the series! Meanwhile, though Rosen has stuggled to find his way offensively, we knew we wanted to assure him his position as a Cub is secure long term -- the trade with Cleveland was meant to give us his veteran leadership at third base, where he has been phenomenal as a fielder. So I’m pleased to announce (and the fans are very happy to learn) that we have signed him to a multi-year extension which will keep him here through 1957, earning $100,000 next year, increasing to $110,000 in 1956 and $120,000 in 1957. The extension has been very popular in the press here in Chicago, and the fans are ecstatic. Having him and Al Kaline signed to long term deals helps a great deal. I am also looking to secure Willie Mays long term as well, a move the fans will certainly be plased with as well.

[Pelican]

As GM I’m a big fan of long-term deals, assuming they owner will part with the money. It’s security for the player. It’s a known quantity on the team’s books. No hassles over annual negotiations. And with high-quality players, results are highly likely to exceed expectations. Meaning those contracts are a good value. Of course, they come to an end in mid-career when value is highest.

[jksander]

Originally Posted by Pelican

As GM I’m a big fan of long-term deals, assuming they owner will part with the money. It’s security for the player. It’s a known quantity on the team’s books. No hassles over annual negotiations. And with high-quality players, results are highly likely to exceed expectations. Meaning those contracts are a good value. Of course, they come to an end in mid-career when value is highest.

OOC: I totally agree, Pelican

- - - - -

MAY 23, 1954 . . . In the first game of the afternoon, Saul Rogovin (4-0, 0.81 ERA, 44.1 IP, 29 K’s, 0.95 WHIP) faced off against Milwaukee’s Don Liddle (3-2, 3.38 ERA, 45.1 IP, 20 K’s, 1.37 WHIP). Hank Sauer hit a ball deep into center to drive in Al Kaline for our first run of the game in the bottom of the first, and moments later Elston Howard drove in another, and a Gene Baker single to right made it 3-0 before Milwaukee could get the final out. Rogovin gave up a solo homer in the top of the second, only his fifth earned run of the year, and he gave up a run-scoring triple with no outs in the top of the third, followed by a game-tying single with one out. So we came up in the bottom of the third knotted 3-3. Both pitchers settled in from there, until Rogovin walked two batters in the sixth and then allowed a run-scoring double to give Milwaukee the lead. Harry Dorish came in with one out in the top of the second, ending the inning with a double play to keep Milwaukee from expanding their lead, and then Al Rosen came up to the plate with two men on and slammed a three-run homer to left, putting us back up 6-4, Rosen’s 5th homer of the season! Dorish got another double play in the eighth inning, and he stayed in for the ninth inning to close things out. His work was done quickly and efficiently as we closed out the 6-4 win in game one, taking a 2-1 lead on the series!

Dorish took home the win, improving to 1-0 with an 0.93 ERA through 9.2 innings thanks to a 2.2 inning one-hit outing. Saul Rogovin was thankful that Dorish was able to come in and complete the game on 20 pitches, after Rogovin’s rough outing -- 6.1 innings, with nine hits, four earned runs and five strikeouts against a pair of walks over 106 pitches. His ERA slipped to a still very respectable 1.42 on the season. We out-hit the Braves 12-10, led by Al Rosen with two hits for two runs scored with three batted in. Gene Baker had three hits and an RBI, Kaline scored a run off two hits, and Mays did the same.

Robert Diehl (2-3, 4.11 ERA, 35.0 IP, 15 K’s, 1.11 WHIP) started for us in game two, up against Milwaukee’s Art Fowler (2-0, 4.26 ERA, 31.2 IP, 10 K’s, 1.29 WHIP). We loaded the bases in the third but couldn’t get a run through. But Gene Baker hit a towering blast to left in the bottom of the fourth to put us on the board, up 2-0 on the Braves. And Clyde McCullough added a three-run homer over center in the bottom of the sixth to make it a 5-0 lead! Diehl stayed in the full game to handle things and successfully protected his shutout as we beat the Braves 5-0 to win the series 3-1.

Diehl only gave up six hits all afternoon, with seven strikeouts against three walks over 133 pitches, improving to 3-3 with a 3.27 ERA! We outhit Milwaukee 8-6 but successfully kept them from getting anywhere with their hits. Clyde McCullough had three hits and scored a run with three RBIs, while five other Cubs notched hits as well. Gene Baker had two RBIs thanks to his homer as well. The three run blast was McCullough’s first of the year.

We have a four game road trip to St. Louis this week, and then we’ll return to Werigley for 19 home games in a row followed by an end-of-June 15-game road trip that will set us up for the fourth of July homestand. We are currently 25-12, four games up on both Philadelphia and St. Louis, so these four road games are going to count a lot with regards to momentum.

[jksander]

Here's an updated look at the AL and NL Standings as of May 24, 1954.

[jksander]

MAY 24, 1954 . . . Tonight, the first of four games against the Cardinals on the road, we’re starting Hy Cohen (1-1, 4.00 ERA, 27.0 IP, 17 K’s, 0.96 WHIP) up against St. Louis’ Tommy Byrne (2-0, 3.41 ERA, 34.1 IP, 17 K’s, 1.46 WHIP). Roger Maris helped put us on the board in the top of the second, getting a solid hit, stealing a base and then making it around from second on a blooper of a double by Gene Baker that got him the extra base while barely making it into the outfield! Hy Cohen then hit a single that drove Baker around to score, putting us up 2-0. Al Kaline added a double, giving us two in scoring position, but Phil Cavarretta hit one straight to the center-fielder to end the inning. Cohen gave up three runs in the bottom of the third, two unearned thanks to back-to-back unforced errors by Elston Howard, giving the lead to the Cardinals and leaving Cohen nearly apoplectic. But Al Rosen hit a two-run double to put us back in control, leading 4-2 heading into the bottom of the fourth, and Cohen calmed down after the rough third.

Ernie Banks hit a 450-footer to center, driving in two runs in the top of the seventh, and moments later Hy Cohen hit a line drive to center, allowing Gene Baker to score and extend the lead to 7-3. Cohen gave up two runs in the bottom of the eighth, bringing in Sandy Consuegra with two outs to get us out of the jam. He gae up one of Cohen’s runs, but got us the final out to go into the top of the ninth leading much more tenuously, 7-6. He came back in the bottom of the ninth to try and close it out, giving up two hits and then getting two outs, bringing Jim King to the plate with the tying run at third. A quick flyout to first and the game was over, another one run victory for our Cubs!

Hy Cohen improved to 2-1 with a 4.15 ERA, but he pitched precariously, giving up nine hits and six runs (four earned) with five strikeouts and two walks on 124 pitches over 7.2 innings. Consuegra came in and threw 1.1 innings, giving up two hits and a walk on 19 pitches, earning his fifth save of the year and bringing his ERA down to 3.20. We out-hit St. Louis 17-12, Al Rosen had three hits for a run and two RBIs, Al Kaline added three hits, Ernie Banks hit twice with a run and two more batted in, and Roger Marris got one hit and scored a run, though he struck out swinging twice. I am confident he is a multi-tool player with a ton of upside, but he’s still struggling to keep up with big league pitching. Once he puts things together I don’t envy opposing pitchers.

MAY 25, 1954 . . . Warren Hacker (4-2, 2.85 ERA, 66.1 IP, 34 K’s, 1.10 WHIP) took on St. Louis starter Dean Stone (4-3, 4.66 ERA, 46.1 IP, 13 K’s, 1.62 ERA) in this evening’s game in front of 10,118 frustrated Cardinals fans. St. Louis got on the board with a solo homer by Ray Jablonski in the bottom of the first, but by the end of the inning that was the only hit for either team of the game, with the Cards leading 1-0 after two. So Woody Smith decided to answer with his first homer of the year to start the third inning, tying the game, and Roger Maris hit his first homer of the season to make it 2-1 just moments later! Elston Howard hit a grounder to deep right in the top of the sixth after a pair of walks, but Ernie Banks tried to steal home and was thrown out to end the inning without a run scored and our lead still tenuous at 2-1. Warren Hacker gave up a triple to start the bottom of the sixth, but was able to get two quick outs to hold the runner at third. He then gave up a flyball to deep right, allowing the tying run to score, but got the strikeout to end the inning. Unfortunately, after six innings he had already thrown 106 pitches and told me he was gassed, so we started warming up Harry Dorish. With the bases loaded in the top of the seventh, Willie Mays hit a grounder to center, scoring two runs and giving us a 4-2 lead, giving Hacker a shot at the win even with Dorish coming in to pitch in the botom of the seventh.

In the bottom of the eighth, Tom Ferrick came in to sub for Dorish with men on the corners, and he promptly gave up both of Dorish’s runs to tie the game at 4-4 with two outs. He then allowed a flyball to deep right, scoring the go-ahead run for the Cardinals, along with a sixth run for good measure before we could get anyone warmed up fast enough. He finally got out of the inning, but the damage was severe and with this being his second bum performance in a row I am seriously starting to wonder whether it’s worth keeping him in our bullpen. Regardless, we went into the top of the ninth needing two runs to even force the game to continue, Phil Cavarretta hit a single to right to load the bases with two outs, but Elston Howard wasn’t able to get a hit out of the infield and we lost this one 4-6.

Warren Hacker lasted six innings with four hits and two earned runs, with a strikeout and a walk. Harry Dorish got his second hold of the year, lasting 1.1 innings with two unearned runs that brought his ERA down to 0.82. Tom Ferrick took the loss and the blown save, lasting just two outs with three hits and two unearned runs, taking just 11 pitches to completely collapse. Each team got nine hits, our offense being led by Woody Smith with two hits, two runs scored and a run batted in. Seven other Cubs had hits, including Roger Maris with his fist major league homer.

Tom Ferrick does not have any minor league options left, and at 39 I don’t think he’s worth continuing to keep on the roster while I could be bringing up others, so I’ve put him on irrevocable waivers and designated him for assignment. I’m calling Vern Fear back up from AAA, hoping he can build on his solid season for us last year, when he was 4-1 with 7 saves and a 4.28 ERA.

