Let's Play Two! - Page 14

jksander · 12-15-2023, 10:23 PM

JUNE 17, 1956 . . . Did somebody call for a double-header? Camilo Pascual (3-4, 3.00 ERA, 69.0 IP, 45 K’s, 1.19 WHIP) got his 12th start of the season, going up against Philly’s red-hot Robin Roberts (6-6, 2.50 ERA, 101.0 IP, 64 K’s, 0.79 WHIP) in game one. And Pascual had a terrible start to his game, giving up a two-RBI double to Richie Ashburn, three consecutive hits to start the first inning, no outs. He calmed down and got out of the inning with just 19 pitches thrown, but against Roberts that wasn’t the best hole to dig right out of the gate. Philly added two runs in the bottom of the third, thanks to a homer by Smoky Burgess, trailing by four runs while having only given up three hits -- incredibly bad luck! And Roberts was on his A-game as well, meaning hits were almost impossible to find on our end. Pascual gave up another homer in the bottom of the sixth, and with two outs and a man on second we brought in Erskine while trailing 5-0, his job to simply mop up the mess and try not to make it worse. He did his job, but our hitters did not, and Roberts shut us down completely as the Phillies beat us 5-0 in the series’ third game.

Pascual fell to 3-5 on the year with a 3.38 ERA, giving up only five hits in 5.2 innings, but walking three and striking out only four, giving up five earned runs, three of which came off a pair of homers. Carl Erskine gave us 2.1 innings with just two additional hits, walking one batter and striking out another, but for the second game in a row he didn’t give up any runs, improving his ERA to 6.38 through 18.1 innings. He has the makings of a solid long reliever if he can keep pitching like he has in these last few games. We only had two hits all game, one for Robinson and one for Mays, and they were our only baserunners. Hard to do much with that.

We brought Bob Porterfield (2-0, 0.00 ERA, 7.2 IP, 2 K’s, 0.52 WHIP) out for a spot start in the second game. He pitched against Bob Rush (3-6, 4.73 ERA, 70.0 IP, 28 K’s, 1.34 WHIP). Kaline got himself a one-out triple in the top of the first, Robinson walked, and then Mays batted out to center, giving us two outs and men on the corners. But Banks grounded out to first, leaving Kaline stranded at third, a wasted scoring opportunity. Porterfield got a great hit into the outfield though with two outs in the top of the second, batting in a run with a triple to put us up 1-0! We loaded the bases in the top of the fourth, with Porterfield hitting a sac-fly to drive in our second run giving him a hand in all our offense so far today, and we went into the bottom of the inning up 2-0. He gave up his first run of the season in the bottom of the fourth, an RBI single by Alvin Dark, but he got us through the inning without conceding the lead, and my plan was to give him the fifth inning before going to the bullpen. He did even better than that, coming out with a quality start by getting through the sixth as well, with the 2-1 lead still intact! The fans then rained boos down on us as Banks, Maris and Baker notched consecutive hits in the top of the seventh, Baker’s single batting in a run to make it 3-1 with one out. Dick Whitman pinch hit for Roy Jarvis and reached base on a fielder’s choice, stealing second with the count 2-1 against Porterfield. We then brought in Crandall to pinch hit, since he’d be taking over as catcher anyway, and he slammed a hit into deep right, driving in another pair of runs, sending us into the bottom of the sixth with a 5-1 lead.

OUT OF CHARACTER: I didn’t realize the double-switch didn’t come into being until 1964, or so I’m told from one of my online leagues. So I wound up in the unenviable position of not having a catcher, since it subbed Hersh Freeman for Crandall and not for Whitman. Since I do not have a third activated catcher, I had to sub in a relief pitcher at catcher and just chalk it up to my character being drunk or something, lol! Lesson learned, be careful doing any pinch-anything involving the catcher.

Okay, so middle of the sixth, we brought Hersh Freeman in to pitch and had Larry Jansen come in to catch, with a 5-1 lead against the Phillies. And Hersh completely melted down, loading the bases with two outs -- Richie Ashburn then hit a single that scored Thomas Yuhas from third, and an E8 throwing error allowed Granny Hammer to come around and score, making it 5-3. With Koufax and x warming up in the bullpen, Bob Thurman pinch hit and mashed a three-run homer and this game was officially a disaster. Freeman got the final out, but we went into the top of the eighth trailing 6-5 in front of a hostile and very vocal home crowd that had no interest in us coming back from it. Koufax came in to pitch in the bottom of the eighth, still trailing by a run, getting three quick outs to at least give us a chance in the top of the ninth. Gene Baker got a base hit to start the frame, and Larry Jansen reached first on balls ... and Koufax then beat out an infield single to load the bases and bring up the top of the order! Al Rosen batted in the tying run with a hit into the outfield that kept the bases loaded, and Al Kaline hit one to almost the same spot, giving us a 7-6 lead and still no outs! That was all we’d get, however, and we went into the bottom of the ninth praying Koufax could give us one more solid inning. But Ernie Banks committed an error at short that allowed Granny Hammer to reach first safely, and with one out he walked Earl Torgeson, bringing up Ashburn, the bane of our existence. He hit into a fielder’s choice, and we got the out at second, bringing Randy Jackson up with runners on the corners and two outs. And that was all Philly needed. Jackson got a hit into left, and suddenly we were tied up again 7-7. And the Phillies took the win when a passed ball allowed Ashburn to score from third, ending this one as a humiliating 8-7 defeat.

Koufax took the loss, falling to 2-5 with a 3.83 ERA, going 1.2 innings with just one hit, but three walks as well, much of it due to the inexperienced catcher due to my botched double-switch. Porterfield had a great start, going six innings with one hit, four walks, four strikeouts and one earned run. Freeman’s one inning meltdown involved three hits, two walks and FIVE EARNED RUNS, destroying his now-6.63 ERA in the process. We outhit the Phillies 15-5 and still lost this one, something the Chicago press may never let me live down, since we walked a total of NINE BATTERS while committing three fielding errors. Unacceptable. Al Kaline, Ernie Banks and Gene Baker all had three hits apiece, and Porterfield himself drove in two runs. So much good, so much bad ... let’s all just go out and get ****faced on the bus while we drive up to New York for our next three games against the Giants.

jksander · 12-19-2023, 05:12 PM

JUNE 19, 1956 . . . We’re in New York for the next three days, to play the Giants (28-32, 13.5 GB) who are to this point in the season 1-5 against us. Tom Acker (2-1, 2.27 ERA, 35.2 IP, 27 K’s, 0.98 WHIP) got the start on this clear, 54 degree, extremely windy evening, going up against Seth Morehead (5-5, 4.11 ERA, 92.0 IP, 58 K’s, 1.25 WHIP). The Giants got on the board quickly, thanks to Bill White’s 10th homer of the season which put them ahead 1-0 in the bottom of the first. And hits were hard to come by -- we got on board twice in the second and twice in the third, but only because Morehead walked us three times, and their strong defense prevented us from capitalizing on any of those runners. Acker, meanwhile, was incredibly efficient, getting through four innings with just the one hit and throwing just 32 pitches, the homer being the only differential as we came up to bat in the top of the fifth trailing 1-0. Acker came up with a base hit, and Al Rosen walked, giving us a man in scoring position with just one out. Kaline batted into a fielder’s choice, with Rosen getting picked off at second, though Acker made it safely to third. Unfortunately Robinson struck out swinging and we remained unable to get a runner home. Acker loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth but we got out of the jam without the Giants adding to their lead, and in the bottom of the sixth he struck out three batters to strand their only baserunner, remaining completely calm under pressure. But we went into the seventh inning stretch still trailing by the one run. The Giants added a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh, thanks to a double by Hector Lopez, and Larry Jansen came in for the final out to keep us at least nominally in the game -- though our bats had been completely impotent thus far. The Giants added an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth and Jansen had to exit with an injury with two outs and a man on second, and we had to bring in Koufax who got the final out. Down 4-0 heading into the top of the ninth, the morale in our dugout was at rock bottom -- but Mays hit a single into left to take first, and with one out Maris got one into center, at least putting someone in scoring position. But Daniel Howard pinch-hit into a double play to end this one as a maddeningly disappointing 4-0 shutout defeat. Our offense has been inconsistent all year -- we had so many chances to take over this game and just let them have their way against us.

Acker took his second loss, falling to 2-2 with a 2.55 ERA, giving up just five hits with four strikeouts and five walks, giving up three runs in 6.2 innings of work. Jansen gave us a solid inning with one hit, one strikeout, one walk and one earned run, giving him a 4.44 ERA. And Koufax got the one out we asked him for, giving up a hit over six pitches. They outhit us 7-4, with our pitcher Acker actually leading us in hits, with two, though he was stranded each time much to his frustration. Mays and Maris had our only other hits, though we had six walks and were unable to take advantage of ANY of them.

Jansen will be out of the lineup for at least a week due to back spasms. We’re bringing Bob Purkey up from AAA to fill in, putting Joe Collins (first base) on waivers to make room.

In other news, we’ve finally managed to sign infield utility infield prospect Jack Poppell out of free agency, a player we’ve been negotiating with for the last three weeks. Poppell, 23, is popular locally and was drafted in the eighth round by the Washington Senators out of high school in 1953 and then released into the depths of the class DE Evangeline League where we discovered him. A solid defender at 2B, 3B and SS with a great infield arm, Poppell has great speed, with, in our scout’s opinion, the potential to be a very solid baserunner. With good contact and an ability to avoid strikeouts, he is patient but lacks any power at all with his bat. We’ve waived Bill Serena, who has struggled as an infield bench player this season, bringing Poppell in as our new leadoff man and starter at second base, with Gene Baker playing backup at 2B, 3B and SS. Poppell will earn $20,000 this year with $5,000 per year raises each year through 1959.

JUNE 20, 1956 . . . Hy Cohen (11-2, 1.38 ERA, 123.2 IP, 140 K’s, 0.64 WHIP) got the start tonight against Ted Abernathy (7-6, 2.81 ERA, 109.0 IP, 65 K’s, 0.95 WHIP). Cohen gave up an RBI single to Luis Aparicio in the bottom of the third to put the Giants up 1-0, and our run support was completely nonexistent, putting pressure on him to stay as close to perfect as possible if we were going to have any chance in this one. Willie Mays finally woke us up in the top of the seventh, hitting a solo homer into the left field bleachers to tie it 1-1 with his 23rd blast of the year, but our next three batters went down quietly, sending us into the stretch hoping we could stay sharp defensively and avoid letting the Gaints retake control. Rosen fumbled a catch for an error at first to start the bottom of the inning, but we got out of it without any damage. Baker hit a triple with one out in the top of the eighth, and Jack Poppell batted him around to score the go-ahead run with two outs, sending us into the bottom of the eighth with a 2-1 lead. Cohen got us through the frame safely with the lead protected, and he stayed out in the bottom of the ninth as well, pitching at his peak to make sure we got out of this with the 2-1 victory.

Hy Cohen improved to 12-2 with a 1.36 ERA, giving up just five hits, a walk and a run with 12 strikeouts in a complete game win. Each team had five hits, with ours led by our new leadoff man Poppell, with two hits and an RBI. Mays added a homer, and Gene Baker, giving Robinson a day off at third base, got a hit and scored a run.

JUNE 21, 1956 . . . Saul Rogovin (8-2, 2.16 ERA, 112.1 IP, 146 K’s, 0.77 WHIP) pitched in our third game against the Giants, facing left-handed starter Jack Harshman (3-6, 4.38 ERA, 100.2 IP, 71 K’s, 1.44 WHIP). Poppell got himself a hit to start the top of the first, and then stole second, making it safely to third on a groundout by Rosen! Robinson got a hit into left, and we were up 1-0 just like that! Rogovin struck out five batters in the first two innings, and in the top of the third, Poppell walked and later stole third, his second stolen base of the game, giving us runners on the corners with two outs and Robinson back up to the plate. Unfortunately Jackie batted out to left, ending the inning, but we were playing aggressively and looking for ways to build on this lead. We loaded the bases in the top of the fourth with just one out, but Crandall and Rogovin were easy outs, keeping the score close at 1-0. Rogovin struck out the side in the bottom of the fifth, not giving up a single hit until the bottom of the sixth when Jim Gilliam came out with a single. In the top of the eighth, Al Kaline hit a solo blast into the right field seats, extending the lead to 2-0 thanks to his eighth homer of the year. Crandall got a base hit and Rogovin walked, bringing up Poppell, who advanced Crandall to third with a fly-out to left. But Rosen flew out to right to end the inning and send us into the bottom of the eighth leading by two runs. Koufax came in to throw in the bottom of the ninth, getting us out of the game cleanly and holding tough to the 2-0 win as we won the series on the road to stay right in the heart of the pennant race.

Rogovin improved to 9-2 with a 2.02 ERA, striking out 14 batters and walking just two in an eight-inning one hitter. Koufax earned his seventh save, giving up a hit and striking out a batter as he improved his ERA to 3.72 through 48.1 innings. We outhit New York 8-2, led by Jackie Robinson (one hit, two walks, one RBI) and Jack Poppell (one hit, one run, two stolen bases). We now head to Pittsburgh (33-31) where we’ll play four games over the next three days, after which we have three games to play at Brooklyn (43-17). With our record a solid 39-22, we’re just 4.5 games behind the Dodgers and 7.5 games ahead of the Pirates and the Phillies. So these next seven games are very important to our hopes of getting back to the top of the NL standings before the All Star break.

jksander · 12-20-2023, 03:40 PM

JUNE 22, 1956 . . . We’re 4-4 against the Pirates heading into this four-game series. Camilo Pascual (3-5, 3.38 ERA, 74.2 IP, 49 K’s, 1.21 WHIP) got the start this evening against Bob Friend (5-6, 3.19 ERA, 110.0 IP, 46 K’s, 1.15 WHIP). Poppell got things started by beating out an infield squib to take first safely, and they walked Rosen, bringing up Robinson. Poppell stole third successfully with the count 1-0 on Robinson, and though Robinson batted out to short, Mays came up next and hit a towering blast into the stands at center and just like that we were up 3-0 with his 24th homer of the year. Mays hit his 25th of the year in the top of the third, extending our lead to four runs, In the top of the fifth, Poppell started out the inning with another hit, then stole second, allowing the Pirates to walk Rosen. With the count 1-0 on Robinson, Poppell stole third safely, his fifth stolen base in just three days, which allowed him to score when Robinson batted into a double play, making it 5-0 Cubs -- the kid’s instincts on the basepaths are incredible! Poppell and Rosen had back to back hits in the top of the seventh, and Poppell stole his FOURTH BASE OF THE GAME, taking third, as Robinson swung and missed on a changeup. Robinson got a hit into center field, driving Poppell home yet again for our sixth run of the night, and at this point I’ll give that kid the green light any time! Who needs slug when you can get the extra bases with speed and guile? Al Kaline hit an RBI single to allow Rosen to score, and we went into the stretch in control of a 7-0 shutout lead.

Pascual loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning, walking in a run, but he got two quick outs at home plate off grounders, and Mays made a spectacular catch at the wall to save us from a grand slam, keeping our lead at 7-1 heading into the eighth. We loaded the bases in the top of the eighth, and this time the grand salami made it into the stands, as Willie Mays knocked in four runs to make it 11-1, tying the Chicago Cubs single game record with three homers in this game! Carl Erskine came in for the eighth and ninth with little doubt aboutt he outcome of this game, getting six quick outs and silencing their fans as we blew out the Pirates by 11 runs.

Pascual improved to 4-5 with a 3.20 ERA, giving us seven innings with five hits, five strikeouts, four walks and a single earned run. Erskine then came out and threw the last two innings, with one walk and two strikeouts -- no hits -- bringing his ERA down to 5.75 through 20.1 innings since joining our club from Brooklyn. We outhit them 14-5, led by Willie Mays’ staggering night: four hits (three homers) for three runs and eight batted in! On any other night, Poppell would have been the star -- the 23-year-old hit three times and stole four bases, giving him a .462 average and .500 on base percentage with six steals in his first three games. It’s a small sample size, but we’ve all been enjoying the spark he’s bringing to the team.

JUNE 23, 1956 . . . Hy Cohen (12-2, 1.36 ERA, 132.2 IP, 152 Ks, 0.64 WHIP) started this afternoon against Pittsburgh’s Dick Hall (5-5, 3.24 ERA, 89.0 IP, 38 K’s, 1.24 WHIP). Al Rosen got us started with a solo homer in the top of the first, his 11th of the season, giving us a 1-0 lead heading into the bottom of the inning. Ernie Banks batted in a run with a single in the top of the second, but the score stayed that way from there, as both pitchers locked in. Pittsburgh did get on the board in the bottom of the fifth, with catcher Johnny Romano hitting his second homer of the year to make it 2-1, however, and we struggled to get baserunners, heading into the top of the seventh still leading by just the one run. With two outs, Al Rosen and Jackie Robinson each reached base on balls, but Mays struck out swinging to send us into the stretch. Kaline got on base with a single in the top of the eighth, advancing to second thanks to a single by Banks. He stole third with Crandall at bat, his second steal of the afternoon, but Crandall hit into a double play to end the inning. But Cohen stayed red hot, striking out the side in the bottom of the eighth, sending us into the ninth with a one run lead and one last chance at getting some insurance. Al Rosen reached first with a single, taking second on a wild pitch, giving them room to walk Robinson. Willie Mays loaded the bases with an infield single, and then Kaline grounded out to first to keep us from scoring. Koufax came in to close it out in the bottom of the ninth, getting three quick outs to seal the 2-1 victory heading into tomorrow’s doubleheader!

Hy Cohen improved to 13-2 with a 1.34 ERA, striking out 11 batters with eight hits and one earned run. Koufax struck out a pair and dropped his ERA to 3.65 without giving up a hit in his eighth save of the year. We outhit the Pirates 9-8 in a tight battle, led by Kaline (two hits, one run, two steals) and Banks (two hits). Al Rosen added his solo homer in the first that got things started, but Poppell had a tough night, going hitless -- though he was almost walked twice, taking Pirates pitchers to full counts on both occasions. So I am confident he’s got the eye to really go places in the leadoff role.

JUNE 24, 1956 . . . Doubleheader Day! Tom Acker (2-2, 2.55 ERA, 42.1 IP, 31 K’s, 1.06 WHIP) gets the start in game one against Johnny Klippstein (6-6, 3.70 ERA, 112.0 IP, 61 K’s, 1.01 WHIP). Poppell opened the game perfectly, hitting his first career triple! He made it home safely off a sac-fly to center by Robinson, and just like that we were up 1-0 with only five minutes elapsed! Willie Mays then slapped a homer into the bleachers at center, his 27th of the year, and we went into the bottom of the first frame leading 2-0. Acker stumbled in the second inning, letting them load the bases, and he walked in a run via Joe Garagiola to make it 2-1 with just one out. But he held the runners with a flyout to left, and then struck out Bill Virdon to end the inning with the lead intact. Mays batted in a run with a single in the top of the third, and an Ernie Banks flyout to left drove another in to make it 4-1. Rocky Colavito hit a homer for the Pirates in the bottom of the third to pull them within two. Poppell got another base hit in the top of the fifth but was picked off trying to steal second, the first time in seven tries he’s failed to get the base he wanted. We brought Carl Erskine in, bottom of the fifth, men on second and third, but a failed pickoff play at home allowed the Pirates within a run, before Erskine then locked in and got two quick outs via popouts to center and shorstop. We loaded the bases in the top of the sixth but were unable to score. Robinson got a triple with one out in the top of the seventh, and they walked Mays, who promptly stole second -- he hasn’t been quick to take the signal this year, but he’s two of three so far in 1956! They walked Kaline to yet again give us loaded bases, but again we struck out (this time it was Maris) and left the inning clinging to a 4-3 lead as the crowd stood up to stretch.

Hersh Freeman came in with a man on second and one out in the bottom of the seventh, getting us the outs we needed to protect our lead, and he held it through the eighth as well. We went into the bottom of the ninth still leading 4-3, but kept Hersh Freeman in too long -- we brought Koufax in with men on the corners and no outs, and he STILL got out of the jam perfectly, striking out Johnny Romano and then getting Bill Virdon out via a pitch-perfect double play as we closed out the 4-3 victory!

Carl Erskine came out with the win, improving to 2-1 with a 5.24 ERA thanks to two innings of one hit, one strikeout baseball, following Acker’s 4.1 inning five hit, three strikeout, two walk, three run start. Hersh Freeman was lucky to come out of it with a hold, his second, rather than a blown save, though he did last 1.2 innings with just a hit and a walk. And Koufax saved his ninth game, striking out one batter and improving his ERA to 3.58. That may have been his best save of the year, at least from a high leverage standpoint -- three outs on five pitches. We outhit them 11-7, led by Robinson with three hits, a run and an RBI. Mays had two hits, a run and two RBIs, and Poppell hit twice and walked once, scoring a run. He is hitting .364/.417/.455 since signing with us, and he’s already building buzz in the hometown papers. I can’t wait for the fans to get to meet him when we return to Wrigley.

Saul Rogovin was set to pitch the second game of the doubleheader, but with us up three to nothing in the series, I’d rather save him for the Brooklyn series that’s upcoming. So I’m bringing Bob Porterfield (2-0, 0.66 ERA, 13.2 IP, 6 K’s, 0.66 WHIP) in for the spot start, facing Pittsburgh’s Gene Conley (5-7, 2.93 ERA, 123.0 IP, 84 K’s, 1.10 WHIP). In the top of the third, Jack Poppell reached first with a single, and then made it around to third on a single by Rosen! Robinson batted out to left, but Poppell was incredibly quick and made his run for home, sliding in for the go-ahead run! Willie Mays hit a deep fly to center, legging out a double to put two runners in scoring position, but Banks flew out to right, preventing us from breaking this one wide open. And Portefield gave up a pair of hits to start the botom of the third, allowing the Pirates to tie it up 1-1 with an RBI single by Gene Conley. With two outs in the bottom of the third, Ken Boyer hit an RBI single of his own to drive in the go-ahead run for the Pirates, and we went into the top of the fourth trailing 2-1. Bob Purkey came in with one out in the bottom of the sixth, no one on, and he got one out before giving up a pair of hits that put runners in scoring position. A groundout to Rosen ended the inning safely, however, and we went into the top of the seventh still trailing 2-1.

Roger Maris singled to start the top of the seventh, and after a Jarvis flyout, and Maris advanced to second on a 5-3 groundout by Purkey. Jack Poppell safely reached first on an E6 error, and then with Al Rosen up to the plate, he stole second -- and an E2 throwing error allowed him to advance to third, sending Maris around to score the tying run! Rosen flew out to center to end the frame, but we went into the stretch tied 2-2 and still right in this one. Purkey got us safely into the eighth inning, at which point Willie Mays safely reached first on another error, stealing second on a no-throw. They walked Kaline intentionally, and then Mays stole third, coming round for home thanks to an E2 throwing error, putting us up 3-2 and advancing Kaline to third! They intentionally walked Maris, and we pinch-hit Crandall for Jarvis, another run scoring thanks to an E4 error that allowed Crandall to take first, advancing Maris to second and scoring Kaline from third -- that’s their SIXTH ERROR OF THE GAME! Purkey got us through the eighth inning as well, without hardly breaking a sweat, and with our bullpen fairly beat up, we let him finish the game out, getting three more outs to close the door on our 4-2 victory!

Porterfield had a great start, 5.1 innings with just three hits, three walks, two strikeouts and two runs (one earned) to give him a 0.95 ERA through 19 innings. But he was outshined by Bob Purkey, who lasted 3.2 innings in only his third appearance of the season, giving up four hits but no runs, bringing his ERA down to 6.14 through 7.1 innings. We were outhit 7-5 by the Pirates, but they committed six errors and walked three of our batters, which really flipped the script. Mays had two steals to give him four on the season, while Poppell got his seventh steal of the week along with a hit, scoring his sixth run! Robinson had a hit for an RBI, and Mays, Maris and Kaline all scored runs on the ground.

The sweep of Pittsburgh sends us into the Brooklyn series with a 43-22 record, just 3.5 games behind the 46-18 Dodgers. We can’t take the lead with this series, but we can definitely head back to Wrigley in a much stronger position of we at least win this series. We’ve split the series 4-4 against them thus far. We should have Rogovin, Pascual and Cohen for the three games thanks to Porterfield’s strong start in today’s doubleheader.

jksander · 12-21-2023, 06:23 PM

JUNE 25, 1956 . . . We bring a six game winning streak into this series with Brooklyn, and we’re only 3.5 games back, so there’s a ton on the line. Saul Rogovin (9-2, 2.02 ERA, 120.1 IP, 160 K’s, 0.74 WHIP) got the start tonight against Connie Johnson (11-1, 1.71 ERA, 126.1 IP, 125 K’s, 0.84 WHIP). Poppell got himself a base hit in the top of the third, and quickly stole second, scoring on an RBI single by Rosen to give us a 1-0 lead! Rogovin struck out the side in the bottom of the inning, and we stayed locked in with the one run lead until Al Kaline hit a two-run blast in the top of the seventh to extend our lead to 3-0 with his ninth homer of the year. Brooklyn got on the board with a solo homer by Gil Hodges in the bottom of the seventh, and we went into the bottom of the inning still up by two runs. Rogovin stayed in to complete the game, and we won this one 3-1 to inch closer to the NL lead!

With the win, Rogovin improved to 10-2 on the year with a 1.95 ERA, giving up just two hits with 10 K’s and two walks and one earned run. We had six hits ourselves, led by Willie Mays with two hits and a run, Al Kaline with two hits, a run and two RBIs, Jack Poppell with a hit, a run and a steal, and Al Rosen with a hit and an RBI.

I realized I haven’t updated you all on the home run race lately -- Willie Mays currently leads all hitters with 27 homers this year, two up on Ted Williams and four up on Mickey Mantle. Through today’s game he remains on pace for 63, and though there hasn’t been a huge press impact so far, I suspect he’ll start getting a lot more media pressure if he keeps this pace into August, particularly at hitter-friendly Wrigley. He’s hitting .316/.359/.700 right now with ten doubles and five triples, and 36 strikeouts against 19 walks.

JUNE 26, 1956 . . . Hy Cohen (13-2, 1.34 ERA, 140.2 IP, 163 K’s, 0.66 WHIP) is up tonight against Brooklyn’s Johnny Podres (8-3, 2.58 ERA, 115.0 IP, 57 K’s, 0.99 WHIP). We loaded the bases in the top of the fourth, and Al Kaline hit an RBI single to put us up 1-0. Del Crandall reached base safely on a fielder’s choice, his hit driving in a second run, and we went into the bottom of the inning leading 2-0. Ernie Banks hit an opposite field homer to make it 3-0 in the top of the sixth, his 15th four-bagger of the year, and moments later Roger Maris drove in another run with an RBI single while pinch-hitting for Dick Whitman, making it 4-0 Cubs. Al Rosen then hit a three-run homer to left, his 12th of the year, and this one was officially a rout. Jackie Robinson came up and slammed one out of the park into the center field bleachers to make it 8-0 with HIS 12th of the year, and we went into the bottom of the sixth with about as comfortable a lead as you can want when playing on the road against a bitter rival. Maris stayed in to play left field for the remainder of the game. Cohen blew his shutout, giving up a homer to Gil Hodges in the bottom of the eighth that scored two runs for the Dodgers and cut our lead to six. Harry Dorish relieved Cohen in the bottom of the ninth, giving up a run on a fielder’s choice with Anthony Pint safely taking his base. He then got the two outs we needed, and we came out of this one with an 8-3 win heading into tomorrow’s final game of this series and this road trip.

Hy Cohen improved to 14-2 with a six-hit eight strikeout two walk two run game, keeping his ERA at 1.39 and his hopes for a back-to-back Cy Young campaign going strong. Dorish got through his inning with two hits and a run, dropping his ERA to 5.40 through 18.1 innings. They outhit us 8-7, but we walked six times and made great use of our runners. Al Kaline had a hit, a walk and two steals, scoring a run and batting in another, while Ernie Banks added two hits a run and an RBI. Al Rosen, however, was by far our best offensive player tonight, hitting once and walking twice, scoring two runs and batting in three more.

We’re now within a game and a half of the Dodgers in the NL pennant chase, with tomorrow’s game giving us a shot at a series sweep with our eight-game winning streak still intact! We then get a day off for our return trip to Chicago, where we’ll have four games against Milwaukee (30-35) and a pair against St. Louis (22-46) before we hit the road for an Independence Day doubleheader in Cincinnati (25-42). We then play four more against Milwaukee on the road before the All Star break, giving us a real chance to go into that three-day reprieve with a stranglehold on this league if we play our cards right!

JUNE 27, 1956 . . . Camilo Pascual (4-5, 3.20 ERA, 81.2 IP, 54 K’s, 1.21 WHIP) started our final game at Brooklyn, facing Sal Maglie (13-0, 1.71 ERA, 126.0 IP, 83 K’s, 0.87 WHIP), who is having his best season since going 23-6 in 1951! Pascual loaded the bases in the bottom of the second but was able to escape trouble with a double play to keep the game scoreless. But he gave up a homer to Hodges in the bottom of the fourth and the Dodgers took a 1-0 lead. Carl Erskine came in for the bottom of the sixth with the score still 1-0 Dodgers, setting down the heart of their lineup and keeping us in this one! Jackie Robinson got a base hit in the top of the seventh, just our second baserunner of the day, and Robinson advanced to second on a groundout by Mays to first, but Banks couldn’t get him anywhere and the shot was wasted. Erskine got us through the bottom of the seventh with three quick pop-outs, and in the top of the eighth with one out, Maris reached base safely with an infield hit, taking second on a throwing error to the first baseman from Maglie on the mound, giving us our second runner in scoring position of the night, but he got greedy trying to steal third, and they picked him off. Erskine stayed out and got three more outs in the eighth without looking stressed, sending us into the top of the ninth needing a run to prolong this one. But Maglie was damned near unhittable -- Al Rosen made it on base with two outs, and Jackie Robinson walked, giving us some hope. But Willie Mays popped out to short, and we lost this one 1-0, with the Dodgers rushing the field like they’d won the damned World Series instead of just avoiding a sweep.

With the loss, Camilo Pascual fell to 4-6 on the season, despite giving up just four hits with six strikeouts and two walks, the lone run actually improving his ERA to 3.12 in a five-inning effort. Carl Erskine, meanwhile, continues to show solid improvement, pitching three innings without a hit, striking out one batter and improving his ERA to 4.62. Brooklyn outhit us 4-2, and each pitcher allowed two walks, so baserunners were extremely limited all night. Jackie Robinson had both our hits, and one of our walks, while Al Rosen had a walk as well. Maris reached base on an error, but was caught stealing, but I can’t honestly blame him for taking the shot.

We’ll head back to Wrigley with a 45-23 record, and we’re only 2.5 games back of first, leading Brooklyn now 6-5 in the season series with 11 more games to play against our rivals this year.

jksander · 12-21-2023, 06:25 PM

JUNE 29, 1956 . . . We’re 5-1 against the Braves this season, and we returned to Wrigley to find nearly 36,000 screaming Cubs fans filling the stands on a cloudy, 72-degree afternoon for the start of this four game set. Tom Acker (2-2, 2.89 ERA, 46.2 IP, 34 K’s, 1.11 WHIP) pitched this afternoon against Johnny Antonelli (8-5, 2.29 ERA, 122.0 IP, 68 K’s, 1.02 WHIP). Poppell got things started by beating out a slow infield hit to take first base, drawing a rousing cheer for the rookie, who got so excited he tried for a steal and was thrown out for only the second time this season, part of the growing pains you expect from a player playing in front of a crowd like this for the first time. Unfortunately, in the top of the third inning Acker loaded the bases, and Eddie Mathews hit a blistering drive to right, legging out a triple and scoring three runs for the Braves. Acker almost had himself out of the inning, but Banks committed an error on a short pickoff throw to second, allowing Mathews to score, and we went into the bottom of the third trailing 4-0, with Acker suddenly having thrown 51 pitches.

Carl Erskine came in with one out and a man on first in the top of the fifth, getting two quick outs to get us back up to bat, but ours were just not making any contact. Erskine gave up a solo homer to Mathews in the top of the seventh, making it 5-0 Braves as we entered the stretch. But Ed Bouchee came in to pinch hit for Erskine with two outs in the bottom of the seventh and hit a towering three-run homer into the center field bleachers, the first homer of the year for Bouchee, and suddenly we were within a pair of runs! Bob Purkey walked two batters after coming in for Erskine in the top of the eighth, but he also got two outs via bunt attempts, and was able to ge the third when Willie Mays made a spectacular catch at center field to avoid catastrophe. Rosen got a hit and Robinson walked to start the bottom of the eighth, and with one out Ernie Banks walked to load the bases for Al Kaline, who hit a sharp shot into left field, pulling us within a run! With the bases still loaded, Roger Maris took a pitch one strike, then got four balls in a row to walk in the tying run, which sent us into the top of the ninth tied up 5-5. Sandy Koufax came in to pitch, getting three quick outs via soft contact, sending us into the bottom of the inning with a chance to win it. With one out, Al Rosen got a hit into center field, sliding safely into second! But Robinson flew out to right, and Mays did the same, ending the inning and sending us into extras.

Koufax got us quickly through the top of the tenth, walking one batter but making a great double play to keep the runner from advancing. Banks got a shot into right field for a base hit, and Kaline hit one into center field, driving Banks to second. Maris hit into a double play that sent Banks to third, and Gene Baker pinch-hit for Crandall, and an error at first base allowed Banks to come around and score the go-ahead run! We came out of this with a 6-5 win by the skin of our teeth, but a win’s a win any way you get it, especially when it’s in the 10th inning.

Koufax got the win, improving to 3-5 with two hitless innings, walking just one batter and improving his ERA to 3.44 on the season. Acker lasted only 4.1 innings, with three hits, three strikeouts and five walks that contributed to four runs (three earned). Erskine gave us 2.2 innings with one hit, three strikeouts, a walk and an earned run, improving his ERA to 4.50 through 28 innings. And though Purkey lived dangerously, walking a pair, he didn’t give up any runs -- without his poise in getting out of his own jam in the eighth, we wouldn’t have survived this one. We outhit the Braves 11-4, led by Al Rosen with three hits, a walk and a run, and by Ernie Banks with three hits, a walk and two runs. Ed Bouchee made a huge impact with just one at-bat, hitting the three-RBI homer that started our scoring onslaught.

We’ve made a trade with Kansas City that sends Bill Serena and Joe Collins to the Athletics in exchange for Les Moss, a backup catcher who has better hitting abilities as a backup than does Roy Jarvis, who aside from being unable to hit the broad side of a barn, has decidedly weak catching abilities as well. It’s not a trade I expect to make a significant impact, but if Jarvis (who had to be waived due to lack of minor league options) eventually refuses to take a minor league assignment, he’ll be significantly less expensive to cut ties with.

JUNE 30, 1956 . . . Bob Porterfield (2-0, 0.95 ERA, 19.0 IP, 8 K’s, 0.79 WHIP) got the start today against Warren Spahn (4-11, 4.26 ERA, 116.1 IP, 55 K’s, 1.37 WHIP). And it didn’t start out great -- he gave up a solo homer to Bill Bruton just eight pitches in. But he got the next three batters out quickly, and we were able to get into the bottom of the first trailing just 1-0. Poppell beat out an infield hit to take first safely in the bottom of the inning, and Robinson got to first on a no-throw by the shortstop that advanced Poppell to second. Willie Mays beat out an infield blooper of his own to load the bases, but we weren’t able to get anyone in to score. Jackie Robinson hit a solo blast of his own in the bottom of the fifth to tie things up with his 13th homer of the season, and Willie Mays tripled to put the go-ahead run in scoring position. Alas, we weren’t able to make it happen, and we went into the top of the sixth all knotted up. And Porterfield surrendered his second homer of the game, a two-run blast to right, by Gene Woodling that put the Braves right back on top 3-1.

Larry Jansen came in with two outs and a man on first in the top of the sixth and got the final out, leaving us to dig back out of the hole. Roger Maris hit an RBI triple in the bottom of the sixth, but he tried to tie things up on a deep flyout by Kaline and was picked off at the plate, the score 3-2 heading into the seventh. Jansen got us into the stretch with the score unchanged, and Hersh Freeman did the same in the eighth and ninth, sending us into the bottom of the ninth with a run left to make up and Kaline up to the plate. Spahn stayed in to pitch, which may have been his undoing -- Kaline got a base hit, and then Maris singled to drive him over to third. Crandall grounded out to first, advancing Maris to second, and with one out Daniel Howard came up to pinch-hit for Freeman, striking out with the count loaded 3-2. With two outs and men in scoring position, they brought out a reliever, Don Cardwell (1-2, 4.50 ERA, 6.0 IP, 4 K”s, 2.33 WHIP), who with the count 2-2 against Poppell, gave up a perfect fastball -- line drive into right, and the score was tied 3-3! Al Rosen came up to the plate with runners on the corners, but he popped out to center and we were headed for extras again. Koufax came in to close, making quick work of the bottom of their lineup in the top of the 10th, and Willie Mays made them pay in the bottom of the inning, hitting a two-run blast into the bleachers at center, his 28th of the year, and we won this one by a 5-3 margin!

Koufax won his second extra-innings game in a row, improving to 4-5 with a 3.38 ERA, striking out one batter. Porterfield gave us 5.2 innings with four hits, six K’s and a walk along with three earned runs. Jansen and Freeman then gave us 3.1 two-hit innings to keep this one winnable. Again we outhit them by a wide margin, 13-6, but had to fight from behind to win in extras. Robinson had three hits and two walks, scoring twice and driving in a run, while Mays added three hits, a run and two RBIs and Kaline hit three times for two runs. Poppell had two hits and an RBI, keeping his average at .289 through 45 at-bats.

We won 10 of our last 11 games to finish June with a 21-7 record, getting us right back into the battle to defend our World Series title. Heading into July, we are right where we want to be, and it’d be even better if we can finish the sweep against the Braves and start this month off the same way we finished the last one. Just a game and a half behind the Dodgers , our 47-23 record is third overall in the majors, and our +96 run differential is second only to the Yankees (48-25, +116) who lead the AL by four games over Detroit, with the Red Sox fading fast in third with a 36-34 record. We’re 7-2 in extra innings games, 16-9 in one-run finishes, and our team ERA of 2.75 leads the NL, as we do for batter WAR (12.5), runs scored (315), extra-base hits (211), home runs (100) and bases-on-balls (229). We’re dominating in strikeouts as a team as well, with our pitchers combining for 556 K’s -- only Brooklyn (407) and Detroit (400) come even remotely close.

Hy Cohen was named NL Pitcher of the Month again with a 6-1 record, notching 68 K’s in 60 innings with just 34 hits and four walks in the month of June. His 9.2 WAR already this season amounts to more than half of our overall pitching wins above replacement as a TEAM -- he’s on pace for one of the best performances as a pitcher this century, and I have to wonder if it’s sustainable. What goes up has to eventually come down.

He’s not the only pitcher having a great year, if I’m giving that impression. Overall, the pitching in the NL has become much more difficult to face, the league being led by Cohen and Rogovin on our team, Maglie and Connie Johnson on the Dodgers, and by Pittsburgh’s Hank Aguirre, all of whom have sub-2.00 ERAs. Cohen and Maglie are tied with 14 wins apiece, with the Yankees’ Harvey Haddix and Brooklyn’s Johnson (12) not far behind. Connie Johnson is on pace for 15.0 WAR, and if Cohen falters, he’s the odds-on favorite for Cy Young honors in the league. As for K’s, Cohen (171) and Rogovin (170) are dominating the nearest competition (Johnson, with 135 for Brooklyn, and Detroit’s Herb Score with 132).

jksander · 12-23-2023, 02:28 AM

JULY 1, 1956 . . . Doubleheader Day! For game one we started Hy Cohen (14-2, 1.39 ERA, 149.2 IP, 171 K’s, 0.68 WHIP) against Milwaukee’s Bob Turley (5-8, 3.65 ERA, 106.0 IP, 66 K’s, 1.40 WHIP), with Wrigley Field a virtual sellout at the time of the 12:05 p.m. first pitch. Poppell opened the bottom half of the first with a walk, then took second on a wild pitch! Al Rosen was walked, as Poppell took advantage of the pitcher’s distraction, stealing third without a throw. And Robinson got a hit into center field, giving us a 1-0 lead before most families had gotten their kids settled in with a hotdog and a coke. Willie Mays then broke it wide open, hitting a three-run blast to left, and fifteen minutes into the game we held a 4-0 lead thanks to Mays’ 29th dinger of the year. Turley was getting absolutely rocked ... Al Kaline got on first, still no outs, moving Banks into scoring postion, and then with two outs, Hy Cohen himself came up to the plate and slammed a three-run blast into the left field seats, completing our batting around and making the lead 7-0. Poppell was barely caught out at first to finally end the inning, with Turley having thrown 41 pitches. Milwaukee got on the board with a homer by Johnny Logan in the top of the second, cutting our lead to six, and Gene Woodling scored two more in the top of the third with a flyout to center, making it 7-3 Cubs. But Al Rosen added an RBI single in the bottom of the third, giving us an 8-3 lead a third of the way through the game.

