Let's Play Two!

[jksander]

Originally Posted by matttb324

Great idea, I like it a lot. Would the project end if you do pull it off? I'm trying to think off the top of my head when the Cubs even contended, '69 was it? '84 I remember. I would assume it's going to be tempting to tank

I'll keep it going and see where I wind up. The GM signing Willie Mays has helped, and Ernie Banks has been solid through the first 20+ ... but I am only the manager, not the GM, so who knows how smart the AI GM will be. I have to win with what he gives me

[jksander]

Originally Posted by matttb324

I'm trying to think off the top of my head when the Cubs even contended, '69 was it? '84 I remember.

Here are the year by years ...

[matttb324]

Interesting that they were down for so long. Seems like today (or in my WBL replay that includes the draft and free agency, I have noticed that), it is hard to stay down too long unless the draft is really mismanaged. A bunch of bad finishes is bound to give you a bunch of good players to work with.

[jksander]

Originally Posted by matttb324

Interesting that they were down for so long. Seems like today (or in my WBL replay that includes the draft and free agency, I have noticed that), it is hard to stay down too long unless the draft is really mismanaged. A bunch of bad finishes is bound to give you a bunch of good players to work with.

Will post more game updates when I get home from work. Feel free to ask for any game info / stats you need as I progress

[jksander]

MAY 8, 1953 . . . Dee Fondy needed a night off to rest, so I set up Jackson as our lead-off man tonight, with McCullough, Mays, Sauer, Banks and Cavarretta as something of a murderers’ row in the lineup. Preston Ward’s playing right field for his second appearance of the year in the seven spot, while Bill Serena will make his 1953 Cubs debut in the eighth spot in the lineup while covering second base.

The Braves scored a run in the bottom of the first to take the early one run lead, and they added a second in the bottom of the second. Hacker got into a jam in the bottom of the third but was able to strand Milwaukee runners at second and third to get out of the inning safely. But he was going to need run support if we were going to stay in this game, and it wasn’t coming, at least not through four innings. Or five, or six. The Braves added a third unanswered run in the bottom of the sixth, but we got a rally started in the top of the seventh -- Mays got to first on a walk, and then stole second. Sauer walked, sending Mays to third, and then Banks reached first on a fielding error, which loaded the bases with no outs! Cavarretta hit to center but the ball was caught -- but not before sending Mays home to put us on the board! Frank Baumholtz came in to pinch hit for Preston Ward, and he hit safely to right, re-loading the bases. But our next two batters didn’t make anything happen, so we headed into the stretch trailing by two. And we didn’t get another hit the rest of the game, falling to the Braves 1-3 and cutting our NL lead to a single game with three games left in this series.

Warren Hacker pitched a complete game, slipping to 4-2 with a 2.49 ERA with the loss. He struck out two and didn’t walk anyone, but he gave up nine hits for three earned runs. We only had three hits all game, but we walked enough guys that we should have been able to win this one even without the contact. Cavarretta had our only RBI of the day, bringing his total to 11 for the year.

MAY 9, 1953 . . . We have our best lineup available to start today, including Paul Minner (3-1, 4.06 ERA) on the mound, and Fondy / Cavarretta / Mays / Sauer / Banks / Jackson / McCullough / Miksis batting. But it’s been almost two weeks since we left Chicago, and everyone’s going to be glad to get to the off day and a return to Wrigley -- we just need to get some wins in Milwaukee.

Minner struggled tonight, giving up seven runs in the bottom of the second (including back to back homers) to put us in a deep, dark hole with a lot of game left to play. And with four games in three days, I can’t give him the hook too early -- he was just going to have to play through the mess. And the crazy thing is, only two of the seven runs were earned! And the game just went to **** from there -- Minner gave up two runs in the bottom of the sixth, and then Dutch Leonard came in and completely melted the f--- down, and by the time we got out of the inning we were down 14 runs to nothing. This is the Cubs team I think most fans expected to see all year, but it’s frustrating that we played so well in the first twenty games of the year and now suddenly we’re putting up games like this. We got one run on the board in the seventh, so it’s a beat-down and not a shutout, but we still lost this one 1-14.

Paul Minner took the loss, falling to 3-2 with a 5.25 ERA. He gave up 10 hits in five innings with just one strikeout against two walks. Twelve runs wound up counting against him, seven earned. Dutch Leonard pitched three innings and only gave up a single hit, but it was a homer, and he walked three batters with the bases loaded while notching only one strikeout. It was a night we’d all prefer to quickly forget. We had eight hits but repeatedly left men on base in scoring position, stranded and useless. Eddie Miksis got our only RBI of the night, as Jackson scored the lone run in the top of the seventh.

We fell to 16-8 with this loss, leaving us tied with the Braves (17-9) for control of the NL, with the Giants now only two games back at 15-11. Brooklyn is 13-12 and just 3-1/2 games back, while the Phillies (13-14, 4-1/2 games back) are in fifth but still within striking distance. The AL right now is looking like a battle between Cleveland (16-4) and the Yankees (17-7) with everyone else lagging behind.

Tomorrow we’ll play two games against the Braves back to back, and then we can head back to Chicago and try to get things going in the right direction. We’ve lost three games in a row for the first time all season -- and worse, we’ve been outscored 33-5 during that stretch. We badly need to get our bats going again so we can build some confidence. So far on this road trip we are 7-6.

[jksander]

MAY 10, 1953 . . . We got today’s double-header started at noon, and in the first game Bob Rush surrendered a solo homer in the bottom of the first to put the Braves up right away, after we’d left two runners stranded in the top of the inning, a great scoring opportunity wasted. Cavarretta hammered the ball in the top of the third, however, knocking it out of the park to tie the score 1-1. Willie Mays hit a triple immediately after, missing out on a homer of his own by maybe four feet, but Ernie Banks flew out to right, preventing Mays from scoring the go-ahead run. And Bob Rush loaded the bases in the bottom of the third, surrendering four runs before he could get the final strikeout. Based on the run support we’ve had the last few days, that four run deficit after three was incredibly daunting.

Willie Mays got himself a single in the top of the fifth that batted in Rush, who had singled to start the inning, but Ernie Banks left two runners stranded when he got tagged out at first a moment later, leaving the score at 2-5. Randy Jackson hit a solo homer in the top of the sixth to make the score 3-5. And though Bob Kelly came in and pitched 1-1/3 innings of relief and kept the score from balooning, we couldn’t make up the runs we needed, losing this one (and the NL lead) by that same 3-5 margin.

Bob Rush took the loss, falling to 4-3 with a 3.14 ERA, giving up eight hits in 6.2 innings for five runs, one earned. He had five strikeouts against a single walk, but threw 118 pitches and couldn’t finish the game himself. Kelly came in and threw 1.1 innings and gave up no hits, with two walks and a strikeout. His ERA improved to 4.05 in 13.1 innings of relief this season.

Cavarretta, Mays and Jackson each batted in runs, but Mays had the best night, hitting three of four and notching his 20th RBI of the year. We’re just continuing to struggle when it comes to bringing runs home -- I think reaching the end of this road trip should help raise morale as we finally see our Wrigleyville faithful in the crowds again. I’ve also got our coaches working with Ernie Banks, who is dealing with his first major league slump. He’s played in 24 games, hitting .326/.363/.453 with two homers and 12 RBI’s, but he’s been having a really cold stretch lately and needs to prove to himself he can break out of it.

First things first, though -- we had the second game of the doubleheader to play, and a chance to hopefully avoid the sweep. In the top of the first, Miksis reached first on an infield single and then successfully reached second off a passed ball. Willie Mays reached first on a fielding error, and McCullough hit to right, reaching first and loading the bases with just one out. That brought Banks to the plate batting fifth, and he hit a sizzling line drive to deep center, reaching second and scoring three runs! THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT, ERNIE! That was all the damage we could do, but it got us pumped up in the dugout for the first time the whole series, giving Don Newcombe, our stater, some cushion for a change. Newcombe surrendered a solo homer in the bottom of the third to make it 3-1, but that was his only hit of the game to that point and he got out of the inning with no further damage. A second run scored for the Braves in the bottom of the fourth, but we had the top of the order up to bat to start the fifth. Fondy, Mays and McCullough all got on base quickly, bringing Banks up to bat with the bases loaded and only one out. He hit it to center for a quick out and everyone stayed put. Randy Jackson also failed to get on base, leaving three stranded as we headed to the bottom of the fifth leading tenuously, 3-2.

We left two more stranded in the sixth, and another two in the seventh, but the score remained the same thanks to solid pitching by Newcombe and, since the end of the sixth, reliever Fred Baczewski. Randy Gumpert came in to pitch in the bottom of the eighth after Baczewski allowed runners into scoring position, and he got two quick outs, though one runner did score, tying the game 3-3 heading into the ninth with the heart of our order up to bat. But Miksis, Mays and McCullough went down one-two-three, leaving our hopes dependent on Gumpert pitching well enough to secure us extra innings -- and he did, getting three outs without a hit to send us to our 19th inning of the day! Unfortunately we couldn’t get a hit in the top of the 10th, and the Braves walked it off on a two-run homer by Chuck Taylor, who pinch hit for Walker Cooper, completing the sweep by beating us 3-5.

Gumpert took the loss and a blown save, falling to 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA, though in 1.2 innings he only gave up two hits. Newcombe finished with 5.2 innings of three-hit ball, striking out four against just one walk. Baczewski successfully held the lead through 1.2 innings of three-hit ball himself, striking out one with no walks. Ernie Banks only got one hit in five at-bats, but he picked up three RBIS, with Miksis, Mays and McCullough all scoring. Everyone got at least a hit, excluding our three pitchers. We out-hit them 9-8 but just couldn’t get any runs to score after that first-inning burst. We’ll limp home to Chicago with a 16-10 record and a five game losing streak, two games out of first in the NL and only one game ahead of the Giants. The Braves, meanwhile, are on an eight-game winning streak, making them the hottest team in the majors at the moment.

