Let's Play Two!

[jksander]

JUNE 24, 1955 . . . We head into this weekend’s four game set against the Pittsburgh Pirates on a three-game winning streak thanks to our sweep of the Dodgers. We’re 55-16, seven games up on the Phillies, 21 games up on the Pirates who are currently 35-38 on the season. Next week we have three games against Milwaukee () on the road, and then return to Wrigley for eight games in seven days including two doubleheaders over the fourth of July weekend. We’re currently 6-1 against the Pirates heading into the series, with Robert Diehl (9-3, 1.81 ERA, 119.1 IP, 60 K’s, 0.75 WHIP) ready to start against Johnny Kucks (5-6, 3.99 ERA, 99.1 IP, 26 K’s, 1.35 WHIP) in game one.

In his first eight pitches of the afternoon, Diehl gave up two hits and a walk, allowing Rocky Colavito to drive in a run to put us quickly in a 1-0 hole, though a double play then got us out of the top of the frame without further damage. But Jackie Robinson tied the game up with an RBI double, and a wild throw to home on an Ernie Banks double helped drive Robinson in to score the go-ahead, sending us into the top of the second with a 2-1 lead. This stuff happens fast! Both pitchers settled into a groove from there, but Dale Long delivered a run scoring double for Pittsburgh in the top of the fifth that tied us up 2-2, and in the top of the sixth they took the lead off a solo homer by Rocky Colavito that made it a 3-2 lead for the Pirates. Gene Baker delievered big time for us in the bottom of the inning, however, hitting his eighth homer of the year to score three and put us ahead 5-3! Roy Sievers pinch-hit for Diehl and got on base, but Kaline batted out to short and sent us into the top of the seventh with Purkey coming in to take over leading by a pair of runs. Purkey gave up a run in the top of the eighth, and poor fielding at third and poor command by Purkey led to a bases-loaded walk to tie the game. But he got us out of it with a double play to get an out at home and an out at first, and we went into the bottom of the inning knotted 5-5. We brought Koufax in for the top of the ninth, and he got us through it efficiently, getting the final out via a pickoff play at second. And with two outs and two on, Willie Mays walked it off in the bottom of the ninth as we pulled out am 8-5 win!

Diehl had a solid start, going six innings with eight hits, two strikeouts, a walk and three runs (two earned) to keep his ERA as a solid 1.87 through 16 starts. Purkey gave us two innings but blew his save opportunity, giving up one hit with three walks to allow two runs (one earned) and lower his ERA to 1.80. But Koufax came in and got the win, improving to 2-1 with a one hit, one strikeout inning, improving his ERA to 2.35 through 46 innings. We outhit them 12-10 today, led by Kaline (two hits, two runs), Banks (two hits, one RBI) and Baker (two hits, two runs, three RBIs). And Willie Mays performed his late-game magic, driving in three with his only hit of the night, improving his average to .291 with his 14th homer for his 48th, 49th and 50th RBIs. Not bad, boys!
 
JUNE 25, 1955 . . . Saul “Strike Force” Rogovin (10-4, 1.95 ERA, 133.2 IP, 145 K’s, 0.75 WHIP) pitched today against Dick Hall (6-10, 2.98 ERA, 124.0 IP, 53 K’s, 1.23 WHIP). Jackie Robinson got us going quickly with a three-run homer, his 19th of the year, giving him the lead among all our players so far this season and putting us in a 3-0 first-inning lead. Robinson added another homer in the bottom of the sixth, his 20th, to put us up 4-0, and Al Rosen added an RBI single to extend the lead further. Rogovin batted in our sixth run with a groundout to first, and we went into the seventh inning leading by six. Rogovin was as impressive as ever, completing the game and the shutout as we stumped the Pirates again 6-0.

Rogovin improved to 11-4 with a five-hit shutout, striking out 15 against three walks through 129 pitches. He is currently projected to reach 300 innings of work this year, with 338 K’s, which would more than qualify him for his $15,000 bonus (and put him in the running for the Cy Young with Hy Cohen as well, which could net him another $20,000!) We out-hit the Pirates today 11-5, led by Robinson with two homers for four RBIs, while Rogovin and Mays each added a pair of hits as well.

JUNE 26, 1955 . . . Doubleheader Day! These Sundays are fan favorites, and we’ve got more trade news this morning ... the Yankees, still battling for the AL pennant with a 40-28 record (a game behind Cleveland and 3.5 back of the Boston Red Sox) have decided they are in MUST WIN mode, and have sent us three more solid prospects -- 2B Billy Moran (#75 BNN), CF Bob Will (#93 BNN) and 1B Pancho Herrera (#94 BNN), in exchange for pinch-hitting LF Roy Sievers and veteran third baseman Grady Hatton. Both Hatton and Sievers had been looking to start, which wasn’t going to happen, so this trade helps us build for the future while continuing to keep our owner happy with improvements to our farm system. Moran and Will should join us quickly on the main roster, but Moran will join our AA affiliate in Burlington. Unless something else incredibly tempting comes down the pike in July, I suspect we’re done dealing for the season. But I never say never.

In game one of today’s doubleheader, Hy Cohen (14-4, 1.41 ERA, 153.0 IP, 132 K’s, 0.68 WHIP) pitched against Bob Friend (6-6, 4.42 ERA, 114.0 IP, 58 K’s, 1.42 WHIP). Bob Purkey will be getting his first start at Catcher, with Crandall potentially starting the second game though we’ll make that decision between games. Willie Mays opened the game with his 15th homer of the year to put us up 1-0, but in the top of the fourth the Pirates got it tied back up 1-1 thanks to a solo blast to right by Dale Long. Rip Repulski got a double thanks to a rare error at left field by Roger Maris, but we got out of the inning without surrendering the lead. Both teams had great pitching and defense, and we went into the stretch still knotted 1-1.

Pittsburgh had to go to their bullpen in the bottom of the eighth with Mays and Banks on base and two outs. They brought in Roger Bowman (3-1, 3 SV, 2.01 ERA, 31.1 IP, 1.28 WHIP) with the score still tied 1-1, walking Gene Baker to load the bases. Bob Purkey struck out swinging to end the inning, and we went into the top of the ninth with Hy Cohen still going strong at 106 pitches. He set down the heart of their order with a strikeout and a pair of flyouts, and then came up to bat in the bottom of the ninth to lay down a perfect grounder into the outfield, taking his base with a giant grin on his face! Kaline hit a line drive that bounced off the Ivy, but they got the ball quickly and kept him to a double, giving us two in scoring position with no outs and Maris at the plate! Maris ground out to first and the runners held. Mays walked, to load the bases. And Jackie Robinson hit a grand slam to win the game 5-1! How awesome is a walk-off grand slam? These fans’ll tell you! You could hear them a mile away!

Cohen improved to 15-4 with a 1.39 ERA, giving up just four hits tonight with eight strikeouts and the one earned run. We outhit them 11-4 but struggled to bring runners around, though a walk-off like Robinson’s does a lot to forgive things like that! Robinson drove in four runs and hit his 21st homer of the season, Kaline had four hits for a run scored, and Willie Mays added two hits and two walks, scoring two and driving in another. Purkey has continued to impress us with his strong arm and ability to play quality defense at multiple positions, but he’s going to have to work on his hitting. He’ll make a quality backup catcher for us this year, but whether I’ll keep him as a two way player in the future will depend on if he can work on his bat skills.

Camilo Pascual (8-3, 2.88 ERA, 90.2 IP, 95 K’s, 1.07 WHIP) took to the mound in the second game, facing Don Bessent (4-3, 2.70 ERA, 80.0 IP, 36 K’s, 1.30 WHIP), with Purskey again catching. Al Kaline opened the bottom of the first with a triple, and Roger Maris wasted no time batting him in with a right field single. Mays hit a single that drove Maris to third, and Robinson brought him home with a sac fly to center. Rosen extended the lead to 3-0 with an RBI single, and we went into the second inning with a solid three run lead. Purkey walked in the bottom of the second and then advanced on a successful sac-bunt by Pascual, advancing to third thanks to a groundout by Kaline. Maris walked and then Willie Mays hit a one-out, three-run homer to put us up 6-0, his 16th homer of the season! Robinson hit a two-RBI triple in the bottom of the fourth to make it 8-0, but it would not be a shutout this time -- Danny O’Connell batted in a run with a double in the top of the fifth. Tom Ferrick came in to pitch in the top of the eighth and Pittsburgh picked up a run, but he set them down quickly in the ninth and we won this one 8-2, completing the sweep!

Pascual improved to 9-3 on the season with a 2.76 ERA, giving up just five hits with six strikeouts and one earned run through seven innings. Ferrick added two innings with one hit, two strikeouts and an earned run, giving him a 7.11 ERA through 6.1 innings and five appearances. Each team had six hits today, and we were led by Willie Mays’ two hits for two runs and three RBIs. Next up: a three game road set against Milwaukee (28-44, 29.5 GB). We are now 59-16 and have a seven game active win streak.

As the summer heats up, talk of the home-run race also is getting going. Jackie Robinson has hit 18 since joining the Cubs, giving him 21 for the season which is good right now for third place, two homers ahead of Hank Aaron (Milwaukee) and Gil Hodges (Brooklyn) but three behind Baltimore’s Gus Zernial and four behind Cincy’s Ted Kluszewski. Al Kaline (.328) has the fifth best batting average in the majors, but 1B Joe Cunningham from Kansas City has stunned everyone in his second season, hitting .397 so far through 219 plate appearances, with 13 doubles, three triples and 14 homers. If he keeps that up the rest of the year he’ll be a shoe-in for AL Most Valuable Player!

Hy Cohen currently has the best ERA and the most wins in the majors, but he’s 20 K’s behind Saul Rogovin for most strikeouts in the majors. So while Cohen has the best shot at the rare Pitching Triple Crown, he’ll have to chase down Rogovin if he wants to do it. And Saul’s 1.83 ERA (3rd) and 11 wins (tied for fourth) have him on the outside looking in in the Cy Young race, despite his 160 K’s. The crazy thing is, both pitchers are heads above the rest of both leagues in WAR, with Cohen (6.9 WAR) narrowly ahead of Rogovin (6.8 WAR). Forget Spahn and Sain, these two are combining for the kind of season championships are made of!

[jksander]

JUNE 28, 1955 . . . Saul Rogovin (11-4, 1.83 ERA, 142.2 IP, 160 K’s, 0.76 WHIP) went up against Bob Buhl (3-7, 5.80 ERA, 85.1 IP, 43 K’s, 1.50 WHIP) in the first of three road games against Milwaukee’s Braves. Al Kaline got things going with a single, and then they walked Maris and Mays, bringing Jackie Robinson up in a bases-loaded situation just minutes into the first inning! He popped out to center, and so did Ernie Banks, but Del Crandall got a good hit into right field, driving in a pair of runs to get us going. Al Rosen added a run-scoring double, and Gene Baker doubled to drive in another pair, bringing up Rogovin to close out the inning with a groundout to first. Half an inning down and we had a 5-0 lead and would be bringing the top of our order up in the second! The scoring, however, stopped after that frame, and both pitchers locked in, keeping the hits few and far between. Rogovin gave up a triple to Johnny Logan in the bottom of the sixth, but didn’t give an inch, holding the runner there and getting three outs in a row to prevent a run. Willie Mays batted in a run with a triple of his own to make it 6-0 in the top of the seventh, and Jackie Robinson added insult to injury with a two run homer, his 22nd of the year, and we went into the stretch leading by eight. The Braves got on the board with an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh, but we got the run back with an RBI single by Al Rosen in the top of the eighth. Rogovin gave up an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth and we brought in Tom Ferrick with a man on and two outs to finish the inning. Jackie Robinson hit his second homer of the game in the top of the ninth, and Ferrick got us through the bottom of the inning to close out the 11-2 blowout win.

Rogovin improved to 12-4 with a nine hit 7.2 inning effort, striking out six with one walk as he gave up two runs, throwing 108 pitches. Ferrick pitched 1.1 innings and gave up no hits, improving his ERA to 5.87 on the season. We outhit them 13-9, led by Robinson with two homers for four RBIs. Al Kaline added three hits, a run and an RBI, and Willie Mays had two hits and two walks for three runs and an RBI.

JUNE 29, 1955 . . . Robert Diehl (9-3, 1.87 ERA, 125.1 IP, 62 K’s, 0.78 WHIP) pitched against Warren Spahn (6-7, 4.54 ERA, 119.0 IP, 53 K’s, 1.42 WHIP) in game two of the series with Milwaukee. And though it’s been a while since Spahn has been able to consistently dominate, he’s still among the best pitchers in the game, held back by the fact that he’s playing for a mediocre team. He came out tonight looking like the Spahn of old, virtually unhittable. Hell, he even managed to hit a triple off Diehl in the bottom of the third, and Johnny Logan batted him in to score with two outs, putting the Braves up 1-0. Sid Gordon batted in a second one in the bottom of the fourth, and we didn’t get our first hit until Al Rosen spanked a double into center field in the top of the fifth, and it didn’t matter -- Spahn got the outs he needed, his team seeming to rise to the occasion. In the top of the sixth we got things going, finally ... Maris and Mays got singles, and then Jackie Robinson hit a triple that tied things up out of nowhere! Crandall batted in the go-ahead run on two outs, and we were headed for the bottom of the inning. Roger Maris added a solo homer in the top of the eighth, his ninth of the year, to give us a 4-2 lead. Spahn stayed out through the top of the ninth, throwing 153 pitches, and Diehl tried to match him by coming out in the bottom of the ninth to complete the win. But he gave up two hits himself without an out, and I brought Koufax in to close this one out. We’d already played with fire keeping him out as long as we had. Koufax struck out Don Buddin, pinch hitting for Spahn, but then a wild pitch allowed the runners to advance, putting both in scoring position. Koufax walked in Sam Mele to load the bases, but got out number two with a great pickoff at home as Johnny Logan took his base on an infield hit. Hank Aaron came up to bat and Koufax got him to hit a weak squib with the count 2-2, makng a quick throw to first for the final out. We won this one 4-2 in an old school duel.