[jksander]

It's been too long since I have updated this thread and played out some games for Chicago in 1954 .. I'm including some screenshots to get folks back up to speed

[jksander]

MAY 26, 1954 . . . We have two games left in this St. Louis road stand before we head back to Chicago for six games in four days. Tonight we had Johnny Klippstein (7-1, 1.27 ERA, 63.2 IP, 42 K’s, 0.88 WHIP) pitching against St. Louis’ Bob Grim (3-3, 2.96 ERA, 73.0 IP, 47 K’s, 1.05 WHIP) with the chance to take the lead in the series. Klippstein let a couple men on in the bottom of the second but he got a strikeout at the right time and was then able to get out of the inning by stranding both St. Louis runners. Willie Mays hit a 375-footer over the left field wall, his 11th homer of the year, to give us a 1-0 lead in the top of the third, and though we loaded the bases in the fifth, we weren’t able to add to the one run lead. And in the bottom of the sixth, Red Schoendienst scored from third on a passed ball, tying things 1-1 and enlivening the home fans quite a bit. Klippstein got the final out to to complete the inning, and we loaded the bases AGAIN in the seventh but were still unable to add any runs. Klippstein got us through the seventh inning, but we had Sauer pinch-hit for him in the top of the eighth, successfully getting a hit that gave us a man in scoring position (McCullough) with just one out. But again we were unable to get anyone home, and the score remained tied 1-1 heading into the bottom of the eighth with Harry Dorish coming in to pitch. Dorish gave us a scare, putting men on the corners before getting the third out and keeping the score tied heading into the ninth. They walked Mays, but were able to get quick flyouts against Banks and Rosen. Mays successfully stole second, so they walked Al Kaline, bringing up Gene Baker with two outs and Mays in scoring position. And he promptly struck out, bringing Lombardi out to keep us in this game. And on his second pitch they got a walk-off solo homer to lose us the game 2-1. Unbelievable.

Poor Lombardi -- he threw two pitches and took the loss, no outs, one hit, one earned run, dropping his ERA to 2.45. Klippstein threw a great game, going seven innings with just two hits and an unearned run, improving his ERA to 1.15 on 108 pitches, with three walks and four strikeouts. Harry Dorish gave up one hit and a walk through 17 pitches, improving his ERA to 0.75. I should have kept him out for a second inning or brought in Consuegra, but the way the crowd was pumped up it’s possible they would have blasted one out of the park regardless -- and we would have had the bottom of our order up in the 10th anyway. Some nights you just don’t have it.

The crazy thing is we outhit the Cardinals 9-4 but the only run we could score was the homer by Mays, who finished with the homer and three walks on the night. In total we were walked seven times, loading the bases twice, which makes the loss all the more maddening. Banks and McCullough each had two hits, and Mays’ 11th homer gave him 35 RBIs for the year thus far. Tomorrow we’ll try and even the series and at least get out of St. Louis with a split.

We can officially announce, meanwhile, that Willie Mays has signed a long term contract keeping him here in Chicago through 1960 when he’ll be 29 years old! His salary will jump to $102,000 next season and will increase incrimentally through 1959, at which point he’ll receive $120,000 each year for the final two years of the contract. He’ll also receive $10,000 All Star bonuses and $25,000 for any year he wins MVP. Our fan interest is currently sky high, and I’m hopiong we’ll see a big increase in home attendance when we come back into town this weekend.

MAY 27, 1954 . . . Saul Rogovin (4-0, 1.42 ERA, 50.2 IP, 34 K’s, 1.05 WHIP) pitched tonight against Ron Kline (0-3, 5 SVs, 24.1 IP, 5 K’s, 1.68 WHIP) in a matchup that made me think complete mismatch, as Kline has struggled to adjust to becoming a starter -- good stuff, movement and control, but weak overall pitch quality. So we came into this one a bit off balance, wondering if they were planning to pitch Kline first time through the order as an opener, or if they really were putting the rookie out there to go the distance.

Roger Maris opened the game with a double, reaching third on a groundout by Cavarretta to first. He then came around to score thanks to a grounder to first by Willie Mays for our second out, giving us a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, scoring his first run for us since becoming a Cub earlier this spring! We only scored the one run in the inning, but we rang up Kline for 27 pitches in the process. Woody Smith hit a line drive to deep right in the top of the second, driving Gene Baker in from third to score our second run with a standing double, and Rogovin himself hit a double moments later to drive Smith home to make it 3-0 and clearly leaving Kline looking shell shocked on the mound. Cavarretta hit a run-scoring double to make it 4-0, Willie Mays hit a run-scoring double to make it 5-0, and the Cardinals brought long-reliever Larry Jackson (1-1, 8.72 ERA) in with two outs. Managerial malpractice, in my opinion, to have had Kline out there in the first place, but we’ll be glad to take advantage! Jackson got them out of the inning and we came into the bottom of the second leading the Cards 5-0. Saul Rogovin drove in a sixth run singling to drive Woody Smith around from second to make it 6-0 midway through the third, and in the top of the fifth Woody Smith drove in another run to make it 7-0. Rogovin beat out a throw to first, giving him his third hit of the game, and with the bases loaded Cavarretta hit a blooper to right field that made it out of the infield by pure chance, getting him to first and scoring another. A Mays single to deep center drove in two more, and we then unloaded on them, batting around and coming out of the top of the fifth with an 11-0 lead. Rogovin got his FOURTH HIT IN A ROW in the top of the sixth, and gave up only his second hit of the game in the bottom of the sixth, a solo homer to center to finally put the Cardinals on the board down 11-1. And that was all the action they would get. The remainder of the game went by quietly and efficiently as Rogovin completed the game on a pair of flyouts and a strikeout as we won over the Cardinals 11-1.

Rogovin improved to 5-0 with a 1.36 ERA thanks to nine three-hit innings, racking up five strikeouts and walking no one. We outhit the Cardinals 17-3, led easily by Rogovin with four hits in five at-bats, driving in two runs and scoring twice himself! Woody Smith hit three times, driving in two runs and scoring three himself, while Cavarretta, Mays, Rosen and Baker each had a pair of hits.

All Star voting is now open, and we’re driving back to Chicago tonight for six games over the next four days against Cincinnati and St. Louis, including doubleheaders on Sunday and Monday. No days off until June 7, so we’ll see about juggling some off days for our batters to keep the lineup fresh and stop guys from wearing down.

MAY 28, 1954 . . . This afternoon we returned to Wrigley, with Robert Diehl (3-3, 3.27 ERA, 44.0 IP, 22 K’s, 1.09 WHIP) up against Redlegs starter Tom Poholsky (4-4, 2.95 ERA, 79.1 IP, 22 K’s, 1.15 WHIP). Diehl got out of the top of the first on nine pitches, no balls getting out of the infield, and in the bottom of the inning Al Rosen hit a massive slam to center field, driving in three runs with his sixth homer of the year, giving us an immediate 3-0 lead. The Redlegs got on the board in the top of the second with a standup double that drove Gus Bell around to score, but Diehl got out of the inning with a double play to limit the damage to a single run. Roger Maris was hit by a pitch to start the bottom of the third, and Cavarretta doubled to drive him to third. Errnie Banks then grounded out to first, driving Maris in to make it 4-1 after three. In the bottom of the sixth, Al Rosen slammed his second homer of the night over the center field wall, increasing our lead to four runs. Mays had a triple to start the eighth inning, and Ernie Banks drove him in with a sac-fly to right to make the lead 6-1 heading into the top of the ninth. Diehl stayed in to close out his win, getting three outs quickly after a hit and a walk as we beat Cincinnati soundly 6-1 despite only outhitting them 6-4!

Diehl improved tonight to 4-3 with a 2.89 ERA thanks to four hits three strikeouts and three walks over 117 pitches, giving up just the one earned run. Al Rosen’s two homers led to four RBIs and easily decided the game. Rosen is now batting .311 and slugging .623 since joining our Cubs this spring, and he’s got a .316 average on the season in total. Ernie Banks got a hit in his 12th consecutive game, driving in two runs and scoring once himself as we maintained our three game lead in the NL standings.

Over in the American League the big story is Cleveland’s incredible run of luck. They currently lead the AL by two games over the Yankees, their 28-12 record a full FOUR WINS over their pythagorean record of 23-18 that theoretically should have them tied for third behind both the Yanks and the Washington Senators. Cleveland has won five of six extra innings games, second only to the Redlegs who have won five of five in extra frames, and they are 12-4 in one run games. Bob Alexander is becoming a star there as a closer -- in six appearances since we traded him to the Guardians, Alexander has gone 2-0 with a pair of saves, with an incredible .167 BAPIP, an 0.58 WHIP and zero earned runs. So they certainly didn’t take any steps back after sending us Rosen back on May 12th ... in fact, I’d say we’ve both benefitted nicely!

MAY 29, 1954 . . . Hy Cohen (2-1, 4.15 ERA, 34.2 IP, 22 K’s, 1.07 WHIP) pitched his sixth start of the year tonight, up against Cincy’s Bob Kelly (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 3.1 IP, 4 K’s, 0.30 WHIP). Kelly is starting tonight because the Redlegs are short on starters and are saving their main ones for the double-header tomorrow -- but he has good overall stamina and an uncanny ability to hold runners as a reliever, and he has started 26 games in past seasons (including some for us in a Cubs uniform), so this isn’t quite the same as the situation in St. Louis with Ron Kline two nights aga. Still, I like Cohen’s chances ... he’s been a bit “up and down” since the perfect game in his debut, but he’s a fine starter in the making, and he’s not going to be intimidated by a closer starting in this game, especially not one we traded back in November in what became the series of trades that eventually netted us Al Rosen.

Roger Maris hit a ball so hard in the bottom of the third it would have been an easy home run, had it just had a little higher exit trajectory. As it was, he turned it into a run-scoring double that drove Woody Smith in from second to put us up 1-0! Al Kaline flew out to deep center, driving Maris to third, and he would have scored but Mays hit the ball to right, where the wind was blowing in just enough to make it an easy outfield catch. Ernie Banks extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a towering homer to left in the fourth, giving us a 2-0 lead and him his ninth homer of the year! But Cohen gave up an RBI double to open the top of the fifth, and with just one out he went high and inside and wound up hitting a batter, walking the bases loaded. A hit up the middle between our infielders wound up scoring two more runs, and suddenly we were in a 3-2 hole. The bases loaded again, Cohen was able to get us out of the inning without further damage, but unless we could add some runs I planned to send Harry Dorish to pitch in the sixth.

