Let's Play Two!

[jksander]

Originally Posted by Pelican

I like it that you are both taking chances [Koufax early in his career] and going for broke [Jackie Robinson late in his career]. I think I recall that you play with recalc off and development on in your sim. If so, you bear the risk that the wild early Koufax will never develop into the devastating SP of the 1960’s. His first few seasons were up and down. That said, he throws so hard and so well, in short bursts, at this point, he should continue to be an effective RP. With that long contract, you are gambling he develops as IRL - maybe sooner. Jackie had a pretty rapid decline in the late 1950’s, so you also bear the risk of that; although with decent TCR he could stay more at the top of his game. There’s also the risk that Pint, Pags, Jones, or Mayer become dominant players; but you really don’t care about that. What a stacked lineup! The poor Phillies.

Yeah I like the risk of it all ... no guarantees in life Plus, this is my chance to go for broke on a pure Cubs fantasy ... what if we had acted like a large market and spent $$$ rather than embracing the lovable loser mantra?

[jksander]

Originally Posted by TC Dale

Enjoying it as usual. Keep it going, lots of fun stuff happening. Great stories and vision.

I read this everytime I see it pop up.

Thanks for doing this!

180,000 words in, just glad ppl don't just want me to stfu lol
Then again you have known me since my college days so you knew what you'd get reading this

[TC Dale]

Originally Posted by jksander

180,000 words in, just glad ppl don't just want me to stfu lol
Then again you have known me since my college days so you knew what you'd get reading this

Yes I do. And you do a great dynasty. Keep it up.

[jksander]

MAY 3, 1955 . . . Saul Rogovin (4-0, 2.35 ERA, 46.0 IP, 41 K’s, 0.78 WHIP) is fully rested and ready to go on three days’ rest, and will be pitching tonight against the Giants’ starter Seth “Moe” Morehead (2-0, 2.11 ERA, 21.1 IP, 18 K’s, 0.84 WHIP). The Giants took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third, when Jim Gilliam hit an RBI triple to drive Dusty Rhodes in to score. We got our second out via flyout to center, with a double play completed on a great throw to Crandall at home plate to get us out of the inning without further incident. Baker hit a two-run double in the top of the fifth to flip-flop the lead, putting us ahead 2-1! We loaded the bases in the top of the sixth, a run scoring on an Al Rosen flyout to left, heading into the bottom of the sixth with a 3-1 advantage. It stayed that way down to the end, with Sandy Koufax coming in to close it out. He opened with a pair of strikeouts, gave up a hit down the foul line at right, and then allowed a hit into the right field corner by Claudio Solano, who made it to second and put two runners in scoring position. But a grounder to Rosen at first ended it as another 3-1 Cubs win! That turned into a true high leverage test, and Koufax passed with flying colors.

Saul Rogovin improved to 5-0 with a 2.17 ERA, giving up just four hits with eight strikeouts, a walk and just the one earned run. Koufax, who has become our de-facto closer after just a few weeks of action, gave us a two-hit inning with two strikeouts, bringing his ERA down to 2.51 through 10 appearances and 14.1 innings. We only got four hits in the entire game, but took six walks, led again by Gene Baker with two hits and two RBIs. Robinson walked and scored a run on the ground, and Del Crandall got a hit and a walk to score a run.

MAY 4, 1955 . . . Game two of thre against the Giants, and we’ve got Hy Cohen (5-1, 1.90 ERA, 52.0 IP, 34 K’s, 0.67 WHIP) pitching against New York’s Jack Harshman (2-3, 3.41 ERA, 37.0 IP, 19 K’s, 1.65 WHIP). In the bottom of the second with two outs, Red Wilson put the Giants up 1-0 with a solo blast to right, his third of the year, Cohen’s first hit of the game. But both pitchers were on fire this afternoon, and heading into the fifth inning we were tied up 0-0 with only one hit per team -- that second inning homer starting to look more and more costly. Gene Baker led off with a line drive single to center in the top of the fifth but we left him stranded, and Cohen gave up his second hit in the bottom of the fifth, ANOTHER solo homer to Wilson, who put the team up 2-0 with his second homer of the game. A third run scored on an RBI single by Jim Gilliam, and we went into the top of the sixth in unfamiliar territory, trailing 3-0 against the Giants on their home field. Frank Ernaga got his first homer of the year, blasting it over the right field wall to put us in the mix, down 3-1 in the top of the eighth. Del Crandall came in to pinch hit for Cohen, but he couldn’t get anything out of the infield. They walked Kaline and Maris, bringing up Ernie Banks ... and with the count 3-2 with one out, a wild pitch allowed both runners to advance, giving Banks a real chance with two in scoring position. Instead, they used the open base to walk him, bringing up Elston Howard. We brought in Jackie Robinson to hit for Howard, and he flew out to deep left field, still managing to drive Al Kaline in to score! Gene Baker struck out swinging, but we were back in this one, trailing 3-2 heading into the bottom of the eighth with Koufax coming in to pitch. Koufax performed admirably, but we were unable to find a hit in the top of the ninth and the Giants came away with a 3-2 win as a result.

Cohen took the loss, falling to 5-2 with a 1.98 ERA, giving up just four hits, with six strikeouts and two walks, giving up three runs (two earned) in the seven inning effort. Koufax gave up a hit and nothing else, bringing his ERA down to 2.35. We matched them 5-5 for hits, but our eighth inning rally wasn’t enough. Gene Baker had two hits, and Ernaga and Robinson each batted in runs, with Ernaga scoring one as well. Al Kaline took a walk but had no hits and scored a run on the ground in spite of it.

MAY 5, 1955 . . . Robinson’s contract extension came through today, and he’s been very public about how he’s excited to be here for the rest of his career, knowing that not many teams were going to want to take such a long term risk at this stage of his career. Our fans, of course, are over the moon about it. We’re investing $510,000 over four years to keep him here through age 40, and even if his skills decline, his clubhouse leadership can’t be overvalued.

Tonight we played the Giants in game three of our series, our loss last night pulling Philly to within a game and a half of us as we will be heading into a four-game set at Pittsburgh (12-12) this weekend. Tonight Robert Diehl (3-0, 1.82 ERA, 39.2 IP, 23 K’s, 0.96 WHIP) got the start against Al Worthington (1-2, 3.60 ERA, 20.0 IP, 16 K’s, 1.40 WHIP). Jackie Robinson got our first hit of the game in the top of the fifth, and Roy Sievers then hit a two-run homer to right field to put us up 2-0, his third homer of the season! Out of nowhere we’ve got ourselves a solid lead! Jerry Bunyard got a hit in the top of the sixth, stole a base, and then moved to third on a wild pitch with Robinson at the plate. Robinson flew out to center, but Bunyard was able to get in safely at home to make it a 3-0 lead. Way to manufacture a run! Roy Sievers then hit his second homer of the game, a solo blast to left that put us up 4-0. An infield RBI single by Don Blasingame got the Giants on the board in the bottom of the sixth, but we got it back in the seventh on a flyout by Diehl which brought Elston Howard around to score, Howard having a solid game with his bat while playing right field on a day off from catching. Diehl stayed out for the bottom of the ninth, but we brought Koufax in with one out and men on first and second, and he ended the game on a strikeout and a groundout to first, securing the 5-1 victory!

Robert Diehl improved to 4-0, lasting 8.1 innings with seven hits and one earned run, striking out four and walking one batter as his ERA improved to 1.69. Koufax, coming in with two potential runs on base, earned his 7th save of the season, taking a high leverage situation and coming out of it with two quick outs, no hits, and his ERA improves to 2.25 on the year.

[jksander]

MAY 6, 1955 . . . Game one of a four game roadtrip to Cincinnati is tonight, and we have Saul Rogovin (5-0, 2.17 ERA, 54.0 IP, 49 K’s, 0.76 WHIP) up against Redlegs starter Bobby Shantz (2-1, 5.47 ERA, 26.1 IP, 20 K’s, 1.48 WHIP). Rogovin had a rough third inning, giving up three hits in a row to put a Cincy run up on the board, with runners on the corners and no outs. A second run scored on a flyout to center, but he was able to limit the damage and get the next two outs on flyouts as well, getting us into the fourth inning with a 2-0 deficit to make up. Rogovin pitched well enough to keep us in the game, but our bats were completely dead ... nothing was getting out of the infield, and we couldn’t string anything together to build a rally. We went into the top of the ninth still trailing 2-0, and they set Mays, Robinson and Banks down like they were rookies, a dominant Cincinnati win as we just couldn’t find our offense.

Rogovin took the loss in a complete game shutout, falling to 5-1 with a 2.18 ERA, giving up just six hits and two earned runs with seven strikeouts and one walk. Gene Baker had two hits and Ernie Banks had one, but none of them even got into scoring position. Al Kaline didn’t hit, but was walked twice and stranded.
 
MAY 7, 1955 . . . Tonight we had Camilo Pascual (2-1, 3.09 ERA< 23.1 IP, 18 K’s, 1.24 WHIP) on the mound facing down former Cub pitcher Paul Minner (0-1, 4.96 ERA, 16.1 IP, 5 K’s, 1.35 WHIP). Willie Mays hit a solo shot to left with two outs, his 6th homer of the year, putting us ahead 1-0 in the top of the first. Ernie Banks hit a triple in the top of the second but was caught trying to score on am Al Rosen flyout to right. Roger Maris added an RBI single though in the top of the third, batting in Al Kaline from third base to put us up 2-0. But Pascual gave up a three-run homer to Ted Kluszewski in the bottom of the third to surrender our lead. Pascual gave up another run in the bottom of the fourth, and he loaded the bases, forcing me to bring in Bob Porterfield ... who then gave up a hit that Al Kaline couldn’t catch, it went over the wall in the corner, and f--- it, we’re down 8-2. GRAND SLAM. Porterfield got his out on the next pitch, getting us out of the fourth, only getting charged for the one run (the other three went on Pascual), but the damage was done. We scored a run in the top of the seventh on a Jackie Robinson flyout to right that allowed Porterfield to score from third, and Ernie Banks then hit an RBI single to make it 8-4. Tom Ferrick came in, bottom of the seventh, one on and two outs, and got us out of the inning without anyone scoring. Ferrick got us through the eighth, but we’d need four runs to get back in this one in the top of the ninth. Robinson took a walk, and Crandall managed to hit a double to send him to third, but Al Rosen flew out to right and we lost this one, our second in a row, 8-4, outhitting them 10-8 but not managing to do anything once we gave up all those fourth inning runs.

Pascual drops to 2-2 with the loss, with a now-bloated 5.00 ERA thanks to four hits, two strikeouts and four walks leading to seven earned runs. Porterfield gave us three good innings after Pascual’s early exit, two hits for one earned run with a strikeout, and Tom Ferrick lasted two innings with two hits and a walk. Banks and Baker each had two hits, with Banks batting in one of our four runs. Roger Maris got a hit with two walks, scoring a run and driving in another.

We have a doubleheader against the Redlegs tomorrow which now has big implications -- we’re 20-6, but the Phillies are only two games back, and the Redlegs (now 14-9) are 4.5 games back and in a real position to make this a crowded race in the NL. It’d be nice to get some wins back here on the road before we head home to Wrigley.

MAY 8, 1955 . . . For the first game of today’s doubleheader we’ve got Hy Cohen (5-2, 1.98 ERA, 59.0 IP, 40 K’s, 0.69 WHIP) pitching against Tom Poholsky (2-1, 3.91 ERA, 25.1 IP, 13 K’s, 1.58 WHIP). In the top of the first with two outs, Willie Mays got a hit down the line in right field, making it safely to first, but Jackie Robinson couldn’t get his hit out of the infield. Elston Howard hit a double in the top of the fifth, our first real scoring opportunity of the day, but we left him stranded as well, the score knotted 0-0. Cohen let two men on in the bottom of the inning but got out of the jam without anyone scoring, and this one was setting up to be a real barnburner. Ernie Banks doubled with one out in the top of the seventh, making it to third on a Rosen groundout to first, but Elston Howard popped up to the catcher and it stayed scoreless heading into the stretch. But we couldn’t buy a hit, and this one stayed knotted heading into the bottom of the eighth, with Cohen nearing 100 pitches. He came in and got two strikeouts and a flyout, however, and we went into the ninth with the heart of our order coming up. Maris batted out to center, but Willie Mays got a hit into right, ekeing out a base hit, and Jackie Robinson finally got himself something to hit, deep into center, and he legged out an RBI triple to put us up 1-0! Al Rosen added an RBI single to make it 2-0 with two outs, and we went into the bottom of the inning just needing to hold them off. Cohen got three quick outs to end this one and save the bullpen for the second game, as we finally got a win against the Redlegs 2-0!

Cohen improves to 6-2 with a 1.72 ERA, shutting out the Redlegs on seven hits with eight strikeouts and a walk. We only had seven hits ourselves, with Mays notching a pair and scoring a run, Elston Howard adding two hits, and Jackie Robinson had his hit for a run and an RBI. Al Rosen added the insurance we needed, getting an RBI off a hit as well. Only one player walked on each team, with incredibly efficient pitching all around.

In game two, Robert Diehl (4-0, 1.69 ERA, 48.0 IP, 27 K’s, 0.96 WHIP) pitched against Redlegs starter George Susce (2-3, 2.77 ERA, 39.0 IP, 11 K’s, 0.85 WHIP). Jackie Robinson got a base hit in the top of the second, and used his still superior speed to steal second, but Rosen and Howard batted out and left him stranded. Robinson hit again in the top of the fourth, reaching first with a blast down the right field edge that wasn’t enough for extra bases, and again the batters behind him were unsuccessful. Two hits, nothing to show. This game again lacked offense, just a pair of hits apiece in the first five innings as we remained knotted 0-0. In the top of the sixth, Willie Mays walked with two outs, stealing second with the count 2-1 against Robinson. But Robinson wound up batting out to center, and we stayed locked up with nothing. And it stayed that way, just like in today’s first game ... Diehl went into the bottom of the eighth having thrown an efficient 64 pitches through the first seven innings, and he got us into the ninth inning still knotted 0-0 as fans on both sides grew restless.

Roger Maris walked to start the ninth, and Willie Mays got himself a hit into left field to give us a man in scoring position without an out. They walked Robinson to give us loaded bases, and Banks flew out to center but allowed just enough room for Maris to slide in for the go-ahead run! Al Rosen hit into a double play to end the frame, and we held a slim 1-0 lead with Diehl coming in for the bottom of the inning. But Diehl gave up a hit to start the inning, and then the runner moved into scoring position on a flyout to right. Gus Bell got a hit into right field to drive the runner to third, and then Elmer Valo hit into a fielder’s choice, with Diehl picking off the runner at second and holding Whitey Lockman at third. Two outs, Robert Broome at the plate, and a popup to short wins this one for us by a 1-0 margin! It wasn’t the dominating series we’d hoped for, but coming out of this four game set with a split, and with the two games today having been such tight defensive affairs, I am happy with the way it turned out. We’ll return to Wrigley with some momentum on our side, and the hope that our bats will awaken so they all don’t have to be nailbiters like this one!

Robert Diehl improves to 5-1 with a six hitter tonight, striking out two and walking no one in a 90 pitch complete game shutout. It wasn’t always pretty, but damned if he didn’t get the job done! His ERA through 57 innings is now 1.42. The Redlegs outhit us 6-3, but we made ours count, walking four times to give us a bit of an edge. Jackie Robinson hit twice but failed to score. Roger Maris scored a run on the ground off a walk, and Ernie Banks had a sac-fly that scored our run. Neither had a hit, but we were able to manufacture the needed run nonetheless.

Finally we get to head back to Chicago, with a day off before two games against Brooklyn (10-14), two against Pittsburgh (14-14) and three against the Giants (12-15). We’ll then have a day off, with two more against Philly (19-8) before a three game road set against Milwaukee (7-17). The month then finishes with three games against St. Louis (5-18) and three against Milwaukee before a May 30th doubleheader on the road against St. Louis. So the last 11 games of the month will be against the worst two teams in our league. At 22-6 we hold a 2.5 game lead on the Phillies for the NL lead. In the AL, Cleveland (17-7) holds a 3.5 game lead on the Yankees (13-10) the Tigers (14-11) and the Red Sox (15-12).