Gene Woodling hit an RBI single in the top of the fifth to make it 8-4, and Cohen was starting to show rare signs of struggling. We loaded the bases though in the bottom of the inning, and Jackie Robinson walked in another run to put our lead back at five runs. Carl Erskine came in with the lead 9-4 at the start of the eighth inning, giving up a solo homer to Johnny Logan to cut the lead to four runs. But Kaline hit his 10th homer of the year in the bottom of the eighth, a two-run blast that put us at 11-5, and with the bases loaded Jackie Robinson batted in three more with a triple. Erskine stayed in to close the game out as a 14-5 blowout victory, giving us a chance to play for a sweep in the second game.

Cohen had a rougher day than usual, only making it through seven innings, giving up nine hits with two walks, five K’s and four earned runs in the win -- improving to 15-2 with a 1.56 ERA in the process. Erskine allowed one hit with one strikeout, giving up the homer but keeping his ERA at 4.50. We outhit the Braves 15-10, led by Poppell (two hits, one walk, two runs, two steals), Al Kaline (three hits, two runs, two RBIs), Hy Cohen (two hits, one walk, two runs, three RBIs) and Jackie Robinson (two hits, one walk, one run, five RBIs).

Saul Rogovin (10-2, 1.95 ERA, 129.1 IP, 170 K’s, 0.72 WHIP) pitched in the second game against Richard Sovde (2-4, 3.83 ERA, 44.2 IP, 32 K’s, 1.34 WHIP). Poppell got a hit to start the bottom of the first, stole second, and then they walked Rosen. Poppell got another steal, this time taking third while no one was even quick enough to make a throw, and we thought we were on our way to a surefire score, until Willie Mays batted into a double play to end the inning scoreless. Ernie Banks tripled to start the bottom of the second, but again we weren’t able to get him around to score. Jackie Robinson beat out an infield squib to start the bottom of the fourth, taking second on a flyout by Mays. He stole third with two outs and the count 1-0 to Kaline, but Kaline then struck out swinging, AGAIN stranding a runner in scoring position. Maris beat out an infield hit to reach first to start the bottom of the fifth, and they walked Les Moss, Poppell hitting into a fielder’s choice for an out at second. With runners on the corners, this time Roger Maris hit a blistering blast to left field, turning it into a triple that scored two and put us up 2-0! Moss flew out to center in the bottom of the sixth but batted in Banks from third to make it 3-0, Rogovin got into his first jam, with runners on the corners and no outs in the top of the seventh, but he got two quick outs via soft contact, and struck out Fred Hancock swinging to get us into the stretch with the shutout intact. Hersh Freeman came in to replace Rogovin in the eighth with one out and a man on second, getting a double play off a popup to Banks off Gene Woodling, with a quick throw to second to keep the lead at three runs. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth, Maris hit a line drive into right that scored another run, and Moss hit a sac-fly to center that scored our fifth run of the game. They walked Freeman to load the bases, and a pop-out to center by Poppell scored yet another run! We went into the top of the ninth leading 6-0, and Freeman handled his business with aplomb, completing the shutout for Rogovin as we swept the Braves in the series.

Rogovin improved to 11-2 with a 1.84 ERA, pitching a four-hitter with two walks and eight strikeouts, while Freeman got his sixth save of the season, lasting 1.2 innings with a hit and a strikeout through 13 pitches. We outhit the Braves 10-5, led by Ernie Banks with three hits and two runs. Roger Maris hit twice with a run and an RBI, and Jack Poppell hit once for a run and an RBI, stealing two bases -- through just 12 games as a major leaguer, Poppell has hit .302/.345/.340 with one triple and 12 stolen bases in 15 attempts! We’re now within half a game of the Dodgers, heading into a two-game set here at Wrigley against the last-place Cardinals (24-49). We then have an Independence Day doubleheader at Cincinnati (27-45) and then a four-game set at Milwaukee (30-40) before the All Star weekend.

JULY 2, 1956 . . . Camilo Pascual (4-6, 3.12 ERA, 86.2 IP, 60 K’s, 1.21 WHIP) pitched in game one against the Cardinals, facing Vinegar Bend Mizell (5-7, 5.19 ERA, 119.2 IP, 61 K’s, 1.46 WHIP). Al Rosen hit a two-run single in the bottom of the third inning to give us an early 2-0 lead against the Cardinals. Del Crandall hit a double in the bottom of the fifth with a pair of outs, bringing up Poppell, who was quickly walked. Rosen got a hit up the middle to advance Poppell to third while driving in a third run. We still led 3-0 heading into the bottom of the seventh, and we quickly loaded the bases, though we were unable to add any insurance runs. Pascual struck out the side in the eighth, having easily the best game of his season, shutting them down in the ninth to complete the complete game 3-0 shutout!

Pascual improved to 5-6 with a 2.82 ERA, pitching a complete game three-hitter, striking out 11 with only one walk. We had eight hits, led by Al Rosen (two hits, a walk and three RBIs) and Del Crandall (two hits and a run). Poppell hit once, walked once and stole a base but was unable to come around and score.

JULY 3, 1956 . . . Tom Acker (2-2, 3.18 ERA, 51.0 IP, 37 K’s, 1.18 WHIP) pitched in the second game of the series, facing Mike Fornieles (6-7, 3.52 ERA, 130.1 IP, 53 K’s, 1.15 WHIP). St. Louis took an early 1-0 lead thanks to a solo homer by Wally Moon, but we quickly took the lead back in the bottom of the inning off a two-run triple by Banks that gave us a 2-1 lead. Del Crandall had to leave the game with an injury, forcing us to go to Les Moss to play at catcher starting in the top of the third. In the bottom of the inning Jackie Robinson hit a run-scoring triple, and we went into the fourth inning up 3-1. Tom Acker hit a run-scoring double in the bottom of the fourth, but in the top of the sixth the Cards got a run back off a single by Orlando Cepeda to make it 4-2. With one out and a runner on second, Carl Erskine came in to pitch, getting a pop-out at right field and then giving up a two-run blast to Jim King that tied it up at 4-4. He got us out of the inning with a strikeout, and it was a new ballgame from there. Bob Purkey came out with one out and men on first and second in the top of the seventh, loading the bases thanks to a botched catch-and-throw by Banks to Poppell for an error. With the bases loaded, Wally Moon hit a shallow fly out to center for out number two, keeping the bases loaded but allowing no one to score. And Banks and Poppell redeemed themselves with an almost mirror replay of the error earlier in the inning to get us into the stretch still tied 4-4, stranding three Cardinals runners in the process. Jackie Robinson hit a solo homer to right, his 14th of the year, to give us a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the seventh, and seconds later Willie Mays hit his 30th of the year into the bleachers at left, making it a two-run lead! Purkey stayed out and closed the game down in the ninth, helping us save the bulk of our bullpen for tomorrow’s doubleheader as we beat the Cardinals 6-4, keeping our win streak alive!

Acker gave us 5.1 innings with five hits, four strikeouts, two walks and three earned runs, and Erskine blew his first save of the year, giving us an inning with two hits, one strikeout, one walk and one earned run. So Purkey, who came in for 2.2 innings to finish the game, got the win with no hits and one strikeout, improving his ERA to 4.09 with a 3-0 record in decisions! We outhit the Cardinals 10-7, led by Jackie Robinson (three hits, one run, one RBI), Willie Mays (two hits, two runs, two RBIs) and Ernie Banks (one hit, two RBIs). Mays remains our best hitter this year, batting .303/.346/.680 with 10 doubles, 12 triples and 30 homers. But Robinson has remained potent as well despite being halfway to 38, hitting .278/.387/.560 with 15 doubles, 10 triples and 14 homers, continuing to add to what should be an easy case for Hall of Fame consideration whenever he does decide to call it quits -- hopefully years in the future!

We are now officially tied with the Dodgers in first place -- our record at 51-23 and theirs at 50-22, though we’ve played more games than them so far and therefore they hold a tiny edge in win/loss percentage. With Pittsburgh 12.5 games back at 39-36 and Philly right behind them at 38-36, it’s looking like the race is going to be between our two teams at the top for who gets to control the National League. The Yankees, meanwhile, are 51-25 and leading the AL by five games over Detroit (44-28). Boston (38-35), Cleveland (37-36) and Kansas City (35-40) all remain within 12 to 16 games, but the Yankees have missed the last two World Series, and look determined to stay in top form so they can get the fans back on their side.

JULY 4, 1956 . . . Happy Independence Day! We’re in Cincinnati today for a double dose of America’s favorite pastime along with fireworks, though with the Redlegs twenty games under .500, there’s not a ton of celebrating going on in the stands -- just under 8,000 fans showed up, in fact. Hy Cohen (15-2, 1.56 ERA, 155.2 IP, 176 K’s, 0.72 WHIP) pitched in the first game, facing Bobby Shantz (5-7, 5.17 ERA, 116.2 IP, 44 K’s, 1.51 WHIP). Willie Mays quickly put us up 2-0 in the top of the first with a two-run blast that went over 450 feet and nearly left the ballpark. That gives him 31 bombs this season! But the Redlegs got on the board in the bottom of the inning with a two-run homer by Kluszewski (his 25th of the year), tying the score at 2-2. Al Kaline hit a three-run blast in the top of the third, blasting us to a 5-2 lead with his 11th of the season, and the scoring stopped from there completely, the game turning into a duel between the two starters. Cohen drove Shantz out after six innings, but he stayed in to complete the game for us, shutting the Redlegs down as we won game one 5-2, all seven runs coming off homers.

Cohen improved to 16-2 with a 1.59 ERA, allowing just four hits with seven strikeouts and two earned runs, despite allowing six walks -- an unusually wild afternoon on his part. We had eight hits ourselves, led by Mays (two hits, two runs, two RBIs) and Kaline (one hit, one run, three RBIs).

Saul Rogovin (11-2, 1.84 ERA, 136.2 IP, 178 K’s, 0.72 WHIP) got the start in game two, going up against Don Drysdale (4-10, 4.73 ERA, 104.2 IP, 61 K’s, 1.53 WHIP). Cincinnati got on the board first in this one, a Bob Elliott RBI double giving them a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second. Jackie Robinson hit a leadoff homer in the top of the fourth to tie it up 1-1, his 15th homer of the year, and it stayed knotted up from there. In the top of the ninth, still tied up 1-1, Al Kaline got a hit into right field, legging out a double, and they walked Maris. Del Crandall hit a sac-bunt to advance both runners into scoring position with just a single out, and Ed Bouchee came in to pinch-hit for Rogovin, reaching first safely though they successfully threw Kaline out at home to prevent the run. They walked Jack Poppell, and Rosen popped out to first, ending the inning and sending us into the bottom of the ninth with Koufax coming in looking to get us into extras. He got three outs with a walked batter inbetween them, and we were headed for the 10th. We quickly loaded the bases, and with two outs, Del Crandall got a hit into right field, driving in a pair of runs to put us up 3-1! And Koufax did his job, closing things out perfectly to finish out the two-run victory as we beat the Redlegs twice in front of their openly frustrated fans..

Rogovin had a great night, giving us eight innings with six hits, 10 strikeouts and just one earned run, improving his ERA to 1.80, while Koufax improved his record to 5-5 with a 3.25 ERA, allowing just one hit in two innings, with two strikeouts and a walk. We outhit them 8-7, led by Robinson with two hits, a walk, two runs and an RBI. Kaline and Maris each hit twice as well, and though Poppell didn’t get a hit, he did walk once, reached base a second time thanks to a fielder’s choice, and stole two bases, bringing his stolen bases total to 15 through just 16 starts over two weeks! He is now just one stolen base away from being in the top five for the year already, and he’s only been caught three times!

More important, we’ve officially overtaken the Dodgers in the standings, with a one game lead on them for the NL Pennant! All that stands between us and the All Star break is a four-game road trip to Milwaukee (33-41), bringing an eight-game winning streak with us. The All Star teams should be announced on the 8th, and we’re expected to dominate the NL’s nominations list as we’ve become the most dominant team in the league.

jksander · 12-28-2023, 04:38 PM

JULY 5, 1956 . . . Camilo Pascual (5-6, 2.82 ERA, 95.2 IP, 71 K’s, 1.14 WHIP) pitched in our first game against the Braves, facing Pedro Ramos, who is making his first appearance for Milwaukee this year. The #35 prospect in the majors this year, Ramos has gone 10-3 this year at the AAA level, with a 2.69 ERA, 47 K’s and a 1.08 WHIP through 97 innings of work. But the 21-year-old has never played at the major league level since being drafted in the second round by the White Sox in 1953.

Milwaukee got on the board first with a homer by Johnny Logan in the bottom of the second that put the Braves ahead 1-0 heading into the top of the third. Al Kaline got a hit into right field in the top of the third, batting in the tying run on two outs, but a pop-out to short kept us from taking the lead. Gene Woodling hit a homer into the right field stands in the bottom of the sixth to put them back ahead 2-1. In the top of the seventh, Ed Bouchee pinch-hit for Pascual, striking out but reaching first safely off a passed ball, but we weren’t able to get him anywhere and we went into the stretch still trailing by a run as Erskine came in to pitch in the bottom of the inning. In the top of the eighth, Banks got himself a hit, and then reached third all the way from first off a deep hit into right by Al Kaline. But Roger Maris grounded out to first and kept us trailing. Erskine got us safely into the ninth with only the one run to make up. Daniel Howard pinch-hit for Crandall, taking a ball to the shoulder to reach base, but Gene Baker batted out to left field in place of Erskine. Jack Poppell grounded out to first, advancing Howard into scoring position with two outs, and Rosen batted out to short, ending this one as a 2-1 loss.

Pascual slipped to 5-7 with the loss, a five-hit six inning effort with just two earned runs to go with four strikeouts. Erskine only allowed one hit in two innings of work, striking out three and bringing his ERA down to 4.36 through 33 innings. We were outhit 6-5, led by Al Rosen with two hits a walk and a run, while Al Kaline added two hits and a walk with an RBI.

JULY 6, 1956 . . . Tom Acker (2-2, 3.36 ERA, 56.1 IP, 41 K’s, 1.19 WHIP) got the start today against Johny Antonelli (9-5, 2.33 ERA, 139.0 IP, 77 K’s, 1.01 WHIP). Al Rosen got us started quickly, hitting his 13th homer of the year to put us up 1-0 in the top of the first. Acker got into a bit of danger with one out and men on the corners in the bottom of the inning, but he got out of it with a great double play, and Al Kaline hit a homer in the top of the second to quickly make it 2-0 with his eighth four-bagger of the season. In the bottom of the third he had two outs, and then loaded the bases, escaping with a great catch by Mays to send us into the top of the fourth still leading by two runs. Acker got us through the fifth with the shutout intact, and after a pair of hits by Banks and Kaline, Del Crandall walked the bases loaded and Bouchee came in to hit for Acker, batting in a run with a single. Jack Poppell hit one into centerfield to bat in a fourth run. Al Rosen batted in another to keep the bases loaded, still with just one out, and though Robinson and Mays batted themselves out quietly, we went into the bottom of the sixth leading 5-0. Hersh Freeman came in with one out and a man on first in the bottom of the eighth and promptly blew the shutout, giving up an RBI double to Eddie Mathews that batted in a run. We loaded the bases in the top of the ninth, and Del Crandall cleared the bases with a grand slam, his eighth homer of the season! Freeman stayed in to close it out in the bottom of the inning and we won this one in blowout fashion, 9-1!

Tom Acker improved to 3-2, giving up one hit in five innings, walking four and striking out four more without a run, bringing his ERA down to 3.08. Carl Erskine gave us 2.1 innings without a hit, walking a batter and striking out four, his only run coming because of Freeman after he left the game. His ERA is now 4.33. And Freeman, with only one hit and one walk, kept his ERA a solid 4.85 with a 1.2 inning effort. We were dominant offensively, hitting 16 times to their two, though we did commit four fielding errors which could have caused big problems on any other night. Poppell got a pair of hits and a walk, batting in his fourth run, while Al Rosen had two hits a run and two RBIs. But Al Kaline had the best overall night, hitting four times for three runs and an RBI, and Del Crandall was right there with him, hitting three times for two runs and four RBIs. He’s only hitting .198 on the season, but I’m hopeful this game will help break Del out of the slump he’s been in.

JULY 7, 1956 . . . Hy Cohen (16-2, 1.59 ERA, 164.2 IP, 183 K’s, 0.74 WHIP) started his 20th game of the season today, pitching against Warren Spahn (5-11, 4.03 ERA, 134.0 IP, 61 K’s, 1.37 WHIP). Despite declining skills overall, the 35-year old legend has still got great control, and fans of great pitching look to get some real fun out of this game’s matchup. Unfortunately for Cohen, he had bad luck early, his first two batters faced getting blistering line drives into right field and quickly putting the Braves up 1-0, thanks to an RBI double by Gene Woodling. The ball kept just flying off the Braves’ bats, Eddie Mathews batting in a second run just moments later, and a no-throw by Banks and a poor throw to second -- also by Banks for an error -- quickly made it 3-0. Cohen eventually got out of it, but we trailed 4-0 heading into the second inning and he looked absolutely stunned by how quickly it all happened. Thankfully Banks got a triple to start the top of the second, scoring on a wild pitch to get us on the board. Maris walked, and then Crandall batted him into scoring position with a single into center. Poppell batted the bases loaded with a single, and a deep Rosen hit into left field allowed two more runs to score! Jack Poppell scored on another wild pitch and just like that we were tied up. Robinson walked the bases loaded, but we weren’t able to get the go-ahead in, but with the score tied 4-4 heading into the bottom of the second, at least Cohen had himself a chance at redemption for the rough start.

Gene Woodling got the Braves back up 5-4 with an RBI double in the bottom of the fourth, but Ernie Banks tied it back up with a solo homer to left, his 16th of the year, in the top of the fifth, and Jackie Robinson hit an RBI double in the top of the sixth to finally put us up 6-5! Harry Dorish came in to pitch in the bottom of the sixth and struck out the side, and in the bottom of the seventh Larry Jansen got three quick outs off soft contact, keeping our one-run lead safe into the eighth. Jackie Robinson got a great hit in the top of the eighth, slamming the ball into the right field seats to extend our lead to 8-5 with a two-run homer, his 16th of the season. Koufax came in with one out and a man on first in the bottom of the eighth, getting the pair of outs we needed with just ten pitches thrown, and he stayed in to close things out in the bottom of the ninth with the lead still at three runs. With two outs, Bill Bruton got himself a triple, but Koufax struck out Woodling to complete the 8-5 victory!

Hy Cohen only lasted five innings in this one, giving up seven hits with one walk and three strikeouts, but he got the win, improving to 17-2, his ERA slipping to 1.70 thanks to five runs (three earned). Dorish and Jansen each got holds, giving up one hit with three strikeouts between them, and Koufax gave us 1.2 innings with just one hit and a pair of K’s, giving him 10 saves this year with a 3.16 ERA. We outhit the Braves 14-9, led by Al Rosen (four hits, two runs, two RBIs) and Jackie Robinson (three hits, one run, three RBIs), while Ernie Banks and Roger Maris each hit twice. Our bats are heating up at the right time, with Mays and Kaline on the cusp of .300, and Rosen and Robinson rising closer to that level as well.

All Star rosters have officially been announced, meanwhile, and our Cubs will be very well represented:

- Hy Cohen (SP) -- top vote-getter
- Saul Rogovin (SP)
- Harry Dorish (RP)
- Al Rosen (1B)
- Jackie Robinson (3B) - top vote-getter
- Ernie Banks (SS) - top vote-getter
- Willie Mays (CF) - top vote-getter
- Al Kaline (RF)

Brooklyn got five players onto the team, while Philly got six -- including three of their starters (Joe Nuxhall, Robin Roberts and Bob Rush).
JULY 8, 1956 . . . It’s the final game before we hit the All-Star weekend, and Saul Rogovin (11-2, 1.80 ERA, 144.2 IP, 188 K’s, 0.73 WHIP) is ready to go in the rotation for his 19th start, facing “Bullet Bob” Turley (5-10, 4.15 ERA, 115.0 IP, 73 K’s, 1.47 WHIP) in the final game of the Braves series. And Turley was roughed up mercilessly in the top of the first, walking three batters as he loaded the bases and walked in the first run of the game without a single out. Ernie Banks then hit a blast into left field, doubling in a pair of runs to make it 3-0. Everyone in the lineup wound up with a chance to bat, and we went into the bottom of the inning leading big 5-0 despite only having had two hits. Milwaukee got on the board in the bottom of the fourth, loading the bases and then scoring a run via a sac fly to center by Fred Hancock to make it 5-1. But Rogovin got us out of the inning quickly, and he continued to pitch extremely well, striking out a pair in the fifth, and facilitating a great double play to get us out of the sixth. Carl Erskine came in with two outs and a man on first in the bottom of the seventh, getting the final out on strikes to keep the four-run lead intact, and he struck out three more in the eighth as well. We loaded the bases in the top of the ninth with just one out, but Robinson hit into a double play to keep us from adding any runs, so Erskine came out and pitched solidly in the ninth as well to close out the 5-1 win. We’ll head into the All Star break with a 56-24 record and a three game lead over the Dodgers as the NL leaders.

Rogovin improved to 12-2 with a 1.78 ERA for the year, allowing six hits in 6.2 innings, striking out eight and walking four while surrendering only one earned run. Had he not thrown 118 pitches so quickly he might have managed to last the whole game, but thankfully Erskine had himself another great night, coming in for 2.1 innings with just one hit to go with four strikeouts, dropping his ERA to 4.06 through 39 innings -- his slow start now fading in the rearview. Milwaukee actually outhit us 7-3, but we outwalked them by a staggering 12-4 margin ... they kept Turley in for 6.2 innings despite his walking of 10 batters, which doesn’t say much about how their manager respects the bullpen. Willie Mays walked twice and scored a run, stealing two bases as well to give him seven stolen bases this year. Poppell, Rosen, Robinson, Mays and Erskine all scored runs in that first inning, which was enough to hold tough and win this one.

Heading into the All Star break, we currently lead the MLB power rankings by nearly eight points over the Yankees, and by twenty points over the third-place Dodgers. We’ve successfully overcome our slow start to come back from a seven-game deficit in the NL to finally look like the team we’ve been over the last few years -- entirely dominant. Mays and Robinson are each in the top five of batters in overall WAR, though Mickey Mantle is having a breakout season, hitting .363/.519/.711 with 10 doubles, three triples and 27 homers, leading both leagues with 7.6 WAR already. Cohen leads both leagues in WAR for pitchers, still with 9.2 WAR, but Connie Johnson (13-2, 1.58 ERA, 153.1 IP, 145 K’s, 0.80 WHIP) is also on fire with 7.6 WAR ... despite his 17 wins, a 1.70 ERA and 186 strikeouts (2nd in both leagues to Rogovin’s 196 K’s) the battle for the NL’s Cy Young award is still far from decided. Mays leads both leagues with 31 homers, with Ted Williams (28), Mickey Mantle (27), Ted Kluszewski (26) and Gil Hodges (22) trailing behind. He remains on pace for 60 homers, which if he can stay at that level would put him in contention to challenge the Babe’s record. Mantle, however, has been red hot as the summer heats up -- since June 16th he’s hit 10 homers to propel himself back into the race in a huge way.

jksander · 12-28-2023, 05:12 PM

JULY 10, 1956 . . . Time for the All Star game! The NL has dominated the showcase over the last several seasons, and we’re hopful this year will be no different. Hy Cohen started for the NL, getting through the top of the first with a couple of hits against him but no runs scored. But the AL did get on the board first, Boston right fielder Jim Rivera hitting a homer in the top of the third to put them ahead 1-0. And Yankees catcher Yogi Berra hit a solo blast to right in the top of the fourth to make it a 2-0 lead. Ted Kluszewski got us on the board, reaching second on a fielding error that drove Jackie Robinson all the way around from first to score in the bottom of the fourth. Mickey Mantle batted in a run in the top of the sixth to extend the AL’s lead to 3-1, and Yogi Berra hit a three-run blast to center that made it a 6-1 blowout. The AL loaded the bases in the top of the eighth but came up empty, but it didn’t matter -- the fans got all the homers they wanted out of the AL, while our bats just couldn’t keep up -- the American League took this one 6-1, adding to the rivalry between our two leagues. Willie Mays, Jackie Robinson and Al Kaline accounted for three of our five hits, with Kluszewski and Schoendienst getting the other two. Cohen and Dorish were our only two pitchers to get out there, and neither surrendered a run, so our Cubs represented themselves well out there.

We’ve now got our sights set on returning to Wrigley for a 13-game homestand which will pit us up against Pittsburgh, Brooklyn, Philly and the Giants before a three-week road trip that will then see us into mid-August.

jksander · 12-28-2023, 08:00 PM

JULY 12, 1956 . . . Camilo Pascual (5-7, 2.83 ERA, 101.2 IP, 75 K’s, 1.12 WHIP) got his 17th start of the season in game one of today’s doubleheader against Pittsburgh, facing Hank Aguirre (7-4, 2.10 ERA, 103.0 IP, 65 K”s, 1.00 WHIP). Virdon hit a solo blast to left that just barely stayed right of the foul pole, putting Pittsburgh up 1-0 in the top of the third. Poppell got himself a single in the bottom of the sixth, and then stole second and, with one out, third, setting up Jackie Robinson nicely. Robinson flew out to center, but Poppell had plenty of time to get into home safely and tie things up 1-1. Pascual got us into the stretch still tied, and three quick outs in the eighth kept us positioned well in this one. But we weren’t able to get anything past them in the bottom of the inning, so Larry Jansen came in to pitch in the top of the ninth. He pitched very well to contact, getting a pair of pop-ups with just his first three pitches, getting us out of the inning with fewer than ten thrown. But we couldn’t get a hit either, and this one was quickly sent into extra innings still tied 1-1. Jansen stayed out and gave up a solo homer to Leon Wagner on his first pitch of the inning, putting the Pirates back up 2-1, but he got three quick outs from there, putting the onus on the bottom of our order to get something done. Al Kaline got a great hit into right field to start the frame with a double, and then Roger Maris said to hell with it, let’s win this one now, hitting his 12th homer of the season to walk this one off, giving us a 3-1 victory!

Pascual had a great night, giving us eight innings with just four hits and an earned run, striking out three and walking one. Jansen gave up a run as well, but lasted two innings with just a walk through 19 pitches, earning his third win as he improved to 3-1 with a 4.06 ERA. Each team had five hits -- we were led by Rosen with a pair of hits, but it was Poppell who made sure we scored the run that kept us in this one late. He hit once to score a run, stealing two bases to give him 17 through his first 21 starts, tied for fifth in the majors with Milwaukee’s Bill Bruton!

Tom Acker (3-2, 3.08 ERA, 61.1 IP, 45 K’s, 1.17 WHIP) started our second game of the day, up against Pittsburgh’s Bob Friend (5-9, 4.07 ERA, 132.2 IP, 53 K’s, 1.28 WHIP). Jackie Robinson hit his 17th homer of the year to put us up 1-0 in the bottom of the first, and in the top of the second Al Kaline hit his 13th of the year to put us up 2-0. And Ernie Banks kept the hit-parade going, slugging one into the left field bleachers to score three more runs in the bottom of the third, giving us a 5-0 lead with his 17th blast of the year. Acker had a no-hitter going into the fourth inning, and we gave him plenty of run support, adding three more in the bottom of the fourth off a double by Rosen, who tried to make it to third and was picked off. Robinson tripled with two outs but wasn’t able to scure -- still sending us into the top of the fifth leading 8-0! We loaded the bases again in the bottom of the fifth, Poppell walking in a ninth run with two outs. Al Rosen then walked in our 10th of the game before a Robinson popout to right ended the inning with us shutting them out by 10 runs. The Pirates got on the board with a homer by Johnny Romano in the top of the sixth, but Mays hit his 32nd homer of the year to make it 11-1 in the bottom of the inning, negating theirs. We loaded the bases yet again in the bottom of the seventh, Willie Mays walking in a run to make it 12-1. Acker made it through the eighth inning for just the second time this season, staying out to complete the game in the ninth as we won this one 12-1!

In nine innings, Acker allowed only five hits, striking out three with only the one earned run, giving him a 4-2 record and a 2.82 ERA through 70.1 innings. We out-hit them 16-5 in the second game of the afternoon, led by Rosen (two hits, one run, four RBIs), Mays (two hits, two runs, two RBIs) and Banks (two hits, two runs, three RBIs). Maris added two hits and a run, Les Moss hit three times and scored as well, and lead-off man Poppell got himself two hits and three walks, scoring a run and driving in another. In 22 games he’s now hit .245 with an on base percentage of .333, batting in five runs to go with his 17 steals, giving him 0.8 WAR in an incredibly short amount of time. Who says power bats are everything?

JULY 13, 1956 . . . Saul Rogovin (12-2, 1.78 ERA, 151.1 IP, 196 K’s, 0.76 WHIP) got the start today, with Cohen only on three days’ rest since starting in the All Star game. Pittsburgh brought out Gene Conley (7-9, 2.62 ERA, 158.0 IP, 107 K’s, 1.04 WHIP) who has been red-hot for the Pirates this year, pitching to a decision in all but three starts, only once failing to get into at least the eighth inning. The Pirates took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third when Rip Repulski hit an RBI single, and they added a run off an RBI double by Ken Boyer just moments later, though Rogovin got us out of the inning with a strikeout. Rogovin struck out his 200th batter of the season in the top of the fourth, but we struggled to get baserunners into position, and still trailed by the two runs heading into the fifth. Repulski hit an RBI double in the top of the fifth to extend the Pirates’ lead to 3-0, But with the bases loaded in the bottom of the inning, Jackie Robinson hit a triple and drove in three runs to tie it up! Rogovin struck out the side in the top of the ninth to keep it knotted at 3-3, but we batted ourselves out three times straight to send this one into extras with both starters staying in! Rogovin got two strikeouts and a groundout in the top of the 10th, but Conley shut us down just as easily. Two more groundouts and a strikeout got us into the bottom of the 11th, with Conley still on the mound at 142 pitches! Robinson and Mays were quickly put down via flyout, and Banks popped up to the shortstop and this one just kept going.

Carl Erskine came out to pitch for us in the top of the 12th, setting them down quickly with a strikeout and a pair of groundouts. I was stunned that they kept Gene Conley out there for the bottom of the inning, having thrown 150 pitches already and looking like he was completely out of gas. He got Kaline out with a flyball to center, but then walked Roger Maris, and they had no choice but to go to the bullpen for Johnny Kucks (2-0, 1 SV 0.49 ERA, 18.1 IP, 8 K’s, 0.98 WHIP). Kucks walked Crandall, and we pinch hit Bouchee for Erskine, who struck out swinging. That brought up Poppell with two outs and a man in scoring position ... and he batted out to the shortstop, who made a quick throw for the third out at first. Sandy Koufax came in to pitch in the top of the 13th, getting flyouts to Mays and Maris along with a strikeout to give us another chance to walk this one off. But yet again, our bats were unable to make anything happen. Al Kaline made a spectacular catch for our first out in the top of the 14th, Koufax made a great throw to Rosen at first for the second, and then Ken Boyer struck out looking to send us into the bottom of the inning with the game already nearing four hours in length! Banks batted out to right, but Kaline got himself a base hit, and they walked Maris to give us a runner in scoring position. Crandall tried to lay down a bunt, but it was as bad as you could possibly hit one, and they got Kaline out at third. Dick Whitman hit for Koufax with two outs and two men on, taking the pitcher to a full count and then grounding out to first. God-DAMN!

Top of the 15th inning, we bring out Bob Purkey to throw. He gives up a base hit to Rocky Colavito, but gets Colavito out at second on a fielder’s choice that put Rocky Nelson on first instead. He walked Jim Finegan, but struck shorstop Billy Klaus out swinging, bringing up slugger Jimmy Romano with a man in scoring position and two outs. Larry Jansen subbed in, and Romano hit a weak grounder to Banks, who made a great throw to first for the final out. Jack Poppell came up first in the bottom of the inning, getting a hit into left for a single. Al Rosen beat out an infield bouncer to drive Poppell over to second, and with no outs, Poppell stole third, with the count 0-2 against Robinson, who promptly grounded out to first for out number one, driving Rosen over to second. They walked Mays, loading the bases for Ernie Banks, and on a wild pitch Poppell sprinted for home, sliding in safely headfirst to win this one for us 4-3 in the 15th inning, nearly four and a half hours after we threw the first pitch.

Larry Jansen only threw two pitches, getting our final out and securing himself the win, improving to 4-1 with a 4.02 ERA. But Rogovin was a star as he’s been all year, having his best start of the season with just six hits and three earned runs with 13 K’s through 11 innings. Erskine had a no-hit inning with a strikeout, and Koufax had two no-hit innings with a pair of K’s, before Purkey gave us two outs with a hit, a strikeout and a walk. The crazy thing is, through 15 innings, the Pirates outhit us 7-6! But we outscored them 4-1 in the final 11 innings, as our pitchers completely locked in. Jackie Robinson batted seven times, hitting twice and driving in three runs to give us a chance in the bottom of the fifth. Poppell’s stolen base in the final inning gave him a hit, a run and his 18th stolen base of the season. Al Rosen hit twice and walked twice, but was unable to score.

JULY 14, 1956 . . . We’re now on a six-game win streak, with a 12-1 record in the month of July! For our final game against the Pirates, we’re saving Cohen for the first of our two Brooklyn games, so Bob Porterfield (2-0, 1.82 ERA, 24.2 IP, 14 K’s, 0.81 WHIP) got the start against Johnny Klippstein (8-7, 3.54 ERA, 145.0 IP, 95 K’s, 1.05 WHIP). Pittsburgh got on the board in the top of the second with a run scored off a sac-fly by Billy Klaus, and Rocky Colavito batted in another run in the top of the third to make it 2-0 Pirates. Jackie Robinson hit a double in the bottom of the fourth, stole third, and then reached home safely on a sac-fly by Mays to make it 2-1. Porterfield got us through the fifth, and Erskine came in to pitch in the top of the sixth with us still trailing by a run. Ernie Banks batted in the tying run in the bottom of the sixth, and we got the go-ahead from Mays, who scored from third on a wild pitch, sending us into the top of the seventh up 3-2. Erskine got us into the stretch with a pair of strikeouts and a pop-out to Banks, and in the bottom of the seventh we added a run thanks to an RBI single by Mays, extending our lead to two runs. Koufax came in to pitch in the top of the eighth, but after striking out Ken Boyer, he walked Colavito and Nelson, and then pinch-runner Jim Nelson scored on an E7 throwing error following a single by Danny O’Connell, and suddenly the lead was cut to one. Koufax got the outs we needed to get out of the inning, but we needed some insurance in the bottom of the eighth. Kaline got it for us, hitting a homer into the right field seats, his 14th of the year, to make it a 5-3 lead. Koufax stayed out in the bottom of the inning, getting a flyout to Kaline, and then after walking Stan Palys, made a brilliant double play to complete the two-run win!

After a five inning three hit effort by Porterfield, who walked three, struck out four and allowed two runs, Carl Ersline came in and won the game, improving to 3-1 with a two-inning two-hit, two strikeout effort. Koufax earned his 11th save of the season by going two innings as well, giving up a hit, a run and three walks against just one strikeout -- not the best outing we’ve seen from him, but he got it done, helping us sweep the Pirates as we keep our win streak going into the Brooklyn series. We outhit the Pirates 10-6, led by Kaline (two hits, a run and an RBI) and Crandall (two hits). Robinson hit once, walked once, stole a base and scored a run, and pinch-hitter Dick Whitman finally got his first hit of the year in his 12th attempt, stealing his second base of the year as well.

jksander · 12-29-2023, 06:28 PM

JULY 15, 1956 . . . Heading into this two-day set against the Dodgers, we’ve got a 6-5 record against them, to go with a 5.5 game lead in the division as we’ve really started to pull away -- we’re 9-1 in our last ten, while they’ve gone 4-6 and just 1-2 since the All Star break. Hy Cohen (17-2, 1.70 ERA, 169.2 IP, 186 K’s, 0.77 WHIP) got the start this afternoon against Brooklyn’s Connie Johnson (13-2, 1.58 ERA, 153.1 IP, 145 K’s, 0.80 WHIP). So no one expected much hitting, especially with the wind blownig in from right at 11 miles per hour. Roy Campanella quickly took advantage of a misplaced fastball by Cohen in the top of the second, hitting it out of the park for two runs and the early lead. Ernie Banks doubled in the bottom of the inning, and Al Kaline singled to drive Banks to third with just one out, but Whitman and Crandall were easy outs for Johnson, and we went into the third inning trailing 2-0. And it stayed that way until the bottom of the seventh, when Ernie Banks hit a two-run double to tie things up, completely catching Johnson off guard. Jack Poppell singled to start the bottom of the eighth, but we completely stranded him, sending us into the top of the ninth still knotted up at 2-2. Cohen got three outs via contact, sending us into the bottom of the inning with a chance to pull a win out of our hats. Banks got a base hit, but Kaline batted out to left and Whitman struck out swinging, and Crandall popped out to left to send us into extra innings for the third time in four days. Cohen stayed out for the tenth, and the Dodgers took advantage ... he gave up an RBI double to Duke Snider that put the Dodgers up 3-2 heading into the bottom of the 10th. Ed Bouchee pinch hit for Cohen to start the frame, getting a hit into right field for a single, and Poppell beat out a bouncing infield ball to safely take his base and drive Bouchee into scoring position! Jackie Robinson got a hit into left, batting Bouchee in to tie it, and Poppell came all the way around from first as it rolled into the corner, scoring and giving us the 4-3 extra-innings victory!

Despite giving up the run in the top of the 10th, Cohen held tough and won the 10-inning complete game, allowing only six hits with five strikeouts, two walks and three earned runs, improving to 18-2 with a 1.75 ERA. We outhit the Dodgers 9-6, led by Ernie Banks with three hits and two RBIs, while Robinson had two hits, a run and two RBIs, and Poppell led off with two hits and scored a run. Dick Whitman still can’t seem to buy a string of hits, but he got two steals in this one, bringing his total to four on the year as he gave Roger Maris a much-needed afternoon off.

We now have a spectacular 11-2 record in extra innings games this year, which stands out considering we’re only 19-10 in one-run games.

JULY 16, 1956 . . . Camilo Pascual (5-7, 2.71 ERA, 109.2 IP, 78 K’s, 1.09 WHIP) pitched in our second game against the Dodgers’ Billy Loes (2-0, 2.40 ERA, 15.0 IP, 6 K’s, 1.40 WHIP). We loaded the bases in the bottom of the first, and Ernie Banks batted in a run with a sac-fly to left, giving us a 1-0 lead. Brooklyn tied us in the top of the second, when Bill Mazeroski reached first on a throwing error, taking second, advancing on a sac-bunt and then scoring via a Pee Wee Reese groundout at first. The Dodgers then took the lead in the top of the fourth with a homer by Hodges, Pascual’s first hit allowed in the game, but Willie Mays answered with his 33rd homer of the year in the bottom of the fourth to tie us back up at 2-2. Pascual hit a triple in the bottom of the fifth, scoring on a flyout by Rosen to make it 3-2 Cubs heading into the sixth. Carl Erskine came in for the top of the seventh, getting three quick outs to send us into the stretch still ahead by a run. Hersh Freeman came in with two outs and a man on second in the top of the eighth, getting a popout to center that ended the inning without a run scoring. Freeman got an out in the top of the ninth but then gave up a hit to Sandy Amoros, and we brought Koufax in to protect the lead. A wild pitch advanced Amoros to second, but Anthony Pint struck out swinging, bringing up Frank Thomas, who popped out to center as we won our ninth game in a row, this time by a 3-2 margin!

Pascual improved to 6-7 with a 2.65 ERA, thanks to a two-hit six inning effort with a strikeout, a walk and two runs (one earned). Erskine and Freeman each notched holds, and Koufax got his 12th save of the year, improving his ERA to 3.06 with just six pitches thrown. We outhit Brooklyn 9-4, led by Willie Mays with three hits, a run and an RBI thanks to his homer. Ernie Banks added a pair of hits and an RBI as well. Getting both wins by one-run margins really helps, as we’ve now got a 62-24 record and a 7.5 game lead in the division. We’ll now face the Philadelphia Phillies here at Wrigley, with their 46-39 record (15.5 games back) with a chance to really start to pull away.

JULY 17, 1956 . . . Tom Acker (4-2, 2.82 ERA, 70.1 IP, 48 K’s, 1.09 WHIP) got the start today against the Phillies, facing Don Newcombe (10-7, 2.73 ERA, 155.0 IP, 96 K’s, 0.90 WHIP). Ernie Banks hit a ball almost out to Waveland, batting in three runs with his 18th homer of the season to give us a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Del Ennis batted in a run in the top of the third to get the Phillies on the board, and then with the bases loaded, Acker gave up a grand slam to Smoky Burgess to suddenly put us in a 5-3 hole. Acker got out of the inning bruised and beaten, having thrown 60 pitches in three innings of work. Banks batted in a run with a sac-fly in the bottom of the third, and Roger Maris hit into a fielder’s choice, reaching first and driving in a run while Kaline was picked off at second, so we went into the fourth inning knotted up 5-5. Acker stayed out and got us through the fourth, but we brought Erskine in to pitch to start the fifth with the score still tied at five runs apiece. Erskine stayed out a little too long, giving up a two run homer with two outs in the top of the seventh to put Philadelphia up 7-5, with Bob Purkey getting the final out to get us into the stretch. Larry Jansen came in with an out and men on first and second in the top of the eighth, getting us out of the inning with a fantastic double play. But in the top of the ninth he gave up a homer to Earl Torgeson that inreased their lead to three runs, and Red Schoendienst doubled to drive in another pair. So we went into the bottom of the inning needing five runs, at least, With two outs, Poppell got on base by beating out an infield single, and then stole second and third, but Al Rosen grounded out to first to end this one as a 10-5 defeat.