Thank the baseball gods that we have our next 15 games at Wrigley. We’ll drive back tonight so the guys can have a much-needed rest day tomorrow, after which we’ll have two games against Brooklyn (13-12), two games against Philly (13-14), and then three games next weekend against Pittsburgh (9-17) including a Sunday doubleheader.

[jksander]

MAY 12, 1953 . . . Klippstein took the mound today under a bright Chicago sun, and less than ten minutes into the game Jackie Robinson scored, having made it to first on an infield single, stolen second, and then got driven home by a single by Roy Campanella that came with two outs. But he got out of the jam without surrendering any runs. In the bottom of the third, Klippstein got on base with a single and then advanced to second on a wild pitch. He advanced to third when Fondy batted to deep center for an out, and Cavarretta drove him home with a single to left to tie it 1-1! Willie Mays doubled to send Cavarretta home for the go-ahead run, getting us out of the third with a 2-1 lead on the Dodgers. But Klippstein gave up a solo homer to Campanella, tying the score in the top of the fourth, so this one was destined to stay interesting. Banks, Jackson and McCullough all singled to load the bases in the bottom of the fourth with no outs, Klippstein then singled through the gap in the middle, driving Banks and Jackson home to give us a two-run lead.

Campanella scored another run in the top of the sixth, and pitcher Russ Meyer batted in the tying run, and then **** got f---ed fast -- reliever Bob Kelly gave up a grand slam to Gil Hodges, and suddenly we were down 4-8 in the blink of an eye and the fans were aghast! Kelly finally got the strikeout to end the inning but the damage was already done. He gave up another run in the seventh before I finally brought Gumpert in to hopefully close the game out without further damage. But we completely melted down defensively and this one got ugly fast as the bleachers emptied. Gumpert gave up three runs in the top of the eighth, and we suddenly had just two chances left to make up an eight-run deficit. Gumpert gave up two more runs in the top of the ninth before Baczewski came in and got two quick outs to bring up the bottom of the ninth with us down ten and ready to just get out of here with as few beers thrown at us as possible. Eddie Miksis hit a solo homer to bring us within nine, but that was all she wrote. We lost our sixth game in a row, dropping this one against the Dodgers by an abysmal 5-14 margin.

Klippstein only lasted 5.1 innings, giving up six hits and four earned runs to drop his ERA to 5.46. Kelly came in and took the loss and the blowon save, falling to 0-1 with a dismal 6.75 ERA, having given up five hits and five earned runs in 1.1 innings. Gumpert lasted 1.2 innings but gave up six hits and four earned runs, crashing his ERA to 7.71. Baczewski threw seven pitches to get the last two outs, with a strikeout and no hits. Klippstein got two hits in two at-bats, scoring once and batting in two. While Mays, Cavarretta and Miksis each batted in runs of their own. But our poor pitching, and the Chicago wind, doomed us in the end.
 
MAY 13, 1953 . . . Atwell started today at catcher to give McCullough a bit of a spell, though he’ll be available as a pinch hitter if we need him. Otherwise we started today with our usual lineup of Fondy / Cavarretta / Mays / Sauer / Banks / Jackson and Miksis, with Atwell batting just ahead of our pitcher spot. And with Warren Hacker (4-2, 2.49 ERA, 47 IP) coming in for his seventh start, we had hopes that this would be a game that could help us snap the six-game skid and get back to winning ways.

Hacker let Campanella on base in the top of the fourth, and he quickly reached second on a failed pickoff attempt and then scored on a single to right by Pee Wee Reese, putting us in an 0-1 hole with just one out, but he secured the next two outs easily enough and the game remained a one-run affair heading into the bottom of the inning, at which point Randy Jackson hit a solo homer to left that tied it up again. With the game still tied heading into the top of the ninth, Warren Hacker wanted to stay out there, but he’d thrown 125 pitches and I could tell he was tiring. So I brought in Dutch Leonard to try and give our offense a chance to walk it off. And he pitched well, striking out a batter and getting two quick infield outs to finish the inning leaving us knotted 1-1 heading into the bottom with Randy Jackson up to bat. Eddie Miksis got on base with a single to left, putting the go-ahead run on base. Frank Baumholtz came in to pinch hit for Atwell, and he reached base on an infield fly, though they were able to throw Miksis out at second. So with two outs, I pinch hit Clyde McCullough for Dutch Leonard, and he hit it up the middle to allow Baumholtz to reach third, with Fondy at the plate with a chance to win it outright! But Fondy’s hit flew out to deep center and was an easy catch -- we’re heading into extra innings, with Bob Kelly coming in to pitch for us in the tenth.

In the top of the tenth, Gil Hodges batted in a run to give Brooklyn a one-run lead, but we got out of it without further damage, sending us up to bat with the top of our lineup ready to hit. Hank Sauer reached first on a deep fly to right with two outs, sending Ernie Banks to bat with the chance to keep the game as the potential go-ahead run. But it wasn’t to be ... he hit it to the shortstop to threw Sauer out at second to end the game with our seventh loss in a row, 1-2 against the Dodgers in 10 innings.

Hacker, in eight innings, only gave up six hits for a single run, with four strikeouts and a walk. And Leonard kept things tied with one inning of no-hit ball with a strikeout. Bob Kelly unfortunately took the loss, falling to 0-2 with a 6.89 ERA to go with his five saves. Randy Jackson was the best batter of the night, with two hits and a homer, scoring our only run of the game, his third homer of the year.

With this loss we fell to third in the NL standings at 16-12, tied with the Giants at three games back. We’ll have our next two here at Wrigley against the Phillies (14-16, 6 GB) who sit in fifth place, and we deeply need to find a solution to our hitting problems if we’re going to stop the bleeding.

[jksander]

MAY 14, 1953 . . . Ernie Banks hit a solid single to right that got him on base and drove Fondy home from second, giving ua the lead in the bottom of the first, up 1-0 at the end of the inning. In the top of the sixth the Phillies tied it 1-1 on a solo homer by Granny Hammer, and in the top of the eighth they took a 1-2 lead on another solo homer, this time by Richie Ashburn. Minner gave up four runs in the top of the ninth, an uncharacteristic meltdown when we needed a shutdown, sending us into the bottom of the ninth down five and needing a serious rally. Instead, Curt Simmons stumped Mays and McCullough, though Sauer reached first on a hit-by-pitch. Randy Jackson couldn’t do anything of consequence, however, batting into an easy infield out, and we lost our eighth straight by a 1-6 margin. It’s looking like we’ve been playing above our weight through May, and the losses, like the gulls in the bleachers, are coming home to roost.

Minner pitched a complete game but fell to 3-3 with a 5.40 ERA thanks to six earned runs on 10 hits, with five strikeouts and two walks. Cavarretta and Mays each had two hits in four at-bats, and Mays batted in his 22nd run of the year. But Fondy (1 of 4 with a hit and a run) was our only Cub to score tonight. Ernie Banks is now in a real slump ... from April 28th through May 6th he had successfully hit in 10 consecutive games, but in our last three games he’s hit 1 for 13, dropping his average 30 points to .292 -- the guys keep telling him it’s only a few games, he’ll hit his way out of this eventually and get back to feeling like himself. But having lost eight in a row it’s hard for ANY of the batters to feel like themselves.

MAY 15, 1953 . . . Smoky Burgess hit a 406-foot home-run in the second inning to put the Phillies up 0-2 agianst us as Bob Rush got into trouble early. We entered the bottom of the second trailing by three runs, but Dee Fondy answered in the bottom of the third with a 382-foot two-run homer of his own to put us right back in this one! Cavarretta doubled to extend the inning, but Willie Mays wasn’t able to make anything happen and we headed for the top of the fourth trailing 2-3.

In the bottom of the seventh, Ernie Banks got a solid hit deep to center that landed just outside the fielder’s grasp, allowing him to reach base and potentially spark a rally! McCullough sacrifice-bunted with Banks on second and Jackson on first, reaching base and sending Jackson to second, but Banks was thrown out. But an E9 throwing error on an Eddie Miksis flyout line-drive drove Jackson home to score the tying run, and I pinch-hit Baumholtz for Rush, with McCullough on second and two outs. He hit it hard to deep center, bouncing off the wall and allowing McCullough to get home for the go-ahead run, with Baumholtz winding up with a triple! We went into the top of the eighth leading 4-3, with Bob Kelly coming in to try and hold on for a save. Willie Mays hit a 380-footer just left of center to drive in two insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth, giving Kelly a three-run cushion as he tried to close things out (with Baczewski ready to come in if a fire needed dousing) and he handled things perfectly, a strikeout and two fly-outs to ice this one and snap the streak! We won this one 6-3, hopefully setting ourselves up for good things as we fight through the depths of May.

Bob Rush improved to 5-3 with the win, giving up three earned runs on eight hits in seven innings, with three strikeouts and a walk. His 3.22 ERA remains the best among starters on our team, with 58.2 innings pitched in eight starts. Bob Kelly notched his sixth save of the year, throwing two innings with just two hits, a strikeout and a walk. His ERA inched down to 6.11 overall -- he’s thrown 17 innings in ten relief appearances. Ernie Banks got a hit but was not able to do anything with it, though he did spark the rally that helped us get the win. Baumholtz’s first triple of the season got us the victory, and he was rightly celebrated in the dugout after the game. He’s come off the bench in 13 games, batting 24 times for a .250/.280/.375 slash line with two RBIs. Mays had one hit in four at-bats, driving in two runs to bring his RBI total to 24 in 29 games -- he’s hitting .377/.446/.711 so far.