Roger Maris doubled to start the bottom of the sixth, and Willie Mays hit a ball deep to center, bouncing off the ivy and getting him a run-scoring triple for his trouble, tying the game 3-3! Al Rosen hit one up the middle, grazing the second baseman and getting him to first, though it didn’t get far enough out for Mays to risk a run for home. But Ernie Banks got one way out into right, driving Mays home and putting Rosen in scoring position, our boys up again 4-3! Chapman loaded the bases when he got hit in the shoulder by a pitch, but McCullough flew out to center and Rosen was caught trying to run for home, ending the inning. I stuck with the gameplan and brought Dorish in to pitch in the sixth, and he got three quick outs to put us back at the plate, doing the same thing in the seventh! Bottom of the seventh, Al Rosen hits a triple with two outs, but an Ernie Banks flyout kept us from adding runs. Harry Dorish stayed in for another near-perfect inning in the eighth, with Consuegra warming up to close it out in the ninth. Still leading 4-3, Sandy Consuegra came in for the save opportunity, and he got them with a strikeout, a groundout to first, gave up an infield hit, and then got all our hearts pumping with a flyball to left that the wind kept inside the park long enough for Roger Maris to catch it out in left, securing the 4-3 victory!

Hal Cohen got the win, improving to 3-1 with a 4.31 ERA despite giving up five hits for three earned runs, with three strikeouts and three walks in 70 pitches. Harry Dorish, meanwhile, earned his third hold, a three inning effort in which he threw 27 pitches with two strikeouts and not a single hit! His ERA improved to 0.60 on the year. He set Consuegra up perfectly, with Sandy throwing the final inning for his sixth save of the year, with a hit and a strikeout in 16 pitches, improving his ERA to 3.05 on the year. We outhit the Redlegs 11-6, Ernie Banks leading the way with two hits, two RBIs and a run scored. Roger Maris also had a pair of crucial doubles, batting in his fourth run of the year and scoring his second. He’s hitting just .170/.254/.321 so far since coming to Chicago, but he’s getting the at-bats he needs to grow from the leadoff spot. Al Rosen and Woody Smith each had a pair of hits as well in this team effort.

Tomorrow we close out the series against Cincinnati with two games, followed on Monday by a second consecutive double-header. This is going to put a serious test in front of our rotation ... Hacker, Klippstein and Rogovin are up in the rotation, but with no days off for the next week, we may consider using a bullpen starter in one doubleheader game or the other to avoid having to start anyone on super short rest. I’ll decide on a game-by-game basis. Regardless, our bullpen is going to start getting some serious work over the next week, and I’m hoping they’re ready for it.

[jksander]

MAY 30, 1954 . . . A little good news! Our trainer, Chris Dickey, tells me that our rookie left fielder Russ Snyder is healing nicely from his fractured foot, and he could be ready to return by mid-June. We’ll have to decide if we want to send him on a minor league rehab assignment first, but regardless it will be very good to have his power bat back in the lineup, along with his solid abilities as a baserunner. Roger Maris will remain our leadoff man until he returns, at which point Maris may return to being our top pinch hitter / runner option off the bench. Snyder was hitting .382/.432/.588 through eight games before his injury, with four doubles, a homer, six RBIs and three stolen bases, so the fans are really looking forward to his healthy return.

Nearly 21,000 fans showed up today at noon to see game one of the double header, with Warren Hacker (4-2, 2.86 ERA, 72.1 IP, 35 K’s, 1.08 WHIP) going up against Cincinnati’s Bobby Shantz (6-3, 3.38 ERA, 77.1 IP, 39 K’s, 1.40 WHIP). Willie Mays is taking the day off from the main rotation, but he will be available as a pinch-hitter, or as a substitute in the field if either game warrants. Carmen Mauro filled in today for Mays, and in the bottom of the second inning he hit a towering homer to center, his first major league four-bagger in just his second game of the season, giving us a 1-0 lead! Hacker then got a hit with two outs, followed by a Roger Maris walk and am Al Kaline run-scoring double, and this place was as loud as I’ve heard it since becoming the manager last season! We went into the top of the third leading 2-0, but in the top of the fifth Hacker gave up a run-scoring double to Whitey Lockman, driving Bobby Shantz around from second to score the Redlegs’ first run of the night. Two groundouts to first ended the inning, however, and we were able to maintain our lead. Al Kaline hit a blistering line drive to right in the bottom of the eighth, driving Gene Baker in from third to score and make it a 3-1 game, but Carmen Mauro got overexcited and tried to make it home as well, and he was tagged out to end the inning with us up 3-1. Sandy Consuegra took over for Hacker for the ninth inning, and though he plunked a batter to start the inning and then gave up a hit on one out, he got back to back strikeouts to end the game with us taking the 3-1 victory!

Hacker took the win, improving to 5-2 with a 2.58 ERA on the season, giving up six hits and one unearned run, while striking out six and walking one through eight innings on 106 pitches. Consuegra earned his seventh save, giving up a hit with two strikeouts to improve his ERA to 2.91. We outhit Cincinnati 9-7, with Carmen Mauro surprising everyone with three hits in four at-bats, with an RBI and a run scored. He hasn’t had a lot of opportunities to start, with Mays being very much an everyday player, but if he keeps playing like this when the opportunties arise, I suspect he’ll start getting more at-bats as a pinch hitter. Al Kaline had three hits as well, driving in two runs.

We haven’t used Vern Fear yet since calling him back up from the minors, so I made the decision to bring him in as a starter tonight, with the ability to go to the rest of our bullpen after a few innings if needed. We already have a 3-0 lead in the series, and I think it’s better to have Klippstein and Rogovin ready to pitch in the two games tomorrow against St. Louis than to blow a key starter this afternoon. Fear, who had a 4-1 record last year with a 4.28 ERA and 22 strikeouts through 33 innings last season, will start against Cincy’s Wally Post (0-2, 8.49 ERA, 11.2 IP, 5 K’s, 2.23 WHIP) so if any game was a good one to use some bullpen arms this one seemed to be it. Mays is sitting out the game again, while Al Kaline is also being replaced for the second game by Hank Sauer. This will be Fear’s first major league start after 27 appearances in relief.

We didn’t expect Fear to last through the first five innings with just a pair of hits. More than that, however, we weren’t expecting Wally Post to have a no-hitter going through the fifth, leaving this one as a lock-down 0-0 duel heading into the sixth inning. Fear stayed in through the sixth inning, getting a really nice double play to keep the game scoreless, but we couldn’t get any hits in the bottom of the inning, and I brought Harry Dorish in to pitch in the seventh. Unfortunately something had to give and in this case it was our defense -- Dorish gave up a pair of hits and a run scored, though he got us through the inning without any further damage. Post walked Maris to start the bottom of the seventh, and he quickly took advantage by stealing second, reaching third on a groundout to first by Cavarretta. Ernie Bnaks hit a blistering drive to left to spoil the no-hitter and bring Maris home to tie the game, and I brought Sandy Consuegra in for the eighth inning. He got three flyouts to end the inning, and after a pair of hits to get the bottom of the eighth going, I brought Willie Mays in to pinch hit for Mauro, and he hit right up the middle to drive home Gene Baker from second to give us a 2-1 lead, two men still on, no outs! Cavarretta got robbed of a three-run homer at the wall to end the inning, but we went into the top of the ninth just needing three outs to seal the win! Consuegra stayed in for the ninth, got all three outs he needed, and earned his first win of the year with a 2-1 victory!

This was Consuegra’s third game in a row, and he threw three innings today in total. He improved to 1-0 with a 2.66 ERA in the second game with two innings of one-hit ball, and he’s earned tomorrow off for sure. Vern Fear was very impressive, lasting through six innings with just a pair of hits to go with three strikeouts and no walks through 67 pitches, giving him an unblemished ERA. And Harry Dorish gave up just two hits in his inning, conceding the first earned run of the game along with a strikeout, bringing his ERA down to a still highly respectable 1.12. We completed the sweep despite the Redlegs outhitting us 5-4, with Ernie Banks and Wilie Mays contributing our two runs batted in, Roger Maris and Gene Baker scoring the respective runs.

Diehl says he is rested enough to start if we need him, but right now my plan is still to stick with Klippstein and Rogovin tomorrow in the second doubleheader, giving Diehl the chance to rest one more day and giving us room to continue to shine on this home stretch. Two games tomorrow and a game Tuesday against St. Louis, and then we’ve got two games against Pittsburgh, followed by three against Brooklyn all here at Wrigley before a day off on the 7th followed by three home games against Philly and a four game weekend series against the Giants before we go back on the road to finish out June. I’d love for our win streak to continue through tomorrow’s doubleheader, but whatever happens we now hold a commanding five game lead on the Phillies and a 7.5 game lead on St. Louis, so we’re definitely building on last year’s success in a big way, and telling the fans it’s fun to come to Wrigley!

[jksander]

MAY 31, 1954 . . . In game one this afternoon, Johnny Klippstein (7-1, 1.15 ERA, 70.2 IP, 46 K’s, 0.86 WHIP) faced off against St. Louis’s Bob Grim (3-3, 2.85 ERA, 79.0 IP, 54 K’s, 1.09 WHIP) in the first game of yet another doubleheader. The two Al’s (Rosen and Kaline) stayed on the bench, with Woody Smith and Hank Sauer getting starts, and Willie Mays was back in the lineup batting cleanup. Roger Maris got a hit into the outfield to start the game, and he put us up 1-0 thanks to a double by Banks that drove him home with just one out in the top of the first. Hank Sauer came up with the bases loaded in the bottom of the third, and he managed to beat out a throw to first on an infield hit, safely reaching base while driving Cavarretta home for our second run! Ernie Banks loaded the bases in the bottom of the fourth with a single to center, at which point Willie Mays walked in a run to make it 3-0 Cubs. Klippstein gave up a solo homer to Dick Sisler in the top of the seventh, but got out of the inning with three quick outs after that. Harry Dorish came in to pitch in the top of the eighth with the lead still 3-1, and though we didn’t score again, he stayed in through the last two innings, getting the outs we needed to secure the two run win!

Johnny Klippstein improved to 8-1 with a 1.16 ERA thanks to seven innings with just four hits and an earned run, against five strikeouts and a walk (all of the strikeouts coming in the first three innings). Harry Dorish threw 17 efficient pitches in the two innings he pitched, giving up just one hit and improving his ERA to 1.00 through 18 innings of work, earning his first save of the year! We outhit St. Louis 13-5, with Ernie Banks going 4-for-4 with an RBI, Sauer adding two hits and an RBI and Gene Baker adding another pair of hits.