Carl Erskine took the loss, falling to 3-2 with a 3.80 ERA, allowing two hits and two runs, with two walks and a strikeout through 2.2 innings of work. But it was Acker who left us needing to win a bullpen game, lasting four innings with four hits and five earned runs, striking out four but walking four as well. Jansen struggled in his 1.2 innings, giving up three hits and a walk to allow three earned runs, dropping his ERA to 4.64 through 33 innings over 25 appearances. Philly outhit us 11-10, with Robinson, Kaline and Maris each hitting twice. Poppell tried to spark a rally at the last second and now has 20 stolen bases this year in 25 attempts, jumping himself into the #3 spot overall in either league, behind only Luis Aparicio of the Giants, who has 21, and Boston’s Jim Rivera who has 23 -- and they’ve each done it while playing in more than three times as many games as he has.

JULY 18, 1956 . . . Saul Rogovin (12-2, 1.83 ERA, 162.1 IP, 209 K’s, 0.75 WHIP) pitched tonight against Philly’s Joe Nuxhall (10-5, 2 SV, 1.81 ERA, 129.1 IP, 82 K’s, 0.77 WHIP). Jackie Robinson tripled in the bottom of the first with two outs, his 13th three-bagger of the year, but was left stranded. But Roger Maris made up for it in the bottom of the second, hitting his 10th homer of the season to put us up 1-0. A botched pick-off attempt at first allowed Poppell to advance to second base in the bottom of the fifth, as Del Crandall scored from third to make it 2-0. Poppell stole third, scoring when Al Rosen batted one into center for an RBI single, and Ernie Banks cleared the bases with a three-run homer, his 19th of the year, to make it 6-0 Cubs heading into the top of the sixth, and Rogovin held tough from there, completing the two-hit shutout as we won 6-0.

Rogovin improved to 13-2, striking out nine and walking only one batter as he improved his ERA to 1.73. We outhit them 11-2, led by Jackie Robinson with three hits and a run, while Al Rosen added two hits a run and an RBI. Poppell hit and scored a run, stealing his 21st base, and Banks batted in three runs with his homer, though he struck out three times.

JULY 19, 1956 . . . Hy Cohen (18-2, 1.75 ERA, 179.2 IP, 191 K’s, 0.77 WHIP) pitched this afternoon against Robin Roberts (11-7, 2.10 ERA, 154.0 IP, 119 K’s, 0.75 WHIP). Jackie Robinson hit a two-run blast into the bleachers at center, his 18th homer of the season, to put us up 2-0 in the bottom of the first. Poppell hit an RBI single in the bottom of the second, driving Kaline around from second to score and extend the lead to three runs. Philly scored in the top of the sixth via an RBI double by Torgeson, and we went into the stretch leading 3-1. Jackie Robinson tripled in the bottom of the eighth, and Ernie Banks hit a three-run homer, his 20th of the season, to make it 6-1 Cubs! Cohen completed the game with three quick outs and we won this one by five runs, another dominant performance!

Cohen improved to 19-2 with a 1.72 ERA, allowing seven hits with seven strikeouts, but only letting them score one run. We had ten hits, led by Jackie Robinson’s three hit two run two RBI performance. He had a single, a triple and a homer, damned near hitting for the cycle. Earlier this season he scored his 1,000th run and stole his 200th base ... he’s now just one dinger away from his 200th homer. Poppell hit twice and batted in a run, stealing twice, and Al Rosen had a solid night with two hits and a run scored. Ernie Banks remained red hot as well, hitting a three-run blast to give him 20 homers and 53 RBIs.

We’ll close out this homestand with four games against the Giants (40-48) this weekend, having beaten them seven out of the nine times we’ve played so far this year. We’re now 64-25 and have gone 8-1 since the All Star break, leading the Dodgers by 7.5 games. The trade deadline’s coming up fast, but we’ve got our team right where we want it -- I don’t see anything happening at the deadline for our Cubs unless something absolutely marvelous slides across my desk.

jksander · 12-29-2023, 09:20 PM

JULY 20, 1956 . . . Camilo Pascual (6-7, 2.65 ERA, 115.2 IP, 79 K’s, 1.05 WHIP) is up to pitch in game one, going up against Jack Sanford (2-2, 2.61 ERA, 51.2 IP, 32 K’s, 1.08 WHIP). Jackie Robinson got himself another bottom-of-the-first triple, driving in our first run of the game, but the Giants got on the board in the top of the second, Luis Aparicio scoring from third when Jim Gilliam reached first on an error by Banks at short, tying the score at 1-1. Al Rosen hit a sac-fly in the bottom of the third that drove Poppell in to score from third, giving us back our lead, but the Giants got it back in the top of the fourth with a solo blast by Ed Bailey that tied things back up at 2-2. And Erskine clearly did not have his best stuff today, giving up another solo blast in the top of the fifth to Bill White, giving the Giants a 3-2 lead as he neared 90 pitches. Carl Erskine came in to pitch, striking out the next two batters in a row to get us out of the inning, and he struck out two more in the top of the sixth en route to getting out of the inning cleanly. Poppell got a base hit in the bottom of the inning, stole second (his third steal of the game!) and tied things up when Al Rosen hit an RBI double! Ernie Banks added an RBI single moments later to give us back the lead, sending us into the top of the seventh leading 4-3. Erskine pitched himself into a bases-loaded jam in the top of the inning, but got us into the break with his lead safe, getting our second out via a pop-up to short and striking out his fifth batter for the third. Poppell beat out an infield squib to reach first safely in the bottom of the seventh, and Al Rosen walked, putting him in scoring position with two outs and Robinson at the plate. Poppell stole third, his fourth steal of the afternoon, but Robinson popped out to center, ending the inning with our lead still at one run.

Hersh Freeman came in to pitch in the eighth, but he gave up an RBI single to Jim Gilliam that tied us back up at 4-4, blowing the save, and with Koufax hurriedly warming up, Hector Lopez hit a two-run double, putting us in a 6-4 hole just like that. Koufax came in with Lopez in scoring position with just one out, notching two quick strikeouts, and we went into the bottom of the eighth trailing by a pair. Mays hit one out of the park, his 34th homer of the year, to make it a one-run ballgame, and Banks and Kaline each got hits to put the tying run in scoring position. But Koufax flew out to deep left, narrowly missing out on a homer himself, and we went into the top of the ninth needing to prevent any damage so we’d have a chance, and he did his job, getting a pop-out to short and completing a double play off an infield hit by Don Blasingame, bringing rookie sensation Jack Poppell up to bat to start the bottom of the inning. Poppell would not get a chance to play hero -- he popped out to right field. But Rosen walked, as did Robinson, and Willie Mays got a great hit into left field, driving in a run to tie it up and putting the winning run on third thanks to a well-timed double! Rosen was picked off at home on a fielder’s choice, and Kaline batted out to right, ending the inning and sending us into extras knotted 6-6.

Koufax stayed out for the top of the 10th, getting Red Wilson to ground out to first and then walking Jack Shepard. Jim Gilliam sac-bunted Shepard to second, and then Hector Lopez hit a single into right, allowing Shepard to come in for the go-ahead run. Crandall couldn’t handle a wild pitch, sending Lopez to second, but Koufax struck Norm Siebern out swinging to get us back up to bat trailing by a run. And this time our extra-innings luck ran out, as the Giants shut us down to win this one 7-6 in ten innings.

Koufax took the loss, lasting 2.2 innings but giving up two hits, a walk and a run with three strikeouts, keeping his ERA a respectable 3.08 as he fell to 5-6. Erskine was impressive, pitching 2.2 innings as well with one hit, two walks and five strikeouts, bringing his ERA down to 3.59. Pascual was not impressive, however, only lasting 4.1 innings with five hits, three walks, three strikeouts and three runs (two earned). They outhit us 12-10, our team led by Willie Mays (three hits and a walk for a run and two RBIs), Ernie Banks (two hits and an RBI) and Jack Poppell (a hit, a walk and four stolen bases for two runs scored).Banks and Crandall each had errors, which didn’t help us in a tight contest.

JULY 21, 1956 . . . Saul Rogovin (13-2, 1.73 ERA, 171.1 IP, 218 K’s, 0.72 WHIP) came up to pitch in the second game of the series, facing New York’s Bob Lemon (2-7, 5.84 ERA, 57.0 IP, 19 K’s, 1.70 WHIP). With the bases loaded in the bottom of the first, Al Rosen came in to score on a wild pitch to put us up 1-0. Of course we reciprocated in the top of the second, a wild pitch of our own allowing Norm Cash to tie it up at 1-1, a real comedy of errors. We loaded the bases again in the bottom of the third, taking the lead back with a two-RBI single by Kaline, giving us a 3-1 lead heading into the top of the fourth. Ed Bailey hit an RBI single in the top of the fourth to cut our lead to one run, and then Bob Lemon hit a homer into the center field bleachers, scoring three runs to put the Giants ahead 5-3. Unbelievable! The top of the seventh was interrupted by a brief rain delay, but we were able to resume and get into the stretch still trailing by two runs. Rogovin stayed out for the ninth inning, striking out a pair to get us into the bottom of the frame still down by two runs. Jackie Robinson came out and hit a towering blast to right, leaving the park for his 19th homer of the year and the 200th of his career to pull us within a run ... but that was all we were able to muster, limping into the finish to lose our second in a row, 5-4 to the Giants.

Rogovin fell to 12-3 with a 1.90 ERA, allowing only five hits and striking out 12 batters while walking only two, but giving up five earned runs in the process. We actually outhit the Giants 9-6, but they made better use of their runners on the basepaths and then holding the lead well in the final innings. Robinson led the team with three hits, a walk, two runs and an RBI, while Al Kaline added a hit and two RBIs. Poppell, in the leadoff role he seems to have been made for, got a hit and a walk, adding two more stolen bases to his total, giving him 29 so far through just 31 games.

We have a doubleheader tomorrow here at Wrigley, and then we hit the road, not returning to Chicago until the 10th of August. So we really need to come out strong and win, as our schedule does not grow easier from here.

JULY 22, 1956 . . . Tom Acker (4-2, 3.27 ERA, 74.1 IP, 52 K’s, 1.14 WHIP) got the start against Seth Morehead (8-9, 3.78 ERA, 148.1 IP, 91 K’s, 1.24 WHIP) in game one of today’s doubleheader. The Giants quickly got on the board in the top of the first, Bill White hitting an RBI double to give them a 1-0 lead. Al Rosen batted in a run via Del Crandall in the bottom of the third to tie us up 1-1, at which point this one stayed locked up cold. In the bottom of the eighth, with two outs and no one on, Jack Poppell got his first hit of the game, a blistering double into the left corner. He stole third with the count 2-2 against Rosen, who then got a great line drive into right to drive in the go-ahead run -- Poppell being good as gold if he gets himself a base-running opportunity. Hersh Freeman came in for the save opportunity in the top of the ninth, and he held tough despite letting a baserunner on quickly, getting three outs in a row to shut them down and hold on to the 2-1 victory.

Tom Acker improved to 5-2 with a 2.95 ERA, lasting eight innings with just three hits, one walk and six strikeouts, to go with one unearned run. Freeman earned his seventh save of the year, with one hit and one strikeout, improving his ERA slightly to 5.46. We outhit them 5-4 in this pitcher’s duel, led by Rosen with two hits and two RBIs, and by Poppell, whose hit and steal helped set up his game-winning run.

Hy Cohen (19-2, 1.72 ERA, 188.2 IP, 198 K’s, 0.77 WHIP) started game two of the day, facing their ace, Ted Abernathy (12-8, 2.59 ERA, 178.0 IP, 118 K’s, 0.97 WHIP). The Giants got up quickly, an RBI by Wally Post driving in the first run of the game in the top of the first. But Ernie Banks hit a three-run blast in the bottom of the inning, his 21st of the year, to put us back on top by two runs. Al Kaline added his 15th homer of the season in the bottom of the third, driving in three runs to quickly make this one into a 6-1 blowout! Jackie Robinson added an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth, and Willie Mays hit a sac-fly to center that added another. Ernie Banks got himself an RBI single to make it 9-1 heading into the top of the fifth. Kaline added an RBI triple in the bottom of the eighth that scored two more runs, and a two-run homer by Roger Maris made it a complete and total rout, his 11th blast of the year. Cohen stayed out to complete the 13-1 win, his 20th victory of the year!

Cohen is now 20-2 with a 1.68 ERA, having thrown a seven-hitter with six strikeouts and a walk, allowing a single run in the top of the first. We had 14 hits as a team, led again by Robinson (three hits, three runs, one RBI), alongside Ernie Banks (three hits, two runs, four RBIs) and Kaline(three hits, two runs, five RBIs). Poppell had a hit and scored a run, stealing three bases in the game, while Robinson picked up one for his fifth steal of the season.

Heading into what I expect to be our most difficult road stretch of the season, we now hold a 66-27 record and lead the Brooklyn Dodgers by 5.5 games. Here’s our upcoming schedule:

7/24-26: @ Pittsburgh (46-48)
7/27-29: @ Brooklyn (59-31) -- doubleheader on the 29th
7/30-8/1: @ Philadelphia (49-43)
8/3-5: @ NY Giants (42-50) -- doubleheader on the 5th
8/6-7: @ Milwaukee (43-48)
8/8-9: @ Cincinnati (35-57)

The remainder of the month will feature 17 games at Wrigley, with just four additional games on the road against St. Louis (28-64) and Cincinnati.

At this point the Yankees (64-31) are handling their business, 7.5 games up on Detroit (54-36), with Cleveland (48-42, 13.5 GB) and Boston (47-43, 14.5 GB) lagging far behind. Neither Kansas City (43-49), the White Sox (39-51), Baltimore (36-56) or Washington (35-59) are in any kind of contention for the AL pennant.

jksander · 01-06-2024, 12:18 PM

JULY 24, 1956 . . . On the road again ... tonight we’re in Pittsburgh, with Saul Rogovin (13-3, 1.90 ERA, 180.1 IP, 230 K’s, 0.73 WHIP) pitching against the Pirates’ Hank Aguirre (8-5, 2.02 ERA, 129.1 IP, 85 K’s, 0.94 WHIP). In the top of the fourth, with the game still scoreless, Jackie Robinson hit a double, sending Rosen all the way around from first to score, and Robinson was able to beat out a throw to take third, though we left him stranded as we went into the bottom of the inning leading 1-0. But they tied us up quickly, thanks to a solo homer by Rocky Nelson in the bottom of the fourth, and it remained so heading into the seventh inning stretch. We came up in the top of the ninth, still tied 1-1, and with one out Rosen got himself a double to put a rare runner in scoring position with just our third hit of the evening. Jackie Robinson grounded out to first, advancing Rosen to third, but we weren’t able to get him in to score, sending us into the bottom of the ninth needing to keep them from breaking the stalemate, and Rogovin did just that, getting three quick outs to send us into extras.

Carl Erskine came out and got us the outs we needed in the bottom of the 10th, and he stayed sharp in the 11th as well, both teams holding tough defensively. Robinson walked to start the top of the 12th, moving to second off a single by Mays, and an Ernie Banks line drive into right loaded the bases without an out! Robinson scored on a sac-fly by Kaline, and a Del Crandall sac-fly to right drove in another run. Koufax came out to protect the two-run lead in the bottom of the 12th, giving up a hit but then getting three consecutive outs via contact to close out the 3-1 victory!

Rogovin put in a solid nine inning effort, allowing just four hits and a run, with 12 strikeouts and a walk. But Erskine’s two-inning no-hit stretch in extras (with a pair of strikeouts!) got the reliever the win, improving his record to 4-2 with a 3.44 ERA. Koufax allowed just the one hit and kept his ERA at 3.03. Each team had five hits this evening, our team led by Rosen with two hits, a walk and a run scored. Robinson had a hit and a walk for a run and an RBI, while Mays hit and scored a run as well.

JULY 25, 1956 . . . Camilo Pascual (6-7, 2.70 ERA, 120.0 IP, 82 K’s, 1.08 WHIP) started tonight against Pittsburgh’s Johnny Klippstein (8-9, 3.83 ERA, 159.2 IP, 100 K’s, 1.11 WHIP). Jackie Robinson hit a solo blast in the top of the first, his 20th of the season, to give us an early 1-0 lead, but Billy Klaus hit one in the bottom of the second to tie us at 1-1. Jackie Robinson hit an RBI single to drive Jack Poppel in from third, and Ernie Banks hit a triple that drove in two more. Al Kaline hit one into deep center to make it 5-1, giving us a solid advantage heading into the bottom of the third. Pascual was able to breathe a little easier, even more-so when Willie Mays hit his 35th homer of the year in the top of the fifth to make the score 6-1. Ernie Banks then hit his 22nd of the year to make it 7-1, giving us a six-run advantage in the bottom of the fifth. But the Pirates got going in a big way in the bottom of the inning, Ken Boyer hitting a three-run homer into the right field stands to cut our lead to three. Willie Mays scored a run in the top of the seventh, stealing third and then making it around to home thanks to a botched throw to the third baseman. Kaline then batted Banks in to score with an RBI single, and we went into the stretch leading 9-4. Hersh Freeman came in to pitch in the bottom of the inning, and the Pirates got a run back with an RBI single by Boyer. But Robinson got himself another RBI single in the top of the eighth, so Freeman stayed out and pitched in the bottom of the inning, settling in nicely and getting through the inning without much fuss. With the five run lead still intact, he closed out the game by staying out for the ninth as well, and we won this one handily 10-5, giving Freeman a three-inning save.

Pascual improved to 7-7 with a 2.86 ERA, allowing four hits and four runs in six innings of work, striking out seven against four walks. Freeman gave us three very good innings, allowing just one run with a strikeout and two walks, with only one run scoring on his watch. We outhit them 11-5, led by Robinson (three hits, two runs, three RBIs), Banks (two hits, one walk, three runs, three RBIs) and Kaline (three hits, two RBIs). Poppell got a hit and walked twice, stealing two bases in three attempts, giving him 35 stolen bases in 42 tries this year. Willie Mays had a hit for two runs and an RBI, stealing his ninth base of the year as well.

JULY 26, 1956 . . . Hy Cohen (20-2, 1.68 ERA, 197.2 IP, 204 K’s, 0.77 WHIP) has been as hot as a pitcher can be this year, and he’s starting for the 24th time this year, facing Gene Conley (9-9, 2.35 ERA, 187.1 IP, 130 K’s, 1.01 WHIP) in this one. Poppell took a walk to start the first inning, stealing second and third, coming around to score off a single by Rosen to put us very quickly ahead 1-0 -- folks around these parts are starting to refer to him as “Jackrabbit” Poppell! Willie Mays hit his 36th homer of the year in the top of the fifth, a three-run blast that made it 4-0 Cubs. Pittsburgh got on the board with a solo homer by Rocky Nelson in the bottom of the seventh, but Cohen was locked in and went into the bottom of the ninth still holding a three-run lead, shutting them down quietly as we held tough to win 4-1.

With another complete-game three-hitter under his belt, Cohen is now 21-2 with a 1.65 ERA, winning this one with only three strikeouts, a rarity earned almost exclusively through contact and solid fielding. We outhit them 5-3 but walked seven times. Rosen led the team with two hits for a run and an RBI, while Mays’ homer batted in three runs. Poppell finished with a hit, a walk, a run and three more stolen bases, continuing his amazing streak as a baserunner.

With the series sweep over Pittsburgh complete, we now head to Brooklyn (62-31, 5.5 GB) for a four-game set over the next three days. We’re on a five-game winning streak, but the Dodgers have won seven in a row and nine of their last ten. So these are not going to be easy wins to get.

JULY 27, 1956 . . . Tom Acker (5-2, 2.95 ERA, 82.1 IP, 58 K’s, 1.08 WHIP) got the start in game one at Brooklyn, facing Sal Maglie (17-2, 1.43 ERA, 188.2 IP, 122 K’s, 0.78 WHIP). Acker allowed a homer by Gil Hodges in the bottom of the first that quickly put the Dodgers up 2-0. Pee Wee Reese hit an RBI triple in the bottom of the second to make it 3-0, and Carl Furillo hit an RBI single to extend the lead further. The wheels quickly came off, as Hodges hit an RBI double that scored another pair, and we went into the top of the third down by six. Carl Erskine came in with one out and a man on first in the bottom of the fifth, striking out the first two batters he faced to get us out of the inning, and he got a hit to start the top of the sixth, but the top of our lineup left him high and dry. Pee Wee Reese and Carl Furillo doubled in consecutive at-bats, extending the Dodgers’ lead to seven runs, and a Duke Snider double made it quickly 8-0 as we completely embarrassed ourselves. A three-run Frank Thomas homer added insult to injury, and we went into the top of the seventh down by eleven. Our bats remained impotent and they stuffed this one down our throats from there, shutting us out 11-0 in an absolutely indefensible blowout.

Acker took the loss, falling to 5-3 with eight hits, three walks and four strikeouts, the six earned runs bloating his ERA to 3.43 in a 4.1 inning effort. Erskine added 1.1 innings, allowing four hits and five earned runs, leaving it to Larry Jansen to mop up the mess in a 2.1 inning two hit, one strikeout effort that at least put a tourniquet on our wounds. They outhit us 14-4, with Robinson (two hits), Kaline (one hit), Erskine (one hit) and Rosen (one walk) providing our only baserunners.

JULY 28, 1956 . . . Saul Rogovin (13-3, 1.85 ERA, 189.1 IP, 242 K’s, 0.72 WHIP) started today against Johnny Podres (10-6, 3.18 ERA, 158.2 IP, 85 K’s, 1.12 WHIP). Banks reached first on an error to start the top of the second, and Kaline advanced him with a base hit. Roger Maris then got a solid hit into the outfield to drive in a run and put us up 1-0. Rogovin bunted Kaline and Maris into scoring position, and Poppell got a hit into the outfield, driving in a run, and he stole second to get himself into scoring position as well, with Maris now on third. Rosen walked the bases loaded, but Robinson grounded into an out at first to end the frame. But the Dodgers quickly got back in it with a two-run homer by Bill Mazeroski, tying us at 2-2 in the bottom of the inning, sending us into the third back at square one. They took the lead with a sac-fly by Roy Campanella that drove in Carl Furillo with two outs in the bottom of the third, and it stayed that way until the top of the sixth when we loaded the bases with two outs -- Ed Bouchee came in to pinch-hit for Rogovin, getting an infield hit that kept the bases loaded and scored the tying run! Poppell got an infield hit that drove in the go-ahead run and kept the bases jammed, but Rosen batted into a fielder’s choice that ended the inning with us now up 4-3.

Hersh Freman came in to pitch in the bottom of the sixth, getting out of the inning with relative ease as Frank Thomas batted into a rally-squelching double play. Jansen tried to stay out for the bottom of the seventh but gave up two hits in a row and we had no choice but to bring in Jansen with men on the corners and no outs. A sac-bunt moved Fred Hatfield to second while holding Solly Hemus at third, and Pee Wee Reese flew out to second, though he was deep enough for Hemus to score the tying run and blow the save. But Jansen struck out Anthony Pint swinging and got us out of the inning knotted 4-4. Jansen got a quick out, then surrendered a homer to Sandy Amoros that put the Dodgers back up 5-4 in the bottom of the eighth. Carl Erskine came in and got two quick outs, and with Koufax warming up, Dick Whitman pinch-hit for Erskine in the top of the ninth, promptly grounding out to first, as did Poppell. Al Rosen quietly walked, and Jackie Robinson got a great hit into left field to advance him into scoring position. But Willie Mays popped out to first, ending this one as our second loss in a row to the Dodgers, this time by a 5-4 margin. Heading into tomorrow’s doubleheader, things are feeling far from comfortable, as the Dodgers are now within 3.5 games of us.

Rogovin gave us five innings with four hits, four strikeouts, two walks and three earned runs -- we chose to pinch-hit and take two runs with the bases loaded, rather than keep him in and risk staying behind. It was a calculated risk, and our bullpen wasn’t up to the task. Freeman had a good inning, with two hits and a run, earning his fourth hold, but Jansen fell to 4-2 with his first blown save, giving us 1.1 innings with a hit, a strikeout and an earned run. Erskine got the outs we needed and brought his ERA back down to 4.18, but our bats had nothing left for the ninth, despite having outhit the Dodgers 8-7 in the game. Poppell had a hit, an RBI and a stolen base, bringing his total to 39, and Kaline was as solid as ever with three hits for two runs, bringing his average up to .301 through 98 games. The Dodgers just seem to have our number, and we need wins tomorrow in a big way if we don’t want to head into August neck and neck with our rivals.

joefromchicago · 01-06-2024, 08:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jksander

OUT OF CHARACTER: I didn’t realize the double-switch didn’t come into being until 1964, or so I’m told from one of my online leagues. So I wound up in the unenviable position of not having a catcher, since it subbed Hersh Freeman for Crandall and not for Whitman. Since I do not have a third activated catcher, I had to sub in a relief pitcher at catcher and just chalk it up to my character being drunk or something, lol! Lesson learned, be careful doing any pinch-anything involving the catcher.

According to A Game of Inches, there is evidence for double-switches going back to 1906. It was, however, probably a rare practice before the 1920s just because there usually weren't all that many bench players available.

jksander · 01-07-2024, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joefromchicago

According to A Game of Inches, there is evidence for double-switches going back to 1906. It was, however, probably a rare practice before the 1920s just because there usually weren't all that many bench players available.

Makes sense

That was a wild game ...

jksander · 01-09-2024, 11:13 PM

JULY 29, 1956 . . . Hy Cohen (21-2, 1.65 ERA, 206.2 IP, 207 K’s, 0.75 WHIP) started in game one of this very important doubleheader, facing the Dodgers’ Don Kaiser (8-7, 3.95 ERA, 116.1 IP, 48 K’s, 1.42 WHIP). In the top of the first, Robinson and Mays each got hits on two outs, and Robinson successfully stole third with the count 1-1 on Banks. But Banks grounded into a fielder’s choice at second and we went into the bottom of the inning without a score. Kaline tripled to start the top of the second, however, and Roger Maris hit an RBI double to make it 1-0 Cubs. Maris advanced to third on a flyout by Crandall, and Cohen got himself a hit into left, driving Maris home for run number two, a rare hit for the pitcher. Brooklyn got on the board with an RBI single by Don Hoak, which followed two rare walks by Cohen, but he got out of the inning with a double play to keep our 2-1 lead intact heading into the third. Ernie Banks walked the bases loaded in the top of the third with no outs, and Kaline batted in a run, reaching base safely on a fielder’s choice. Maris batted in another off a sac fly to left, and we’d rebuilt a solid 4-1 lead very efficiently. Willie Mays batted in another run with an RBI double in the top of the fifth to make it 5-1, and in the top of the ninth, with two outs and the count 1-1 on Jackie Robinson, Jack Poppell successfully stole home for the first time in his career to make it a five-run lead. Cohen stayed in to close out the game, giving up an RBI double to Duke Snider to cut the lead to four. With Koufax warming up in the bullpen, he gave up an RBI double to Campanella, putting runners on the corners with just one out. Snider scored on a flyout by Frank Thomas, and Koufax came in with two outs and a man in scoring position. Anthony Pint reached first off a single into right, driving Campanella into third, but Mazeroski grounded to Banks, who made the throw perfectly to second for the final out as we won this one 6-3.

Cohen gave us 8.2 innings with just four hits, striking out eight but walking four batters to allow three runs. Koufax got the out we needed, throwing six pitches and allowing just the one hit, earning his 14th save. Cohen was not used to being pulled for a closer, but we needed this win, and he’d thrown 128 pitches and looked worn out. We outhit the Dodgers 10-5 in this one, led by Mays with three hits, a run and an RBI, and by Robinson with two hits, a walk, a steal and two runs scored. Jack Poppell got a hit and stole three bases, scoring our final run of the game as well. He now has 42 stolen bases through 39 games, along with 40 hits and 17 walks.

Camilo Pascual (7-7, 2.86 ERA, 126.0 IP, 89 K’s, 1.10 WHIP) pitched in the second game of the doubleheader, facing Connie Johnson (15-2, 1.60 ERA, 180.1 IP, 171 K’s, 0.80 WHIP) as we hoped to win out and split the four-game series. Carl Furillo got them on the board first with a solo blast to center in the bottom of the first, And they added to the damage in the bottom of the second, Johnny Pramesa batting in a run with a single to make it 2-0. Pascual struggled mightily, loading the bases, and a third run scored on a flyout by Furillo before we were able to finally get out of the inning -- through two innings Pascual had allowed three hits and four walks, with 43 thrown pitches. Connie Johnson gave up walks to Rosen and Robinson in the top of the fourth, however, and Willie Mays took the opportunity to then belt one into the right field seats, tying this game up 3-3 wih his 37th homer of the season! Pascual got us through the fourth but was still shaky, and we brought in Carl Erskine to throw in the bottom of the fifth with the score still knotted. He struggled, loading the bases with just one out, but made a spectacular double play to keep the Dodgers from scoring.

We brought Hersh Freeman in with two outs and a man on first in the bottom of the sixth, and he got us out of the inning with a hit and a flyout, no Dodgers players scoring, but he came out in the bottom of the seventh and struggled, giving up two hits in a row, including an RBI double to Frank Thomas, bringing Larry Jansen in with no outs and a man in scoring position. Jansen got us three outs off 10 pitches without letting anyone score, and we went into the top of the eighth trailing 4-3. Poppell came up and got a hit and quickly stole second, reaching third on a groundout to first by Rosen to get his speedy self into scoring position. Robinson walked, and Mays hit a sac fly to center that scored Poppell from third easily, tying us up 4-4! But with one out and a man on first in the bottom of the inning, Jansen gave up a double that Mays barely missed at the wall, and Furillo had plenty of time to beat out the throw and come around from first to score, putting the Dodgers back up 5-4. Jansen got us out of the inning, but we needed at least a run in the top of the ninth or this one would be over before Koufax even got a shot at it. And it wasn’t meant to be ... we went down quietly and lost this one by the one run as Brooklyn took three of four in this series.

Pascual struggled, giving up five hits in four innings with four walks, two strikeouts and three earned runs. Erskine and Freeman kept us in the game, but Jensen took the loss, despite allowing just two hits and a walk in two innings of work. He fell to 4-3 on the year with a 4.42 ERA. But the game shouldn’t have been this close. Brooklyn outhit us 14-4. Poppell had two hits and two steals, helping him to contribute one of our runs, while Mays had a hit and a sac fly, scoring one run and driving in all four of our runs. Robinson was walked twice, while Rosen and Freeman each took a base on balls as well. If not for that and our solid baserunning this one would have been even more of a struggle.

Brooklyn (65-32) has now pulled within 3.5 games of us, so even with a 70-30 record we’d be hard-pressed to feel comfortable. Two more days ‘til the trade deadline -- we’ve started getting some desperation offers from around the league, but nothing I’ve wanted to jump on, though you always keep your ear to the wind in this league ... you don’t want to let opportunities blow by.

JULY 30, 1956 . . . We’ve got no room to rest, with our road trip continuing into Philly today through Wednesday, with 11 total road games still left in this trip before we can get back to Wrigley. The Phillies are currently 55-43 and sitting 14 games back, but any losses would jeopardize our slim pennant lead over the Dodgers. Saul Rogovin (13-3, 1.95 ERA, 194.1 IP, 246 K’s, 0.74 WHIP) only threw 63 pitches through five innings two days ago, and is therefore fully rested, so he’ll get the start this afternoon, going up against Bob Rush (6-8, 3.80 ERA, 128.0 IP, 52 K’s, 1.27 WHIP).

Jack Poppell got things started with a base hit, then a mistimed throw trying to catch him stealing second went wild, and he was able to take third as well, giving the Phillies an early error. Poppell tried to make it home on a flyout by Rosen, however, and this time his legs came up just short, sliding right into the tag ... no score. But Ernie Banks hit an RBI triple in the top of the second to put us up 1-0, and Kaline batted in another with an RBI single. Rosen batted in a third run in the top of the third inning, and an Ernie Banks sac fly to center with the bases loaded gave us a 4-0 lead heading into the bottom of the inning. Poppell got his third hit of the game in the top of the fourth, and Al Rosen walked the bases loaded, setting up Jackie Robinson to take his own base on balls and make it a 5-0 game, though Mays kept it from getting truly ugly by batting into a double play to end the frame. In the top of the eighth, Rosen hit an RBI double to make it a six run shutout lead, and Willie Mays drove in another with an RBI double of his own that put him and Robinson in scoring position. Ernie Banks hit one into left for another RBI, and an Al Kaline flyout to center scored yet another.

With the score 9-0, Bob Purkey came in to pitch in the bottom of the eighth, and he blew the shutout with a three-run homer by Smoky Burgess that cut our lead to six runs with two outs. He got us out of the inning with a strikeout, but threw 37 pitches to do so, so we pinch-hit for him in the top of the ninth. We added another pair of runs with an RBI triple by Robinson, a Mays double batted in another, and Al Kaline batted Robinson in to score from second with a single into right field to extend our lead to 10 runs. We batted around for the second inning in a row -- Dick Whitman walked in our 14th run of the game, before Jack Poppell mercifully struck out swinging. Hersh Freeman came in to simply finish this one out, but he promptly gave up two hits and a walk to load the bases with no outs. Thomas Yuhas walked in a run for the Phillies, and a Del Ennis flyout at center drove in another. But Freeman got the final out at last and we were able to bring this 14-5 blowout to an end after three and a half hours.

Saul Rogovin improved to 14-3 with six hits seven strikeouts and a walk in seven shutout innings. Our bullpen left a lot to desire, but thankfully our bats were on fire -- we outhit them 18-11 as we won easily by nine runs. Robinson hit twice and walked three times, scoring twice and driving in three runs. Meanwhile, Jack Poppell had the game of his young career, hitting three times and walking twice from the leadoff position, stealing four bases and scoring three runs. He’s becoming a star here in Chicago, but is still a virtual unknown around the league. I can’t imagine it stays that way for long!

JULY 31, 1956 . . . We finalized a deal this morning with the Cincinnati Redlegs that brings us 26-year-old RHP Vern Law while sending the Redlegs a pair of young prospects: 17-year-old 2B Cookie Rojas (#77 BNN) and 24-year-old LF Ronald Bennett (#74 BNN). We’ve had to make the tough decision to waive and DFA 35-year-old Harry Dorish, with Law giving us another really solid middle relief option as we gear up for the heart of the pennant race. He has great stuff and excellent control, and his fastball has been improving nicely, though he does lack the pitch variation necessary to be considered for a starting role despite his durability and stamina. He’s on contract for $15,000 this year, and we’ve offered him a one year, $22,000 extension for next year. Law has been the Redlegs’ closer this year, a thankless and pointless role considering their 35-64 record, and for that reason he’s played in 23 games, started 10 of them, and posted a 3-7 record with a 4.90 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP through 86.1 innings. He’s already excited to be a part of the team, and was able to make it from New York (where the Redlegs were playing the Giants this afternoon) down to Philly to join our bullpen for tonight’s game against the Phillies. We’ll be moving Bob Porterfield into a starting spot as our fifth, “spot” starter for the remainder of the season.

Tom Acker (5-3, 3.43 ERA, 86.2 IP, 62 K’s, 1.15 WHIP) got the start for us today against Carl Simmons (6-6, 4.02 ERA, 94.0 IP, 38 K’s, 1.47 WHIP). Philly got on the board quickly with an RBI single by Smoky Burgess in the bottom of the first, and aside from a Poppell walk in the top of the fourth, we couldn’t make anything happen offensively. Acker struggled, but got us through the fourth inning without the score changing, and in the top of the fifth, Willie Mays led off with a single, our first hit of the night. Banks then hit an RBI double to tie the score up at 1-1. With a runner in scoring position, Roger Maris came in to pinch-hit for Acker, but he was unable to take a base, and we brought Carl Erskine in to pitch in the bottom of the inning. Erskine got us safely through the fifth and sixth innings, and an Al Kaline flyout at right field drove Robinson in from third to score the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh! In the bottom of the seventh we brought Vern Law in to make his Cubs debut, the lead 2-1, and he got a pair of flyouts and a strikeout to protect the lead, and he did just as well in the eighth, setting things up nicely for Koufax, who came in to protect the one-run lead in the bottom of the ninth. Koufax walked Alvin Dark, but got Randy Jackson to pinch-hit his way into a double play. He walked Richie Ashburn and Earl Torgeson, however, setting up a dangerous situation with Jackie Jenson coming up to the plate. At that point we could have used “cool, collected” Koufax, but instead, Jenson hit one clear out of the park and drove in three runs as the Phillies walked it off 4-2 -- what an absolutely brutal finish.

Despite Acker only lasting four innings, he only allowed four hits with two strikeouts, two walks and the one earned run. Erskine lasted two innings with two hits and a strikeout, and Vern Law got a hold in his first Cubs appearance, giving us two innings with just one hit, one strikeout and one walk. Koufax got two outs, but walked three batters and gave up the three-run homer falling to 5-7 with the loss and his fifth blown save of the year. Philly outhit us 8-4 but we were in the position to win it anyway, thanks to solid bullpen work, four walks, and a stolen base by Mays, his 10th of the year. Mays led the way with two hits, a walk and two runs scored, giving us all of our offense. Poppell walked once, but couldn’t get anywhere. Rosen and Banks had our only other hits.

The trade deadline has passed without any further incident.

jksander · 01-10-2024, 02:22 PM

AUGUST 1, 1956 . . . The biggest move of the deadline period would likely be the trade between the Phillies and Washington that sent the Phillies veteran right fielder Jackie Jenson, who at 29 has been hitting .295/.381/.490 with 13 homers and 74 RBIs, in exchange for top-30 pitching prospect Bill Monbouquette and top 25 pitching prospect Jim Perry. The Senators then traded Perry to the Red Sox for Steve Sisler, while Boston then flipped Perry to Milwaukee for first baseman Joe Adcock, who has been underwhelming this year but who has significant right-handed power in his bat and exceptional fielding ability. Whether any of those moves significantly help either team will remain to be seen, but Perry’s definitely racked up the miles -- the poor 20-year-old has definitely racked up some road miles in the last week or so.

Today we have our final game against Philly, with a day off tomorrow and then a four-game set on the road against the Giants (45-54). We then have a pair at Milwaukee (47-52) and a pair at Cincinnati (36-64) before returning home to play St. Louis (30-69) on the 10rh. Today Bob Porterfield (2-0, 2.12 ERA, 29.2 IP, 18 K’s, 0.88 WHIP) pitched against Joe Nuxhall (12-6, 1.74 ERA, 155.1 IP, 103 K’s, 0.79 WHIP). We took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first thanks to an RBI single by Banks that drove Al Rosen around to score from second. Porterfield allowed a hit and a walk to start the bottom of the inning, but he got two pop-outs and a strikeout to strand both runners as the sun dipped below the horizon. We loaded the bases in the top of the fourth, but Poppell struck out swinging to end the frame with us still leading by a run. And in the bottom of the inning Porterfield surrendered a three-run blast to Red Schoendienst, his 33rd homer of the year, to put Philly ahead 3-1. Richie Ashburn batted in another run with a single, but was picked off trying to steal second and we went into the top of the fifth trailing 4-1. Willie Mays hit a sac-fly to drive Rosen in from third for a run in the top of the fifth, and then Daniel Howard pinch-hit for Porterfield in the top of the sixth and got a high fly ball into deep center field, using his legs to power through an inside the park homer! UNBELIEVABLE! That cut the margin to a single run!

Vern Law came in to pitch in the bottom of the sixth with the Philllies up 4-3, giving up a hit to Burgess and walking Schoendienst but getting out of the inning unblemished, and he did the same in the bottom of the seventh, getting three quick outs to keep us in the game. Law was very efficient, getting us an out in the bottom of the eighth on just his 23rd pitch of the game, but Willie Jones hit a two-run blast into the right field stands and made it a 6-3 game. Larry Jansen came out with two outs and the bases empty, and got a quick out on an amazing catch at third by Robinson, and we had our work cut out for us in the top of the ninth. Dick Whitman pinch-hit for Crandall and got a quick single into right, taking first, bringing up Bouchee who was hitting for Jansen with Koufax warming up in the bullpen. Unfortunately, Bouchee took it to a full count and then hit into a double play. They walked Poppell, who, with the count 0-2 on Rosen, stole second! But Rosen struck out swinging and stranded him there on second, and we lost this one 6-3, losing the series to Philly in the process.