Tomorrow we play Pittsburgh for the first of three games, with two of them coming in an afternoon double-header on Sunday. We should have Newcombe, Klippstein and Hacker available to pitch those games against the Pirates, who currently sit dead last in the NL at 11-21 (11 GB). We are currently four games back and still tied for third with the Giants.
 
MAY 16, 1953 . . . Newcombe gave up a run in the first inning but kept them from doing anything offensively in the next three innings -- and in the bottom of the fourth, Fondy got on-base with an infield hit and then made it to third on a deep fly base hit for Cavarretta, giving us men on the corners with no outs and Mays at the plate. Mays walked to load the bases, and though Sauer hit into a double play, Fondy was able to get home, tying the game at 1-1 with Ernie Banks at the plate and Cavarretta on third. Unfortunately he struck out, stranding the runner and costing us the chance to steal the lead at the end of four. Dee Fondy gave us the lead in the bottom of the fifth with a deep single to left that drove McCullough around from second to score with two outs. Cavarretta singled up the middle to drive pitcher Don Newcombe around to score, and at the end of five we held a 3-1 lead!

McCullough doubled to left, scoring another run in the bottom of the sixth by driving Sauer in from second, and Frank Baumholtz, pinch hitting for Newcombe, singled up the gap to allow McCullough to score, providing us another solid bit of insurance and bringing up the top of the order. Fondy hit an infield blooper that bounced just out of the way of pitcher Bob Friend, loading the bases with two outs, but Cavarretta wasn’t able to make anything happen and we went into the top of the seventh with a 5-1 lead! The Pirates added a run in the bottom of the seventh as Danny O’Connell singled to pinch-hitter Fitz Gerald around to score with two outs, but Baczewski got out of the jam with no further damage. The Pirates walked the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh with just one out, and McCullough was able to bat Mays home with a single to increase our lead to 6-2. Eddie Miksis then added another run by batting Hank Sauer home on a line drive up the middle to make it a five run lead. Randy Jackson scored on a wild pitch and we were able to exit the inning with an 8-2 lead secure heading into the eighth. Dee Fondy added to the damage in the bottom of the eighth with a solo homer to center, his third of the year, and Ernie Banks drove in another with a line drive single that drove Cavarretta home to give us an eight run lead. Jackson singled to left, driving Banks to third, but McCullough struck out to end the inning with us up 10-2, just needing to close it out in the top of the ninth. We did just that, with Bob Kelly, ineligible for a save due to the lead, capped two near-perfect innings as we won our second in a row by that 10-2 margin.

Don Newcombe improved to 3-0 with a 4.63 ERA in his seventh start, throwing six innings of five-hit ball and surrendering only one earned run. He had three strikeouts and no walks as he reached 35 innings pitched on the year. Baczewski threw one inning, giving up three hits on 20 pitches with one earned run, no strikeouts, no walks. And Kelly pitched two innings of no-hit ball, striking out one and improving his ERA to 5.49 overall. Fondy had four hits in five at-bats, scoring twice and driving in two, while Cavarretta added three hits in five at-bats, scoring once and driving in one. Ernie banks hit one for four, driving in a run, his 15th RBI of the year, and for the first time this season our entire starting lineup got at least one hit. We head into tomorrow’s double-header with an 18-13 record, and we’re alone in second place, just three games back of the Braves in the NL race.

In the American League, the Yankees (21-9) have taken first, now leading Cleveland (18-9) by a game and a half. The Washington Senators currently hold the worst record in baseball in that league, at 10-23, already 12-1/2 half games out of the pennant race and fading fast.

MAY 17, 1953 . . . Hacker and Minner are both ready to start again, so I’ve decided heading into today’s double-header to keep Klippstein as a long-relief option and go with our stronger starters.

In the first game of the day I moved Ernie Banks up to bat second behind Fondy, to see if that would spur him to fully exit his slump, and he answered the call with a 426-foot homer over the center-field wall to put us up 1-0, his third four-bagger of the season! Mays doubled, and then Sauer hit a 383-foot homer to left field, making it quickly a 3-0 ballgame! Banks hit a slow-moving grounder up the middle and was able to outrun the throw, reaching first base to start the bottom of the third, and Willie Mays nailed our third homer of the game over the right field wall, making it 5-0 Cubs! We loaded the bases and Roger Bowman walked Toby Atwell to make it 6-0, and Hacker hit a sacrifice fly to first that allowed Miksis to score, turning this one into a rout! Fondy doubled to score two more, bringing Banks up for the second time in the inning, with two outs. He flew out to right but the damage was done -- we led the Pirates 9-0 after just three innings -- and the fans in the bleachers had hardly had time to get drunk yet. In the bottom of the fourth we loaded the bases AGAIN, and again Bowman walked in a run, sending Baumholtz to first and driving Mays home for our 10th run of the game. Meanwhile Hacker stayed lights out, making it through the top of the fifth having only thrown 53 pitches, with just one hit, two strikeouts and no walks.

The Pirates couldn’t catch a break -- loading the bases again in the bottom of the fifth, Bowman walked Miksis to drive home Ernie Banks to make it 11-0 with just one out. Mays was driven home by a Jackson fly-out sacrifice hit, and Baumholtz drove in two more with a well-placed grounder, reaching first while scoring Sauer and then Miksis with a spectular head-first slide wherein he was called safe. By the time they got the final out we’d made it 13-0 and the game was about to enter its second hour! Hacker surrendered a run in the sixth and a run in the ninth, but it hardly mattered as we crushed the Pirates in the first of two games, winning 13-2.

Warren Hacker improved to 5-2 on the season with a 2.25 ERA, throwing nine innings and 123 pitches, with just six hits, two earned runs and three strikeouts against a single walk. Ernie Banks hit twice in five at-bats, scoring three runs and batting in one, while Willie Mays hit twice and walked twice, scoring four runs and driving in two while hitting his 10th homer of the year! Baumholtz, getting a start for a change, added three hits and a walk, scoring once and batting in two, bringing his total on the year to 5 RBIs.

Banks, Cavarretta and Mays were all on the bench in the second game, which started half an hour after we finished detroying Pittsburgh in the noon game. Hank Sauer opened the second game of the day with a solo blast to put us up 1-0, his fifth of the season, which helped us get out to a good start in a game I fully expected to be a low-scoring affair. Minner gave up a solo homer to Pete Castiglione in the top of the fifth to tie it up, and then in the top of the sixth Johnny Lindell hit a two run blast over the center field wall to make it a 1-3 ballgame. Baczewski gave up two runs in the top of the ninth to give the Pirates a near insurmountable lead heading into our frame, based on the hitters we had available. And sure enough, their guy set us down one, two, three to end this one as a 1-5 loss against the Pirates. We won the series 2-1 but missed out on the sweep as the Pirates outhit us 12-3.

Minner took the loss, throwing 6.2 innings of eight-hit ball with three earned runs, two strikeouts and no walks. His record is now 3-4 with a 5.23 ERA in seven starts with 51.2 total innings pitched. Baczewski pitched the remaining 2.1 innings, giving up four hits with two earned runs, with a strikeout and no walks. Sauer’s homer was the play of the game for us, with no other significant offensive contributions on our end.

The loss knocked us back into a tie with Brooklyn for second at 19-14, and with run differential as a tiebreaker we’re currently in third place in the NL but only two games back of the 22-13 Milwaukee Braves. We have a day off tomorrow followed by a two game series against the Giants, followed by a day off and a critical four game set against the Braves Friday through Sunday.

[jksander]

MAY 19, 1953 . . . Sauer hit a deep fly single to right in the bottom of the first, and though it was caught it was deep enough to send Fondy home to score our first run of the game. With two outs, Banks stepped up and nailed a single down the foul line just barely fair in left field, getting to first and advancing Cavarretta into scoring position, but Randy Jackson flew out to center and ended the inning with just a 1-0 lead. And Klippstein gave up an RPI triple in the second to tie things up 1-1. Mays hit a two-run blast to left, his 11th homer of the year, to put us back in the lead in the bottom of the third, Jackson batted in a run with a grounder to right, extending our lead to three runs in the bottom of the sixth, and another run scored on a passed ball. McCullough got to first, giving us men on the corners with just one out, allowing us to hold a 5-1 advantage heading into the seventh. Randy Gumpert gave up a two run homer in the top of the seventh, forcing me to bring in Dutch Leonard with no outs. Leonard got out of the inning having only surrendered one additional run, sending us to bat clinging to a 5-4 advantage and me looking at bringing in Bob Kelly to close the rest of this game out. But Kelly blew it in the ninth, letting the tying run score with one out, and the go-ahead with two outs, and then another ... so when he finally got the strikeout to end the inning we suddenly trailed 5-7. Unbelievable! Bottom of the ninth. Miksis singled and reached base, at which point we pinch-hit Baumholtz for Kelly, immediately warming up Baczewski to take over in the 10th if necessary. But Baumholtz hit into a double play, sending Fondy up, two outs, no men on, two run deficit. And he promptly struck out swinging, as we lost this one 5-7 after leading 5-1 after six.

Klippstein only lasted five innings, giving up six hits and an earned run with three strikeouts and a walk -- he was incredibly erratic all game though, pitching out of jams four different times. If he hadn’t thown so wildly I likely would have kept him in and this wouldn’t have turned into the bullpen game from hell. Gumpert and Leonard each held the lead with an inning pitched apeice, but combined they gave up four hits and three earned runs, with a strikeout and three walks, hardly the stuff of champions. Kelly took the loss (his third) and the blown save (his third), giving up five hits and three runs in two innings with two strikeouts and a walk. Despite his five saves, he has not inspired much confidence as a shutdown closer, with a miserable 6.23 ERA in 21.2 innings.