Saul Rogovin (5-0, 1.36 ERA, 59.2 IP, 39 K’s, 0.94 WHIP) took the mound in our second game this afternoon, going up against Vinegar Bend Mizell (8-3, 2.11 ERA, 94.0 IP, 73 K’s, 1.13 WHIP) in a game everyone in attendance fully expected to be a pitcher’s duel. And they got that for sure -- Mizell gave up two hits to us in the third, but we couldn’t get anyone around to score. In the fourth inning that changed, when Ernie Banks hit a two-run blast over the center field ivy to put us up 2-0 with his 10th homer of the year! Rogovin gave up his first hit of the game in the top of the fifth, but it happened to be a solo homer for Dick Sisler, the second solo blast he’s hit in games today! Tom Ferrick came in to relieve Rogovin in the top of the seventh, Rogovin having thrown 102 pitches already, and he got through the inning with a double and three efficient flyouts to maintain our 2-1 lead. Ferrick was efficient again in the top of the eighth, looking like he was barely getting started as he got three quick outs, but Mizell was giving us nothing on offense so we went into the top of the ninth leading still by the slim 2-1 margin. Consuegra warmed up, but I kept Ferrick in to try and finish this one out since he was still fairly fresh. First batter struck out, second batter flew out to Banks at short, he walked the third and then got the final strikeout to end the three-inning save and keeping our streak alive with a 2-1 victory!

Saul Rogovin improved to 6-0 with his one hit game through six innings, including five strikeouts and four walks (the walks being the reason he’d thrown so many pitches and couldn’t stay in) -- the one earned run kept his ERA fairly steady at 1.37 on the year. Tom Ferrick, meanwhile, was incredible, lasting three innings with just one hit against two strikeouts and a walk, improving his ERA to 3.18 with his first save of the season! We outhit the Cardinals 6-2, making the most of our chances against Mizell, who threw a complete game, 128 pitches, with just six hits and the two earned runs, with eight strikeouts. Ernie Banks had two hits, including his homer, scoring one run and batting in two, reaching base for a third time with a walk. Cavarretta, Mays, McCullough and Smith each had hits as well.

We improved to 33-14 with the win and increased our win streak to seven games, extending our National League lead to 6.5 games over Philly, who we’ll be playing this week. After our dismal 7-7 start in April we went 26-7 in the month of May, setting us up for good things as we sprint into June and the warm days of summer.

JUNE 1, 1954 . . . Let’s keep the sweeps coming! This afternoon we played St. Louis for the third time in two days, led by Hy Cohen (3-1, 4.31 ERA, 39.2 IP, 25 K’s, 1.13 WHIP) from the mound, who faced off against Ron Kline (0-4, 6.58 ERA, 26.0 IP, 6 K’s, 1.85 WHIP). Banks and Maris got the day off, so Al Kaline will be batting in the leadoff position. Cohen had a rough start, giving up a solo homer in the top of the first to Andy Carey on only his 12th pitch of the game with two outs, but he got the third out without much fuss. He gave up a second run in the second inning, thanks to a pair of back-to-back doubles, and a three-run homer (again with two outs) gave the Cardinals a 5-0 lead as we came up to bat in the bottom of the second. Willie Mays batted in a run in the bottom of the third, with a single that drove Al Kaline around to score from second, but we went into the top of the fourth trailing 5-1 and I brought Harry Dorish in to pitch for Cohen who simply had not had his best stuff today. Vern Fear came in for the top of the seventh with the score still 5-1 Cardinals, and in the bottom of the seventh Willie Mays hit a two run blast to right that pulled us closer, down just 5-3! Vern Fear got us out of the eighth inning with three quick outs, and he did the same in the ninth, but we still needed three runs to win this one. McCullough came in to pinch hit for Fear, taking his base after being hit by a pitch, which brought up the top of the order, bottom of the ninth, a man on and no outs. Kaline struck out, but Cavarretta hit a ball right up the middle between the defenders, giving us a man in scoring position. And Willie Mays hit a three run blast to left of center, walking this one off as we won 6-5 and the fans here exploded! This was a game we clearly should have lost, but we came together as a team and did what needed to be done to keep our win streak alive!

Willie Mays was the star of the game by far, with four hits and two homers that batted in all six of our runs, giving him 13 homers on the season and 48 RBIs! He is currently hitting .369/.451/.676 on the season. Al Kaline and Hank Sauer each contributed two hits to keep our rallies going, and the fans absolutely loved it.

Honestly, we should have lost this one when I had to pull Cohen after three innings of seven hit ball with five earned runs and no strikeouts or walks, which ballooned his ERA to 5.06. But Harry Dorish played three innings of no-hit ball on 23 pitches, dropping his ERA to 0.86, and then Vern Fear came in on short rest after his six inning start over the weekend, throwing for three innings with only one hit and a strikeout to remain perfect through nine innings! Fear came away with the win as well, so he’s got a 1-0 record, further bolstering our NL-leading relief corps!

[jksander]

Thanks to everyone keeping up with reading this one ... my MS Word file through a season and a half of 1950s Cubs games is now at 99,700 words, a freakin' novel!

[jksander]

JUNE 2, 1954 . . . Pittsburgh comes into our two game series with a 22-28 record, seventh in the NL and 13 games back of first. Crazy thing is, they’re seven games ahead of the 13-33 New York Giants, who are already 20 games back, only half a game better than the MLB-worst Baltimore Orioles. This afternoon we had Robert Diehl (4-3, 2.89 ERA, 53.0 IP, 25 K’s, 1.04 WHIP) on the mound, facing Pittsburgh’s Bob Friend (5-3, 2.51 ERA, 93.1 IP, 35 K’s, 1.05 WHIP), with our biggest bats back in the lineup -- Elston Howard and Gene Baker got the day off to rest but would be available as pinch hitters if needed. We went up 1-0 thanks to a throwing error in the bottom of the first -- Roger Maris came up to bat with the bases loaded and reached first on a dropped throw from second, scored as an E6, keeping the bases loaded for Ernie Banks, who flew out to left of center, driving a second run in, giving us a two-run lead heading into the second inning! Diehl gave up an RBI double to Danny O’Connell to put Pittsburgh on the board in the top of the third, but he got the final out without giving up the tying run from third. And though Pittsburgh outhit us 6-3 through the top of the fifth, we still held the 2-1 lead thanks to solid fielding, and Bob Friend’s wheels fell off in the bottom of the fifth -- three hits in a row, and a Roger Maris single to left drove Phil Cavarretta in to score from third, making the lead 3-1 at the end of five! Diehl stayed in to complete his game, and we held tough to win this one by the same 3-1 margin, our ninth win in a row!

Diehl improved to 5-3 with a 2.61 ERA with just eight hits and an earned run, with two strikeouts, in a complete game 111 pitch outing. Pittsburgh outhit us 8-6, but we continue to make good decisions as a team offensively, and were able to string the hits together to put this one out of reach in the fifth when we needed them. Cavarretta, Mays and Maris each had two hits to make up our total offensive output -- Maris, who is still hitting just .164 overall, did well from the cleanup spot today, getting two hits in four at-bats with two RBIs, and Ernie Banks had an RBI sac-fly batting fifth. Phil Cavarretta made good use of his speed on the basepaths, scoring two of our runs, while Kaline batted leadoff and scored the other after walking in the first inning.

JUNE 3, 1954 . . . We’ve made a trade with Boston that sends minor league 27-year-old shorstop Robert Ludwig to the Red Sox in exchange for 37-year-old veteran starting pitcher Joe Dobson (3-7, 3.31 ERA, 87.0 IP, 45 K’s, 1.25 WHIP) in return. Dobson will give us another high stamina starting option as we head into the pre-All Star stretch run, though I don’t have any intention of messing with our rotation at the moment. It just pays to be prepared.

This afternoon Warren Hacker (5-2, 2.58 ERA, 80.1 IP, 41 K’s, 1.06 WHIP) pitched against Pittsburgh’s Dick Hall (1-5, 3.16 ERA, 82.2 IP, 35 K’s, 1.10 WHIP) in the second game of our series. All our best bats are in the lineup, and we’re keeping Maris in the cleanup position between Mays and Banks to see if he keeps getting better pitches, with Al Kaline staying in the comfortable leadoff position. In the bottom of the first, Al Kaline hit a solo homer out over the right field ivy, putting us up 1-0 on just the second pitch of the game, his ninth homer of the year. Warren Hacker didn’t let a single batter on base until the fifth inning when Catfish Metkovich reached first on a bobbled catch error by Phil Cavarretta at first. Moments later he gave up his first hit of the game to Billy Klaus with two outs, a double which placed runners on second and third. He walked the next batter to bring up the pitcher, who then batted straight to Ernie Banks, who got the throw to first to get us out of the inning still ahead 1-0. Hacker got a hit to start the bottom of the fifth, and Cavarretta singled to send him to third, bringing up Willie Mays who hit one sharply up the gap to drive Hacker home and make it 2-0. Cavarretta committed a second error at first in the top of the sixth, but Hacker again pitched around the man on base, keeping the Pirates scoreless, and in the bottom of the inning Elston Howard hit a run scoring triple to make it 3-0! Roger Maris hit a three-run blast to left field to make it a 6-0 lead in the bottom of the seventh, his second homer as a major leaguer, and this one was becoming a rout. Hacker stayed in to complete the shutout on just 91 pitches, as we won this one 6-0 and extended our win streak to 10 games.

Hacker improved to 6-2 with a 2.32 ERA, throwing six strikeouts against two walks and two hits in the impressive victory. We outhit the Pirates 10-2, with Roger Maris hitting once and walking three times, batting in three runs with his homer. Al Kaline scored two runs on two hits, improving his average to .340, and Phil Cavarretta, despite his two fielding errors, got two hits to improve to .296 on the year. He hits well enough to make his defensive liabilities less noticible on most days, today being no exception. Willie Mays got a hit and kept his average at .380 -- he’s having an incredible year, with seven doubles, four triples and 13 homers so far through 48 games, batting in 49 runs, on pace to shatter his 130 RBIs last year.

We have a three game set here at Wrigley this weekend against the Brooklyn Dodgers (26-23, 9.5 GB) followed by a day off and then three against Philadelphia (27-23, 9 GB) and four against the Giants (15-33, 20 GB). Then we’ll finish the month with 15 games in a row on the road before returning to Wrigley for the July 4th weekend four-game series against St. Louis.

We’ve decided to bring Joe Dobson in as an extra reliever, sending Frank Baumholtz down to AAA to make room. That will give us a five man starting rotation of Hacker / Klippstein / Cohen / Rogovin / Diehl along with a bullpen that features Sandy Consuegra as our lockdown closer, Vern Fear as our setup guy and high leverage reliever, Harry Dorish and Tom Ferrick as trustworthy middle relief, and Dobson as our long reliever and backup emergency 6th starter.