Diehl made it through eight innings with seven hits, four strikeouts, two walks and just two earned runs, barely a blip on his 1.89 ERA. But he threw 151 pitches, as I left him in longer than I should have as he got drawn into the duel with Spahn. Spahn finished with nine innings, eight hits, eight strikeouts, six walks and four earned runs, throwing 153 pitches himself. In the end our bats won out, and Koufax was gold as usual -- no hits, a strikeout, a walk and he had his 11th save of the year, bringing his ERA down to 2.30. Maris led the way with three of our eight hits, scoring two and driving in another, while Robinson added two hits for a run and two RBIs. Willie Mays had a hit and a run, and Del Crandall had a walk and an RBI.

In contract news, Harry Dorish signed a one year extension worth $57,000 for next season, giving us one of our key bullpen pieces for at least one more season. Dorish is 5-0 with a 1.19 ERA through 31 innings over 18 relief appearances this year, with 31 K’s, an 0.96 WHIP and a 327 ERA+, and we’re glad we got him in that trade from Cleveland last year. He qualified for a ring for having played six games with the Guardians last year, though he spent most of the season playing for us and turned it down, telling the press he’d rather win one than stake a claim on a title he didn’t win. Here’s to getting him one this year and fighting for a repeat in the next!

JUNE 30, 1955 . . . This afternoon we have Hy Cohen (15-4, 1.39 ERA, 162.0 IP, 140 K’s, 0.67 WHIP) pitching against Johnny Antonelli (7-8, 3.37 ERA, 141.1 IP, 79 K’s, 1.19 WHIP) in the final road game in Milwaukee before our big Independence Week Homestand in Chiacago. Jackie Robinson allowed a run to score in the top of the first with a flyout that drove Al Kaline in from third, putting us up 1-0 quickly. Willie Mays added a solo blast in the top of the third, his 17th of the year, to put us up 2-0. Johnny Logan got the Braves on the board with an RBI triple in the bottom of the fifth to make it 2-1, but Willie Mays batted in a third run for us in the top of the seventh, though Al Kaline got caught stealing third and ended the inning before we could do more damage. In the bottom of the eighth, Hank Aaron hit a homer into the center field bleachers, pulling the Braves again to within a run, down 3-2, but Cohen got us through the final out without conceding the tying run. Koufax came out for the bottom of the ninth, struck out Gene Woodling, then walked Gene Mauch and Dick Wilson, bringing up Sam Mele, pinch hitting for Antonelli. Mele flew out to center, leaving enough room for Mauch to make it to third, and then leadoff man Ron Jackson batted a grounder to Banks, who made the throw to second for the final out as we held on to win 3-2. The sweep completed, we now have a 10-game win streak going!

Cohen improved to 16-4 with a 1.43 ERA, thanks to five hits, five strikeouts and five walks that led to two earned runs. Koufax notched his 12th save of the season, striking out one and walking a pair but not giving up the tying run, coming through in the clutch to improve his ERA to 2.25 through 48 innings. Jackie Robinson’s eight-game extra base hit streak came to an end, though he took a walk and managed to bat in a run with a sacrifice. Willie Mays led the way, getting three of our seven hits for a run and two batted in, and Gene Baker had two hits for a run on the ground as well, and Kaline hit twice and walked once, scoring a run.

It’s now July, people -- we’re almost to the All Star break, and our 62-16 Cubs have pulled away in the NL pennant race, now 12 games up on the Philadelphia Phillies (50-28). Cincy (41-34, 19.5 GB) is the only other team with a legitimate shot to climb back, with Pittsburgh and Brooklyn now more than 25 games behind us. The Braves, Giants and Cardinals are each more than 30 games back. In the American League, the Boston Red Sox are starting to dominate -- they’re on an 8-2 tear of late, giving them a 50-26 record to lead that division, with Cleveland (44-29, 4.5 GB) and New York (41-31, 7 GB) still fighting. Detroit (39-33, 9 GB) and Washington (41-36, 9.5 GB) still have potential as well in a league dominated by lower scoring pitching battles. Both our team (+236) and Philly (+89) are out-hitting the entire American League in run differential, ours being so high we’re actually performing three games below what our Pythagorean record would suggest.

The long-time Cubs fan in me has to wonder if there’s any way we can possibly sustain this without a letdown.

Jackie Robinson was named the NL’s Hitter of the Month in June, batting .294 with 13 homers, driving in 38 runs, scoring 27 times, and reaching base nearly 35 percent of the time! That’s a hell of a year for anyone, let alone a guy who is 36 years old! Hy Cohen, meanwhile, was named NL Pitcher of the Month, going 7-0 with 52 K’s in 61 innings, compiling a 1.18 ERA for the month.

We have eleven games left before the All Star break: four against St. Louis here from July 1-3, two against Cincy at Wrigley on July 4, two here against Milwaukee July 6-7, and then three on the road against St. Louis July 8-10. We then have a tough road stretch, with two at the Giants July 14-15, four at Philadelphia (July 16-18), two at Brooklyn (July 20-21) and four at Pittsburgh (July 22-24). We then have three weeks in a row at home through mid-August, involving 22 games in 20 days without an off day.

[fuzzy_patters]

I love the detailed day by day approach to this.

I just have one question, and you can feel free to ignore it if it’s too personal. Was your grandfather actually from Lowell, or is that part fictional? I ask because I moved to Lowell four years ago and have worked in Lowell for 16 years. Small world!

[jksander]

Originally Posted by fuzzy_patters

I love the detailed day by day approach to this.

I just have one question, and you can feel free to ignore it if it’s too personal. Was your grandfather actually from Lowell, or is that part fictional? I ask because I moved to Lowell four years ago and have worked in Lowell for 16 years. Small world!

Yes he was He served in World War II as a paratrooper, my grandfather on my mom's side of the family. Lots of Polish on that side of the family, Tanzillos and Wetzels He spent his later years further south, in Linton and Dugger, Indiana.

[jksander]

JULY 1, 1955 . . . It’s Family Weekend at the ballpark, today through Independence Day! Six games in four days, with tickets for everyone at just $1 for this stretch only! We haven’t sold out Wrigley Field in decades, but if not for this team then when? Today 35,411 rowdy Cobs fans showed up to cheer us on against St. Louis in the first of four home games against the bottom-dwelling Cardinals, with Camilo Pascual (9-3, 2.76 ERA, 97.2 IP, 101 K’s, 1.04 WHIP) hurling against Dean Stone (5-4, 2.68 ERA, 90.2 IP, 43 K’s, 1.28 WHIP). The weather cooperated, 76 degrees, partly cloudy, wind blowing in from right at a mild nine miles per hour. Let’s play ball!

This one was tight from the beginning, with very little for fans to get going about offensively. In the bottom of the third we had a pair of walks, but a double play and a fly-out to center ended the inning, and we went into the fourth having yet to hit, with St. Louis only getting one hit to that point against Pascual. Ray Jablonski got a hit for St. Louis in the top of the fourth, but Pascual hung K’s four and five on them to get safely out of the inning. Willie Mays took a one-out base hit in the bottom of the inning, and Ernie Banks got a hit into left with two outs, eking out a double and driving Mays over to third. Del Crandall took his base on balls, loading them for the first time this afternoon! Al Rosen took his opportunity, bouncing a ball out of the infield and scoring two runs, sending us into the top of the fifth with a freshly minted 2-0 lead! Ernie Banks hit his 19th homer of the season over the right field wall, increasing our margin to 3-0 in the bottom of the sixth, and we loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, only for Robinson to strike out swinging, preventing an offensive explosion. Al Rosen hit his 12th homer, this time to left, to make it 4-0 in the bottom of the eighth, and Pascual closed out the 4-0 shutout victory in efficient fashion to keep the streak alive.

Pascual thew 109 pitches in the 3-hit complete game shutout, striking out a dozen without a walk, notching his 10th win of the year and improving his ERA to 2.53 in his first major league season. That $375,000 long term deal he signed with us in free agency looks like a bargain now, with the 21-year-old putting up 4.1 WAR so far this year. We had seven hits this afternoon, led by Ernie Banks (two hits two runs one RBI) and Al Rosen (two hits one run three RBIs). Al Kaline also had a pair of hits, keeping his average above .330 for the year in the leadoff spot.

Veteran reliever Tom Ferrick has made it clear he wants to retire in a Cubs uniform, and the 40-year-old still has the stuff to survive in this league. We’ve signed him to a one year, non-guaranteed, extension keeping him here next season for $24,800.

JULY 2, 1955 . . . While not quite a sellout, more than 35,000 fans joined us at Wrigley this afternoon for game two against the last-place Cardinals, with clear skies, low seventies temps, and a brisk wind blowing out at 11 miles an hour, making all the bleacher bums out there dream of plenty of homers. Saul Rogovin (12-4, 1.86 ERA, 150.1 IP, 166 K’s, 0.78 WHIP) started for us against St. Louis’ Ron Kline (3-9, 4.67 ERA, 81.0 IP, 34 K’s, 1.23 WHIP). The fans got a homer to throw back, as Harry Chiti stunned the crowd by putting St. Louis ahead 1-0 in the top of the second with a long ball to center. Moments later, Frank Bolling hit another one to deep right, adding a second solo blast to their resume giving Rogovin two homers against him out of just 11 all year, putting us in a 2-0 hole heading into the bottom of the inning. Rogovin stayed sharp through the next several innings, but St. Louis was determined to get the win in this one. Chiti got his second homer off a Rogovin fastball in the top of the seventh to make it 3-0 Cardinals, and as we went into the seventh inning stretch the fans were beginning to grow restless. Rogovin gave up his fourth jack in the top of the eighth, this time to Jim King, and we started warming up Ferrick in the bullpen. Del Crandall got a hit into right to start the bottom of the eighth, just our second hit of the game, but Al Rosen doused the rally by batting into a double play. Gene Baker got a hit into right, and we brought in Ed Bouchee for his first pinch-hitting attempt since joining us from the Bronx Bombers. He popped out to the catcher, ending the inning. The Cardinals extended their lead in the top of the ninth by a run, and we came into the bottom of the inning with the fans streaming toward the exits, trailing by five runs -- but with the top of our order coming up to bat. Kaline got a hit into right field, and with one out Mays did the same, his rolling into the corner and putting two in scoring position. Robinson flew out to center, holding both runners in place, and Ernie Banks flew out to left, ending this groaner of a game as the Cardinals’ 25th victory, a 5-0 blowout.

Rogovin was livid that I pulled him and didn’t let him complete the game, and that our batters couldn’t give him any support, but he just had a bad afternoon, no way around it. Four homers in five hits over eight innings negates the nine strikeouts against zero walks, and he’d thrown over 100 pitches. It wasn’t going to get better with him out there in the ninth. Tom Ferrick gave us a two-hit one run inning and dropped his ERA to 6.23, doing the dirty work we needed done. We had five hits, nearly half of them against reliever Hoyt Wilhem, who came in to protect Kline’s win. Kaline, Mays, Crandall, Rosen and Baker each had a hit, with Maris walking once, but none of our baserunners were able to manufacture anything.

We’ve got two against the Cards tomorrow and two against the Redlegs on Monday. Hopefully the fans come out to support, because this is going to be a tough two days -- back to back doubleheaders are rough, and the Redlegs would LOVE to find a way back into the pennant race.

Reliever Bob Purkey, at 25, has been a bright spot in our bullpen this year and has shown remarkable defensive versitility as a two-way player as well. As a vote of confidence, we’ve signed him to a non-guaranteed five-year extension worth $162,500 that gives him incremental bumps over the next few seasons, maxing out at $37,500 in the 1960 season. Purkey is making $21,000 right now and had expressed an interest in staying with our team and building a home in Chicago with his young family. We traded injured starter Johnny Klippstein for him in mid-May, so this was always our intention.
 
JULY 3, 1955 . . . Hy Cohen (16-4, 1.43 ERA, 170.0 IP, 145 K’s, 0.69 WHIP) pitched in game one of today’s doubleheader, facing the Cardinals’ Bob Grim (2-13, 5.11 ERA, 104.0 IP, 46 K’s, 1.62 ERA) whose second year with the team is going as badly as his last name suggests. We got some of the bad taste from yesterday out of our mouths with a two-run homer by Willie Mays (his 18th of the year) in the bottom of the first, and Robinson ALMOST had one, but he settled for a triple, his 10th of the year! Gene Baker batted him home with a line drive to left that he turned into a double, and Joe Collins batted Baker in with a single that was coupled with a botched pickoff play at home plate. We went into the top of the second leading 4-0, and our fans were definitely in the Independence Day spirit a day early. Robinson got his homer after all, a solo to left in the bottom of the third, putting us up 5-0 with his 24th of the year. Robinson continued to get balls to hit, nailing a single into left in the bottom of the fourth to bat in a sixth run, stealing second base and scoring another run thanks to a RBI single by Banks -- through the fourth inning, incredibly, Robinson already had a triple, a homer and a single for three runs and a pair of RBIs, and we led the crumbling Cardinals by a 7-0 margin.

Bob Purkey got himself a double to start the fifth inning, reaching third on a Hy Cohen single to left, and the Cards walked Kaline to load the bases with no outs, but the Cardinals managed to get three outs from there without any runs scoring. Robinson came up for his fourth at-bat in the bottom of the sixth, but he hit a frozen rope straight to the left fielder, who made the catch. He came up again in the bottom of the eighth with two outs and no one on, but batted out to center, missing out on the chance to hit for a cycle. Cohen stayed in for the top of the ninth, completing his 15th game this season and his sixth shutout, blanking the Cardinals 7-0.