Ernie Banks is doing fine post-slump, hitting twice in four at-bats tonight and scoring a run. Willie Mays had his 11th homer of the year, scoring twice and driving in two runs. But the Giants out-hit us 15-8, which is difficult to survive on any night.

MAY 20, 1953 . . . Whitey Lockman hit a blast to center, going over the wall and putting the Giants up 0-1 in the top of the second. And Wes Westrum hit a second solo homer in the same frame, making it 0-2 with seemingly little effort required. Ernie Banks hit one of his own over the left field wall, his fourth of the year, making the score 1-2 after two, all scored on solo homers. The Giants scored on an RBI double in the fourth, and we stranded the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth, missing out on a great chance to make up ground. Baczewski came in top of the ninth and gave up a fourth run to the Giants, and that was all she wrote -- we couldn’t get anyone on in the bottom of the ninth and lost this one 1-4.

Bob Rush (5-4, 3.24 ERA) took the loss after eight innings of eight-hit ball, with three earned runs five strikeouts and a single walk. Baczewski gave up two hits and a run and dropped his ERA to 5.60 overall. They out-hit us 10-3, walking us twice, and only Ernie Banks managed to do anything good offensively, hitting twice in four at-bats, scoring once and batting in another.

The loss knocked us down to fourth in the NL, and though we’re only three games out of first, our next four games are against the Braves (23-14) meaning we have the potential to move into first or fall as far down as seventh before the weekend is done. We only have six home games left in this long stand at Wrigley, and then we head straight into Hell with eighteen consecutive road games from May 27 through June 14.

Incidentally our GM just sent Baczewski down to AAA, bringing up a new signee, starting pitcher Dick Brodowski, who has been signed as a free agent. He’s currently 4-4 with a 4.24 ERA in minor league action. He’ll join our major league roster as the fifth starter behind Newcombe, with Klippstein moving into a closer role out of the bullpen.

MAY 22, 1953 . . . Mays got an infield hit in the bottom of the first, sending Fondy around to home and giving us the first run of the afternoon. Fondy got himself an RBI single in the bottom of the second, as McCullough scored from third to make it a 2-0 lead. Hank Sauer came up with the bases loaded and two outs but singled out to the shortstop, ending the inning. Ernie Banks took a walk to start the third inning for us, and Jackson hit deep to center for a single of his own giving us two men on with no outs. McCullough hit out to the shortstop, but Banks was able to reach third safely, putting him in scoring position with just one out. Miksis hit it through the right gap, scoring Banks, but Jackson got cocky and tried to make it all the way to score himself, and was tagged out at the plate. Hacker hit lightly but was easily tagged out at first to end the inning with us up 3-0. Willie Mays hit his 12th homer of the year in the bottom of the fourth, driving in two runs. Hacker would give up three runs in the top of the fifth, including a two-run homer by Eddie Matthews, Wilile Mays got his 50th hit of the year in the bottom of the sixth but we were unable to do anything with two men on. Klippstein gave up an RBI double in the top of the eighth to cut the lead to 5-4, but he was able to close it out in the ninth with two flyouts and a strikeout to save the game, our guys winning by a run!

Hacker improved to 6-2 with a 2.42 ERA, thanks to 6.2 innings during which he gave up 10 hits and three runs, with three strikeouts against a pair of walks. Klippstein earned his first save in the closer role, pitching 2.1 innings of two-hit ball, giving up one earned run and throwing two strikeouts, bringing his ERA down to 4.89. Cavarretta had four hits in four at-bats, scoring a run, while Willie Mays hit three times and walked once, scoring one run and driving in three, to put his RBI total at 31 for the year. The win moves us back up to third, and we’re now only two games out of first.

MAY 23, 1953 . . . Sauer opened the scoring in the bottom of the second with a 408-foot solo homer over the ivy at center-field, his sixth homer of the year, and McCullough followed with one of his own to almost the same spot, giving us a 2-0 lead with his fourth this season. Del Crandall slugged a 425-footer that came close to leaving the park out in right field, putting the Braves on the board down 1-2 in the top of the fifth, but in the bottom of the fifth his successful bunt allowed Eddie Miksis to score when a fielding error gave him room to come around third, allowing Minner to take second. He then took third on a passed ball, putting him in scoring position with no outs, and Cavarretta hit a blistering ball that was caught for an out deep in center field, allowing Minner to come home and put us up 4-1, proving pitchers can be very useful on offense as well. But he gave up two more runs in the top of the sixth, keeping the game tight as we entered the late afternoon. Baumholtz came in to pinch hit for Minner in the bottom of the seventh, hitting a solid double that put two in scoring position with no outs, and Miksis was able to slide into home on another error while Cavarretta’s deep hit to center was caught at the ivy. So Bob Kelly was able to come into the top of the eighth to try and hold the 5-3 lead.

Unfortunately he quickly got into trouble and put two men on, bringing in Klippstein to try and hold them off. And Klippstein failed, allowing both of those men to score, tying the game 5-5, before striking out the final batter. Now we needed to get something to happen in the bottom of the ninth to avoid another miserable extra-innings situation. Fondy got on base with a single to left with two outs, and Cavarretta then walked, setting up Willie Mays to be the potential walk-off hero. Mays instead walked as well, loading the bases and bringing up Hank Sauer ... who couldn’t find a pitch, ending the inning and sending us to extras.

Dutch Leonard came in to pitch in the 10th inning, striking out a batter before giving up a triple to Johnny Logan. He walked Del Crandall, putting men on the corners with just one out, and I brought in Randy Gumpert to try and get out of the jam, but he surrendered the go-ahead run and then some. We went into the bottom of the 10th trailing 5-9 and I knew the Chicago papers were going to pillory me for my bullpen decisions that blew this game. Jackson scored a run on a Miksis fly-out to center, but that was all she wrote. We lost another one by a 6-9 margin when we’d led 4-1 as late as the fifth.

Paul Minner pitched seven innings of six-hit ball, giving up three earned runs with four strikeouts and a walk, improving his ERA slightly to 5.06. Klippstein (2-1, 5.03 ERA) blew the save, and Leonard was applied the loss. Leonard and Gumpert now have absolutely abysmal ERAs, and our bullpen is in complete disarray. Willie Mays hit twice and walked twice today, but was unable to score. Eddie Miksis hit twice in four at-bats and scored twice, driving in a run. In the end we were out-hit 14-10 as we blew a real opportunity in this one heading into tomorrow’s sure-to-be-brutal doubleheader. With our bullpen beat-up, I’m going to have to hope Rush and Newcombe can both go deep into the games, or that our bats simply bludgeon the Braves out of the stadium. Either way, it’s got the potential to be a rough day.

MAY 24, 1953 . . . In the opening moments of game one, Newcombe gave up three hits for two runs in the top of the first, and though Ernie Banks had a great shot to right field that should have scored a run, Cavarretta got stupid and decided to try for home instead of staying at third, getting our final out and leaving us scoreless. Newcombe, the first inning nonwithstanding, pitched great the rest of the way, entering the top of the sixth with seven hits and three strikeouts, with only one walk in five innings. But he was going to need some goddamned run support, and the way the wind’s blowing in today, that’s not something he was likely to get. He gave up four more runs in the seventh, giving us a six run deficit to overcome post-stretch. And it didn’t happen. I kept Newcombe in to finish what he started because with the hole he was in, there was no reason to put it off on Klippstein if we could save him for a potential close battle in the second game of the day. He gave up two more runs to make it 0-8 heading into the bottom of the ninth. Willie Mays kept it from being a shutout by nailing a 392 foot shot over the right field wall, his 13th of the year, but Ernie Banks hit into a double play to end the game with us losing to the Braves 1-8.

Newcombe took the loss and fell to 3-1 with a 5.32 ERA, giving up 15 hits in his complete game, with three strikeouts and two walks. We only got four hits all game, so Mays’ homer in the ninth was pretty much our only bright spot. The bleacher bums were booing in full force by the end of the game, but we knew they’d stick around to get their $1.55 worth.

During game two it stayed ugly. Bob Rush, one of our best pitchers on the team, gave up five runs in the first inning (only three of which were earned thanks to an error), and I know I haven’t been managing here for long but let’s just say the “lustful” anger from the crowd was something to behold. By the time we came up to bat in the bottom of the second we were trailing the Braves 0-7 and looking like the most miserable team in baseball. Toby Atwell hit to load the bases with just one out in the bottom of the second, but were at the end of the rotation by that point and weren’t able to make anything happen (I came THIS CLOSE to pinch-hitting for Rush, but couldn’t do it ... our bullpen can’t handle seven innings replacing a starter. But he’ll be coming out eventually, considering he threw 79 pitches in the first THREE innings.

Ernie banks hit a solo homer in the bottom of the fourth to make the score 1-7, but then in the top of the fifth Rush completely fell apart and I had to start warming up arms. Gumpert came in to get the final out and we went into the bottom of the fifth trailing 1-10. Gumpert came into the inning to bat first, getting a solid single to start things up and bring up the top of the lineup. Mays got a two out single up the middle to give us two men on, but Hank Sauer stunted the rally with a grounder to third for the out. Cavarretta batted Miksis home with a single to right in the bottom of the eventh, cutting the lead to eight, but that was where it would stay. Gumpert stayed in heroically to finish the game and not give up any runs, but we still lost this one 2-10, losing the series 1-3.

Bob Rush lasted 4.1 innings and gave up 10 runs (eight earned) on 11 hits with two strikeouts and a walk, dropping his ERA to 4.04. Meanwhile, Gumpert pitched the remaining 4.1 innings, giving up only three hits on 58 pitches, 48 pitches fewer than our starter threw during his similar time on the mound. Gumpert had a strikeout and a walk, and with no runs given up his ERA dropped all the way back down to 6.92. Randy Jackson had two hits and a walk but was stranded every time. Ernie Banks’ fifth homer of the year was a highlight; he and Miksis scored our only two runs of the game.