[Pelican]

Well, now you are safely over 100,000 words in this narrative! Still enjoying the prose. It is shaping up as a magical season for the Baby Bears. Forgive me but I’ll be rooting for the Phillies in the upcoming series.

[jksander]

Originally Posted by Pelican

Well, now you are safely over 100,000 words in this narrative! Still enjoying the prose. It is shaping up as a magical season for the Baby Bears. Forgive me but I’ll be rooting for the Phillies in the upcoming series.

Thanks, Pelican! That series is now upcoming, since we've completed the thorough dismantling of the Brooklyn Dodgers! (See Below)

JUNE 4, 1954 . . . Johnny Klippstein (8-1, 1.16 ERA, 77.2 IP, 51 K’s, 0.85 WHIP) pitched tonight against Brooklyn’s Carl ‘Oisk’ Erskine (7-4, 4.03 ERA, 87.0 IP, 55 K’s, 1.30 WHIP) in our first of three home games against the Dodgers. Cavarretta and Mays are off today, and we’re going to be keeping Kaline in the leadoff spot, followed by Baker, Maris, Rosen and Banks. Despite our big lead in the standings, the Dodgers have been our biggest rival since I took over as manager of the Cubs, so we’re not taking anyone lightly.

Sure enough, Jackie Robinson put the Dodgers on the board with a run scoring single that sent Gil Hodges around from second to score in the top of the first. Mauro and Smith got hits in the bottom of the second, but Klippstein batted a grounder into first to end the inning with no one scoring. But Klippstein stayed solid, getting a double play to end the top of the fourth with Campanella stranded on second, and stranding another runner in the top of the fifth to keep it 1-0 heading into our turn in the bottom of the inning. Mauro got another hit, a double, to start the bottom of the fifth, and he reached third on a flyout to first for Woody Smith. Klippstein batted past the third baseman for a hit that drove Mauro home to tie the game 1-1, but Baker batted into a double play to end the inning and stop the rally. Klippstein got through the top of their order in the top of the sixth and pitched nicely in the seventh as well, bringing in Harry Dorish in the top of the eighth with the score still knotted 1-1. Dorish loaded the bases but got out of his inning with no runs scored, and Jerry Bunyard pinch hit for him in the bottom of the eighth, getting a hit! Kaline advanced him to second with an infield single, and Roger Maris came up huge with a two-run triple to give us a 3-1 lead! Ernie Banks added a run-scoring double with two outs to make it 4-1 Cubs, and Carmen Mauro hit a stand-up double that added a fifth run! Though it was no longer a save opportunity, Consuegra was already warmed up to come in for Dorish, and he came in to finish things off. Two quick outs and he then gave up a triple to Billy Cox, before getting their pitcher out on a grounder to Rosen, who easily got him out at first to complete the 5-1 win!

Harry Dorish came out of it with his second win of the year, improving to 2-0 with an 0.82 ERA, giving up just two hits and a walk in his one inning. Klippstein threw seven innings of three-hit ball, giving up just one earned run with two strikeouts and three walks, finishing with 105 pitches thrown. Consuegra gave up one hit with 11 pitches thrown in the ninth, improving his ERA to 0.82 through 24.2 innings of work. We out-hit Brooklyn 12-6, most of those hits coming in the four-run eighth inning. Roger Maris had two hits for a run and two RBIs, Al Kaline had two hits and scored a run, and Carmen Mauro was exceptional with three hits in four tries, scoring a run and batting in another as he improved his average to .462 through 13 at-bats in five appearances. Three years playing in the top level of the minors have really helped him hone his plate discipline, and though he’s unlikely to become more than a backup, he’s making the most of his opportunities as a 27-year-old benchwarmer. He’s earning $22,000 this year and will be a free agent -- at this rate I’m considering extending him before he reaches the offseason.

JUNE 5, 1954 . . . This afternoon was Saul Rogovin’s (6-0, 1.37 ERA, 65.2 IP, 44 K’s, 0.93 WHIP) turn up in the rotation, and he took on Brooklyn’s Russ ‘Rowdy’ Meyer (4-4, 3.43 ERA, 78.2 IP, 29 K’s, 1.12 WHIP). Roger Maris made one of the most spectacular diving catches to steal a home run in the top of the second, keeping the score 0-0 instead of letting Brooklyn take a three run lead. Ernie Banks scored in the bottom of the second on a double by Al Rosen, and just like that we headed into the third inning with a 1-0 lead. Elston Howard added a run in the bottom of the fourth with a run-scoring triple, and in the bottom of the fifth Ernie Banks hit a run-scoring double to make it 3-0. Joe Dobson came in with one out and two in scoring position in the top of the seventh for his first relief appearance since the Boston trade, and he got back to back strikeouts to keep the shutout intact! Dobson loaded the bases in the eighth but got two outs, at which point we brought in Sandy Consuegra to try for the last out and to complete the save opportunity. A quick pop-up to Mays in the outfield got us out of the inning unscathed as the Dodgers left three runners stranded, and Consuegra set them down quickly in the ninth with a strikeout, a flyout to left and an infield out from shortstop to first as we won our 12th game in a row, a 3-0 shutout!

Saul Rogovin got the win, improving to 7-0 with a 1.25 ERA, giving up three hits in 6.1 innings with three strikeouts and three walks. Dobson came in for 1.1 innings, giving up one hit with two strikeouts and a pair of walks, throwing 33 pitches and keeping his ERA unblemished while getting the hold. And Consuegra came in for 1.1 innings, getting a strikeout and giving up no hits while earning his eighth save of the season and improving his ERA to 2.42 on the season through 26 innings.

We outhit the Dodgers 7-4 in our 38th win of the season, led by Ernie Banks who had three hits and scored twice with an RBI, bringing his average up to .339 with 40 RBIs on the season! Maris, Rosen, Howard and Baker each had hits as well, all of them contributing to the win in what is now our longest win streak since the 21-game stretch in 1935 that remains a Cubs record ... for now! We’ve won 14+ games in a row multiple times, but it has been a long time since we’ve had a team this solidly constructed.

Phil Cavarretta is currently 2nd in the 1B voting for the All Star roster, with Al Rosen currently third among third basemen. Ernie Banks is by far the leader among shortstops, along with Mays at center field and Hank Sauer at left based on his national popularity more than his performances this year as a Cub. Hacker and Klippstein are currently 1st and 3rd among starting pitchers, and Harry Dorish are likely to be voted in as All Star relievers as well. I’d say our players are representing the National League very well! Mays in particular is proving to be a national star in the making, leading all players in the vote -- including both leagues! -- by nearly 60,000 votes.

JUNE 6, 1954 . . . Tonight’s turn in the rotation went to Hy Cohen (3-1, 5.06 ERA, 42.2 IP, 25 K’s, 1.22 WHIP) who is looking to come off his worst outing of the season, his three inning game on June 1st that involved five earned runs. Tonight he’s up against Brooklyn’s Billy Loes (6-2, 3.32 ERA, 84.0 IP, 43 K’s, 1.42 WHIP) as we try and keep the streak alive with another series sweep. Roger Maris hit a double to start the bottom of the second, and he reached third on a deep flyout by Ernie Banks. Al Rosen beat out an infield dribbler, reaching first safely and scoring Maris from third to give us a 1-0 lead with just the one out! Sauer then reached first on a bad throw from the third baseman, reaching base milliseconds before the catch, and then Clyde McCullough blasted a three-run homer over the left field wall only his second four-bagger of the year, to make it 4-0! Cohen, meanwhile, was having his best game since his perfect game debut, getting through the third inning without a single baserunner! He walked their lead-off batter to start the fourth and then finally gave up a hit, walking the bases loaded and then giving up a run on a groundout to first that gave us our second out. A flyout to right ended the frame, with us coming up to bat still leading 4-1 in the bottom of the fourth. Cohen hit a standup double in the bottom of the seventh that pushed Clyde McCullough to third with no outs, and Cavarretta blasted a hard-hit ball past the first baseman into the outfield, driving home both runners with the single, making it a 6-1 lead! Willie Mays got a solid drive into center, Banks walked the bases loaded on two outs, and Al Rosen then struck out, saving the Dodgers the humiliation of further run inflation. Cohen stayed in for the final frame, surrendering a solo homer to Campanella, but Jackie Robinson hit into a double play (breaking his bat in frustration in the process) and Pee Wee Reese flew out to Baker for the final out as we dismantled the hapless Dodgers 6-2, increasing our win streak to 13 games!

Cohen threw 119 pitches with only four hits and two earned runs to go with six strikeouts and five walks, improving to 4-1 with a 4.53 ERA. We outhit the Dodgers 8-4, led by McCullough’s two hits and a walk which generated two runs and three RBIs. Cavarretta, Mays, Maris, Banks, Rosen and Cohen also notched hits -- Maris, with his double, improving to .191 with a run scored, giving him a .360 slugging percentage since joining the Cubs this spring.

The Phillies (29-24, 10 GB) come to Wrigley on Tuesday for a three-game series, hoping they can put some distance between themselves and the third place Redlegs (27-25, 11.5 GB) and find a way to snap our streak. They’ll have to do it against Hacker, Klippstein and Diehl, our three top pitchers -- this oughtta be fun!

[jksander]

JUNE 8, 1954 . . . Warren Hacker (6-2, 2.32 ERA, 89.1 IP, 47 K’s, 1.00 WHIP) took the mound today in front of 19,000 Cubs fans for a mid-week afternoon game on a fall-like clear June day. He faced off against Philly’s Gordon Jones (6-5, 3.29 ERA, 101.1 IP, 52 K’s, 1.13 WHIP) in the first of three against Philadelphia. With the wind blowing in at nearly 12 miles per hour, this seemed like a definite pitcher-friendly afternoon, and at least in the first inning, when both Willie Mays and Roger Maris were robbed of homers by the wind, it seemed likely to be so. But Al Rosen got a great blast to deep right, the ball rolling into the corner and giving him a standing triple to open the second inning, and Gene Baker hit a flyout into the left corner to allow Rosen to score the go-ahead run -- Cubs 1, Phillies 0 at the end of two innings. The Phillies answered quickly with a solo homer by Willie Jones in the top of the third, and leadoff man Richie Ashburn legged out a triple of his own with two outs to give the Phillies real hope. But a flyout to Mays ended the top of the inning knotted 1-1. They then took a 2-1 lead on us in the top of the fourth, Alvin Dark nailing a double into deep right to drive Granny Hammer all the way around from second, again with two outs. But Al Rosen loaded the bases in the bottom of the fourth with no outs, and Warren Hacker bought himself back the lead with a shot to right, scoring two runs to give us a 3-2 lead!

Cavarretta hit a run-scoring double in the bottom of the seventh to make it 4-2, but he was injured on the slide into second, putting us in a pinch without a dedicated backup at first base. We wound up moving Al Rosen over to first, bringing Bill Serena in to play third base, and had to play on not knowing what Cavarretta’s future situation would be. Willie Mays beat out a slow throw to third on an infield single, but Ernie Banks flew out to right, ending the inning. Consuegra came in for the top of the ninth leading still 4-2, but he gave up two hits without an out, putting a runner in scoring position and bringing up Smoky Burgess as the potential go-ahead run. Burgess singled to load the bases and the mood of this place changed noticeably. With the bases loaded, Consuegra struck out Eddie Waitkus, then cut down the lead runner at home allowing Dale Mitchell to reach first and keep the bases loaded with a pair of outs. That brought up right fielder Johnny Wyrostek, eighth in the rotation, who promptly hit it straight to Rosen at first, who fielded it perfectly -- we pulled the win right out of their hands, beating the Phillies 4-2 and staying red hot as they left three stranded.

Warren Hacker improved to 7-2 with the win, giving up five hits and two runs with three strikeouts and a walk over 115 pitches in the first eight innings. Consuegra had to work his ass off, but he got the three outs and his 9th save of the year on 20 pitches, though he gave up a season high three hits to go with a strikeout. His ERA improved to 2.33 on the season. We outhit the Phillies 9-8 in this one, with Banks and Rosen each notching a pair of hits and a run scored apiece. Cavarretta batted in a run with a hit and a walk before his injury, and Warren Hacker added a hit and two RBIs as the pitcher, giving him 17 RBIs on the year! Luckily for us, Cavarretta’s injury is a bruised wrist, so he’s going to be day by day for the next few days but should return to service good as new.

I’m also told that Russ Snyder should be ready to return to play on our road trip that starts at Pittsburgh on the 14th.

[jksander]

JUNE 9, 1954 . . . This afternoon we’re playing Woody Smith at third and Al Rosen at first to give Cavarretta time for his wrist to heal. Johnny Klippstein (8-1, 1.17 ERA, 84.2 IP, 53 K’s, 0.85 WHIP) is taking on Philly starter Curt Simmons (8-2, 2.04 ERA, 105.2 IP, 43 K’s, 1.09 WHIP) who has won four of his last five starts, throwing complete games of 120-140 pitches in all five, giving up fewer than three runs in all of them. So our 14-game winning streak comes up against their strongest starter by far and we’re going to need to have a really good game if we want to shut them down.

Philly wasted no time playing around -- with just eight pitches thrown, Earl Torgeson took a Klippstein fastball more than 400 feet into the bleachers, putting the Phillies up 1-0 with one out. Hits were few and far between from there, however, as both pitchers locked in and threw their best work. We came up to bat in the bottom of the eighth still trailing 1-0, at which point Elston Howard hit a blistering double to far right to get us started, only our fourth hit of the night! With two outs, Kaline was walked to give us runners on first and second, but Roger Maris struck out to keep us scoreless. Vern Fear came in to pitch in the top of the ninth, and though he gave up a double to the first batter he faced, the next three were set down quickly, sending up the middle of our order in the bottom of the ninth, trailing still 1-0 and needing something good from our offense. Anything. Mays and Banks were quickly set down at first, putting Al Rosen at the plate with two outs and the fans on pins and needles. AND HE TOOK A FASTBALL OUT OVER LEFT FOR THE TYING RUN! THIS IS CRAZY! Simmons got the third out at first to end the inning, but here we were, heading into the 10th inning knotted 1-1 with our win streak still alive!

Fear came back out in the 10th and got two infield groundouts and a strikeout to put us back up to bat! But Simmons is apparently a God out there on the mound, and he shut us down one, two, three to force more innings! Fear gave up a hit and got a flyout to right, and I called Consuegra up from the bullpen to try and close this out. A flyout to Maris in left got us our second out, but he put another runner on base with a hit just past third base, giving them runners on first and second. He walked the bases loaded, and then faced down Smoky Burgess, walking in the go-ahead run in the top of the 11th. A blooper hit right to Woody Smith at third ended the inning, and we came up to bat with the top of our lineup, needing to score some runs. The Phillies kept Simmons out there for the 11th and he quickly gave up a hit up the middle to Kaline, who took first, finally convincing them to make a pitching change -- for Bob Rush, formerly a Cub, who I could tell was still pissed about us trading him for Ken Boyer and Herb Score, neither of whom are still with us. He struck Maris out quickly, but Willie Mays got a hit out past their first baseman, deep into the right field corner, allowing him to reach second and driving in the tying run! Ernie Banks flew out to deep left and they walked Rosen, bringing up Gene Baker with runners on first and second and the game on the line. They went and walked him too, bringing up Elston Howard, who grounded out to first to keep this one going.

With the score tied 2-2 in the top of the 12th I brought in Tom Ferrick to pitch, with Harry Dorish warming up in the bullpen. They hit it straight to Smith at third for the first out, Ferrick got the second batter out via strikes, and the third out came with a throw from Baker to Rosen, sending us up to bat with another chance to put this one away. Woody Smith hit it up the middle to reach first, Kenny Chapman pinch hit for Ferrick hitting a flyout to center, and Kaline hit one just out of reach of their center fielder, reaching first and driving Woody Smith to third with just one out! Roger Maris hit one into the infield and they couldn’t get the ball back home in time, allowing Smith to score the winning run -- 15 in a row! This streak is unbelievable, we’ve beaten Philly 3-2 in 12 innings!

I still can’t believe we pulled this one out ... Simmons only gave up six hits over ten innings, throwing 132 pitches, but we kept him from completing the game and their bullpen was not up to the task. Tom Ferrick got the win for us, throwing six pitches over an inning with a strikeout and no hits, improving to 1-1 with a 2.70 ERA. Klippstein threw 99 pitches and gave up just three hits in eight innings, striking out four and walking one, the one earned run bringing his ERA to 1.17. Vern Fear threw 2.1 innings of two hit, one run ball, striking out a single batter and bringing his ERA down to 0.79 through 11.1 innings of work. And Consuegra successfully got two outs despite a hit and two walks, keeping his ERA at 2.28 on the year through 29 innings. We outhit the Phillies 10-6, with Roger Marris hitting twice and batting in a run to bring his average up to .204! Willie Mays had a hit and an RBI, Al Rosen had a hit and two walks for a run and an RBI, and Al Kaline added two hits and a run scored.

After a game like this it almost seems blasphemous to go out expecting to keep our streak going, but damn it, we’re going to keep fighting and see how far we can take this absolute insanity!

[jksander]

JUNE 10, 1954 . . . Cavarretta is still day to day, and while we have a handful of offers out in an attempt to bring in a solid backup 1B to join our active roster, we’re going to stick with Woody Smith at third and Al Rosen at first in today’s game. Saul Rogovin (7-0, 1.25 ERA, 72.0 IP, 47 K’s, 0.93 WHIP) will be starting up against Philly’s Robin Roberts (6-5, 3.79 ERA, 92.2 IP, 60 K’s, 1.24 WHIP).

Philadelphia came out aggressively, getting a hit from their leadoff man Richie Ashburn, a quick steal of second, and then getting him to third on a sac fly to center. But he was afraid to go for home on a flyout to right, and their next batter flew out to right, ending the scoreless top of the first. And the two Al’s (Rosen and then Kaline) each doubled to start the bottom of the first, allowing Rosen to give us a 1-0 lead eleven minutes into the game. Take that, Phillies! Kaline stole third moments later, still no outs, and Willie Mays doubled to deep center, scoring a second run! Gene Baker flew out to deep right and the Phillies got the final out when Willie Mays tried to advance to home and was tagged out sliding in headfirst, sending us into the second inning with a 2-0 lead on four hits. Banks picked up his 10th double of the season to get going in the bottom of the fourth, and Maris advanced him to third with a single to center. Maris quickly stole second, giving us two runners in scoring position with no outs, and Banks and Maris each scored runs on back to back sac flies to right and center, increasing our margin to 4-0 in the blink of an eye. An RBI double by Kaline in the bottom of the fifth increased our lead to five runs. We didn’t score again, and we didn’t need to -- Rogovin stayed in to complete the shutout as we swept the Phillies with a 5-0 victory to extend our streak to 16 games!

Rogovin stayed undefeated, improving to 8-0 with a 1.11 ERA thanks to a three-hit complete game shutout, with a strikeout and a walk, throwing just 99 pitches. We got ten hits, with Al Kaline knocking in two hits for a run and two RBIs, with Al Rosen, Ernie Banks and Roger Maris each hitting twice as well. Maris has increased his average by fifty points over this home stretch, earning a lot of respect in the clubhouse for the work he’s been putting in.

At this point, our team-best 21-game streak frrm 1935 is in sight. The Giants have won 17 in a row in 1907 and 1916 and 18 games in 1904, records we’d have to pass in order to get to our team’s all time record. And the Giants of 1916 also had a 26 game streak that stands as the all time major league record. So we still have a way to go. With four games in three days against the last-place Giants this weekend, we expect a full press box as sportswriters from around the country try to get in on the biggest story in baseball.

[jksander]

JUNE 11, 1954 . . . Today Hy Cohen (4-1, 4.53 ERA, 51.2 IP, 31 K’s 1.18 WHIP) takes his turn on the mound against Giants starter Jack Sandford (1-7, 6.37 ERA, 59.1 IP, 20 K’s 1.77 WHIP). The Giants are off to an abysmal 18-38 start, 24 games out of first, though at least they’re still four wins ahead of the Baltimore Orioles, who are looking like they’ll set an all-time record for futility. Cavarretta is back in the lineup, so Al Rosen can go back to playing third base.

If you were a fan of pitching, this was a very good game for you early on. Then Hy Cohen had something of a meltdown in the top of the fourth, giving up his first three hits to drive in the go-ahead run for the Giants. He gave up a second run on a flyout to right, and then with two outs surrendered a two-hit homer over the right field wall to put us in a 4-0 hole. Al Rosen got us on the board with a run scoring single in the bottom of the fourth, but Cohen stayed in to clean up his own mess.

In the bottom of the seventh Baker and Cohen reached base on successive hits, and Kaline then doubled to deep center, driving in our second run with no outs. Cavarretta doubled up the gap to drive in two more, and suddenly we were knotted 4-4 with no outs! They walked Willie Mays and Maris couldn’t get a fly ball out of the infield, but Ernie Banks got a blistering drive between the third baseman and shortstop to drive in the go-ahead run and Al Rosen doubled to right, driving Mays home and moving Banks to third, making it 6-4 with two in scoring position and only a single out. Elston Howard drove one deep to left, reaching third and scoring two more, and suddenly this was a blowout with Baker back up to bat for the second time in the inning, still just one out. They got Baker and Cohen out to mercifully end the inning, but we were now up 8-4 and the top of our order would be up in the eighth after a seven-run bombing. Cohen stayed in and gave up a two run, two out homer to make it 8-6, but he also got two strikeouts during the inning and got out of it with the lead still safe. Sandy Consuegra came in for the final inning, getting a strikeout and two flyouts to earn the save and get us out of this with an 8-6 win!

Despite his brutal fourth inning, Cohen stayed tough and lasted through eight innings and 119 pitches, throwing for eight hits, six earned runs and getting six strikeouts against a single walk. His ERA blew up to 4.83, but he improved to 5-1 nonetheless. Consuegra earned his 10th save of the year, throwing nine pitches and striking out one batter, improving his ERA to 2.20 through 28.2 innings. We outhit the Giants 12-8, with Rosen leading the way with three hits for a run and two RBIs, while Kaline, Cavarretta and Banks each had two hits. Maris couldn’t get anything to hit, but he took a walk and scored a run, so he’s making the best of his opportunities.

The New York Yankees have agreed to our trade offer, sending us 31-year-old first baseman Joe Collins (hitting .248/.324/.395 so far in 44 games with four doubles, five homers and 21 RBIs) in exchange for minor league reliever Robert Hartig, veteran left fielder Hank Sauer, veteran right fielder Earl Rapp and $50,000 cash. The market for solid first basemen is tight right now, and Collins is a disciplined power batter with good fielding skills -- better than Cavarretta, in fact! -- so we’re actually likely to start him and move Cavarretta into a bench role. We’ll be playing shorthanded until he arives in Chicago on Sunday in time for our doubleheader, so I’m calling up Frank Baumholtz to the active roster. He’ll go back down to AAA on Monday when Russ Snyder is ready to return.

JUNE 12, 1954 . . . Robert Diehl (5-3, 2.61 ERA, 62.0 IP, 27 K’s, 1.02 WHIP) took the mound today against Jack Harshman (2-6, 4.16 ERA, 88.2 IP, 43 K’s, 1.53 WHIP). Diehl quickly got himself into trouble, giving up a pair of hits, getting an out, and then giving up a two-run double to put the Giants ahead 2-0 with just the one out. An infield groundout allowed a third run to score, and the Giants went into the bottom of the first leading 3-0. We left four runners in scoring position over the first and second innings, and Diehl gave up a fourth run in the third inning to put us down 4-0 for the second game in a row -- did we have another comeback in us? Willie Mays hit a solo homer to left field to start the bottom of the third, his 14th of the year, but despite two walked batters we couldn’t do anything else in the inning. But the Giants added a run in the fifth, and we had to bring Vern Fear in for the sixth inning.

Harry Dorish came in with the score still 5-1 in the top of the eighth, and Dorish batted in a run in the bottom of the eighth to pull us within three. Al Kaline got a shot through to left, and due to a throwing error in the outfield he was able to reach second and drive in a run to make it 5-3! Cavarretta got a ball through the gap into center field, scoring two runs with the single, and suddenly we were tied 5-5! They walked Mays, but Roger Maris hit the ball straight up for an easy catch by the catcher, ending the inning and sending Dorish back out to pitch the ninth with Consuegra warming up. Dorish got two quick outs and then a single got into right field, and a double to right drove the go-ahead run in, giving the Giants a 6-5 lead. Consuegra came in and got a quick grounder out to Baker, who gloved it to Cavarretta to get us into the bottom of the ninth down a run. Ernie Banks flew out to center, but Rosen hit a nice blast out to left to get on base. But Gene Baker batted into a double play and just like that we lost our first game in more than two weeks, falling to the Giants 6-5. The epic win streak ends at 17.

Harry Dorish took the loss, falling to 2-1 with a 1.14 ERA, with four hits against two strikeouts and a single earned run. But most of the damage was done by Diehl, who gave up six hits for five earned runs in five innings, striking out five but walking three, lasting just 79 pitches. Vern Fear was solid in two innings of one hit work, striking out one and walking another, and Consuegra got one out without a hit, improving his ERA slightly to 2.17. We lost despite outhitting the Giants 13-11, with Willie Mays hitting three times to score a run and drive in another, his 52nd RBI of the year. Cavarretta hit twice to drive in two runs, giving him 21 for the season, and despite batting last and failing to get us tied up, Baker hit twice as well, scoring a run and keeping his average at .295 for the season.

We have one game left on this homestand, having gone 16-1 since returning to Wrigley, good enough to put our record at 43-15, leading the NL’s second best team (Cincinnati) by 11.5 games. So we’re doing just fine, and we’ll go in tomorrow working to get the series win via the doubleheader and keep the Giants on their heels before we start our massive road run. So far our attendance average this year is up nearly 17 percent, and though we’re not yet where we want to be, still playing to Wrigley stands that are two-thirds full, it’s hard to deny the buzz that’s growing here on the north side.

I’ve rethought my plans at first base, and have decided to let Cavarretta keep his starting spot for now, though Collins will likely alternate in as a regular backup starter and pinch hitter. We’re going to keep our bullpen at five men heading into the road trip, and I’m debating whether to have Russ Snyder do a minor league rehab assignment when he comes of the IL on Monday. I am leaning in that direction, as right now Maris is continuing to improve in his role in left field, so I don’t feel rushed to throw Snyder back into the fire.

[jksander]

JUNE 13, 1954 . . . Warren Hacker (7-2, 2.31 ERA, 97.1 IP, 50 K’s, 0.98 WHIP) took the field against Ted Abernathy (0-4, 4.35 ERA, 39.1 IP, 15 K’s, 1.75 WHIP) in the first game of this afternoon’s doubleheader against the Giants. Banks and Rosen sat out today to rest, but would be available off the bench if required. Roger Maris hit a moonshot to left field in the bottom of the first inning, putting us up quickly 2-0 with his third homer of the year. Maris hit a standup double in the fourth but we weren’t able to bring him around to score. He came up to bat again in the bottom of the fifth, this time with the bases loaded, no outs, but he struck out. But Gene Baker hit one deep into the right field corner, allowing three runs to score on a Baker double, and Elston Howard doubled into the left corner, taking advantage of his killer speed to turn it into a run-scoring triple. Warren Hacker hit one right up the middle with two outs to bring Howard home and make it 7-0 with the top of the order back up to bat, though Kaline batted to the shorstop to bring the inning to a merciful close.

Hacker got off a perfect bunt in the bottom of the seventh to load the bases, no outs, and Kaline got a shot into right that kept them loaded and drove in our eighth run! Cavarretta hit a sac-fly to left that scored our ninth, and Mays hit a low sharp grounder that stayed fair ... barely! ... to drive in two more! Roger Maris got his second double of the game to make it 12-0, and Baker hit a blistering grounder to right that bounced off the fielder’s glove, turning into a run scoring double and sending this one into the realm of football shutouts, our lead at 13-0 with just one out. Elston Howard flew out to center for our second out, and Bill Serena came back up for the second time this inning, driving it into left field for a run-scoring single! Chapman flew out to center for our final out and we went into the top of the eighth up by a staggering 14-0 margin. Phil Cavarretta added a solo homer in the eighth, and Hacker closed out his complete game shutout as we blasted the Giants 15-0 in the first of two.

Hacker improved to 8-2 with a 2.12 ERA thanks to a four-hit shutout during which he threw NINE STRIKEOUTS against no walks, getting through the game on just 95 pitches -- a model of efficiency! We outhit them 19-4, led by Gene Baker with four hits for two runs and four RBIs, while Roger Maris had three hits for two runs and three RBIs (bringing his average to .228 and his slugging percentage up to .500!) Al Kaline also had three hitsw, scoring three times and batting in one, while Willie Mays, Bill Serena and Warren Hacker each added a pair. Hacker has had a stellar year from the plate, with a .268 average through 46 plate appearances, with eleven single base hits, four runs and six RBIs. We batted through the order in both the fifth and the seventh innings, giving the Giants no room to breathe at all, even without Ernie Banks and Al Rosen.

Johnny Klippstein was up in the rotation, but we decided to have long reliever / spot starter Joe Dobson pitch for us in the second game. Dobson has only thrown 1.1 innings for us so far since coming from Boston, but overall he’s 3-7 with a 3.26 ERA through 88.1 innings, with 47 K’s and a 1.27 WHIP. He’ll face Ruben Gomez from the Giants, who is 5-6 with a 4.69 ERA through 94 innings, with 40 K’s and a 1.53 WHIP. Rosen, Banks and Maris are sitting out this one, so Frank Baumholtz is getting a relatively rare (this year) start and will be batting cleanup. Joe Dobson got a hit in the bottom of the second inning, reachiung first and driving home Bill Serena from third, who had walked earlier in the inning. That put us up 1-0 on the Giants, and Dobson pitched very well for us, holding a no-hitter until the fifth inning, and the shutout through six innings, at which point we brought in Vern Fear.

But Fear gave up a single and a run-scoring triple to tie the game up 1-1 in the top of the seventh, and a single to right drove the go-ahead run in to put the Giants up 2-1. He got the final two outs, but we went into the bottom of the inning needing to score. With Cavarretta on first and just one out, we brought Roger Maris in to pinch hit for Baumholtz and take over at left field, and the wind robbed him of a homer, blowing in just enough for their center fielder to catch it for out number two. Gene Baker took a walk, and Al Rosen came in to hit for Bill Serena and take over at third, but he flew out to left and ended the inning with us still down 2-1. Fear stayed out for the eighth, redeeming himself with three quick flyouts, and he hit a double with two outs in the bottom of the eighth to spark a rally -- Al Kaline hit sharply to left, driving in the pitcher for the tying run, and Sandy Consuegra came in for the top of the ninth to try and keep us in this one.

Consuegra got three quick outs, with a single hit given up thanks to a slow throw to first between a pair of strikeouts. Willie Mays took a walk to start the bottom of the ninth, and Roger Maris got a hit just past the infield to give us two men on and no outs. But Baker struck out and Rosen hit a flyout to center that kept the runners on first and second, so we brought Ernie Banks in to pinch hit for Chapman with a hit most likely ending it. But he struck out, and we went to extra innings, with Gene Baker moving to second and Banks staying in at shortstop. Though tiring, Consuegra got us through the inning with three back to back outs, and if the game was to go into further innings we warmed up Klippstein to close it out if necessary. And it was, as we got three outs in a row ourselves, sending us into the 11th inning knotted 2-2. Klippstein got through the top of the 11th with just 10 pitches thrown, and in the bottom of the inning Cavarretta took a walk and Willie Mays got one out to left that put Cavarretta on second in scoring position. But Roger Maris hit into a double play that sent Cavarretta over to third, bringing up Baker ... who hit one just past the shortstop to walk this one off 3-2!

Joe Dobson didn’t get a win in his first Cubs start, but he lasted six innings with just two hits, with three strikeouts and two walks, keeping his ERA at 0.00 as a Cub and improving it to 3.05 overall. Vern Fear got his first blown save, but he stayed in and impressed with just three hits in two innings through 48 pitches -- though they created two earned runs, dropping his ERA to 1.76 on the year. Still very respectable. Consuegra threw two innings and 28 pitches, giving up just one hit with three strikeouts, improving his ERA to 2.03. And Klippstein earned his ninth win of the year, throwing a no-hit inning with a strikeout, improving his ERA to 1.15 through 93.2 innings. He’ll likely still start our next game, against Pittsburgh, having barely broken a sweat this evening.

Russ Snyder is back in the lineup for the upcoming road trip. I’m sending Frank Baumholtz down to AAA, and I’m calling up a backup shortsop, Jerry Bunyard, to give us some infield depth on our 25-man roster. He’s played two games for us this year, getting one hit in a pinch situation, and he has hit .297 with five doubles and a triple with 13 runs scored since going down to AA Des Moines. We’ll be playing three games at Pittsburgh, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, with four games in three nights against the Dodgers over the weekend. Another off day and then we’ll face Philly and the Giants in back to back three game series, finishing out the month with two games at Milwaukee on the 29th and 30th. We head into the road trip with a 45-15 record, best in the majors by a wide margin and leading the NL by a full 12.5 games over the Redlegs in Cincy.

[jksander]

JUNE 14, 1954 . . . Pittsburgh comes into this series with a 24-38 record, 22 games back in seventh place, yet four games ahead of the hapless Giants. Tonight we’re starting Johnny Klippstein, just one night after his one game relief appearance yesterday. He is currently 9-1 with a 1.15 ERA through 93.2 innings, with 58 K’s and an exceptional 0.81 WHIP. He’ll go up against Roy Face (3-2, 3.86 ERA, 49.0 IP, 19 K’s, 1.37 WHIP) in the first of three games against the Pirates. Our roster is a bit depleted, with Baker, Rosen and Maris sitting out today’s game. But we have Ernie Banks back in the lineup and Mays is red hot, so I don’t expect a problem getting hits.

Unfortunately for Klippstein, our defense was uncharacteristically bad early on -- two errors in the first three innings, and a blooper hit to right in the bottom of the third put Pittsburgh ahead 2-0. A ground-out to first got him his first out of the inning, but a third run scored and two runners remained, both in scoring position. And his luck just worsened ... by the time he got the last two outs we were in a 4-0 hole against the Pirates, and he had thrown 58 pitches. Not enough that I was going to pull him yet and ruin our bullpen, but bad enough to be concerned. And hitting for us tonight was, in fact, proving to be a problem as Face got through the first four innings without giving up a single hit! We finally got a hit in the top of the fifth, from Russ Snyder, but Bill Serena batted into a double play to leave him stranded at first, and with Klippstein still struggling I brought Harry Dorish in for the bottom of the fifth, hoping he could get us some calm innings.

We got two men on in the top of the sixth but again batted into a double play to end the innning scoreless. Dorish got two strikeouts to start the bottom of the sixth but gave up a hit to right that scored a runner from second, making the Pirates’ lead 5-0. Al Kaline hit a run-scoring single in the top of the eighth to finally put us on the board, but Cavarretta struck out to provent us from formenting a rally. Tom Ferrick came in and faced three batters in the bottom of the eighth, giving up a run and only getting a single out. Vern Fear came in and got a quick out at first that kept the runner on third, unwilling to risk going for it, and a strikeout got us out of the innning with “only” five runs needed for a comeback in the ninth. Mays and Banks each hit, with Russ Snyder loading the bases with no outs, so Clyde McCullough came in to pinch hit for Elston Howard, but he hit it way up into the air, an easy catch at shortstop that kept us from letting any runners go for it. Bill Serena kept the bases loaded but Mays was thrown out at home for a quick out, and Al Rosen pinch hit but was robbed of a four-run blast by mere inches and Banks was thrown out at home, the game came to an end as a 6-1 loss for our Cubs. Welcome to June road trips in the National League, boys. Nobody said it was going to be easy holding this lead, we’ve just got to find a way to bounce back after tomorrow’s off day.

Klippstein took the loss, falling to 9-2 with a 1.38 ERA after giving up eight hits and four runs (three earned) with three strikeouts and a walk on a season-low 76 pitches. Harry Dorish held on for three full innings, giving up just two hits with three strikeouts, a walk and an earned run, improving his ERA to a stellar 1.35. Tom Ferrick only lasted a third of an inning and gave up a run on six pitches, dropping his ERA to 3.86, but Fear struck out a batter and got his two outs with little fuss, improving his ERA to 1.69. A poor hitting night killed us -- we gave up 12 hits to their five, and no Cubs batter got more than one hit. Al Kaline batted in our only run, and Bill Serena scored our only run, with not much else to be excited about. Kenneth Chapman got a hit and was walked twice but we left him stranded all three times.

Unfortunately, regarding Klippstein, the news is worse than just a tired arm leading to the bad outing tonight. Experiencing extreme pain in his shoulder while icing it down after the game, we had his shoulder scanned this evening and it turns out he tore his labrum during tonight’s game, which means at least four months of recovery time and the end of his season. That’s about as bad as it gets, a frustrating end to a really solid season for the 26-year-old starter. I’m calling up right fielder Max West as an extra pinch hitting option, and Joe Dobson is going to move into the fifth starting position, with Dorish, Fear, Ferrick and Consuegra as our bullpen options.

[jksander]

JUNE 16, 1954 . . . Hy Cohen (5-1, 4.83 ERA, 59.2 IP, 37 K’s, 1.17 WHIP) faced off tonight against Pittsburgh’s Bob Friend (5-5, 2.62 ERA, 116.2 IP, 43 K’s, 1.11 WHIP) in the second game of three here against the Pirates on the road. Our lineup is back to full health, and though our whole team is still reeling from the loss of Klippstein for the year, we’re ready to come out fighting and get some momentum going on the road.

Elston Howard hit a solo homer in the top of the second to put us up 1-0, just his third homer of the year, and though we struggled to do much from a hitting perspective from there, Hy Cohen was on fire and kept Pittsburgh completely flummoxed himself. A Maris walk and a double by Cavarretta gave us a scoring chance in the top of the sixth with two outs, but Ernie Banks flew out to center to end the inning scoreless. Hy Cohen hit a standup double in the top of the eighth, and Kaline drove him to third with a single to center. Cavarretta grounded out to first, sending Kaline to second as Cohen held at third, and Willie Mays then walked the bases loaded. Roger Maris then walked a run in to put us ahead 2-0, and Willie Mays drove a hard grounder to right field, scoring us two more! We went into the bottom of the eighth leading by four, and Cohen got us three quick outs to keep it that way heading into the ninth. He stayed in to complete the 4-0 shutout, completely dominating the Pirates as we evened the series. Come back tomorrow for the rubber match!

Cohen threw 115 pitches tonight, giving up just four hits with five strikeouts and three walks, improving his ERA to 4.19 as he won his sixth game of the year as a rookie! We outhit the Pirates 8-4, led by Cavarretta with two hits and a walk, though he was stranded three times. Roger Maris got a hit and a walk and came out with an RBI, Ernie Banks had a hit and two RBIs, and Kaline, Mays, Howard and Cohen each scored runs in a great team effort on the road.

JUNE 17, 1954 . . . Final game of the series -- Saul Rogovin (8-0, 1.11 ERA, 81.0 IP, 48 K’s, 0.88 WHIP) will be taking on Gene Conley (4-6, 3.70 ERA, 97.1 IP, 48 K’s, 1.41 WHIP) in this afternoon’s game. Al Kaline opened the game with a nice little infield dribbler, beating out the throw to reach base safely, but that was all we got as nothing was escaping our bats into the outfield and they got three quick outs to put us away in the top of the first. But Ernie Banks hit a solo homer to left in the top of the second, his 11th this year, putting us up 1-0 heading into the middle of the second. Willie Mays nearly had a homer in the top of the third, but settled for a two-run triple instead to make it a 3-0 lead. And Saul Rogovin himself hit a two-run homer in the top of the fourth, his second homer of the year, to put us ahead 5-0! Rogovin gave up a two-run homer to Stan Palys in the bottom of the seventh, his first homer of the season for Pittsburgh, cutting our lead to three runs, but Elston Howard got a single to start the eighth inning and was able to come around to score on a fielder’s choice when Saul Rogovin reached first on a single and Gene Baker was tagged out at second, putting us back up by four as we headed into the bottom of the eighth. Rogovin came back out in the ninth but gave up a solo homer to make it 6-3 and we brought Consuegra in to make sure this one stayed under control. He got three quick outs, including two great catches in center by Mays, and we won this one by a comfortable 6-3 margin to take the series win.

Rogovin stayed perfect at 9-0, giving up seven hits in eight innings with six strikeouts and just one walk, though he did get dinged for two homers. His ERA slid to 1.31 overall thanks to the three earned runs. Sandy Consuegra saved his 11th game, improving his ERA to 1.97 with a strikeout as well. We outhit Pittsburgh 14-7, with Al Kaline getting four hits and scoring a run in the leadoff spot, improving his average to .348! Willie Mays had two hits and two RBIs, and pitcher Saul Rogovin continued our streak of solid hitting by our pitchers, getting two hits for a run and three RBIs, giving him six batted in on the season.

A quick drive up to Brooklyn is in the cards now, with four games in three days against the 32-31 Dodgers, who trail us by 15 games but are within 3.5 games of moving from fourth to second. And though they are 2-6 against us so far this year, we always have trouble against them on their field, so we’re going into this series knowing we need to play our best baseball to avoid losing ground.