Cohen improved to 17-4, earning a decision in all of his 21 starts this season, putting together a five-hit shutout with 10 K’s and no walks to bring his ERA down to 1.36 on the year, leaving him as the odds-on Cy Young fave and dark horse MVP candidate, even if he isn’t able to hold on for a triple crown. We put up 13 hits, led by Robinson’s three hit three run two RBI performance. Willie Mays added two hits two runs and two RBIs and Gene Baker had a pair with a run and an RBI.

Because of the twin doubleheaders, we decided to use Sandy Koufax as a starter today, saving Diehl for tomorrow, with the potential for Camilo Pascual to pitch on short rest in the second game. Koufax (2-1, 2.25 ERA, 48.0 IP, 30 K’s, 1.44 WHIP) pitched against Herbert Taylor (0-4, 5.29 ERA, 47.2 IP, 21 K’s, 1.72 WHIP). The Cardinals scored a run in the top of the first, but Koufax got a double play off the Ray Jablonski groundout to first which scored Wally Moon from third. He then struck out Jim King, getting through the inning on 12 pitches. The Cardinals added a second run in the top of the second, an RBI single by Donald Spencer allowing Frank Bolling to score, but Al Kaline tripled in the bottom of the third, and Maris hit a two-run blast to right field to tie things up 2-2 with his 10th four-bagger of the season. Robinson singled and then stole second, and Al Rosen put us into the lead with a run-scoring single, sending us into the top of the fourth with a 3-2 lead. But in the top of the fifth, with two outs, St. Louis third baseman Andy Carey batted in the tying run. Koufax got us out of the inning safely from there knowing he was done for the day, with Bob Porterfield warming up to take over. Willie Mays hammered one out to left, scoring the go-ahead run with his 19th bomb of the season, at least giving Koufax a shot at the win.

Porterfield came in with a 4-3 lead to protect, and he nearly blew it, giving up a triple to Harry Chiti on his second pitch of the day. But he got three quick outs to strand Chiti on third, getting through the inning on just six pitches! Ernie Banks got a hit off in the bottom of the sixth with the bases loaded, driving in a pair to extand or lead to 6-3 heading into the seventh. Porterfield gave up a hit in the seventh in between outs, getting us out of the inning easily enough, but he gave up a homer to Chiti in the top of the eighth to narrow the lead to two runs. Willie Mays batted the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth, however, and then Jackie Robinson hit a grand slam homer to put the game out of doubt, our lead suddenly 10-4 and complete pandemonium ensuing in the bleachers as fans fought over who would come up with the prize. Harry Dorish, who had been warming up in case of a save opportunity, sat down and we warmed Tom Ferrick up to mop things up in the final inning, and though he gave up an RBI single, he then shut the Cards diwn as we won 10-5, preserving Dorish in case we need him in tomorrow’s doubleheader against Cincinnati.

Koufax came out of this one with the win, improving to 3-1 with a 2.55 ERA, giving up seven hits in five innings with three strikeouts, two walks and three earned runs. Porterfield came out with his first hold of the year, lasting three innings with four hits, a strikeout, a walk and an earned run, improving his ERA to 3.22 for the season. And Ferrick made his eighth appearance this year, giving up two hits and a run but also notching a strikeout, keeping a 6.52 ERA through 9.2 innings. The Cardinals outhit us 13-12, but Robinson remained red hot, hitting his 25th homer, hitting and walking once each to score twice and drive in four runs. Roger Maris added two hits for three runs and two RBIs, and Ernie Banks hit twice to drive in two more. And Al Kaline, hitting once and walking twice, scored three times on the ground, keeping his on base average above .400!

Willie Mays was named Player of the Week over Robinson in the NL, with the two players having fun with the “rivalry” in the locker-room with the press. Mays was .429 last week with 12 hits, three homers and six RBIs. We remain atop the power rankings this week with 152.7 points, though the Boston Red Sox are quickly climbing, with 136.8 points. Tomorrow we’re right back here at Wrigley for two more plus fireworks, as the Cincinnati Redlegs (44-34, 19 GB) come to town hoping they can catch us napping. Boston has extended their lead in the AL to 6.5 games over Cleveland, which sets up an interesting possible October matchup of two teams on long World Series droughts -- we haven’t won one since 1908, and they’ve been winless since 1918.

[fuzzy_patters]

Originally Posted by jksander

Yes he was He served in World War II as a paratrooper, my grandfather on my mom's side of the family. Lots of Polish on that side of the family, Tanzillos and Wetzels He spent his later years further south, in Linton and Dugger, Indiana.

It is a small world. My in laws are from Linton!

[jksander]

Originally Posted by fuzzy_patters

It is a small world. My in laws are from Linton!

My uncle Tony played linebacker for Union / Dugger back in the '70s ... I grew up in far-southern Indiana, a town called Tell City.

[jksander]

JULY 4, 1955 . . . Robert Diehl (10-3, 1.89 ERA, 133.1 IP, 66 K’s, 0.80 WHIP) pitched in game one of today’s doubleheader against the Redlegs’ Corky Valentine (3-3, 2.82 ERA, 73.1 IP, 36 K’s, 1.27 WHIP). Koufax will be unavailable today from the bullpen, having started yesterday, but Dorish, Ferrick, Porterfield and Purkey are all ready to go. We took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second thanks to a RBI single by Crandall, and Ernie Banks added a run scoring single in the bottom of the third to make it 2-0. We loaded the bases, and Baker batted in two more, giving him 35 RBIs on the year, and Diehl kept things going with a hit up the middle to make it 5-0! Kaline batted out to end the inning, but we’d have Roger Maris leading off the fourth just as he had the third! Diehl surrendered a pair of hits with two outs in the top of the fourth, letting the Redlegs score a run, but Jackie Robinson hit a three-run blast to left in the bottom of the inning to extend our lead to seven runs, and a Rosen triple scored another. We went into the fifth inning up 9-1, having scored eight runs in the last two frames! The Redlegs got a run in the top of the fifth to pull within seven, but Roger Maris stayed flaming hot out there and hit a solo blast in the bottom of the fifth to make it 10-2 with his fourth hit of the game and his 11th homer of the season. The hits kept coming -- Al Rosen hit a freakin’ grand slam, still with one out in the bottom of the fifth to make it 15-2. We batted around in the third and the fifth, after having eight guys reach the plate in the fourth, as this game got completely out of hand. Roger Maris tied the Cubs record for hits in a game, all time, with his fifth in the bottom of the sixth as the game entered its third hour. Kaline scored our 16th run off a fly-out by Robinson before the Redlegs got the last out. From there Diehl cruised as we blew them out of the water 16-2, finishing the game in just under three hours.

Diehl improved to 11-3 with a 1.90 ERA, thanks to a seven-hit one strikeout two run game. We outhit Cincinnati by a stunning 20-7 margin, led by Roger Maris’ stunning five hit, three run one RBI performance. He had three singles, a double and a homer, grounding out in his final at-bat in the eighth inning. Everyone hit in the game, including two for Diehl. Gene Baker was the only player to hit just once, and he still managed to bat in three runs! Jackie Robinson had two hits for two runs and four RBIs, while Ernie Banks added three hits for four runs and two RBIs.

And we still have a second game to play! No one told us not to start the fireworks early ...

Camilo Pascual (10-3, 2.53 ERA, 106.2 IP, 113 K’s, 0.98 WHIP) pitched in our second game, facing Tom Poholsky (6-4, 3.64 ERA, 96.1 IP, 47 K’s, 1.34 WHIP). The Redlegs were quick to get a score, still stinging from the beatdown earlier today, as Ted Kluszewski hit his 27th homer of the season in the top of the first. But Kaline hit his 10th triple of the year in his first at-bat, and Maris picked right up where he left off, getting a single up the gap to drive in the tying run. Kaline had an RBI single to give us the lead 2-1 in the bottom of the second, and whatever Maris ate for breakfast I’m making this whole team eat the rest of the year -- he got another single into center, and if Kaline hadn’t gotten greedy and tried to come around for home, we’d still be playing that inning tonight I’ll bet. Ernie Banks hit an RBI single in the bottom of the third, and Maris added a two-run homer to his list of things he’s done today, putting us up 5-1 in the bottom of the fourth. He now has 12 for the season, and our lineup is unstoppable at this point, with Kaline, Maris, Mays and Robinson all red-hot with their bats!

Pascual got roughed up early in the top of the fifth, however, with three hits in a row but the Redlegs screwed themselves out of a run by letting Dick Groat try to steal home on a single ... we caught him at the plate and ended the inning, when they would have had the bases loaded. Jackie Robinson scored on a groundout by Rosen in the bottom of the fifth to make it 6-1, and in the bottom of the sixth they walked Maris to load the bases, setting up Ernie Banks to bat in two more with a leisurely double. Pascual got us into the stretch leading 8-1, and in the bottom of the inning Kaline picked up HIS fifth hit in this second game, while Maris was walked for a second time to load the bases. By the time they got us out, we were headed for the top of the eighth with an 11-1 lead, we had 20 hits FOR THE SECOND GAME OF THE DAY, and it was starting to get embarrassing. Bob Porterfield came in to finish out the game, getting us the six outs we needed to end this one, beating the Redlegs by an 11-1 margin and completing one of the wildest offensive doubleheader performances in Cubs history.

Pascual improved to 11-3 with a five hitter, striking out six and only walking one, giving up the Redlegs’ only run to keep his ERA a solid 2.45 on the year. Porterfield came in and dealt with the last two innings, with one hit and one strikeout, improving his ERA to 2.96. In our second 20-hit effort of the day, Al Kaline had five hits for three runs and two RBIs -- four singles and a triple -- to equal Maris’ performance from the first game. Maris hit three times and walked once -- the second base-on-balls was due to catcher interference -- scoring a run and batting in three, bringing his average up to .260! Robinson and, if you can believe it, Pascual, each had three hits as well. In fact, Pascual hit three times, scored twice and batted in a run, giving him a .238 average through 50 plate appearances.

We have a day off, and will then play two games here against Milwaukee before playing our last three pre-All Star Break games at St. Louis. Our 67-17 record has us in uncharted territory, set to shatter major league records if we don’t come back down to earth after the break. Philly (53-31, 14 GB) would be just a game and a half back if they were in the American League right now. Boston (54-27) is now seven games up on Cleveland and nine ahead of the Yankees, but the top five in that league are all still within 11 games of first.

We’ve called Dave Hillman up from AAA Los Angeles, to play a middle / long relief role from the bullpen while occasionally spot-starting. Hillman, at 27, has a 12-9 record and 4.38 ERA in 24 starts for the LA Angels, striking out 163 batters in 187 innings with a 1.41 WHIP and a 102 ERA+. He has never played a game in the majors, and will likely not be available until the St. Louis series.

[jksander]

JULY 6, 1955 . . . Saul Rogovin (12-5, 1.99 ERA, 158.1 IP, 175 K’s, 0.78 WHIP) pitched in the first game against Milwaukee, facing Bob Turley (6-10, 5.85 ERA, 95.1 IP, 74 K’s 1.85 WHIP). Maris got a hit to start the first inning, and Jackie Robinson hit his 27th homer to make it a 2-0 ballgame just ten minutes into the game! Milwaukee got a run back in the top of the fifth, a Dick Wilson groundout allowing Gene Woodling to to score and pull them within a run, but Maris hit an RBI double in the bottom of the inning to push Kaline all the way around to score, making it 3-1. But Rogovin had a rough sixth inning -- a Hank Aaron double scored Johnny Logan to pull the Braves back within a run, and Joe Adcock hit a two-run homer to give them the lead, his 16th of the year. Rogovin got us through the top of the ninth without further runs scoring, bringing Gene Baker up in the bottom of the inning with our Cubs trailing by a run. Bill Serena came in to pinch-hit for Rogovin with one out, and he hit a solo homer to knot the game up! UNBELIEVABLE! Kaline got a single into right, and then Maris hit into a fielder’s choice, taking his base while they picked off Kaline. That brought up Mays with two outs, the winning run on first, and he got a hit into deep left, coming out with a double and driving Maris over to third. They walked Robinson intentionally -- and I can’t say I blame them -- setting up the highest of high leverage at-bats ... reliever Ray Crone throwing to Ernie Banks, bottom of the ninth, with the bases loaded, two outs and the score tied 4-4. And he .... WALKED IN THE WINNING RUN! What a crazy way to end this game, but we got the 5-4 win, improving to 68-17.

Saul Rogovin got the complete game win, giving up five hits and four runs but striking out 12 batters with no walks through 132 pitches! His record is now 13-5 with a 2.10 ERA, and he’s struck out 187 this season against just 29 walks! We outhit the Braves 7-5, led by Maris with three hits for two runs and an RBI, while Jackie Robinson had a hit and a walk for a run and two RBIs. Bill Serena had not batted in a game all season, and in his first at-bat he gets the tying homer ... that’s gotta go down in some Cubs lore someday. He’d built up 2.8 WAR playing down in AAA and hitting .341/.511/.629, so he’s earned the right to come back up and try and fight for some playing time.

JULY 7, 1955 . . . Hy Cohen (17-4, 1.36 ERA, 179.0 IP, 155 K’s, 0.69 WHIP) pitched today against Milwaukee’s Bob “Sarge” Kusava (2-5, 6.23 ERA, 56.1 IP, 22 K’s, 1.63 WHIP). The Braves were doing well until the bottom of the third, when two errors and a hit cost them a run when Al Kaline flew out to right but allowed Al Rosen to come around and score. They then quickly loaded the bases with a walk by Maris, and Willie Mays drove in a run with another walk. Jackie Robinson then hit a line drive to right, scoring two more with a single. Just like that it was 4-0 Cubs, and the Braves were melting down. Three walks and two hits, but combined with the pair of errors it was enough. Sid Gordon got the Braves on the board with a solo homer in the top of the fifth, but we got the run back in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single by Rosen. Joe Adcock hit his 17th homer of the year to send the Braves into the stretch trailing again by three. But Robinson hit his 28th homer of the year, a three-run blast, that made it 8-2 and all but sealed the game. Cohen gave up a third solo homer in the top of the eighth, this time to Bill Bruton, but that was all they could muster. Cohen completed the game and we won 8-3.

Cohen has now gone 18-4 with a 1.44 ERA, giving up seven hits with nine strikeouts for three runs in this one, and he now has a win in all of his last 12 consecutive starts, as he nears his 16-game undefeated streak record from last season! Each team had just seven hits today, but we made the most of five walks and the two errors they committed, and Jackie Robinson remains blisteringly hot with three hits, two runs and five RBIs. He is now hitting .297/.360/.703 this year for us and the Dodgers, with 16 doubles, 11 triples and 28 homers with 4.7 WAR for the year. He now leads the majors in homers, one dinger up on Ted Kluszewski, is third overall in Batting WAR, and is leading the majors in triples, slug, runs and RBIs. Willie Mays may be leading the majors in WAR, but if Robinson keeps this up, it’s hard to imagine him not winning the NL MVP, which would be his first since winning it in 1949.

Three games remain before we reach the All Star break. All we have between us and the festivities is a trio of games at St. Louis (26-55).

[jksander]

JULY 8, 1955 . . . God, this place is DEAD ... it’s rainy, almost chilly, and just 9,500 diehards in the place to see the 26-55 St. Louis Cardinals take us on as we try to be the first team in baseball history to go into the All Star break with 70+ wins. Robert Diehl (11-3, 1.90 ERA, 142.1 IP, 67 K’s, 0.80 WHIP) pitched against Herbert Taylor (0-5, 5.57 ERA, 53.1 IP, 25 K’s, 1.84 WHIP) as we hoped to get a full game in ahead of the weather. We wasted no time loading the bases, but a strikeout, flyout and groundout kept us from scoring in the top of the first. The Cardinals got on the board in the bottom of the inning with a triple and an RBI single, and then we again loaded the bases in the top of the third, and a flyout by Robinson drove in the tying run. Ernie Banks got a hit into the right field side, re-loading the bases with a single, and they hit Del Crandall with a pitch, driving in Maris for the go-ahead run. Al Rosen walked in another run moments later, and Baker hit one into deep right, legging out a three-run triple. Al Kaline came up again and batted in our seventh run with a single, reaching base for the second time this inning (the first time was on an error), and Maris walked for the second time, though Mays mercifully batted out to center, ending the frame with us ahead 7-1. If this was Wrigley, we’d be hearing the organist playing some Bill Haley, because this team loves to “Sock Around The Clock,” and our organist loves to keep his music contemporary.

Kaline batted in another run in the top of the fifth with two outs, sending us into the bottom of the fifth leading 8-1, The rain held off except for fits and starts, and we went into the top of the seventh still leading by seven runs. At least if they call it now it’ll be official. Willie Mays added a solo homer in the top of the eighth to make it 9-1, his 20th homer of the season, and Crandall added an RBI double moments later to further add to the Cardinals’ pain. Only a few hardy fans were still in attendance by that point. Gene Baker added a solo “Moon” shot over the head of Cards left fielder Wally Moon, making it 11-1 in the top of the ninth (his ninth homer of the year) and Jackie Robinson batted in a run with a single, giving him 90 RBIs on the season. Ernie Banks cleared the bases with a three-run blast to right, giving him 20 homers this year as well, as we batted around to Gene Baker again who finally ended the inning. Diehl closed out the bowout as quickly as he could and we got out of here with a 15-1 complete beatdown.

Diehl improved to 12-3 with a four-hitter, getting five strikeouts with four walks but only giving up the one run. His ERA now stands at 1.84 through 151.1 innings of work. We outhit the Cardinals 17-4 in the rain and mist, led by Ernie Banks with four hits for three runs and three more batted in. Gene Baker hit twice for two runs and four RBIs, Willie Mays added two hits for three runs and an RBI, and Roger Maris hit twice and walked twice, scoring two on the ground and bringing his average up to .269!

That’s 70 wins for our Cubs, with just 17 losses! This is by far the best start for a team in major league history, but we know there’s a long way to go before we can lock up that trip back to the World Series.
 
JULY 9, 1955 . . . Camilo Pascual (11-3, 2.45 ERA, 113.2 IP, 119 K’s, 0.98 WHIP) got the start tonight against St. Louis starter Dean Stone (5-6, 3.06 ERA, 103.0 IP, 48 K’s, 1.34 WHIP). Tonight the Cardinals were looking to get going quickly -- Pascual gave up a solo blast to Andy Carey on the second pitch of the night, and then struck out the next three batters in a row, sending us into the top of the second trailing 1-0. But we answered back quickly, with Del Crandall hitting his 14th homer of the year to tie it up 1-1, and Jackie Robinson hit a run-scoring double in the top of the fourth to make it 2-1 Cubs, though we left the bases loaded and could have done a lot more damage. Pascual struggled with his command early in this one, however, and the Cardinals tied it up 2-2 on a solo blast by Bill Sarni, getting out of the inning without further damage but nearing 80 pitches through four innings. The Cardinals took a 4-2 lead on us with two outs in the bottom of the fifth, thanks to a two-run homer by Jim King, and we had to start warming up Harry Dorish in the bullpen. Pascual got a strikeout to end the inning and his night, and we’d need some of the run support we had last night if we wanted to dig out of this.

Gene Baker hit an RBI single in the top of the sixth, pulling us within one run with two on and an out, and we brought in Bill Serena to pinch hit for Pascual -- he took his time, and wound up reaching base on four balls, loading the bases. Kaline batted a run in to tie things up 4-4, but we weren’t able to take the lead. Dorish came in and got a pair of strikeouts and a flyout to get us through the sixth, and he got us through the seventh as well. In the bottom of the eighth, Jim King reached base on a fielding error by Rosen, and then on a botched pickoff play he took second, giving them a runner in scoring position with one out and the score still tied 4-4. But Dorish got two more much-needed outs to keep us tied up heading into the top of the ninth. Maris got a base hit to start the inning but then was picked off trying to steal second, and Mays grounded out to first. Robinson walked, bringing up Ernie Banks with two outs and a man on, but Ernie flew out to right, ending the frame. Dorish struck out Harry Chiti but then allowed Bill Sarni on base with a single, and we brought in Sandy Koufax to try and get us safely into extra innings. He got a flyout and then picked Sarni off trying to steal second, and this game had to continue! Rosen and Baker got on base with one out in the top of the 10th, and they walked Koufax to load the bases. Kaline got a hit into right, driving in a pair of runs, and they hit Maris with a pitch, re-loading the bases! Mays flew out to right, and Koufax was tagged out at the plate trying to score from third, sending us into the bottom of the inning with a two-run lead! Jim King had a chance, with a runner on first, to do some damage, but he instead batted out to right field, ending the game as a 6-4 Cubs victory. We are now midway through July and have yet to lose an extra-innings game!

Koufax came out of this with his fourth win of the year, improving to 4-1 with a 2.47 ERA thanks to a one hit, one strikeout 1.2 inning effort. Pascual lasted five innings with five hits eight strikeouts and a walk, but he gave up four runs off three homers, and had thrown 93 pitches. Harry Dorish was excellent in long relief, giving us 3.1 innings with just one hit and three strikeouts, bringing his ERA down to 1.07 through 33.2 innings in 19 appearances. We outhit the Cardinals 10-7, led by Al Kaline who hit twice and batted in three RBIs. Del Crandall had two hits including his homer, and Gene Baker hit twice and walked once, scoring one and driving in another.

Big news: All Star rosters have been officially announced, and for Cubs fans, the NL roster is looking like a virtual “Cubs All Star” team. The following Cubs have been invited to play:

SP Hy Cohen
SP Robert Diehl
SP Camilo Pascual
SP Saul Rogovin
RP Harry Dorish
CL Sandy Koufax
C Del Crandall
1B Al Rosen
3B Jackie Robinson
SS Ernie Banks
CF Willie Mays
RF Al Kaline

The only positions not represented are second base and left field! Gene Baker finished second in 2B voting, 600,000 votes behind Hank Aaron, who had over a million votes but still finished behind Willie Mays, the NL’s biggest vote getter, and Jackie Robinson who finished second. Roger Maris had 444,000 votes but did not finish high enough to make it in as an alternate (Rocky Colavito was the biggest vote-getter among left fielders).

In roster news, we’ve picked up 29-year-old Roy Jarvis off waivers from Milwaukee to be our backup at catcher behind Crandall and Purkey. He’s currently making $12,000 this season. As an emergency option he’s a good fit, but he’s unlikely to see much playing time.

JULY 10, 1955 . . . Saul Rogovin (13-5, 2.10 ERA, 167.1 IP, 187 K’s, 0.76 WHIP) is up to pitch in the final game at St. Louis before the All Star break. He’s up against Bob Grim (2-15, 5.40 ERA, 113.1 IP, 48 K’s, 1.66 WHIP), who is reported to be livid about the poor quality of the team ownership in St. Louis has built around him. Roger Maris didn’t help his mood any, hitting a two-run homer in his first at-bat to put us up 2-0 just three minutes after first pitch. That was Maris’ 13th homer, and he’s setting himself up nicely for the back half of the season, much like he did last year in his rookie season. Gene Baker batted in a run to start the top of the fourth, and Al Kaline hit an RBI triple to drive home two more, giving us a solid five run lead heading into the bottom of the fourth. Rogovin got us through the fifth inning and we decided to rest him and several of our key bats the rest of the game. Dave Hillman came in to pitch in the bottom of the sixth with the score still 5-0. The Cardinals got a run on the board via an RBI single by Robert Shawver, but Bill Serena got it back in the top of the seventh with an RBI triple. Joe Collins batted in another with a single, and we went into the stretch leading 7-1. Hillman thoroughly enjoyed his opportunity to play in his first-ever major league game, and he got a base hit in the top of the eighth, making it all the way around to score thanks to an RBI single by Bill Serena that made it 8-1 Cubs. He stayed in to finish out the game, after Bob Purkey hit a solo homer in the top of the ninth to make it 9-1, and though the Cardinals did get three runs back in the bottom of the inning, we still won this one easily 9-4.

Saul Rogovin improved to 14-5 with a four-hit five inning stretch in which he gave up one walk and eight strikeouts while not allowing a run to score. Dave Hillman came in for his major league debut and made it through four innings with nine hits, three strikeouts and a walk, giving up four earned runs but earning a major league save in the process. His 9.00 ERA will certainly come down, as most of that was in garbage time when the game was not remotely in doubt. We outhit the Cardinals 16-13, with 13 Cubs batters each notching at least a single hit. Joe Brovia, off the bench, hit twice and scored a run while playing as Maris’ late-innings backup, while Bill Serena, backing up Jackie Robinson, hit twice for a run and two RBIs thanks to his triple.

We’ll head into the All Star break with a 72-17 record and with a giant target on our back, but clearly we’ve got the team that can take us places if we can stay healthy and keep playing like we’re hungry.
 
Roger Maris was named NL Player of the Week, and rightly so -- the 20-year-old caught fire, hitting .552, 16 hits in 29 at-bats, hitting three homers and batting in seven runs. Here are both Leagues’ standings heading into the All Star break:

American League
1. Boston Red Sox (58-29)
2. New York Yankees (45-37) 10.5 GB
3. Cleveland Guardians (46-39) 11 GB
4. Detroit Tigers (44-39) 12 GB
5. Washington Senators (46-41) 12 GB
6. Chicago White Sox (40-44) 16.5 GB
7. Kansas City Athletics (33-53) 24.5 GB
8. Baltimore Orioles (28-58) 29.5 GB

National League
1. Chicago Cubs (72-17)
2. Philadelphia Phillies (59-31) 13.5 GB
3. Cincinnati Redlegs (50-37) 21 GB
4. Brooklyn Dodgers (41-45) 29.5 GB
5. Pittsburgh Pirates (39-52) 34 GB
6. New York Giants (33-54) 38 GB
7. Milwaukee Braves (30-56) 40.5 GB
8. St. Louis Cardinals (26-58) 43.5 GB

Ted Kluszewski and Jackie Robinson are tied with 28 homers each as the summer months should lead to a barrage of long-balls. Gus Zernial (27), Ted Williams (26) and Gil Hodges (26) are right there with them in the race. Hy Cohen has the most wins in the majors and has pitched the most innings (188.0) by almost two full games over his nearest opponents Robin Roberts (172.2 IP) and Saul Rogovin (172.1 IP). His 16 complete games has him second behind Don Newcombe and Robin Roberts, each who have thrown 18 complete games, but he leads the majors in shutouts with six. Saul Rogovin has 195 K’s heading into the break, putting him on pace for 337 if he can keep up his 10+ strikeouts per game average. That would tie him for 20th all-time with Amos Rusie (1891) who also threw 341 K’s in 1890. Interestingly though, Hy Cohen has the better record when walks are taken into consideration. So the two of them look to be equally in the battle for a Cy Young, depending on how the rest of the season unfolds. Del Crandall is by far our best defender, with a 1.146 Defensive Efficiency rating (4th in the majors) and a .998 Fielding Percentage (2nd in the majors), leading the majors with a 2.28 Catcher’s ERA and currently 4th overall in Caught Stealing Percentage, at 50.0%, behind Yogi Berra (56.5), Jim Hegan (56.4%) and Joe Astroth (54.8%), all of whom play in the American League.

[jksander]

JULY 12, 1955 . . . Welcome to the All Star Game! Herb Score (9-6, 2.69 ERA, 157.0 IP, 164 K’s, 1.31 WHIP) started for the American League, while Robert Diehl (12-3, 1.84 ERA< 151.1 IP, 72 K’s, 0.81 WHIP) started for the National League. We’ve dominated the All Star game in the last two seasons, and Pee Wee Reese did what he could to get us started tonight, hitting a double as soon as he could swing the bat, and we wound up going up 3-0 quickly thanks to a three-run blast by Del Ennis in the top of the first! Robert Diehl got through his inning easily, no hits, no baserunners. Hy Cohen pitched for us in the bottom of the second, getting two pop-outs and a strikeout. Jackie Robinson hit a 467-foot bomb in the top of the third to make it 4-0 for the NL, and Sandy Koufax came out to pitch in the botom of the inning, getting a strikeout and a pop-up to the catcher before surrendering the first hit of the game for the NL side. No matter, we got them out the next time and kept the shutout intact. Hoyt Wilhelm got us through the fourth, and Hank Aaron hit a two-run blast to make it 6-0 NL in the top of the fifth. A Willie Mays homer quickly made it 7-0, as we completely kept the American League All Stars on their heels. Wilhelm and George Susce got us through the bottom of the fifth, and we brought Harry Dorish out in the sixth, and though he loaded the bases with walks he got the final strikeout to keep the AL scoreless. Jackie Robinson hit a second dinger in the top of the seventh, giving the NL an 8-0 lead heading into the stretch. Pascual got a flyout and a double play to get us through the bottom of the seventh unscathed, and Saul Rogovin came out for the eighth inning, notching two strikeouts and a groundout. Roy Face came out for the bottom of the ninth with us still up by eight, and he shut them down completely as we decimated the American League’s best by an 8-0 margin.

Our pitchers combined for four hits, three walks and seven strikeouts, giving up no runs. The AL pitchers gave up 13 hits and got five strikeouts with no one walked. The NL’s offense was led by Pee Wee Reese (three hits, two runs), Hank Aaron (two hits, two runs, two RBIs) and Jackie Robinson (three hits, two runs, two RBIs). On the AL side, Yogi Berra, Joe Cunningham, Roy McMillan and Vic Power were the only ones to get hits, while Al Smith, Sherm Lollar and Eddie Yost each got walked by Harry Dorish. Jackie Robinson was named MVP of the All Star Game, to the surprise of no one.

Now we have to get back to business -- we’ll be spending the next week and a half on the road, playing two at the Giants, four at Philadelphia, two at Brooklyn and four at Pittsburgh before we come home for our big three-week August homestand. Now is not the time to start taking anyone in the NL lightly, because any losses at all are likely to narrow the lead we’ve built against the Phillies.

[jksander]

JULY 14, 1955 . . . Hy Cohen (18-4, 1.44 ERA, 188.0 IP, 164 K’s, 0.69 WHIP) is up in the rotation for his 23rd start this season, facing the Giants’ Jack Harshman (8-9, 3.65 ERA, 145.1 IP, 87 K’s, 1.38 WHIP). Al Rosen got us on the board in a big way in the top of the third, hitting an inside the park homer to put us up 1-0! It was his 14th homer of the year, and was the first hit of the game for anyone in this pitched pitching battle. Del Crandall reached first in the top of the fourth thanks to a throwing error, allowing a second run to score, and Jackie Robinson hit his 29th homer of the year to put us up 3-0 in the top of the sixth. By the time Hy Cohen struck out the side in the bottom of the sixth, we could tell something special was happening. No one wanted to say anything, but by the bottom of the eighth we were all superstitiously paying attention. Ernie Banks had hit his 21st homer of the year to make it 4-0 as Cohen came up to the mound -- flyout to Mays, groudner to Baker who .... botched a throw to first, allowing the baserunner on an error and blowing the perfect game. A flyout to Banks got the second out, and he notched his ninth strikeout of the game to get us out of the inning with his no-no still safe. The crowd was hushed as Cohen took the mound for the bottom of the ninth -- most of the Giants fans were still there in spite of themselves, as Cohen struck out pinch-hitter Zeke Bella. Then Jim Gilliam stunned us all by slamming a ball into left, in between Maris and Mays, and he legged out a triple as Cohen’s face slumped. He struck out Hector Lopez and getting the final out by a pop-up to Kaline in right field. We won this one 4-0, but it was so close to being so much more.

Only two baserunners for the Giants made it through tonight, and Cohen was magnificent, throwing 109 pitches in the complete game one-hit shutout, striking out 11 with no walks. We had nine hits ourselves, three of them for home runs, led by Ernie Banks with three hits a run and an RBI, and by Kaline with a pair of hits and a walk. Robinson, Banks and Rosen each had solo homers.

JULY 15, 1955 . . . Saul Rogovin (14-5, 2.04 ERA, 172.1 IP, 195 K’s, 0.77 WHIP) had to follow up Cohen’s amazing performance from yesterday, pitching this afternoon against the Giants’ starter Ted Abernathy (4-9, 4.73 ERA, 123.2 IP, 82 K’s, 1.53 WHIP). This one was close from the beginning, with both pitchers locked in, so it came as a surprise when New York got on the board first in the bottom of the fourth, thanks to an RBI double by Bill White to make it 1-0 Giants. Rogovin threw his 200th strikeout of the year in the bottom of the fifth, and he struck out the side in the bottom of the sixth, but our bats weren’t giving him any support at all. Then in the top of the seventh, Mays and Robinson had back to back hits, Robinson’s being an RBI triple, and suddenly we were knotted up 1-1! Robinson scored on a flyout by Del Crandall to put us in the lead 2-1 heading into the stretch. Kaline hit a solo blast to left in the top of the eighth to make it 3-1, just his seventh homer of the year, and Del Crandall batted in a run with a single in the top of the ninth to increase our lead to three runs. Rogovin closed the game out and we won easily, 4-1, another dominant performance against a very non-dominant NL opponent.

Rogovin gave up three hits with 12 strikeouts and a pair of walks, only allowing one run as he improved to 15-5 and brought his ERA back under 2.00 for the year. We only had four hits ourselves, but took advantage of five walks, with Robinson leading the way with a hit and a walk for two runs and an RBI, while Kaline added a hit and a walk for a run and an RBI (thanks to his homer). We now have to focus on Philadelphia. With single games tomorrow and Monday sandwiching a double header on Sunday, we’re not going to get anything easy out of the Phillies on their field.

[jksander]

JULY 16, 1955 . . . Robert Diehl (12-3, 1.84 ERA, 151.1 IP, 72 K’s, 0.81 WHIP) is up for game one against the Phillies’ ace Don Newcombe (15-5, 2.33 ERA, 170.0 IP, 117 K’s, 0.88 WHIP). And this game delivered the pitching duel all the fans expected coming in. In the first four innings, each team got one random hit apiece, and solid fielding performance (and some amazing diving catches!) kept this one exciting minus any offense. Gene Baker got a hit up the middle to start the top of the sixth, and Diehl reached base on a fielding error by the shortstop, and then Al Kaline broke this one wide open with his eight homer of the year, a three-run blast, that gave us a 3-0 lead out of nowhere -- leaving the Phillies crowd nearly stunned to silence.

Then things turned insane, in the bottom of the sixth, when Diehl got shaky and plunked two batters in a row, nearly leading to a benches-clearing brawl! Smoky Burgess took a walk to load the bases, and then Gene Baker botched a catch, a costly error that kept the bases loaded and allowed a run to score on two outs. Diehl, shaken, threw one inside and plunked Alvin Dark, and this time it got real -- Dark stormed the mound, though his team held him back, and the umps threw Diehl out of the game, deeming the hit-by-pitch intentional. We had to rush Harry Dorish in, with Dark’s hit-by-pitch making the score 3-2. Dorish got the final strikeout, but this game had devolved quickly. I’ll take full responsibility, I should have pulled Diehl more quickly, but I trusted him to be able to let cooler heads prevail, and instead he surrendered to the moment.

Dorish got us through the bottom of the eighth with the lead still 3-2, and we brought Sandy Koufax in to try and get us out of here quickly, as the atmosphere was still very tense. But with two outs, Granny Hammer got a base hit into center field, and Koufax walked Jones and Ashburn, before he finally got his bearings and got the final out. We escaped with a 3-2 win but heading into tomorrow’s doubleheader, things couldn’t be more up in the air.

Diehl still qualified for the win, improving to 13-3 with a 1.78 ERA, with one hit, one strikeout and two walks leading to two unearned runs. Harry Dorish got his second hold, lasting 2.1 innings after Diehl was thrown out, striking out a pair and walking a batter, giving up just one hit. And Sandy Koufax got us through the final inning with a hit, a strikeout and two walks, making this one of the strangest three-hitters I’ve ever experienced. We put up six hits ourselves, led by Kaline who had two hits for a run and three RBIs. Maris also had a pair of hits but was left stranded both times.

I’ve received word from the Commissioner that Robert Diehl has been suspended by the league for the next ten games, and I’ve placed him on our restricted list until the end of his suspension. We’ve called Bud Watkins up from AAA to pitch in our fourth rotation spot until he is able to return, and because of the doubleheader we’re moving Dave Hillman from the bullpen to the fifth starting spot until further notice. We just know this is going to provide Philadelphia with plenty of ammunition ahead of tomorrow’s doubleheader.

[jksander]

OOC: From here on in the season I've decided to make things more difficult for myself by taking on ALL play-calling situations, whereas before I had only been making substitutions. It's going to have me making more in-game decisions that can affect a win or a loss, and it should make the post-All Star break race a lot more interesting.

And before anyone asks, yes, I started with the Philly series ... and when Diehl melted down and the game acted like he was going to get kicked out of the game but didn't, I pulled him myself and then added the suspension for realism purposes since I'd already written up the insanity, and I'm a stickler for making my writing interesting

[jksander]

JULY 17, 1955 . . . Camilo Pascual (11-3, 2.65 ERA, 118.2 IP, 127 K’s, 0.99 WHIP) pitched in the first game of today’s doubleheader, up against Philly’s Bob Lemon (11-6, 3.16 ERA, 153.2 IP, 72 K’s, 1.15 WHIP). Roger Maris hit a two-run homer in the top of the third to put us up 2-0, but in the bottom of the fourth, Pascual threw a fastball to Del Ennis, who hit a two-run blast into the right field bleachers to tie the game up 2-2, his 19th homer of the year. Maris hit another two-run blast in the top of the fifth, however, to put us back on top, and at the least, the fans were getting to see some offense today without anyone punching each other. In the bottom of the sixth, the Phillies got a run back thanks to an RBI single by Smoky Burgess, but Pascual got us out of the inning without surrendering the lead. Unfortunately he was not so lucky in the seventh, walking their pitcher and then giving up a two-run homer to Earl Torgeson, putting Philly up 5-4 and forcing me to start warming up Purkey, even as Pascual got the final out safely. And though Purkey did a great job closing out the game, we were unable to get anything going on offense, dropping this one to our rivals by a 5-4 margin.

Camilo Pascual took the loss, falling to 11-4 with a 2.86 ERA, giving up eight hits and five runs with six strikeouts and a walk through seven innings. Bob Purkey handled his inning well, giving up just a single hit, and his ERA improved to 1.71. The Phillies outhit us in this one 9-5, and only Maris’ two homers kept us in this one -- he scored two runs and batted in four. Robinson had a hit and a stolen base but was unable to manufacture anything.

For game two of today’s doubleheader, Hy Cohen (19-4, 1.37 ERA, 197.0 IP, 175 K’s, 0.66 WHIP) says he’s ready to go on three days’ rest. So we’re putting him up against Philly’s Curt Simmons (7-5, 3.02 ERA, 128.1 IP, 45 K’s, 1.18 WHIP) as we try to get back into the lead in this series. Jackie Robinson got us going with a two-run homer on two outs, putting us up 2-0 in the top of the first and giving him his 30th homer of the season. This time there would be no “no-no” talk, as Cohen gave up a hit to Alvin Dark for a single in the bottom of the second, but he struck out Jim Dyck to get out of the inning. In the top of the fourth, Gene Baker used his excellent plate discipline to draw a walk off Simmons, the pitcher’s fifth of the day. Purkey then successfully bunted AND reached first on a throwing error, which gave us two men on and no outs. Baker tried to steal third, but was caught, though it allowed Purkey into scoring position. Cohen hit a high hopper for an easy out at first, but Purkey advanced, bringing up Al Kaline with two outs. He struck out swinging, and we headed into the bottom of the inning still leading 2-0, but having taken their starter to 70 pitches through four innings of work. Carl Simmons stayed out for the top of the seventh, and Al Kaline got himself a hit into center field, stretching it into a double, and Maris, taking the count to 2-2 with one out, swung on a fastball and wound up hitting out to right, holding Kaline at second. Willie Mays took a walk, and Simmons got the hook, two outs, two on, after throwing more than 120 pitches. Jackie Robinson grounded out to second and we went into the stretch still leading 2-0.

Their reliever, Gordon Jones, got through the eighth on some really solid pitching, keeping our guys looking and sending us into the bottom of the inning with Hy Cohen still going strong, having thrown 80 pitches. He got two quick outs, then walked catcher John Turk, and then got the pitcher on a flyout to left, sending us into the ninth still ahead by the runs we’d scored in the first inning. Purkey and Cohen quickly batted themselves out, bringing up Kaline, who got a hit up the middle, only our fifth of the night. Maris got an infield hit to bounce just right, allowing him to race safely to first, giving us two on with a chance at some insurance runs. But Willie Mays hit one straight to the right fielder and we were headed for the bottom of the ninth, with Cohen staying in to complete his game. With one out, pinch-hitter Sandy Burgess got a hit up the gap to take his base, and then Ritchie Ashburn hit one to third, with the throw to second picking off Burgess, though Ashburn safely made it to first. We intentionally walked their cleanup man, Del Ennis, and Red Schoendienst got a hit up the gap to load the bases! **** ... we made a visit to the mound, and Cohen shook it off, saying he knew what we needed. He threw a curve to Eddie Waitkus who took the bait, swung, and hit it right to Kaline in right field, ending this one as a 2-0 Cubs victory!