We have two games left here at Wrigley, against the St. Louis Cardinals (20-18, 5th NL, 4-1/2 GB). We have fallen to 20-19 ourselves, which has now knocked us back to sixth place in the NL, and though we’re only five games back, the lead has never seemed farther away. Considering our long road stretch will feature a long stretch of games against the teams equally close to finding their way back into the race, it’s easy to see how complicated this league’s standings could be by the time we reach the All Star break.

[jksander]

MAY 25, 1953 . . . Dick Brodowski made his Cubs debut this afternoon in front of 9,500 of our most faithful fans, on a clear 65-degree day where the wind was blowing out and everything seemed possible. Not necessarily the best recipe for a young pitcher’s success, but in Wrigleyville we take what positivity we can find. But Brodowski was great through his first three innings, keeping it scoreless and starting off the bottom of the third inning by getting his first hit as a Cub to hopefully help break things open. Fondy singled, and then Cavarretta hit a frozen rope to center that drove Brodowski and Fondy in for runs! Willie Mays was hit by a pitch but Sauer grounded into a double play to end the third inning with us leading 2-0 -- and the fans were really starting to get behind Brodowski!

Randy Jackson singled into a fielder’s choice in the bottom of the sixth, with Cavarretta being thrown out but Mays and Banks advancing to third and second, bringing up Clyde McCullough with two outs. He got a solid single to deep right, allowing Jackson to advance to second while sending both Mays and Banks home to score, making it a 4-0 ballgame! Miksis then walked to load the bases, and Brodowski promptly doubled to score Jackson and McCullough! This guy was born to wear a Cubs uniform! We went into the top of the seventh leading 6-0. Brodowski stayed in to finish the game, leading 6-0 at the top of the ninth, and two K’s and a pop-fly out to the infield later and he’d closed out a complete game shutout in his Cubs debut!

Brodowski got the win by throwing 113 pitches and giving up only seven hits, with six strikeouts and a walk, keeping a perfect ERA. And he kept several rallies going by hitting twice himself in four at-bats, scoring one and driving in a pair! Cavarretta hit once and walked once, driving in two runs, and Willie Mays hit once and walked once to score a run and keep his average at .387/.479/.746 on the season.

Our GM has called up reliever Joe Hatten from AAA Los Angeles, designating Randy Gumpert for assignment. Hatten threw 50.1 innings for us last year in the majors, going 4-4 with a 6.08 ERA, but this year he’s gone 3-5 at AAA with a 3.38 ERA in nearly 70 innings.

MAY 26, 1953 . . . Hacker gave up a solo homer in the top of the second, and gave up an RBI single in the top of the fifth to put us in an 0-2 hole. In the bottom of the fifth, however, Fondy hit a grounder up the middle to score Atwell and Miksis, while Hacker (who had successfully bunted to load the bases) advanced to second as the score was tied 2-2. Cavarretta singled up the gap to load the bases again with still no outs, and Mays tripled all the way to the deep corner, scoring three more runs, sending us out of the inning with a 5-2 lead on the Cardinals! Cavarretta belted a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh to make it a 7-2 lead, and by the end of the inning we had increased our lead to seven runs. And Warren Hacker, pitcher extraordinare, nailed a solo homer in the bottom of the eighth to make it a 10-2 game, making every fan in the place go completely insane! Hacker would wind up completing his game on 127 pitches, ensuring we won this one 10-2 and completing the home sweep against the Cardinals.

In nine innings Hacker only gave up eight hits for two earned runs, striking out seven while only walking two. His record overall improves to 7-2, with a stellar 2.37 ERA. He has pitched 79.2 innings in 10 starts so far this year, striking out 41 batters so far. He also hit once in three at-bats, scoring two runs and batting in another via sacrifice bunt. Cavarretta had five hits in five at-bats, scoring twice and driving in two while improving his average to .376/.452/.556. Mays is hitting .388 so far this year, adding two hits in five at-bats today for a run scored and three batted in, giving him 35 RBIs on the year and a .748 slugging percentage.

And with that we say goodbye to Wrigley until mid-June ... let the epic road trip begin! We open the road stand with a single game at Milwaukee tomorrow, so just a quick drive up into Wisconsin, followed by a day off for travel to play three at Cincy (including a Saturday doubleheader) and a single Sunday game at St. Louis. We then will play three against Pittsburgh on the road July 2-4, four against the Giants July 5-7 and three against Philly July 8-10 before getting a day off to drive to Brooklyn for three games July 12-14. It’s going to be a long hard stretch of games which will be critical to whether we risk our GM going into selldown mode before the All Star break.

MAY 27, 1953 . . . We opened the game today with a double and an RBI single, allowing Fondy to score almost immediately with no outs while Cavarretta advanced to first, though we were unable to do any further damage. Mays committed a rare fielding error in the bottom of the inning, but we were able to get out of it without the Braves scoring. In the top of the third, Cavarretta singled again, this time to load the bases with no outs, and pitcher Bob Rush, who had reached first on a fielding error, gave us a 2-0 lead despite Willie Mays hitting into a double play. Rush gave up an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth, but we went into the top of the seventh still leading 2-1. Brand new reliever Joe Hatton gave up a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth with two outs, blowing the lead, and we brought Klippstein in to get us out of the inning and to hopefully pull us through if we could rally in the top of the ninth, but we couldn’t get anything going and wound up losing this one in a hearbreaking fashion, 2-4, after having led most of the night.

Bob Rush pitched very well on short rest, lasting 6.2 innings and giving up seven hits and only one earned run, with two strikeouts and two walks. But Hatten took the loss and the blown save in one inning of relief, giving up two critical hits and a walk, with three earned runs leading to an inauspicious season debut. Klippstein got the final out on one pitch, bringing his ERA under 5.00, but I’ll be smacking myself that he was the one who should have come in to close. Losses like this are going to sting more than most. Cavarretta had three hits in four at-bats along with a walk, batting in a run, while Bob Rush scored a run in the game as well. Hank Sauer is struggling ... he got a hit today but was stranded, and was only one for four, with his average sitting at .199 for the year.

Minner, Brodowski and Hacker are expected to be our three starters for the coming series against Cincinnati which starts on Friday -- so far this year we’re 4-1 aginst the Reds, who sit at 17-29 (7th NL, 12 GB) while we’re now 22-20 and in a two-way tie for 4th with the Giants at five games back.

[jksander]

MAY 29, 1953 . . . We opened the game with a single by Fondy, followed by back-to-back walks for Ernie Banks and Phil Cavarretta, putting Mays at the plate with no outs, at which point he hit a grand slam to put us up 4-0 -- 385 feet of cold to center left! Even without anyone else getting on board the rest of the inning, we were off to the races! Two fielding errors really f---ed Minner over in the bottom of the fourth inning, and a 2-RBI double put the Reds on the board, cutting our lead to 4-2, though only one of the runs was earned. He gave up a third run with just one out, letting the crowd get in his head. But he was able to get out of the inning with our lead still 4-3, and he told me in the dugout he still had something left in him. I just had to hope we could add some runs to give him some insurance.

In the top of the seventh, Fondy singled and was then driven to third by an Ernie Banks double (Banks’ eighth of the year!) and Cavaretta followed it with a deep fly-out to right that allowed Fondy to score, and Willie Mays hit a double to drive Banks home to make it a three-run game with only one out. Sauer is cold as ice, however, and for the third time in the game he was unable to make something happen, grounding out to first while advancing Mays to third, and Randy Jackson popped up to the catcher, ending the inning with us up 6-3, allowing me to keep Minner in the game. He got through the seventh on only seven pitches, making it likely I’d be able to avoid going to the pullpen. Ernie Banks added a solo homer in the ninth to make it a four-run game, and Jackson hit a line drive down the left-field foul line that stayed fair, sending Mays home from third to add another run. Minner gave one run back in the bottom of the 9th but ended the game on a solid double play to close out the 8-4 complete game win.

Minner gave up eight hits in the win, improving to 4-4 with a 4.79 ERA having only given up three earned runs. He had two strikeouts and no walks. Willie Mays led the team with four hits in five at-bats, scoring two runs and driving in five, improving his slash line to .391/.475/.763 and virtually guaranteeing even Reds fans are going to be putting him on their All-Star ballots. Ernie Banks batted second tonight, hitting three times and walking another, scoring three times and batting in his 20th run alongside his sixth homer.

Mays currently leads the majors in batting average (.391), Slugging (.763), Hits (61), Homers (14), OPS (1.238), and WAR (3.2), and his 40 RBIs have him only two behind the Dodgers’ catcher Roy Campanella, tied for 2nd with Brooklyn’s Gil Hodges. His on-base percentage, .475, is only one point behind Jackie Robinson. Our lead-off man Dee Fondy is on 2nd place in the majors in hits (60), tied with Brooklyn’s Jackie Robinson, and he leads the majors in at-bats (191). Warren Hacker is our best pitcher by far, leading the majors in rWar (3.3) and in Quality Starts (10 so far, every game).

An update on current Cubs streaks:

- Ernie Banks is currently on a seven-game RBI streak.
- Warren Hacker has pitched 10 quality starts in a row.
- Phil Cavarretta has an eight-game hitting streak going and has gotten on base in nine games in a row.

Tomorrow we have a double-header to complete this series against the Reds, with Brodowski taking the first game from the mound and Hacker pitching in the second. I’m going to be playing Fondy / Banks / Cavarretta / Mays / Jackson / McCullough / Miksis / Sauer as my first eight in the lineup, as Sauer has become too much of a liability batting in the middle of the order. We’ll see if this sparks any improvement by taking the pressure off him a bit, while allowing us to still use his fielding.

[jksander]

MAY 30, 1953 . . . Brodowski gave up his first run as a Cub in the second inning, a solo homer by Bob Borkowski with two outs that was our first hit given up of the game. An RBI single in the bottom of the third made the score 0-2, and hits remained at a premium deep into the game. Brodowski pitched a lights-out eight innings, but our bats were completely mute the entire game, letting him down immensely. Each team had six hits, but the Reds did more with theirs, shutting us out 0-2 in a disappointing first game.

Both pitchers went the full game, with Brodowski falling to 1-1 with a 1.06 ERA through 17 innings. Tonight he only gave up six hits, with two strikeouts and a walk, but the two earned runs were enough to sink us. McCullough led the batters with two hits in three at-bats while walking once as well. Cavarretta, Mays, Miksis and Brodowski contributed our other hits, though nothing came of them. Sauer had another no-hit day and I sat him in the second game for Max West, who started only his second game of the year in left field. And Warren Hacker got the start from the mound as we hoped he’d remain in top form.

Randy Jackson hammered a grounder through the gap to center, driving Willie Mays around to score in the top of the fourth, giving us the first run of this game, and Toby Atwell hit his first homer of the year to score two runs and make it a 3-0 lead! Hacker came into the bottom of the fourth inning on only his 22nd pitch of the game and he remained perfect through 11 more pitches in the fourth, no hits, no walks, no errors. The perfect game ended with a walk given up in the top of the sixth on his 51st pitch, and he walked a second batter with two outs, but was able to get the final out without giving up a hit or a run. But the no-hitter and the shutout both ended in the 7th inning on pitch number 69, when Willard Marshall hit a solo homer over the center field wall to cut the lead to 3-1. With the same lead heading into the bottom of the ninth, I had Klippstein ready in the bullpen but let Hacker keep the ball to try and close things out, But I brought Klippstein in after a runner reached first on an error, and then a single to left put a runner in scoring position with two outs. And Hacker may never speak to me again ... Klippstein walked a batter and then surrendered a f---ing walk-off grand slam, costing us the game, the series, and all the morale in the locker room.

Hacker pitched 8.2 innings and gave up only two hits and the one earned run, with three strikeouts and two walks, his ERA improving to 2.24 overall. Klippstein took the loss, falling to 2-2 (5.45 ERA), blowing his second save by giving up a hit and two runs without even getting the out we brought him in to get. Jackson led the team with three hits for a run and an RBI, while Willie Mays had two hits in three at-bats, scoring a run. Toby Atwell is still celebrating his first homer of the year as well, refusing to let the ending to the game bring him down.

This is going to eat at me all the way to St. Louis -- bullpen management is going to be the death of me.

[jksander]

MAY 31, 1953 . . . Willie Mays hit his 15th homer of the year, a two-run shot to center of 414 feet, to put us up 2-0 in the top of the fourth inning, and it was a much needed one, since this was a game where stringing together hits or even getting on base was at a premium. Thankfully we had Bob Rush wheeling and dealing from the mound, which meant that a two-run lead was better protected than with a lesser pitcher. Still, I knew we could really use a little insurance heading into the top of the seventh with the same 2-0 lead. Rush got things going with a hard-hit grounder up the right side to get on base, and Fondy hit a blooper that Eddie Yuhas just couldn’t reach, allowing him to reach first without the ball leaving the infield. But Ernie Banks hit into a double play, moving Rush to third but leaving us with two outs. And Hank Sauer quickly batted out to right for an easy out, ending the inning. McCullough opened the second by reaching second on a fielding error, and Rush hit a hard fly-out to right that was deep enough to allow McCullough to reach home, giving us an insurance run! And though Rush gave up a run in the bottom of the ninth, he held tough to get the last two outs he needed, winning this one for us 3-1 as we manage to stay just a little bit ahead of the Cardinals, and above .500 on the season by improving to 24-22.

Rush only gave up four hits in his nine innings pitched today, improving to 6-5 with a 3.52 ERA in 87 innings over 12 starts, striking out five batters with only one walk and the one earned run. Sauer got a hit and scored a run, while also walking once, but he’s still struggling to find his rhythm. Mays had his homer, keeping his batting average at .394 and his slugging just a couple dozen points from .800, and Randy Jackson added two hits in four at-bats as well.

We only have the one game against St. Louis, so now we’re hitting the road for a long trip to play a night game tomorrow at Pittsburgh (15-32), the first of three before we drive to New York to play four against the Giants (25-23). We then will have three against the Phillies (25-21), meaning these next ten games in nine days could give us a boost right back into the heat of the NL chase if we can string some wins together. Welcome to June baseball in the National League!

JUNE 2, 1953 . . . First off, some news from our bullpen -- Dutch Leonard caught me this morning as we pulled into Pittsburgh on the team bus, and told me he’s decided to retire at the end of the season. He’s 44 years old, so that’s hardly a surprise, but I know how hard it is to see a guy step away from this game.

Hacker was ready to pitch on short rest, and he’s been on fire lately so we’re using him to start this tough nine-game stretch so hopefully we can build some momentum. He jokingly has started calling me Captain Hook for taking him out of that game against the Reds on May 30th, since “if anyone’s going to give up my ninth inning runs it should be me!” Hopefully we’ll give him more run support tonight and it won’t be a factor against this sputtering Pittsburgh team.

Randy Jackson hit a pop fly to left that was an easy catch in the top of the fourth, but it was good enough to let Cavarretta score the first run of the game via the first hit for either team in the game -- Howie Pollet and our Warren Hacker were putting on a hell of a pitching clinic in this one. But Sauer had an error in the bottom of the fourth that allowed a runner to reach second, and Willie Mays had a rare missed catch in deep center field, allowing a run to score for the Pirates -- an unearned run for Hacker, but still a run. Pittsburgh got a pair of hits in the inning but Hacker shut them down in the end, keeping it knotted 1-1 heading into the fifth. The game stayed tied, and both starters stayed in, at least until the ninth inning when Pittsburgh finally pulled the tiring Pollet, and we weren’t able to add any runs, sending us to the bottom of the 9th, tied 1-1, and Hacker said “keep me in, Captain!” He struck out the first two batters, and then gave up a hit to Frank Thomas on a ball that snuck through in the middle to get him to first. He then walked Joe Garagiola, his first walk of the day against eight strikeouts, but a fly-out to right was corralled by Cavarretta, and this one was going to extra innings!

Cavarretta doubled in the top of the 10th with a deep slash to center field, driving in Miksis and Fondy to put us up 3-1 with two outs, so with some insurance to work with Hacker stayed in with his hot hand to close things out, and he did it perfectly, pitching to contact and getting three consecutive outs to win the game 3-1 on his 125th pitch of the night, with ten innings pitched for just five hits and one unearned run with eight strikeouts against one walk. Unbelieveable! His ERA dropped all the way down to 2.01 after this one as he improved to 8-2.

We out-hit the Pirates 6-5 in this tightly contested battle, with Cavarretta hitting two of five with a run scored and two batted in, while Eddie Miksis broke out of his recent slump with two hits in four at-bats, scoring a run himself. Mays, Sauer, Banks and Jackson were all held hitless, though Mays got on base once with a walk and Jackson did drive a run home with his sacrifice out in the fourth inning.

[jksander]

JUNE 3, 1953 . . . Pittsburgh went up 2-0 in the bottom of the first on a two-run homer by Ralph Kiner, and the game stayed that way until Cavarretta got a grounder through to left field in the top of the fifth which went all the way to the wall and allowed him to reach third, driving in three runs to put us in the lead! But Pittsburgh was able to drive in the tying and go-ahead runs in the bottom of the seventh, putting us in a 3-5 hole at the end of the inning and leaving Minner fuming over his continued control issues. Fondy got a triple with two outs in the top of the ninth, but Cavarretta left him stranded and we lost this one 3-5.

Paul Minner fell to 4-5 with a 4.94 ERA after this one, giving up 10 hits and five earned runs, walking two and not striking out a single batter over 106 pitches. Don Newcombe came in for an inning of relief, giving up one hit with a strikeout and a walk but keeping the score from bloating beyond where it already was. The Pirates out-hit us 11-9, with Fondy getting two hits in five at-bats with a run scored, and Cavarretta hitting twice in five to bat in three.

JUNE 4, 1953 . . . We close out the Pittsburgh series with Dick Brodowski in his third start of the season, hoping to eke out a series win before heading to New York. And we got out to a great start, with Hank Sauer hitting a much-needed single that batted in Fondy and Mays to put us up 2-0! And Clyde McCullough slammed a home-run to the upper decks beyond right field, scoring three more to really get this one going here in the top of the first! Brodowski gave up a solo homer in the bottom of the fourth, only his third earned run in 20.1 innings pitched to that point, but Pittsburgh couldn’t get anything going beyond that and we went into the top of the fifth leading 5-1.

Mays hit his 16th homer of the year to add an insurance run in the top of the fifth, and McCullough got us started in the top of the sixth with an amazing triple with one out, driving in Randy Jackson, followed by Eddie Miksis reaching first on an error to send McCullough in for run number eight -- and then in the most insane thing to happen today, our starter Brodowski hammered a 391-foot homer to left field, clearing the bases and putting us up 10-1. Willie Mays then hit his second homer of the night before the Pirates managed to get the third out and bring Brodowski back out for the bottom of the sixth, our Cubs leading by a staggering 12-1 margin.

The Pirates got a run back in the bottom of the sixth, unearned thanks to Cal Abrams reaching base on an error, but Sauer hit a three-run homer in the top of the eighth to absolutely destroy what morale they had left. A run scored for Pittsburgh in the bottom of the eighth, but the batter hit into a double play, so that limited any damage. Brodowski closed out his second complete game in three tries as we beat the Pirates 15-3 to win the series.

Brodowski, now 2-1 with a stellar 1.38 ERA, gave up just seven hits tonight for three runs, two earned. He struck out three batters but didn’t walk a single one in 111 pitches. Fondy hit three times and walked twice, scoring three runs, while Hank Sauer really broke out of his funk, hitting twice in five at-bats and driving in five runs to bring his year’s total to 25 RBIs to go with his seventh homer of the year. Willie Mays hit his two homers plus a third hit in five at-bats, scoring three and driving in three, giving him 45 RBIs and 17 homers in just 47 games! And McCullough, who hit the three-run homer in the first, finished with two hits in four at-bats to score two and drive in four. All around it was a great night for Cubs fans, let me tell you.

With this series win we are now 26-23 and in 4th place in the NL, just 5-1/2 games behind Milwaukee (33-19) in first place. We have a half game lead on the Giants, who we’ll now face four games against, and we’re tied with Philly, who we’ll have three games against next week. I’m liking our hustle, and see these games as a real opportunity to show that our start in April was less of a fluke than our slump in May.

[jksander]

JUNE 5, 1953 . . . If there’s such a thing as a lucky team this year, the Giants would be it. Statistically their 26-24 record is +5 against their Pythagorean record, which has them 21-29, by far the largest differential in the entirety of the major leagues thanks to an absolutely ghastly -48 run differential. Question is, can we steal back some of that luck against them on their own field? To date we’re 1-3 against them, so we’re going into this series knowing we’ll need to grind it out to come out with another series win.

We opened the series with Klippstein on the mound, giving him a chance to start so we could give Bob Rush an extra day of recovery after several starts on short rest. And he melted down in the bottom of the third, giving up an RBI single and then walking in a run with the bases loaded, followed by a two-run single -- all this with two outs! He finally got the strikeout, but he was nearing 70 pitches after three innings, so unless we could get some runs back, he wasn’t likely to last too long into this one. Gonna be a test for our bullpen for sure. Fondy hit a triple to drive in Miksis with just one out, putting us on the board down 1-4 in the top of the fifth, and though Cavarretta’s possible double was thwarted by a diving catch at center field, the extra seconds gave Fondy time to come around and score, cutting the deficit to two as we headed into the bottom of the fifth. Sauer hit a solo homer in the first at-bat of the sixth, and Fondy nailed his fourth homer of the year to drive in three runs in the top of the seventh, giving us a 6-4 lead!

We pinch-hit Baumholtz for Klippstein to start that rally (and he was one of the players batted in by Fondy’s homer!) so we brought Bob Kelly in to pitch in the bottom of the seventh. Kelly gave up a run but got out of a jam with a handy double play and we went into the top of the eighth still leading by one, with Hatten ready to come in from the bullpen. And though we were unable to add any runs, Hatten made it through two innings without giving up the tying run, allowing us to come away with a huge 6-5 victory!

Klippstein stayed in just long enough to earn the win, improving to 3-2 with a 5.52 ERA, giving up seven hits and four earned runs while striking out two and walking three -- and had he not gotten late-game run support this would have been a much different night for him. Bob Kelly got the hold, his second of the year, throwing a full inning while giving up a hit a walk and a run. And Hatten earned his first save of the year with two innings of one-hit ball, no strikeouts or walks, bringing his ERA back down to 9.00 after the awkward debut last month.

Dee Fondy was the hero of the game, hitting twice in five chances with a triple and a home-run, bringing his average up to .312 while scoring twice and driving in four RBIs! Jackson and Miksis each had two hits as well, with Miksis scoring twice in critical junctures. Sauer’s eighth homer of the year brings his total to 26 RBIs on the year.

Our four-run comeback really sparked excitement among the Cubs fans who have joined our road contingent, and I’m really liking the effort we’re seeing from this team of overachievers. I think we can do some big things this year if given the chance.

JUNE 6, 1953 . . . The Polo Grounds were popping off when Daryl Spencer hit a towering homer to left, putting the Giants up 1-0 in the bottom of the second in only the first hit of the game thus far. But Phil Cavarretta hit a triple in the top of the third, driving in pitcher Bob Rush, who had hit a solid single up the middle to start the inning, tying the score 1-1 with just one out. Willie Mays was robbed of a possible double or triple of his own because of an insane diving scoop, but it was good enough of a hit to drive Cavarretta home to put us in the lead! But the Giants answered with a two-run triple of their own to go back up 2-3 in the bottom of the third, and by the end of the inning they had a two-run lead on us heading into the fourth. And they added another two in the bottom of the fourth on a homer by Alvin Dark, putting Rush into a hole I wasn’t sure we’d have the run support to get him out of. A solo homer in the bottom of the fifth did it ... I had to start warming someone else up, this just wasn’t his night. By the time we could get Hatten warmed up Rush had given up another two-run homer and, finally getting a strikeout to end the inning, digging us a 2-9 pit to wallow in.

Willie Mays hit a solo homer in the top of the sixth to make it a six-run deficit. In the bottom of the seventh Hatten got himself into a real pickle, bases loaded, no one out, but Don Newcombe came in with a strikeout, a pickoff at home plate and a great catch by banks to throw a runner out at second, getting us out of the inning without any damage. Willie Mays hit a double in the top of the eighth to drive Cavarretta home and pulling us within five runs, but Sauer was tagged out at first to end the inning, meaning best case scenario we’d need a five-run comeback in the ninth.

Newcombe did what he could, getting us through the eighth without further incident, and Ernie Banks opened the top of the ninth with a standing double -- could this be the start of the rally we needed? Jackson reached first on an infield hit, getting Banks to third. McCullough was tagged out at first but allowed time for Banks to get home, scoring run number five. Miksis struck out, however, and we had to pinch hit Baumholtz for Newcombe with everything on the line. Baumholtz took a two out walk, bringing up Dee Fondy with two men on! But Fondy hit a fly ball to left that was easily caught and we lost this one 5-9.

Bob Rush fell to 6-6 and his ERA plummeted to 4.21, thanks to his nine earned runs off of ten hits (four of which were homers). Joe Hatton was lucky Newcombe had his back, because he could have been seriously rung up again -- instead he got through an inning with just two hits, but also three walks and only one strikeout. Newcombe was impressive in two full innings, giving up two hits and getting a strikeout, throwing 27 pitches while bringing his ERA back down to 4.98.

Phil Cavarretta led the team with two hits and a walk, scoring two runs and batting in another, while Willie Mays hit twice in three attempts, scoring once and driving in three.

Tomorrow we have a double-header with Hacker and Minner ready to pitch. In an All Star voting update, Willie Mays is leading the votes for center fielders by nearly 50,000 votes, while Cavarretta is leading at right field by 30,000 votes. Despite his relative inconsistency this year, Bob Rush is still third in votes for stating pitcher, while Bob Kelly is fifth in overall reliever votes, mostly based off his six saves, though he’s 0-3 with a 6.38 ERA.

[darkcloud4579]

Extremely well-written and fun styled dynasty, not even a Cubs guy but you've got me engrossed!

[jksander]

Originally Posted by darkcloud4579

Extremely well-written and fun styled dynasty, not even a Cubs guy but you've got me engrossed!

Thanks, man I'm really enjoying writing it, and I'm even happier people are actually wanting to read it ... my Word file (through June 7's doubleheader that I'm about to post) is now at 24,180 words! But playing through the games one by one has allowed me to really get to know the players and the lineups ... I don't think I'd get that out of a quick-sim.

Let me know if there's any info you'd want written up about questions you have I can pull stats out and write up little news articles as needed to add to the backstory

[jksander]

JUNE 7, 1953 . . . Another day for a double header! At least it’s sunny and warm. In the opening game, Warren Hacker came out uncharacteristically shaky, giving up a single and a double to back to back pitches in the bottom of the first, putting runners in scoring position before he even threw his third pitch. Amazingly, he got out of it with a strikeout, a flyout and then a tag at home plate to prevent the Giants from scoring, throwing only 10 pitches in the inning. Talk about poise under pressure! And in the top of the second, Sauer singled and Banks homered over the right field wall, putting us up 2-0 with no outs. Monte Irwin then hit a towering homer nearly 500 feet, putting the Giants on the board down 2-1, and then Wes Westrum hit a two-run homer in the seme direction (but shorter distance) and suddenly we were down 2-3. The way the wind was carrying, fans were absolutely loving it. But this kind of game can be hell on a pitcher. Hacker was frustrated after the inning, but you could also tell he was glad to have not done more damage. In the top of the third we loaded the bases with two men out, and Ernie Banks knocked in two with a fast-flying grounder to right field, giving us back the lead as he advanced on the single. But in the bottom of the frame Hank Thompson hit a blistering line drive to left that went all the way to the wall, allowing Robby Thomason to go all the way around from first to score, tying it 4-4 on the double. What a crazy game -- neither pitcher has thrown even 50 pitches yet, and we’ve already had eight total runs in just three innings!

In the bottom of the fifth the Giants put three more runs on the board, though he saw me warming up his replacement in the bullpen and was able to get the outs he needed to get out of the inning. We couldn’t make anything happen in the top of the sixth, and I brought Dutch Leonard in to pitch for a tiring Hacker. And though Leonard pitched the rest of the game, three near perfect innings, we didn’t score after the third inning, giving absolutely no run support as we lost this one 4-7.

Hacker fell to 8-3 with a 2.44 ERA, having given up 10 hits in five innings for seven runs (six earned) to go with three strikeouts and no walks. This appearance snapped his 12-game streak of quality starts, and it was only his second game of the year with 10 hits given up. Leonard came out and pitched three full innings of no-hit ball, with a strikeout and a walk, bringing his ERA down to 5.84 over 12.1 innings in his seventh relief appearance this year. Fondy went hitless, a real rarity, but Willie Mays added two hits in four at-bats, scoring a run. And Ernie Banks really perked up, hitting twice and walking twice, scoring a run and driving in four!

Randy Jackson hit a 491 footer that almost went to the parking lot, putting us up 1-0 in the top of the second, his fourth homer of the year. In the bottom of the fourth Minner got a scare when a runner wound up on first because of an error, and then he gave up a hit that drove said runner to third. But he was able to get the outs he needed and did not surrender the unearned run -- instead we went into the top of the fifth still leading 1-0. In the top of the sixth, Fondy singled to reach first, stole second, and then Giants pitcher Jim Hearn walked Cavarretta and Mays to load the bases! That brought up Sauer with no outs, and he flew out to center, driving home our second run and giving us runners on the corners. Ernie Banks hit a line drive to right to drive Cavarretta in safely and sending Mays all the way to third, and as we headed for the bottom of the sixth we now held a mure comfortable 3-0 lead. We pinch hit Baumholtz for Minner in the top of the ninth, hoping to add some insurance, but Bob Kelly came in to protect Minner’s win in the bottom of the inning, hoping to get his first save in what seems like forever. He set the first two batters down on four pitches but then gave up a solo homer to Sal Yvars to cutt he margin to two runs with two outs. Still, he got the final out masterfully and we came out of this one with a 3-1 victory.

Paul Minner improved to 5-5 (4.46 ERA) with the win, giving up just six hits in eight innings with two strikeouts and two walks. Bob Kelly saved his seventh game of the year but the earned run keeps his ERA at 6.48 for the season in 25.0 innings pitched (15 appearances). Banks was solid again with two hits in four at-bats with an RBI. Cavarretta hit once and walked twice, scoring a run, and Fondy had a hit and a walk, scoring a run of his own as well to keep his average over .300 for the year. Miksis had the second game off to rest, but his replacement Bill Serena played his second game of the year and got a hit, though it didn’t get him anywhere.

Newcombe, Brodowski and Rush are ready to pitch our next three game series against the Phillies as this endless road stand continues. We’ve split the first six games against these guys, and right now we’re tied with them at 28-25, 5-1/2 games back of first and four games behind Brooklyn (32-21) in second. To this point we’ve played well enough to consistently stay above .500, but the distance between the good, the average and the terrible in this year’s NL is starting to show. If we want to get back into the good, we need to start playing consistently from game to game. With six games over the next eight days against Philly and Brooklyn, we can do a lot to get into the right frame of mind before we get back to Wrigley on the 16th for 14 games in a row.

[jksander]

JUNE 8, 1953 . . . Today was an interesting lineup, since Cavarrettta, Sauer and McCullough all were out taking rest days, so we had to bring in guys like Toby Atwell, Frank Baumholtz and Ron Northey, which made for a potentially low-scoring group. But those were the guys who stepped up early in this one -- Atwell doubled in the top of the second, and with two men out Atwell hit a well-placed single up the ap that gave Atwell room to run all the way home to give us a 1-0 lead! But Newcombe surrendered a two-run homer in the bottom of the second, putting the Phillies back in the lead. We loaded the bases in the top of the third but left them all stranded. And while Newcombe got out of the third inning with no extra runs surrendered, he was quickly tiring, having already thrown 72 pitches. Frank Baumholtz was able to tie things up with a massive solo homer in the top of the fourth, his first of the year, and we stayed knotted 2-2 through six.

In the top of the seventh Baumholtz hit a triple, his second HUGE effort in this game to keep us in the position to win, but no one was able to bring him home. And this one stayed knotted into extra innings as Klippstein went 2.1 innings without a run and Bob Kelly came in to pitch the last 1.2, saving the ninth inning with a runner on third and only one out! I’m still checking my pulse after that one. So we went into the top of the tenth with Kelly up to bat, so I started warming up Joe Hatten and pinch hit Clyde McCullough, who ripped a line drive hard to right, reaching first and bringing up the top of the order. Fondy grounded out to first, but McCullough made it safely to second by the skin of his teeth. Eddie Miksis hit it right up the middle to take his base safely, driving McCullough to third with only one out. But Willie Mays grounded into a double play and our inning was over. But Hatten set them down one, two, three and we were out of the 10th safely and into the 11th. But we couldn’t get anyone on base in the top of the inning, and they wound up walking it off with an RBI double, beating us 2-3 in a real heartbreaker. We did everything right -- considering this lineup, the fact that we fought back twice from deficits to even BE in extra innings, that shows our grit and determination.

Hatten closed the game out with 1.1 innings of two hit ball with a strikeout, but he gave up the final run so he took the loss and fell to 0-2 with a 6.75 ERA. Newcombe threw 96 pitches in five innings, giving up five hits and two earned runs with a strikeout and a walk. Klippstein managed 2.1 innings of two-hit ball, with no runs scored and a strikeout, and Bob Kelly was impressive in his 1.2 innings, giving up just one hit and one walk and then getting out of the jam to allow the extra frames in the first place.

Baumholtz is the batter of the night, with a homer and a triple in four at-bats, scoring one and driving in another, bringing his average up to .349 in 25 appearances and 43 at-bats. Atwell also had a crucial hit, and though his average is only .189, don’t let that fool you -- he did what we needed him to do today, and that’s what matters.

Tomorrow we’ll be back at full strength offensively, and we’ll have 20-year-old phenom Dick Brodowski (2-1, 1.38 ERA) on the mound.

[jksander]

JUNE 9, 1953 . . . Frank Baumholtz has stayed red hot, so we’re keeping him in the lineup and giving Willie Mays a second day of rest. Other than that, everything’s back to normal in our batting rotation. Mays is our best player, we don’t want to beat him to death with the day to day grind even if sometimes we may be tempted.

Brodowski committed his first error of the year on a play to first in the bottom of the first, which led to his giving up of an unearned run to put the Phillies up quickly. He has to learn how to get out of jams, and by the end of the inning we trailed 0-2 and he’d given up three hits. The question was, how would he respond, since one bad inning in 27 does not necessarily a meltdown make. He gave up a third run in the bottom of the third, however, and as the pitch count rose it was becoming clear this was not his night. By the time he got the final out of the third inning we trailed 0-4 and he’d thrown 81 pitches. Welcome to the big leagues, son. I had to bring Bob Rush in to finish the fourth inning, with the expectation that we could save our bullpen after the long game yesterday. And he pitched brilliantly, but got absolutely no support from our hitters until the bottom of the ninth with two outs, when Ernie Banks hit a solo homer to finally give us a goddamned run. Jackson then doubled, setting up Baumholtz, still with two outs, who promptly flew out to right and ended this one with us falling 1-4.

Bob Rush threw 4.1 innings of two-hit ball in relief, with two strikeouts and two walks, throwing 65 total pitches and bringing his ERA down to 4.02. Brodowski took the loss and fell to 2-2 with a 2.12 ERA, but we all have a bad night -- he’s got to figure out what to take from this one to avoid forming poor habits. He gave up seven hits and four runs (three earned) in 3.2 innings, throwing 95 pitches and getting three strikeouts against one walk. We were out-hit 9-6, but Jackson and Fondy each had two hits on the night.

Rush says he wants the chance to still throw his start tomorrow, and as we’ll have our relievers all rested, I told him I’m okay with giving it a shot as long as he’s willing to let me know when he’s had enough -- and I’ll pull him if he’s thrown too many pitches to risk it. If he can give us five or six quality innings, I think he’ll have done very well. It will also keep Hacker from throwing on just three days’ rest after his struggles in his last outing.

JUNE 10, 1953 . . . Connie Ryan nailed a homer to left four pitches in, giving Philly a 0-1 lead, but Rush handled his business the rest of the inning and the solo shot seemed like just that kind of flukey hit that baseball fans are used to. But it would be nice if we could get a few of those, because the last few games our offense has been simply stagnant. By the end of two innings Rush had four strikeouts but we also trailed Philly 0-2. Nothing was coming easy, and I tried to keep the vibe in the dugout from getting too dark early -- seven innings is a lot of baseball to play when you’re in your own head.

We scored our first run in the top of the fourth, when Randy Jackson grounded into a fielder’s choice allowing Wilie Mays to score and Sauer to advance to third, but Eddie Miksis struck out, ending the rally before it could fully develop. Joe Hatten came in to pitch in the bottom of the sixth with the score still 1-2 in favor of the Phillies, and he promptly gave up two runs with only one out, likely putting this one out of reach the way we’ve been hitting lately. By the end of the inning we trailed Philadelphia 1-5. And it didn’t get any better from there, we just couldn’t f---ing buy a string of hits, and Philly kept on slugging. They added a solo homer in the seventh, and Fondy singled to right in the top of the ninth to negate that run by driving in Randy Jackson, but we still trailed by four. And that’s where we’d stay, down 2-6 against the Phillies as we got our asses swept.

Rush fell to 6-7 on the year, but his ERA improved to 4.00 as he gave up seven hits but just two earned runs, striking out five while only walking one. If he’d had more run support I might have been able to give him another inning, but I have to be able to trust our relievers in situations like this, and Hatten (now with an abysmal 9.82 ERA thanks to four earned runs tonight on four hits and two walks) definitely isn’t cutting it. Cavarretta and Sauer couldn’t find a hit if their lives depended on it today, though Sauer at least used his patience at the plate to find two walk opportunities. Ernie Banks hit twice but was stranded each time, and Jackson had a pair of hits, scoring one and batting in another.

We have a day off, followed by three games this weekend against Brookyln before we can finally get this road trip over and return to Wrigley ... but will the fans care to visit us there? After starting June with a 3-1 record, we’ve lost five of our last six, and we’re now 28-28, nine games out of first and fading fast.