[jksander]

MAY 10, 1955 . . . Saul Rogovin (5-1, 2.18 ERA, 62.0 IP, 56 K’s, 0.77 WHIP)) got the start tonight back at home in Chicago, going up against Billy Loes (1-3, 3.44 ERA, 36.2 IP, 24 K’s, 1.09 WHIP). Brooklyn quickly got on the board with a one-out solo homer by Gil Hodges, putting them up 1-0 after half an inning. And Rogovin continued to have bad luck, giving up a two-run blast to left by Bobby Morgan that made it 3-0 in the top of the second. His control was off, loading the bases and walking in a run to make it 4-0, and this was turning into a disaster. Two outs in the second and we’re warming up Porterfield, Rogovin having already thrown 62 pitches. He got the final out, but my confidence in his ability to keep us in this game was gone, our hole at four runs. He got two strikeouts to start the third, but then gave up a second solo homer to Morgan and I brought Porterfield in. Del Crandall got a hit into right in the bottom of the fourth to load the bases, and then Al Rosen HIT A GRAND SLAM (his third homer of the year) to pull us within a run, down 5-4!

In the top of the fifth, Gil Hodges hit a two-out single and Sandy Amoros scored from second, but Pee Wee Reese tried to make it home and was tagged out to get us out of the inning trailing 6-4. Willie Mays hit a two-run blast to center in the bottom of the fifth, tying the score 6-6 with his seventh homer of the season, and Jackie Robinson followed with his first homer as a Cub (and fourth of the season) to make it 7-6! Gene Baker added an RBI single and Roy Sievers walked the bases loaded, bringing Kaline up to score two more with a single, his second base hit of the inning. By the time Roger Maris struck out swinging, we’d taken a 10-6 lead on the Giants batting around and scoring six runs. But the top of the seventh was a complete disaster -- Dobson, who came in starting in the sixth, gave up an RBI single to pull the Dodgers within three, but with Harry Dorish warming up, he then gave up a three-run homer to Carl Furillo that tied the game at 10-10. And Dorish, on his first goddamned pitch of the game, gave up a homer to Frank Thomas that gave the Dodgers an 11-10 lead, and then four pitches later he threw ANOTHER fastball that turned into a homer for Amoros, putting them up 12-10. This game is absolutely a mess. He FINALLY got the strikeout, but now we’re headed for the bottom of the seventh and trailing 12-10.

Koufax came in with two outs and no one on in the top of the eighth, getting the final out with ease, and in the bottom of the inning Willie Mays hit an RBI triple to bring us within a run, and Ernie Banks batted in the tying run with a line drive to left, tying it up 12-12! Koufax got two strikeouts and a flyout in the top of the ninth to pitch around a walk, with Sandy Consuegra warming up in case the game went into extra innings. And as I feared, Gene Baker got a hit in the bottom of the ninth, but Joe Collins batted into a double play to force extras. Consuegra got us through the 10th perfect, and Kaline wasted no time in the bottom of the inning, getting a double into deep center, and Maris walked it off with a line drive to right, driving Kaline around to score as we survived to beat the Dodgers here at Wrigley 13-12!

Consuegra improved to 2-0 with a no-hit one strikeout performance, keeping his ERA perfect through four appearances. Rogovin set up the bullpen game by only lasting 2.2 innings, with seven hits four strikeouts and two walks to drive in five earned runs. We blew through five pitchers in the game, but managed to come out of it with the win despite Dobson’s disasterous 1.2 innings with six hits and four earned runs. This is one of those games you’re happy to survive, and the fans loved it -- 35 hits between the two teams! We notched 19 of them, Leadoff man Al Kaline led the way with four hits and two walks, scoring three runs and batting in a pairm while Willie Mays added three hits, three runs and three RBIs. Al Rosen added two hits and a walk for a pair of runs and four RBIs and Jackie Robinson hit once and walked once, scoring twice and driving in a run with his homer.

MAY 11, 1955 . . . Hy Cohen (6-2, 1.72 ERA, 68.0 IP, 48 K’s, 0.72 WHIP) pitched this afternoon against Larry Jansen (2-2, 2.63 ERA, 27.1 IP, 11 K’s, 1.17 WHIP). Bill Hodges busted up what had been a perfect game for Cohen heading into the fourth inning, hitting a solo blast over the left field wall to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead with one out in the top of the fourth. And like all our games with the Dodgers this year, the game stayed tight from there. Cohen struck out two batters in the top of the sixth, but then allowed another solo homer, this time to Pee Wee Reese, increasing their lead to 2-0. And the wind kept blowing that way, with Gil Hodges hitting their third homer of the game to make it 3-0. And Cohen’s luck went completely into the toilet, with the next batter, Duke Snider, hitting it out to center for a third homer in a row and their fourth of the game to make it 4-0. From two strikeouts in a row to three homers in a row, I just can’t explain it. Despite his six strikeouts and no walks, we had to start warming up Dorish. And then he got strikeout number seven to end the inning. Insanity! I decided to trust Cohen, at eighty pitches, to stay in for the seventh, and he stayed cool and collected and got us three outs. Koufax came in for the eighth inning for the top of their order, getting three outs and keeping us in this one, though we still trailed by four. But this wasn’t our night. The bats were cold, and we could get nothing out of the infield. We took the beating tonight that we’d deserved yesterday. Willie Mays hit a two run homer in the bottom of the ninth to get us within a pair, down 4-2, but Robinson batted out to left and ended it as a two-run loss.

The homers killed him -- Hy Cohen fell to 6-3 with the loss, striking out eight without a walk but giving up four hits for four homers. Sounds like a bad movie. His ERA slipped to 2.04 in the process, but every pitcher has a night like this, especially at Wrigley where the wind isn’t always our friend. Koufax continues to have a stellar rookie year, giving up one hit in two innings with three strikeouts and a walk, dropping his ERA to 1.86 through 19.1 innings in his 14th appearance. The Dodgers outhit us 6-5 -- we were led by Maris, who had a hit for a run on the ground, and by Mays who got a hit for a run and two RBIs.

At 23-07 through thirty games, we remain 2.5 games up on Philadelphia (20-9), heading into a two game set against Pittsburgh (14-16). The two Phillies games next week will be very important wins for us to secure during this longer stretch of home games.

MAY 12, 1955 . . . Camilo Pascual (2-2, 5.00 ERA, 27.0 IP, 20 K’s, 1.37 WHIP) pitched the first game against the Pirates, up against Pittsburgh’s Johnny Kucks (2-1, 4.79 ERA, 35.2 IP, 9 K’s, 1.57 WHIP), a good matchup of young pitchers looking to make names for themselves with their clubs. Pascual in particular has shown flashes of greatness, but has also been raw overall -- he could really use a solid performance in front of the home fans to build his confidence. And damned if he didn’t come out throwing fire, striking out the side in the first inning, and our batters took notice, coming out amped! Ernie Banks hit a run scoring double in the bottom of the inning to put us up 1-0, a lead which could have been bigger except that Maris tried to make it around from second to score, and instead was tagged out at the plate. Jackie Robinson hit a double to start the bottom of the fourth with us still up 1-0, advancing to third on a groundout to first by Banks. Del Crandall then got an RBI single, giving us a bit of added insurance. And Pascual added some more, hitting an RBI single to put us up 3-0 heading into the top of the fifth! The Pirates got on board in the top of the seventh with an RBI double, but Pascual got out of the inning with two well-timed K’s, bringing Harry Dorish in for the eighth. Pascual hit again in the bottom of the seventh, an impressive wind-assisted triple, and Kaline batted him in to make it 4-1 Cubs. Jackie Robinson beat out an infield hit to reach first safely, driving in a fifth run, and Ernie Banks then did the same with another awkward squib, loading the bases! Del Crandall then got one off into the left field corner on the ground, driving in three runs with a double, with Ernie Banks scoring from third on a no-throw. Up 8-1 heading into the bottom of the eighth, we added a run an an RBI single by Maris, and Dorish got three quick outs in the top of the ninth to seal the 9-1 victory.

Pascual improved to 3-2 with a 4.24 ERA, thanks to a six-hitter through seven innings, striking out seven with two walks. Dorish made it through two innings with just two hits to go with two strikeouts, and he now has a spectacular 1.20 ERA through 15 innings and 10 appearances! We outhit the Pirates 14-8, led by Al Kaline with four hits, two runs and an RBI. Robinson, Banks and Crandall each hit twice, with Crandall batting in four runs and hitting once.
 
MAY 13, 1955 . . . Game two against Pittsburgh here in Chicago and we’re starting Robert Diehl (5-0, 1.42 ERA, 57.0 IP, 29 K’s, 0.91 WHIP) against Bob Friend (2-4, 3.75 ERA, 48.0 IP, 30 K’s, 1.42 WHIP). Roger Maris got things started with a solo homer to right field, just his second homer of the season, to put us up 1-0 in the bottom of the first. Jackie Robinson made a headfirst slide into third, stretching a double into a triple with one out in the bottom of the fourth, and Del Crandall hit a two-run blast into left on two outs, making it a 3-0 ballgame with his ninth homer of the year! We loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth, and on one out, Diehl hit a bouncer into left field, driving in Rosen from third to make it 4-0, but Kaline batted into a double play, the out at home and them him out at first, to end the inning. Jackie Robinson hit a towering homer to right in the bottom of the seventh, his fifth of the year, to put us up 5-0, and Diehl came in chasing history in the top of the eighth, though with one batter put away he then accidentally plunked Joe Garagiola, ending his perfect game with a baserunner. A double play kept him hitless, however, and got us into the bottom of the eighth. We went into the top of the ninth still up 5-0, and immediately Danny O’Connell spoiled the no-no, a hit to center getting him to first base. But a flyout and an infield double play kept him from getting any further, and Diehl dominated the field in the 5-0 shutout.

Diehl remained perfect this year, improving to 6-0 with a 1.23 ERA, with just the one hit, three strikeouts and no walks, easily the most memorable game of his career -- and to think, he’s just 23! We outhit the Pirates 11-1, led by Jackie Robinson (two hits, two runs, one RBI) and Del Crandall (two hits, two runs, two RBIs). Al Rosen and Robert Diehl each added a pair of hits, and Diehl notched his fourth RBI of the year as a pitcher!

[jksander]

MAY 14, 1955 . . . Time to take on the Giants! We have one game against them today, and then a doubleheader tomorrow, with them currently standing in sixth place in the NL with a 13-18 record, 11.5 games back of the lead. Saul Rogovin (5-1, 2.78 ERA, 64.2 IP, 60 K’s, 0.88 WHIP) pitched against Al Gettel (0-0, 7.50 ERA, 6.0 IP, 2 K’s, 1.50 WHIP) who the Giants just acquired from the crosstown Yankees. Jackie Robinson remained red hot, hitting his sixth homer of the year and third as a Cub, a three-run blast that put us up 3-0 in the bottom of the first! And Robinson wasn’t happy just stopping there ... he hit a powerful slug into deep center with two outs in the bottom of the third, and though the wind kept it from going all the way, it dropped just out of reach of the center fielder, allowing Roger Maris to blitz around the bases from first to score. But Robinson, after making it to third standing up, KEPT GOING AROUND, and he beat out a haphazard throw to home plate, sliding in headfirst to add another run via an INSIDE THE PARK HOMER! UNBELIEVABLE! That’s ridiculous talent at his age, and it put us up 5-0! Ernie Banks, completely amped up by the display he’d just seen, swung hard and nailed one out of the park himself, his eighth homer of the year, and we went into the top of the fourth with a 6-0 advantage over a shellshocked Giants team. Del Crandall got a two-RBI double in the bottom of the fifth, scoring runs from Maris and Robinson, who were both walked in the inning, and Al Rosen notched an RBI single, putting us up by nine, and Saul Rogovin got a two out hit into right to drive in a 10th run, turning this one into a complete shellacking, up 10-0 after five. Robinson kept getting things to hit -- ekeing out a triple in the bottom of the sixth that would have scored a run by Mays, except he got greedy and was tagged out at home plate. They walked Banks with two outs, and Del Crandall flew out to right to keep us from adding to our dominating lead. Robinson came up in the bottom of the eighth and for the first time all night they got him to bat himself out, this time to center, keeping him off base for the first time in five tries. Rogovin stayed out in the top of the ninth to ice it, getting three outs including his 10th strikeout, to complete the 10-0 shutout.

Rogovin improves to 6-1 with a 2.44 ERA, giving up just five hits to go with 10 K’s and a walk in the kind of dominating pitching performance this year’s Cubs team has made look easy! It was overshadowed by our hitting, however, and by Robinson’s epic night -- we had 13 hits as a team, with Robinson hitting three times and walking once, scoring three runs on the ground and notching 5 RBIs including the two homers ... the fans who saw the inside the park one are going to be talking about that for years! Maris and Banks each had a pair of hits, as did Rogovin. Only Willie Mays went hitless, and he still scored a run on the ground thanks to a walk. Robinson was hitting .310/.369/.534 with three homers and four doubles through 17 games with the Dodgers pre-trade. Since coming to Chicago, he’s played in 15 games and is hitting .320/.403/.680 with four homers, two triples and two doubles! The guy is an absolute beast on the basepaths, even at age 36!

In other news, we have trade news. We’ve received an offer from Pittsburgh that we couldn’t turn down for injured starter Johnny Klippstein. We’re sending the 27-year-old hurler to the Pirates in exchange for their 25-year-old closer Bob Purkey, who this year is 1-1 with a 3.60 ERA and three saves. He has enough stamina to transition into a longer relief option or a spot starter, and at one point he was considered a top 20 national prospect. We’re sending him to AAA Los Angeles where he’ll start a few games to test out his ability to handle more innings, at which point we’ll consider bringing him up as a fifth starter in our rotation. Honestly, this is a deal I hope works out well for both of us -- Klippstein deserves a shot to return after his long recovery, and I don’t think he was going to have a spot on our roster when he returned. And Purkey gives us a young player with upside who can develop within our system.

MAY 15, 1955 . . . Doubleheader day! In game one this afternoon we started Camilo Pascual (3-2, 4.24 ERA, 34.0 IP, 27 K’s, 1.32 WHIP) against the Giants’ Jack Harshman (4-3, 2.75 ERA, 52.1 IP, 36 K’s, 1.38 WHIP). Al Rosen hit a solo homer in the bottom of the second to put us up 1-0 on the Giants, and then it was pretty much all pitching until the bottom of the sixth, when Ernie Banks hit a three-run blast that put us up 4-0, his ninth homer of the year! Camilo Pascual was on fire, his best game yet as a starter, and with the game not in a save situation, we kept him in for the ninth inning up 4-0, since my plan is to pitch a bullpen game in the second of the doubleheader. A groundout, a hit and a pair of strikeouts ended the game, his first complete game, after twice lasting seven innings.

In his complete game shutout, our third shutout in a row, Pascual gave up just three hits with 11 strikeouts against a single walk! He improved to 4-2 with the win, with a very solid 3.25 ERA, lasting 111 pitches. We outhit them 7-3 but also had four walks, led by Willie Mays (two hits and a run scored) and Ernie Banks, whose homer scored a run and batted in three.
 
Bob Porterfield (0-0, 3.38 ERA, 5.1 IP, 1 K, 1.50 WHIP) got the start in game two, pitching against Ted Abernathy (0-3, 7.11 ERA, 38.0 IP, 28 K’s, 1.79 WHIP), an intentional spot start from the bullpen to give Hy Cohen an extra day’s rest. Porterfield gave up a two run homer in the top of the first to Walt Dropo, his fifth of the year, and Al Rosen committed a rare error at first that kept the inning going with two runners on base, but Porterfield pitched around it and got the final out. Rosen more than made up for it, however, hitting a two run homer himself (also HIS fifth of the year) to tie it 2-2, and we went into the top of the second knotted up despite this also being a game off for several of our biggest hitters. Porterfield wound up in a jam in the second inning, thanks to some slow throws in the infield, allowing New York to take the lead on an RBI single by Bill Virdon, but he struck out Dropo to get out of it down just the one run. Al Kaline got himself a triple to start the bottom of the inning, but Maris batted out to keep it 3-2 Giants heading into the third. Our defenses were sloppy as hell today, with Grady Hatton committing an error in the top of the third at third base for our third error of the game. Damn, lots of thirds!

Porterfield got us through five innings trailing 3-2, and we brought Joe Dobson in for the top of the sixth, the score unchanged. Dobson had been banged up in his last appearance, but tonight he was able to come in confidently, getting us into the stretch without anyone scoring. In the bottom of the seventh, Kaline got himself a base hit, and then with a man out and Kaline on first, Al Rosen hit a sharp double to right field, putting two in scoring position! We brought Jackie Robinson in to pinch hit for Elston Howard, with plans to bring Del Crandall in to catch the remainder of the game, but Robinson flew out to right for our second out, leaving it to Gene Baker to get his drive into right field, allowing Kaline to score the tying run, and then turning the hit into a double and a second run scored, putting us up 4-3! Grady Hatton got a hit into left that allowed Baker to score as well, and we went into the top of the eighth leading 5-3! Dobson stayed in for the eighth and got three efficient outs to preserve the two-run lead, and Dobson hit a one-out drouble in the bottom of the eighth, advancing to third on a Kaline flyout to center. They walked Maris but Rosen reached first on an error at shortstop, allowing Dobson to score a run, extending the lead to 6-3! Del Crandall then hit a line drive into right field, scoring another run Baker hit another run-scoring single, Grady Hatton hit a run-scoring single, and with the bases loaded, Frank Ernaga walked in our 10th run, batting us around to Dobson! Dobson flew out to center to end the inning with us up 10-3, and he stayed in to close out the game, loading the bases but getting three outs without a score to complete the four-inning win!

Joe Dobson pitched four innings with just three hits, improving to 1-0 with a 6.35 ERA, no strikeouts, no walks, no runs scored. Bob Porterfield set him up nicely with a five-inning six hitter, with four strikeouts and three runs (two earned) to give him a 3.48 ERA through 10.1 innings. We outhit the Giants 16-9, led by Al Rosen’s four hits for three runs and three RBIs and by Baker’s three hits for two runs and three RBIs. Kaline and Hatton each had two hits, and Dobson got a hit and scored a run as we improved to 28-7, sweeping the Giants for our fifth win in a row. Philadelphia (23-11, 4.5 GB) comes to town for a pair on Tuesday, and we’ll have our best pitchers rested for those critical games thanks to our strong bullpen performance in game two today.

[jksander]

MAY 17, 1955 . . . Hy Cohen (6-3, 2.04 ERA, 75.0 IP, 56 K’s, 0.72 WHIP) pitched today against Philadelphia’s Carl Simmons (2-3, 3.73 ERA, 41.0 IP, 11 K’s, 1.29 WHIP), with our team having prevailed in our first three matchups against the Phillies this season. Cohen gave up a walk and then struck out Willie Jones. But Richie Ashburn nailed a blistering line drive into the right corner, a solid double that put two in scoring position just minutes after first pitch. Cohen got the second out and should have had a third, but Al Rosen committed another error at first on a bobbled catch, allowing Smoky Burgess to reach safely and giving Earl Torgeson the chance he needed to make it home -- Phillies take an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first, an unearned run for Cohen. But Red Schoendienst hit an RBI single into left field, another unearned run that shook Cohen’s confidence even if it didn’t muss up his ERA. Cohen struck out the side in the fourth inning, staying razor sharp, just needing our bats to wake up and give him some support to make up for that first inning. The Cubs got on the board in the bottom of the seventh, a Gene Baker triple driving Al Rosen in to score, putting us within a run! Roy Sievers came in to hit for Cohen, who had thrown 122 pitches through seven innings, taking a walk (good patience at the plate!) to bring up Kaline with two on, a man in scoring position. And he hit a good one to left, but narrowly missed a homerun, the ball falling safely into the left fielder’s glove -- out number three. Sandy Koufax came in, getting two strikeouts and catching a runner stealing second, throwing 17 pitches to get through the eighth and keeping us in this one, but we couldn’t buy a hit in the eighth, bringing him back out in the ninth hoping to give us one more shot by keeping the Phillies from adding anything. Strikeout, flyout, groundout and he did just that, with Harry Dorish ready in case we had to take this into extra innings. But we went three up, three down, and the Phillies took game one by a slim 2-1 margin.

Cohen was clearly frustrated having to come out after seven, but slow start aside, he can’t let wanting a Cy Young keep him in games at the risk of his long term health. He fell to 6-4 with the loss, giving up six hits and two unearned runs, striking out seven against one walk, improving his ERA to 1.87. We need him more for the long haul rather than just for one win. Sandy Koufax gave us two good innings, striking out three and walking one with no hits or runs, improving his ERA to 1.69 through 15 appearances. Philly outhit us 6-5, walking us only three times, and we just plain came up short on offense. Gene Baker hit twice and batted in a run, bringing his average up to .336 through 125 plate appearances, and he kept us in this game. Al Rosen hit once and scored our only run.

MAY 18, 1955 . . . Robert Diehl (6-0, 1.23 ERA, 66.0 IP, 32 K’s, 0.80 WHIP) pitched today against Robin Roberts (6-2, 2.12 ERA, 72.0 IP, 33 K’s, 0.81 WHIP) in a matchup of star pitchers in their prime, and Diehl met with the press before the game and announced that he had inked a one year extension to keep him in Chicago through next season with a bump from $28,000 this year to $$93,000 next year as we stay a step ahead of arbitration.

Philly got a hit in the top of the second but a double play cut the runner off at the knees. But Alvin Dark got a solid hit in the top of the fifth and put the Phillies on the board 1-0 with a deep homer to center, just his second blast of the year. Del Crandall hit his 10th homer of the year, however, to tie us up 1-1 in the bottom of the fifth, our first hit of the entire afternoon! Kaline got a hit into left in the bottom of the sixth, and Maris hit a frozen rope to right, putting us up 3-1 with a two run blast (his third of the year). Jackie Robinson got his first hit of the game in the bottom of the seventh, but he was tagged out trying to steal second in a double play. Diehl stayed in for the top of the ninth, but with one out and two men on, we had to bring Koufax in to put out the fire before it could spread. He got a double play on just the second pitch, saving the 3-1 victory!

Diehl improved to 7-0 with a 1.21 ERA with just six hits with three strikeouts, two walks and a run scored, while Koufax earned his eighth save with minimal effort, improving his ERA to 1.64 with those two outs. Philly outhit us 6-4, but the three walks we got helped, and the homers by Maris and Crandall were enough to seal it. The split series keeps us solidly ahead of Philly heading into a three game road set at Milwaukee (12-22, 15.5 GB). In roster news, we’ve gone ahead and sent Frank Ernaga down to AAA Los Angeles, bringing Bob Purkey up to be an additional reliever and potential spot starter as we head into the heart of summer ball.

[jksander]

MAY 20, 1955 . . . In Milwaukee this evening we started Saul Rogovin (6-1, 2.44 ERA, 73.2 IP, 70 K’s, 0.86 WHIP) against Braves ace Johnny Antonelli (3-4, 3.80 ERA, 66.1 IP, 45 K’s, 1.16 WHIP). Kaline hit a double right off the bat in the top of the first, but they got a quick pair of outs to bring up Robinson, who struck out swinging. Gene Baker singled in the top of the third, moving to second on a Rogovin sac-bunt and then to third on a passed ball, with Kaline then walking to give us two on with one out. Maris popped up to Antonelli and Mays struck out, however, keeping it scoreless. And so it went, another taut pitching battle. Jackie Robinson got a hit with two outs in the top of the sixth, successfully stole second, and then was left stranded when Ernie Banks batted out to short. And they finally broke it open with a homer off Rogovin, the first hit he’d surrendered all game long, Bill Bruton’s fourth homer of the year putting the Braves up 1-0 in the bottom of the sixth. He gave up two more hits in the inning but did not surrender more runs, and we started warming Harry Dorish so he’d be ready to pitch after the stretch. Willie Mays got an infield hit in the top of the eighth, taking second on a wild pitch, but Robinson grounded out to first, putting pressure on Dorish to keep us within one run. He did his job, and we came up in the top of the ninth needing SOMETHING to happen on offense to give us a shot. And it didn’t happen. All three of our batters (Banks, Candall and Rosen) batted out and we lost game one to the Braves 1-0.

Saul Rogovin only gave up three hits through six innings, but the homer was enough. He struck out five, walked three, and his ERA slipped to 2.37 thanks to the earned run. Harry Dorish came in for two innings of one-hit ball, throwing a strikeout and continuing to be a lights-out pitcher, with a 1.06 ERA now through 17 innings. We outhit them 5-4 and had three walks but couldn’t get anyone in to score, though Robinson certainly tried -- he hit twice and stole a base, his third steal in four tries since becoming a Cub.

MAY 21, 1955 . . . Camilo Pascual (4-2, 3.35 ERA, 43.0 IP, 38 K’s, 1.14 WHIP) pitched this afternoon against Warren Spahn (3-3, 4.04 ERA, 55.2 IP, 19 K’s, 1.24 WHIP). Al Rosen hit his sixth homer of the year, a solo blast to right in the top of the second, to give us a 1-0 lead on the Braves, and Pascual got us through the second inning with that lead intact, though he’d thrown 47 pitches through two innings, looking a lot wilder than during the complete game he threw in his last outing. Willie Mays got a hit into left in the top of the third, an RBI triple that put us up 2-0, and Pascual got us through another decent inning, though it was becoming clear a five inning effort was likely to be a good one in his case. Good for us, then, that we have a very deep bullpen.

Bob Purkey wound up coming in with one out and a man on first in the bottom of the fifth, with Pascual at over 90 pitches and with his nerves raw. Purkey got two quick outs in the fifth to keep them scoreless, and he proved to be well-matched for long relief, barely breaking a sweat in getting us out of the sixth as well. Roger Maris hit a solo tater into the center field bleachers, his fourth homer this year, and we went into the stretch leading 3-0. And Al Rosen added a solo blast of his own in the top of the eighth to make it 4-0, giving him his seventh of the year. Purkey came out for the bottom of the eighth as well, but a base hit and an an erroneous throw from third to first put runners on base, and we had to bring in Koufax to prevent a collapse. Unfortunately he walked the bases loaded and then gave up a hit into right field, scoring two runs, but he got us out of the inning without further incident. Maris doubled to start the top of the ninth, reaching third on a Mays flyout to right. They walked Jackie Robinson, but Ernie Banks then hit into a double play, sending us into the bottom of the ninth, up two. Koufax stayed in for a second inning of relief, and that turned out to be a disaster. He loaded the bases, and we brought Sandy Consuegra into the high leverage situation to try and prevent the Braves from stealing this from us. A flyout to center held the runners, and then he got an infield hit, letting the runner reach first and making the pickoff play successfully at home plate ... the bases still loaded, but now with two outs, their batter hit a weak popup to right field and we’d done it! Consuegra saved the day and we pulled out the 4-2 road win!

Pascual lasted just 4.1 innings, giving up only three hits, but striking out five against four walks. So though he had given up no runs, he’d thrown 91 pitches and therefore I couldn’t keep him out there. Bob Purkey came in for 2.2 innings in his Cubs debut, giving up one hit, with three walks and two runs (one earned) to earn the win, starting out 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA. Koufax got a hold, lasting one inning with two hits and three uncharacteristic walks in the ninth that got him no outs, but thanks to Consuegra his ERA improved to 1.57 as no one scored. Consuegra got the three outs without a hit, earning his third save of 1955 and keeping his ERA perfect, though he’s only thrown 4.2 innings this year. We outhit them 9-6, led by Al Rosen with three hits for two runs and two RBIs, while Mays got a hit and a walk and batted in two runs. Roger Maris also had a good day with two hits for a run and an RBI.

MAY 22, 1955 . . . Time for the rubber match of this road series! Hy Cohen (6-4, 1.87 ERA, 82.0 IP, 63 K’s, 0.74 WHIP) is up in the rotation, ready to go out and outpitch Milwaukee’s Bob Turley (2-5, 6.48 ERA, 41.2 IP, 32 K’s, 1.90 WHIP), as “Bullet Bob” tries to settle in to Milwaukee after playing for us and Boston last year. We took advantage of poor control from Turley early, getting easy hits for Kaline and Maris to put two aboard just minutes after first pitch. Mays walked to load the bases, and Ernie Banks got a sac-fly that scored a run, giving us a 1-0 lead with two outs. Del Crandall batted out to center, but six minutes in and we held a 1-0 lead on the Braves. In the top of the fourth, Jackie Robinson was walked, but he stole a base moments later, and they walked Del Crandall to fill the open base. Al Rosin hit a single into right to load the bases with one out, and Gene Baker walked in a run to put us up 2-0! Turley walked Hy Cohen as well, making it 3-0, and Al Kaline got a hit into left field over the head of the shortstop, driving in another and keeping the bases loaded! Maris walked in ANOTHER run, and then surely Turley made his last mistake of the night, giving a perfect fastball to Willie Mays for a grand salami home run! We took a 9-0 lead, and yes, they had to bring in someone from the bullpen, with Robinson around to bat for a second time in the inning and still only one out on the board. Robinson and Crandall flew out to end the inning, with a hit in between for Ernie Banks, and this one was a bloutout midway through the fourth thanks in no small part to Willie Mays’ ninth homer of the season. The Braves got a run on the board in the bottom of the fourth, but Willie Mays hit a three-run blast in the top of the eighth, and Jackie Robinson hit his 8th of the year moments later to make it 13-1. Hy Cohen completed his game, and we won this one by a dozen.

Cohen improved to 7-4 on the year in his 11th start, giving up just six hits with nine strikeouts, no walks and one run, giving him a 1.78 ERA through 91 innings, his seventh complete game of the season. We scored 13 runs on just 11 hits, and our fearless leader was Willie “Say Hey” Mays, who had two homers with seven RBIs, walking three more times as well! He now has 10 homers this year, just over a quarter of the way through the season, batting .322 with a .625 slugging percentage, on track for nearly 12 WAR! Kaline, Maris and Banks each had two hits as well.

After a day off, we return to Wrigley for three at home against St. Louis (13-23) and three against Milwaukee (13-24) before playing a doubleheader at St. Louis on the 30th that starts a road trip that sends us through Philly (27-12), the Giants (15-26), Pittsburgh (19-22) and Brooklyn (14-22) over a two week stretch. Philly is just 3.5 games back, so our lead is certainly not safe by any means. In the AL, Cleveland (23-13) has a one game lead on Washington (23-15) and a 1.5 game lead on New York (21-14) and Boston (23-16), with Detroit (18-18) still scrapping for a shot despite a -23 Run Dif. We, meanwhile, are 31-9 and, with our +125 Run Dif, we are clobbering teams whwn we can hit. But we’re just 6-5 in one run games, so pitching duels have killed us.

MAY 23, 1955 . . . Joe Dobson has abruptly decided to end his career, effective immediately. The 38-year old has a 1-0 record and a 6.35 ERA through 5.2 innings over two appearances this year. Through 15 seasons in the majors broken up by a three year stretch in World War II, Dobson has played with us, Boston, the White Sox and Cleveland, putting together a 162-124 record with 17 saves, a 3.64 ERA and nearly 1,200 K’s, giving him a 1.32 WHIP, 40.5 career WAR and a career ERA+ of 109. Whether he’s done enough to make the Hall of Fame will depend on the baseball press, but regardless, he’s had an amazing career. I tried to talk him into finishing the season, but he says he wants to spend time with his family, and he’s felt for a while that he’s been holding younger players back from getting a major league shot. And though I have to respect his decision, we’re certainly going to miss his leadership in the clubhouse.

[jksander]

MAY 24, 1955 . . . After Dobson’s abrupt retirement, we’ve called up left fielder Joe Brovia, age 33, for a shot at continuing his career in the majors. He’s a career minor leaguer, having had just 27 at-bats last year for the Red Sox before being traded here late in the season. Robert Diehl (7-0, 1.21 ERA, 74.1 IP, 35 K’s, 0.82 WHIP) pitched this afternoon against Ron Kline (2-4, 2.79 ERA, 42.0 IP, 18 K’s, 0.93 WHIP). Al Kaline scored a run for us in the bottom of the first, off a flyout by Banks to center, giving us a 1-0 lead after the first inning. In the bottom of the third, Maris doubled and then Willie Mays singled to left, allowing Maris to go to third and birnging up Robinson, who hit a deep shot into left, coming out with an two-RBI double to make it 3-0! Ernie Banks popped out to first but Robinson was ready, taking third quickly. Del Crandall hit an RBI double himself to make it 4-0, giving us a healthy cushion heading into the fourth inning. Willie Mays saved a possible two-run homer at the warning track in the top of the fourth and we finished the frame with a double play. Ernie Banks hit his 10th homer this year, putting us up 5-0 with two outs in the bottom of the fifth. Diehl completed the game, finishing the 5-0 win on a double play, completely stumping the Cardinals in the shutout victory.

Diehl is now 8-0 through 10 starts, throwing a three hitter today with five strikeouts and a walk. His ERA is now 1.08 through 83.1 innings and if he can keep up this level of pitching, there’s no one in his league in the NL right now. We had eight hits, led by Mays who had two hits (one of them his homer), scoring a run, while Robinson and Banks each had a hit, a walk and two runs batted in.

MAY 25, 1955 . . . Saul Rogovin (6-2, 2.37 ERA, 79.2 IP, 75 K’s, 0.87 WHIP) pitched against Dean Stone (2-2, 3.18 ERA, 45.1 IP, 17 K’s, 1.26 WHIP) in our second game against the Cardinals. Rogovin had eight strikeouts with one out in the top of the fourth, but he gave up a hit and a walk and then Ray Jablonski hit his second homer of the year and suddenly it was St. Louis leading 3-0. He struck out his ninth man and got a flyout to end the inning, but we were going to need to back him up with some runs! Rogovin put on a goddamned clinic out there, striking out the side in the fifth, but Gene Stone was just as good, taking a no-hitter through the sixth. Rogovin tied the Cubs regular season record of 13 strikeouts with a fanned batter to end the top of the seventh, and he broke the record in the top of the eighth, adding three strikeouts around a pair of hits. But our bats were still completely silent -- though Mays had broken the no-no in the seventh with a hit, it had been our only one. A clearly frustrated Rogovin stayed in and finished the ninth inning, but we went into the bottom of the last frame trailing still by three runs. Roy Sievers got a hit in place of Rogovin with one out, but Kaline struck out swinging and Maris popped up to the second baseman, ending this incredibly disappointing 3-0 shutout loss.

Rogovin fell to 6-3 with the loss, giving up four hits in nine innings with 16 STRIKEOUTS against a single walk, but that three-run homer killed him. That may be one of the most brutal losses I’ve experienced as a manager. Maris and Sievers had our only hits, and even two walks couldn’t help us manufacture anything.

MAY 26, 1955 . . . Camilo Pascual (4-2, 3.04 ERA, 47.1 IP, 43 K’s, 1.18 WHIP) pitched in the rubber match tonight against St. Louis’ Bob Grim (1-6, 4.37 ERA, 57.2 IP, 22 K’s, 1.61 WHIP). Willie Mays hit a 380 footer into the left field stands to put us up 1-0 with his 11th homer of the season in the bottom of the first. Jackie Robinson then hit his ninth of the year, back to back blasts to make it a 2-0 lead! St. Louis got a run back in the top of the third, and Pascual gave up the tying run via an RBI single by Bill Sarni, tying things at 2-2 in the top of the fourth. Roger Maris hit an RBI single through the gap into center in the bottom of the fifth to put us back up 3-2 and Mays hit a double to drive Roger Maris round the horn to score, making it 4-2 thanks to a no-throw by the right fielder. They walked Robinson to give us two men on, and Ernie Banks hit a line drive to left, collecting his 25th RBI this year as Mays came around to score! By the time they finally got that final out, we’d built a 5-2 lead out of a tie. Pascual hit a sac fly to center that allowed a run to score, putting us up 6-2 in the bottom of the sixth, and I brought Bob Purkey in to throw in the seventh. Purkey stayed in and closed out the game, maintaining our four run lead with a three-inning save as we beat the Cardinals 6-2 here at home.

Pascual improved to 5-2 with a 3.04 ERA, lasting six innings with five hits, eight strikeouts, a walk and the two earned runs. Purkey dominated through three innings, collecting his first save as a Cub and fourth of the season, with no hits or walks and a single strikeout. Mays led the team with two hits, two runs and two RBIs, while Banks had two hits for an RBI and Robinson had a hit and a walk for a run and an RBI.

[jksander]

MAY 27, 1955 . . . All Star voting starts today, as we start a three-game set against Milwaukee (14-26). This afternoon, Hy Cohen (7-4, 1.78 ERA, 91.0 IP, 72 K’s, 0.74 WHIP) takes to the mound against Bob Turley (2-6, 7.80 ERA, 45.0 IP, 35 K’s, 2.04 WHIP). Jackie Robinson hit a solo bomb to left field in the bottom of the second to put us up 1-0, his 10th homer of the season, and we loaded the bases in the bottom of the third with no outs, Baker scoring a run on a passed ball to put us up 2-0. Robinson came up for the second time with two outs and men on second and third, and he got a hit that rolled all the way to the warning track at center, giving him a standing double and scoring two more runs, sending us into the top of the fourth with a 4-0 lead on Milwaukee. We loaded the bases again in the bottom of the fourth with a pair of outs, and Willie Mays walked in our fifth run of the afternoon, bringing up Robinson in a situation where we KNEW they wanted to walk him, but they were gonna have to give him something. But he flew out to center, ending the inning and giving the Braves at least a sigh of relief, though Turley had walked seven batters throgh four innings of work. Banks hit an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh to make it 6-0, and with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth, Jackie Robinson AGAIN came up with the bases loaded (this time with one out) and smacked himself a triple, scoring three runs and blowing this one up into a 9-0 lead. Robinson scored our 10th run of the day off a Banks flyout to center, and Cohen finished them off quickly in the top of the ninth as we shut the Braves out 10-0.

Cohen improved to 8-4 with a 1.62 ERA in the complete game shutout victory, giving up just five hits and two walks while striking out nine batters. Robinson had three hits for two runs and six RBIs, hitting a double, a triple and a homer in the magnificent hitting performance. Al Kaline added a pair of hits with two runs as well, and Ernie Banks batted in a pair with a hit and a walk. In his 26 games since joining us in Chicago, Robinson has done very well batting cleanup, hitting four doubles, three triples and seven homers and stealing four bases, hitting .284/.371/.636 with 24 RBIs.

MAY 28, 1955 . . . Saul Rogovin (6-3, 2.44 ERA, 88.2 IP, 91 K’s, 0.83 WHIP) got to start in game two against the Braves’ Bob Kuzava (0-1, 8.44 ERA, 10.2 IP, 4 K’s, 1.69 WHIP). Al Kaline wasted no time, hitting his third homer of the year to put us up 1-0 before most folks got a chance to sit down with their first beer and hotdog. The Braves walked Rogovin in the bottom of the fourth with the bases loaded, extending our lead to 2-0, but got out of the jam without giving us the chance to really explode offensively. Roy Jarvis then put the Braves on the board with a solo moonshot to left, sending us into the bottom of the fifth with a slimmer 2-1 advantage. Jackie Robinson got things going by extending a double into a headfirst triple, sliding into home to score on a Banks flyout to center to re-extend our lead to two runs. And this time we DID catch fire, with Elston Howard slamming a two-run homer into center, just his second of the year, sending us into the sixth inning with a much more solid 5-1 lead. Sandy Consuegra came in with two outs and a man on first in the top of the eighth, keeping the Braves from sparking a rally, and we scored a run in the bottom of the inning on a wild pitch, sending us into the ninth with a five-run advantage. Consuegra pitched perfectly and helped us complete the 6-1 victory, our 35th of the season, as we continue to roll as summer nears.

Rogovin lasted 7.2 innings with just two hits, striking out eight batters and walking no one while giving up just the one run. But he threw 114 pitches, so bringing in Consuegra was the prudent move -- Sandy threw just eight pitches to get the four final outs without allowing a single baserunner. We out-hit Milwaukee 11-2, led by Kaline with three hits for two runs and an RBI. Mays and Howard each had two hits, and Howard’s homer put the game out of reach. Robinson had his fourth triple of the year, continuing to be dangerous no matter what our opponents throw him. He’s currently tied for fourth in the NL with Kaline in overall triples, and third in the majors in overall slug. His 10 homers have im in a five way tie for ninth place in the home run race -- Baltimore’s Gus Zernial currently leads the majors with 16 homers, putting him just shy of Babe Ruth’s record pace!

MAY 29, 1955 . . . Robert Diehl (8-0, 1.08 ERA, 83.1 IP, 40 K’s, 0.78 WHIP) pitched this afternoon against Bob Buhl (2-5, 6.04 ERA, 50.2 IP, 22 K’s, 1.74 WHIP). Hank Aaron got a hit for Milwaukee in the top of the fourth, the first hit for anyone all game, and then Eddie Mathews nailed a two-run homer into the left field bleachers to make it 2-0 Braves. Sid Gordon hit an RBI single to make it 3-0 as out of nowhere Diehl started to fall apart. An RBI double by Dick Wilson made it 4-0, and then Buhl batted out to center to end the inning. But Diehl had thrown 70 pitches and looked completely rocked, almost all of the damage coming in that fourth inning. He got us through the fifth inning safely, as well as the sixth, but our bats were not finding anything to hit from Buhl. Dorish came in to pitch in the top of the seventh, getting us through the inning unblemished, and finally Ernie Banks hit an RBI single in the bottom of the inning to put us on the board. Al Roen batted in a second run with a single, and Gene Baker tripled to bat in a third, pulling us to within a run of the Braves! Roy Sievers pinch hit for Dorish, but he flew out to left to end the inning and we had to bring Tom Ferrick in to pitch in the top of the eighth. Ferrick got two quick outs and then gave up a double and a homer to put the Braves up again by three. Bob Purkey came in and got the final out of the inning, and Al Kaline got things started quickly in the bottom of the eighth by hitting his 9th double of the season. Maris batted out to first, moving Kaline to third, and Willie Mays reached safely thanks to a bobbled catch at third that allowed Kaline to come in and score! But we went into the top of the ninth trailing 6-4 and really needed some luck if we were going to pull this one out. Purkey did his part, getting three efficient outs to send us into the bottom of the inning trailing by two and needing something good on offense. And that wasn’t in the cards -- three quick outs and the game was over, the Braves pulling out a surprising 6-4 victory.

We only had four hits all day, giving up seven total to the Braves, though a walk and a trio of Milwaukee errors kept us in the game. Diehl took his first loss of the year, falling to 8-1 with a 1.41 ERA thanks to five hits three strikeouts two walks and four earned runs in a six-inning effort. Harry Dorish got a strikeout in his inning, dropping his ERA to 1.00 on the year, and Purkey lasted 1.1 innings with no hits, a strikeout and a walk. Tom Ferrick had bad luck, giving up two hits and two runs and his ERA through three appearances is now 12.00 -- at age 40 he still has the stuff to play in the majors, but for how long? Kaline, Banks, Rosen and Baker each got a hit, and Mays, Banks, Rosen and Baker each batted in runs.

This was our last home game for the next two weeks and change, as tomorrow we’ll be in St. Louis (15-27) for a doubleheader, followed by a pair at Philly (30-15), four at the Giants (17-30), three at Pittsburgh (22-25) and four at Brooklyn (18-24). At 35-11 ourselves, we hold a mere 4.5 game lead on the Phillies, and this road trip could tighten up the race significantly if we don’t play things smartly. Over in the AL, Cleveland (27-15) has a half game lead on Boston (28-17) with the Yankees (25-16, 1.5 GB), Senators (26-18, 2 GB) and Tigers (22-19, 4.5 GB) keeping things interesting in that league. Our +144 run differential is by far the best in the majors, but in one-run games we’re 6-5.

[jksander]

MAY 30, 1955 . . . Hy Cohen (8-4, 1.62 ERA, 100.0 IP, 81 K’s, 0.74 WHIP) pitched in game one today against St. Louis starter Dean Stone (3-2, 2.68 ERA, 53.2 IP, 22 K’s, 1.14 WHIP). Del Crandall hit his 11th homer of the year in the top of the second, putting us up 1-0 on the Cardinals, and we subsequently loaded the bases though we were unable to score any additional runs that inning. But Russ Nixon tied it up 1-1 in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI double, and nothing was coming easy in a hostile road environment. Kaline and Maris got hits in the top of the eighth, and Mays beat out a slow infield throw to load the bases with just one out! Robinson hit to the shortstop who quickly threw Kaline out at home. But Ernie Banks was smart at the plate, waited for the right pitches, and took a walk to score the go-ahead run, sending us into the bottom of the eighth with a 2-1 lead. Cohen stayed in to pitch in the bottom of the ninth, still up by a run, ending the game with a groundout and a pair of K’s to wrap things up as a 2-1 victory!

Cohen improved to 9-4 with a four-hit 12 strikeout one run game, improving his ERA to 1.57 for the year! We had seven hits ourselves, led by Kaline (two hits and a walk) and Maris (two hits, one run). Del Crandall’s homer got the party started, but it was Ernie Banks’ bases loaded walk that won the game.

Camilo Pascual (5-2, 3.04 ERA, 53.1 IP, 51 K’s, 1.16 WHIP) pitched in the second game, up against St. Louis’ Bob Grim (1-7, 4.76 ERA, 62.1 IP, 36 K’s, 1.65 WHIP). Gene Baker got an RBI single in the top of the second to put us up 1-0, and Elston Howard gave us a two run lead when he hit an RBI double in the top of the sixth. Sandy Consuegra came in with two outs and a man on first in the bottom of the sixth, keeping the Cardinals scoreless, doing so through the seventh and eighth innings as well! Koufax came in for Consuegra in the bottom of the ninth to protect the two-run shutout lead, and though he allowed a baserunner, he got us through the inning with a pair of flyouts and a game-ending strikeout as we beat the Cardinals for the second time today by a 2-0 margin!

Pascual earned his sixth win of the year, improving to 6-2 with a 2.75 ERA, giving up four hits with seven K’s in his 5.2 inning effort, which was shortened by three walks. Consuegra earned his first hold of the year, lasting 2.1 innings with three hits and a strikeout, and Koufax saved his ninth game with a strikeout and a walk. The rookie now has a 1.50 ERA through 24 innings of work, with 16 strikeouts and a 1.29 WHIP. He is on track for 1.5 WAR as a reliever! Each team had seven hits in the game, with Al Rosen leading the way for us with three hits and two runs scored. Howard and Baker each batted in runs, the middle of our order coming through in a pinch! The two wins send us into Philadelphia with a four-game lead still in the division, though they’ve won three straight and are definitely keeping pace.
 
JUNE 1, 1955 . . . For game one against Philly we’ve got Saul Rogovin (7-3, 2.34 ERA, 96.1 IP, 99 K’s, 0.79 WHIP) pitching against Philly’s Curt Simmons (3-3, 3.80 ERA< 64.0 IP, 18 K’s, 1.31 WHIP). We got a hit and a walk early on, but Robinson hit into a double play to prevent us from doing first-inning damage. He did the same thing in the top of the fourth, and the pitching duel everyone expected took quick shape. In the bottom of the fourth, Rogovin got into a jam, giving up his second hit and his second walk of the game, but got out of the inning with a strikeout to keep the game knotted at zero. We took a 1-0 lead in the top of the seventh thanks to a solo homer by Ernie Banks (his 11th of the season!) via only our second hit of the evening. Sandy Koufax took over in the bottom of the eighth, and it was a poor move on my part -- he struggled with his command, loading the bases and then giving up the tying run, though he did then come through in a tight spot with a double play at home and first, followed by a quick groundout to first to end the inning. We went into the top of the ninth knotted again 1-1, with Consuegra and Dorish warming up in the bullpen.

Robinson got a single to start the ninth, and Ernie Banks beat out the throw on an infield blooper to take first and give us a man in scoring position, bringing up Crandall with one out. Robinson stole third, and a 6-4-3 double play off a grounder by Crandall ended the frame with no score. We decided to bring Harry Dorish in for the bottom of the ninth -- a strikeout started things out, and then he allowed Johnny Wyrostek to reach base on a single and then take second on a wild pitch. He struck out Del Ennis, and Granny Hamner then batted out to center, sending us into extra innings tied 1-1. Gene Baker got a hit in the top of the 10th, and then Dorish bunted successfully, reaching first safely as well, since they chose to throw to second (unsuccessfully, I might add!) Kaline got a hit into right field, loading the bases with one out, and bringing up the real heart of our order. Maris took a ball to the shin, walking in a run to put us ahead 2-1, and Willie Mays got a hit into right, driving in another, though Al Kaline was thrown out trying to take home. That brought Robinson up -- with the count 1-2, he reached first with a grounder thanks to an error, scoring Maris and Mays to give us a commanding 5-1 lead! Dorish stayed in to close things out, but he gave up a triple to the first batter of the frame, and we started to warm Consuegra up in the bullpen. We got an out at first on a grounder, conceding the run that scored from third, pulling the Phillies to within three. Dorish then set the next two batters down by groundout and flyout respectively, and there was no need for a save -- we won this one in the 10th by a 5-2 margin.

Rogovin lasted seven innings with just two hits, two walks and six strikeouts, but had begun to tire after throwing 104 pitches. Koufax got his second blown save of the year but only gave up one run off his three hits and a walk, so his ERA remains a very solid 1.80 through 25 innings. Dorish, meanwhile, improved to 4-0 this year, with just two hits and a run scored to go with two strikeouts. His ERA of 1.35 through 20 innings makes him one of the flat-out best relievers in the game right now. We outhit the Phillies 8-7 -- Kaline had three hits but was stranded each time, and Ernie Banks added two hits for a run and an RBI.

We are now 4-0 in extra innings games this year!

JUNE 2, 1955 . . . Hy Cohen (9-4, 1.57 ERA, 109.0 IP, 93 K’s, 0.72 WHIP) is up in the rotation today against the Phillies’ Bob Rush (2-2, 2.96 ERA, 45.2 IP, 21 K’s, 1.23 WHIP). Willie Mays got a double in the top of the fourth with one out, giving us our first scoring opportunity of the evening, but Jackie Robinson popped out to center and Ernie Banks struck out swinging, keeping us tied and scoreless. Joe Collins broke it open in the top of the fifth, hitting his first homer of the season to make it a 3-0 ballgame, batting in Crandall and Baker as well! It was the right swing at the right time because we hit well all night but failed to string them together. We still led 3-0 heading into the stretch, but Danny Schell blasted one out of center field, putting the Phillies on the board down 3-1 in the bottom of the seventh. Willie Mays flew out to center for our second out in the bottom of the eighth, but the bases were loaded and he drove in a run to put our lead at 4-1. Sandy Koufax came in to pitch in the ninth, with Cohen at 130+ pitches, and he promptly gave up a walk and a base hit, putting us in a bit of a tight spot. But Granny Hamner flew out to center, holding the runners in place ... and then Del Ennis hit a run-scoring double to put two in scoring position with just the one out, with Consuegra warming up in the bullpen. Joe Collins made a great play, catching a blistering hit in midair near first for out number two, and a groundout to first ended the game as a 4-2 Cubs victory, Koufax coming through for three outs with only the one run conceded.

Cohen improved to 10-4 with a 1.54 ERA, giving up six hits with six strikeouts, a walk and one earned run in eight innings. Koufax earned his 10th save, giving up two hits and a walk along with the one earned run, keeping his ERA at 2.08. That was another high leverage save for the young pitcher, and he handled the pressure without letting it eat at him. We outhit the Phillies 11-8 as we improved to 39-11, keeping us on pace for a staggering 120 wins. Maris, Crandall and Baker each had a pair of hits in the game, but Collins’ three-run homer won the game for us. He’s currently hitting just .214 so far this year, but has only played in six games, mostly as a pinch-hitter. At 32, however, he’s happy to be playing for a winner, earning $29,000 through this season. It is highly likely we’ll resign him to stay part of our team in a similar role -- he’s a great bat to have coming off the bench, and he’s a capable fielder as well in a pinch.

Next up we have a four-game set over the next three days in New York -- we’ve beaten the Giants five times out of six this year, and they’re currently 18-34, 22 games out of first, just a hair out of last place.

[jksander]

JUNE 3, 1955 . . . Robert Diehl (8-1, 1.41 ERA, 89.1 IP, 43 K’s, 0.81 WHIP) pitched tonight against Jack Harshman (5-6, 4.52 ERA, 81.2 IP, 47 K’s, 1.60 WHIP) for game one against the Giants. Gene Baker hit his fifth homer of the season to put us ahead 1-0 in the top of the second, but the Giants got on the board with a solo blast by their pitcher, Hershman, his second homer of the year, to knot things up 1-1 in the bottom of the third. And both pitchers stayed locked in from there, so the game remained a low-scoring affair. We went into the seventh inning stretch tied up 1-1, and pinch-hitter Bill White slammed a homer into the center field bleachers to give the Giants a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the inning. Red Wilson hit a two-run blast to right moments later and suddenly we were in a 4-1 hole. We never recovered from that deficit, and though Diehl stayed in to complete the game, we lost by the three runs.

Diehl fell to 8-2, giving up just three hits with three strikeouts and two walks, but the four runs (off three homers) doomed him as he lost his second game in a row and fell to a 1.66 ERA. We outhit them 6-3, but they outslugged us. Mays had two hits and four other batters hit once, but only Gene Baker, with his homer, managed to score.

I’ve spoken with our pitching coach, Adam Burroughs, and he says Sandy Koufax’s stamina has been improving and he thinks we should go back to using Sandy Consuegra as our main closer, giving Koufax a chance to develop into a fifth starter in our rotation. Dorish and Ferrick will remain as our middle relievers, with Dorish getting used more often. Purkey and Porterfield will take on the longer relief situations, with Purkey coming in during higher leverage situations as required. Koufax will fall into the starting rotation behind Camilo Pascual, and may get a start in the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader.
 
JUNE 4, 1955 . . . Camilo Pascual (6-2, 2.75 ERA, 59.0 IP, 58 K’s, 1.17 WHIP) pitched today against New York’s Al “Two Gun” Gettel (0-2, 5.64 ERA, 22.1 IP, 6 K’s, 1.34 WHIP). Jackie Robinson flew out to center but drove in an Al Kaline run to put us up 1-0 in the top of the first. Pascual batted in a run in the top of the fifth to make it 2-0, and Kaline quickly batted in another with a line drive into right field. Willie Mays hit into deep center, scoring Pascual from third to make it 4-0, and Ernie Banks cleared the bases with a three-run homer into the center field stands, his 12th homer of the year, to put us up 7-0! Bob Skinner hit his first homer of the year, a two run blast that put the Giants on the board, but we still went into the sixth inning leading by five runs. Kaline flew out to center in the top of the sixth but drove in a run to make it 8-2, and Pascual got us through the seventh inning. Al Rosen hit his eighth homer of the season to extend our lead to seven runs, and then Gene Baker hit an incredible inside the park homer (his sixth four-bagger of the season!) to make it 10-2! Bob Porterfield came in to pitch in the eighth, and he wound up staying in to get our ninth inning outs as well as we stumped the Giants by eight runs.

Pascual improved to 7-2 with a 2.45 ERA through 11 starts, a two-hitter through seven innings with six strikeouts and two unearned runs. Porterfield had a great night as well, two innings with two hits and one strikeout, as he improved his ERA to 2.92 through 12.1 innings. We outhit them 13-4 in this one, led by Al Kaline (three hits two runs two RBIs) and Al Rosen (three hits three runs one RBI). Ernie Banks’ team high 12th homer of the year was one of his two hits tonight as he drove in three runs.

JUNE 5, 1955 . . . Sandy Koufax (0-1, 10 SV, 2.08 ERA, 26.0 IP, 16 K’s, 1.46 WHIP) got his first-ver start for us in the first game of today’s doubleheader, pitching against Ted Abernathy (1-6, 5.74 ERA, 69.0 IP, 40 K’s, 1.76 WHIP). His previous high mark in innings was four in his second save of the season, a game in which he threw a career high 51 pitches. So this afternoon we’ll be keeping a good eye on him as he gets going, to make sure not to put him out there for longer than necessary as he finds his groove in a non-bullpen role, with Bob Purkey ready to come in to throw a longer bullpen stretch if necessary.

Koufax got three quick outs by flyout while throwing a 10 pitch first inning, and he looked incredibly confident out there as he kept their batters off balance. Walt Dropo hit a solo homer off him in the bottom of the second, putting the Giants up 1-0, but he set the next three batters down efficiently, doing the same in the third. In the top of the fourth we tied it up 1-1 thanks to a fly-out by Elston Howard -- Ernie Banks, who had singled and then stolen second, beat out a throw to third thanks to a dropped catch, coming around from there to score the tying run! Gene Baker hit a single that moved Al Rosen to third, and Koufax hit a sac fly that scored Rosen, giving us a 2-1 lead. Al Kaline then hit a two-run blast into left and their fans were now dead silent as we extended the lead to three runs via Kaline’s fourth homer of the season. Maris and Mays each singled, still with two outs, but Jackie Robinson flew out to end the inning. In the bottom of the fourth, Koufax gave up a solo homer to Dropo, his second of the game, and we started warming Purkey up in the bullpen. But Koufax got us out of the inning on his own, finishing with a flyout and a pickoff play at home plate to send us into the fifth leading 4-2 having thrown 62 pitches. Gene Baker batted in another run in the top of the fifth, and Koufax hit a line drive into right field that scored another, and Al Kaline then hit HIS second homer of the day, a three run blast that turned this into a 9-2 blowout!

With Purkey no longer warmed, we sent him back out to warm his arm and gave Koufax a shot at pitching for the win. Unfortunately a pair of poor fielding incidents allowed the bases to be quickly loaded, and Koufax walked in a run with one out, and we had to bring Purkey in with Koufax now at 81 pitches. A fourth run scored on a groundout to first, and then Purkey gave up a two-run single to cut our lead to 9-6. But he got the final out and the lead remained safe heading into the sixth inning. Gene Baker batted in a run with a bases-loaded sac fly in the top of the sixth, and Purkey, who had only thrown six pitches (giving up three runs) in the fifth, stayed out to avoid depleting our bullpen on double-header day. He handled things perfectly, getting us through the sixth and the seventh without incident, and Al Rosen added to our lead with a run scoring double in the top of the eighth, and Elston Howard added another himself, doubling to make it 12-6. Purkey tried to stay out for the bottom of the eighth but gave up a run scoring triple and we brought out Harry Dorish to finish the game. He got us three quick outs to get out of the eighth with a five-run lead, and then stayed out to get the three outs in the ninth as well as we completed the 12-7 victory in game one.

Sandy Koufax lasted 4.1 innings with just five hits to go with three walks. But he gave up six runs (two earned), throwing a career-high 81 pitches and keeping his ERA at a respectable 2.37. Purkey took the win, improving to 2-0 while throwing 2.2 innings of four-hit ball, striking out one, walking another, and giving up just one earned run himself to keep his ERA at 1.86 through 9.2 innings since joining the Cubs. Dorish lasted two innings with just one hit to go with three strikeouts, improving his already stellar ERA to 1.26 through 22 innings of relief. In a slugfest to end all slugfests, we outhit the Giants 20-10, led by Al Rosen with four hits for three runs and an RBI, while Al Kaline had two hits, both homers, to bat in five more. Maris, Robinson and Howard each had three hits as we flummoxed the New York fielders.

For game two we started Saul Rogovin (7-3, 2.18 ERA, 103.1 IP, 105 K’s, 0.77 WHIP) against Seth Morehead (4-3, 3.25 ERA, 69.1 IP, 54 K’s, 1.30 WHIP). We’re also starting pitcher Bob Purkey for the first time playing at third base due to his strong infield arm, giving Jackie Robinson a chance to rest in game two -- he has the potential to be a solid two-way player as a utility infielder in addition to his pitching ability, and it’s time to start giving him chances.

Ernie Banks put us on the board in the top of the second, hitting his 13th homer and giving us a 1-0 lead. But in the bottom of the inning the Giants’ Claudio Solano hit a three-run homer to left, putting them up 3-1 out of nowhere and signifying this was gonna be a battle. Purkey got a base hit to start the top of the third, and a Saul Rogovin double gave us two pitchers in scoring position! Purkey slid in to home, scoring a run on a Roger Maris sacfly to center, cutting the lead to one run as we went into the bottom of the inning. Rogovin loaded the bases in the bottom of the fourth, but he got two strikeouts in a row, holding all the runners, and a flyout to center ended the inning with no one scoring. Bob Porterfield came in to pitch in the bottom of the fifth with one out and a man on first, getting a strikeout and catching a runner stealing second, getting us out of it still trailing 3-2. Porterfield gave up a run in the bottom of the sixth to make it 4-2 Giants, and we brought in Tom Ferrick to pitch in the bottom of the seventh with the margin still at two runs. Sandy Consuegra came in with one out and men on first and second in the bottom of the eighth, getting a double play quickly to end the inning and give us one last chance with the heart of our order in the top of the ninth. But Mays, Banks and Howard all hit flyouts and we lost game two by a 4-2 margin.

Rogovin took the loss, falling to 7-4 with a 2.34 ERA, giving up three hits for three runs with four strikeouts and four walks through 4.1 innings. Porterfield gave us 1.2 innings of one-hit one strikeout two walk ball, giving up a run and bringing his ERA to 3.21. Tom Ferrick got through 1.1 innings with just a hit and a strikeout, improving his ERA to 8.31 having only pitched in four games this season. And Consuegra kept his ERA perfect, giving us two much-needed outs in his eighth appearance of the season. We were outhit 5-4 in this tight pitchers’ battle, walking only one time as well, so on-base opportunities were all but impossible to find. Bob Purkey did what he could, getting a hit and scoring a run, as did Banks who also had an RBI. Roger Maris had our other RBI, on a night that was overall bereft of offense.

We’re still atop the power rankings this week, well ahead of Boston and the Phillies. Our next opponent is Pittsburgh (27-29, 15 GB), who we’ll face for three games on their field. We still hold a 4.5 game lead on Philadelphia, with Cincinnati (30-22, 10 GB) still fighting to stay in contention. In the AL, the Boston Red Sox have taken the lead, at 35-18, two games up on Cleveland (32-19) and three up on the Yankees (31-20) in what looks like a red-hot race in that league.

[jksander]

JUNE 7, 1955 . . . Seven road games left before we get ourselves a two week, 14-game set back at Wrigley. So far we’re 6-2 on this road trip, with a 41-13 record, so we’re doing very well. But Philly’s nipping at our heels, and this has the feeling of a season where the slightest misstep can provide the momentum a rival needs. If this is a year where two NL teams put up 100+ wins, I don’t want it to be the year the Cubs miss out on the World Series while winning 100+.

Hy Cohen (10-4, 1.54 ERA, 117.0 IP, 99 K’s, 0.73 WHIP) started today’s game against Pittsburgh’s Johnny Kucks (4-4, 3.68 ERA, 78.1 IP, 21 K’s, 1.31 WHIP). We got things going quickly in the top of the first -- Al Kaline hit a single to start the game, then Maris hit a double to drive Kaline to third. Willie Mays ground out to first, scoring Kaline, and then Jackie Robinson hit a triple that almost left the park, driving home run number two! Ernie Banks flew out to right, driving in our third run and we went into the bottom of the first with a 3-0 cushion already for Cohen. Del Crandall hit a solo blast in the top of the fourth to put us up 4-0, his 12th four-bagger of the year, The Pirates got on the board with a solo homer of their own by Rocky Colavito, but though Cohen let two runners into scoring position in the bottom of the sixth, the Pirates blew their chance to add runs as our ace remained locked in to get the final outs. We went into the top of the seventh still up 4-1, and in the bottom of the ninth Cohen gave up only his fourth hit of the game, a triple, allowing a groundout to first to score the Pirates’ second run of the night. They got one more hit out of him and then a flyout to right ended the game as a 4-2 Cubs victory.

Cohen improved to 11-4 with a five hit, six strikeout two run game, keeping his ERA at 1.57 on the season as he completed yet another game on his own, throwing just 116 pitches. We outhit the Pirates 10-5, led by Kaline with three hits and a run scored and by Crandall, who hit three times for a run and an RBI. Maris hit twice for a run on the ground, and Jackie Robinson had a hit for a run and an RBI. Mays has proven to be able to take whatever a team throws at him and make it work on the basepaths, with five doubles, five triples and seven homers since joining our team this spring. He’s also stolen six bases in eight tries, putting up 1.2 WAR in 35 games.

JUNE 8, 1955 . . . Robert Diehl (8-2, 1.66 ERA, 97.1 IP, 46 K’s, 0.79 WHIP) hasn’t had the best luck in his last couple games, but he started tonight’s game ready to put all that behind him and have a great performance. He’ll be up against Pittsburgh’s Dick Hall (4-8, 2.92 ERA, 95.2 IP, 37 K’s, 1.22 WHIP). Pittsburgh got on the board first with a run in the bottom of the first, Rip Repulski flying out to left but allowing Ken Boyer, who walked and reached second on a wild pitch, to come all the way around for an unearned run. Maris got himself a double in the top of the fourth, reaching third on a groundout by Mays to first, at which point Jackie Robinson hit a homer over the right field wall just inside fair territory, putting us in the lead 2-1! That was Robinson’s 11th homer of the year! Robinson got a sharp hit into center field in the top of the sixth, loading the bases, but we couldn’t get anyone in to score. But Diehl was locked in after that single walk in the first, the only baserunner he allowed in the first six innings, and we went into the top of the seventh still leading 2-1. Diehl allowed a second baserunner in the bottom of the seventh thanks to a botched catch by Rosen, which allowed Dale Long to reach second on an error. With one out, Rocky Colavito hit a towering homer to left field, blowing Diehl’s no-hitter and putting Pittsburgh back up 3-2. He finished the inning with a hit and two more strikeouts, and it was time for our bats to give him some support. Al Kaline got a walk to start the inning, and Jackie Robinson came up huge again with two outs, hitting a second homer, this one a two-run blast to left, that put us back ahead 4-3! Dorish stayed out and got three quick contact outs, bringing us up to bat, top of the ninth, with a one run lead and a chance to buy some insurance. Del Crandall got a hit into right field, and AL Rosen walked, giving us a man in scoring position and no outs. Bob Purkey came in to hit for Gene Baker and take over at second base, hitting a slow groundout at first that allowed both runners to advance. With Consuegra ready to come in for the save, we pinch hit Roy Sievers for Diehl, and he hit a sac-fly to right, driving in an insurance run! Kaline then got a hit that bounced off the wall at center, missing being a homer by maybe five feet, an RBI double that put us up 6-3! Strikeout, groundout, flyout and boom, Consuegra got us through the final inning with ease and we stumped the Pirates 6-3!

Diehl improved to 9-2 with an eight inning two hitter, striking out five against one walk and giving up three runs (two earned) to keep his ERA at 1.71 while throwing 105 pitches. Consuegra earned his fourth save of the year, striking out one batter and keeping his ERA perfect through 10 innings of work. We outhit the Pirates 9-2, with Robinson dominating offensively with three hits (two homers!) for two runs and four RBIs. Kaline and Maris each had two hits for a run apiece, with Kaline batting in one as well.

Joe Collins has signed a one year extension to remain one of our top pinch-hitting options off the bench, with a slight raise to $33,200 on his contract for next season. We also signed left fielder Charlie Maxwell to join our major league roster as an additional pinch-hitting option -- he has great power and discipline at the plate, and though he’s not a great fielder, he’ll be a good option to have late in games. Though he’s had a few cups of coffee at the major league level, the 28-year-old is still looking for his first real break since Boston released him in 1953. He’ll be replacing Joe Brovia on our bench starting with tomorrow’s final game in Pittsburgh. He’ll make the major league minimum for the remainder of the year ($9,900) and if we like what we see, we can extend him this fall.

JUNE 9, 1955 . . . Camilo Pascual (7-2, 2.45 ERA, 66.0 IP, 64 K’s, 1.08 WHIP) pitched the final game of the Pittsburgh series, up against Don Bessent (3-2, 2.47 ERA, 62.0 IP, 27 K’s, 1.24 WHIP). Pascual struggled in the second inning, giving up three hits and a walk, the last hit an RBI single that scored two runs. Another RBI, this time a double, scored two more, and we went into the top of the third trailing 4-0 with Pascual already having thrown 40 pitches. Pascual gave up a solo homer to Joe Garagiola to make it 5-0 in the bottom of the third, but Gene Baker finally got us on the board with a solo homer to right, his seventh of the year, to make it a 5-1 ballgame in the top of the fifth. Pascual reached base on a fielding error, but Roger Maris hit into an inning-ending double play to stop the rally in its tracks. Pascual gave up another solo homer, again to Garagiola, to make it 6-1 and bringing in Bob Purkey with the hook, two outs, no one on, bottom of the fifth. Jackie Robinson reached first on a throwing error, and then stole second, giving us a runner in scoring position with just one out. Ernie Banks got a hit into center, driving Robinson to third, and Robinson scored on a flyout to left by Al Rosen to make it a four-run game. Del Crandall reached base on another error by the Pirates’ third-baseman, but this time Baker flew out to left, ending the top of the sixth with us still in a 6-2 hole, at which point the game got called on account of rain, the game considered official as a four-run loss.

Pascual took the loss, falling to 7-3, lasting just 4.2 innings with eight hits, three strikeouts, a walk and six earned runs, dropping his ERA to 3.06 on the year. Purkey came in and got one out on four pitches, and was visably frustrated that he wasn’t given a chance to get us back in this one. Pittsburgh outhit us 8-7, Robinson and Baker scoring our only runs. Roger Maris had two hits but we left him twice stranded.

Onward to New York! We have a four-game set against the Brooklyn Dodgers, and then we can return to Wrigley for some early summer weather and see how our fans are doing. With our loss, the Phillies (40-18) pulled within 3.5 games of us, so despite our 43-14 record, we really need these four games against Brooklyn to go well. The Phillies are on a six game winning streak, with three games at home against the Redlegs (30-25) on Saturday and Sunday. The AL, meanwhile, is completely insane, with five teams within 5.5 games of each other, though the Red Sox (36-20) are now 7-3 in their last 10. The White Sox, in sixth, are only 11.5 games back and are 7-3 in their last ten as well. Only Kansas City (16-38) and Baltimore (16-40) are completely out of the picture.

[jksander]

JUNE 10, 1955 . . . Sandy Koufax (0-1, 2.37 ERA, 30.1 IP, 16 K’s, 1.52 WHIP) took the mound tonight against Johnny Podres (6-5, 4.27 ERA, 86.1 IP, 64 K’s, 1.16 WHIP) in our first of four games against the Dodgers at Ebbetts Field. Koufax struggled in the first inning to find his rhythm, and Roy Campanella put the Dodgers up 1-0 with an RBI single, and with two outs Frank Thomas batted in two more with a standing double before Sandy could get that third out. Al Rosen got us on the board with a solo homer in the top of the second, his ninth of the season, and Koufax got us through innings two and three without incident. Ernie Banks batted in a run in the top of the fourth, Willie Mays coming around to score from second, with Jackie Robinson advancing into scoring position. Del Crandall dropped a shot into left, loading the bases, and Al Rosen flew out to right, driving in the tying run! Koufax, with two outs, drove a bullet into center field, putting us up 4-3, and Kaline got his 25th RBI with a double that scored another. By the time Roger Maris grounded out to first we’d scored four and taken a 5-3 lead heading into the bottom of the fourth. An error by Rosen, a wild pitch and a single by Sandy Amoros put Koufax in a tough spot in the fourth, and he loaded the bases on another error. With Porterfield still warming, Pee Wee Reese hit a run scoring single that drove Frank Thomas in to score, but Sandy Amoros tried to steal home and was called out for our second of the inning, with the score now 5-4. Bob Porterfield came in, two outs, men on first and second, and got one popped up straight to Baker to end the inning with the lead intact.

Podres walked Mays and Robinson to start the top of the fifth, and Ernie Banks got a hit into center that drove in a run. Al Rosen drove in another on one out, putting Banks into scoring position. With the bases loaded, Bob Porterfield got a hit into left field, keeping the bases jammed and scoring our eighth run of the day, and we went into the bottom of the fifth leading 8-4. Jackie Robinson legged out a triple in the top of the sixth, and Del Crandall hit his 13th homer of the year (tying with Banks!) and put us up 10-4. Al Rosen hit a dinger of his own to give us back-to-back four-baggers, giving him ten on the year as we increased our lead to seven runs. Willie Mays hit HIS 12th homer, a solo blast to left in the top of the seventh, and Ernie Banks took back his team lead with 14 homers, blasting one to left to give us a 13-4 lead as we headed into the seventh inning stretch. Bob Porterfield stayed in to start the eighth, but we went ahead and brought in Bob Purkey after he surrendered a no-outs two-run homer to Carl Furillo to make it 13-6 in the bottom of the inning. Robinson had another triple in the top of the ninth, scoring on a flyout by Ernie Banks, and Purkey stayed in to close out the blowout, getting us three efficient outs as we won this one 14-6!

Bob Porterfield lasted 3.1 innings with three hits, a strikeout, a walk and two earned runs, giving him a 3.63 ERA through 17.1 innings this year, putting him two shy of last year’s full season total as a Cub. Bob Purkey gave us six solid outs, no hits, one strikeout, closing the game out and bringing his ERA down to 1.50 through 12 innings. Koufax’s second start did not go as planned, but he made it through 3.2 innings with just five hits, though two walks plus the unfortunate string of errors in the fourth really hurt him. He finished with four runs (three earned) and his ERA slipped to 2.91 through 34 innings over 22 appearances. But we outslugged them 18-8, with Al Rosen hitting two homers, Crandall, Mays and Banks adding one each of their own. Banks and Rosen combined for seven hits and eight RBIs between them, and only Roger Maris and Bob Purkey went hitless.

JUNE 11, 1955 . . . Saul Rogovin (7-4, 2.34 ERA, 107.2 IP, 109 K’s, 0.81 WHIP) pitched tonight against Billy Loes (3-5, 5.04 ERA, 69.2 IP, 30 K’s, 1.25 WHIP). Charlie Maxwell subbed into the lineup today in place of Maris, who struggled in his last appearance and asked for a day to rest, so Maxwell will get his first start as a Cub at left field. Maxwell wound up getting a hit in his first at-bat, driving a hard shot into left field as he safely took first with one out. But Mays and Robinson struck out, keeping us scoreless. And there weren’t a lot of scoring opportunities from there -- we entered the top of the sixth inning tied 0-0 with just six hits between the teams. Willie Mays opened the inning with a double and they walked Robinson. But Banks batted out to left. Crandall loaded the bases, and finally Al Rosen was able to bat in a pair of runs with a double, sending us into the bottom of the sixth with a 2-0 lead! We loaded the bases in the seventh as well, but Del Crandall batted out to left to end the inning without any insurance. Rogovin struck out his 10th batter in the bottom of the seventh, but then let the Dodgers on the board with a solo blast to center by Frank Thomas. He got the outs to keep our lead safe, and he got us through the eighth as well, and with two outs in the top of the ninth, Jackie Robinson hit his 13th homer of the year to increase our lead to 3-1! Consuegra came in to close things out, and he set them down quickly to get us out of the game with a 3-1 win heading into tomorrow’s doubleheader.

Rogovin made it through eight four-hit innings, striking out a dozen batters with no walks, giving up just the one earned run via the Frank Thomas homer. He now has a 2.26 ERA and an 8-4 record on the year through 16 starts. Sandy Consuegra earned his fifth save, striking out a batter and giving up no hits or walks to stay perfect thorugh 11 innings over 10 appearances. Not bad for a guy who will turn 35 in September! We had nine hits, led by Kaline’s three (though he was stranded each time). Jackie Robinson had a hit and two walks, scoring two runs and driving in another! Al Rosen also had a hit with two RBIs as we picked up our 45th win of the season, giving me my 250th win as the manager of the Chicago Cubs, keeping us four games up on the Phillies (41-18).

[jksander]

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EARLY EDITION * * * SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 1955 * * * 10 CENTS

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The Wizard of Wrigley

by JONATHAN K. SANDERS
Sun-Times Lead Sports Columnist

CHICAGO, Ill. -- For those of you who only casually follow the American pasttime, it might have been easy for you to miss, but something is really beginning to happen on the north side of Chicago. Out of nowhere the Cubs have become the juggernauts of the National League, and a great deal of the praise has to go to manager Michael Tanzillo who, at age 38, has already become one of the best in the game.

Tanzillo arrived at Wrigley during the spring of 1953 and took over managerial duties from Phil Cavarretta, subsequently taking a team that many expected to flounder around the middle of the pack and turned them into the NL’s second best team. The Cubbies won 95 games that year and missed out on a World Series appearance by just two games in a neck-and-neck battle with the Dodgers. Disappointing, but also invigorating, for a franchise that has not won a title since 1908.

Was it a fluke? Not even close! The Cubs came out swinging in 1954 and outright dominated the NL, winning 110 games -- the second most ever for a Cubs team -- and made it to the World Series. And though they lost the series in four games to a tough Cleveland squad, the guantlet had been thrown down. These Cubs were not going to be content to merely battle for pennants. They want to come back and win the whole thing.

Tanzillo took over full General Manager duties of the team in the fall of 1953 under John Hollingsworth, the Texas billionaire oil magnate who purchased the team from the Wrigley family in 1952, and has wheeled and dealed his way to building one of the top pitching rotations in the majors, while also bringing in sluggers the fans can get behind. Their current lineup of Al Kaline, Roger Maris, Willie Mays, Jackie Robinson, Ernie Banks, Del Crandall, Al Rosen and Gene Baker has become a murder’s row of hitters capable of putting up staggering numbers on teams at any point in a game.

The Cubs are currently performing even better than last year’s team, if you can believe it, though they’re being chased by a Philadelphia team built in an eerily similar vein, the Phillies hoping they can out-duel the Cubs and claw their way to the top of the NL standings. But Tanzillo has now won 250 games as a manager -- in two and a half years of work with the team, that puts him at number eight all-time in managerial wins as a Cub leader. And he’s done it even faster than legends like Cap Anson, Charlie Grimm and Frank Chance.

Can he get them a title and end the curse? That, ultimately, will be how Tanzillo is judged in Chicago. But win or lose, he’s already done the unthinkable and turned this squad into a well-oiled machine capable of building a dynasty. In the process, Wrigley Field has become one of the most fun places to spend your money this summer.

Winningest Cubs Managers (1876-1955)
1879, 1880-1897: Cap Anson (1283-932)
1932-1938, 1944-1949: Charlie Grimm (940-771)
1905-1912: Frank Chance (768-389)
1926-1930: Joe McCarthy (442-321)
1917-1920: Fred Mitchell (308-269)
1921-1925: Bill Killefer (300-293)
1902-1905: Frank Selee (280-213)
1953-: Michael Tanzillo (250-117) - Through June 11, 1955
1941-1944: Jimmie Wilson (213-258)
1938-1940: Gabby Hartnett (203-176)

[jksander]

JUNE 12, 1955 . . . Doubleheader day! Hy Cohen (11-4, 1.57 ERA, 126.0 IP, 105 K’s, 0.71 WHIP) is up in game one against Brooklyn’s Connie Johnson (3-3, 4.35 ERA, 51.2 IP, 30 K’s, 1.43 WHIP), who has started five times this year and saved four games during 11 relief appearances. Kaline and Maris got back to back hits to start the first inning, and Jackie Robinson took a base-on-balls to load the bases. Ernie Banks then hit a 430-plus foot grand salami, going nearly out of the park, to put us up 4-0 and giving him his 15th homer of the year! Hits were hard to get from there -- we had two in scoring position in the top of the fifth but came up empty. But Cohen had the lead to work with and had blanked the Dodgers to that point, and he continued to pitch lights-out baseball. We loaded the bases in the top of the seventh and again came up empty, the Dodgers praying for a Hy Cohen meltdown late in this game to get them back in it. But he is our ace for a reason, and they remained scoreless heading into the ninth. In the top of the inning we added a fifth run via Roger Maris’ fifth homer of the season, and Ernie Banks hit HIS second of the game, a solo shot to left, to make it 6-0 via his 16th of the season. Cohen went into the bottom of the ninth with a six run lead and he struck out the side! That did it, we dominated game one of the day with a 6-0 shutout victory!

Cohen is now 12-4 with a 1.47 ERA as he continues to fight for consideration as the best pitcher in the National League. Tonight he pitched a complete game two-hit shutout, striking out nine and walking no one. Aside from the perfect game he threw on May 2, 1954, Cohen has now thrown EIGHT complete game shutouts in his career, this being just his second two-hitter and his fourth no-walk shutout. We notched 11 hits ourselves, led by Ernie “Mr. Cub” Banks, who had three hits and two homers, giving him five RBIs today. He already led the team in homers, but now has a three-RBI lead on Willie Mays as well despite only hitting .234 so far this year. Roger Maris came back from his recent down stretch, hitting three times with a homer himself, scoring twice and batting in another -- he’s now hitting .251/.346/.348, and though his slugging is down he’s hitting more consistently and getting on base very well.

For game two we brought out Camilo Pascual (7-3, 3.06 ERA, 70.2 IP, 67 K’s, 1.13 WHIP), saving Diehl and Rogovin for our return to Wrigley on Tuesday. He started against Brooklyn’s Larry Jansen (7-5, 2.62 ERA, 96.1 IP, 49 K’s, 1.03 WHIP). This game is also a chance to rest some of our batters, as we then get a day off and can go into our two weeks at Wrigley refreshed and ready. So we did not go into this one expecting a ton of offense. But we loaded the bases in the top of the first off a hit and two walks, making Larry Jansen throw nearly 30 pitches, so even though we didn’t score quickly, we did a good deal to wear one of their best starters down early. Al Kaline had a solo jack into the center field bleachers, his sixth homer of the year, to put us up 1-0 in the top of the third, and Grady Hatten added an RBI triple, sending us into the bottom of the third with a 2-0 lead. And Pascual struck out the side in the bottom of the inning, staying red hot as we looked to extend our lead. Elston Howard hit a solo blast to center in the top of the fifth, giving us a 3-0 lead and Howard just his third homer of the season. Pascual continued to have the best game of his young career, finally putting his great stuff together with excellent control and movement to completely leave the Dodgers on their heels. They kept Larry Jansen out way too long, and in the top of the seventh Grady Hatton hit his first homer of the year to the right-field side, driving in two more runs to give us a 5-0 lead. Al Kaline batted Gene Baker in to score with a single in the top of the eighth to extend the lead, and that six run advantage allowed us to go into the bottom of the ninth with Pascual still in firm control from the mound, only his second time going the distance so far this season. A flyout, a strikeout and a groundout helped him get around a hit and a walk, closing this one out as we beat the Dodgers 6-0, sweeping the four-game set!

Camilo Pascual showed us what he’s made of, pitching a complete game three-hit shutout, striking out 14 batters with just three walks! That beat his career high by three K’s, and he threw 113 pitches, two more than his previous best. He now holds a very solid 8-3 record with a 2.71 ERA through 13 starts. This was his second career three-hit shutout with more than 10 strikeouts and three or fewer walks -- glad we got him locked up on that seven year $375,000 deal! We outhit the Dodgers today 8-3, led by Grady Hatton’s three hits for a run and three RBIs. Kaline and Howard each hit twice as well. Scoring three runs with three RBIs between them.

Having gone a stunning 12-3 on this last road trip, we now come back to Wrigley for 14 games in a two week stretch, including a four-game series against Philadelphia next weekend that is going to be critical if we want to put some distance between us and secure a strong lead in the National League. We’ve won four in a row, but the Phillies (43-18) are now on a seven game win streak, which has them just four games behind us. Right now it looks to be a two-team race, with Cincinnati (30-29, 16 GB), Pittsburgh (31-32, 17 GB) and Brooklyn (28-31, 18 GB) all falling further behind. Over in the AL, Cleveland (37-21) has retaken the lead, half a game up on Boston (37-22), but with New York (34-24, 3 GB), Detroit (31-25, 5 GB) and Washington (33-27, 5 GB) all right there in the mix.

[jksander]

JUNE 14, 1955 . . . Before we take on the Phillies again, we’ve got a three-game homestand hosting the New York Giants (24-38) as we hope to keep our win streak going and go into the weekend series on a high note. The Phillies, meanwhile, will be putting their win streak on the line against Milwaukee (22-38) on the road, which has the Sun-Times buzzing about the potential of both streaks continuing into the four games this weekend. What a battle! We’ve won seven of ten games so far this year against the Giants, with Diehl, Rogovin and Koufax most likely to pitch in this series (Cohen and Pascual will go in games one and two this weekend, leaving us plenty of depth to handle the doubleheader on Sunday.

Today Robert Diehl (9-2, 1.71 ERA, 105.1 IP, 51 K’s, 0.76 WHIP) got the start against Giants pitcher Jack Harshman (6-6, 3.91 ERA, 99.0 IP, 57 K’s, 1.48 WHIP). Roger Maris got himself a triple in the bottom of the first with a weak grounder that managed to slow-roll all the way into the right field corner, but we couldn’t get him around to score. The Giants got on the board in the top of the second, Pidge Browne coming out with an RBI single to give them a 1-0 lead. Kaline tripled but came up empty in the bottom of the third, only our second baserunner of the afternoon, but they walked Mays and Robinson to start the bottom of the fourth, giving us our first glimmer of a scoring hope. Al Rosen got a hit with two outs that finally batted in the tying run, and we went into the top of the fifth knotted 1-1. We loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh but came up empty, heading into the eighth still tied up 1-1, bringing Harry Dorish in to try and keep this tight game from getting away from us. He allowed two baserunners but we were able to get out of the top of the inning with no score, Robinson got on board but was caught trying to steal second and Banks flew out to right, keeping this one in heart attack territory for our fans. Sandy Consuegra came in, top of the ninth, one out and a man on first, getting the runner out at second and then striking out pinch-hitter Zeke Bella to send us into the bottom of the inning knotted 1-1 with a chance to walk it off! Crandall batted out to left, but Al Rosen got himself on first with an infield single. Gene Baker walked, bringing up Consuegra with just one out. He tried to lay down a bunt but wound up hitting into an inning-ending double play. We’re going for extras! In the bottom of the 10th, Al Kaline got himself a base hit but turned it into a double as he slid safely into second. And Roger Maris created himself some future Cubbie lore by hitting a two-run walkoff homer into the throng of Bleacher Bums, winning this one for us 3-1 in extra innings!

Sandy Consuegra came into this one and gave us 1.2 innings with two strikeouts and no hits, keeping his ERA perfect at 0.00 and winning his third game of the year, improving to 3-0! Diehl had a great night with just four hits in seven innings, striking out six batters and giving up just the one earned run to keep his ERA at 1.68. And Harry Dorish came in with the game in a tight spot, and though he walked three batters through 1.1 innings, he got out of it with no hits, improving his ERA to 1.16 through 23.1 innings in 15 appearances. We outhit the Giants 7-4, led by Roger Maris’s two run homer (the homer being his second hit of the game) and by pairs of hits from Al Kaline (one run scored) and Al Rosen (one run batted in).

I’ve been told I was crazy to keep Consuegra in to bat in the bottom of the ninth when a pinch-hitter could have walked it off and saved us the extra inning, but I’d rather have him back out there pitching and win it in extras if necessary -- though we’re only 7-5 in one-run games, we’re undefeated in extra innings so far this year.
 
JUNE 15, 1955 . . . Sandy Koufax (0-1, 2.91 ERA, 34.0 IP, 18 K’s, 1.56 WHIP) got the start today, hoping this would be the day he gets through enough innings to qualify for his first decision as a starter. He’s had 81 and 72 pitches in his two starts, but has yet to get through the fifth inning in either start. He’s up against Ted Abernathy (2-7, 5.68 ERA, 82.1 IP, 50 K’s, 1.74 WHIP). This will be Koufax’s first start at Wrigley Field, and just hs eighth appearance here -- most of his pitching has been done in tough road enviroments. So fans here in the friendly confines are really looking forward to seeing him pitch well.

Ernie Banks hit a triple in the bottom of the second, but he tried for home on a flyout by Crandall and didn’t beat the tag. Koufax got through the fourth inning with just a pair of hits, but he’d thrown 69 pitches with three walked batters, so keeping him in for the fifth was going to be a battle if we couldn’t get some run support, still knotted 0-0 heading into the bottom of the inning. Mays got himself a single in the bottom of the fourth, and Jackie Robinson laid a hit down just past the fielder, bouncing off the center-field wall to give him an RBI double, giving us a 1-0 lead and some breathing room with just one out. They walked Banks and Crandall, loading the bases, and Al Rosen hit a flyout to center that still drove in a second run. So Koufax had some room to work in the top of the fifth, up 2-0. Unfortunately he walked a pair, and with Ferrick warming up in the bullpen, a wild pitch advanced both runners into scoring position. But a strikeout and a groundout got him through the inning, lead intact, and we were able to sit Ferrick down and prepare Bob Purkey to get us through a couple innings instead, with Koufax at 88 pitches and ready to come out of the game after giving us five. Purkey got us through the next three innings without incident, setting Consuegra up nicely for a save. He came in, top of the ninth with a 2-0 lead, and promptly loaded the bases ... what the hell, man? A flyout to center held the runners in place, and a throw from Rosen at first to Gene Baker at second picked off a runner there, allowing Bob Skinner to reach first safely, driving in a run from third -- two outs! A flyout to center field iced it as we escaped with a 2-1 victory by the skin of Consuegra’s teeth.

Sandy Koufax took the win, improving to 1-1 on the season with a 2.54 ERA, but he’s got a lot of work to do on his control. He only gave up two hits and struck out three batters, but he walked five -- without those walks, he wouldn’t have had 88 pitches in five innings and could have stayed in longer. Purkey got himself his first hold of the season, lasting three innings with no hits and a strikeout, and despite giving up a hit and two walks in the ninth, Consuegra got his sixth save of the year -- and his one earned run through 22 pitches only dropped his ERA to 0.66 through 13.2 innings, so he was probably due a rough inning and he still came out of it on top. We outhit them 5-3 in a pitcher’s duel, led by Robinson’s hit for a run and an RBI, as well as by Rosen’s sac-fly that batted in our only other run.

Our streak inmproves to six in a row as we improved to 49-14 on the season, gaining a game on Philadelphia (44-19) whose 10-game winning streak came to an end this afternoon in a 5-1 loss at Milwaukee.

JUNE 16, 1955 . . . Saul Rogovin (8-4, 2.26 ERA, 115.2 IP, 121 K’s, 0.79 WHIP) got his 17th start of the year this afternoon, facing down New York’s Seth Morehead (6-3, 3.12 ERA, 83.2 IP, 71 K’s, 1.25 WHIP). After a stretch of five wins in a row in late April / early May, Rogovin’s gone 3-4 since then, but he’s coming off a four hit, 12 strikeout win at Brooklyn, and he’s had five games this year where he’s struck out more than 10 batters, including his team-record 16 K effort on May 25th against St. Louis here at Wrigley. So there’s no reason to expect anything but a great matchup between these two today, a cloudy cool day on the north side.

Kaline hit a triple in the bottom of the third, and Robinson had a double in the bottom of the fourth, but we remained knotted 0-0 heading into the fifth inning, the pitching and fielding on both sides keeping this one an intense battle. Rogovin, however, was on a whole different plane from the rest of us ... by the end of the fifth inning he already had 11 strikeouts and had only given up one hit! When Roger Maris hit a three-run blast into the right field bleachers, his seventh homer of the season, you could see the wind going out of the Giants’ sails -- this one looked way out of reach. Rogovin tied his own Cubs’ strikeout record in the top of the eighth by striking out Willie Miranda, and he broke it, TYING THE NL REGULAR SEASON RECORD, by striking out Zeke Bella to end the inning! That record fell in the top of the ninth, as Rogovin stayed in to complete the 3-0 shutout win, a real pitching gem!

Rogovin improved to 9-4 on the season with a 2.09 ERA, throwing 132 pitches -- 91 of them strikes! -- as he gave up three hits against 18 strikeouts, with no walks! We had eight hits ourselves, led by Roger Maris’ three-run homer that was our only offense of the afternoon. Al Kaline had two hits for a run on the ground, Mays had two hits and was stranded both times, and benchwarmer Danny Lynch, subbing at second, got himself a hit and a run on the ground as well. We won our seventh in a row, and will go into the four-game series against Philly with 50 wins, still on pace for a major-league record 120 victories! The Phillies, meanwhile, lost their 20th of the season, bringing them to Wrigley on a two-game skid and trailing us by six games. Considering we’ve gone 6-1 against the Phillies despite margins of 3-1, 5-3, 4-1, 1-2, 3-1, 5-2 and 4-2, we should be able to expect two things -- close games, and for the Phillies to be absolutely GUNNING for us. We’ll play them eight times in July, twice in August and then one final time at Wrigley in September, and these 15 remaining rivalry games could decide who wins the NL.

[jksander]

JUNE 17, 1955 . . . It’s Friday, and time for the first of four games this weekend at Wrigley between the Cubs and the Phillies! It’s a playoff atmosphere, with just shy of 29,000 screaming Cubs fans packing this place on a partly cloudy 70 degree June afternoon. Hy Cohen (12-4, 1.47 ERA, 135.0 IP, 114 K’s, 0.68 WHIP) is up in the rotation after five days’ rest, so he should be particularly sharp against Philly’s red-hot Don Newcombe (12-2, 2.12 ERA, 119.0 IP, 77 K’s, 0.82 WHIP) who has completed his last EIGHT GAMES IN A ROW for wins, giving up just three runs combined in his last five games. Both pitchers have been putting up Cy Young level performances all summer, so you can betcha we’re expecting a pitching jubilee here in Wrigleyville, with every baserunner being as good as gold.

Hy Cohen had an unusually bad second inning, giving up two hits and two walks, loading the bases and then allowing Willie Jones to bat in two runs with a single to left. We got out of the inning trailing just 2-0, but in a game like this, giving up 43 pitches and two runs in two innings could mean the ballgame if we couldn’t get our bats to crack Newcombe’s stoic façade. Ernie Banks got on base in the bottom of the inning, stealing second with the count 2-2 against Bob Purkey, who was playing first base for us this afternoon. Purkey reached first safely on a throwing error that allowed Banks to reach third, and Cohen got soft contact that bounced the ball into center, scoring a run! Kaline hit a triple that bounced off the Ivy and allowed him to leg out an RBI triple, that put us up 3-2, and this game was back on track, though that pitchers’ duel was not in fact materializing -- there were eight combined hits in the first two innings.

Robinson came up with his eighth triple of the year with one out in the bottom of the third, and Ernie Banks blasted one into the right field corner to leg out a double and drive in another run! Maris hit his second triple of the afternoon in the bottom of the fourth, driving in another run to make it 5-2 Cubs, and the game was suddenly going completely our way. After giving up the two runs in the second, Cohen settled in nicely, and with the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth Willie Mays drove in a sixth run. Visibly frustrated by the end, Newcombe stayed in to complete the game but his batters weren’t able to shake Cohen’s confidence outside that one blink in the second inning. Cohen stayed in to complete the game, which ended as a 6-2 beatdown.

Improving to 13-4 with a 1.50 ERA, Cohen threw a season high 136 pitches to complete the game, giving up just seven hits with nine strikeouts and two walks, the two earned runs his only blemish. We out-hit them 12-7 in this one, led by Ernie Banks’ three hits for a run and an RBI. Kaline and Maris also had two hits apiece, as did Cohen, who scored three runs and batted in another himself, doing more than most pitchers can to put his team back in the win column. Philly has made great strides in the pitching department, but their bats are leaving them a good deal to be desired -- our +193 Run Differential is more than double theirs, and they’ve struggled on the road. Will that be the difference-maker in this pennant race?

JUNE 18, 1955 . . . We’re pushing 30,000 fans at today’s contest, cloudy, windy and still right around 70 degrees, with plenty of Old Style Beer on tap! Camilo Pascual (8-3, 2.71 ERA, 79.2 IP, 81 K’s, 1.08 WHIP) took the mound against Philly’s Curt Simmons (5-3, 2.95 ERA, 88.1 IP, 28 K’s, 1.20 WHIP). Philly got on board quickly today, scoring on an RBI double by Del Ennis to take a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. We finally got going in the bottom of the fourth, thanks to a Willie Mays solo blast to left, his 13th of the season, to tie us all up at 1-1. And this one turned into the kind of pitched pitcher battle we’d expected yesterday, with Pascual and Simmons holding batters at bay fairly equally through the first five innings. The Phillies loaded the bases in the top of the sixth thanks to a couple hits and an error by Ernie Banks, but we made a great pickoff play at home to prevent a score, almost getting a double play with a throw to first, and Pascual got the strikeout to get us out safely still knotted and with Pascual nearing 100 pitches. Kaline got on base with a one-out single, and then Maris got his base thanks to a Phillies throwing error, and Kaline advanced to third thanks to a flyout to deep left by Mays. But Robinson batted out to left, ending the inning and we had to bring in Harry Dorish to pitch in the top of the seventh.

This game stayed brutally close from there, with both teams playing solid defense leading to absolutely no scoring. Baker singled and Dorish hit a double to start the bottom of the eighth, and Kaline took a base-on-balls, loading the bases with no outs, our first real shot of the game to do damage. Maris struck out swinging, Mays popped out to first with the runners all holding, and then Robinson .... SURVIVED, thanks to a throwing error at first, which allowed the go ahead to score and keeping the bases loaded! Ernie Banks flew out to right but we’d taken the 2-1 lead heading into the top of the ninth. Consuegra came in to close it out, but Don Newcombe subbed in as a pinch-hitter and got a base hit! Consuegra got the next two outs but brought up the top of the order ... Earl Torgeson got one into deep center, rolling to the warning track, driving in the tying run with a double. Consuegra got the final out, sending us to the bottom of the ninth needing a walk-off miracle. Crandall got a single to start the frame, but Al Rosen hit into a double play. Consuegra, who we needed to still pitch in extras if needed, got a great hit that could have won us the game, but the wind held it in and made for a solid catch at center field. We’re getting extra innings!

Consuegra got us through the top of the 10th unscathed, with Bob Purkey warming up in the bottom of the inning in case this game kept going. And it did, with Kaline, Maris and Mays all batting themselves out to send us into the 11th. Purkey set all three batters down in the top of the 11th, at which point -- with one out -- Willie Mays came up and said let’s end this thing! He hit a towering blast into left field, setting this place on fire with his 13th homer of the year, winning this one for us 3-2! Thanks to the walk-off homer, we’re now 6-0 this year in extra innings games.

Bob Purkey got the win, improving to 3-0 with a no-hit seven pitch effort, improving his ERA to 1.12 through 16 innings since joining us, a vast improvement on his performance while with the Pirates. Pascual lasted six innings with six hits, eight strikeouts and one earned run, keeping his ERA as a solid 2.63, while Dorish and Consuegra each lasted two innings -- Dorish gave up no hits in his, striking out one and walking another, while Consuegra gave up four hits and an earned run through 37 pitches, dropping his ERA to 1.15. We tied them 10 hits for 10, led by Ernie Banks with three hits a run and an RBI, Willie Mays with a hit, a run and an RBI thanks to his game-winning homer, and Gene Baker had two hits and a run scored. Tomorrow we have a doubleheader against the Phillies, but we’re now 8-1 against them through nine games, with just 13 more games against them this season and an eight game lead in the pennant race. Diehl and Koufax will get starts tomorrow, and we’re hoping we can continue our dominant performance through these games as well.
 
JUNE 19, 1955 . . . Robert Diehl (9-2, 1.68 ERA, 112.1 IP, 57 K’s, 0.75 WHIP) came up today against Robin Roberts (11-4, 2.59 ERA, 122.0 IP, 62 K’s, 0.79 WHIP) in game one of today’s doubleheader. Our attendance continues to be high on this current homestand, a great crowd of 30,000 filling the stands again to enjoy a slightly warmer afternoon. Our bullpen got a bit roughed up yesterday with the extra innings, and Consuegra will NOT be available in either of today’s games -- Porterfield and Ferrick are completely rested, while Purkey and Dorish are available though slightly fatigued. We’re hopeful Diehl can give us a complete game, and therefore save the bullpen to back up Koufax, but we all know about the best laid plans of men.

Willie Jones took a bat to our plans early in the game, hitting a solo homer (his first of the year) to put the Phillies up 1-0 in the top of the first, but Diehl controlled the damage and no others reached base. Diehl got a base hit in the bottom of the third, only our second hit of the game to that point, but he was left stranded and our team scoreless. The Phillies struck again in the top of the fourth with an RBI single by catcher Smoky Burgess to make it a 2-0 margin. Robinson got a hit in the bottom of the fourth but was caught stealing moments later, negating the hit and stifling a potential rally. A third run for the Phillies was scored on a sac-fly by Torgeson, putting us in a 3-0 hole, but we had a scoring opportunity in the bottom of the fifth. Joe Collins took first with a walk, and then Robert Diehl struck out but because of a passed ball he was able to race to first, giving us two men on with two outs and Kaline up to bat! Kaline drove one right up the middle into center, batting in a run with a single to make it 3-1, but Maris grounded out to end the inning. The Phillies got the run back in the top of the sixth with an RBI groundout by Burgess, and our bats continued to struggle. Bob Porterfield came in for Diehl in the top of the eighth, and Roger Maris got a solo homer in the bottom of the inning to pull us within two runs, his eighth blast of the season. Jackie Robinson got a homer of his own just five minutes later, his 14th of the year, and suddenly this was a 4-3 ballgame! Porterfield stayed out to get us through the ninth as well, pitching efficiently and getting us the outs without a lot of fuss, giving us a chance in this one. Bottom of the ninth, down a run, but the bottom of our order coming up. And this time we did not have a rally in us, three quick flyouts leading to a 4-3 defeat at the hands of the Phillies.

Robert Diehl fell to 9-3 on the year, giving up five hits in seven innings with three strikeouts but accruing four runs (three earned) to drop his ERA to 1.81 on the season. Porterfield did his best, coming in for two innings with us in a deep hole, and he no-hit the Phillies, improving his ERA to 3.26 through 19.1 innings this season. Despite outhitting Philly 8-5, we couldn’t string a rally together, though Jackie Robinson hit three times for a run and an RBI, pitcher Robert Diehl hit twice, and Roger Maris’ homer kept us in the game.

Sandy Koufax (1-1, 2.54 ERA, 39.0 IP, 21 K’s, 1.54 WHIP) pitched in game two this afternoon, facing down Bob Rush (5-3, 2.71 ERA, 79.2 IP, 52 K’s, 1.14 WHIP). And Koufax had a great start, giving up no hits and only one walk through the first four innings, but Bob Rush was equally good -- and though we got two hits, his fielders had him nicely backed up. He gave up his first hit in the top of the sixth, a double by catcher John Turk, and then with two outs Richie Ashburn batted in a run to make it 1-0 Phillies. Koufax got the final out via strikeout, but he knew his night was over -- he’d thrown 96 pitches and was vastly improved, but he knew he didn’t have the energy to go deeper in this one, so we started warming Dorish. Maris got a hit to start the bottom of the sixth, his 10th double of the season, reaching third on a groundout by Baker to first. But we weren’t able to score, going into the seventh trailing 1-0.

Al Rosen got a base hit and then with two outs Joe Collins doubled, giving us two in scoring position in the bottom of the seventh. And Charlie Maxwell pinch-hit for Dorish, but grounded out to first, coming up just short of getting the safe call. Bob Purkey came in for the eighth inning and he kept us within the one run heading into the bottom of the inning. Maris took first on a hard-hit single to right, then took second on a wild pitch, and with Mays at the plate they called a balk on Bob Rush, allowing Maris to take third with just one out! Mays flew out to deep left, and Maris used his quick speed on the basepaths to slide headfirst into home, SAFE! Tie game, 1-1! Purkey got a quick out, then gave up a triple to Richie Ashburn and a hard-hit single to left by Eddie Waitkus that scored the go-ahead run for the Phillies. We went into the bottom of the inning again trailing by one and needing the middle of our order to come through. We didn’t have any miracles in the tank, and the Phillies took another close one, beating us 2-1 to split the series and pull back within six games of our lead.

Bob Purkey took the loss, falling to 3-1 with a 1.50 ERA, giving up two hits and a run with a strikeout through two innings of work. Sandy Koufax did the best he could to set us up for success, lasting six innings for his first quality start -- two hits, six K’s, three walks and just one earned run, bringing his ERA down to 2.40 on the season. And Harry Dorish gave us an inning with no hits and a strikeout -- we took the risk on a pinch hitter trying to score, and it backfired or he would have likely stayed in another inning at least. Again we outhit the Phillies 7-4 but couldn’t manufacture runs when it mattered. Roger Maris was our leadoff man today and had two hits and a run, and Al Rosen had two hits but was unable to score. Willie Mays had a hit and a walk and batted in the run for Maris.

We still lead the weekly power rankings, with Philly in second and the Red Sox (42-24) who lead the AL now by 3.5 games, coming in third. The battle in the AL between the Guardians, Yankees, Senators and Tigers remains fierce for control of second place, all four teams within a game and a half of each other while the White Sox, Athletics and Orioles quietly fade into the night. The only race in the NL is between us and Philly -- Cincy (36-31, 15.5 GB) is the only legitimate long shot, with Pittsburgh and Brooklyn nearing a 20 game deficit. We’re now 52-16 heading into three games against Brooklyn (31-34, 19.5 GB) and a four-game weekend set against Pittsburgh (34-37, 19.5 GB), however, and we need to avoid a letdown by playing solid baseball and getting our groove back after losing two in a row for the first time since early May. We’ve won seven of our first nine against the Dodgers, so there’s a good place to start as they visit Chicago.

[jksander]

JUNE 21, 1955 . . . Saul Rogovin (9-4, 2.09 ERA, 124.2 IP, 139 K’s, 0.75 WHIP) is up in the rotation, less than a week after he obliterated the Giants with 18 K’s to set the new NL record! He’ll be pitching fire today against Brooklyn’s Johnny Podres (6-7, 4.83 ERA, 98.2 IP, 67 K’s, 1.25 WHIP). Though Rogovin had an odd start to his game, pitching to a lot of contact and only striking out one batter in the first three innings, he came up in the bottom of the ninth and hit a towering homer to center, putting us up 1-0 with his first homer of the year, batting in just his sixth run! And that proved to be our only offense of the night, as we went into the top of the ninth leading 1-0 with Rogovin staying in to try and complete the shutout. He got two quick outs, then Carl Furillo reached first safely on a dropped catch, though Frank Thomas then batted out to center for an easy catch as we shut the Dodgers down 1-0!

Rogovin was the star of the afternoon, scoring our only run and improvng to 10-4 with a four-hit shutout! He had six strikeouts against a pair of walks and threw 124 pitches, bringing his ERA down to 1.95 through 133.2 innings. We only hit four times as well - Podres had a great start, striking out five, walking two and giving up just the one run -- but our defenses held and we got it done in the end.
 
JUNE 22, 1955 . . . Hy Cohen (13-4, 1.50 ERA, 144.0 IP, 123 K’s, 0.70 WHIP) pitched today against Larry Jansen (8-6, 2.81 ERA, 112.0 IP, 64 K’s, 1.07 WHIP). Cohen currently leads the NL in wins and has the best ERA, staking his claim as the best young ace in baseball at just 24 years of age. Jackie Robinson hit a three-run blast to right, giving us a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first with his 15th homer of the year, getting this one started quickly. The wind was playing in our favor; Al Rosen hit a solo homer to left in the bottom of the second to make it 4-0, a 420 footer that almost went out to Waveland, giving Rosen 11 homers for the year. Ernie Banks hit a two-run blast in the bottom of the third to make it 6-0, giving him 18 already this year, on track to shatter his career high of 27, set back in 1953. Willie Mays had an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth, and then Jackie Robinson cleared the bases with his 16th homer of the year and second of the afternoon, making this a 10-0 blowout! Mays batted in another run in the bottom of the eighth and Cohen stayed in to complete the shutout as we destroyed the Dodgers 11-0.

Cohen improved to 14-4 on the year with a 1.41 ERA thanks to a nine inning three-hit shutout, nine strikeouts, no walks. We outhit the Dodgers 15-3 with four homers. Jackie Robinson led the team with two homers and six RBIs ... since coming to Chicago he’s hit .260/.341/.610 with seven doubles, eight triples and 13 homers, batting in 39 runs and stealing eight bases in 12 attempts. Ernie Banks hit three times, batting in a pair and scoring a run on the ground. And Willie Mays added three hits for two runs and a pair of RBIs. Mays, who has won back to back MVPs, currently is hitting .296/.355/.515 with 16 doubles and 13 homers, with 4.3 WAR, but Hy Cohen, with 6.5 WAR already in the season, is on pace to potentially win both the Cy Young AND the MVP!

JUNE 23, 1955 . . . Camilo Pascual (8-3, 2.63 ERA, 85.2 IP, 89 K’s, 1.07 WHIP) got the start today against Brooklyn’s Billy Loes (3-6, 4.33 ERA, 87.1 IP, 43 K’s, 1.27 WHIP). Brooklyn got a homer from Duke Snyder to put them on the board 1-0 in the top of the first, Duke’s 16th home run of the year, but Jackie Robinson hit a two-run blast himself in the bottom of the inning, his 17th of the year, to put us up 2-1. Pascual gave up a three run blast via Bobby Morgan to put Brooklyn back up 4-2 in the top of the second, and it took until the bottom of the fourth for us to score again -- Ernie Banks, batting in his 50th run of the season, drove Robinson in to make it 4-3. Banks then stole second, reaching third on a groundout by Crandall at first. Banks tied it up 4-4 when Al Rosen flew out to center, and this game was just getting started!

Harry Dorish came in to pitch in the top of the sixth, but he struggled and loaded the bases, letting a run score before suddenly getting red hot, striking out three in a row to get out of the inning -- throwing only 14 pitches in the process. Dorish stayed in through the top of the eighth, and in the bottom of the inning Jackie Robinson hit a two-run blast, his second homer of the game, jacking his 18th homer of the season out of the park to put us up 6-5! Dorish stayed in to close the game out, capping the one of the best games of his career by far, stifling the Dodgers’ bats to win this one by a run!

Coming in for four full innings of relief, Dorish gave up just three hits and a run, striking out eight against four walks through 72 pitches, improving to 5-0 on the season! Pascual threw 94 pitches through five innings, giving up three hits with six K’s and two walks, giving up four earned runs. His ERA dropped to 2.88 on the year, while Dorish’s is now 1.19 through 30.1 innings! We outhit the Dodgers 8-6 in this high scoring pitching duel, easily led by Robinson who hit three times for two homers, three runs and four RBIs. Maris hit twice and scored a run, and Ernie Banks added a hit for a run and an RBI.

We couldn’t use Consuegra in this one because we’d completed a deal late this morning with the New York Yankees that sends him, Elston Howard, left-fielder Charlie Maxwell and minor-league utility infielder Don Voigt to the Bronx in exchange for outfielders Don Demeter (#19, BNN) and Ed Bouchee (#16, BNN), two top prospects to help build our farm up. Consuegra was tough to let go of, but he’s in his mid-30s and gaining two huge prospects made it worth sending him to New York. And with Del Crandall having dominated since coming here as a 25-year-old catcher, we decided it was worth taking advantage of Elston Howard’s trade value ... Crandall is a durable starter and Howard’s ability to start regularly was diminished because of it. Our fans, while upset to lose those two, will eventually come around -- we needed to make sure our team is built for the future as well as for the present.

This move, of course, requires us to make some moves to our roster. Bouchee will come up to join us immediately on the main Cubs roster, while Demeter will join our single-A affiliate in Macon to develop further. We’re moving Sandy Koufax back into the bullpen as our closer out of necessity, though I plan to look for a full-time closer in free agency in the offseason so he can return to the starting lineup if deemed ready. Bill Serena and Joe Brovia will be coming up to join the team at least temporarily as bats off the bench as well. For now, reliever and utlity infielder Bob Purkey will be our backup catcher.