Porterfield took the loss, falling to 2-1 thanks to a seven hit five inning effort with five strikeouts, a walk and four earned runs. Vern Law had a solid 2.2 inning effort with three hits and a walk, but one of the hits was the two-run homer in the eighth ... he has a 3.86 ERA in his two efforts as a Cub thus far, but has looked impressive -- Philly is just a tough team, better than their record would indicate, and these two losses keep them within 13 games of a pennant shot. They outhit us 10-9 tonight, with Mays batting in a run with a sac fly and Banks getting a hit and an RBI. Al Rosen scored both our runs, off a hit and an error, and “Jackrabbit” Poppell got himself a hit, a walk and two stolen bases to bring his total on the year to 50 bags.

Our lead against the Dodgers has now been cut to three games. Over in the AL, the Yankees are feeling tense as well -- they have a 68-36 record but Detroit (62-38) has won eight of their last ten games to pull within four of the Bronx Bombers. Cleveland (59-42) is still within striking distance at 7.5 games back, and the Boston Red Sox are 52-49 and clinging to hope with a 14.5 game deficit to overcome.

jksander · 01-18-2024, 10:20 AM

AUGUST 3, 1956 . . . Hy Cohen (22-2, 1.71 ERA, 215.1 IP, 215 K’s, 0.76 WHIP) started us out in New York, pitching against Jack Harshman (5-10, 4.34 ERA, 153.1 IP, 109 K’s, 1.50 WHIP). And we were quick to do damage, loading the bases for Ernie Banks, who hit a power ball into the left field stands, a grand slam that put us up 4-0 just ten minutes into the game! That was Banks’ 23rd homer of the year. Jackie Robinson hit a two-RBI double in the top of the second, Cohen loaded the bases in the bottom of the second, a run scoring on an Ed Bailey flyout to left, but we still held a 6-1 lead heading into the third. Jack Poppell scored on an RBI single by Rosen in the top of the fourth, and we held the same lead into the bottom of the ninth, with Cohen still in to complete the game. He added a pair of strikeouts and a flyout to his tally and we held tough to win this one 7-1.

Cohen improved to 23-2 with a 1.68 ERA, allowing just three hits with three walks and eight strikeouts to go with the one earned run. We outhit the Giants 11-3, led by Poppell (three hits, two runs, one stolen base) and Jackie Robinson (three hits, one run, two RBIs), though it was Ernie Banks’ grand slam that got it all started.

AUGUST 4, 1956 . . . Saul Rogovin (14-3, 1.88 ERA, 201.1 IP, 253 K’s, 0.75 WHIP) got the start in game two, facing Bob Lemon (3-8, 5.43 ERA, 69.2 IP, 24 K’s, 1.71 WHIP). Poppell got things going with his 50th hit of the season, stealing second and third and coming home off a sac-fly by Al Rosen -- just like that we’re up 1-0! Eventually teams are going to catch on to him, but until they do, “Jackrabbit” has my go-ahead to be himself out there on the basepaths. Banks picked up a hit in the top of the fourth, just our second of the game, and Kaline was hit in the shoulder to give us a runner in scoring position, but we couldn’t make anything happen. Rogovin gave up his first hit in the bottom of the fourth, and walked his third batter, but was able to get three strikeouts surrounding those and the score remained 1-0 heading into the fifth. Poppell reached base on an error in the top of the fifth, advancing to third off a single by Rosen, scoring on a groundout by Robinson to make it 2-0. In the top of the sixth, with two outs, Saul Rogovin hit a single, followed by Poppell beating out an infield hit for a base, and Al Rosen loaded the bags with a single up the gap, completely putting Lemon on the ropes. Jackie Robinson walked in a run, but he was able to get Mays out and end the frame without a massacre. Rogovin hit a bases-loaded sac-fly in the top of the sixth to drive in a fourth run, and Poppell hit an RBI single to make it 5-0. Roger Maris hit a solo homer in the top of the ninth, his 12th of the year, and Del Crandall immediately followed with one of his own, his ninth, and Al Rosen then hit a two-run blast to left, his 14th of the season, to make it a 9-0 blowout. Rogovin closed it out with two strikeouts and a groundout, and we’ll head into the doubleheader tomorrow with a well-rested bullpen having outscored the Giants 16-1 during the last two games.

Rogovin improved to 15-3 with a 1.80 ERA, pitching a complete game two-hitter with eight strikeouts and four walks. We outhit the Giants 14-2, led by “Jackrabbit” Poppell with four hits, two steals, three runs and an RBI, just his eighth run batted in this season. Despite his lack of power, he’s been absolutely phenomenal in the lead-off role, hitting .272 with 53 hits, two doubles and a triple -- and that’s solid enough, before accounting for his 53 steals in 60 tries. He’s only been active for 45 days, but has already made quite an impression and should be in the discussion for Rookie of the Year if he can keep it up the rest of the season. Al Rosen was also exceptional today, hitting three times for a run and three RBIs, and Jackie Robinson picked up a hit and two walks, batting in a pair.

AUGUST 5, 1956 . . . We’ve got a fully rested bullpen for these two games today, so there’s less pressure on our starters to do it all on their own, thanks to Cohen and Rogovin pitching complete games already. For the first game Camilo Pascual (7-7, 3.98 ERA, 130.0 IP, 91 K’s, 1.13 WHIP) started against New York’s Jack Sanford (2-2, 2.49 ERA, 72.1 IP, 38 K’s, 1.13 WHIP), a matchup that looked pretty solid at the outset. The Giants got on the board first, Norm Cash hitting a two-run homer off Pascual to give them an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. But Ernie Banks hit a solo blast out at left, his 24th homer of the year, to get us on the board as well, making it a 2-1 margin heading into the bottom of the second. The Giants scored another run in the bottom of the fifth, Don Blasingame reaching first on a fielder’s choice that drove Don Blasingame around to score from third. Pascual got us through the sixth without any further scoring, and in the top of the seventh Al Kaline led off with a solo homer to left, his 16th of the year, to cut the lead to one run. Carl Erskine came out to pitch after the stretch, but he gave up a hit to Don Blasingame, who then stole second and third, setting up Ed Bailey to hit an RBI single that made it 4-2 Giants. Vern Law came in with one out and men on first and second. Bill Wise hit an RBI single with two outs to make it 5-2, and they walked in a run with the bases loaded moments later as this game just completely melted down. Law finally got the third out and we went into the top of the eighth trailing 6-2. He stayed out to pitch in the eighth, getting us all three outs, but we needed four runs in the top of the ninth to dig out of our hole. Robinson got a deep hit that rolled to the center field wall four a triple to start the inning, but Mays and Banks popped out quietly, and Al Kaline struck out swinging as we lost 6-2 in the first game of the afternoon.

Pascual took the loss, falling to 7-8 with a 3.04 ERA. He only allowed three hits, but he walked four against just one strikeout, giving us six innings with three earned runs. Erskine had his worst relief appearance in a good while, allowing two hits, a walk and three runs (one earned) in just a third of an inning, and Vern Law allowed a hit and a walk in 1.2 innings, staying unblemished only because the runs he allowed went on Erskine’s tab. Each team notched six hits, our team led by Robinson with two hits while Banks and Kaline each added a hit, a run and an RBI. Poppell went hitless and never made it on base.

Bob Porterfield (2-1, 2.86 ERA, 34.2 IP, 23 K’s, 0.98 WHIP) got the start in game two against Ted Abernathy (13-9, 2.97 ERA, 193.2 IP, 132 K’s, 0.97 WHIP). The Giants got on the board first in the bottom of the third, scoring on a flyout to left by Bill White that made the score 1-0. Norm Siebern hit an RBI single moments later to make it 2-0, but Porterfield was able to get us out of it without surrendering more. Jackie Robinson answered with an inside the park homer in the top of the fourth, his 21st blast of the season and the second inside the park home run we’ve seen in the last week, to make it a 2-1 ballgame heading into the bottom of the inning. And in the top of the sixth, with the bases loaded, Ernie Banks hit a deep shot into the left field corner, legging out a three-run triple to put us in the lead 4-2! Larry Jansen came in to pitch in the bottom of the inning, and he pitched brilliantly through the eighth inning with the score unchanged. Koufax came in to close it out in the ninth, and he got the outs we needed without delay, helping us hold on to the 4-2 victory.

Porterfield earned the win, improving to 5-2 with a 2.95 ERA via a six-hit five strikeout one walk two earned run effort in five innings of work. Jansen got his fourth hold of the year, going three full innings with just one hit, one walk and one strikeout, and Koufax had a hit and a strikeout while putting together his 15th save of the year. Ernie Banks’ three-run triple won it for us, while Willie Mays led the team with two hits, scoring a run. Robinson added a hit, a walk, two runs and an RBI. The Giants outhit us 8-5 but our power via Banks and Robinson made the difference.

With four games left on this extra-gruelling road trip, we’ve improved to 74-33, three games ahead of the 70-35 Dodgers.

AUGUST 6, 1956 . . . Two games at Milwaukee, and two games at Cincinnati and then we can finally return home and get some games in at Wrigley! Tonight Tom Acker (5-3, 3.38 ERA, 90.2 IP, 64 K’s 1.17 WHIP) got the start against “Bullet Bob” Turley (6-14, 4.63 ERA, 153.2 IP, 109 K’s, 1.52 WHIP). Jack Poppell wasted no time taking a base on balls and then stealing second, but Rosen struck out and Robinson hit a shallow fly0out, spurring Poppell to make a move on third while Willie Mays looked out from the plate ... success! But Mays struck out swinging and we didn’t get on the board. In the top of the second, Maris and Crandall each singled with two outs, and Acker walked the bases loaded, but Poppell popped out to center to end the frame. And Acker struggled in the botttom of the inning, handing out two walks and allowing a single to load the bases without a single out to start the inning, though his pitch count was still at just 15 thrown! A flyout to center held all the runners, but Eddie Mathews scored on a passed ball to make it 1-0 Braves, Fred Hancock walked the bases loaded again, and Turley walked in another run ... Acker now had walked four batters, the bases remained loaded, and the top of the lineup was back for a second round. At that point it went full nuclear, as Lee Walls cleared the bases with a grand slam and we were down 6-0. Unbelieveable! Acker finally got his outs, but that six-run hole was as deep as it gets, and with six walks by the end of two innings, I was ready to give him the hook for Erskine. But I gave him a chance to stay in, not wanting to have this turn into a bullpen game just yet. Poppell got a hit in the top of the fifth and stole another base, but was stranded again when Rosen, Robinson and Mays all struck out.

Erskine came in to pitch in the bottom of the fifth, but we continued to have no ability to make contact from the plate and remained in a six-run hole leading into the stretch. And in the bottom of the inning, with Larry Jansen on the mound, we completely gave up, piling poor fielding upon poor hitting to dig our hole deeper with a two-RBI double by Johnny Logan that made the score 8-0 Braves. Eddie Mathews hit a run scoring single to make it 9-0 thanks to an error at the plate, and we trailed by nine heading into the top of the eighth. Poppell got a hit in the top of the ninth and stole second, advancing to third on an infield single by Robinson. But he again was unable to score when Mays popped out to right, and we ended this abysmal game as a 9-0 shutout loss.

This was an awful game by any stretch of the imagination. Nine run shutout loss? Check. Out-hit 10-7? Check. Twelve combined walks by our pitchers? Check. Acker took the loss, and deservedly so, lasting four innings with four hits, eight walks, two strikeouts and six earned runs, while “Bullet Bob” on the other side walked six but struck out a dozen without a run scoring.Roger Maris had a pair of hits, but it was our rookie Poppell who did everything he could to try and will us to a comeback, getting two hits and a walk, while stealing four bases ... but he came up empty.

AUGUST 7, 1956 . . . Hy Cohen (23-2, 1.68 ERA, 224.1 IP, 223 K’s, 0.76 WHIP) got the start this afternoon, facing Taylor “T-Bone” Phillips (1-0, 0.75 ERA, 24.0 IP, 11 K’s, 0.54 WHIP), who is making just his fourth start of the season as a 23-year-old. In the bottom of the second, Milwaukee drew first blood, a Fred Hancock single batting in Eddie Mathews from second to put them up 1-0. Jackie Robinson hit an RBI double in the top of the third to drive Poppell in to score, tying it up, and Willie Mays finally got himself a hit, driving in the go-ahead run with a single! Al Kaline hit a solo blast into the center field stands to make it 3-1 in the top of the fourth, his 17th homer of the season, and moments later Del Crandall hit his 10th of the year, this time into right field, to make it 4-1. Crandall hit a second homer in the top of the sixth, also a solo one, to extend our lead to four runs, and in the top of the seventh, Al Kaline hit HIS second homer of the afternoon, a three-run blast that made it 8-1 Cubs heading into the stretch. Kaline said later he felt he had a third homer in him, but he wouldn’t get the chance to bat again. Cohen stayed in to complete the game, as we won this one 8-1 to split the two-game set.

Cohen improved to 24-2 with the complete game three-hitter, striking out eight and walking two while giving up just the one run. We had ten hits outselves, led by Willie Mays with three hits, a walk, two runs and an RBI and by Kaline with three hits, two runs and four RBIs, all earned via homer. Del Crandall’s two homers netted him two runs and two RBIs, and Poppell put up a hit with two steals, giving him 59 already this season -- far and away the best in the majors as a baserunner, stealing successfully on 89.4 percent of his attempts!

We head into our two-game road set against Cincinnati with a 75-34 record, still just 2.5 games up on the Dodgers.

jksander · 01-21-2024, 11:52 PM

AUGUST 8, 1956 . . . For our first of two games against the Redlegs at Crosley Field, we’ve got Saul Rogovin (15-3, 1.80 ERA, 210.1 IP, 261 K’s, 0.74 WHIP) going up against Bob Anderson (1-3, 5.46 ERA, 29.2 IP, 11 K’s, 1.82 WHIP). This one was a duel in the early-going, with just four combined hits in the first five innings, only one of our batters making it into scoring position and no one managing to score. Rogovin got on board to start the top of the sixth, and Poppell hit a weak squib that just went out of reach of their pitcher, allowing him to take a base without the ball coming close to the outfield, but Rogovin got caught trying to steal third, and then Al Rosen hit into a double play to keep the game scoreless heading into the bottom of the inning. And in a game that stayed tightly competitive from there, it was Cincinnati that finally broke the stalemate, with third-baseman Bob Elliott hitting just his fourth homer of the year out to left field to put the Redlegs up 1-0 in the bottom of the eighth. And then, moments later, Rogovin gave up a second homer -- this time a three-run blast by Frank Robinson to center field -- which made it a 4-0 game with two outs secured, before he was finally able to get us into the top of the ninth now feeling like a bomb had gone off in our dugout. Poppell finally got us on the board, reaching base on a single, then stealing second and third, making it home on a flyout by Robinson that brought Willie Mays up with two outs and the game in his hands. He quietly struck out swinging and the game ended as a frustrating 4-1 defeat. Thank God we’ve got just one game left in this road trip and we can get home to friendlier climes.

Saul Rogovin fell to 15-4 with the loss, giving up five hits with nine strikeouts, two walks, and four runs scored, only one of which was earned. So despite the shellacking in the bottom of the eighth, his ERA actually improved to 1.77. We had five hits as well, with Poppell scoring our only run and adding two steals to his already gaudy total for the year. No one on the team had more than one hit.

AUGUST 9, 1956 . . . Brooklyn moved to within a game and a half of us in the NL race, making this last game in Cincinnati even more crucial.Camilo Pascual (7-8, 3.04 ERA, 136.0 IP, 92 K’s, 1.13 WHIP) got the start, facing Charlie Rabe, a no-name rookie who has played just one inning all year. We wanted to make a quick statement, and did so with another solid effort by Poppell, who walked and then added two more stolen bases before scoring on a sac-fly by Rosen -- 1-0, Cubs! Robinson and Banks managed to hit in the inning as well, but the Redlegs kept us from adding extra runs before we came up to pitch for the first time. Poppell got a hit in the top of the second with two outs, driving Maris from first to third, but we weren’t able to get Maris in to score. Pascual loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning but emerged unscathed. We loaded them up quickly in the top of the third, with walks by Robinson and Banks surrounding a hit by Mays, no outs. And we DID do damage, Kaline hitting a nice bouncing ball into right field that scored a run while keeping the bases jammed. Maris beat out a weak infield hit to drive in a third run while keeping the gun loaded, and with two outs Poppell picked up his second hit of the game and made it 5-0, batting in two runs with a single into right field. Pascual struggled in the bottom of the fourth, and the Redlegs got on the board with a bases-loaded two-RBI double by Nellie Fox. He got through the inning without surrendering anything further, however, and we went into the top of the fifth leading still 5-2.

I tried to give Pascual the benefit of the doubt, but he came out in the bottom of the fifth and immediately put the first two batters on base, so I brought in Erskine to stem the tide. Poppell botched a catch at second, however, the error allowing the Redlegs to load the bases on what should have been an easy double play opportunity. Erskine got the next two outs easily, though a third run did score thanks to a sac-fly by Hobie Landrith, and this one became a nailbiter when pinch-hitter Albie Pearson got an RBI single that scored the runner from second and put Elmer Valo on third with the score now 5-4 Cubs. Nellie Fox then hit a single, scored two runs, and this one was all f---ed up with the Redlegs leading 6-5. Erskine finally got the last out, but had officially blown his shot at the win. We’d head into the sixth inning with our confidence completely shattered, needing to dig deep and find some way to take control of the game again.

Bob Purkey came in to pitch in the bottom of the sixth with the score still 6-5 Redlegs, calming things down with three quick outs. Rosen walked to start the top of the seventh, taking second on a wild pitch, and making it to third on a groundout by Robinson to first. And Willie Mays finally got himself his 38th homer of the season, putting us back in the lead 7-6 heading into the stretch. Vern Law came in with one out and men on first and second in the bottom of the seventh, and we got out of the inning on a perfect 6-4-3 double play on a grounder by pinch-hitter Johnny Temple as we held tough to our lead. Law got himself a double with two outs in the top of the eighth, but Poppell grounded out to first, keeping us from buying any insurance runs. He safely got us through the bottom of the inning despite putting runners on the corners, keeping the lead safe for Koufax. Rosen picked up a double to start the top of the ninth, and Robinson promptly batted him home with a double of his own to give us a little breathing room. Mays and Banks then walked, giving us a chance to really break this one wide open. Del Crandall got an RBI single to keep the bases loaded and give us a three-run lead, and we went into the bottom of the ninth just needing to hold on to this. Our rally had left Koufax no longer warm, however, so Law stayed out to start the bottom of the inning. He got two quick outs, and we sat Sandy down, letting Law complete the multi-inning save himself. A final out made by Mays in center field and we’d pulled off the 9-6 victory!

Pascual and Erskine did their best to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, giving up eight hits and six runs between them through five innings. But Bob Purkey calmed the waters, lasting 1.1 innings with a hit, a walk and a strikeout, improving to 4-0 with a 4.91 ERA. And Vern Law, our deadline trade acquisition, gave us 2.2 innings with three hits and a strikeout, notching his first save as a Cub and keeping his ERA at 1.80 since joining the team. Just like last game, each team had the same number of hits (12) but we prevailed in the slugfest, led by Jake Poppell with two hits, a walk and two steals for a run and two RBIs. Jackie Robinson added two hits, two walks, a run and an RBI, and Willie Mays had two hits, a walk, three runs and two RBIs, the top of our lineup contributing the bulk of our offensive output.

We’ll be back at home tomorrow afternoon for a four-game weekend series against the bottom-dwelling St. Louis Cardinals, followed by three games against the Redlegs on our turf after a night off on Monday. We then travel to St. Louis next weekend for three, returning to Wrigley on the 21st for two agains Philly, three against the Giants, a doubleheader against Pittsburgh and then three critical matchups against the Dodgers to put us closer to Labor Day. We’re back to 2.5 games ahead of Brooklyn, and this stretch will be very important as we try and put some distance between us and our rival.

Here are the current league standings, along with Run Differential:

NATIONAL LEAGUE
1. Chicago Cubs (76-35) +184
2. Brooklyn Dodgers (72-36, 2.5 GB) +165
3. Philadelphia Phillies (62-47, 13 GB) +84
4. Pittsburgh Pirates (55-56, 21 GB) +4
5. Milwaukee Braves (52-57, 23 GB) -22
6. New York Giants (49-60, 26 GB) -111
7. Cincinnati Redlegs (40-70, 35.5 GB) -114
8. St. Louis Cardinals (32-77, 43 GB) -190

AMERICAN LEAGUE
1. New York Yankees (73-38) +189
2. Detroit Tigers (65-42, 6 GB) +86
3. Cleveland Guardians (65-44, 7 GB) +104
4. Boston Red Sox (57-52, 15 GB) +42
5. Kansas City Athletics (50-59, 22 GB) -63
6. Chicago White Sox (48-60, 23.5 GB) -27
7. Baltimore Orioles (40-68, 31.5 GB) -176
8. Washington Senators (37-72, 35 GB) -155

Neither pennant is likely to be decided before very late in the month of September. Willie Mays, meanwhile, remains atop the home run leaderboard, with 38 dingers this season, four ahead of Mickey Mantle and five ahead of Ted Williams. His pace has slowed significantly, however, and the national media have stopped expecting anyone to come close to challenging the Babe’s record.

jksander · 01-21-2024, 11:56 PM

AUGUST 10, 1956 . . . Bob Porterfield (3-1, 2.95 ERA, 39.2 IP, 28 K’s, 1.03 WHIP) got the start in our first game back at Wrigley in nearly three weeks, facing Larry Jackson (4-11, 4.03 ERA, 125.0 IP, 47 K’s, 1.31 WHIP) in our first of four against the bottom-dwelling Cardinals. Porterfield came out with some real heat, striking out four batters in the first two innings, and this one quietly turned into a pitcher’s duel early. Unfortunately the Cardinals got on the board first with a one-out solo homer by Andy Carey to take a 1-0 lead in the top of the third. They added an RBI triple and an RBI single in the top of the fourth, and our hitters struggled to get anything going, sending us into the top of the fifth trailing 3-0. Porterfield got us through the top of the fifth, and then Ed Bouchee pinch-hit for him in the bottom, getting a line drive to roll into the left field corner to eke out a double! Poppell grounded out to first, but moved Bouchee to third, but Rosen grounded out to first and kept us from rallying. What a waste of a scoring opportunity. Carl Erskine came out to pitch in the top of the sixth, getting three outs on 11 pitches, and Jackie Robinson started us out strong with a double in the bottom of the inning, advancing to third when Willie Mays’ would-be-homer blew just safely in for a catch at right field. Unfortunately our piss-poor luck held, and both Banks and Kaline were unable to make anything happen. Daniel Howard pinch-hit into a double play in the bottom of the seventh to end that inning with us still in a three-run hole, but Larry Jansen kept us from adding to the damage. It didn’t matter -- they were determined to hold the lead, and our offense was nonexistent. With two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Robinson got himself a base hit, but Mays flew out to center, another missed opportunity. We went into the bottom of the ninth needing a spark, and after a flyout by Banks, we got it when Kaline walked and then Maris hit an RBI triple to get us on the board. Maris scored on a wild pitch, pulling us within a run as our home crowd went insane. But Del Crandall struck out swinging, bringing in pinch-hitter Dick Whitman with two outs and no one on. And he struck out swinging, ending this one in disappointing fashion as a 3-2 loss to the worst team in baseball.

Porterfield fell to 3-2 with a 3.22 ERA, allowing four hits and three runs with six strikeouts and a walk through five innings. Erskine gave us two no-hit innings, adding a pair of strikeouts to his resume, and Jansen had two no-hit innings himself with a strikeout and a walk. But our bullpen’s epic performance couldn’t make up for our offensive impotence. We outhit them 8-4 and still came out losers. Jackie Robinson had two hits and a walk, Maris added two hits, a run and an RBI, and Al Kaline had a hit and a run scored.

Harry Dorish has cleared waivers and refuses to take a AAA assignment, and has therefore been released, giving the 35-year-old veteran a chance at free agency. His arm has fallen off significantly, and while we wish him luck and hope he can find a team to play for, it’s most likely time for him to consider retirement. He’ll always be a part of Cubs lore, having won Reliever of the year in 1954 and having played a part in both of our championship appearances. If he does retire, he has a record of 48-38 with 34 saves, with 316 career appearances and 28 starts. His career ERA of 3.68, a 1.33 WHIP, and 356 K’s in 715 innings won’t win him a spot in Cooperstown, but he put in the work and remains incredibly popular in Chicago. There will always be a place for him in our organization if he ever chooses to take up coaching.

AUGUST 11, 1956 . . . Tom Acker (5-4, 3.80 ERA, 94.2 IP, 66 K’s, 1.25 WHIP) got the start today against Vinegar Bend Mizell (8-12, 4.52 ERA, 185.1 IP, 91 K’s, 1.38 WHIP). Ernie Banks got us going in a big way, hitting a three-run homer into the center field bleachers in the bottom of the first, his 25th homer of the year! Acker was phenomenal right from the words “play ball!” and even got himself a nice line drive into right in the bottom of the fifth for a double. Whispers started flying around after six innings of near perfect precision -- only one runner had made it on base for the Cardinals, and that had been a runner who was hit by a pitch and then was promptly taken out at second trying to steal. Acker walked Frank Bolling in the top of the seventh, but Poppell made a great throw to first for the final out of the inning and kept an infield blooper from becoming a hit. Acker struck out the side in the top of the eighth and you could feel this place popping with anticipation, our boys firmly in control of the three-run shutout. We added some insurance in the bottom of the frame, Robinson hitting a two-run triple to increase our lead to five runs heading into the top of the ninth. Acker was wearing down a bit heading into the final frame, but he’d earned the right to try and write some Cubs history. But the no hitter was blown against the first batter, Tony Kubek taking first on a weak hit to left that just barely evaded Maris’ glove. Sandy Koufax came in with one out and men on the corners, with the crowd sending Acker off with a standing ovation. Koufax surrendered a run thanks to an RBI single by Frank Bolling, and then loaded the bases, but he struck out Orlando Cepeda swinging and a pop-out to Mays in center ended this one as a 5-1 victory.

Tom Acker made it through 8.1 innings and 105 pitches, only the second time he’s thrown more than a hundred, and he was absolutely exemplary, coming so close to a no hitter. As it stood, he allowed only one hit, with three runners reaching either as a hit batter or on an error, striking out ten batters without a single base-on-balls -- his only run was given up by Koufax, who got the final two outs with two hits and a strikeout. We outhit the Cardinals 8-3 today, with Ernie Banks leading the way with two hits, including his three-run homer. Poppell added two hits, a stolen base and two runs on the ground, while Rosen added two hits and two runs as well. Jackie Robinson also batted in a pair with his only hit of the night.

AUGUST 12, 1956 . . . We’re playing two today, with our best two pitchers ready to go. Hy Cohen (24-2, 1.66 ERA, 233.1 IP, 231 K’s, 0.75 WHIP) pitched in game one, going up against Don Lee (1-9, 6.46 ERA, 69.2 IP, 24 K”s, 1.48 WHIP), a 22-year-old rookie who has definitely taken his lumps while playing for the last-place Cardinals. Ernie Banks got us on the board with an RBI single that also sent Willie Mays around to third from first, but we had to settle for just the one run -- Kaline grounded out to first to end the first inning. Del Crandall hit a double into center field in the bottom of the second, his 10th double of the season, and then Hy Cohen stunned everybody by blasting one out into the stands at left, increasing our lead to 3-0! That’s Cohen’s second homer of the year and of his career! But Stan Musial hit a two-run triple in the top of the third, making this one into a much tighter game than we’d expected. Banks hit an RBI double to buy us some insurance in the bottom of the third, though he got our hearts beating quickly when he made the slide into second FACE FIRST ... Jesus!

The top of the fourth was a mess -- Cohen started out by hitting Jablonski with a pitch, advancing him to second on a passed ball, and to third when Bill Sarni hit a single. And then a wild pitch allowed Jablonski to score from third, drawing the Cards to within a run with just one out secured. Cohen got out number two, but advanced runners into scoring position, but he was able to strike Andy Carey out swinging to end the inning. Our batters gave Cohen some breathing room in the bottom of the fourth, however, loading the bases quickly and then Jackie Robinson hitting a grand slam into the left field bleachers, instantly making this one an 8-3 blowout! That was Robinson’s 22nd homer of the year, by the way. What a way to do it! Cohen gave up a solo homer to Frank Bolling, and then with two outs Wally Moon stole second and then, on a throwing error, took third. Moments later he gave up an RBI double by Jim King, and it was clear this wasn’t Cohen’s best day. He got the final out and kept the lead at 8-5, but it was clear he was getting the hook.

We brought Vern Law out to pitch in the top of the sixth, and he performed admirably, keeping the lead safe for us heading into the bottom of the inning, when we completely opened this one up -- Jackie Robinson hit his second homer of the game, this one a three-run blast, and we had ourselves a six-run lead. Law had a great night, but stayed in perhaps one batter too long ... giving up a two-run homer to pinch-hitter Charlie Neal to make it an 11-7 ballgame. Erskine came in with two outs, striking out their leadoff man and getting us into the bottom of the inning, where Willie Mays got us a run back with his 39th homer of the season. Erkine held tough in the bottom of the ninth and we closed out the 12-7 victory, though we all hoped the second game would be a little less insane.

He wasn’t at his best, but any time you have Hy Cohen on the mound you know you’ve got a guy who can win games. He is now 25-2 with a 1.81 ERA, despite allowing seven hits with two walks, three strikeouts and five earned runs in just five innings. Vern Law got his second hold since coming to Chicago, giving us 2.2 innings with two hits, a walk and two earned runs. And Erskine closed it out with one hit and two strikeouts through the final inning-and-a-third. We outhit them 14-10 in this hard-hitting battle, and there was no question that Jackie Robinson was our star. He had three hits (two homers!) and a walk, scoring four runs while batting in seven! Even as he’s halfway to his 38th birthday, this guy is unstoppable! Mays, Banks, Crandall and Cohen each had a pair of hits as well, but they were all in awe of what Robinson can still do.

Saul Rogovin (15-4, 1.77 ERA, 218.1 IP, 270 K’s, 0.75 WHIP) pitched in game two, challenging Mike Fornieles (7-14, 3.78 ERA, 192.2 IP, 74 K’s, 1.25 WHIP). Willie Mays hit a sac-fly to center that drove in Poppell from third, putting us up 1-0 in the bottom of the first. We then were quick to load the bases, and Gene Baker walked in a second run, before Les Moss struck out to end the inning one batter shy of batting around. But Rogovin struggled in the second inning, giving up a three-run blast via Del Rice to flip the Cardinals back into the lead. Willie Mays got us back to dead even, hitting an RBI triple with two outs in the bottom of the second, and Ernie Banks kept the roller coaster on the tracks, hitting a line drive into left that drove in the go-ahead run. Willie Mays hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth to make it a 6-3 lead, his 40th homer of the year and his second of today’s doubleheader. Koufax came in to pitch in the top of the ninth with a three-run lead to protect, and he got two quick outs before walking Orlando Cepeda and then allowing Jim King to hit a line drive into right for a base hit as well. Del Rice then walked to load the bases, and walked in a run via Tony Kubek. This looked like a disaster in the making, but a popout to right field brought it to an end as a 6-4 victory. Talk about walking the edge of a knife!

Saul Rogovin gave us eight innings and 111 pitches, allowing five hits, with one walk, seven strikeouts and three earned runs. Koufax completed his 16th save of the year, but he’s been struggling with control issues -- tonight he only allowed one hit, but walked three batters which left us in a tight spot in the end. He’s still young, though, and it takes getting through jams like this to make you into a great player. We outhit the Cardinals 8-6 as we took control of the series (winning it three games to one), led by Willie Mays who hit three times and walked once, scoring two and driving in four, batting in the three spot as Robinson rested in the second game. Today’s doubleheader was a bit rough, with all the runs, but we held tough and will have to keep doing so if we want to keep our two-game lead in the pennant race.

Jackie Robinson was named the NL’s Batter of the Week, hitting .400 with two homers, 12 RBIs and seven runs scored on the ground. This season, through 113 games, Robinson is batting .318/.429/.634 with 29 doubles, 18 triples and 23 homers, giving him 8.5 WAR on the year. I’m hopeful he’ll be able to continue to play like this for years to come. It’s incredible that he’s making a very strong case to be considered for his second MVP award -- Mays has been hitting the long ball well, but Robinson’s well-rounded performance has drawn more interest in the press.

jksander · 01-22-2024, 07:07 PM

AUGUST 14, 1956 . . . Tonight we’ve got the first of three games in a row here at Wrigley against the 42-71 Redlegs of Cincinnati. Camilo Pascual (7-8, 3.21 ERA, 140.0 IP, 94 K’s, 1.17 WHIP) started for us, while the Redlegs brought out Bob Anderson (1-3, 4.42 ERA, 36.2 IP, 13 K’s, 1.64 WHIP). Poppell got things going with a hit, coming home from third after a couple stolen bases when Rosen hit one into left field to bat him in -- he’s got those moves down like clockwork! We came out of the first inning with a pair of hits, a walk and a fielder’s choice, but only led 1-0. We added another pair in the bottom of the second, however, when Al Rosen hit a solid shot into deep left that drove both Del Crandall and Jack Poppell in to score with a two-out single. Jackie Robinson then cleared the bases with his 24th homer of the year to increase our lead to five runs, and the fans were ecstatic. Frank Robinson hit a two-run blast in the top of the fourth to get the Redlegs on the board, trailing 5-2, but Pascual did well to hold on to the lead from there -- though he got into a touch of trouble in the sixth, eventually loading the bases, he got all three outs that inning via strikeout and the three-run lead held. Vern Law came in to pitch in the top of the seventh against the team he left barely a fortnight, holding serve through two excellent innings, and Willie Mays added some insurance in the bottom of the eighth with a solo homer, his 41st of the year. With us leading 6-0, Vern Law stayed in to complete the three-inning save and we completed the shutout with ease.

Camilo Pascual improved to 8-8 on the year with a 3.14 ERA, pitching a five-hit five strikeout two one (one earned) game through six innings of work. Vern Law has proven to be a very dependable bullpen arm, giving us three innings with no hits, one walk and one strikeout, giving him a 2.30 ERA and his second save since joining us at the deadline. His pitches haven’t fully developed yet, but his incredible control makes him lethal in relief -- as a starter, however, he spent a lot of time in Cincinnati completely over his head trying to throw starters’ innings. In total we outhit them 10-5, led by Poppell who had four hits, three stolen bases and two runs scored from the leadoff position. Through 56 starts he’s still hitting .278, and his 71 stolen bases have jumped him into the conversation for Rookie of the Year -- not bad for a 26-year-old who was drafted in the 27th round and released by the Senators without even a major league tryout. It would appear some time in the unaffiliated minor leagues did him good! Robinson and Mays each homered as well, as Mays has heated up during this homestand, currently leading the majors by five homers over Mickey Mantle.

AUGUST 15, 1956 . . . Bob Porterfield (3-2, 3.22 ERA, 44.2 IP, 34 K’s, 1.03 WHIP) started in game two against the Redlegs, facing Bobby Shantz (6-13, 5.56 ERA, 170.0 IP, 70 K’s, 1.54 WHIP). Cincinnati got on the board first, Gus Bell hitting a two-run blast into the left field stands in the top of the fourth to give them a 2-0 lead, the first hit Porterfield had surrendered all afternoon. In the top of the sixth Frank Robinson hit his 30th homer of the season, giving them another two runs. Carl Erskine came in with the score 4-0 to start the top of the seventh, and he got us through with a groundout and a pair of strikeouts, and he added a third strikeout in the top of the eighth before giving up a homer off the bat of Dick Groat to make the margin 5-0, though he struck out two more to escape the inning. We finally got some offense going in the bottom of the inning, Al Kaline batting in a run with a double that put him and Ernie Banks both in scoring position themelves. Roger Maris then laid down a sweet hit into right field, bouncing just outside the glove of their fielder and scoring a second run. Del Crandall popped out to first, but drove in a third run, sending us into the top of the ninth trailing 5-3. Hersh Freeman came in for the ninth, getting three quick outs to give us half a chance. Poppell and Rosen led off the bottom of the ninth with strikeouts, however, though Robinson was walked, bringing up Willie Mays with a chance to make something happen. They walked him too, instead, bringing up Banks as a potential winning run ... and he hit a powerful ball off his bat, but the wind was not in our favor today, holding it in and allowing them to catch it for the final out, beating us 5-3 instead of giving us a chance at celebrating a walk-off win.

Porterfield took the loss, falling to 3-3 with a 3.55 ERA, allowing just three hits in six innings, though he had three walks to go with five strikeouts, contributing to his four earned runs. Erskine allowed just one hit and one run with five strikeouts in his two innings of work, and Freeman was perfect in his one, bringing his ERA down to 5.77, getting his first chance out of the bullpen since before the trade deadline. We had nine hits ourselves, but struggled to string them together meaningfully. Kaline hit twice with a run and an RBI, Banks hit and scored a run, while Robinson added a hit, three walks, a steal and a run. Maris added two hits and an RBI as well.

AUGUST 16, 1956 . . . The Dodgers are breathing down our necks -- at 77-36 they’ve played fewer games than we have, and now only trail us in the standings by a single game. Fresh off his one-hitter last week, Tom Acker (6-4, 3.58 ERA, 103.0 IP, 76 K’s, 1.16 WHIP) got the start today against Don Drysdale (4-16, 4.55 ERA, 170.0 IP, 104 K’s, 1.46 WHIP). And Acker immediately stumbled, giving up a hit to his first batter and then allowing Ted Kluszewski to hit a two-run power bomb out into center field to give them the early 2-0 lead. Rattled, Acker hit Frank Robinson with an errant pitch and Robinson rushed the mound in what could have become a melee had Acker not diffused the situation. But Acker was clearly off his mark, allowing Gus Bell to hit a two-run blast immediately thereafter, and with us trailing 4-0, I started warming Bob Purkey, our long, long reliever -- if we weren’t able to calm this down, I was going to have no choice. And it didn’t get better. Acker gave up a hit sandwiched between a pair of walks and suddenly the bases were loaded. That’s it. With only one out in the top of the f---ing first, I had to bring in Purkey. By the time we got into the bottom of the first inning we were in a 6-0 hole and I was ready to melt down completely. But we still had eight and a half innings to play. Is this how a World Champion is supposed to play? We’ve got to fix this if we want to keep Brooklyn from destroying our season.

It didn’t get better. Frank Robinson hit a home run to start the second inning, increasing the margin to seven runs, and by the time we got on the board with a Poppell run scored in the bottom of the third off a groundout by Rosen, we trailed the Redlegs 7-1 on our own field. Mays tripled to start the bottom of the fourth inning, and Banks grounded out to first but drove him home for our second run, but in the top of the sixth the Redlegs got a run back with an RBI single by Nellie Fox to make it 8-2. Vern Law came in with two outs and men on first and second, but a weak infield hit and a drop by Banks at short allowed the bases to jam up, and a dropped catch by Poppell allowed another run to score. Law then walked in another to make it 10-2 and I felt like I was ready to pull my hair out. Finally we got out of the inning, but this game was like Dante’s ninth circle of Hell. Kaline hit a triple to start the bottom of the seventh, and Del Crandall stunned the crowd to their feet with a three-run homer moments later to spark hope in a crowd that had started to head for the exits. Vern Law then came up and smacked a homer into the right field bleachers, just his second homer of the season, and suddenly we were down just 10-6 heading into the top of the eighth. Law stayed in and pitched beautifully through the top of the ninth, but we came into the bottom of the inning still trailing by four runs. Crandall and Bouchee struck out swinging, and Jack Poppell grounded out to first, but it didn’t matter -- we hadn’t deserved to win this one, losing 10-6 in a game we were never competitive in.

Acker took the loss, and deserved every bit of it. He secured just ONE OUT, giving up four hits and two walks for six earned runs. Purkey was solid as a desperation long reliever, giving us 5.1 innings with six hits and two strikeouts, allowing four runs of which only one was earned. And Vern Law continues to impress me, giving us 3.1 innings with two hits and a walk, none of our runs counting against him. He’s played in eight games for us already, putting together 19 innings of work with a 1.89 ERA and 1.05 WHIP. Cincy outhit us 12-7 , our offense led by Mays and Kaline’s triples and the homers from Law and Crandall.

But we’ve screwed ourselves into a corner. We now hold an 80-38 record, and though we’re officially tied in the standings against Brooklyn (78-36), their winning percentage now has them as the NL’s leading team. And we’ve got a tough road schedule in September that’s going to make all our remaining games incredibly important in the pennant chase. We play three games this weekend at St. Louis, and then have a stretch of home games against Philly, the Giants, Pittsburgh and Brooklyn. From August 31st to the end of the season we’ll then play 16 of our last 23 games on the road.