This was another of our tightly contested rivalry games with the Phillies, and we were lucky to have had the Jackie Robinson two-run homer in the first inning, because the rest of the game was neck and neck with every hit contested. Cohen won his 20th game of the year, improving to 20-4 with a four-hit shutout, throwing 99 pitches with six strikeouts and just two walks, improving his ERA to 1.31 through 206 innings. Willie Mays added a hit and two walks, scoring a run, and Kaline had two hits with nothing to show for them. Thankfully we had the lead ten minutes in, and despite some stress in the ninth, we never relinquished it.

JULY 18, 1955 . . . With a chance to win this series outright, Saul Rogovin (15-5, 1.99 ERA, 181.1 IP, 207 K’s, 0.76 WHIP) stepped up and said he wanted the ball, so he’ll be pitching today against Philly’s Bob Rush (9-5, 3.01 ERA, 140.2 IP, 111 K’s, 1.10 WHIP). Rush came out pitching fire, and Saul Rogovin gave up a homer to Torgerson on just the sixth pitch of our half of the inning, quickly putting Philly up 1-0. Robinson got a double to start the second inning, then stole third with the count 2-1 against Banks. Banks flew out to left for out number one, but Robinson was quick and made it home to tie things up 1-1. The Phillies went back up 2-1 in the bottom of the third thanks to an RBI double by Willie Jones, and Ashburn batted in a run with a single, making it 3-1 Phillies heading into the top of the fourth.

Robinson got hit by a pitch with one out in the top of the fourth, and we had to pull him from the game! I had to move Al Rosen over to 3B and bring in to take Robinson’s base and play 1B the rest of the way. God, I hope he’s not seriously injured ... we were unable to do anything the rest of that inning, and suddenly this hole looked a whole lot deeper. Rush kept us on our heels through the seventh inning stretch, still trailing 3-1, but Rogovin did what he could to keep us within striking distance -- we just needed some hits! Al Rosen took Rush to a full count to start the top of the eighth before striking out swinging. Baker did the same, though he grounded out to first to keep things interesting. He struck Rogovin out swinging as well, and we went into the bottom of the eighth desperately needing three outs so we could at least have a shot for the top of our order. Richie Ashburn got a double, however, and was able to reach third on a fly-out by Del Ennis. But Rogovin didn’t even blink, throwing a changeup that led to a groundout at first to end the frame. We came into the top of the ninth needing two runs to prolong this game ... Rush struck Kaline out swinging, and then did the same for Maris. And he wound up striking out the side, as we dropped this one 3-1, still wondering whether we’ve lost Robinson for an extended period of time. Call this Philly series a split.

Bob Rush was PHENOMENAL in this one, holding us to two hits the entire way, striking out 14 of our batters and making us, in general, look like chumps. Rogovin did his best, striking out seven, and nobody walked for either side the entire night. But he gave up eight hits for three earned runs, falling to 15-6 with a 2.04 ERA. Rush just had our number the whole night. Robinson had a hit before his hit-by-pitch injury, stealing a base and scoring our only run. Crandall had our only other hit, with Ernie Banks contributing a sac-fly. We fell to 76-19 with the loss, and the Phillies stay within 13.5 games of us.

JULY 19, 1955 . . . Good news! Robinson’s injury was a bruised elbow, and he should be able to play in our Dodgers series starting tomorrow evening.

[jksander]

JULY 20, 1955 . . . Dave Hillman’s getting his first official start as a Cub today, against Brooklyn’s Johnny Podres (9-9, 4.10 ERA, 142.2 IP, 96 K’s, 1.28 WHIP). Hillman has only played in one game as a Cub thus far, four innings in relief with a save and a 9.00 ERA and 2.50 WHIP. The Dodgers got a run on the board in the first inning, an RBI single by Gil Hodges, but Hillman got a nice double play to keep us from absorbing too much damage. Jackie Robinson took a walk to start the second inning, and with one out and the count 2-1 on Crandall, he successfully stole second, his 16th stolen base of the year! Podres walked Al Rosen with two outs as his pitch count started to climb, but we were unable to make anything happen with the two baserunners. The Dodgers got men onto the corners with just one out, but we got a flyout to left and caught Carl Furillo trying to steal home, getting out of the inning still trailing only by a run. With no outs in the top of the third, the count 1-1 on him, Gene Baker took a ball to the shoulder and advanced to first, bringing up Hillman, who laid down a perfect sac-bunt to move Baker to second, at which point Kaline was walked to give us two on with just the one out. Roger Maris took the count to 3-1, but then hit into a double play, ending the inning. Hillman stayed cool under pressure, but did surrender an RBI double to Duke Snider in the bottom of the third to drive Pee Wee Reese in, making it a 2-0 ballgame. And then Roy Campanella hit a 2-run blast to right, his 14th, and this one was getting away from us, trailing 4-0. Pee Wee Reese added a solo homer in the bottom of the fifth, and we brought Bob Porterfield in to pitch in the bottom of the sixth, trailing still 5-0.

Ernie Banks got us on the board with a solo homer to right in the top of the seventh, his 22nd of the season, but that was the only one we were able to muster. We went into the break trailing by four, and though Porterfield got us through the seventh and Dorish got us through the eighth, we went into the top of the ninth in a deep hole. Willie Mays got a solo jack into right field to pull us within three, one out in the top of the ninth, and with two outs Ernie Banks hit another -- this time to center -- and made it a two-run game with his second homer of the game. But Del Crandall batted out to left and we lost this one on the road 5-3.

Hillman took the loss like a champ, having lasted five innings with just six hits, striking out two and walking one batter but giving up five runs in the process to keep his ERA at 9.00. He seems to be enjoying his cup of coffee up here in the bigs, and he’s finally making decent money to support his family, but I know he wanted this one. Bob Porterfield gave us two innings with no hits, one walk and two strikeouts, and Harry Dorish struck out two with a hit, and in the process they kept the deficit from getting worse. But they outhit us 7-4, our hitting drought continuing, and the Dodgers got themselves back to one win above .500 ... were it not for Banks and his two homers, and for Mays joining in during the ninth, we would have been a lot worse off.

It’s important for our team to keep a sense of perspective. We’re 76-20, so a slump was bound to happen at some point. How we handle it will define our season in the end.

JULY 21, 1955 . . . Hy Cohen (20-4, 1.31 ERA, 206.0 IP, 181 K’s, 0.67 WHIP) is up today against Larry Jansen (11-8, 3.00 ERA, 150.0 IP, 83 K’s, 1.14 WHIP) as we look to avoid letting Brooklyn sweep this two-game set. Maris got a hit with two outs in the top of the first, and Jackie Robinson slammed a triple into left, batting him in for the go-ahead run! Willie Mays got a single into center, driving Robinson home and extending the lead to two runs via a double. Al Rosen, batting second behind Kaline to hopefully help find him a hitting grove, took Jansen to a full count in the top of the third, then got a hit into left field, taking his base to start the inning, but we weren’t able to bring him around to score. Ernie Banks tripled with one out in the top of the fourth, but he was caught out trying to take home on a squeeze play, and Baker flew out to right, keeping the lead at 2-0. Willie Mays got a hit in the top of the sixth, a double that drove Maris to third, and I gave him the signal to go for home, sliding in headfirst and giving us a 3-0 lead! Al Rosen hit a homer over the right field wall in the top of the seventh, his 15th of the season, and extended the lead to four runs. But the Dodgers did get on board in the bottom of the inning off a homer by Hodges, his 25th, spoiling the shutout for Cohen who was having another excellent game. He held tough through the remainder, and we were able to keep the Dodgers at bay, winning this one 4-1.

Cohen improved to 21-4 on the season, giving up just four hits with eight strikeouts and a walk, one earned run allowing him to improve his ERA to 1.30 on the season. We outhit Brooklyn 11-4, and Al Rosen, batting in the number two spot, broke out of his slump, hitting three times for a run and an RBI. Roger Maris, batting third, hit twice and walked once for two runs. And Willie Mays, batting fifth instead of third, got three hits and batted in a pair.

Onward to Pittsburgh, where we have a four-game set against the Pirates (44-54, 33.5 GB). Philly is on a four-game winning streak, just a dozen games back, and we need every one of these games in order to avoid losing ground. We’re 5-3 since the All Star break, and we’ll finish the month back at home but with four games against the Phillies just waiting to trip us up. We’ll get Diehl back in time for the second of four home games against the Giants next week on the 27th, and hopefully he’s put the stupidity behind him -- we’ll need him to be in top shape for the dog days of August.

[jksander]

JULY 22, 1955 . . . Saul Rogovin (15-6, 2.04 ERA, 188.1 IP, 214 K’s, 0.77 WHIP) is up in the rotation for game one at Pittsburgh, taking on Roy Face (9-9, 2.29 ERA, 165.2 IP, 183 K’s, 0.96 WHIP), their staff ace. Al Kaline got a hit to start the game, and then he tried to steal second, injuring himself on the slide. F---! He’s out of the game, and we had to bring Bob Will in as a defensive substitute just three minutes after first pitch. Joe Collins batted in a run in the top of the second, with Robinson getting in safely on a groundout to first, and Saul Rogovin shocked everyone in the ballpark by blasting a two-run homer in the top of the third, giving himself a solid 3-0 lead. With two outs, Jackie Robinson hit an RBI triple, and we went into the bottom of the inning leading the Pirates 4-0. Bob Will put his stamp on the game in the top of the fifth, walking to start the inning and then coming all the way around to score on a double by Roger Maris, though Maris was thrown out trying to take third and Willie Mays struck out to end the inning with us up 5-0. Will, who was acquired in the trade with New York that sent them Sievers and Hatton, is playing in just his 11th major league game, and has yet to notch his first hit, but he’s making an impression nonetheless! Joe Collins batted in a run in the top of the sixth to add to our margin, and Rogovin held tough through the remainder of the game to hold on to the shutout, and Del Crandall iced it with a two-run blast in the top of the ninth, his 15th this season, to make it 8-0. In the bottom of the ninth, rain started to fall, and the Pirates picked up a pair of hits, putting runners on the corners. Rogovin got a strikeout, loaded the bases with a single to Rocky Nelson, and then Rogovin made a great throw to pick off the runner from third at home on an infield single by Jim Finigan! He pitched to contact for the final out, and Gene Freese hit it right to Mays to end this one just as the rain started to pour down, completing the 8-0 shutout.

Rogovin improved to 16-6 with the complete game 136-pitch effort, giving up seven hits and three walks, striking out 12 and holding on for the shutout, bringing his ERA down to 1.95. We had 11 hits ourselves, led easily by Jackie Robinson with four hits for two runs and an RBI, though Rogovin helped with a pair of hits and the homer that batted in two. Joe Collins batted in two as did Del Crandall with his homer also. But as good as the win felt, we were even happier to learn that Kaline simply bruised his foot badly, and will be day to day for the remainder of the Pittsburgh series. We’ve decided to let him rest, giving Bob Will a few more games at right field to get his feet wet, so we don’t aggrivate the injury -- Kaline is too important to this team to risk losing him for longer. Gene Baker will bat in the leadoff position until we bring Kaline back into the lineup.
 
JULY 23, 1955 . . . We played our second game against Pittsburgh this series in front of next to nobody ... the Pirates were barely able to draw 7,300 fans into this place to watch their 44-55 team play. Camilo Pascual (11-4, 2.86 ERA, 125.2 IP, 133 K’s, 1.00 WHIP) pitched in game one against Johnny Kucks (6-7, 3.46 ERA, 135.1 IP, 39 K’s, 1.32 WHIP). We took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, when with two outs, Jackie Robinson hit an RBI double that drove Mays in to score. Bob Will got a major league hit, a single in the top of the second, but he was picked off on a Fielder’s Choice that sent Camilo Pascual to first in his place, and we weren’t able to add any runs. In the top of the third, Willie Mays reached first on a single, then stole second, with Ernie Banks then reaching first on balls. With Del Crandall at the bat and the count 1-1, Mays and Banks successfully pulled off a double steal, giving us two in scoring position! Crandall batted out to center, but Mays was able to slide in safe for our second run of the day! Mays now has 14 stolen bases this season, while this was Banks’ fourth. Pascual walked a pair in the bottom of the fourth but got out of the jam with a great double play. Ernie Banks hit his 24th homer of the year over the left field wall to make it a 3-0 ballgame in the top of the sixth, but Pascual gave up a hit and two walks to start the bottom of the inning, and we started warming up Tom Ferrick. Joe Garagiola got a hit into center, driving in the Pirates’ first run of the game, but Pascual got a strikeout at just the right time and then Rocky Nelson hit a grounder into a 4-2-3 double play, and our lead survives intact! Roger Maris came in and hit a solo blast to right, his 16th of the year, and we went into the stretch with a 4-1 lead intact.

We sat Ferrick and brought in Harry Dorish to protect the three-run lead in the bottom of the seventh. Del Crandall added to our lead with a hard-hit blast to center, giving him his 16th homer of the year and extending our lead to four runs! Dorish gave up a solo blast to left via Rip Repulski to start the bottom of the eighth, but he struck out Colavito swinging, and quickly got the next two outs by flyout, sending us into the top of the ninth with a 5-2 lead. Baker got a hit to start the inning, moving to second on a groundout by Maris. Willie Mays hit an RBI triple to make it 6-2 Cubs, and Robinson added a hit into right that drove Mays in to score. Ernie Banks hit his second homer of the game to turn this one into a blowout, A wild pitch by Minnich allowed Joe Collins to score our 10th run of the night, and Harry Dorish stayed in to finish the three-inning save as we beat the Pirates 10-2.

Pascual improved to 12-4 with a four-hit six inning effort, striking out seven but walking six and giving up one earned run. His ERA improved to 2.80 for the season, but that was a very erratic performance. Harry Dorish came in and got his second save of the year, giving us three two-hit innings with four strikeouts and a walk, giving up just one run and bringing his ERA down to 1.12 through 40 innings. We hit like crazy again in this one, outslugging them 19-6, led by Ernie Banks with three hits, two runs and three RBIs. Roger Maris added three hits for a run and an RBI, and Willie Mays hit three times for three runs and an RBI. Batting eighth in the order, Bob Will got three hits in five at-bats, but was left stranded each time. He has solid gap power and a good eye, and given time to develop I think the Yankees are going to be sorry they moved him along.

We now have a 2-0 lead in the series, heading into tomorrow’s doubleheader. Hy Cohen will likely be available for the second game, but we’ll be giving Bud Watkins a shot in game one, in the major league debut for the 24-year-old slowball pitcher.

JULY 24, 1955 . . . It’s doubleheader day! We’re going to have a debut pitcher this afternoon in game one -- 24-year-old Bud Watkins has been up here with the team since Diehl was suspended, but I would have been calling him up by September regardless. He’s currently got a 6-4 record and a 3.76 ERA while pitching for AAA Los Angeles, with 99 K’s and a 1.42 WHIP. It’s going to be a good chance to see how he can handle major league batters, with a five inning effort being a good result if he can last that long. Our bullpen is rested and we’ll have Cohen pitching in the second game, so if it does turn into a bullpen game we can handle it. Watkins relies heavily on his slider, cutter and change-up, and has velocity in the upper 80s, but with great stuff and solid control according to his manager in AAA. Pittsburgh’s Dick Hall (6-15, 3.61 ERA, 167.0 IP, 66 K’s, 1.30 WHIP) will be the opposing pitcher tonight.

Al Kaline will NOT be available today, though we will have him available when we return to Wrigley on Tuesday.

After a quiet first inning for both sides, Jackie Robinson woke up the somnambulant crowd with a solo homer to left, giving him 31 for the season and putting us ahead 1-0! Watkins pitched very well from the start, giving up just two hits in the first two innings and getting his first major league strikeout against Bob Meisner! Roger Maris batted in an RBI double in the top of the third, and Maris picked up his seventh stolen base of the year with an 0-2 count on Robinson, at which point Robinson managed to take first on a throwing error, giving Maris time to score from third! Talk about buying some room to back up your young pitcher. Watkins got into a jam in the bottom of the fourth with the bases loaded, a run scoring on a fielder’s choice that allowed Bob Meisner to take first, scoring Joe Garagiola, but a grounder to Banks and a heads-up pick at second got us out of the inning with the 4-1 lead still intact. With two outs and Al Rosen at the plate in the top of the sixth, Jackie Robinson got a good lead-off and was able to steal third, his 17th stolen base of the year, and then Rosen got a hit into right field to bring him home, extending the lead to 5-1. Bob Will walked to load the bases, and with a chance to put the game away Bill Serena pinch-hit for Bud Watkins, but he flew out harmlessly to end the inning with our lead at four runs.

Bob Porterfield came in to pitch for us in the bottom of the sixth, surrendering a double to Colavito, who advanced to third on a flyout to right. Colavito scored a run when Billy Klaus grounded out to first for our second out, and Porterfield got us out of the inning and through the seventh without any further damage. Sandy Koufax came in for the bottom of the eighth with the score still 5-2 Cubs, and though the Pirates loaded the bases, they came out with nothing. Koufax stayed out to complete the ninth inning, and we were able to close out the 5-2 victory to take a 3-0 lead in the series.

Bud Watkins had a great afternoon, starting his career out 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA, thanks to a five hit two strikeout three walk run through five innings, giving up just one run. Porterfield lasted two innings with one hit and one earned run, and Koufax lasted two innings as well with two hits, two walks and a strikeout, giving him 14 saves this year and a 2.34 ERA through 57.2 innings.
 
I’ve decided not to use Cohen in the second game of the doubleheader. He’ll start against the Giants at Wrigley on Tuesday on full rest, and will then be available during the Philly series. Dave Hillman (0-1, 9.00 ERA, 9.0 IP, 4 K’s, 2.00 WHIP) will start this afternoon, with Purkey, Porterfield and Ferrick available in what I’m treating as a bullpen game. Kaline came in for the second game as well, saying he needed the chance to stretch and find his rhythm again, though Bob Will was available as a sub if needed. The Pirates brought out Don Bessent (5-6, 4.16 ERA, 97.1 IP, 42 K’s, 1.48 WHIP) and they looked completely whipped even during pre-game activities.

Kaline got a hit to start the game, reaching third on a Roger Maris double (Maris’ 18th two-bagger of the year so far!) and scoring on an RBI single by Willie Mays. Jackie Robinson then hit a triple to drive in another pair, and right off the bat Hillman had some room to work with in just his second start as a Cub. AL Rosen batted in a fourth run, still no outs, and a Del Crandall flyout to center scored a fifth run. Hillman and Kaline batted out quietly and we went into the bottom of the first with a 5-0 lead. Hillman gave up a solo homer to Jack Shepard in the bottom of the second, and Ken Boyer added an RBI double to make it 5-2. Dale Long batted in a run with a single to make it 5-3, but Long tried to stretch his way home from first on a Rip Repulski single and we got him out at home plate. Three runs surrendered that inning, but we were still up by a pair. Jim Russell hit a one-out RBI single in the bottom of the third to pull within a run, but Hillman settled down and kept us in control of the lead through the fifth inning, still up 5-4.

Bob Purkey came in to pitch in the bottom of the sixth, getting three quick flyouts to keep us ahead by the single run. Jackie Robinson got a hit in the top of the seventh, just our sixth of the game, and he stretched it into a double with two outs. Ernie Banks hit one hard into left, just over the head of the fielder, careening off the wall and into the outfield, giving him enough time to get three bases and bat in an insurance run, sending us into the stretch with a 6-4 lead. Al Kaline made a spectacular diving catch at the wall in right field, catching what would have been a homer for pinch-hitter Jim Finnegan, but Purkey grimaced on the mound and grabbed his arm. He’s got to come out of this one, one out, no one on, bottom of the seventh. Porterfield came out to try and get us through the inning until we could get Harry Dorish properly warmed. A flyout to center and then another solid catch by Kaline and we did enough to get out of there, but this game is becoming quite a battle. Harry Dorish came in to pitch in the eighth inning with the lead still 6-4, and he got us through the inning safely, but the top of our order was unable to get any insurance runs. Dorish got two outs in the bottom of the ninth but then gave up a single to Jim Finegan, and we brought Koufax out, warmed up, to get the final out. Three strikes, you’re out, Ken Boyer, and just like that we swept the Pirates, winning this one 6-4!

Dan Hillman gave us three good innings and a pair of rough ones, giving up eight hits with a strikeout and a walk while giving up four runs, improving his record to 1-1 with an 8.36 ERA. Purkey got his second hold of the year, lasting 1.1 innings with no hits and only throwing seven pitches before he had to exit the game. Porterfield got his second hold as well, getting two outs in a row through four pitches to get us out of the inning without having had time to properly warm up. Harry Dorish then got his third hold of the year, lasting 1.2 innings with two hits and a strikeout, keeping his ERA at 1.08 on the season. Koufax came in and got the final out and got his 15th save in the process. What a wild way to pull this one out! More impressive was the fact that we were outhit 10-7 and still came out with enough runs to win this one. Jackie Robinson hit twice for two runs and two RBIs, and Willie Mays hit once and walked once, scoring and batting in a run. Same went for Ernie Banks, while Al Kaline hit once, walked once, and scored a run on the ground.

Purkey will be day to day for the next week or so, with mild shoulder strain. Again we get a scare, but avoid anything serious injury-wise as we head back to Wrigley for a day off, followed by twenty consecutive days of baseball, with 22 games to be played. We’re moving Hillman back down to AAA and re-activating Robert Diehl following his final game of the suspension which will be on Tuesday. Diehl will return to the rotation between Rogovin and Pascual, and will likely get a start during a Wednesday doubleheader against the Giants. We have four games against the Giants and four games against the Phillies over the next six days, so everyone in our rotation (including Bud Watkins, who earned the right to stay up here as our fifth starter) should get a lot of work in.

In the NL, we hold a 14 game lead still on the Phillies, having won our 81st game during the Pittsburgh sweep. Philadelphia is 68-35, and Cincinnati (55-45) is way back more than 25 games, with Brooklyn (49-49) clinging to the hope that they can at least finish above .500 for the year. Over in the AL, Boston (62-37) currently has a seven game lead on their next closest opponent, but Detroit (53-42, 7 GB), Cleveland (53-44, 8 GB), Washington (52-47, 10 GB), Chicago (49-47, 11.5 GB) and the Yankees (47-47, 12.5 GB) are still in a dogfight over who is going to come in second. Only Kansas City (41-57, 20.5 GB) and Baltimore (31-67, 30.5 GB) are out of contention. Our magic number currently sits at 39, while the Red Sox are at 51.

[jksander]

Congratulations to those of you who have read this far ... since June when I started this thread, I have built a word file with more than 225,000 words in it, which is about 6,000 words longer than Stephen King's "Needful Things" -- but with a lot less devilish violence Another 70,000 words and it'll be longer than "Salem's Lot" and "The Shining" combined!

[jksander]

JULY 26, 1955 . . . Hy Cohen (21-4, 1.30 ERA, 215.0 IP, 189 K’s, 0.66 WHIP) is up today on five days’ rest, ready to pitch against Seth Morehead (8-6, 3.71 ERA, 126.0 IP, 90 K’s, 1.37 WHIP) in the first of four games against the 38-61 Giants. Jackie Robinson put us up 1-0 when, with the bases loaded, he was hit by a pitch, and Banks beat out an infield squib to take first and make it 2-0! Del Crandall hit into a double play but still helped a third run score via Mays, and Gene Baker batted one into right field to score Robinson and giving Rosen time enough to go from first to third! Hy Cohen hit into a fielder’s choice to end the inning, but we batted around and built a 4-0 lead heading into the top of the second. With two men on in the bottom of the sixth, Ernie Banks stole third, and when the throw was botched, he came around to score, advancing Al Rosen to third and giving us a 5-0 lead. Baker flew out to center but with enough room for Rosen to score a sixth run, and we led 6-0 heading into the seventh with Cohen still going strong. The Giants spoiled the shutout by getting an RBI double from Pidge Browne in the top of the eighth, but they couldn’t do it twice and we went into the bottom of the inning still up 6-1, and Cohen shut them down in the ninth to cap the five-run win.

Cohen improved to 22-4 with the win, giving him 16 consecutive wins and 17 consecutive quality starts. He gave up just three hits in the complete game start, striking out six with one walk and one run, improving his ERA by one hundredth of a point. We only had five hits in the game, but took advantage of six walks and an error, Morehead only giving up four earned runs. Baker had a hit and two RBIs, while Robinson added a hit for a run and an RBI and Robinson got a hit and a walk for a run and an RBI. Mays and Rosen each walked twice and scored a run on the ground.
 
JULY 27, 1955 . . . Robert Diehl (13-3, 1.78 ERA, 157.0 IP, 73 K’s, 0.80 WHIP) is back from his 10-game suspension for intentionally hitting multiple batters in that July 16th game at Philadelphia, and he’ll pitch in game one today against Jack Harshman (8-10, 3.38 ERA, 170.1 IP, 100 K’s, 1.36 WHIP). This one turned into a pitcher’s duel -- in the bottom of the fifth we finally got a good hit from Robinson, who turned it into a triple, and Banks got on base with a walk, giving us our best scoring opportunity of the game with Del Crandall up to the plate, no outs. Crandall struck out swinging, however, and so did Al Rosen and Gene Baker, leaving Robinson frustrated but stranded over at third and the score still knotted 0-0 heading into the sixth inning. In the top of the sixth, Willy Miranda got the Giants on the board with an RBI single that drove Bill Virdon in to score from third, and Red Wilson hit an RBI single that drove Dusty Rhodes around to score from second. With two on and only one out, we started warming Harry Dorish as quickly as we could, while Diehl struck out Pidge Browne and got Harshman out via a flyout to Maris in left field. That sent us into the bottom of the sixth needing two runs in a game where we’d only mustered two hits.

In the bottom of the seventh, Jackie Robinson was hit by a pitch and hit the ground in extreme pain, and we had to insert Bob Will as a pinch runner. Unbelievable! Ernie Banks then hit into a double play to end the inning, moving Will over to first and putting Al Rosen at third base in place of Robinson for the rest of the game. Dorish allowed two baserunners in the top of the eighth, but got out of the jam with a pair of critical strikeouts to leave Dusty Rhodes stranded at third and the lead still 2-0. But Harshman was having the game of his season, and time and time again we just couldn’t find a way to get on base. Bob Porterfield came in to pitch in the top of the ninth, getting us out of the inning without further scoring, and Ed Bouchee pinch-hit for him in the bottom of the ninth as we warmed up Koufax and hoped for a miracle. Bouchee couldn’t make anything happen, bringing up Kaline, who grounded out to first. Maris struck out, and we lost this one -- a real heartbreaker -- by a 2-0 margin, as Jack Harshman pitched a two-hit nine strikeout one walk shutout.

Diehl fell to 13-4 on the season, lasting just six innings with eight hits, four strikeouts and a walk for two runs, bringing his ERA down to 1.82. He came back raw from the suspension. Hopefully he’ll get his form back quickly. Harry Dorish gave us two solid innings with two hits, three strikeouts and a walk, and Porterfield got us through the ninth on just one hit. We just couldn’t get on base. Hard to win when you can’t get on base. Robinson and Baker got our only two hits, with Banks getting on with a walk and then staying stuck at first.

Robinson’s diagnosis is still pending -- we’re going to have to start Bill Serena at third base in game two, hitting out of the two-spot. Maris will bat cleanup. Saul Rogovin (16-6, 1.95 ERA, 198.1 IP, 226 K’s, 0.79 WHIP) will pitch against Ted Abernathy (5-11, 4.77 ERA, 145.1 IP, 90 K’s, 1.47 WHIP). With the wind blowing in briskly, this was expected to be another battle favoring the pitchers, but the Giants took advantage on the basepaths in the first inning -- Walt Dropo hit a single with two outs and a man on, driving Virdon to third, where a throwing error allowed him to come all the way around to score. This day just keeps getting crazier and crazier. Rogovin struck out Dusty Rhodes to get out of the frame, but we already trailed 1-0 and it was only the bottom of the first. But we got into a good groove in the bottom of the inning, getting Serena and Mays on base, and Roger Maris then took it into his own hands by hitting a three-run blast to center, INTO THE WIND, his 25th homer of the year! A double play ended the inning but we had turned the deficit into a 3-1 lead heading into the second. Crandall hit a two run blast in the bottom of the second to put us up 5-1, and that left Abernathy on the mound looking like he might fold origami style.

Rogovin struggled in the top of the fifth, however, walking both Virdon and Dropo, getting out by the skin of his teeth by striking out Dusty Rhodes to avoid a bases loaded catastrophe. He got us through the sixth, but with two out and a man in scoring position we brought in Tom Ferrick, with Rogovin showing clear signs of wear. Ferrick gave up a single, but got us out of the inning with our 5-1 lead intact heading into the stretch. The way Rogovin had pitched in the later innings, we were lucky not to have given up any runs since the first. Crandall hit his second homer of the game to make it a 6-1 lead in the bottom of the eighth, and with the bullpen dinged up we let Ferrick stay in to close it out. He held tough, got the three outs we needed, and we came out of this one with a 6-1 victory.

Rogovin improved to 17-6 with a five-hitter, striking out 11 but walking five in the later innings, giving up just one (unearned) run in the first inning, lasting 6.2 innings. Ferrick handled himself ably, however, and only gave up three hits and a walk in 2.1 innings, dropping his ERA to 5.25 on the year. We outhit the Giants 12-8 in a fairly ugly game, led by Crandall with three hits and two homers, scoring two and batting in three. Roger Maris, meanwhile, added three hits with a run and three RBIs, walking once for good measure. Al Kaline hit twice as well, keeping his average at .333 through 406 at-bats this year.

We have one game left against the Giants tomorrow, and then a four-game set this weekend against the Phillies, who are currently 14.5 games back in the NL pennant race. We are growing more and more concerned about Robinson’s status. We still don’t have word on his official injury, which has us all concerned that, at his age, it may be something much more serious than we’d thought. All from a damned hit-by-pitch! The trade deadline is looming, but we’re standing pat ... at this point we’ve got a cohesive, winning team and there’s nothing we can do at the deadline that we haven’t done already.
 
JULY 28, 1955 . . . Camilo Pascual (12-4, 2.80 ERA, 131.2 IP, 140 K’s, 1.03 WHIP) will pitch today against Al Worthington (4-6, 5.37 ERA, 67.0 IP, 42 K’s, 1.60 WHIP). New York got on the board in the top of the first thanks to a Bill Virdon single and a Walt Dropo RBI triple, but surrounding those two events were three strikeouts by Pascual. Bottom of the fourth, we FINALLY got on base with a hit by Willie Mays, but Roger Maris flew out with a line drive to send us into the top of the fifth still trailing 1-0 with only three combined hits and six combined baserunners in those first four innings. Ernie Banks got us on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth, however, with a solo homer to left, his 26th four-bagger this year! Pascual stayed out into the seventh inning, though he was wearing down and nearing 100 pitches. With one out secured, I visited the mound and he said he thought he could reach down for enough to get us through. He struck out Pidge Brown and then put their pitcher away as well, getting us out of the inning and into the stretch still knotted 1-1. But he was going to have to come out, having given us every ounce of energy he had.

We got Banks and Crandall on base in the bottom of the seventh, and with one out Ernie Banks went for it with the count 0-2 on Rosen, but Worthington picked him off at third. Rosen batted out to center and we were still knotted up, with Harry Dorish coming out to pitch for the top of the eighth. Two infield groundouts and a strikeout got us out of the frame safely, and then came back out in the top of the ninth and got us two more K’s and a groundout to head into the bottom of the ninth still tied up! With two outs, Roger Maris got a hit into left, and then Ernie Banks bounced one off the wall at center and got a double out of it, but Maris held at third. And Del Crandall took the count all the way to full and then hit a line drive straight to Virdon ... out number three. We’re going to extras!

Koufax came out for the top of the 10th, walking Red Wilson, Wilson advancing to second on a Pidge Browne bunt. Bob Skinner batted out to Maris in left field, shallow enough to hold Wilson at second, but Jim Gilliam hit a wicked line drive up the middle to drive Wilson around to score the go-ahead run, making it 2-1 Giants. Chico Fernandez then walked, and Koufax struck Virdon out swinging. We’ll get one chance to get this right in the bottom of the 10th, trailing by a run. Rosen grounded out to first, but Gene Baker got himself a hit into deep right field, though he wound up holding at first. Ed Bouchee came in to pinch hit for Koufax, with Porterfield warming up in the bullpen, Bouchee reached base safely on a fielder’s choice, bringing up Al Kaline with two outs and needing some magic. But our magic had run out. For the first time all year we lost an extra-innings game, falling to the Giants 2-1. Not the way we’d hoped to head into the Philly series, but we’re gonna have to step up and dig in.

Camilo Pascual handled himself very well, lasting seven innings with just three hits, striking out 12 with three walks while giving up the one earned run, bringing his ERA down to 2.73 for the year. Harry Dorish came out and gave us two more stellar innings, no hits with three strikeouts, and his ERA is now sub-1.00. But Koufax gave up one hit and two walks against one strikeout, giving up the go-ahead run and taking the loss, falling to 4-2 on the year with a 2.44 ERA.

Philly pulled to within 13.5 games of us, winning their 70th game of the year yesterday as they head to battle us here at Wrigley for four games over the weekend. And Jackie Robinson should be available ... THANK GOD ... we had his knee x-rayed and it’s just a bruise. He’ll be day to day. This Philly battle will be intense -- We’ve beaten then 10 out of 15 times so far this year, but the remaining seven games are likely to be the most difficult.

[jksander]

JULY 29, 1955 . . . Hy Cohen (22-4, 1.29 ERA, 224.0 IP, 195 K’s, 0.65 WHIP), the pride of Fort Wayne, Indiana, is up and ready to pitch in the first game of this four-game Phillies set, with Gordon Jones (5-3, 4.00 ERA, 45.0 IP, 35 K’s, 1.18 WHIP), their young reliever / spot starter, getting his fourth official start of the season, having recently been promoted into the rotation. He has the endurance of a starter, and has done well since getting the promotion two weeks ago, and this looks like potentially another pitching duel. Against the Phillies, though, haven’t they almost all been lately?

Cohen started out completely out of character, giving up three hits in a row and loading the bases, stunning our fans, who had come here expecting more of his no-hitting Gold. After striking out Del Ennis, he walked Sandy Burgess, putting the Phillies up 1-0 and drawing groans from the bleachers. Schoendienst flew out to Maris in left field, and Alvin Dark hit straight to Al Rosen, who stepped on the bag for out number three. But we were down 1-0 out of nowhere, and Cohen, normally Mr. Stalwart, had thrown 27 pitches. And their guy came out and struck out our first three batters swinging, setting the tone. Cohen settled in during the second inning, and we got our first hit off Gordon Jones in the bottom of the third, via Gene Baker. Al Kaline beat out an infield hit to put two on, moving Baker into scoring position, but Maris struck out swinging -- what a missed opportunity. Del Crandall woke up the crowd in the bottom of the fifth, hitting a solo blast to center into the bleachers that tied us up 1-1, his 19th homer of the season! Al Rosen got on base with a single, but Cohen hit into a double play to end the inning with us knotted up. Willie Mays got a hit through the gap in the bottom of the sixth to put two men on base again with just one out, but we couldn’t get them around.

With Hy Cohen at 125 pitches and fading fast, Harry Dorish came in with two men on and one out in the top of the eighth inning, hoping we could keep this one tied up. SCHOENDIENST BATTED INTO A DOUBLE PLAY! Sweet perfection! But we couldn’t string anything together in the bottom of the inning, and Dorish came in again in the ninth having thrown just four pitches, ready to throw more fire. He struck out Waitkus, Newcombe batted out to Banks, and Randy Jackson struck out swinging, giving us a chance to walk it off in the bottom of the ninth! Jackie Robinson got a hit into left field but was only able to get a single out of it. But Banks got a single into the outfield, and Robinson took full advantage, making it to third! But we were unable to bring him in to score, a strikeout and a double play ending the inning and sending us into extras for the second time in two days. But Dorish stayed sharp as nails, putting down each of their batters in the top of the 10th to keep things tied up. Gene Baker got a single with one out in the bottom of the inning, and with Koufax warming up, Joe Collins pinch hit for Dorish, popping out to center. And Kaline popped up to short and this game continued with Koufax coming out to pitch. Sandy was lights out in the top of the 11th, getting us out of there quickly, after letting Smoky Burgess hit a single to start the frame. Maris popped out to right field, but Mays got a hit up the gap, taking first base. Robinson flew out to left after taking Joe Nuxhall to a full count, and then Ernie Banks laid one into right field, giving us two men on! But Del Crandall struck out and this one was heading for the 12th inning.

Koufax allowed Earl Torgeson on base via balls, and after Torgeson took second on a wild pitch, Sandy walked Richie Ashburn as well, but he got Del Ennis with a flyout to end the top of the frame still tied up 1-1. Porterfield came in to pitch in the top of the 13th, getting all three outs as the clock struck six, this game entering its fourth hour of play. And just as everyone was getting lulled into a stupor, Al Kaline took a walk, and then ROGER MARIS HIT A WALK-OFF HOMER TO LEFT, WINNING THIS ONE 3-1 IN THE 13TH INNING! It was immediate pandemonium, as 30,000 Cubs fans erupted!

We play one game tomorrow and a pair on Sunday against the Phillies, and our bullpen is in shambles. So we really need our starters to be able to go the distance. In tonight’s epic battle, Hy Cohen lasted 7.1 innings through 128 pitches, giving up just five hits with eight strikeouts, five walks and the one earned run. Dorish gave us 2.2 innings with no hits, three strikeouts and a walk, to bring his ERA down to 0.93 through 48.1 innings. Then Koufax came in for a pair, giving up a hit and two walks with a strikeout, keeping us knotted and bringing his ERA down to 2.36. Bob Porterfield came in to finish the game, and he walked a batter and then handled business, throwing 14 pitches as he brought his ERA down to 2.61, improving to 2-0 on the season. We out-hit the Phillies 11-6 in this one -- Maris, of course, won the game with his 18th homer of the year, batting in a pair, while Del Crandall added a hit for a run and an RBI. Mays, Banks and Baker each had two hits as well as we fought tooth and nail not to blow this game.

In preparation for the double-header on Sunday and our upcoming stretch of back to back games, we’re sending Joe Brovia back down to AAA Los Angeles, and calling up reliever Epitacio Torres, age 33, another long-time minor-leaguer who will be getting his first major league chance.
 
JULY 30, 1955 . . . Saul Rogovin (17-6, 1.89 ERA, 205.0 IP, 237 K’s, 0.81 WHIP) started in the first of our two games today against the Phillies, going up against Robin Roberts (16-6, 2.72 ERA, 198.2 IP, 99 K’s, 0.80 WHIP) who has been on a total tear of late. Jackie Robinson hit a two-run homer for us in the bottom of the fourth, breaking a 0-0 stalemate with his 32nd homer of the season! Al Kaline added a solo blast of his own, his ninth of the year, to make it 3-0 in the bottom of the fifth, and Willie Mays joined the party, nailing his 22nd of the year more than 420 feet into the throngs of bleacher bums. We’ve had enough pitching duels, bring on the slugfest! Del Crandall hit an RBI single, hitting into a fielder’s choice and reaching base safely, and we went into the top of the sixth firmly in control by a 5-0 margin. Gene Baker added a solo homer to right, giving him ten for the season and putting us up 6-0 in the bottom of the eighth, and Rogovin should have come out for a reliever.

But we had a six run lead, and he tried to stay in and close the game out, giving up a homer to put two runs on the board for the Phillies and, nearing 150 pitches we had to bring him in. And that’s when this one fell apart ... Tom Ferrick came in and gave up two runs almost immediately, and wth Sandy Koufax desperately warming up for a game he never should have had to pitch in, Ferrick gave up a three-run double to Don Newcombe, who suddenly had his Phillies in the lead 7-6. This one is on me ... as a manager, I need to know when to go to the bullpen, no matter how much a starter wants to go out there in the ninth. Now we’re having to fight our way back into a game we’d had won half an hour ago. Joe Nuxhall walked Mays and Robinson with one out, giving us a chance to make this up. Ernie Banks hit a line drive single to deep center, using his speed to turn one base into two, though Willie Mays tried to steal home and was picked off. Still, we had two runners in scoring position ... but Del Crandall struck out and we lost this one 7-6.

Saul Rogovin lasted eight innings with just three hits, with 10 strikeouts, but he walked six batters and gave up three runs because he stayed out there too long, throwing 147 pitches and dropping his ERA to 1.94. Tom Ferrick pitched for just one inning, giving up three hits and two walks, four runs scoring and his ERA blasting all the way to 7.62. He was absolutely the wrong choice for this situation, and I’ll have to explain it to the papers as Philly ties us in the series. We outhit the Phillies 11-6, including homers from Robinson, Kaline, Mays and Baker, so the hits and runs were spread around nicely. But asking for more in the ninth was just too much.

I’ve got to get this taste out of my mouth and prep for tomorrow’s doubleheader. We CANNOT afford to lose this series and give Philly momentum.