12-15-2023, 10:23 PM	#261
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,474	JUNE 17, 1956 . . . Did somebody call for a double-header? Camilo Pascual (3-4, 3.00 ERA, 69.0 IP, 45 K’s, 1.19 WHIP) got his 12th start of the season, going up against Philly’s red-hot Robin Roberts (6-6, 2.50 ERA, 101.0 IP, 64 K’s, 0.79 WHIP) in game one. And Pascual had a terrible start to his game, giving up a two-RBI double to Richie Ashburn, three consecutive hits to start the first inning, no outs. He calmed down and got out of the inning with just 19 pitches thrown, but against Roberts that wasn’t the best hole to dig right out of the gate. Philly added two runs in the bottom of the third, thanks to a homer by Smoky Burgess, trailing by four runs while having only given up three hits -- incredibly bad luck! And Roberts was on his A-game as well, meaning hits were almost impossible to find on our end. Pascual gave up another homer in the bottom of the sixth, and with two outs and a man on second we brought in Erskine while trailing 5-0, his job to simply mop up the mess and try not to make it worse. He did his job, but our hitters did not, and Roberts shut us down completely as the Phillies beat us 5-0 in the series’ third game. Pascual fell to 3-5 on the year with a 3.38 ERA, giving up only five hits in 5.2 innings, but walking three and striking out only four, giving up five earned runs, three of which came off a pair of homers. Carl Erskine gave us 2.1 innings with just two additional hits, walking one batter and striking out another, but for the second game in a row he didn’t give up any runs, improving his ERA to 6.38 through 18.1 innings. He has the makings of a solid long reliever if he can keep pitching like he has in these last few games. We only had two hits all game, one for Robinson and one for Mays, and they were our only baserunners. Hard to do much with that. We brought Bob Porterfield (2-0, 0.00 ERA, 7.2 IP, 2 K’s, 0.52 WHIP) out for a spot start in the second game. He pitched against Bob Rush (3-6, 4.73 ERA, 70.0 IP, 28 K’s, 1.34 WHIP). Kaline got himself a one-out triple in the top of the first, Robinson walked, and then Mays batted out to center, giving us two outs and men on the corners. But Banks grounded out to first, leaving Kaline stranded at third, a wasted scoring opportunity. Porterfield got a great hit into the outfield though with two outs in the top of the second, batting in a run with a triple to put us up 1-0! We loaded the bases in the top of the fourth, with Porterfield hitting a sac-fly to drive in our second run giving him a hand in all our offense so far today, and we went into the bottom of the inning up 2-0. He gave up his first run of the season in the bottom of the fourth, an RBI single by Alvin Dark, but he got us through the inning without conceding the lead, and my plan was to give him the fifth inning before going to the bullpen. He did even better than that, coming out with a quality start by getting through the sixth as well, with the 2-1 lead still intact! The fans then rained boos down on us as Banks, Maris and Baker notched consecutive hits in the top of the seventh, Baker’s single batting in a run to make it 3-1 with one out. Dick Whitman pinch hit for Roy Jarvis and reached base on a fielder’s choice, stealing second with the count 2-1 against Porterfield. We then brought in Crandall to pinch hit, since he’d be taking over as catcher anyway, and he slammed a hit into deep right, driving in another pair of runs, sending us into the bottom of the sixth with a 5-1 lead. *OUT OF CHARACTER: I didn’t realize the double-switch didn’t come into being until 1964, or so I’m told from one of my online leagues. So I wound up in the unenviable position of not having a catcher, since it subbed Hersh Freeman for Crandall and not for Whitman. Since I do not have a third activated catcher, I had to sub in a relief pitcher at catcher and just chalk it up to my character being drunk or something, lol! Lesson learned, be careful doing any pinch-anything involving the catcher. Okay, so middle of the sixth, we brought Hersh Freeman in to pitch and had Larry Jansen come in to catch, with a 5-1 lead against the Phillies. And Hersh completely melted down, loading the bases with two outs -- Richie Ashburn then hit a single that scored Thomas Yuhas from third, and an E8 throwing error allowed Granny Hammer to come around and score, making it 5-3. With Koufax and x warming up in the bullpen, Bob Thurman pinch hit and mashed a three-run homer and this game was officially a disaster. Freeman got the final out, but we went into the top of the eighth trailing 6-5 in front of a hostile and very vocal home crowd that had no interest in us coming back from it. Koufax came in to pitch in the bottom of the eighth, still trailing by a run, getting three quick outs to at least give us a chance in the top of the ninth. Gene Baker got a base hit to start the frame, and Larry Jansen reached first on balls ... and Koufax then beat out an infield single to load the bases and bring up the top of the order! Al Rosen batted in the tying run with a hit into the outfield that kept the bases loaded, and Al Kaline hit one to almost the same spot, giving us a 7-6 lead and still no outs! That was all we’d get, however, and we went into the bottom of the ninth praying Koufax could give us one more solid inning. But Ernie Banks committed an error at short that allowed Granny Hammer to reach first safely, and with one out he walked Earl Torgeson, bringing up Ashburn, the bane of our existence. He hit into a fielder’s choice, and we got the out at second, bringing Randy Jackson up with runners on the corners and two outs. And that was all Philly needed. Jackson got a hit into left, and suddenly we were tied up again 7-7. And the Phillies took the win when a passed ball allowed Ashburn to score from third, ending this one as a humiliating 8-7 defeat. Koufax took the loss, falling to 2-5 with a 3.83 ERA, going 1.2 innings with just one hit, but three walks as well, much of it due to the inexperienced catcher due to my botched double-switch. Porterfield had a great start, going six innings with one hit, four walks, four strikeouts and one earned run. Freeman’s one inning meltdown involved three hits, two walks and FIVE EARNED RUNS, destroying his now-6.63 ERA in the process. We outhit the Phillies 15-5 and still lost this one, something the Chicago press may never let me live down, since we walked a total of NINE BATTERS while committing three fielding errors. Unacceptable. Al Kaline, Ernie Banks and Gene Baker all had three hits apiece, and Porterfield himself drove in two runs. So much good, so much bad ... let’s all just go out and get *faced on the bus while we drive up to New York for our next three games against the Giants. __________________ "Oh No! We Suck Again!" -- Reviving the White Sox in 2025 -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty "The Rockies' Baseball Horror Show"** -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty

12-19-2023, 05:12 PM	#262
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,474	JUNE 19, 1956 . . . We’re in New York for the next three days, to play the Giants (28-32, 13.5 GB) who are to this point in the season 1-5 against us. Tom Acker (2-1, 2.27 ERA, 35.2 IP, 27 K’s, 0.98 WHIP) got the start on this clear, 54 degree, extremely windy evening, going up against Seth Morehead (5-5, 4.11 ERA, 92.0 IP, 58 K’s, 1.25 WHIP). The Giants got on the board quickly, thanks to Bill White’s 10th homer of the season which put them ahead 1-0 in the bottom of the first. And hits were hard to come by -- we got on board twice in the second and twice in the third, but only because Morehead walked us three times, and their strong defense prevented us from capitalizing on any of those runners. Acker, meanwhile, was incredibly efficient, getting through four innings with just the one hit and throwing just 32 pitches, the homer being the only differential as we came up to bat in the top of the fifth trailing 1-0. Acker came up with a base hit, and Al Rosen walked, giving us a man in scoring position with just one out. Kaline batted into a fielder’s choice, with Rosen getting picked off at second, though Acker made it safely to third. Unfortunately Robinson struck out swinging and we remained unable to get a runner home. Acker loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth but we got out of the jam without the Giants adding to their lead, and in the bottom of the sixth he struck out three batters to strand their only baserunner, remaining completely calm under pressure. But we went into the seventh inning stretch still trailing by the one run. The Giants added a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh, thanks to a double by Hector Lopez, and Larry Jansen came in for the final out to keep us at least nominally in the game -- though our bats had been completely impotent thus far. The Giants added an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth and Jansen had to exit with an injury with two outs and a man on second, and we had to bring in Koufax who got the final out. Down 4-0 heading into the top of the ninth, the morale in our dugout was at rock bottom -- but Mays hit a single into left to take first, and with one out Maris got one into center, at least putting someone in scoring position. But Daniel Howard pinch-hit into a double play to end this one as a maddeningly disappointing 4-0 shutout defeat. Our offense has been inconsistent all year -- we had so many chances to take over this game and just let them have their way against us. Acker took his second loss, falling to 2-2 with a 2.55 ERA, giving up just five hits with four strikeouts and five walks, giving up three runs in 6.2 innings of work. Jansen gave us a solid inning with one hit, one strikeout, one walk and one earned run, giving him a 4.44 ERA. And Koufax got the one out we asked him for, giving up a hit over six pitches. They outhit us 7-4, with our pitcher Acker actually leading us in hits, with two, though he was stranded each time much to his frustration. Mays and Maris had our only other hits, though we had six walks and were unable to take advantage of ANY of them. Jansen will be out of the lineup for at least a week due to back spasms. We’re bringing Bob Purkey up from AAA to fill in, putting Joe Collins (first base) on waivers to make room. In other news, we’ve finally managed to sign infield utility infield prospect Jack Poppell out of free agency, a player we’ve been negotiating with for the last three weeks. Poppell, 23, is popular locally and was drafted in the eighth round by the Washington Senators out of high school in 1953 and then released into the depths of the class DE Evangeline League where we discovered him. A solid defender at 2B, 3B and SS with a great infield arm, Poppell has great speed, with, in our scout’s opinion, the potential to be a very solid baserunner. With good contact and an ability to avoid strikeouts, he is patient but lacks any power at all with his bat. We’ve waived Bill Serena, who has struggled as an infield bench player this season, bringing Poppell in as our new leadoff man and starter at second base, with Gene Baker playing backup at 2B, 3B and SS. Poppell will earn $20,000 this year with $5,000 per year raises each year through 1959. JUNE 20, 1956 . . . Hy Cohen (11-2, 1.38 ERA, 123.2 IP, 140 K’s, 0.64 WHIP) got the start tonight against Ted Abernathy (7-6, 2.81 ERA, 109.0 IP, 65 K’s, 0.95 WHIP). Cohen gave up an RBI single to Luis Aparicio in the bottom of the third to put the Giants up 1-0, and our run support was completely nonexistent, putting pressure on him to stay as close to perfect as possible if we were going to have any chance in this one. Willie Mays finally woke us up in the top of the seventh, hitting a solo homer into the left field bleachers to tie it 1-1 with his 23rd blast of the year, but our next three batters went down quietly, sending us into the stretch hoping we could stay sharp defensively and avoid letting the Gaints retake control. Rosen fumbled a catch for an error at first to start the bottom of the inning, but we got out of it without any damage. Baker hit a triple with one out in the top of the eighth, and Jack Poppell batted him around to score the go-ahead run with two outs, sending us into the bottom of the eighth with a 2-1 lead. Cohen got us through the frame safely with the lead protected, and he stayed out in the bottom of the ninth as well, pitching at his peak to make sure we got out of this with the 2-1 victory. Hy Cohen improved to 12-2 with a 1.36 ERA, giving up just five hits, a walk and a run with 12 strikeouts in a complete game win. Each team had five hits, with ours led by our new leadoff man Poppell, with two hits and an RBI. Mays added a homer, and Gene Baker, giving Robinson a day off at third base, got a hit and scored a run. JUNE 21, 1956 . . . Saul Rogovin (8-2, 2.16 ERA, 112.1 IP, 146 K’s, 0.77 WHIP) pitched in our third game against the Giants, facing left-handed starter Jack Harshman (3-6, 4.38 ERA, 100.2 IP, 71 K’s, 1.44 WHIP). Poppell got himself a hit to start the top of the first, and then stole second, making it safely to third on a groundout by Rosen! Robinson got a hit into left, and we were up 1-0 just like that! Rogovin struck out five batters in the first two innings, and in the top of the third, Poppell walked and later stole third, his second stolen base of the game, giving us runners on the corners with two outs and Robinson back up to the plate. Unfortunately Jackie batted out to left, ending the inning, but we were playing aggressively and looking for ways to build on this lead. We loaded the bases in the top of the fourth with just one out, but Crandall and Rogovin were easy outs, keeping the score close at 1-0. Rogovin struck out the side in the bottom of the fifth, not giving up a single hit until the bottom of the sixth when Jim Gilliam came out with a single. In the top of the eighth, Al Kaline hit a solo blast into the right field seats, extending the lead to 2-0 thanks to his eighth homer of the year. Crandall got a base hit and Rogovin walked, bringing up Poppell, who advanced Crandall to third with a fly-out to left. But Rosen flew out to right to end the inning and send us into the bottom of the eighth leading by two runs. Koufax came in to throw in the bottom of the ninth, getting us out of the game cleanly and holding tough to the 2-0 win as we won the series on the road to stay right in the heart of the pennant race. Rogovin improved to 9-2 with a 2.02 ERA, striking out 14 batters and walking just two in an eight-inning one hitter. Koufax earned his seventh save, giving up a hit and striking out a batter as he improved his ERA to 3.72 through 48.1 innings. We outhit New York 8-2, led by Jackie Robinson (one hit, two walks, one RBI) and Jack Poppell (one hit, one run, two stolen bases). We now head to Pittsburgh (33-31) where we’ll play four games over the next three days, after which we have three games to play at Brooklyn (43-17). With our record a solid 39-22, we’re just 4.5 games behind the Dodgers and 7.5 games ahead of the Pirates and the Phillies. So these next seven games are very important to our hopes of getting back to the top of the NL standings before the All Star break. __________________ "Oh No! We Suck Again!" -- Reviving the White Sox in 2025 -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty "The Rockies' Baseball Horror Show" -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty

12-20-2023, 03:40 PM	#263
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,474	JUNE 22, 1956 . . . We’re 4-4 against the Pirates heading into this four-game series. Camilo Pascual (3-5, 3.38 ERA, 74.2 IP, 49 K’s, 1.21 WHIP) got the start this evening against Bob Friend (5-6, 3.19 ERA, 110.0 IP, 46 K’s, 1.15 WHIP). Poppell got things started by beating out an infield squib to take first safely, and they walked Rosen, bringing up Robinson. Poppell stole third successfully with the count 1-0 on Robinson, and though Robinson batted out to short, Mays came up next and hit a towering blast into the stands at center and just like that we were up 3-0 with his 24th homer of the year. Mays hit his 25th of the year in the top of the third, extending our lead to four runs, In the top of the fifth, Poppell started out the inning with another hit, then stole second, allowing the Pirates to walk Rosen. With the count 1-0 on Robinson, Poppell stole third safely, his fifth stolen base in just three days, which allowed him to score when Robinson batted into a double play, making it 5-0 Cubs -- the kid’s instincts on the basepaths are incredible! Poppell and Rosen had back to back hits in the top of the seventh, and Poppell stole his FOURTH BASE OF THE GAME, taking third, as Robinson swung and missed on a changeup. Robinson got a hit into center field, driving Poppell home yet again for our sixth run of the night, and at this point I’ll give that kid the green light any time! Who needs slug when you can get the extra bases with speed and guile? Al Kaline hit an RBI single to allow Rosen to score, and we went into the stretch in control of a 7-0 shutout lead. Pascual loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning, walking in a run, but he got two quick outs at home plate off grounders, and Mays made a spectacular catch at the wall to save us from a grand slam, keeping our lead at 7-1 heading into the eighth. We loaded the bases in the top of the eighth, and this time the grand salami made it into the stands, as Willie Mays knocked in four runs to make it 11-1, tying the Chicago Cubs single game record with three homers in this game! Carl Erskine came in for the eighth and ninth with little doubt aboutt he outcome of this game, getting six quick outs and silencing their fans as we blew out the Pirates by 11 runs. Pascual improved to 4-5 with a 3.20 ERA, giving us seven innings with five hits, five strikeouts, four walks and a single earned run. Erskine then came out and threw the last two innings, with one walk and two strikeouts -- no hits -- bringing his ERA down to 5.75 through 20.1 innings since joining our club from Brooklyn. We outhit them 14-5, led by Willie Mays’ staggering night: four hits (three homers) for three runs and eight batted in! On any other night, Poppell would have been the star -- the 23-year-old hit three times and stole four bases, giving him a .462 average and .500 on base percentage with six steals in his first three games. It’s a small sample size, but we’ve all been enjoying the spark he’s bringing to the team. JUNE 23, 1956 . . . Hy Cohen (12-2, 1.36 ERA, 132.2 IP, 152 Ks, 0.64 WHIP) started this afternoon against Pittsburgh’s Dick Hall (5-5, 3.24 ERA, 89.0 IP, 38 K’s, 1.24 WHIP). Al Rosen got us started with a solo homer in the top of the first, his 11th of the season, giving us a 1-0 lead heading into the bottom of the inning. Ernie Banks batted in a run with a single in the top of the second, but the score stayed that way from there, as both pitchers locked in. Pittsburgh did get on the board in the bottom of the fifth, with catcher Johnny Romano hitting his second homer of the year to make it 2-1, however, and we struggled to get baserunners, heading into the top of the seventh still leading by just the one run. With two outs, Al Rosen and Jackie Robinson each reached base on balls, but Mays struck out swinging to send us into the stretch. Kaline got on base with a single in the top of the eighth, advancing to second thanks to a single by Banks. He stole third with Crandall at bat, his second steal of the afternoon, but Crandall hit into a double play to end the inning. But Cohen stayed red hot, striking out the side in the bottom of the eighth, sending us into the ninth with a one run lead and one last chance at getting some insurance. Al Rosen reached first with a single, taking second on a wild pitch, giving them room to walk Robinson. Willie Mays loaded the bases with an infield single, and then Kaline grounded out to first to keep us from scoring. Koufax came in to close it out in the bottom of the ninth, getting three quick outs to seal the 2-1 victory heading into tomorrow’s doubleheader! Hy Cohen improved to 13-2 with a 1.34 ERA, striking out 11 batters with eight hits and one earned run. Koufax struck out a pair and dropped his ERA to 3.65 without giving up a hit in his eighth save of the year. We outhit the Pirates 9-8 in a tight battle, led by Kaline (two hits, one run, two steals) and Banks (two hits). Al Rosen added his solo homer in the first that got things started, but Poppell had a tough night, going hitless -- though he was almost walked twice, taking Pirates pitchers to full counts on both occasions. So I am confident he’s got the eye to really go places in the leadoff role. JUNE 24, 1956 . . . Doubleheader Day! Tom Acker (2-2, 2.55 ERA, 42.1 IP, 31 K’s, 1.06 WHIP) gets the start in game one against Johnny Klippstein (6-6, 3.70 ERA, 112.0 IP, 61 K’s, 1.01 WHIP). Poppell opened the game perfectly, hitting his first career triple! He made it home safely off a sac-fly to center by Robinson, and just like that we were up 1-0 with only five minutes elapsed! Willie Mays then slapped a homer into the bleachers at center, his 27th of the year, and we went into the bottom of the first frame leading 2-0. Acker stumbled in the second inning, letting them load the bases, and he walked in a run via Joe Garagiola to make it 2-1 with just one out. But he held the runners with a flyout to left, and then struck out Bill Virdon to end the inning with the lead intact. Mays batted in a run with a single in the top of the third, and an Ernie Banks flyout to left drove another in to make it 4-1. Rocky Colavito hit a homer for the Pirates in the bottom of the third to pull them within two. Poppell got another base hit in the top of the fifth but was picked off trying to steal second, the first time in seven tries he’s failed to get the base he wanted. We brought Carl Erskine in, bottom of the fifth, men on second and third, but a failed pickoff play at home allowed the Pirates within a run, before Erskine then locked in and got two quick outs via popouts to center and shorstop. We loaded the bases in the top of the sixth but were unable to score. Robinson got a triple with one out in the top of the seventh, and they walked Mays, who promptly stole second -- he hasn’t been quick to take the signal this year, but he’s two of three so far in 1956! They walked Kaline to yet again give us loaded bases, but again we struck out (this time it was Maris) and left the inning clinging to a 4-3 lead as the crowd stood up to stretch. Hersh Freeman came in with a man on second and one out in the bottom of the seventh, getting us the outs we needed to protect our lead, and he held it through the eighth as well. We went into the bottom of the ninth still leading 4-3, but kept Hersh Freeman in too long -- we brought Koufax in with men on the corners and no outs, and he STILL got out of the jam perfectly, striking out Johnny Romano and then getting Bill Virdon out via a pitch-perfect double play as we closed out the 4-3 victory! Carl Erskine came out with the win, improving to 2-1 with a 5.24 ERA thanks to two innings of one hit, one strikeout baseball, following Acker’s 4.1 inning five hit, three strikeout, two walk, three run start. Hersh Freeman was lucky to come out of it with a hold, his second, rather than a blown save, though he did last 1.2 innings with just a hit and a walk. And Koufax saved his ninth game, striking out one batter and improving his ERA to 3.58. That may have been his best save of the year, at least from a high leverage standpoint -- three outs on five pitches. We outhit them 11-7, led by Robinson with three hits, a run and an RBI. Mays had two hits, a run and two RBIs, and Poppell hit twice and walked once, scoring a run. He is hitting .364/.417/.455 since signing with us, and he’s already building buzz in the hometown papers. I can’t wait for the fans to get to meet him when we return to Wrigley. Saul Rogovin was set to pitch the second game of the doubleheader, but with us up three to nothing in the series, I’d rather save him for the Brooklyn series that’s upcoming. So I’m bringing Bob Porterfield (2-0, 0.66 ERA, 13.2 IP, 6 K’s, 0.66 WHIP) in for the spot start, facing Pittsburgh’s Gene Conley (5-7, 2.93 ERA, 123.0 IP, 84 K’s, 1.10 WHIP). In the top of the third, Jack Poppell reached first with a single, and then made it around to third on a single by Rosen! Robinson batted out to left, but Poppell was incredibly quick and made his run for home, sliding in for the go-ahead run! Willie Mays hit a deep fly to center, legging out a double to put two runners in scoring position, but Banks flew out to right, preventing us from breaking this one wide open. And Portefield gave up a pair of hits to start the botom of the third, allowing the Pirates to tie it up 1-1 with an RBI single by Gene Conley. With two outs in the bottom of the third, Ken Boyer hit an RBI single of his own to drive in the go-ahead run for the Pirates, and we went into the top of the fourth trailing 2-1. Bob Purkey came in with one out in the bottom of the sixth, no one on, and he got one out before giving up a pair of hits that put runners in scoring position. A groundout to Rosen ended the inning safely, however, and we went into the top of the seventh still trailing 2-1. Roger Maris singled to start the top of the seventh, and after a Jarvis flyout, and Maris advanced to second on a 5-3 groundout by Purkey. Jack Poppell safely reached first on an E6 error, and then with Al Rosen up to the plate, he stole second -- and an E2 throwing error allowed him to advance to third, sending Maris around to score the tying run! Rosen flew out to center to end the frame, but we went into the stretch tied 2-2 and still right in this one. Purkey got us safely into the eighth inning, at which point Willie Mays safely reached first on another error, stealing second on a no-throw. They walked Kaline intentionally, and then Mays stole third, coming round for home thanks to an E2 throwing error, putting us up 3-2 and advancing Kaline to third! They intentionally walked Maris, and we pinch-hit Crandall for Jarvis, another run scoring thanks to an E4 error that allowed Crandall to take first, advancing Maris to second and scoring Kaline from third -- that’s their SIXTH ERROR OF THE GAME! Purkey got us through the eighth inning as well, without hardly breaking a sweat, and with our bullpen fairly beat up, we let him finish the game out, getting three more outs to close the door on our 4-2 victory! Porterfield had a great start, 5.1 innings with just three hits, three walks, two strikeouts and two runs (one earned) to give him a 0.95 ERA through 19 innings. But he was outshined by Bob Purkey, who lasted 3.2 innings in only his third appearance of the season, giving up four hits but no runs, bringing his ERA down to 6.14 through 7.1 innings. We were outhit 7-5 by the Pirates, but they committed six errors and walked three of our batters, which really flipped the script. Mays had two steals to give him four on the season, while Poppell got his seventh steal of the week along with a hit, scoring his sixth run! Robinson had a hit for an RBI, and Mays, Maris and Kaline all scored runs on the ground. The sweep of Pittsburgh sends us into the Brooklyn series with a 43-22 record, just 3.5 games behind the 46-18 Dodgers. We can’t take the lead with this series, but we can definitely head back to Wrigley in a much stronger position of we at least win this series. We’ve split the series 4-4 against them thus far. We should have Rogovin, Pascual and Cohen for the three games thanks to Porterfield’s strong start in today’s doubleheader. __________________ "Oh No! We Suck Again!" -- Reviving the White Sox in 2025 -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty "The Rockies' Baseball Horror Show" -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty

12-21-2023, 06:23 PM	#264
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,474	JUNE 25, 1956 . . . We bring a six game winning streak into this series with Brooklyn, and we’re only 3.5 games back, so there’s a ton on the line. Saul Rogovin (9-2, 2.02 ERA, 120.1 IP, 160 K’s, 0.74 WHIP) got the start tonight against Connie Johnson (11-1, 1.71 ERA, 126.1 IP, 125 K’s, 0.84 WHIP). Poppell got himself a base hit in the top of the third, and quickly stole second, scoring on an RBI single by Rosen to give us a 1-0 lead! Rogovin struck out the side in the bottom of the inning, and we stayed locked in with the one run lead until Al Kaline hit a two-run blast in the top of the seventh to extend our lead to 3-0 with his ninth homer of the year. Brooklyn got on the board with a solo homer by Gil Hodges in the bottom of the seventh, and we went into the bottom of the inning still up by two runs. Rogovin stayed in to complete the game, and we won this one 3-1 to inch closer to the NL lead! With the win, Rogovin improved to 10-2 on the year with a 1.95 ERA, giving up just two hits with 10 K’s and two walks and one earned run. We had six hits ourselves, led by Willie Mays with two hits and a run, Al Kaline with two hits, a run and two RBIs, Jack Poppell with a hit, a run and a steal, and Al Rosen with a hit and an RBI. I realized I haven’t updated you all on the home run race lately -- Willie Mays currently leads all hitters with 27 homers this year, two up on Ted Williams and four up on Mickey Mantle. Through today’s game he remains on pace for 63, and though there hasn’t been a huge press impact so far, I suspect he’ll start getting a lot more media pressure if he keeps this pace into August, particularly at hitter-friendly Wrigley. He’s hitting .316/.359/.700 right now with ten doubles and five triples, and 36 strikeouts against 19 walks. JUNE 26, 1956 . . . Hy Cohen (13-2, 1.34 ERA, 140.2 IP, 163 K’s, 0.66 WHIP) is up tonight against Brooklyn’s Johnny Podres (8-3, 2.58 ERA, 115.0 IP, 57 K’s, 0.99 WHIP). We loaded the bases in the top of the fourth, and Al Kaline hit an RBI single to put us up 1-0. Del Crandall reached base safely on a fielder’s choice, his hit driving in a second run, and we went into the bottom of the inning leading 2-0. Ernie Banks hit an opposite field homer to make it 3-0 in the top of the sixth, his 15th four-bagger of the year, and moments later Roger Maris drove in another run with an RBI single while pinch-hitting for Dick Whitman, making it 4-0 Cubs. Al Rosen then hit a three-run homer to left, his 12th of the year, and this one was officially a rout. Jackie Robinson came up and slammed one out of the park into the center field bleachers to make it 8-0 with HIS 12th of the year, and we went into the bottom of the sixth with about as comfortable a lead as you can want when playing on the road against a bitter rival. Maris stayed in to play left field for the remainder of the game. Cohen blew his shutout, giving up a homer to Gil Hodges in the bottom of the eighth that scored two runs for the Dodgers and cut our lead to six. Harry Dorish relieved Cohen in the bottom of the ninth, giving up a run on a fielder’s choice with Anthony Pint safely taking his base. He then got the two outs we needed, and we came out of this one with an 8-3 win heading into tomorrow’s final game of this series and this road trip. Hy Cohen improved to 14-2 with a six-hit eight strikeout two walk two run game, keeping his ERA at 1.39 and his hopes for a back-to-back Cy Young campaign going strong. Dorish got through his inning with two hits and a run, dropping his ERA to 5.40 through 18.1 innings. They outhit us 8-7, but we walked six times and made great use of our runners. Al Kaline had a hit, a walk and two steals, scoring a run and batting in another, while Ernie Banks added two hits a run and an RBI. Al Rosen, however, was by far our best offensive player tonight, hitting once and walking twice, scoring two runs and batting in three more. We’re now within a game and a half of the Dodgers in the NL pennant chase, with tomorrow’s game giving us a shot at a series sweep with our eight-game winning streak still intact! We then get a day off for our return trip to Chicago, where we’ll have four games against Milwaukee (30-35) and a pair against St. Louis (22-46) before we hit the road for an Independence Day doubleheader in Cincinnati (25-42). We then play four more against Milwaukee on the road before the All Star break, giving us a real chance to go into that three-day reprieve with a stranglehold on this league if we play our cards right! JUNE 27, 1956 . . . Camilo Pascual (4-5, 3.20 ERA, 81.2 IP, 54 K’s, 1.21 WHIP) started our final game at Brooklyn, facing Sal Maglie (13-0, 1.71 ERA, 126.0 IP, 83 K’s, 0.87 WHIP), who is having his best season since going 23-6 in 1951! Pascual loaded the bases in the bottom of the second but was able to escape trouble with a double play to keep the game scoreless. But he gave up a homer to Hodges in the bottom of the fourth and the Dodgers took a 1-0 lead. Carl Erskine came in for the bottom of the sixth with the score still 1-0 Dodgers, setting down the heart of their lineup and keeping us in this one! Jackie Robinson got a base hit in the top of the seventh, just our second baserunner of the day, and Robinson advanced to second on a groundout by Mays to first, but Banks couldn’t get him anywhere and the shot was wasted. Erskine got us through the bottom of the seventh with three quick pop-outs, and in the top of the eighth with one out, Maris reached base safely with an infield hit, taking second on a throwing error to the first baseman from Maglie on the mound, giving us our second runner in scoring position of the night, but he got greedy trying to steal third, and they picked him off. Erskine stayed out and got three more outs in the eighth without looking stressed, sending us into the top of the ninth needing a run to prolong this one. But Maglie was damned near unhittable -- Al Rosen made it on base with two outs, and Jackie Robinson walked, giving us some hope. But Willie Mays popped out to short, and we lost this one 1-0, with the Dodgers rushing the field like they’d won the damned World Series instead of just avoiding a sweep. With the loss, Camilo Pascual fell to 4-6 on the season, despite giving up just four hits with six strikeouts and two walks, the lone run actually improving his ERA to 3.12 in a five-inning effort. Carl Erskine, meanwhile, continues to show solid improvement, pitching three innings without a hit, striking out one batter and improving his ERA to 4.62. Brooklyn outhit us 4-2, and each pitcher allowed two walks, so baserunners were extremely limited all night. Jackie Robinson had both our hits, and one of our walks, while Al Rosen had a walk as well. Maris reached base on an error, but was caught stealing, but I can’t honestly blame him for taking the shot. We’ll head back to Wrigley with a 45-23 record, and we’re only 2.5 games back of first, leading Brooklyn now 6-5 in the season series with 11 more games to play against our rivals this year. __________________ "Oh No! We Suck Again!" -- Reviving the White Sox in 2025 -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty "The Rockies' Baseball Horror Show" -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty

12-21-2023, 06:25 PM	#265
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,474	JUNE 29, 1956 . . . We’re 5-1 against the Braves this season, and we returned to Wrigley to find nearly 36,000 screaming Cubs fans filling the stands on a cloudy, 72-degree afternoon for the start of this four game set. Tom Acker (2-2, 2.89 ERA, 46.2 IP, 34 K’s, 1.11 WHIP) pitched this afternoon against Johnny Antonelli (8-5, 2.29 ERA, 122.0 IP, 68 K’s, 1.02 WHIP). Poppell got things started by beating out a slow infield hit to take first base, drawing a rousing cheer for the rookie, who got so excited he tried for a steal and was thrown out for only the second time this season, part of the growing pains you expect from a player playing in front of a crowd like this for the first time. Unfortunately, in the top of the third inning Acker loaded the bases, and Eddie Mathews hit a blistering drive to right, legging out a triple and scoring three runs for the Braves. Acker almost had himself out of the inning, but Banks committed an error on a short pickoff throw to second, allowing Mathews to score, and we went into the bottom of the third trailing 4-0, with Acker suddenly having thrown 51 pitches. Carl Erskine came in with one out and a man on first in the top of the fifth, getting two quick outs to get us back up to bat, but ours were just not making any contact. Erskine gave up a solo homer to Mathews in the top of the seventh, making it 5-0 Braves as we entered the stretch. But Ed Bouchee came in to pinch hit for Erskine with two outs in the bottom of the seventh and hit a towering three-run homer into the center field bleachers, the first homer of the year for Bouchee, and suddenly we were within a pair of runs! Bob Purkey walked two batters after coming in for Erskine in the top of the eighth, but he also got two outs via bunt attempts, and was able to ge the third when Willie Mays made a spectacular catch at center field to avoid catastrophe. Rosen got a hit and Robinson walked to start the bottom of the eighth, and with one out Ernie Banks walked to load the bases for Al Kaline, who hit a sharp shot into left field, pulling us within a run! With the bases still loaded, Roger Maris took a pitch one strike, then got four balls in a row to walk in the tying run, which sent us into the top of the ninth tied up 5-5. Sandy Koufax came in to pitch, getting three quick outs via soft contact, sending us into the bottom of the inning with a chance to win it. With one out, Al Rosen got a hit into center field, sliding safely into second! But Robinson flew out to right, and Mays did the same, ending the inning and sending us into extras. Koufax got us quickly through the top of the tenth, walking one batter but making a great double play to keep the runner from advancing. Banks got a shot into right field for a base hit, and Kaline hit one into center field, driving Banks to second. Maris hit into a double play that sent Banks to third, and Gene Baker pinch-hit for Crandall, and an error at first base allowed Banks to come around and score the go-ahead run! We came out of this with a 6-5 win by the skin of our teeth, but a win’s a win any way you get it, especially when it’s in the 10th inning. Koufax got the win, improving to 3-5 with two hitless innings, walking just one batter and improving his ERA to 3.44 on the season. Acker lasted only 4.1 innings, with three hits, three strikeouts and five walks that contributed to four runs (three earned). Erskine gave us 2.2 innings with one hit, three strikeouts, a walk and an earned run, improving his ERA to 4.50 through 28 innings. And though Purkey lived dangerously, walking a pair, he didn’t give up any runs -- without his poise in getting out of his own jam in the eighth, we wouldn’t have survived this one. We outhit the Braves 11-4, led by Al Rosen with three hits, a walk and a run, and by Ernie Banks with three hits, a walk and two runs. Ed Bouchee made a huge impact with just one at-bat, hitting the three-RBI homer that started our scoring onslaught. We’ve made a trade with Kansas City that sends Bill Serena and Joe Collins to the Athletics in exchange for Les Moss, a backup catcher who has better hitting abilities as a backup than does Roy Jarvis, who aside from being unable to hit the broad side of a barn, has decidedly weak catching abilities as well. It’s not a trade I expect to make a significant impact, but if Jarvis (who had to be waived due to lack of minor league options) eventually refuses to take a minor league assignment, he’ll be significantly less expensive to cut ties with. JUNE 30, 1956 . . . Bob Porterfield (2-0, 0.95 ERA, 19.0 IP, 8 K’s, 0.79 WHIP) got the start today against Warren Spahn (4-11, 4.26 ERA, 116.1 IP, 55 K’s, 1.37 WHIP). And it didn’t start out great -- he gave up a solo homer to Bill Bruton just eight pitches in. But he got the next three batters out quickly, and we were able to get into the bottom of the first trailing just 1-0. Poppell beat out an infield hit to take first safely in the bottom of the inning, and Robinson got to first on a no-throw by the shortstop that advanced Poppell to second. Willie Mays beat out an infield blooper of his own to load the bases, but we weren’t able to get anyone in to score. Jackie Robinson hit a solo blast of his own in the bottom of the fifth to tie things up with his 13th homer of the season, and Willie Mays tripled to put the go-ahead run in scoring position. Alas, we weren’t able to make it happen, and we went into the top of the sixth all knotted up. And Porterfield surrendered his second homer of the game, a two-run blast to right, by Gene Woodling that put the Braves right back on top 3-1. Larry Jansen came in with two outs and a man on first in the top of the sixth and got the final out, leaving us to dig back out of the hole. Roger Maris hit an RBI triple in the bottom of the sixth, but he tried to tie things up on a deep flyout by Kaline and was picked off at the plate, the score 3-2 heading into the seventh. Jansen got us into the stretch with the score unchanged, and Hersh Freeman did the same in the eighth and ninth, sending us into the bottom of the ninth with a run left to make up and Kaline up to the plate. Spahn stayed in to pitch, which may have been his undoing -- Kaline got a base hit, and then Maris singled to drive him over to third. Crandall grounded out to first, advancing Maris to second, and with one out Daniel Howard came up to pinch-hit for Freeman, striking out with the count loaded 3-2. With two outs and men in scoring position, they brought out a reliever, Don Cardwell (1-2, 4.50 ERA, 6.0 IP, 4 K”s, 2.33 WHIP), who with the count 2-2 against Poppell, gave up a perfect fastball -- line drive into right, and the score was tied 3-3! Al Rosen came up to the plate with runners on the corners, but he popped out to center and we were headed for extras again. Koufax came in to close, making quick work of the bottom of their lineup in the top of the 10th, and Willie Mays made them pay in the bottom of the inning, hitting a two-run blast into the bleachers at center, his 28th of the year, and we won this one by a 5-3 margin! Koufax won his second extra-innings game in a row, improving to 4-5 with a 3.38 ERA, striking out one batter. Porterfield gave us 5.2 innings with four hits, six K’s and a walk along with three earned runs. Jansen and Freeman then gave us 3.1 two-hit innings to keep this one winnable. Again we outhit them by a wide margin, 13-6, but had to fight from behind to win in extras. Robinson had three hits and two walks, scoring twice and driving in a run, while Mays added three hits, a run and two RBIs and Kaline hit three times for two runs. Poppell had two hits and an RBI, keeping his average at .289 through 45 at-bats. We won 10 of our last 11 games to finish June with a 21-7 record, getting us right back into the battle to defend our World Series title. Heading into July, we are right where we want to be, and it’d be even better if we can finish the sweep against the Braves and start this month off the same way we finished the last one. Just a game and a half behind the Dodgers , our 47-23 record is third overall in the majors, and our +96 run differential is second only to the Yankees (48-25, +116) who lead the AL by four games over Detroit, with the Red Sox fading fast in third with a 36-34 record. We’re 7-2 in extra innings games, 16-9 in one-run finishes, and our team ERA of 2.75 leads the NL, as we do for batter WAR (12.5), runs scored (315), extra-base hits (211), home runs (100) and bases-on-balls (229). We’re dominating in strikeouts as a team as well, with our pitchers combining for 556 K’s -- only Brooklyn (407) and Detroit (400) come even remotely close. Hy Cohen was named NL Pitcher of the Month again with a 6-1 record, notching 68 K’s in 60 innings with just 34 hits and four walks in the month of June. His 9.2 WAR already this season amounts to more than half of our overall pitching wins above replacement as a TEAM -- he’s on pace for one of the best performances as a pitcher this century, and I have to wonder if it’s sustainable. What goes up has to eventually come down. He’s not the only pitcher having a great year, if I’m giving that impression. Overall, the pitching in the NL has become much more difficult to face, the league being led by Cohen and Rogovin on our team, Maglie and Connie Johnson on the Dodgers, and by Pittsburgh’s Hank Aguirre, all of whom have sub-2.00 ERAs. Cohen and Maglie are tied with 14 wins apiece, with the Yankees’ Harvey Haddix and Brooklyn’s Johnson (12) not far behind. Connie Johnson is on pace for 15.0 WAR, and if Cohen falters, he’s the odds-on favorite for Cy Young honors in the league. As for K’s, Cohen (171) and Rogovin (170) are dominating the nearest competition (Johnson, with 135 for Brooklyn, and Detroit’s Herb Score with 132). __________________ "Oh No! We Suck Again!" -- Reviving the White Sox in 2025 -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty "The Rockies' Baseball Horror Show" -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty

12-23-2023, 02:28 AM	#266
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,474	JULY 1, 1956 . . . Doubleheader Day! For game one we started Hy Cohen (14-2, 1.39 ERA, 149.2 IP, 171 K’s, 0.68 WHIP) against Milwaukee’s Bob Turley (5-8, 3.65 ERA, 106.0 IP, 66 K’s, 1.40 WHIP), with Wrigley Field a virtual sellout at the time of the 12:05 p.m. first pitch. Poppell opened the bottom half of the first with a walk, then took second on a wild pitch! Al Rosen was walked, as Poppell took advantage of the pitcher’s distraction, stealing third without a throw. And Robinson got a hit into center field, giving us a 1-0 lead before most families had gotten their kids settled in with a hotdog and a coke. Willie Mays then broke it wide open, hitting a three-run blast to left, and fifteen minutes into the game we held a 4-0 lead thanks to Mays’ 29th dinger of the year. Turley was getting absolutely rocked ... Al Kaline got on first, still no outs, moving Banks into scoring postion, and then with two outs, Hy Cohen himself came up to the plate and slammed a three-run blast into the left field seats, completing our batting around and making the lead 7-0. Poppell was barely caught out at first to finally end the inning, with Turley having thrown 41 pitches. Milwaukee got on the board with a homer by Johnny Logan in the top of the second, cutting our lead to six, and Gene Woodling scored two more in the top of the third with a flyout to center, making it 7-3 Cubs. But Al Rosen added an RBI single in the bottom of the third, giving us an 8-3 lead a third of the way through the game. Gene Woodling hit an RBI single in the top of the fifth to make it 8-4, and Cohen was starting to show rare signs of struggling. We loaded the bases though in the bottom of the inning, and Jackie Robinson walked in another run to put our lead back at five runs. Carl Erskine came in with the lead 9-4 at the start of the eighth inning, giving up a solo homer to Johnny Logan to cut the lead to four runs. But Kaline hit his 10th homer of the year in the bottom of the eighth, a two-run blast that put us at 11-5, and with the bases loaded Jackie Robinson batted in three more with a triple. Erskine stayed in to close the game out as a 14-5 blowout victory, giving us a chance to play for a sweep in the second game. Cohen had a rougher day than usual, only making it through seven innings, giving up nine hits with two walks, five K’s and four earned runs in the win -- improving to 15-2 with a 1.56 ERA in the process. Erskine allowed one hit with one strikeout, giving up the homer but keeping his ERA at 4.50. We outhit the Braves 15-10, led by Poppell (two hits, one walk, two runs, two steals), Al Kaline (three hits, two runs, two RBIs), Hy Cohen (two hits, one walk, two runs, three RBIs) and Jackie Robinson (two hits, one walk, one run, five RBIs). Saul Rogovin (10-2, 1.95 ERA, 129.1 IP, 170 K’s, 0.72 WHIP) pitched in the second game against Richard Sovde (2-4, 3.83 ERA, 44.2 IP, 32 K’s, 1.34 WHIP). Poppell got a hit to start the bottom of the first, stole second, and then they walked Rosen. Poppell got another steal, this time taking third while no one was even quick enough to make a throw, and we thought we were on our way to a surefire score, until Willie Mays batted into a double play to end the inning scoreless. Ernie Banks tripled to start the bottom of the second, but again we weren’t able to get him around to score. Jackie Robinson beat out an infield squib to start the bottom of the fourth, taking second on a flyout by Mays. He stole third with two outs and the count 1-0 to Kaline, but Kaline then struck out swinging, AGAIN stranding a runner in scoring position. Maris beat out an infield hit to reach first to start the bottom of the fifth, and they walked Les Moss, Poppell hitting into a fielder’s choice for an out at second. With runners on the corners, this time Roger Maris hit a blistering blast to left field, turning it into a triple that scored two and put us up 2-0! Moss flew out to center in the bottom of the sixth but batted in Banks from third to make it 3-0, Rogovin got into his first jam, with runners on the corners and no outs in the top of the seventh, but he got two quick outs via soft contact, and struck out Fred Hancock swinging to get us into the stretch with the shutout intact. Hersh Freeman came in to replace Rogovin in the eighth with one out and a man on second, getting a double play off a popup to Banks off Gene Woodling, with a quick throw to second to keep the lead at three runs. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth, Maris hit a line drive into right that scored another run, and Moss hit a sac-fly to center that scored our fifth run of the game. They walked Freeman to load the bases, and a pop-out to center by Poppell scored yet another run! We went into the top of the ninth leading 6-0, and Freeman handled his business with aplomb, completing the shutout for Rogovin as we swept the Braves in the series. Rogovin improved to 11-2 with a 1.84 ERA, pitching a four-hitter with two walks and eight strikeouts, while Freeman got his sixth save of the season, lasting 1.2 innings with a hit and a strikeout through 13 pitches. We outhit the Braves 10-5, led by Ernie Banks with three hits and two runs. Roger Maris hit twice with a run and an RBI, and Jack Poppell hit once for a run and an RBI, stealing two bases -- through just 12 games as a major leaguer, Poppell has hit .302/.345/.340 with one triple and 12 stolen bases in 15 attempts! We’re now within half a game of the Dodgers, heading into a two-game set here at Wrigley against the last-place Cardinals (24-49). We then have an Independence Day doubleheader at Cincinnati (27-45) and then a four-game set at Milwaukee (30-40) before the All Star weekend. JULY 2, 1956 . . . Camilo Pascual (4-6, 3.12 ERA, 86.2 IP, 60 K’s, 1.21 WHIP) pitched in game one against the Cardinals, facing Vinegar Bend Mizell (5-7, 5.19 ERA, 119.2 IP, 61 K’s, 1.46 WHIP). Al Rosen hit a two-run single in the bottom of the third inning to give us an early 2-0 lead against the Cardinals. Del Crandall hit a double in the bottom of the fifth with a pair of outs, bringing up Poppell, who was quickly walked. Rosen got a hit up the middle to advance Poppell to third while driving in a third run. We still led 3-0 heading into the bottom of the seventh, and we quickly loaded the bases, though we were unable to add any insurance runs. Pascual struck out the side in the eighth, having easily the best game of his season, shutting them down in the ninth to complete the complete game 3-0 shutout! Pascual improved to 5-6 with a 2.82 ERA, pitching a complete game three-hitter, striking out 11 with only one walk. We had eight hits, led by Al Rosen (two hits, a walk and three RBIs) and Del Crandall (two hits and a run). Poppell hit once, walked once and stole a base but was unable to come around and score. JULY 3, 1956 . . . Tom Acker (2-2, 3.18 ERA, 51.0 IP, 37 K’s, 1.18 WHIP) pitched in the second game of the series, facing Mike Fornieles (6-7, 3.52 ERA, 130.1 IP, 53 K’s, 1.15 WHIP). St. Louis took an early 1-0 lead thanks to a solo homer by Wally Moon, but we quickly took the lead back in the bottom of the inning off a two-run triple by Banks that gave us a 2-1 lead. Del Crandall had to leave the game with an injury, forcing us to go to Les Moss to play at catcher starting in the top of the third. In the bottom of the inning Jackie Robinson hit a run-scoring triple, and we went into the fourth inning up 3-1. Tom Acker hit a run-scoring double in the bottom of the fourth, but in the top of the sixth the Cards got a run back off a single by Orlando Cepeda to make it 4-2. With one out and a runner on second, Carl Erskine came in to pitch, getting a pop-out at right field and then giving up a two-run blast to Jim King that tied it up at 4-4. He got us out of the inning with a strikeout, and it was a new ballgame from there. Bob Purkey came out with one out and men on first and second in the top of the seventh, loading the bases thanks to a botched catch-and-throw by Banks to Poppell for an error. With the bases loaded, Wally Moon hit a shallow fly out to center for out number two, keeping the bases loaded but allowing no one to score. And Banks and Poppell redeemed themselves with an almost mirror replay of the error earlier in the inning to get us into the stretch still tied 4-4, stranding three Cardinals runners in the process. Jackie Robinson hit a solo homer to right, his 14th of the year, to give us a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the seventh, and seconds later Willie Mays hit his 30th of the year into the bleachers at left, making it a two-run lead! Purkey stayed out and closed the game down in the ninth, helping us save the bulk of our bullpen for tomorrow’s doubleheader as we beat the Cardinals 6-4, keeping our win streak alive! Acker gave us 5.1 innings with five hits, four strikeouts, two walks and three earned runs, and Erskine blew his first save of the year, giving us an inning with two hits, one strikeout, one walk and one earned run. So Purkey, who came in for 2.2 innings to finish the game, got the win with no hits and one strikeout, improving his ERA to 4.09 with a 3-0 record in decisions! We outhit the Cardinals 10-7, led by Jackie Robinson (three hits, one run, one RBI), Willie Mays (two hits, two runs, two RBIs) and Ernie Banks (one hit, two RBIs). Mays remains our best hitter this year, batting .303/.346/.680 with 10 doubles, 12 triples and 30 homers. But Robinson has remained potent as well despite being halfway to 38, hitting .278/.387/.560 with 15 doubles, 10 triples and 14 homers, continuing to add to what should be an easy case for Hall of Fame consideration whenever he does decide to call it quits -- hopefully years in the future! We are now officially tied with the Dodgers in first place -- our record at 51-23 and theirs at 50-22, though we’ve played more games than them so far and therefore they hold a tiny edge in win/loss percentage. With Pittsburgh 12.5 games back at 39-36 and Philly right behind them at 38-36, it’s looking like the race is going to be between our two teams at the top for who gets to control the National League. The Yankees, meanwhile, are 51-25 and leading the AL by five games over Detroit (44-28). Boston (38-35), Cleveland (37-36) and Kansas City (35-40) all remain within 12 to 16 games, but the Yankees have missed the last two World Series, and look determined to stay in top form so they can get the fans back on their side. JULY 4, 1956 . . . Happy Independence Day! We’re in Cincinnati today for a double dose of America’s favorite pastime along with fireworks, though with the Redlegs twenty games under .500, there’s not a ton of celebrating going on in the stands -- just under 8,000 fans showed up, in fact. Hy Cohen (15-2, 1.56 ERA, 155.2 IP, 176 K’s, 0.72 WHIP) pitched in the first game, facing Bobby Shantz (5-7, 5.17 ERA, 116.2 IP, 44 K’s, 1.51 WHIP). Willie Mays quickly put us up 2-0 in the top of the first with a two-run blast that went over 450 feet and nearly left the ballpark. That gives him 31 bombs this season! But the Redlegs got on the board in the bottom of the inning with a two-run homer by Kluszewski (his 25th of the year), tying the score at 2-2. Al Kaline hit a three-run blast in the top of the third, blasting us to a 5-2 lead with his 11th of the season, and the scoring stopped from there completely, the game turning into a duel between the two starters. Cohen drove Shantz out after six innings, but he stayed in to complete the game for us, shutting the Redlegs down as we won game one 5-2, all seven runs coming off homers. Cohen improved to 16-2 with a 1.59 ERA, allowing just four hits with seven strikeouts and two earned runs, despite allowing six walks -- an unusually wild afternoon on his part. We had eight hits ourselves, led by Mays (two hits, two runs, two RBIs) and Kaline (one hit, one run, three RBIs). Saul Rogovin (11-2, 1.84 ERA, 136.2 IP, 178 K’s, 0.72 WHIP) got the start in game two, going up against Don Drysdale (4-10, 4.73 ERA, 104.2 IP, 61 K’s, 1.53 WHIP). Cincinnati got on the board first in this one, a Bob Elliott RBI double giving them a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second. Jackie Robinson hit a leadoff homer in the top of the fourth to tie it up 1-1, his 15th homer of the year, and it stayed knotted up from there. In the top of the ninth, still tied up 1-1, Al Kaline got a hit into right field, legging out a double, and they walked Maris. Del Crandall hit a sac-bunt to advance both runners into scoring position with just a single out, and Ed Bouchee came in to pinch-hit for Rogovin, reaching first safely though they successfully threw Kaline out at home to prevent the run. They walked Jack Poppell, and Rosen popped out to first, ending the inning and sending us into the bottom of the ninth with Koufax coming in looking to get us into extras. He got three outs with a walked batter inbetween them, and we were headed for the 10th. We quickly loaded the bases, and with two outs, Del Crandall got a hit into right field, driving in a pair of runs to put us up 3-1! And Koufax did his job, closing things out perfectly to finish out the two-run victory as we beat the Redlegs twice in front of their openly frustrated fans.. Rogovin had a great night, giving us eight innings with six hits, 10 strikeouts and just one earned run, improving his ERA to 1.80, while Koufax improved his record to 5-5 with a 3.25 ERA, allowing just one hit in two innings, with two strikeouts and a walk. We outhit them 8-7, led by Robinson with two hits, a walk, two runs and an RBI. Kaline and Maris each hit twice as well, and though Poppell didn’t get a hit, he did walk once, reached base a second time thanks to a fielder’s choice, and stole two bases, bringing his stolen bases total to 15 through just 16 starts over two weeks! He is now just one stolen base away from being in the top five for the year already, and he’s only been caught three times! More important, we’ve officially overtaken the Dodgers in the standings, with a one game lead on them for the NL Pennant! All that stands between us and the All Star break is a four-game road trip to Milwaukee (33-41), bringing an eight-game winning streak with us. The All Star teams should be announced on the 8th, and we’re expected to dominate the NL’s nominations list as we’ve become the most dominant team in the league. __________________ "Oh No! We Suck Again!" -- Reviving the White Sox in 2025 -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty "The Rockies' Baseball Horror Show" -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty

12-28-2023, 04:38 PM	#267
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,474	JULY 5, 1956 . . . Camilo Pascual (5-6, 2.82 ERA, 95.2 IP, 71 K’s, 1.14 WHIP) pitched in our first game against the Braves, facing Pedro Ramos, who is making his first appearance for Milwaukee this year. The #35 prospect in the majors this year, Ramos has gone 10-3 this year at the AAA level, with a 2.69 ERA, 47 K’s and a 1.08 WHIP through 97 innings of work. But the 21-year-old has never played at the major league level since being drafted in the second round by the White Sox in 1953. Milwaukee got on the board first with a homer by Johnny Logan in the bottom of the second that put the Braves ahead 1-0 heading into the top of the third. Al Kaline got a hit into right field in the top of the third, batting in the tying run on two outs, but a pop-out to short kept us from taking the lead. Gene Woodling hit a homer into the right field stands in the bottom of the sixth to put them back ahead 2-1. In the top of the seventh, Ed Bouchee pinch-hit for Pascual, striking out but reaching first safely off a passed ball, but we weren’t able to get him anywhere and we went into the stretch still trailing by a run as Erskine came in to pitch in the bottom of the inning. In the top of the eighth, Banks got himself a hit, and then reached third all the way from first off a deep hit into right by Al Kaline. But Roger Maris grounded out to first and kept us trailing. Erskine got us safely into the ninth with only the one run to make up. Daniel Howard pinch-hit for Crandall, taking a ball to the shoulder to reach base, but Gene Baker batted out to left field in place of Erskine. Jack Poppell grounded out to first, advancing Howard into scoring position with two outs, and Rosen batted out to short, ending this one as a 2-1 loss. Pascual slipped to 5-7 with the loss, a five-hit six inning effort with just two earned runs to go with four strikeouts. Erskine only allowed one hit in two innings of work, striking out three and bringing his ERA down to 4.36 through 33 innings. We were outhit 6-5, led by Al Rosen with two hits a walk and a run, while Al Kaline added two hits and a walk with an RBI. JULY 6, 1956 . . . Tom Acker (2-2, 3.36 ERA, 56.1 IP, 41 K’s, 1.19 WHIP) got the start today against Johny Antonelli (9-5, 2.33 ERA, 139.0 IP, 77 K’s, 1.01 WHIP). Al Rosen got us started quickly, hitting his 13th homer of the year to put us up 1-0 in the top of the first. Acker got into a bit of danger with one out and men on the corners in the bottom of the inning, but he got out of it with a great double play, and Al Kaline hit a homer in the top of the second to quickly make it 2-0 with his eighth four-bagger of the season. In the bottom of the third he had two outs, and then loaded the bases, escaping with a great catch by Mays to send us into the top of the fourth still leading by two runs. Acker got us through the fifth with the shutout intact, and after a pair of hits by Banks and Kaline, Del Crandall walked the bases loaded and Bouchee came in to hit for Acker, batting in a run with a single. Jack Poppell hit one into centerfield to bat in a fourth run. Al Rosen batted in another to keep the bases loaded, still with just one out, and though Robinson and Mays batted themselves out quietly, we went into the bottom of the sixth leading 5-0. Hersh Freeman came in with one out and a man on first in the bottom of the eighth and promptly blew the shutout, giving up an RBI double to Eddie Mathews that batted in a run. We loaded the bases in the top of the ninth, and Del Crandall cleared the bases with a grand slam, his eighth homer of the season! Freeman stayed in to close it out in the bottom of the inning and we won this one in blowout fashion, 9-1! Tom Acker improved to 3-2, giving up one hit in five innings, walking four and striking out four more without a run, bringing his ERA down to 3.08. Carl Erskine gave us 2.1 innings without a hit, walking a batter and striking out four, his only run coming because of Freeman after he left the game. His ERA is now 4.33. And Freeman, with only one hit and one walk, kept his ERA a solid 4.85 with a 1.2 inning effort. We were dominant offensively, hitting 16 times to their two, though we did commit four fielding errors which could have caused big problems on any other night. Poppell got a pair of hits and a walk, batting in his fourth run, while Al Rosen had two hits a run and two RBIs. But Al Kaline had the best overall night, hitting four times for three runs and an RBI, and Del Crandall was right there with him, hitting three times for two runs and four RBIs. He’s only hitting .198 on the season, but I’m hopeful this game will help break Del out of the slump he’s been in. JULY 7, 1956 . . . Hy Cohen (16-2, 1.59 ERA, 164.2 IP, 183 K’s, 0.74 WHIP) started his 20th game of the season today, pitching against Warren Spahn (5-11, 4.03 ERA, 134.0 IP, 61 K’s, 1.37 WHIP). Despite declining skills overall, the 35-year old legend has still got great control, and fans of great pitching look to get some real fun out of this game’s matchup. Unfortunately for Cohen, he had bad luck early, his first two batters faced getting blistering line drives into right field and quickly putting the Braves up 1-0, thanks to an RBI double by Gene Woodling. The ball kept just flying off the Braves’ bats, Eddie Mathews batting in a second run just moments later, and a no-throw by Banks and a poor throw to second -- also by Banks for an error -- quickly made it 3-0. Cohen eventually got out of it, but we trailed 4-0 heading into the second inning and he looked absolutely stunned by how quickly it all happened. Thankfully Banks got a triple to start the top of the second, scoring on a wild pitch to get us on the board. Maris walked, and then Crandall batted him into scoring position with a single into center. Poppell batted the bases loaded with a single, and a deep Rosen hit into left field allowed two more runs to score! Jack Poppell scored on another wild pitch and just like that we were tied up. Robinson walked the bases loaded, but we weren’t able to get the go-ahead in, but with the score tied 4-4 heading into the bottom of the second, at least Cohen had himself a chance at redemption for the rough start. Gene Woodling got the Braves back up 5-4 with an RBI double in the bottom of the fourth, but Ernie Banks tied it back up with a solo homer to left, his 16th of the year, in the top of the fifth, and Jackie Robinson hit an RBI double in the top of the sixth to finally put us up 6-5! Harry Dorish came in to pitch in the bottom of the sixth and struck out the side, and in the bottom of the seventh Larry Jansen got three quick outs off soft contact, keeping our one-run lead safe into the eighth. Jackie Robinson got a great hit in the top of the eighth, slamming the ball into the right field seats to extend our lead to 8-5 with a two-run homer, his 16th of the season. Koufax came in with one out and a man on first in the bottom of the eighth, getting the pair of outs we needed with just ten pitches thrown, and he stayed in to close things out in the bottom of the ninth with the lead still at three runs. With two outs, Bill Bruton got himself a triple, but Koufax struck out Woodling to complete the 8-5 victory! Hy Cohen only lasted five innings in this one, giving up seven hits with one walk and three strikeouts, but he got the win, improving to 17-2, his ERA slipping to 1.70 thanks to five runs (three earned). Dorish and Jansen each got holds, giving up one hit with three strikeouts between them, and Koufax gave us 1.2 innings with just one hit and a pair of K’s, giving him 10 saves this year with a 3.16 ERA. We outhit the Braves 14-9, led by Al Rosen (four hits, two runs, two RBIs) and Jackie Robinson (three hits, one run, three RBIs), while Ernie Banks and Roger Maris each hit twice. Our bats are heating up at the right time, with Mays and Kaline on the cusp of .300, and Rosen and Robinson rising closer to that level as well. All Star rosters have officially been announced, meanwhile, and our Cubs will be very well represented: - Hy Cohen (SP) -- top vote-getter - Saul Rogovin (SP) - Harry Dorish (RP) - Al Rosen (1B) - Jackie Robinson (3B) - top vote-getter - Ernie Banks (SS) - top vote-getter - Willie Mays (CF) - top vote-getter - Al Kaline (RF) Brooklyn got five players onto the team, while Philly got six -- including three of their starters (Joe Nuxhall, Robin Roberts and Bob Rush). JULY 8, 1956 . . . It’s the final game before we hit the All-Star weekend, and Saul Rogovin (11-2, 1.80 ERA, 144.2 IP, 188 K’s, 0.73 WHIP) is ready to go in the rotation for his 19th start, facing “Bullet Bob” Turley (5-10, 4.15 ERA, 115.0 IP, 73 K’s, 1.47 WHIP) in the final game of the Braves series. And Turley was roughed up mercilessly in the top of the first, walking three batters as he loaded the bases and walked in the first run of the game without a single out. Ernie Banks then hit a blast into left field, doubling in a pair of runs to make it 3-0. Everyone in the lineup wound up with a chance to bat, and we went into the bottom of the inning leading big 5-0 despite only having had two hits. Milwaukee got on the board in the bottom of the fourth, loading the bases and then scoring a run via a sac fly to center by Fred Hancock to make it 5-1. But Rogovin got us out of the inning quickly, and he continued to pitch extremely well, striking out a pair in the fifth, and facilitating a great double play to get us out of the sixth. Carl Erskine came in with two outs and a man on first in the bottom of the seventh, getting the final out on strikes to keep the four-run lead intact, and he struck out three more in the eighth as well. We loaded the bases in the top of the ninth with just one out, but Robinson hit into a double play to keep us from adding any runs, so Erskine came out and pitched solidly in the ninth as well to close out the 5-1 win. We’ll head into the All Star break with a 56-24 record and a three game lead over the Dodgers as the NL leaders. Rogovin improved to 12-2 with a 1.78 ERA for the year, allowing six hits in 6.2 innings, striking out eight and walking four while surrendering only one earned run. Had he not thrown 118 pitches so quickly he might have managed to last the whole game, but thankfully Erskine had himself another great night, coming in for 2.1 innings with just one hit to go with four strikeouts, dropping his ERA to 4.06 through 39 innings -- his slow start now fading in the rearview. Milwaukee actually outhit us 7-3, but we outwalked them by a staggering 12-4 margin ... they kept Turley in for 6.2 innings despite his walking of 10 batters, which doesn’t say much about how their manager respects the bullpen. Willie Mays walked twice and scored a run, stealing two bases as well to give him seven stolen bases this year. Poppell, Rosen, Robinson, Mays and Erskine all scored runs in that first inning, which was enough to hold tough and win this one. Heading into the All Star break, we currently lead the MLB power rankings by nearly eight points over the Yankees, and by twenty points over the third-place Dodgers. We’ve successfully overcome our slow start to come back from a seven-game deficit in the NL to finally look like the team we’ve been over the last few years -- entirely dominant. Mays and Robinson are each in the top five of batters in overall WAR, though Mickey Mantle is having a breakout season, hitting .363/.519/.711 with 10 doubles, three triples and 27 homers, leading both leagues with 7.6 WAR already. Cohen leads both leagues in WAR for pitchers, still with 9.2 WAR, but Connie Johnson (13-2, 1.58 ERA, 153.1 IP, 145 K’s, 0.80 WHIP) is also on fire with 7.6 WAR ... despite his 17 wins, a 1.70 ERA and 186 strikeouts (2nd in both leagues to Rogovin’s 196 K’s) the battle for the NL’s Cy Young award is still far from decided. Mays leads both leagues with 31 homers, with Ted Williams (28), Mickey Mantle (27), Ted Kluszewski (26) and Gil Hodges (22) trailing behind. He remains on pace for 60 homers, which if he can stay at that level would put him in contention to challenge the Babe’s record. Mantle, however, has been red hot as the summer heats up -- since June 16th he’s hit 10 homers to propel himself back into the race in a huge way. Attached Images __________________ "Oh No! We Suck Again!" -- Reviving the White Sox in 2025 -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty "The Rockies' Baseball Horror Show" -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty

12-28-2023, 05:12 PM	#268
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,474	JULY 10, 1956 . . . Time for the All Star game! The NL has dominated the showcase over the last several seasons, and we’re hopful this year will be no different. Hy Cohen started for the NL, getting through the top of the first with a couple of hits against him but no runs scored. But the AL did get on the board first, Boston right fielder Jim Rivera hitting a homer in the top of the third to put them ahead 1-0. And Yankees catcher Yogi Berra hit a solo blast to right in the top of the fourth to make it a 2-0 lead. Ted Kluszewski got us on the board, reaching second on a fielding error that drove Jackie Robinson all the way around from first to score in the bottom of the fourth. Mickey Mantle batted in a run in the top of the sixth to extend the AL’s lead to 3-1, and Yogi Berra hit a three-run blast to center that made it a 6-1 blowout. The AL loaded the bases in the top of the eighth but came up empty, but it didn’t matter -- the fans got all the homers they wanted out of the AL, while our bats just couldn’t keep up -- the American League took this one 6-1, adding to the rivalry between our two leagues. Willie Mays, Jackie Robinson and Al Kaline accounted for three of our five hits, with Kluszewski and Schoendienst getting the other two. Cohen and Dorish were our only two pitchers to get out there, and neither surrendered a run, so our Cubs represented themselves well out there. We’ve now got our sights set on returning to Wrigley for a 13-game homestand which will pit us up against Pittsburgh, Brooklyn, Philly and the Giants before a three-week road trip that will then see us into mid-August. Attached Images __________________ "Oh No! We Suck Again!" -- Reviving the White Sox in 2025 -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty "The Rockies' Baseball Horror Show" -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty

12-28-2023, 08:00 PM	#269
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,474	JULY 12, 1956 . . . Camilo Pascual (5-7, 2.83 ERA, 101.2 IP, 75 K’s, 1.12 WHIP) got his 17th start of the season in game one of today’s doubleheader against Pittsburgh, facing Hank Aguirre (7-4, 2.10 ERA, 103.0 IP, 65 K”s, 1.00 WHIP). Virdon hit a solo blast to left that just barely stayed right of the foul pole, putting Pittsburgh up 1-0 in the top of the third. Poppell got himself a single in the bottom of the sixth, and then stole second and, with one out, third, setting up Jackie Robinson nicely. Robinson flew out to center, but Poppell had plenty of time to get into home safely and tie things up 1-1. Pascual got us into the stretch still tied, and three quick outs in the eighth kept us positioned well in this one. But we weren’t able to get anything past them in the bottom of the inning, so Larry Jansen came in to pitch in the top of the ninth. He pitched very well to contact, getting a pair of pop-ups with just his first three pitches, getting us out of the inning with fewer than ten thrown. But we couldn’t get a hit either, and this one was quickly sent into extra innings still tied 1-1. Jansen stayed out and gave up a solo homer to Leon Wagner on his first pitch of the inning, putting the Pirates back up 2-1, but he got three quick outs from there, putting the onus on the bottom of our order to get something done. Al Kaline got a great hit into right field to start the frame with a double, and then Roger Maris said to hell with it, let’s win this one now, hitting his 12th homer of the season to walk this one off, giving us a 3-1 victory! Pascual had a great night, giving us eight innings with just four hits and an earned run, striking out three and walking one. Jansen gave up a run as well, but lasted two innings with just a walk through 19 pitches, earning his third win as he improved to 3-1 with a 4.06 ERA. Each team had five hits -- we were led by Rosen with a pair of hits, but it was Poppell who made sure we scored the run that kept us in this one late. He hit once to score a run, stealing two bases to give him 17 through his first 21 starts, tied for fifth in the majors with Milwaukee’s Bill Bruton! Tom Acker (3-2, 3.08 ERA, 61.1 IP, 45 K’s, 1.17 WHIP) started our second game of the day, up against Pittsburgh’s Bob Friend (5-9, 4.07 ERA, 132.2 IP, 53 K’s, 1.28 WHIP). Jackie Robinson hit his 17th homer of the year to put us up 1-0 in the bottom of the first, and in the top of the second Al Kaline hit his 13th of the year to put us up 2-0. And Ernie Banks kept the hit-parade going, slugging one into the left field bleachers to score three more runs in the bottom of the third, giving us a 5-0 lead with his 17th blast of the year. Acker had a no-hitter going into the fourth inning, and we gave him plenty of run support, adding three more in the bottom of the fourth off a double by Rosen, who tried to make it to third and was picked off. Robinson tripled with two outs but wasn’t able to scure -- still sending us into the top of the fifth leading 8-0! We loaded the bases again in the bottom of the fifth, Poppell walking in a ninth run with two outs. Al Rosen then walked in our 10th of the game before a Robinson popout to right ended the inning with us shutting them out by 10 runs. The Pirates got on the board with a homer by Johnny Romano in the top of the sixth, but Mays hit his 32nd homer of the year to make it 11-1 in the bottom of the inning, negating theirs. We loaded the bases yet again in the bottom of the seventh, Willie Mays walking in a run to make it 12-1. Acker made it through the eighth inning for just the second time this season, staying out to complete the game in the ninth as we won this one 12-1! In nine innings, Acker allowed only five hits, striking out three with only the one earned run, giving him a 4-2 record and a 2.82 ERA through 70.1 innings. We out-hit them 16-5 in the second game of the afternoon, led by Rosen (two hits, one run, four RBIs), Mays (two hits, two runs, two RBIs) and Banks (two hits, two runs, three RBIs). Maris added two hits and a run, Les Moss hit three times and scored as well, and lead-off man Poppell got himself two hits and three walks, scoring a run and driving in another. In 22 games he’s now hit .245 with an on base percentage of .333, batting in five runs to go with his 17 steals, giving him 0.8 WAR in an incredibly short amount of time. Who says power bats are everything? JULY 13, 1956 . . . Saul Rogovin (12-2, 1.78 ERA, 151.1 IP, 196 K’s, 0.76 WHIP) got the start today, with Cohen only on three days’ rest since starting in the All Star game. Pittsburgh brought out Gene Conley (7-9, 2.62 ERA, 158.0 IP, 107 K’s, 1.04 WHIP) who has been red-hot for the Pirates this year, pitching to a decision in all but three starts, only once failing to get into at least the eighth inning. The Pirates took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third when Rip Repulski hit an RBI single, and they added a run off an RBI double by Ken Boyer just moments later, though Rogovin got us out of the inning with a strikeout. Rogovin struck out his 200th batter of the season in the top of the fourth, but we struggled to get baserunners into position, and still trailed by the two runs heading into the fifth. Repulski hit an RBI double in the top of the fifth to extend the Pirates’ lead to 3-0, But with the bases loaded in the bottom of the inning, Jackie Robinson hit a triple and drove in three runs to tie it up! Rogovin struck out the side in the top of the ninth to keep it knotted at 3-3, but we batted ourselves out three times straight to send this one into extras with both starters staying in! Rogovin got two strikeouts and a groundout in the top of the 10th, but Conley shut us down just as easily. Two more groundouts and a strikeout got us into the bottom of the 11th, with Conley still on the mound at 142 pitches! Robinson and Mays were quickly put down via flyout, and Banks popped up to the shortstop and this one just kept going. Carl Erskine came out to pitch for us in the top of the 12th, setting them down quickly with a strikeout and a pair of groundouts. I was stunned that they kept Gene Conley out there for the bottom of the inning, having thrown 150 pitches already and looking like he was completely out of gas. He got Kaline out with a flyball to center, but then walked Roger Maris, and they had no choice but to go to the bullpen for Johnny Kucks (2-0, 1 SV 0.49 ERA, 18.1 IP, 8 K’s, 0.98 WHIP). Kucks walked Crandall, and we pinch hit Bouchee for Erskine, who struck out swinging. That brought up Poppell with two outs and a man in scoring position ... and he batted out to the shortstop, who made a quick throw for the third out at first. Sandy Koufax came in to pitch in the top of the 13th, getting flyouts to Mays and Maris along with a strikeout to give us another chance to walk this one off. But yet again, our bats were unable to make anything happen. Al Kaline made a spectacular catch for our first out in the top of the 14th, Koufax made a great throw to Rosen at first for the second, and then Ken Boyer struck out looking to send us into the bottom of the inning with the game already nearing four hours in length! Banks batted out to right, but Kaline got himself a base hit, and they walked Maris to give us a runner in scoring position. Crandall tried to lay down a bunt, but it was as bad as you could possibly hit one, and they got Kaline out at third. Dick Whitman hit for Koufax with two outs and two men on, taking the pitcher to a full count and then grounding out to first. God-DAMN! Top of the 15th inning, we bring out Bob Purkey to throw. He gives up a base hit to Rocky Colavito, but gets Colavito out at second on a fielder’s choice that put Rocky Nelson on first instead. He walked Jim Finegan, but struck shorstop Billy Klaus out swinging, bringing up slugger Jimmy Romano with a man in scoring position and two outs. Larry Jansen subbed in, and Romano hit a weak grounder to Banks, who made a great throw to first for the final out. Jack Poppell came up first in the bottom of the inning, getting a hit into left for a single. Al Rosen beat out an infield bouncer to drive Poppell over to second, and with no outs, Poppell stole third, with the count 0-2 against Robinson, who promptly grounded out to first for out number one, driving Rosen over to second. They walked Mays, loading the bases for Ernie Banks, and on a wild pitch Poppell sprinted for home, sliding in safely headfirst to win this one for us 4-3 in the 15th inning, nearly four and a half hours after we threw the first pitch. Larry Jansen only threw two pitches, getting our final out and securing himself the win, improving to 4-1 with a 4.02 ERA. But Rogovin was a star as he’s been all year, having his best start of the season with just six hits and three earned runs with 13 K’s through 11 innings. Erskine had a no-hit inning with a strikeout, and Koufax had two no-hit innings with a pair of K’s, before Purkey gave us two outs with a hit, a strikeout and a walk. The crazy thing is, through 15 innings, the Pirates outhit us 7-6! But we outscored them 4-1 in the final 11 innings, as our pitchers completely locked in. Jackie Robinson batted seven times, hitting twice and driving in three runs to give us a chance in the bottom of the fifth. Poppell’s stolen base in the final inning gave him a hit, a run and his 18th stolen base of the season. Al Rosen hit twice and walked twice, but was unable to score. JULY 14, 1956 . . . We’re now on a six-game win streak, with a 12-1 record in the month of July! For our final game against the Pirates, we’re saving Cohen for the first of our two Brooklyn games, so Bob Porterfield (2-0, 1.82 ERA, 24.2 IP, 14 K’s, 0.81 WHIP) got the start against Johnny Klippstein (8-7, 3.54 ERA, 145.0 IP, 95 K’s, 1.05 WHIP). Pittsburgh got on the board in the top of the second with a run scored off a sac-fly by Billy Klaus, and Rocky Colavito batted in another run in the top of the third to make it 2-0 Pirates. Jackie Robinson hit a double in the bottom of the fourth, stole third, and then reached home safely on a sac-fly by Mays to make it 2-1. Porterfield got us through the fifth, and Erskine came in to pitch in the top of the sixth with us still trailing by a run. Ernie Banks batted in the tying run in the bottom of the sixth, and we got the go-ahead from Mays, who scored from third on a wild pitch, sending us into the top of the seventh up 3-2. Erskine got us into the stretch with a pair of strikeouts and a pop-out to Banks, and in the bottom of the seventh we added a run thanks to an RBI single by Mays, extending our lead to two runs. Koufax came in to pitch in the top of the eighth, but after striking out Ken Boyer, he walked Colavito and Nelson, and then pinch-runner Jim Nelson scored on an E7 throwing error following a single by Danny O’Connell, and suddenly the lead was cut to one. Koufax got the outs we needed to get out of the inning, but we needed some insurance in the bottom of the eighth. Kaline got it for us, hitting a homer into the right field seats, his 14th of the year, to make it a 5-3 lead. Koufax stayed out in the bottom of the inning, getting a flyout to Kaline, and then after walking Stan Palys, made a brilliant double play to complete the two-run win! After a five inning three hit effort by Porterfield, who walked three, struck out four and allowed two runs, Carl Ersline came in and won the game, improving to 3-1 with a two-inning two-hit, two strikeout effort. Koufax earned his 11th save of the season by going two innings as well, giving up a hit, a run and three walks against just one strikeout -- not the best outing we’ve seen from him, but he got it done, helping us sweep the Pirates as we keep our win streak going into the Brooklyn series. We outhit the Pirates 10-6, led by Kaline (two hits, a run and an RBI) and Crandall (two hits). Robinson hit once, walked once, stole a base and scored a run, and pinch-hitter Dick Whitman finally got his first hit of the year in his 12th attempt, stealing his second base of the year as well. __________________ "Oh No! We Suck Again!" -- Reviving the White Sox in 2025 -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty "The Rockies' Baseball Horror Show" -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty

12-29-2023, 06:28 PM	#270
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,474	JULY 15, 1956 . . . Heading into this two-day set against the Dodgers, we’ve got a 6-5 record against them, to go with a 5.5 game lead in the division as we’ve really started to pull away -- we’re 9-1 in our last ten, while they’ve gone 4-6 and just 1-2 since the All Star break. Hy Cohen (17-2, 1.70 ERA, 169.2 IP, 186 K’s, 0.77 WHIP) got the start this afternoon against Brooklyn’s Connie Johnson (13-2, 1.58 ERA, 153.1 IP, 145 K’s, 0.80 WHIP). So no one expected much hitting, especially with the wind blownig in from right at 11 miles per hour. Roy Campanella quickly took advantage of a misplaced fastball by Cohen in the top of the second, hitting it out of the park for two runs and the early lead. Ernie Banks doubled in the bottom of the inning, and Al Kaline singled to drive Banks to third with just one out, but Whitman and Crandall were easy outs for Johnson, and we went into the third inning trailing 2-0. And it stayed that way until the bottom of the seventh, when Ernie Banks hit a two-run double to tie things up, completely catching Johnson off guard. Jack Poppell singled to start the bottom of the eighth, but we completely stranded him, sending us into the top of the ninth still knotted up at 2-2. Cohen got three outs via contact, sending us into the bottom of the inning with a chance to pull a win out of our hats. Banks got a base hit, but Kaline batted out to left and Whitman struck out swinging, and Crandall popped out to left to send us into extra innings for the third time in four days. Cohen stayed out for the tenth, and the Dodgers took advantage ... he gave up an RBI double to Duke Snider that put the Dodgers up 3-2 heading into the bottom of the 10th. Ed Bouchee pinch hit for Cohen to start the frame, getting a hit into right field for a single, and Poppell beat out a bouncing infield ball to safely take his base and drive Bouchee into scoring position! Jackie Robinson got a hit into left, batting Bouchee in to tie it, and Poppell came all the way around from first as it rolled into the corner, scoring and giving us the 4-3 extra-innings victory! Despite giving up the run in the top of the 10th, Cohen held tough and won the 10-inning complete game, allowing only six hits with five strikeouts, two walks and three earned runs, improving to 18-2 with a 1.75 ERA. We outhit the Dodgers 9-6, led by Ernie Banks with three hits and two RBIs, while Robinson had two hits, a run and two RBIs, and Poppell led off with two hits and scored a run. Dick Whitman still can’t seem to buy a string of hits, but he got two steals in this one, bringing his total to four on the year as he gave Roger Maris a much-needed afternoon off. We now have a spectacular 11-2 record in extra innings games this year, which stands out considering we’re only 19-10 in one-run games. JULY 16, 1956 . . . Camilo Pascual (5-7, 2.71 ERA, 109.2 IP, 78 K’s, 1.09 WHIP) pitched in our second game against the Dodgers’ Billy Loes (2-0, 2.40 ERA, 15.0 IP, 6 K’s, 1.40 WHIP). We loaded the bases in the bottom of the first, and Ernie Banks batted in a run with a sac-fly to left, giving us a 1-0 lead. Brooklyn tied us in the top of the second, when Bill Mazeroski reached first on a throwing error, taking second, advancing on a sac-bunt and then scoring via a Pee Wee Reese groundout at first. The Dodgers then took the lead in the top of the fourth with a homer by Hodges, Pascual’s first hit allowed in the game, but Willie Mays answered with his 33rd homer of the year in the bottom of the fourth to tie us back up at 2-2. Pascual hit a triple in the bottom of the fifth, scoring on a flyout by Rosen to make it 3-2 Cubs heading into the sixth. Carl Erskine came in for the top of the seventh, getting three quick outs to send us into the stretch still ahead by a run. Hersh Freeman came in with two outs and a man on second in the top of the eighth, getting a popout to center that ended the inning without a run scoring. Freeman got an out in the top of the ninth but then gave up a hit to Sandy Amoros, and we brought Koufax in to protect the lead. A wild pitch advanced Amoros to second, but Anthony Pint struck out swinging, bringing up Frank Thomas, who popped out to center as we won our ninth game in a row, this time by a 3-2 margin! Pascual improved to 6-7 with a 2.65 ERA, thanks to a two-hit six inning effort with a strikeout, a walk and two runs (one earned). Erskine and Freeman each notched holds, and Koufax got his 12th save of the year, improving his ERA to 3.06 with just six pitches thrown. We outhit Brooklyn 9-4, led by Willie Mays with three hits, a run and an RBI thanks to his homer. Ernie Banks added a pair of hits and an RBI as well. Getting both wins by one-run margins really helps, as we’ve now got a 62-24 record and a 7.5 game lead in the division. We’ll now face the Philadelphia Phillies here at Wrigley, with their 46-39 record (15.5 games back) with a chance to really start to pull away. JULY 17, 1956 . . . Tom Acker (4-2, 2.82 ERA, 70.1 IP, 48 K’s, 1.09 WHIP) got the start today against the Phillies, facing Don Newcombe (10-7, 2.73 ERA, 155.0 IP, 96 K’s, 0.90 WHIP). Ernie Banks hit a ball almost out to Waveland, batting in three runs with his 18th homer of the season to give us a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Del Ennis batted in a run in the top of the third to get the Phillies on the board, and then with the bases loaded, Acker gave up a grand slam to Smoky Burgess to suddenly put us in a 5-3 hole. Acker got out of the inning bruised and beaten, having thrown 60 pitches in three innings of work. Banks batted in a run with a sac-fly in the bottom of the third, and Roger Maris hit into a fielder’s choice, reaching first and driving in a run while Kaline was picked off at second, so we went into the fourth inning knotted up 5-5. Acker stayed out and got us through the fourth, but we brought Erskine in to pitch to start the fifth with the score still tied at five runs apiece. Erskine stayed out a little too long, giving up a two run homer with two outs in the top of the seventh to put Philadelphia up 7-5, with Bob Purkey getting the final out to get us into the stretch. Larry Jansen came in with an out and men on first and second in the top of the eighth, getting us out of the inning with a fantastic double play. But in the top of the ninth he gave up a homer to Earl Torgeson that inreased their lead to three runs, and Red Schoendienst doubled to drive in another pair. So we went into the bottom of the inning needing five runs, at least, With two outs, Poppell got on base by beating out an infield single, and then stole second and third, but Al Rosen grounded out to first to end this one as a 10-5 defeat. Carl Erskine took the loss, falling to 3-2 with a 3.80 ERA, allowing two hits and two runs, with two walks and a strikeout through 2.2 innings of work. But it was Acker who left us needing to win a bullpen game, lasting four innings with four hits and five earned runs, striking out four but walking four as well. Jansen struggled in his 1.2 innings, giving up three hits and a walk to allow three earned runs, dropping his ERA to 4.64 through 33 innings over 25 appearances. Philly outhit us 11-10, with Robinson, Kaline and Maris each hitting twice. Poppell tried to spark a rally at the last second and now has 20 stolen bases this year in 25 attempts, jumping himself into the #3 spot overall in either league, behind only Luis Aparicio of the Giants, who has 21, and Boston’s Jim Rivera who has 23 -- and they’ve each done it while playing in more than three times as many games as he has. JULY 18, 1956 . . . Saul Rogovin (12-2, 1.83 ERA, 162.1 IP, 209 K’s, 0.75 WHIP) pitched tonight against Philly’s Joe Nuxhall (10-5, 2 SV, 1.81 ERA, 129.1 IP, 82 K’s, 0.77 WHIP). Jackie Robinson tripled in the bottom of the first with two outs, his 13th three-bagger of the year, but was left stranded. But Roger Maris made up for it in the bottom of the second, hitting his 10th homer of the season to put us up 1-0. A botched pick-off attempt at first allowed Poppell to advance to second base in the bottom of the fifth, as Del Crandall scored from third to make it 2-0. Poppell stole third, scoring when Al Rosen batted one into center for an RBI single, and Ernie Banks cleared the bases with a three-run homer, his 19th of the year, to make it 6-0 Cubs heading into the top of the sixth, and Rogovin held tough from there, completing the two-hit shutout as we won 6-0. Rogovin improved to 13-2, striking out nine and walking only one batter as he improved his ERA to 1.73. We outhit them 11-2, led by Jackie Robinson with three hits and a run, while Al Rosen added two hits a run and an RBI. Poppell hit and scored a run, stealing his 21st base, and Banks batted in three runs with his homer, though he struck out three times. JULY 19, 1956 . . . Hy Cohen (18-2, 1.75 ERA, 179.2 IP, 191 K’s, 0.77 WHIP) pitched this afternoon against Robin Roberts (11-7, 2.10 ERA, 154.0 IP, 119 K’s, 0.75 WHIP). Jackie Robinson hit a two-run blast into the bleachers at center, his 18th homer of the season, to put us up 2-0 in the bottom of the first. Poppell hit an RBI single in the bottom of the second, driving Kaline around from second to score and extend the lead to three runs. Philly scored in the top of the sixth via an RBI double by Torgeson, and we went into the stretch leading 3-1. Jackie Robinson tripled in the bottom of the eighth, and Ernie Banks hit a three-run homer, his 20th of the season, to make it 6-1 Cubs! Cohen completed the game with three quick outs and we won this one by five runs, another dominant performance! Cohen improved to 19-2 with a 1.72 ERA, allowing seven hits with seven strikeouts, but only letting them score one run. We had ten hits, led by Jackie Robinson’s three hit two run two RBI performance. He had a single, a triple and a homer, damned near hitting for the cycle. Earlier this season he scored his 1,000th run and stole his 200th base ... he’s now just one dinger away from his 200th homer. Poppell hit twice and batted in a run, stealing twice, and Al Rosen had a solid night with two hits and a run scored. Ernie Banks remained red hot as well, hitting a three-run blast to give him 20 homers and 53 RBIs. We’ll close out this homestand with four games against the Giants (40-48) this weekend, having beaten them seven out of the nine times we’ve played so far this year. We’re now 64-25 and have gone 8-1 since the All Star break, leading the Dodgers by 7.5 games. The trade deadline’s coming up fast, but we’ve got our team right where we want it -- I don’t see anything happening at the deadline for our Cubs unless something absolutely marvelous slides across my desk. __________________ "Oh No! We Suck Again!" -- Reviving the White Sox in 2025 -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty "The Rockies' Baseball Horror Show" -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty

12-29-2023, 09:20 PM	#271
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,474	JULY 20, 1956 . . . Camilo Pascual (6-7, 2.65 ERA, 115.2 IP, 79 K’s, 1.05 WHIP) is up to pitch in game one, going up against Jack Sanford (2-2, 2.61 ERA, 51.2 IP, 32 K’s, 1.08 WHIP). Jackie Robinson got himself another bottom-of-the-first triple, driving in our first run of the game, but the Giants got on the board in the top of the second, Luis Aparicio scoring from third when Jim Gilliam reached first on an error by Banks at short, tying the score at 1-1. Al Rosen hit a sac-fly in the bottom of the third that drove Poppell in to score from third, giving us back our lead, but the Giants got it back in the top of the fourth with a solo blast by Ed Bailey that tied things back up at 2-2. And Erskine clearly did not have his best stuff today, giving up another solo blast in the top of the fifth to Bill White, giving the Giants a 3-2 lead as he neared 90 pitches. Carl Erskine came in to pitch, striking out the next two batters in a row to get us out of the inning, and he struck out two more in the top of the sixth en route to getting out of the inning cleanly. Poppell got a base hit in the bottom of the inning, stole second (his third steal of the game!) and tied things up when Al Rosen hit an RBI double! Ernie Banks added an RBI single moments later to give us back the lead, sending us into the top of the seventh leading 4-3. Erskine pitched himself into a bases-loaded jam in the top of the inning, but got us into the break with his lead safe, getting our second out via a pop-up to short and striking out his fifth batter for the third. Poppell beat out an infield squib to reach first safely in the bottom of the seventh, and Al Rosen walked, putting him in scoring position with two outs and Robinson at the plate. Poppell stole third, his fourth steal of the afternoon, but Robinson popped out to center, ending the inning with our lead still at one run. Hersh Freeman came in to pitch in the eighth, but he gave up an RBI single to Jim Gilliam that tied us back up at 4-4, blowing the save, and with Koufax hurriedly warming up, Hector Lopez hit a two-run double, putting us in a 6-4 hole just like that. Koufax came in with Lopez in scoring position with just one out, notching two quick strikeouts, and we went into the bottom of the eighth trailing by a pair. Mays hit one out of the park, his 34th homer of the year, to make it a one-run ballgame, and Banks and Kaline each got hits to put the tying run in scoring position. But Koufax flew out to deep left, narrowly missing out on a homer himself, and we went into the top of the ninth needing to prevent any damage so we’d have a chance, and he did his job, getting a pop-out to short and completing a double play off an infield hit by Don Blasingame, bringing rookie sensation Jack Poppell up to bat to start the bottom of the inning. Poppell would not get a chance to play hero -- he popped out to right field. But Rosen walked, as did Robinson, and Willie Mays got a great hit into left field, driving in a run to tie it up and putting the winning run on third thanks to a well-timed double! Rosen was picked off at home on a fielder’s choice, and Kaline batted out to right, ending the inning and sending us into extras knotted 6-6. Koufax stayed out for the top of the 10th, getting Red Wilson to ground out to first and then walking Jack Shepard. Jim Gilliam sac-bunted Shepard to second, and then Hector Lopez hit a single into right, allowing Shepard to come in for the go-ahead run. Crandall couldn’t handle a wild pitch, sending Lopez to second, but Koufax struck Norm Siebern out swinging to get us back up to bat trailing by a run. And this time our extra-innings luck ran out, as the Giants shut us down to win this one 7-6 in ten innings. Koufax took the loss, lasting 2.2 innings but giving up two hits, a walk and a run with three strikeouts, keeping his ERA a respectable 3.08 as he fell to 5-6. Erskine was impressive, pitching 2.2 innings as well with one hit, two walks and five strikeouts, bringing his ERA down to 3.59. Pascual was not impressive, however, only lasting 4.1 innings with five hits, three walks, three strikeouts and three runs (two earned). They outhit us 12-10, our team led by Willie Mays (three hits and a walk for a run and two RBIs), Ernie Banks (two hits and an RBI) and Jack Poppell (a hit, a walk and four stolen bases for two runs scored).Banks and Crandall each had errors, which didn’t help us in a tight contest. JULY 21, 1956 . . . Saul Rogovin (13-2, 1.73 ERA, 171.1 IP, 218 K’s, 0.72 WHIP) came up to pitch in the second game of the series, facing New York’s Bob Lemon (2-7, 5.84 ERA, 57.0 IP, 19 K’s, 1.70 WHIP). With the bases loaded in the bottom of the first, Al Rosen came in to score on a wild pitch to put us up 1-0. Of course we reciprocated in the top of the second, a wild pitch of our own allowing Norm Cash to tie it up at 1-1, a real comedy of errors. We loaded the bases again in the bottom of the third, taking the lead back with a two-RBI single by Kaline, giving us a 3-1 lead heading into the top of the fourth. Ed Bailey hit an RBI single in the top of the fourth to cut our lead to one run, and then Bob Lemon hit a homer into the center field bleachers, scoring three runs to put the Giants ahead 5-3. Unbelievable! The top of the seventh was interrupted by a brief rain delay, but we were able to resume and get into the stretch still trailing by two runs. Rogovin stayed out for the ninth inning, striking out a pair to get us into the bottom of the frame still down by two runs. Jackie Robinson came out and hit a towering blast to right, leaving the park for his 19th homer of the year and the 200th of his career to pull us within a run ... but that was all we were able to muster, limping into the finish to lose our second in a row, 5-4 to the Giants. Rogovin fell to 12-3 with a 1.90 ERA, allowing only five hits and striking out 12 batters while walking only two, but giving up five earned runs in the process. We actually outhit the Giants 9-6, but they made better use of their runners on the basepaths and then holding the lead well in the final innings. Robinson led the team with three hits, a walk, two runs and an RBI, while Al Kaline added a hit and two RBIs. Poppell, in the leadoff role he seems to have been made for, got a hit and a walk, adding two more stolen bases to his total, giving him 29 so far through just 31 games. We have a doubleheader tomorrow here at Wrigley, and then we hit the road, not returning to Chicago until the 10th of August. So we really need to come out strong and win, as our schedule does not grow easier from here. JULY 22, 1956 . . . Tom Acker (4-2, 3.27 ERA, 74.1 IP, 52 K’s, 1.14 WHIP) got the start against Seth Morehead (8-9, 3.78 ERA, 148.1 IP, 91 K’s, 1.24 WHIP) in game one of today’s doubleheader. The Giants quickly got on the board in the top of the first, Bill White hitting an RBI double to give them a 1-0 lead. Al Rosen batted in a run via Del Crandall in the bottom of the third to tie us up 1-1, at which point this one stayed locked up cold. In the bottom of the eighth, with two outs and no one on, Jack Poppell got his first hit of the game, a blistering double into the left corner. He stole third with the count 2-2 against Rosen, who then got a great line drive into right to drive in the go-ahead run -- Poppell being good as gold if he gets himself a base-running opportunity. Hersh Freeman came in for the save opportunity in the top of the ninth, and he held tough despite letting a baserunner on quickly, getting three outs in a row to shut them down and hold on to the 2-1 victory. Tom Acker improved to 5-2 with a 2.95 ERA, lasting eight innings with just three hits, one walk and six strikeouts, to go with one unearned run. Freeman earned his seventh save of the year, with one hit and one strikeout, improving his ERA slightly to 5.46. We outhit them 5-4 in this pitcher’s duel, led by Rosen with two hits and two RBIs, and by Poppell, whose hit and steal helped set up his game-winning run. Hy Cohen (19-2, 1.72 ERA, 188.2 IP, 198 K’s, 0.77 WHIP) started game two of the day, facing their ace, Ted Abernathy (12-8, 2.59 ERA, 178.0 IP, 118 K’s, 0.97 WHIP). The Giants got up quickly, an RBI by Wally Post driving in the first run of the game in the top of the first. But Ernie Banks hit a three-run blast in the bottom of the inning, his 21st of the year, to put us back on top by two runs. Al Kaline added his 15th homer of the season in the bottom of the third, driving in three runs to quickly make this one into a 6-1 blowout! Jackie Robinson added an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth, and Willie Mays hit a sac-fly to center that added another. Ernie Banks got himself an RBI single to make it 9-1 heading into the top of the fifth. Kaline added an RBI triple in the bottom of the eighth that scored two more runs, and a two-run homer by Roger Maris made it a complete and total rout, his 11th blast of the year. Cohen stayed out to complete the 13-1 win, his 20th victory of the year! Cohen is now 20-2 with a 1.68 ERA, having thrown a seven-hitter with six strikeouts and a walk, allowing a single run in the top of the first. We had 14 hits as a team, led again by Robinson (three hits, three runs, one RBI), alongside Ernie Banks (three hits, two runs, four RBIs) and Kaline(three hits, two runs, five RBIs). Poppell had a hit and scored a run, stealing three bases in the game, while Robinson picked up one for his fifth steal of the season. Heading into what I expect to be our most difficult road stretch of the season, we now hold a 66-27 record and lead the Brooklyn Dodgers by 5.5 games. Here’s our upcoming schedule: 7/24-26: @ Pittsburgh (46-48) 7/27-29: @ Brooklyn (59-31) -- doubleheader on the 29th 7/30-8/1: @ Philadelphia (49-43) 8/3-5: @ NY Giants (42-50) -- doubleheader on the 5th 8/6-7: @ Milwaukee (43-48) 8/8-9: @ Cincinnati (35-57) The remainder of the month will feature 17 games at Wrigley, with just four additional games on the road against St. Louis (28-64) and Cincinnati. At this point the Yankees (64-31) are handling their business, 7.5 games up on Detroit (54-36), with Cleveland (48-42, 13.5 GB) and Boston (47-43, 14.5 GB) lagging far behind. Neither Kansas City (43-49), the White Sox (39-51), Baltimore (36-56) or Washington (35-59) are in any kind of contention for the AL pennant. __________________ "Oh No! We Suck Again!" -- Reviving the White Sox in 2025 -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty "The Rockies' Baseball Horror Show" -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty

01-06-2024, 12:18 PM	#272
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,474	JULY 24, 1956 . . . On the road again ... tonight we’re in Pittsburgh, with Saul Rogovin (13-3, 1.90 ERA, 180.1 IP, 230 K’s, 0.73 WHIP) pitching against the Pirates’ Hank Aguirre (8-5, 2.02 ERA, 129.1 IP, 85 K’s, 0.94 WHIP). In the top of the fourth, with the game still scoreless, Jackie Robinson hit a double, sending Rosen all the way around from first to score, and Robinson was able to beat out a throw to take third, though we left him stranded as we went into the bottom of the inning leading 1-0. But they tied us up quickly, thanks to a solo homer by Rocky Nelson in the bottom of the fourth, and it remained so heading into the seventh inning stretch. We came up in the top of the ninth, still tied 1-1, and with one out Rosen got himself a double to put a rare runner in scoring position with just our third hit of the evening. Jackie Robinson grounded out to first, advancing Rosen to third, but we weren’t able to get him in to score, sending us into the bottom of the ninth needing to keep them from breaking the stalemate, and Rogovin did just that, getting three quick outs to send us into extras. Carl Erskine came out and got us the outs we needed in the bottom of the 10th, and he stayed sharp in the 11th as well, both teams holding tough defensively. Robinson walked to start the top of the 12th, moving to second off a single by Mays, and an Ernie Banks line drive into right loaded the bases without an out! Robinson scored on a sac-fly by Kaline, and a Del Crandall sac-fly to right drove in another run. Koufax came out to protect the two-run lead in the bottom of the 12th, giving up a hit but then getting three consecutive outs via contact to close out the 3-1 victory! Rogovin put in a solid nine inning effort, allowing just four hits and a run, with 12 strikeouts and a walk. But Erskine’s two-inning no-hit stretch in extras (with a pair of strikeouts!) got the reliever the win, improving his record to 4-2 with a 3.44 ERA. Koufax allowed just the one hit and kept his ERA at 3.03. Each team had five hits this evening, our team led by Rosen with two hits, a walk and a run scored. Robinson had a hit and a walk for a run and an RBI, while Mays hit and scored a run as well. JULY 25, 1956 . . . Camilo Pascual (6-7, 2.70 ERA, 120.0 IP, 82 K’s, 1.08 WHIP) started tonight against Pittsburgh’s Johnny Klippstein (8-9, 3.83 ERA, 159.2 IP, 100 K’s, 1.11 WHIP). Jackie Robinson hit a solo blast in the top of the first, his 20th of the season, to give us an early 1-0 lead, but Billy Klaus hit one in the bottom of the second to tie us at 1-1. Jackie Robinson hit an RBI single to drive Jack Poppel in from third, and Ernie Banks hit a triple that drove in two more. Al Kaline hit one into deep center to make it 5-1, giving us a solid advantage heading into the bottom of the third. Pascual was able to breathe a little easier, even more-so when Willie Mays hit his 35th homer of the year in the top of the fifth to make the score 6-1. Ernie Banks then hit his 22nd of the year to make it 7-1, giving us a six-run advantage in the bottom of the fifth. But the Pirates got going in a big way in the bottom of the inning, Ken Boyer hitting a three-run homer into the right field stands to cut our lead to three. Willie Mays scored a run in the top of the seventh, stealing third and then making it around to home thanks to a botched throw to the third baseman. Kaline then batted Banks in to score with an RBI single, and we went into the stretch leading 9-4. Hersh Freeman came in to pitch in the bottom of the inning, and the Pirates got a run back with an RBI single by Boyer. But Robinson got himself another RBI single in the top of the eighth, so Freeman stayed out and pitched in the bottom of the inning, settling in nicely and getting through the inning without much fuss. With the five run lead still intact, he closed out the game by staying out for the ninth as well, and we won this one handily 10-5, giving Freeman a three-inning save. Pascual improved to 7-7 with a 2.86 ERA, allowing four hits and four runs in six innings of work, striking out seven against four walks. Freeman gave us three very good innings, allowing just one run with a strikeout and two walks, with only one run scoring on his watch. We outhit them 11-5, led by Robinson (three hits, two runs, three RBIs), Banks (two hits, one walk, three runs, three RBIs) and Kaline (three hits, two RBIs). Poppell got a hit and walked twice, stealing two bases in three attempts, giving him 35 stolen bases in 42 tries this year. Willie Mays had a hit for two runs and an RBI, stealing his ninth base of the year as well. JULY 26, 1956 . . . Hy Cohen (20-2, 1.68 ERA, 197.2 IP, 204 K’s, 0.77 WHIP) has been as hot as a pitcher can be this year, and he’s starting for the 24th time this year, facing Gene Conley (9-9, 2.35 ERA, 187.1 IP, 130 K’s, 1.01 WHIP) in this one. Poppell took a walk to start the first inning, stealing second and third, coming around to score off a single by Rosen to put us very quickly ahead 1-0 -- folks around these parts are starting to refer to him as “Jackrabbit” Poppell! Willie Mays hit his 36th homer of the year in the top of the fifth, a three-run blast that made it 4-0 Cubs. Pittsburgh got on the board with a solo homer by Rocky Nelson in the bottom of the seventh, but Cohen was locked in and went into the bottom of the ninth still holding a three-run lead, shutting them down quietly as we held tough to win 4-1. With another complete-game three-hitter under his belt, Cohen is now 21-2 with a 1.65 ERA, winning this one with only three strikeouts, a rarity earned almost exclusively through contact and solid fielding. We outhit them 5-3 but walked seven times. Rosen led the team with two hits for a run and an RBI, while Mays’ homer batted in three runs. Poppell finished with a hit, a walk, a run and three more stolen bases, continuing his amazing streak as a baserunner. With the series sweep over Pittsburgh complete, we now head to Brooklyn (62-31, 5.5 GB) for a four-game set over the next three days. We’re on a five-game winning streak, but the Dodgers have won seven in a row and nine of their last ten. So these are not going to be easy wins to get. JULY 27, 1956 . . . Tom Acker (5-2, 2.95 ERA, 82.1 IP, 58 K’s, 1.08 WHIP) got the start in game one at Brooklyn, facing Sal Maglie (17-2, 1.43 ERA, 188.2 IP, 122 K’s, 0.78 WHIP). Acker allowed a homer by Gil Hodges in the bottom of the first that quickly put the Dodgers up 2-0. Pee Wee Reese hit an RBI triple in the bottom of the second to make it 3-0, and Carl Furillo hit an RBI single to extend the lead further. The wheels quickly came off, as Hodges hit an RBI double that scored another pair, and we went into the top of the third down by six. Carl Erskine came in with one out and a man on first in the bottom of the fifth, striking out the first two batters he faced to get us out of the inning, and he got a hit to start the top of the sixth, but the top of our lineup left him high and dry. Pee Wee Reese and Carl Furillo doubled in consecutive at-bats, extending the Dodgers’ lead to seven runs, and a Duke Snider double made it quickly 8-0 as we completely embarrassed ourselves. A three-run Frank Thomas homer added insult to injury, and we went into the top of the seventh down by eleven. Our bats remained impotent and they stuffed this one down our throats from there, shutting us out 11-0 in an absolutely indefensible blowout. Acker took the loss, falling to 5-3 with eight hits, three walks and four strikeouts, the six earned runs bloating his ERA to 3.43 in a 4.1 inning effort. Erskine added 1.1 innings, allowing four hits and five earned runs, leaving it to Larry Jansen to mop up the mess in a 2.1 inning two hit, one strikeout effort that at least put a tourniquet on our wounds. They outhit us 14-4, with Robinson (two hits), Kaline (one hit), Erskine (one hit) and Rosen (one walk) providing our only baserunners. JULY 28, 1956 . . . Saul Rogovin (13-3, 1.85 ERA, 189.1 IP, 242 K’s, 0.72 WHIP) started today against Johnny Podres (10-6, 3.18 ERA, 158.2 IP, 85 K’s, 1.12 WHIP). Banks reached first on an error to start the top of the second, and Kaline advanced him with a base hit. Roger Maris then got a solid hit into the outfield to drive in a run and put us up 1-0. Rogovin bunted Kaline and Maris into scoring position, and Poppell got a hit into the outfield, driving in a run, and he stole second to get himself into scoring position as well, with Maris now on third. Rosen walked the bases loaded, but Robinson grounded into an out at first to end the frame. But the Dodgers quickly got back in it with a two-run homer by Bill Mazeroski, tying us at 2-2 in the bottom of the inning, sending us into the third back at square one. They took the lead with a sac-fly by Roy Campanella that drove in Carl Furillo with two outs in the bottom of the third, and it stayed that way until the top of the sixth when we loaded the bases with two outs -- Ed Bouchee came in to pinch-hit for Rogovin, getting an infield hit that kept the bases loaded and scored the tying run! Poppell got an infield hit that drove in the go-ahead run and kept the bases jammed, but Rosen batted into a fielder’s choice that ended the inning with us now up 4-3. Hersh Freman came in to pitch in the bottom of the sixth, getting out of the inning with relative ease as Frank Thomas batted into a rally-squelching double play. Jansen tried to stay out for the bottom of the seventh but gave up two hits in a row and we had no choice but to bring in Jansen with men on the corners and no outs. A sac-bunt moved Fred Hatfield to second while holding Solly Hemus at third, and Pee Wee Reese flew out to second, though he was deep enough for Hemus to score the tying run and blow the save. But Jansen struck out Anthony Pint swinging and got us out of the inning knotted 4-4. Jansen got a quick out, then surrendered a homer to Sandy Amoros that put the Dodgers back up 5-4 in the bottom of the eighth. Carl Erskine came in and got two quick outs, and with Koufax warming up, Dick Whitman pinch-hit for Erskine in the top of the ninth, promptly grounding out to first, as did Poppell. Al Rosen quietly walked, and Jackie Robinson got a great hit into left field to advance him into scoring position. But Willie Mays popped out to first, ending this one as our second loss in a row to the Dodgers, this time by a 5-4 margin. Heading into tomorrow’s doubleheader, things are feeling far from comfortable, as the Dodgers are now within 3.5 games of us. Rogovin gave us five innings with four hits, four strikeouts, two walks and three earned runs -- we chose to pinch-hit and take two runs with the bases loaded, rather than keep him in and risk staying behind. It was a calculated risk, and our bullpen wasn’t up to the task. Freeman had a good inning, with two hits and a run, earning his fourth hold, but Jansen fell to 4-2 with his first blown save, giving us 1.1 innings with a hit, a strikeout and an earned run. Erskine got the outs we needed and brought his ERA back down to 4.18, but our bats had nothing left for the ninth, despite having outhit the Dodgers 8-7 in the game. Poppell had a hit, an RBI and a stolen base, bringing his total to 39, and Kaline was as solid as ever with three hits for two runs, bringing his average up to .301 through 98 games. The Dodgers just seem to have our number, and we need wins tomorrow in a big way if we don’t want to head into August neck and neck with our rivals. __________________ "Oh No! We Suck Again!" -- Reviving the White Sox in 2025 -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty "The Rockies' Baseball Horror Show" -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty

01-09-2024, 11:13 PM	#275
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,474	JULY 29, 1956 . . . Hy Cohen (21-2, 1.65 ERA, 206.2 IP, 207 K’s, 0.75 WHIP) started in game one of this very important doubleheader, facing the Dodgers’ Don Kaiser (8-7, 3.95 ERA, 116.1 IP, 48 K’s, 1.42 WHIP). In the top of the first, Robinson and Mays each got hits on two outs, and Robinson successfully stole third with the count 1-1 on Banks. But Banks grounded into a fielder’s choice at second and we went into the bottom of the inning without a score. Kaline tripled to start the top of the second, however, and Roger Maris hit an RBI double to make it 1-0 Cubs. Maris advanced to third on a flyout by Crandall, and Cohen got himself a hit into left, driving Maris home for run number two, a rare hit for the pitcher. Brooklyn got on the board with an RBI single by Don Hoak, which followed two rare walks by Cohen, but he got out of the inning with a double play to keep our 2-1 lead intact heading into the third. Ernie Banks walked the bases loaded in the top of the third with no outs, and Kaline batted in a run, reaching base safely on a fielder’s choice. Maris batted in another off a sac fly to left, and we’d rebuilt a solid 4-1 lead very efficiently. Willie Mays batted in another run with an RBI double in the top of the fifth to make it 5-1, and in the top of the ninth, with two outs and the count 1-1 on Jackie Robinson, Jack Poppell successfully stole home for the first time in his career to make it a five-run lead. Cohen stayed in to close out the game, giving up an RBI double to Duke Snider to cut the lead to four. With Koufax warming up in the bullpen, he gave up an RBI double to Campanella, putting runners on the corners with just one out. Snider scored on a flyout by Frank Thomas, and Koufax came in with two outs and a man in scoring position. Anthony Pint reached first off a single into right, driving Campanella into third, but Mazeroski grounded to Banks, who made the throw perfectly to second for the final out as we won this one 6-3. Cohen gave us 8.2 innings with just four hits, striking out eight but walking four batters to allow three runs. Koufax got the out we needed, throwing six pitches and allowing just the one hit, earning his 14th save. Cohen was not used to being pulled for a closer, but we needed this win, and he’d thrown 128 pitches and looked worn out. We outhit the Dodgers 10-5 in this one, led by Mays with three hits, a run and an RBI, and by Robinson with two hits, a walk, a steal and two runs scored. Jack Poppell got a hit and stole three bases, scoring our final run of the game as well. He now has 42 stolen bases through 39 games, along with 40 hits and 17 walks. Camilo Pascual (7-7, 2.86 ERA, 126.0 IP, 89 K’s, 1.10 WHIP) pitched in the second game of the doubleheader, facing Connie Johnson (15-2, 1.60 ERA, 180.1 IP, 171 K’s, 0.80 WHIP) as we hoped to win out and split the four-game series. Carl Furillo got them on the board first with a solo blast to center in the bottom of the first, And they added to the damage in the bottom of the second, Johnny Pramesa batting in a run with a single to make it 2-0. Pascual struggled mightily, loading the bases, and a third run scored on a flyout by Furillo before we were able to finally get out of the inning -- through two innings Pascual had allowed three hits and four walks, with 43 thrown pitches. Connie Johnson gave up walks to Rosen and Robinson in the top of the fourth, however, and Willie Mays took the opportunity to then belt one into the right field seats, tying this game up 3-3 wih his 37th homer of the season! Pascual got us through the fourth but was still shaky, and we brought in Carl Erskine to throw in the bottom of the fifth with the score still knotted. He struggled, loading the bases with just one out, but made a spectacular double play to keep the Dodgers from scoring. We brought Hersh Freeman in with two outs and a man on first in the bottom of the sixth, and he got us out of the inning with a hit and a flyout, no Dodgers players scoring, but he came out in the bottom of the seventh and struggled, giving up two hits in a row, including an RBI double to Frank Thomas, bringing Larry Jansen in with no outs and a man in scoring position. Jansen got us three outs off 10 pitches without letting anyone score, and we went into the top of the eighth trailing 4-3. Poppell came up and got a hit and quickly stole second, reaching third on a groundout to first by Rosen to get his speedy self into scoring position. Robinson walked, and Mays hit a sac fly to center that scored Poppell from third easily, tying us up 4-4! But with one out and a man on first in the bottom of the inning, Jansen gave up a double that Mays barely missed at the wall, and Furillo had plenty of time to beat out the throw and come around from first to score, putting the Dodgers back up 5-4. Jansen got us out of the inning, but we needed at least a run in the top of the ninth or this one would be over before Koufax even got a shot at it. And it wasn’t meant to be ... we went down quietly and lost this one by the one run as Brooklyn took three of four in this series. Pascual struggled, giving up five hits in four innings with four walks, two strikeouts and three earned runs. Erskine and Freeman kept us in the game, but Jensen took the loss, despite allowing just two hits and a walk in two innings of work. He fell to 4-3 on the year with a 4.42 ERA. But the game shouldn’t have been this close. Brooklyn outhit us 14-4. Poppell had two hits and two steals, helping him to contribute one of our runs, while Mays had a hit and a sac fly, scoring one run and driving in all four of our runs. Robinson was walked twice, while Rosen and Freeman each took a base on balls as well. If not for that and our solid baserunning this one would have been even more of a struggle. Brooklyn (65-32) has now pulled within 3.5 games of us, so even with a 70-30 record we’d be hard-pressed to feel comfortable. Two more days ‘til the trade deadline -- we’ve started getting some desperation offers from around the league, but nothing I’ve wanted to jump on, though you always keep your ear to the wind in this league ... you don’t want to let opportunities blow by. JULY 30, 1956 . . . We’ve got no room to rest, with our road trip continuing into Philly today through Wednesday, with 11 total road games still left in this trip before we can get back to Wrigley. The Phillies are currently 55-43 and sitting 14 games back, but any losses would jeopardize our slim pennant lead over the Dodgers. Saul Rogovin (13-3, 1.95 ERA, 194.1 IP, 246 K’s, 0.74 WHIP) only threw 63 pitches through five innings two days ago, and is therefore fully rested, so he’ll get the start this afternoon, going up against Bob Rush (6-8, 3.80 ERA, 128.0 IP, 52 K’s, 1.27 WHIP). Jack Poppell got things started with a base hit, then a mistimed throw trying to catch him stealing second went wild, and he was able to take third as well, giving the Phillies an early error. Poppell tried to make it home on a flyout by Rosen, however, and this time his legs came up just short, sliding right into the tag ... no score. But Ernie Banks hit an RBI triple in the top of the second to put us up 1-0, and Kaline batted in another with an RBI single. Rosen batted in a third run in the top of the third inning, and an Ernie Banks sac fly to center with the bases loaded gave us a 4-0 lead heading into the bottom of the inning. Poppell got his third hit of the game in the top of the fourth, and Al Rosen walked the bases loaded, setting up Jackie Robinson to take his own base on balls and make it a 5-0 game, though Mays kept it from getting truly ugly by batting into a double play to end the frame. In the top of the eighth, Rosen hit an RBI double to make it a six run shutout lead, and Willie Mays drove in another with an RBI double of his own that put him and Robinson in scoring position. Ernie Banks hit one into left for another RBI, and an Al Kaline flyout to center scored yet another. With the score 9-0, Bob Purkey came in to pitch in the bottom of the eighth, and he blew the shutout with a three-run homer by Smoky Burgess that cut our lead to six runs with two outs. He got us out of the inning with a strikeout, but threw 37 pitches to do so, so we pinch-hit for him in the top of the ninth. We added another pair of runs with an RBI triple by Robinson, a Mays double batted in another, and Al Kaline batted Robinson in to score from second with a single into right field to extend our lead to 10 runs. We batted around for the second inning in a row -- Dick Whitman walked in our 14th run of the game, before Jack Poppell mercifully struck out swinging. Hersh Freeman came in to simply finish this one out, but he promptly gave up two hits and a walk to load the bases with no outs. Thomas Yuhas walked in a run for the Phillies, and a Del Ennis flyout at center drove in another. But Freeman got the final out at last and we were able to bring this 14-5 blowout to an end after three and a half hours. Saul Rogovin improved to 14-3 with six hits seven strikeouts and a walk in seven shutout innings. Our bullpen left a lot to desire, but thankfully our bats were on fire -- we outhit them 18-11 as we won easily by nine runs. Robinson hit twice and walked three times, scoring twice and driving in three runs. Meanwhile, Jack Poppell had the game of his young career, hitting three times and walking twice from the leadoff position, stealing four bases and scoring three runs. He’s becoming a star here in Chicago, but is still a virtual unknown around the league. I can’t imagine it stays that way for long! JULY 31, 1956 . . . We finalized a deal this morning with the Cincinnati Redlegs that brings us 26-year-old RHP Vern Law while sending the Redlegs a pair of young prospects: 17-year-old 2B Cookie Rojas (#77 BNN) and 24-year-old LF Ronald Bennett (#74 BNN). We’ve had to make the tough decision to waive and DFA 35-year-old Harry Dorish, with Law giving us another really solid middle relief option as we gear up for the heart of the pennant race. He has great stuff and excellent control, and his fastball has been improving nicely, though he does lack the pitch variation necessary to be considered for a starting role despite his durability and stamina. He’s on contract for $15,000 this year, and we’ve offered him a one year, $22,000 extension for next year. Law has been the Redlegs’ closer this year, a thankless and pointless role considering their 35-64 record, and for that reason he’s played in 23 games, started 10 of them, and posted a 3-7 record with a 4.90 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP through 86.1 innings. He’s already excited to be a part of the team, and was able to make it from New York (where the Redlegs were playing the Giants this afternoon) down to Philly to join our bullpen for tonight’s game against the Phillies. We’ll be moving Bob Porterfield into a starting spot as our fifth, “spot” starter for the remainder of the season. Tom Acker (5-3, 3.43 ERA, 86.2 IP, 62 K’s, 1.15 WHIP) got the start for us today against Carl Simmons (6-6, 4.02 ERA, 94.0 IP, 38 K’s, 1.47 WHIP). Philly got on the board quickly with an RBI single by Smoky Burgess in the bottom of the first, and aside from a Poppell walk in the top of the fourth, we couldn’t make anything happen offensively. Acker struggled, but got us through the fourth inning without the score changing, and in the top of the fifth, Willie Mays led off with a single, our first hit of the night. Banks then hit an RBI double to tie the score up at 1-1. With a runner in scoring position, Roger Maris came in to pinch-hit for Acker, but he was unable to take a base, and we brought Carl Erskine in to pitch in the bottom of the inning. Erskine got us safely through the fifth and sixth innings, and an Al Kaline flyout at right field drove Robinson in from third to score the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh! In the bottom of the seventh we brought Vern Law in to make his Cubs debut, the lead 2-1, and he got a pair of flyouts and a strikeout to protect the lead, and he did just as well in the eighth, setting things up nicely for Koufax, who came in to protect the one-run lead in the bottom of the ninth. Koufax walked Alvin Dark, but got Randy Jackson to pinch-hit his way into a double play. He walked Richie Ashburn and Earl Torgeson, however, setting up a dangerous situation with Jackie Jenson coming up to the plate. At that point we could have used “cool, collected” Koufax, but instead, Jenson hit one clear out of the park and drove in three runs as the Phillies walked it off 4-2 -- what an absolutely brutal finish. Despite Acker only lasting four innings, he only allowed four hits with two strikeouts, two walks and the one earned run. Erskine lasted two innings with two hits and a strikeout, and Vern Law got a hold in his first Cubs appearance, giving us two innings with just one hit, one strikeout and one walk. Koufax got two outs, but walked three batters and gave up the three-run homer falling to 5-7 with the loss and his fifth blown save of the year. Philly outhit us 8-4 but we were in the position to win it anyway, thanks to solid bullpen work, four walks, and a stolen base by Mays, his 10th of the year. Mays led the way with two hits, a walk and two runs scored, giving us all of our offense. Poppell walked once, but couldn’t get anywhere. Rosen and Banks had our only other hits. The trade deadline has passed without any further incident. __________________ "Oh No! We Suck Again!" -- Reviving the White Sox in 2025 -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty "The Rockies' Baseball Horror Show" -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty

01-10-2024, 02:22 PM	#276
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,474	AUGUST 1, 1956 . . . The biggest move of the deadline period would likely be the trade between the Phillies and Washington that sent the Phillies veteran right fielder Jackie Jenson, who at 29 has been hitting .295/.381/.490 with 13 homers and 74 RBIs, in exchange for top-30 pitching prospect Bill Monbouquette and top 25 pitching prospect Jim Perry. The Senators then traded Perry to the Red Sox for Steve Sisler, while Boston then flipped Perry to Milwaukee for first baseman Joe Adcock, who has been underwhelming this year but who has significant right-handed power in his bat and exceptional fielding ability. Whether any of those moves significantly help either team will remain to be seen, but Perry’s definitely racked up the miles -- the poor 20-year-old has definitely racked up some road miles in the last week or so. Today we have our final game against Philly, with a day off tomorrow and then a four-game set on the road against the Giants (45-54). We then have a pair at Milwaukee (47-52) and a pair at Cincinnati (36-64) before returning home to play St. Louis (30-69) on the 10rh. Today Bob Porterfield (2-0, 2.12 ERA, 29.2 IP, 18 K’s, 0.88 WHIP) pitched against Joe Nuxhall (12-6, 1.74 ERA, 155.1 IP, 103 K’s, 0.79 WHIP). We took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first thanks to an RBI single by Banks that drove Al Rosen around to score from second. Porterfield allowed a hit and a walk to start the bottom of the inning, but he got two pop-outs and a strikeout to strand both runners as the sun dipped below the horizon. We loaded the bases in the top of the fourth, but Poppell struck out swinging to end the frame with us still leading by a run. And in the bottom of the inning Porterfield surrendered a three-run blast to Red Schoendienst, his 33rd homer of the year, to put Philly ahead 3-1. Richie Ashburn batted in another run with a single, but was picked off trying to steal second and we went into the top of the fifth trailing 4-1. Willie Mays hit a sac-fly to drive Rosen in from third for a run in the top of the fifth, and then Daniel Howard pinch-hit for Porterfield in the top of the sixth and got a high fly ball into deep center field, using his legs to power through an inside the park homer! UNBELIEVABLE! That cut the margin to a single run! Vern Law came in to pitch in the bottom of the sixth with the Philllies up 4-3, giving up a hit to Burgess and walking Schoendienst but getting out of the inning unblemished, and he did the same in the bottom of the seventh, getting three quick outs to keep us in the game. Law was very efficient, getting us an out in the bottom of the eighth on just his 23rd pitch of the game, but Willie Jones hit a two-run blast into the right field stands and made it a 6-3 game. Larry Jansen came out with two outs and the bases empty, and got a quick out on an amazing catch at third by Robinson, and we had our work cut out for us in the top of the ninth. Dick Whitman pinch-hit for Crandall and got a quick single into right, taking first, bringing up Bouchee who was hitting for Jansen with Koufax warming up in the bullpen. Unfortunately, Bouchee took it to a full count and then hit into a double play. They walked Poppell, who, with the count 0-2 on Rosen, stole second! But Rosen struck out swinging and stranded him there on second, and we lost this one 6-3, losing the series to Philly in the process. Porterfield took the loss, falling to 2-1 thanks to a seven hit five inning effort with five strikeouts, a walk and four earned runs. Vern Law had a solid 2.2 inning effort with three hits and a walk, but one of the hits was the two-run homer in the eighth ... he has a 3.86 ERA in his two efforts as a Cub thus far, but has looked impressive -- Philly is just a tough team, better than their record would indicate, and these two losses keep them within 13 games of a pennant shot. They outhit us 10-9 tonight, with Mays batting in a run with a sac fly and Banks getting a hit and an RBI. Al Rosen scored both our runs, off a hit and an error, and “Jackrabbit” Poppell got himself a hit, a walk and two stolen bases to bring his total on the year to 50 bags. Our lead against the Dodgers has now been cut to three games. Over in the AL, the Yankees are feeling tense as well -- they have a 68-36 record but Detroit (62-38) has won eight of their last ten games to pull within four of the Bronx Bombers. Cleveland (59-42) is still within striking distance at 7.5 games back, and the Boston Red Sox are 52-49 and clinging to hope with a 14.5 game deficit to overcome. __________________ "Oh No! We Suck Again!" -- Reviving the White Sox in 2025 -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty "The Rockies' Baseball Horror Show" -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty

01-18-2024, 10:20 AM	#277
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,474	AUGUST 3, 1956 . . . Hy Cohen (22-2, 1.71 ERA, 215.1 IP, 215 K’s, 0.76 WHIP) started us out in New York, pitching against Jack Harshman (5-10, 4.34 ERA, 153.1 IP, 109 K’s, 1.50 WHIP). And we were quick to do damage, loading the bases for Ernie Banks, who hit a power ball into the left field stands, a grand slam that put us up 4-0 just ten minutes into the game! That was Banks’ 23rd homer of the year. Jackie Robinson hit a two-RBI double in the top of the second, Cohen loaded the bases in the bottom of the second, a run scoring on an Ed Bailey flyout to left, but we still held a 6-1 lead heading into the third. Jack Poppell scored on an RBI single by Rosen in the top of the fourth, and we held the same lead into the bottom of the ninth, with Cohen still in to complete the game. He added a pair of strikeouts and a flyout to his tally and we held tough to win this one 7-1. Cohen improved to 23-2 with a 1.68 ERA, allowing just three hits with three walks and eight strikeouts to go with the one earned run. We outhit the Giants 11-3, led by Poppell (three hits, two runs, one stolen base) and Jackie Robinson (three hits, one run, two RBIs), though it was Ernie Banks’ grand slam that got it all started. AUGUST 4, 1956 . . . Saul Rogovin (14-3, 1.88 ERA, 201.1 IP, 253 K’s, 0.75 WHIP) got the start in game two, facing Bob Lemon (3-8, 5.43 ERA, 69.2 IP, 24 K’s, 1.71 WHIP). Poppell got things going with his 50th hit of the season, stealing second and third and coming home off a sac-fly by Al Rosen -- just like that we’re up 1-0! Eventually teams are going to catch on to him, but until they do, “Jackrabbit” has my go-ahead to be himself out there on the basepaths. Banks picked up a hit in the top of the fourth, just our second of the game, and Kaline was hit in the shoulder to give us a runner in scoring position, but we couldn’t make anything happen. Rogovin gave up his first hit in the bottom of the fourth, and walked his third batter, but was able to get three strikeouts surrounding those and the score remained 1-0 heading into the fifth. Poppell reached base on an error in the top of the fifth, advancing to third off a single by Rosen, scoring on a groundout by Robinson to make it 2-0. In the top of the sixth, with two outs, Saul Rogovin hit a single, followed by Poppell beating out an infield hit for a base, and Al Rosen loaded the bags with a single up the gap, completely putting Lemon on the ropes. Jackie Robinson walked in a run, but he was able to get Mays out and end the frame without a massacre. Rogovin hit a bases-loaded sac-fly in the top of the sixth to drive in a fourth run, and Poppell hit an RBI single to make it 5-0. Roger Maris hit a solo homer in the top of the ninth, his 12th of the year, and Del Crandall immediately followed with one of his own, his ninth, and Al Rosen then hit a two-run blast to left, his 14th of the season, to make it a 9-0 blowout. Rogovin closed it out with two strikeouts and a groundout, and we’ll head into the doubleheader tomorrow with a well-rested bullpen having outscored the Giants 16-1 during the last two games. Rogovin improved to 15-3 with a 1.80 ERA, pitching a complete game two-hitter with eight strikeouts and four walks. We outhit the Giants 14-2, led by “Jackrabbit” Poppell with four hits, two steals, three runs and an RBI, just his eighth run batted in this season. Despite his lack of power, he’s been absolutely phenomenal in the lead-off role, hitting .272 with 53 hits, two doubles and a triple -- and that’s solid enough, before accounting for his 53 steals in 60 tries. He’s only been active for 45 days, but has already made quite an impression and should be in the discussion for Rookie of the Year if he can keep it up the rest of the season. Al Rosen was also exceptional today, hitting three times for a run and three RBIs, and Jackie Robinson picked up a hit and two walks, batting in a pair. AUGUST 5, 1956 . . . We’ve got a fully rested bullpen for these two games today, so there’s less pressure on our starters to do it all on their own, thanks to Cohen and Rogovin pitching complete games already. For the first game Camilo Pascual (7-7, 3.98 ERA, 130.0 IP, 91 K’s, 1.13 WHIP) started against New York’s Jack Sanford (2-2, 2.49 ERA, 72.1 IP, 38 K’s, 1.13 WHIP), a matchup that looked pretty solid at the outset. The Giants got on the board first, Norm Cash hitting a two-run homer off Pascual to give them an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. But Ernie Banks hit a solo blast out at left, his 24th homer of the year, to get us on the board as well, making it a 2-1 margin heading into the bottom of the second. The Giants scored another run in the bottom of the fifth, Don Blasingame reaching first on a fielder’s choice that drove Don Blasingame around to score from third. Pascual got us through the sixth without any further scoring, and in the top of the seventh Al Kaline led off with a solo homer to left, his 16th of the year, to cut the lead to one run. Carl Erskine came out to pitch after the stretch, but he gave up a hit to Don Blasingame, who then stole second and third, setting up Ed Bailey to hit an RBI single that made it 4-2 Giants. Vern Law came in with one out and men on first and second. Bill Wise hit an RBI single with two outs to make it 5-2, and they walked in a run with the bases loaded moments later as this game just completely melted down. Law finally got the third out and we went into the top of the eighth trailing 6-2. He stayed out to pitch in the eighth, getting us all three outs, but we needed four runs in the top of the ninth to dig out of our hole. Robinson got a deep hit that rolled to the center field wall four a triple to start the inning, but Mays and Banks popped out quietly, and Al Kaline struck out swinging as we lost 6-2 in the first game of the afternoon. Pascual took the loss, falling to 7-8 with a 3.04 ERA. He only allowed three hits, but he walked four against just one strikeout, giving us six innings with three earned runs. Erskine had his worst relief appearance in a good while, allowing two hits, a walk and three runs (one earned) in just a third of an inning, and Vern Law allowed a hit and a walk in 1.2 innings, staying unblemished only because the runs he allowed went on Erskine’s tab. Each team notched six hits, our team led by Robinson with two hits while Banks and Kaline each added a hit, a run and an RBI. Poppell went hitless and never made it on base. Bob Porterfield (2-1, 2.86 ERA, 34.2 IP, 23 K’s, 0.98 WHIP) got the start in game two against Ted Abernathy (13-9, 2.97 ERA, 193.2 IP, 132 K’s, 0.97 WHIP). The Giants got on the board first in the bottom of the third, scoring on a flyout to left by Bill White that made the score 1-0. Norm Siebern hit an RBI single moments later to make it 2-0, but Porterfield was able to get us out of it without surrendering more. Jackie Robinson answered with an inside the park homer in the top of the fourth, his 21st blast of the season and the second inside the park home run we’ve seen in the last week, to make it a 2-1 ballgame heading into the bottom of the inning. And in the top of the sixth, with the bases loaded, Ernie Banks hit a deep shot into the left field corner, legging out a three-run triple to put us in the lead 4-2! Larry Jansen came in to pitch in the bottom of the inning, and he pitched brilliantly through the eighth inning with the score unchanged. Koufax came in to close it out in the ninth, and he got the outs we needed without delay, helping us hold on to the 4-2 victory. Porterfield earned the win, improving to 5-2 with a 2.95 ERA via a six-hit five strikeout one walk two earned run effort in five innings of work. Jansen got his fourth hold of the year, going three full innings with just one hit, one walk and one strikeout, and Koufax had a hit and a strikeout while putting together his 15th save of the year. Ernie Banks’ three-run triple won it for us, while Willie Mays led the team with two hits, scoring a run. Robinson added a hit, a walk, two runs and an RBI. The Giants outhit us 8-5 but our power via Banks and Robinson made the difference. With four games left on this extra-gruelling road trip, we’ve improved to 74-33, three games ahead of the 70-35 Dodgers. AUGUST 6, 1956 . . . Two games at Milwaukee, and two games at Cincinnati and then we can finally return home and get some games in at Wrigley! Tonight Tom Acker (5-3, 3.38 ERA, 90.2 IP, 64 K’s 1.17 WHIP) got the start against “Bullet Bob” Turley (6-14, 4.63 ERA, 153.2 IP, 109 K’s, 1.52 WHIP). Jack Poppell wasted no time taking a base on balls and then stealing second, but Rosen struck out and Robinson hit a shallow fly0out, spurring Poppell to make a move on third while Willie Mays looked out from the plate ... success! But Mays struck out swinging and we didn’t get on the board. In the top of the second, Maris and Crandall each singled with two outs, and Acker walked the bases loaded, but Poppell popped out to center to end the frame. And Acker struggled in the botttom of the inning, handing out two walks and allowing a single to load the bases without a single out to start the inning, though his pitch count was still at just 15 thrown! A flyout to center held all the runners, but Eddie Mathews scored on a passed ball to make it 1-0 Braves, Fred Hancock walked the bases loaded again, and Turley walked in another run ... Acker now had walked four batters, the bases remained loaded, and the top of the lineup was back for a second round. At that point it went full nuclear, as Lee Walls cleared the bases with a grand slam and we were down 6-0. Unbelieveable! Acker finally got his outs, but that six-run hole was as deep as it gets, and with six walks by the end of two innings, I was ready to give him the hook for Erskine. But I gave him a chance to stay in, not wanting to have this turn into a bullpen game just yet. Poppell got a hit in the top of the fifth and stole another base, but was stranded again when Rosen, Robinson and Mays all struck out. Erskine came in to pitch in the bottom of the fifth, but we continued to have no ability to make contact from the plate and remained in a six-run hole leading into the stretch. And in the bottom of the inning, with Larry Jansen on the mound, we completely gave up, piling poor fielding upon poor hitting to dig our hole deeper with a two-RBI double by Johnny Logan that made the score 8-0 Braves. Eddie Mathews hit a run scoring single to make it 9-0 thanks to an error at the plate, and we trailed by nine heading into the top of the eighth. Poppell got a hit in the top of the ninth and stole second, advancing to third on an infield single by Robinson. But he again was unable to score when Mays popped out to right, and we ended this abysmal game as a 9-0 shutout loss. This was an awful game by any stretch of the imagination. Nine run shutout loss? Check. Out-hit 10-7? Check. Twelve combined walks by our pitchers? Check. Acker took the loss, and deservedly so, lasting four innings with four hits, eight walks, two strikeouts and six earned runs, while “Bullet Bob” on the other side walked six but struck out a dozen without a run scoring.Roger Maris had a pair of hits, but it was our rookie Poppell who did everything he could to try and will us to a comeback, getting two hits and a walk, while stealing four bases ... but he came up empty. AUGUST 7, 1956 . . . Hy Cohen (23-2, 1.68 ERA, 224.1 IP, 223 K’s, 0.76 WHIP) got the start this afternoon, facing Taylor “T-Bone” Phillips (1-0, 0.75 ERA, 24.0 IP, 11 K’s, 0.54 WHIP), who is making just his fourth start of the season as a 23-year-old. In the bottom of the second, Milwaukee drew first blood, a Fred Hancock single batting in Eddie Mathews from second to put them up 1-0. Jackie Robinson hit an RBI double in the top of the third to drive Poppell in to score, tying it up, and Willie Mays finally got himself a hit, driving in the go-ahead run with a single! Al Kaline hit a solo blast into the center field stands to make it 3-1 in the top of the fourth, his 17th homer of the season, and moments later Del Crandall hit his 10th of the year, this time into right field, to make it 4-1. Crandall hit a second homer in the top of the sixth, also a solo one, to extend our lead to four runs, and in the top of the seventh, Al Kaline hit HIS second homer of the afternoon, a three-run blast that made it 8-1 Cubs heading into the stretch. Kaline said later he felt he had a third homer in him, but he wouldn’t get the chance to bat again. Cohen stayed in to complete the game, as we won this one 8-1 to split the two-game set. Cohen improved to 24-2 with the complete game three-hitter, striking out eight and walking two while giving up just the one run. We had ten hits outselves, led by Willie Mays with three hits, a walk, two runs and an RBI and by Kaline with three hits, two runs and four RBIs, all earned via homer. Del Crandall’s two homers netted him two runs and two RBIs, and Poppell put up a hit with two steals, giving him 59 already this season -- far and away the best in the majors as a baserunner, stealing successfully on 89.4 percent of his attempts! We head into our two-game road set against Cincinnati with a 75-34 record, still just 2.5 games up on the Dodgers. __________________ "Oh No! We Suck Again!" -- Reviving the White Sox in 2025 -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty "The Rockies' Baseball Horror Show" -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty

01-21-2024, 11:52 PM	#278
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,474	AUGUST 8, 1956 . . . For our first of two games against the Redlegs at Crosley Field, we’ve got Saul Rogovin (15-3, 1.80 ERA, 210.1 IP, 261 K’s, 0.74 WHIP) going up against Bob Anderson (1-3, 5.46 ERA, 29.2 IP, 11 K’s, 1.82 WHIP). This one was a duel in the early-going, with just four combined hits in the first five innings, only one of our batters making it into scoring position and no one managing to score. Rogovin got on board to start the top of the sixth, and Poppell hit a weak squib that just went out of reach of their pitcher, allowing him to take a base without the ball coming close to the outfield, but Rogovin got caught trying to steal third, and then Al Rosen hit into a double play to keep the game scoreless heading into the bottom of the inning. And in a game that stayed tightly competitive from there, it was Cincinnati that finally broke the stalemate, with third-baseman Bob Elliott hitting just his fourth homer of the year out to left field to put the Redlegs up 1-0 in the bottom of the eighth. And then, moments later, Rogovin gave up a second homer -- this time a three-run blast by Frank Robinson to center field -- which made it a 4-0 game with two outs secured, before he was finally able to get us into the top of the ninth now feeling like a bomb had gone off in our dugout. Poppell finally got us on the board, reaching base on a single, then stealing second and third, making it home on a flyout by Robinson that brought Willie Mays up with two outs and the game in his hands. He quietly struck out swinging and the game ended as a frustrating 4-1 defeat. Thank God we’ve got just one game left in this road trip and we can get home to friendlier climes. Saul Rogovin fell to 15-4 with the loss, giving up five hits with nine strikeouts, two walks, and four runs scored, only one of which was earned. So despite the shellacking in the bottom of the eighth, his ERA actually improved to 1.77. We had five hits as well, with Poppell scoring our only run and adding two steals to his already gaudy total for the year. No one on the team had more than one hit. AUGUST 9, 1956 . . . Brooklyn moved to within a game and a half of us in the NL race, making this last game in Cincinnati even more crucial.Camilo Pascual (7-8, 3.04 ERA, 136.0 IP, 92 K’s, 1.13 WHIP) got the start, facing Charlie Rabe, a no-name rookie who has played just one inning all year. We wanted to make a quick statement, and did so with another solid effort by Poppell, who walked and then added two more stolen bases before scoring on a sac-fly by Rosen -- 1-0, Cubs! Robinson and Banks managed to hit in the inning as well, but the Redlegs kept us from adding extra runs before we came up to pitch for the first time. Poppell got a hit in the top of the second with two outs, driving Maris from first to third, but we weren’t able to get Maris in to score. Pascual loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning but emerged unscathed. We loaded them up quickly in the top of the third, with walks by Robinson and Banks surrounding a hit by Mays, no outs. And we DID do damage, Kaline hitting a nice bouncing ball into right field that scored a run while keeping the bases jammed. Maris beat out a weak infield hit to drive in a third run while keeping the gun loaded, and with two outs Poppell picked up his second hit of the game and made it 5-0, batting in two runs with a single into right field. Pascual struggled in the bottom of the fourth, and the Redlegs got on the board with a bases-loaded two-RBI double by Nellie Fox. He got through the inning without surrendering anything further, however, and we went into the top of the fifth leading still 5-2. I tried to give Pascual the benefit of the doubt, but he came out in the bottom of the fifth and immediately put the first two batters on base, so I brought in Erskine to stem the tide. Poppell botched a catch at second, however, the error allowing the Redlegs to load the bases on what should have been an easy double play opportunity. Erskine got the next two outs easily, though a third run did score thanks to a sac-fly by Hobie Landrith, and this one became a nailbiter when pinch-hitter Albie Pearson got an RBI single that scored the runner from second and put Elmer Valo on third with the score now 5-4 Cubs. Nellie Fox then hit a single, scored two runs, and this one was all f---ed up with the Redlegs leading 6-5. Erskine finally got the last out, but had officially blown his shot at the win. We’d head into the sixth inning with our confidence completely shattered, needing to dig deep and find some way to take control of the game again. Bob Purkey came in to pitch in the bottom of the sixth with the score still 6-5 Redlegs, calming things down with three quick outs. Rosen walked to start the top of the seventh, taking second on a wild pitch, and making it to third on a groundout by Robinson to first. And Willie Mays finally got himself his 38th homer of the season, putting us back in the lead 7-6 heading into the stretch. Vern Law came in with one out and men on first and second in the bottom of the seventh, and we got out of the inning on a perfect 6-4-3 double play on a grounder by pinch-hitter Johnny Temple as we held tough to our lead. Law got himself a double with two outs in the top of the eighth, but Poppell grounded out to first, keeping us from buying any insurance runs. He safely got us through the bottom of the inning despite putting runners on the corners, keeping the lead safe for Koufax. Rosen picked up a double to start the top of the ninth, and Robinson promptly batted him home with a double of his own to give us a little breathing room. Mays and Banks then walked, giving us a chance to really break this one wide open. Del Crandall got an RBI single to keep the bases loaded and give us a three-run lead, and we went into the bottom of the ninth just needing to hold on to this. Our rally had left Koufax no longer warm, however, so Law stayed out to start the bottom of the inning. He got two quick outs, and we sat Sandy down, letting Law complete the multi-inning save himself. A final out made by Mays in center field and we’d pulled off the 9-6 victory! Pascual and Erskine did their best to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, giving up eight hits and six runs between them through five innings. But Bob Purkey calmed the waters, lasting 1.1 innings with a hit, a walk and a strikeout, improving to 4-0 with a 4.91 ERA. And Vern Law, our deadline trade acquisition, gave us 2.2 innings with three hits and a strikeout, notching his first save as a Cub and keeping his ERA at 1.80 since joining the team. Just like last game, each team had the same number of hits (12) but we prevailed in the slugfest, led by Jake Poppell with two hits, a walk and two steals for a run and two RBIs. Jackie Robinson added two hits, two walks, a run and an RBI, and Willie Mays had two hits, a walk, three runs and two RBIs, the top of our lineup contributing the bulk of our offensive output. We’ll be back at home tomorrow afternoon for a four-game weekend series against the bottom-dwelling St. Louis Cardinals, followed by three games against the Redlegs on our turf after a night off on Monday. We then travel to St. Louis next weekend for three, returning to Wrigley on the 21st for two agains Philly, three against the Giants, a doubleheader against Pittsburgh and then three critical matchups against the Dodgers to put us closer to Labor Day. We’re back to 2.5 games ahead of Brooklyn, and this stretch will be very important as we try and put some distance between us and our rival. Here are the current league standings, along with Run Differential: NATIONAL LEAGUE 1. Chicago Cubs (76-35) +184 2. Brooklyn Dodgers (72-36, 2.5 GB) +165 3. Philadelphia Phillies (62-47, 13 GB) +84 4. Pittsburgh Pirates (55-56, 21 GB) +4 5. Milwaukee Braves (52-57, 23 GB) -22 6. New York Giants (49-60, 26 GB) -111 7. Cincinnati Redlegs (40-70, 35.5 GB) -114 8. St. Louis Cardinals (32-77, 43 GB) -190 AMERICAN LEAGUE 1. New York Yankees (73-38) +189 2. Detroit Tigers (65-42, 6 GB) +86 3. Cleveland Guardians (65-44, 7 GB) +104 4. Boston Red Sox (57-52, 15 GB) +42 5. Kansas City Athletics (50-59, 22 GB) -63 6. Chicago White Sox (48-60, 23.5 GB) -27 7. Baltimore Orioles (40-68, 31.5 GB) -176 8. Washington Senators (37-72, 35 GB) -155 Neither pennant is likely to be decided before very late in the month of September. Willie Mays, meanwhile, remains atop the home run leaderboard, with 38 dingers this season, four ahead of Mickey Mantle and five ahead of Ted Williams. His pace has slowed significantly, however, and the national media have stopped expecting anyone to come close to challenging the Babe’s record. __________________ "Oh No! We Suck Again!" -- Reviving the White Sox in 2025 -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty "The Rockies' Baseball Horror Show" -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty

01-21-2024, 11:56 PM	#279
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,474	AUGUST 10, 1956 . . . Bob Porterfield (3-1, 2.95 ERA, 39.2 IP, 28 K’s, 1.03 WHIP) got the start in our first game back at Wrigley in nearly three weeks, facing Larry Jackson (4-11, 4.03 ERA, 125.0 IP, 47 K’s, 1.31 WHIP) in our first of four against the bottom-dwelling Cardinals. Porterfield came out with some real heat, striking out four batters in the first two innings, and this one quietly turned into a pitcher’s duel early. Unfortunately the Cardinals got on the board first with a one-out solo homer by Andy Carey to take a 1-0 lead in the top of the third. They added an RBI triple and an RBI single in the top of the fourth, and our hitters struggled to get anything going, sending us into the top of the fifth trailing 3-0. Porterfield got us through the top of the fifth, and then Ed Bouchee pinch-hit for him in the bottom, getting a line drive to roll into the left field corner to eke out a double! Poppell grounded out to first, but moved Bouchee to third, but Rosen grounded out to first and kept us from rallying. What a waste of a scoring opportunity. Carl Erskine came out to pitch in the top of the sixth, getting three outs on 11 pitches, and Jackie Robinson started us out strong with a double in the bottom of the inning, advancing to third when Willie Mays’ would-be-homer blew just safely in for a catch at right field. Unfortunately our piss-poor luck held, and both Banks and Kaline were unable to make anything happen. Daniel Howard pinch-hit into a double play in the bottom of the seventh to end that inning with us still in a three-run hole, but Larry Jansen kept us from adding to the damage. It didn’t matter -- they were determined to hold the lead, and our offense was nonexistent. With two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Robinson got himself a base hit, but Mays flew out to center, another missed opportunity. We went into the bottom of the ninth needing a spark, and after a flyout by Banks, we got it when Kaline walked and then Maris hit an RBI triple to get us on the board. Maris scored on a wild pitch, pulling us within a run as our home crowd went insane. But Del Crandall struck out swinging, bringing in pinch-hitter Dick Whitman with two outs and no one on. And he struck out swinging, ending this one in disappointing fashion as a 3-2 loss to the worst team in baseball. Porterfield fell to 3-2 with a 3.22 ERA, allowing four hits and three runs with six strikeouts and a walk through five innings. Erskine gave us two no-hit innings, adding a pair of strikeouts to his resume, and Jansen had two no-hit innings himself with a strikeout and a walk. But our bullpen’s epic performance couldn’t make up for our offensive impotence. We outhit them 8-4 and still came out losers. Jackie Robinson had two hits and a walk, Maris added two hits, a run and an RBI, and Al Kaline had a hit and a run scored. Harry Dorish has cleared waivers and refuses to take a AAA assignment, and has therefore been released, giving the 35-year-old veteran a chance at free agency. His arm has fallen off significantly, and while we wish him luck and hope he can find a team to play for, it’s most likely time for him to consider retirement. He’ll always be a part of Cubs lore, having won Reliever of the year in 1954 and having played a part in both of our championship appearances. If he does retire, he has a record of 48-38 with 34 saves, with 316 career appearances and 28 starts. His career ERA of 3.68, a 1.33 WHIP, and 356 K’s in 715 innings won’t win him a spot in Cooperstown, but he put in the work and remains incredibly popular in Chicago. There will always be a place for him in our organization if he ever chooses to take up coaching. AUGUST 11, 1956 . . . Tom Acker (5-4, 3.80 ERA, 94.2 IP, 66 K’s, 1.25 WHIP) got the start today against Vinegar Bend Mizell (8-12, 4.52 ERA, 185.1 IP, 91 K’s, 1.38 WHIP). Ernie Banks got us going in a big way, hitting a three-run homer into the center field bleachers in the bottom of the first, his 25th homer of the year! Acker was phenomenal right from the words “play ball!” and even got himself a nice line drive into right in the bottom of the fifth for a double. Whispers started flying around after six innings of near perfect precision -- only one runner had made it on base for the Cardinals, and that had been a runner who was hit by a pitch and then was promptly taken out at second trying to steal. Acker walked Frank Bolling in the top of the seventh, but Poppell made a great throw to first for the final out of the inning and kept an infield blooper from becoming a hit. Acker struck out the side in the top of the eighth and you could feel this place popping with anticipation, our boys firmly in control of the three-run shutout. We added some insurance in the bottom of the frame, Robinson hitting a two-run triple to increase our lead to five runs heading into the top of the ninth. Acker was wearing down a bit heading into the final frame, but he’d earned the right to try and write some Cubs history. But the no hitter was blown against the first batter, Tony Kubek taking first on a weak hit to left that just barely evaded Maris’ glove. Sandy Koufax came in with one out and men on the corners, with the crowd sending Acker off with a standing ovation. Koufax surrendered a run thanks to an RBI single by Frank Bolling, and then loaded the bases, but he struck out Orlando Cepeda swinging and a pop-out to Mays in center ended this one as a 5-1 victory. Tom Acker made it through 8.1 innings and 105 pitches, only the second time he’s thrown more than a hundred, and he was absolutely exemplary, coming so close to a no hitter. As it stood, he allowed only one hit, with three runners reaching either as a hit batter or on an error, striking out ten batters without a single base-on-balls -- his only run was given up by Koufax, who got the final two outs with two hits and a strikeout. We outhit the Cardinals 8-3 today, with Ernie Banks leading the way with two hits, including his three-run homer. Poppell added two hits, a stolen base and two runs on the ground, while Rosen added two hits and two runs as well. Jackie Robinson also batted in a pair with his only hit of the night. AUGUST 12, 1956 . . . We’re playing two today, with our best two pitchers ready to go. Hy Cohen (24-2, 1.66 ERA, 233.1 IP, 231 K’s, 0.75 WHIP) pitched in game one, going up against Don Lee (1-9, 6.46 ERA, 69.2 IP, 24 K”s, 1.48 WHIP), a 22-year-old rookie who has definitely taken his lumps while playing for the last-place Cardinals. Ernie Banks got us on the board with an RBI single that also sent Willie Mays around to third from first, but we had to settle for just the one run -- Kaline grounded out to first to end the first inning. Del Crandall hit a double into center field in the bottom of the second, his 10th double of the season, and then Hy Cohen stunned everybody by blasting one out into the stands at left, increasing our lead to 3-0! That’s Cohen’s second homer of the year and of his career! But Stan Musial hit a two-run triple in the top of the third, making this one into a much tighter game than we’d expected. Banks hit an RBI double to buy us some insurance in the bottom of the third, though he got our hearts beating quickly when he made the slide into second FACE FIRST ... Jesus! The top of the fourth was a mess -- Cohen started out by hitting Jablonski with a pitch, advancing him to second on a passed ball, and to third when Bill Sarni hit a single. And then a wild pitch allowed Jablonski to score from third, drawing the Cards to within a run with just one out secured. Cohen got out number two, but advanced runners into scoring position, but he was able to strike Andy Carey out swinging to end the inning. Our batters gave Cohen some breathing room in the bottom of the fourth, however, loading the bases quickly and then Jackie Robinson hitting a grand slam into the left field bleachers, instantly making this one an 8-3 blowout! That was Robinson’s 22nd homer of the year, by the way. What a way to do it! Cohen gave up a solo homer to Frank Bolling, and then with two outs Wally Moon stole second and then, on a throwing error, took third. Moments later he gave up an RBI double by Jim King, and it was clear this wasn’t Cohen’s best day. He got the final out and kept the lead at 8-5, but it was clear he was getting the hook. We brought Vern Law out to pitch in the top of the sixth, and he performed admirably, keeping the lead safe for us heading into the bottom of the inning, when we completely opened this one up -- Jackie Robinson hit his second homer of the game, this one a three-run blast, and we had ourselves a six-run lead. Law had a great night, but stayed in perhaps one batter too long ... giving up a two-run homer to pinch-hitter Charlie Neal to make it an 11-7 ballgame. Erskine came in with two outs, striking out their leadoff man and getting us into the bottom of the inning, where Willie Mays got us a run back with his 39th homer of the season. Erkine held tough in the bottom of the ninth and we closed out the 12-7 victory, though we all hoped the second game would be a little less insane. He wasn’t at his best, but any time you have Hy Cohen on the mound you know you’ve got a guy who can win games. He is now 25-2 with a 1.81 ERA, despite allowing seven hits with two walks, three strikeouts and five earned runs in just five innings. Vern Law got his second hold since coming to Chicago, giving us 2.2 innings with two hits, a walk and two earned runs. And Erskine closed it out with one hit and two strikeouts through the final inning-and-a-third. We outhit them 14-10 in this hard-hitting battle, and there was no question that Jackie Robinson was our star. He had three hits (two homers!) and a walk, scoring four runs while batting in seven! Even as he’s halfway to his 38th birthday, this guy is unstoppable! Mays, Banks, Crandall and Cohen each had a pair of hits as well, but they were all in awe of what Robinson can still do. Saul Rogovin (15-4, 1.77 ERA, 218.1 IP, 270 K’s, 0.75 WHIP) pitched in game two, challenging Mike Fornieles (7-14, 3.78 ERA, 192.2 IP, 74 K’s, 1.25 WHIP). Willie Mays hit a sac-fly to center that drove in Poppell from third, putting us up 1-0 in the bottom of the first. We then were quick to load the bases, and Gene Baker walked in a second run, before Les Moss struck out to end the inning one batter shy of batting around. But Rogovin struggled in the second inning, giving up a three-run blast via Del Rice to flip the Cardinals back into the lead. Willie Mays got us back to dead even, hitting an RBI triple with two outs in the bottom of the second, and Ernie Banks kept the roller coaster on the tracks, hitting a line drive into left that drove in the go-ahead run. Willie Mays hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth to make it a 6-3 lead, his 40th homer of the year and his second of today’s doubleheader. Koufax came in to pitch in the top of the ninth with a three-run lead to protect, and he got two quick outs before walking Orlando Cepeda and then allowing Jim King to hit a line drive into right for a base hit as well. Del Rice then walked to load the bases, and walked in a run via Tony Kubek. This looked like a disaster in the making, but a popout to right field brought it to an end as a 6-4 victory. Talk about walking the edge of a knife! Saul Rogovin gave us eight innings and 111 pitches, allowing five hits, with one walk, seven strikeouts and three earned runs. Koufax completed his 16th save of the year, but he’s been struggling with control issues -- tonight he only allowed one hit, but walked three batters which left us in a tight spot in the end. He’s still young, though, and it takes getting through jams like this to make you into a great player. We outhit the Cardinals 8-6 as we took control of the series (winning it three games to one), led by Willie Mays who hit three times and walked once, scoring two and driving in four, batting in the three spot as Robinson rested in the second game. Today’s doubleheader was a bit rough, with all the runs, but we held tough and will have to keep doing so if we want to keep our two-game lead in the pennant race. Jackie Robinson was named the NL’s Batter of the Week, hitting .400 with two homers, 12 RBIs and seven runs scored on the ground. This season, through 113 games, Robinson is batting .318/.429/.634 with 29 doubles, 18 triples and 23 homers, giving him 8.5 WAR on the year. I’m hopeful he’ll be able to continue to play like this for years to come. It’s incredible that he’s making a very strong case to be considered for his second MVP award -- Mays has been hitting the long ball well, but Robinson’s well-rounded performance has drawn more interest in the press. __________________ "Oh No! We Suck Again!" -- Reviving the White Sox in 2025 -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty "The Rockies' Baseball Horror Show" -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty Last edited by jksander; 01-22-2024 at 06:35 PM.

01-22-2024, 07:07 PM	#280
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,474	AUGUST 14, 1956 . . . Tonight we’ve got the first of three games in a row here at Wrigley against the 42-71 Redlegs of Cincinnati. Camilo Pascual (7-8, 3.21 ERA, 140.0 IP, 94 K’s, 1.17 WHIP) started for us, while the Redlegs brought out Bob Anderson (1-3, 4.42 ERA, 36.2 IP, 13 K’s, 1.64 WHIP). Poppell got things going with a hit, coming home from third after a couple stolen bases when Rosen hit one into left field to bat him in -- he’s got those moves down like clockwork! We came out of the first inning with a pair of hits, a walk and a fielder’s choice, but only led 1-0. We added another pair in the bottom of the second, however, when Al Rosen hit a solid shot into deep left that drove both Del Crandall and Jack Poppell in to score with a two-out single. Jackie Robinson then cleared the bases with his 24th homer of the year to increase our lead to five runs, and the fans were ecstatic. Frank Robinson hit a two-run blast in the top of the fourth to get the Redlegs on the board, trailing 5-2, but Pascual did well to hold on to the lead from there -- though he got into a touch of trouble in the sixth, eventually loading the bases, he got all three outs that inning via strikeout and the three-run lead held. Vern Law came in to pitch in the top of the seventh against the team he left barely a fortnight, holding serve through two excellent innings, and Willie Mays added some insurance in the bottom of the eighth with a solo homer, his 41st of the year. With us leading 6-0, Vern Law stayed in to complete the three-inning save and we completed the shutout with ease. Camilo Pascual improved to 8-8 on the year with a 3.14 ERA, pitching a five-hit five strikeout two one (one earned) game through six innings of work. Vern Law has proven to be a very dependable bullpen arm, giving us three innings with no hits, one walk and one strikeout, giving him a 2.30 ERA and his second save since joining us at the deadline. His pitches haven’t fully developed yet, but his incredible control makes him lethal in relief -- as a starter, however, he spent a lot of time in Cincinnati completely over his head trying to throw starters’ innings. In total we outhit them 10-5, led by Poppell who had four hits, three stolen bases and two runs scored from the leadoff position. Through 56 starts he’s still hitting .278, and his 71 stolen bases have jumped him into the conversation for Rookie of the Year -- not bad for a 26-year-old who was drafted in the 27th round and released by the Senators without even a major league tryout. It would appear some time in the unaffiliated minor leagues did him good! Robinson and Mays each homered as well, as Mays has heated up during this homestand, currently leading the majors by five homers over Mickey Mantle. AUGUST 15, 1956 . . . Bob Porterfield (3-2, 3.22 ERA, 44.2 IP, 34 K’s, 1.03 WHIP) started in game two against the Redlegs, facing Bobby Shantz (6-13, 5.56 ERA, 170.0 IP, 70 K’s, 1.54 WHIP). Cincinnati got on the board first, Gus Bell hitting a two-run blast into the left field stands in the top of the fourth to give them a 2-0 lead, the first hit Porterfield had surrendered all afternoon. In the top of the sixth Frank Robinson hit his 30th homer of the season, giving them another two runs. Carl Erskine came in with the score 4-0 to start the top of the seventh, and he got us through with a groundout and a pair of strikeouts, and he added a third strikeout in the top of the eighth before giving up a homer off the bat of Dick Groat to make the margin 5-0, though he struck out two more to escape the inning. We finally got some offense going in the bottom of the inning, Al Kaline batting in a run with a double that put him and Ernie Banks both in scoring position themelves. Roger Maris then laid down a sweet hit into right field, bouncing just outside the glove of their fielder and scoring a second run. Del Crandall popped out to first, but drove in a third run, sending us into the top of the ninth trailing 5-3. Hersh Freeman came in for the ninth, getting three quick outs to give us half a chance. Poppell and Rosen led off the bottom of the ninth with strikeouts, however, though Robinson was walked, bringing up Willie Mays with a chance to make something happen. They walked him too, instead, bringing up Banks as a potential winning run ... and he hit a powerful ball off his bat, but the wind was not in our favor today, holding it in and allowing them to catch it for the final out, beating us 5-3 instead of giving us a chance at celebrating a walk-off win. Porterfield took the loss, falling to 3-3 with a 3.55 ERA, allowing just three hits in six innings, though he had three walks to go with five strikeouts, contributing to his four earned runs. Erskine allowed just one hit and one run with five strikeouts in his two innings of work, and Freeman was perfect in his one, bringing his ERA down to 5.77, getting his first chance out of the bullpen since before the trade deadline. We had nine hits ourselves, but struggled to string them together meaningfully. Kaline hit twice with a run and an RBI, Banks hit and scored a run, while Robinson added a hit, three walks, a steal and a run. Maris added two hits and an RBI as well. AUGUST 16, 1956 . . . The Dodgers are breathing down our necks -- at 77-36 they’ve played fewer games than we have, and now only trail us in the standings by a single game. Fresh off his one-hitter last week, Tom Acker (6-4, 3.58 ERA, 103.0 IP, 76 K’s, 1.16 WHIP) got the start today against Don Drysdale (4-16, 4.55 ERA, 170.0 IP, 104 K’s, 1.46 WHIP). And Acker immediately stumbled, giving up a hit to his first batter and then allowing Ted Kluszewski to hit a two-run power bomb out into center field to give them the early 2-0 lead. Rattled, Acker hit Frank Robinson with an errant pitch and Robinson rushed the mound in what could have become a melee had Acker not diffused the situation. But Acker was clearly off his mark, allowing Gus Bell to hit a two-run blast immediately thereafter, and with us trailing 4-0, I started warming Bob Purkey, our long, long reliever -- if we weren’t able to calm this down, I was going to have no choice. And it didn’t get better. Acker gave up a hit sandwiched between a pair of walks and suddenly the bases were loaded. That’s it. With only one out in the top of the f---ing first, I had to bring in Purkey. By the time we got into the bottom of the first inning we were in a 6-0 hole and I was ready to melt down completely. But we still had eight and a half innings to play. Is this how a World Champion is supposed to play? We’ve got to fix this if we want to keep Brooklyn from destroying our season. It didn’t get better. Frank Robinson hit a home run to start the second inning, increasing the margin to seven runs, and by the time we got on the board with a Poppell run scored in the bottom of the third off a groundout by Rosen, we trailed the Redlegs 7-1 on our own field. Mays tripled to start the bottom of the fourth inning, and Banks grounded out to first but drove him home for our second run, but in the top of the sixth the Redlegs got a run back with an RBI single by Nellie Fox to make it 8-2. Vern Law came in with two outs and men on first and second, but a weak infield hit and a drop by Banks at short allowed the bases to jam up, and a dropped catch by Poppell allowed another run to score. Law then walked in another to make it 10-2 and I felt like I was ready to pull my hair out. Finally we got out of the inning, but this game was like Dante’s ninth circle of Hell. Kaline hit a triple to start the bottom of the seventh, and Del Crandall stunned the crowd to their feet with a three-run homer moments later to spark hope in a crowd that had started to head for the exits. Vern Law then came up and smacked a homer into the right field bleachers, just his second homer of the season, and suddenly we were down just 10-6 heading into the top of the eighth. Law stayed in and pitched beautifully through the top of the ninth, but we came into the bottom of the inning still trailing by four runs. Crandall and Bouchee struck out swinging, and Jack Poppell grounded out to first, but it didn’t matter -- we hadn’t deserved to win this one, losing 10-6 in a game we were never competitive in. Acker took the loss, and deserved every bit of it. He secured just ONE OUT, giving up four hits and two walks for six earned runs. Purkey was solid as a desperation long reliever, giving us 5.1 innings with six hits and two strikeouts, allowing four runs of which only one was earned. And Vern Law continues to impress me, giving us 3.1 innings with two hits and a walk, none of our runs counting against him. He’s played in eight games for us already, putting together 19 innings of work with a 1.89 ERA and 1.05 WHIP. Cincy outhit us 12-7 , our offense led by Mays and Kaline’s triples and the homers from Law and Crandall. But we’ve screwed ourselves into a corner. We now hold an 80-38 record, and though we’re officially tied in the standings against Brooklyn (78-36), their winning percentage now has them as the NL’s leading team. And we’ve got a tough road schedule in September that’s going to make all our remaining games incredibly important in the pennant chase. We play three games this weekend at St. Louis, and then have a stretch of home games against Philly, the Giants, Pittsburgh and Brooklyn. From August 31st to the end of the season we’ll then play 16 of our last 23 games on the road. __________________ "Oh No! We Suck Again!" -- Reviving the White Sox in 2025 -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty "The Rockies' Baseball Horror Show" -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty