"Ain't Gonna Work As Topping's Farm No More" -- A's Baseball in a Reimagined Fifties - Page 6

jksander · 11-01-2024, 05:47 PM

October 6, 1958: Cheney and Spahn faced off again in game five, as the Guardians played their final game of the series in front of their hometown faithful. Milwaukee stuck quickly, scoring via an RBI double by Johnny Logan and a groundout by Hank Aaron to take a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Cleveland then got on the baord finally in the bottom of the sixth, Bobby Avila batting in Rocky Colavito with a single to make it a one-run game. Milwaukee didn’t blink, a two-run homer by Joe Adcock building their lead to three runs heading into the stretch, and that would be all they needed to shut Cleveland down 4-1. They take a three to two lead in the series as it heads back west to Milwaukee, and unless the Guardians can steal both remaining road wins, a three-peat for the Braves now looks all but inevitable. Both pitchers went all the way, with Spahn allowing just seven hits, a walk and a run with four strikeouts, while Cheney had five hits, four walks and four runs with five strikeouts. Adcock led the way offensively for the Braves, hitting once, walking once, with a run and two RBIs thanks to his homer.

October 8, 1958: Garcia and Terry faced off in game six back in Milwaukee, and Cleveland took the lead in the top of the third with an RBI single by Roger Maris, adding on two more with a homer by Rosen in the top of the fourth to lead 3-0. The Braves struck back with a two-run single by Norm Siebern in the bottom of the fifth, tying the score in the seventh with an RBI double by the pitcher, Terry! This place erupted in the bottom of the eighth when Hank Aaron slugged a two-run homer out of center to give the home team a two-run lead, and that was all she wrote ... Milwaukee won game six 5-3, taking the series for the third year in a row, and I think it’s safe to say we have a dynasty on our hands! Terry won the game off 8.1 innings with seven hits, five walks and three runs, with nine strikeouts, while Murray Wall got the save, making the final two outs with a hit and a strikeout. The Braves outhit Cleveland 10-8, led by Aaron who had two hits, a run and the two RBIs from his game-winning homer. Catcher Dick Brown was named World Series MVP ... the 23-year-old, playing in his first postseason, hit .364 with two doubles, a homer and six runs batted in.

The Milwaukee Braves are your World Champions for the third year in a row, winning the series four games to two.

- - - - -

October 15, 1958: Another offseason of baseball is upon us, and this year I’m embarking on the new challenge of turning Chicago’s White Sox back into a winning proposition. We have a solid budget of well over $2.2 million, which will allow us to significantly build on our current team payroll of $1.1 million, and we have $866,000 in cash reserves which gives me a lot of leeway when it comes to building our team ... if the Supreme Court does strike down the reserve clause, we’ll definitely be in a solid starting position next offseason when any big name players hit the open market. The owners are expected to start winter meetings in late November, at which point the writing may already be on the wall in that regard. So this year may be about biding our time, building up further cash reserves, and then plotting to win the first year of free agency in style as a future big-city juggernaut.

My first few meetings with owner Kelly Schober have gone quite well. He’s about the age of my father, and like me is a true baseball rat, not your usual “hands off” owner -- he’ll put up money when needed but wants to be involved in what I’m planning for the team. He’s known for penny pinching, but understands the role of a big city owner and isn’t interested in losing, so he’ll put up the money needed to field a winning team. His priority is on building a balanced team, and while he wants to compete for a World Series by 1963, he’s understanding of the fact that we’ve got a long way to climb if we want to have a team that can get there more than as a flash in the pan. The current focus will be on maintaining and building our fan support, improving our draft record, increasing attendance and building our farm. He’s already told me he doesn’t necessarily care about a player being ready to come straight from the draft to the team -- we already have a lot of good young players on the roster who will need time to develop, so building the farm with long term prospects is the way to go. He expects us to be close to .500 this season, so no backsliding from our sixth place finish this year. And the press rumors were right ... he does want us to go after hometown third-baseman Gene Freese, though I’m not sure Washington’s going to want to let go of a young player of his caliber without getting a significant return. The biggest priorities, however, are the fans, the attendance and the farm in that order.

We’re maximizing our scouting budget ($119,700) and our development budget ($179,550), which is going to cut into our cash reserves somewhat, but it’s more than worthwhile in the long term. We have half of our development spots filled by current young players, and will reserve the remainder for players we draft in November. The draft class announcement comes tomorrow, and then our new Director of Scouting Operations,

October 16, 1958: As expected, the Senators had zero interest in discussing a trade for Freese, but they do need cash badly and that we have plenty of. I’ve had my eye on closer Jim Donohue, age 19, who the Senators had picked up back in 1955 as an undrafted free agent. The kid throws a ridiculously good fastball and curveball combo with his fastball frequently reaching the upper nineties ... and last year at the AA level he went 5-3 with seven saves, a 2.90 ERA and 56 K’s in 59 innings, giving him nearly two games of WAR as a reliever, frequently pitching two innings at a time as well. He’s on the verge of being a top 75 prospect at the moment, and we want him. After some dickering back and forth, we’ve come to an arrangement. The Senators will get 25-year-old minor league first baseman Gene Wallace (a former seventh rounder playing for AAA Indianapolis) and $125,000 in cash, and we get the closer of our future in Donahue, who will be going to AAA Indianapolis and into our development lab for strength and conditioning training .... with a cannon for an arm like he has, we want to make sure he’s conditioned to use it well and not flame out.

It is a great looking draft, with any number of amazing players we could get, with our pick coming sixth overall in the first round. The early favorites among the press right now are third baseman Ron Santo, power lefty Carl Yastrzemski, extreme power first baseman Boog Powell, knuckleballer Phil Niekro, outfielder Willie Davis and catcher / outfielder Duke Sims. But we’ll be scouting the bunch to see how many diamonds in the rough we can poach from the lower levels of the draft as well.

jksander · 11-01-2024, 06:43 PM

November 1, 1958: The Supreme Court officially made their ruling in the case of Maglie, Maris, et al. vs. Major League Baseball, Inc., officially legally striking down the reserve clause as “capricious, collusive, and in direct conflict with the intent behind the 13th Amendment.” Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote in the majority opinion that, because we now have an official player draft, which keeps players from signing with the team of their choice as had been done in the early days of baseball, the fact that the reserve clause then limited their future movement while allowing owners to trade players at will, makes the clause itself unconstitutional. Therefore, effective at the end of the current season, players will become eligible for free agency after a minimum of six years’ service time, with salary arbitration taking affect after three years. There will be no compensation for lost free agents at the current time, though changes to the system could be added once the owners and the players begin negotiating terms for future collective bargaining agreements.

This is going to be a huge deal for the baseball world, and it will be interesting to see how things shake out. Each team’s situation will be different, but as it stands for us right now, Sherm Lollar, Minnie Minoso, Billy Pierce, Larry Doby, Bob Rush, Jerry Coleman and Bill Serena will be immediately free agents after the 1959 season, and among our young arbitration eligible players, 25-year-old CF Gene Stephens will, with one year of arbitration left, suddenly have a lot more negotiating power at a very young age. We also have 24-year-old shortstop Luis Aparicio who, with two years of arbitration left, also stands to benefit from this arrangement.

There could be some HUGE names in the free agency pool next season, including the likes of Eddie Mathews, Ernie Banks, Jim Piersall, Al Kaline, Billy Hoeft, Mickey Mantle, Johnny Antonelli, Frank Thomas and Willie Mays. That’s going to make things very interesting, especially as the larger markets have to balance team building with financials. Will it become a wild west when salaries are taken into account?

jksander · 11-01-2024, 08:14 PM

November 15, 1958: It’s draft day, and there’s a lot of excitement in the air as we wait and see who we’ll be able to bring into our organization. The Phillies had the number one pick, followed by Kansas City, the Cubs, Giants and Orioles. As expected, the Phillies drafted 19-year-old LF phenom Carl “Yaz” Yastrzemski, a Southampton, Pennsylvania native who is sure to become a star there. Kansas City took 18-year-old third baseman Ron Santo, a player the Cubs at #3 were really hoping to get. Instead they settled for first baseman Boog Powell, while the Giants took 17-year-old right handed starter Dean Chance and the Orioles went with 18-year-old right-handed starter Jim Maloney. That brought us up to the plate to pick our future ... here’s who we wound up with in this year’s amateur draft!

ROUND 1, Pick 6: CF Willie Davis
Davis, an 18-year-old outfield prospect hailing from Mineral Springs, North Carolina, has incredible outfield range and a solid arm, with potential to be an incredible left fielder, but with the range to handle center and right as well. He’s a fast runner with top-notch agressiveness on the basepaths, with the ability and the intelligence needed to steal at a well-above average clip. He is said to be very durable as a player, and has the potential to become an above average hitter with a loose, quick stroke that works inside the ball. His defense and that incredible speed should quickly make him a top level starter. He’s already close to major league ready, but may spend a year in the minors as he continues to develop, since unless we start him in right field there isn’t necessarily a spot for him on the roster yet.

ROUND 2, Pick 22 (Comp): RF Mike Hershberger
Hershberger, at 19, has one of the best outfield arms I’ve seen, which makes him a perfect fit for right field. Another durable athlete, the native of Massillon, Ohio has played for James Madison University, where he’s earned a reputation for having very high contact potential. He’s a great defender with tons of upside, and is projected to become an above average everyday big league player with the ability to patiently avoid striking out at the plate.

ROUND 2, Pick 24: C Jim Pagliaroni
Jim is one of the better defensive catchers in the draft this year, with great blocking and framing skills, and he’s been having his way while catching at Oklahoma State University. The 20-year-old native of Dearborn, Michigan should be an above average power hitter once he fully develops, and he’s a very athletic catcher. Another patient player at the plate, he’s got the potential to unleash his obvious talents both on the field and at the plate, making him a great potential replacement for Sherm Lollar down the road.

ROUND 3, Pick 38: SP Hank Fischer
An 18-year-old who already goes by the nickname “Bulldog,” Fischer is a right hander who already has a great fastball / slider / changeup combo, but with the potential to develop those with pinpoint control. He’ll need to work on his stamina if he wants to stay a starter at the major league level, but if that control comes up and he can keep throwing deeper into games, he’ll be a keeper. Worst case scenario he becomes a bullpen ace, capable of going two or three innings in high leverage situations and throwing more than a hundred innings per season while striking out more than his share of baffled batters.

It was not a particularly deep draft when it comes to high profile players, so I let our scout handle the remaining rounds. But these top four players definitely have the most potential to be top prospects and make the major league roster before long.

November 19, 1958: Billy Pierce’s contract extension was a top priority, as he’s our current ace and we did not want to risk having to pay him even more in free agency. So we’ve made him the first Chicago player ever get a “million dollar offer,” though of course it’s all spread over a five year period. In addition to us agreeing not to trade him, the 31-year-old, who has amassed a record of 145-130 with a 3.21 ERA, 1,569 strikeouts and 51.6 total WAR, agreed to a deal worth $175,000 for next year, $190,000 in 1961 and $205,000 in 1962. At that point he has an option to opt out and pursue free agency at age 36 or buy in to his last two years, at $220,000. The final year has a vesting option attached, which will be void if he didn’t pitch at least 200 innings in the fourth year of the deal. He’s our only pitcher over the age of 26, and will provide leadership and stability with the long term signing. The fans are happy about it, ownership is happy about it, and that makes me feel a lot more comfortable as I get my feet wet here in Chicago.

Minnie Minoso and Sherm Lollar remain our two highest profile potential free agents, and Minoso’s contract in particular is going to cost significantly more long term if we’re going to get it done. Lollar wants a five or six year deal, but if we can get him down to a shorter term I’m thinking it’s more likely to come to fruition ... I’m not wanting to risk keeping any catcher up to the age of 40, even one who injures as rarely as Lollar does.

November 23, 1958: Sherm Lollar is staying in Chicago! We’ve come to terms on a four year deal that will keep him on the southside through 1963 when he’ll be 38 years old. The deal features two years at $194,000, followed by two years at $184,000, the final year of which is a player option. He also has a no trade clause that would restrict who he could be moved to if we were to discuss moving him in the future.

In other news, our third round draft pick, Hank Fischer, proved more difficult to sign than we’d expected, and he has decided to go back to college rather than join our minor league system. He will, however, earn us a compensatory third round pick next year as we did negotiate in good faith. I just wasn’t willing to pay him more than $10,000 as a third rounder who may or may not ever develop the stamina to be more than a bullpen arm. Get back with us in a few years when you have college experience under your belt, son.

November 26, 1958: Happy Thanksgiving, White Sox fans, because we’ve finally come to terms on a nine-year deal for Minnie Minoso that will ensure the star first baseman remains here for as long as he decides to keep playing. He’ll earn $200,000 per year through 1963, and then then choose to opt in to the remainder of the deal which would pay him $185,000 per year in 1964 and 1965, and $175,000 in 1965. He’ll have the option to agree to stay at $175,000 in 1967, and then we have a team option on his final year at age 42, which would either pay him $150,000 to keep playing or $75,000 if his skills aren’t there. He told the fans on local radio that the reason he stayed here is because he wants to win a title for us and erase the Black Sox legacy once and for all ... and let me tell you, based on the fan reaction I’ve already received, they were eating out of the palm of his hands. Now my job is to build a team around him that can get us to that goal.

It sounds like a ton of money getting thrown around, but we’re looking at just $1.3M in payroll next year and the year after, rising to $1.5m and $1.6M in ’62 and ’63 projected ahead. We’ve got budget space to build around our top players and make sure we’re competitive for years to come, and I’ve been told by ownership that if the chance to win is there, the budget will reflect the work we’ve put in. The days of our club being a big market one acting like we’re in a small market are over ... but the expectations on the field will rise accordingly.

jksander · 11-01-2024, 09:26 PM

December 21, 1958: The “Rule 5” pool was incredibly weak this year, so we chose not to take part in that draft. And it turned out the rest of the league did the same. For the first time I can recall, nobody lost a player in the rule five draft. Ho, hum. I guess that means all of us general managers were actually doing our jobs?

December 22, 1958: We’ve made the trade that’s going to make our owner very happy, as he’d wanted us to bring in another hometown player. I made myself happy by making that player Pittsburgh lefty starter Chuck Stobbs, who put together a 10-3 campaign last year with a 3.23 ERA and 68 K’s through 133.2 innings of work, with a 1.24 WHIP and 2.3 in total WAR. Stobbs is a smart player with great defensive skills as a pitcher, and he holds runners extremely well while using his pinpoint control and solid ball movement to keep players off kilter. And all we had to trade the Pirates for him was 24-year-old left fielder David Smith, a former rule five pick who last year hit just .259 for us as a pinch hitter. Easy deal! Stobbs is in the last year of his contract and could become a free agent next year, but for right now he’s a steal at $60,000 and will definitely have a role on our team this year. The fans, who thought we were done making deals, are excited to see what he can do in a White Sox uniform! If he does well, an extension would certainly not be out of the question.

January 15, 1959: For the first time in years, we have a new Hall of Fame inductee! Johnny Mize received 88.8% of the vote in his first year on the ballot! The first baseman, who spent most of his career with the Yankees, finished his 15-year career (which was interrupted by his service in World War II) with 2,011 hits, 367 doubles, 359 homers, 1,337 runs and 1,118 RBIs, hitting .312 and putting up 66.1 career wins above replacement. The 10-time All Star retired after the 1953 season. No other player on the ballot received more than 41% of the vote.

February 14, 1959: Preseason is upon us, and our successes in the offseason so far have encouraged our owner to add $320,000 to our budget! That will certainly help us with any further extensions, and anticipation for the season is at an all time high ... we’ve sold more than 9,100 season tickets already, and are hopeful that we can improve our attendance well beyond the 14,900 per game we achieved last year.

I forgot to mention, I’m extremely glad to be out of Kansas City, because they made the biggest bonehead move of the offseason when they failed to sign Ron Santo, their pick at the top of the draft! They will receive a compensatory pick next year at the top of the draft, but if ownership chose not to sign that guy, who will they possibly want to pay next year when they have to pay TWO players at the top of the first round? Santo will return to college where he plans to play for the University of Washington ... I can see a college World Series in their future if they play their cards right.

jksander · 11-02-2024, 01:09 AM

March 4, 1959: It’s time for Spring Training once again, and we have 42 players who have been invited to our spring complex to compete for 25 roster spots. Here are the players competing for spots, with the players who would make the team if I had to pick a top 25 immediately in red:

CATCHER -- Sherm Lollar, Clay Dalrymple, Jerry Zimmerman
FIRST BASE: Minnie Minoso, Henry Chiti
SECOND BASE: Jerry Adair, Jerry Coleman
THIRD BASE: Darryl Spencer, Bill Serena, Robert Sagers, Don Bacon
SHORTSTOP: Luis Aparicio, Jim Brideweser, Chuck Cottier, Maury Wills
LEFT FIELD: Felipe Alou, Lloyd Merriman
CENTER FIELD: Gene Stephens, Larry Doby, Lou Johnson, Willie Davis
RIGHT FIELD: Deron Johnson, Willie Kirkland

STARTING PITCHERS: Jim O’Toole, Jack Kralick, Billy Pierce, Stan Williams, Chuck Stobbs
CLOSER: Jim Donahue, Bobby Kuykendahl
STOPPER: Ron Wells
SETUP: Bob Rush, Hank Hemmerly
MIDDLE: Bill Fischer, Ed Rakow, Ed Bauta, Russ Heman, Ed Roebuck, Ed Donnelly
LONG / SPOT: Bernie Daniels
SPECIALIST: Fred Green, John Dewald*

* neither are likely to make the roster, but could use the reps this spring ... if we keep a sixth bullpen arm up, it’d be Kuykendahl or Hemmerly.

We are weakest overall at backup shortstop, third base and defensively in the outfield. Willie Davis would make the roster immediately if ht was all about hitting, and he could still sneak in as a pinch hitter and runner. But as a defender, he’s all potential that has yet to be realized. It’ll be interesting to see how he does in spring games. Daryl Spencer signed a minors to majors deal worth $21,000 back in November, none of it guaranteed, and he’s our best third base option right now though, if he has the injuries he did last year in Kansas City, his time here could be short and we’d have to hit the trade market. As for our bullpen, if I had to pick a sixth player to make the cut it’d be either Kuykendahl or Hank Hemmerly, with our two “specialists” up just to get reps. Neither is over 25, so it won’t hurt to have them back in the minors ... but it’s good to get them out there in the spring and see where any deficiencies lie.

We have had interest from Milwaukee in sending us Bobby Morgan, who would immediately help us at either second, third or short defensively. But the price would be very high ... they’d want Jack Kralick, and though they’re willing to throw in $250,000 cash to seal the deal, Kralick is just 23 and has a ton of upside. I’m not ready to jump on any kind of crazy deals right now, knowing that ownership just wants us to stay even this year. We’ll keep it on the back burner, however, and see if the three-time World Champs up their offer.

jksander · 11-02-2024, 01:17 AM

March 5, 1959: Today we opened spring training with a game against the Kansas City Athletics, with Jim O’Toole pitching against Milt Pappas. Kansas City got out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning thanks to back to back solo homers for Bill Bruton and Roy Sievers, and Del Crandall hit one in the bottom of the fourth to put them ahead by three. Bill Serena hit a two-run single for us in the fifth and Jerry Zimmerman hit a two-run homer in the top of the seventh, but we would lose this one in the end 6-4. We outhit the A’s 7-6, led by Zimmerman’s two RBIs, and O’Toole took the loss but did throw four innings with just three hits and three earned runs, striking out four batters.

March 6, 1959: Chuck Stobbs pitched against the Yankees’ Mike McCormick today, and though Willie Davis opened with a homer in the bottom of the first, the rest of the day was a wash as the Yankees used us for batting practice. We trailed by seven runs when Harry Chiti scored off a sac-fly and Willie Kirkland batted in another with an RBI single, but all that did was help us lose 8-3. New York outhit us 13-4, a real bloodbath ... thankfully it’s in a game that doesn’t count. Kirkland had two hits and an RBI, and Davis had his homer and a walk in the game. Stobbs only lasted three innings but had just three hits, a walk, two strikeouts and a run. It was Hank Hemmerly and Bill Fischer who combined for seven earned runs. Both deserve more reps before making a final decision, but Fischer’s performance was definitely troubling ... he was among my favorites of the middle relievers we invited to camp. Here’s hoping it’s an anomaly.

March 7, 1959: Jack Kralick pitched against Detroit’s Tom Brewer today, and though he gave up a run in the second, the real story was our offense’s continued inability to get hits. We’d go on to lose 2-0, matching them with three hits each, though they at least got two hits and two RBIs off catcher Bob Schmidt. Ours basically put up no resistance. Kralick took the loss, allowing two hits, three walks and a run with two strikeouts through just 2.1 innings. I know the games don’t count, but it’d be nice to see more hustle out there from our big-money batters.

Ed Bauta has been diagnosed with forearm tendinitis and will go on the IL ... whether he gets any more shots this spring will depend on his recovery, but his performance so far hadn’t turned my head.

March 8, 1959: Billy Pierce went up against Bill Wight today as we took on the Boston Red Sox, and in the top of the fifth we took the lead with an RBI single by Minnie Minoso. Robert Sagers hit an RBI single in the top of the seventh that made it a 2-1 White Sox lead, and then we hammered them for five runs in the top of the eighth to take total control, adding another pair in the ninth as we won 9-1! Pierce lasted four innings with four hits and three strikeouts, but since Ed Roebuck blew the save, Ed Donnelly took the win, with Donnelly, Kuykendall, Wells and Green putting together four no-hit innings out of the pen. We outhit them 13-5, led by Felipe Alou with two hits, two runs and an RBI.

March 9, 1959: Stan Williams went up against Washington’s Camilo Pascual in today’s game, and we took the lead in the bottom of the fourth when Jerry Adair reached on an error, driving in Deron Johnson. Jerry Coleman batted in two with a single in the bottom of the sixth, and from there we blew them away, winning 7-3 ... all three of their runs came in the top of the ninth against Jim Donohue, who gave up an RBI single to Chuck Strange and a two-run double to Mickey Vernon. Williams got the win, pitching four innings with no baserunners and five strikeouts. We outhit them 11-6, led by Coleman with two hits and two RBIs, and by Willie Davis who had two hits.

March 10, 1959: O’Toole started against Baltimore’s Ted Wills today, and though he gave up an RBI single to Jerry Lumpe in the top of the first, Willie Davis ground out to first in the third inning to drive in Gene Stephens to tie it up. And there it stayed, until the bottom of the eighth when Jerry Coleman reached on an error, driving in Clay Dalrymple for the lead! That was enough, and we won this one 2-1 despite the Orioles outhitting us 6-4! Bill Fischer got the win, pitching two innings and bringing his spring ERA down to 12.00 after that disasterous first appearance. Gene Stephens led the way offensively with two hits and a run scored.

March 11, 1959: Stobbs faced off with Cleveland’s Tom Cheney, the first time we’ve seen him since they lost the World Series. We kicked the hell out of him in the top of the second, batting around the order and putting up six runs on them! This turned into a spring shootout, and though they got back to within a run as we went into the sixth inning, we outscored them 5-1 down the stretch and won the game 11-5. We only outhit them 10-9, but Chuck Cottier led with a hit, a run and three RBIs while Willie Davis added a hit, a run and two RBIs. Stobbs threw 53 pitches and only lasted three innings, but he got the win with four hits, a walk, two runs and three strikeouts.

Ed Bauta had a setback and will be unlikely to return this spring. He still has two minor league options left, and will more than likely start his season with AAA Indianapolis.

March 12, 1959: We had ourselves another matchup agianst Kansas City, with Jack Kralick starting against Bob Blaylock. Blaylock has no business being a starter, and we blasted him with four runs in the bottom of the first, adding a two-run Zimmerman homer in the bottom of the fifth to pile on. We would end up shutting them out 7-0 to keep our spring winning streak alive, outhitting them 10-2. Kralick lasted four innings with a hit and five strikeouts, throwing 56 pitches, and our bullpen only allowed a single baserunner through the remaining five. Bill Serena was our only player who hit twice, but Zimmerman and Spencer led the way with two homers between them acounting for five RBIs.

March 13, 1959: Billy Pierce pitched against New York’s Vinegar Bend Mizell, and the Yankees took the lead in the bottom of the third with an RBI double by Tony Kubek. But we tied it up in the top of the ninth off a passed ball that allowed Harry Chiti in to score, and this spring game went into extra innings. And it kept going, and going, until it seemed nobody was going to win this one. In the top of the 19th Lloyd Merriman batted in Deron Johnson with an RBI single to put us up 2-1, and then the Yankees walked it off with an RBI single by Ronald Debus, a no-name 21-year-old minor leaguer, to beat us 3-2. Somebody had to end it, after nearly six hours of spring insanity. The Yankees outhit us 16-12, and in the end Bill Fischer took the loss, having pitched the last 3.2 innings with eight hits, a walk, a strikeout and two earned runs. Deron Johnson had two hits and a run to lead our offense.

March 14, 1959: Stan Williams got his second start of the year, facing Robin Roberts and the Detroit Tigers. We took the lead in the top of the third with a solo homer by Bill Serena, who drove in another run in the top of the fifth with a single as well. Larry Doby hit a solo shot in the top of the sixth to make it a 3-1 ballgame, but we wound up knotted up again when Detroit got a three-run homer from Irv Noren. Unable to score again, we took this one into extra innings for the second day in a row, and I still can’t believe it but today’s game went on even longer than yesterday’s! It finally ended much like yesterday’s, with a walk-off to end it ... but this time it was an RBI single by John Orsino and it came in the 28TH inning, and the game that started at 2:05 p.m. didn’t end until nearly 10:30 p.m.! Detroit outhit us 27-17, and Bill Fischer threw 6.2 innings with five hits and a strikeout, handing the ball to starter Jim O’Toole who then went five innings with four hits and an UNEARNED run to take the loss. I may never see another game like this in the spring or otherwise, and certainly hope not to. Minnie Minoso had three hits tonight but didn’t manage to score off any of them. Neither did Gene Stephens, who hit FOUR times, batting 11 times in the game! Bill Serena hit twice with a run and two RBIs to lead the way when it came to actual scoring.

March 15, 1959: We’ve played 47 INNINGS of spring baseball over the last two days, the equivalent of five full games as well as a couple bonus innings. And since O’Toole basically got his start yesterday in the game’s final hours, we went with O’Toole today against Boston’s George Brunet. And I couldn’t have scripted it like this if I’d tried ... Boston took the lead with a two-run homer by Floyd Robinson in the top of the second, and then in the bottom of the ninth we tied it with an RBI double by Dalrymple and a groundout by Lou Johnson that scored Jerry Zimmerman. So our third game in three days went into extra innings. This time it all got decided in the 14th, Boston getting an RBI single from Lou Klimchock and another from Frank Reveira that put them up by two. Lou Johnson hit a solo homer in the bottom of the inning but we lost in the end 4-3. Donohue took the loss with two hits, a walk, a strikeout and two runs against him in the final inning. Lou Johnson led the way for our offense with a hit, a run and two RBIs.

We’re officially petitioning Major League Baseball to stop the insanity of extra innings play in spring games, though it will probably require an official owner vote later in the season. Our bullpen guys are definitely getting some really good reps, which is going to help me as I cut the rosters down ... but I’m amazed we got through all that without anyone getting hurt. We have one game left tomorrow before a day off, at which point I will have to start making some cuts.

March 16, 1959: Jack Kralick and Washington’s Art Ditmar faced off today and we took a four run lead in the top of the second, thanks to a Don Bacon grand slam! This time we kept adding runs and there was no risk of this game going beyond nine innings, as we shut out the Senators 8-0 to earn our day off. Kralick got the win, allowing a hit and a walk with two strikeouts in fuor innings. Bobby Kuykendall remains impressive, having now pitched in seven spring games with just one hit against him! He has struck out seven batters with just one walk through 7.1 innings, giving him an 0.00 ERA and a ridiculous 0.28 WHIP!

March 17, 1959: Sherm Lollar certainly isn’t playing like a fan favorite who just signed an epic contract ... he’s hitting .125 so far this spring, but he’s gonna be starting this year regardless. Since it’s going to be all the more important that we have our best backup on the field (and since both Dalrymple and Zimmerman are exceptional defensive catchers, we’ve been shopping both of them around the league to see if we might get some good trade value back, particularly since we have Pagliaroni from our most recent draft as well.

The offers we got back for Dalrymple, who was ranked inside the top 30 last year by the Baseball News Network, were impressive all around, but we got a real stunner back from Kansas City, whose owner is not at all interested in negotiating with the greatest power hitter in the game not named Mickey Mantle ... they want to dump Ernie Banks’ $133,650 salary in exchange for a defensive catcher they can use now. And I’ve got zero interest in passing up that opportunity! But with Minnie Minoso signed to a long term deal, our fans, even those who love Banks, would find this to be a head-scratching move -- maybe if there was a designated hitter in baseball, but otherwise we’d have two of the top first basemen in the game and no ability to play them both.

So we passed.

Then I got an intriguing call from the Braves up in Milwaukee. They’ve offered us 25-year-old center fielder Norm Siebern, the 1957 Rookie of the Year winner, who still has all his arbitration years in the bank, along with 2B/3B/SS Bobby Morgan, who we’ve been trying to make a trade for all offseason. In exchange, they want Dalrymple, which is a given, and outfielder Deron Johnson. Morgan is a three-time world champion, but will surely cost us dearly as he’s going to be a free agent after this season and he’s got to be looking for far more than the $70,000 he’ll earn this season ... and he’d be well worth it even at age 32. Seibern’s a huge improvement for us at center field, and if we move Willie Davis over to right field we can keep him up as our starter replacing Johnson ... rather than sending him back down to the minors.

So I’ve decided to pull the trigger on the deal ... Dalrymple and Johnson straight up for Siebern and Morgan, a deal which at least on paper nets us nearly 8 WAR in proven production, at positions we needed to fill. Early reaction from the fans and the Chicago media suggest I wasn’t completely insane, and the deal has folks in both cities buzzing.

We’ve made the following cuts and moves relating to our spring roster as we sit in the middle of the pack with a 6-6 record:

- We waived and DFA’d CF Lou Johnson, with the aim to send him back to the minors once he clears.

- With Siebern now set to start at CF, and with Gene Stephens by far our best defensive backup, we traded Larry Doby to the Washington Senators in exchange for 23-year-old Garland Shifflett, who is ranked 91st overall by the Baseball News Network.

- We’ve dropped all three of our backup shorstops back down to the minors -- Jim Brideweser, Chuck Cottier and Maury Wills. None of them are ready for the majors. Cottier had an option left, but Brideweser and Wills had to be waived first. Aparicio will be starting, and we’ve got Morgan now who can fill in at short whenever Don Bacon cannot. So we’re much more significantly covered than we were before.And Bacon can cover third any time we have to move Morgan over. And with Adair starting at second, we have ample backups there as well, from Morgan, Bacon and Jerry Coleman. Middle infield depth issues solved!

- Waived Robert Sagers, with the intent to move the 25-year-old down to the minors as added depth. Released Bill Serena, age 35, at a cost of $16,000, when he refused to be demoted. Since Daryl Spencer is on a minor league deal, he moved down to AAA as well, leaving us with Aparicio, Bacon, Morgan, Adair and Coleman in the infield. All five should get significant playing time.

- As Kuykendall has clearly won the closer spot with his stellar performance this spring, we’re moving Jim Donohue back down to the minors for further seasoning, along with Hank Hemmerly, using the first option for either player.

Though the bulk of our remaining cuts will have to be made from the bullpen, these moves drop our roster down to 31 players, and we have plenty of time to make the final six cuts before opening day. This has been by far my most active offseason as a general manager, and I’m excited to see what this team can do once we have our roster finalized. I think fans on the south side are going to have plenty to be excited about!

jksander · 11-02-2024, 05:00 AM

March 18, 1959: Billy Pierce pitched against Baltimore’s Glen Hobbie, and in the top of the fourth we took a lead thanks to an RBI single by Norm Siebern, followed by a two run single by Minoso! That was all we got, but it was all we needed as we shut the Orioles out 3-0. Pierce lasted four innings and got the win, allowing just three hits with two strikeouts, and we outhit the Orioles 6-4. Siebern, who hit twice with his run, quickly is making his presence known among the Chicago fans.

March 19, 1959: Stan Williams went up against Cleveland’s Hoyt Wilhelm, and the Guardians drew first blood with a Lopata two-run homer in the top of the first. We got a run back in the bottom of the inning with a Willie Davis RBI triple, and then in the bottom of the fourth Jerry Coleman hit a three-run homer and Lloyd Merriman hit an RBI double to give us a 5-2 lead! Willie Kirkland had a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth that was followed by a groundout by Ed Roebuck that drove in Coleman for our eighth run of the game. We traded a couple runs from there but had no trouble beating Cleveland 9-3. Williams won his second spring game, pitching four innings with a hit, a walk, two runs and three strikeouts, and we outhit the Guardians 12-5, led by Coleman who hit three times with two runs and four RBIs. Kuykendall had another great inning to add to his already stellar spring, walking a batter but remaining scoreless, his WHIP now at 0.37 through 8.1 innings.

I’m not sure where the game got Kuykendall’s killer ratings from ... from what I can tell, he played a few minor league seasons and never made the big leagues, per Baseball Reference. He must have been included on a roster of one of the unafilliated minor league teams, as he was not drafted by anyone. The LA Dodgers wound up with him, and traded him to the White Sox in January of 1958, and he’s been a top 75 prospect since July of 1957. Gonna be interesting to see how he does, as he features a 97-rated fastball and a 68/92 slider, with velocity topping out between 96 and 98 miles per hour ... killer stuff, but well-below-average control. Will be interesting to see how he does in the majors, or if he flames out once the games start counting.

March 20, 1959: Jim O’Toole and Johnny Kucks faced off in another game against the Kansas City A’s, and once Kansas City got the lead in the bottom of the fourth they kept at it ... we got one run in the top of the ninth, but we were already four in the hole, so they took the game 4-1. Minoso scored our only run, batted in by Chiti with a sac-fly, and we were outhit 8-4. O’Toole took the loss, lasting four innings but giving up three hits, a walk and an unearned run with two strikeouts.

March 21, 1959: Chuck Stobbs faced off against Billy Hoeft when the Yankees visited our complex this afternoon. Woodie Held hit a two-run homer in the top of the third, and Moe Drabowsky hit an RBI single that, coupled with an E7 error, put them up 3-0. But in the bottom of the ninth, with two outs, Jerry Coleman got us on the board with an RBI double, and Fred Green hit a two-run triple to tie it up and force extra innings ... leave it to a lefty specialist to come in and get enough offense to keep us pitching! Six pitchers later, and in his second inning on the mound, Bob Rush gave up a run to the Yankees when Pablo Rivera hit an RBI single in the top of the 16th, and that was enough for the Yankees to pull out the 4-3 win, as they outhit us 13-10. Rush took the loss, allowing three hits and a run with a strikeout in his two innings, coming in as our 12th pitcher of the game. Bobby Morgan and Lloyd Merriman led our offense with two hits and a run each, while reliever Fred Green got a hit and two RBIs to essentially add two hours to this game. Kuykendall pitched in the seventh inning and had two hits, two walks and an earned run, finally blemishing his record and “exploding” his ERA to 0.96 through 9.1 spring innings.

March 22, 1959: Jack Kralick pitched against Detroit’s Frank Sullivan today, and Minnie Minoso hit a two-run blast to put us up 2-0 in the bottom of the first. But Detroit scored five unanswered runs the rest of the way and we lost this game 5-2. Kralick pitched five innings with five hits, three walks and four earned runs, taking the loss while striking out four batters. They outhit us 7-6, our bats led by Minoso with a hit, a run and two RBIs, and by Harry Chiti who took over for Minoso mid-game and had two hits.

We demoted 23-year-old reliever Ed Rakow down to AAA, cutting our roster down to 30. So far the bullpen has performed incredibly well as a whole, and the remaining cuts are going to be difficult ... fans of baseball in Indianapolis should expect a good season for the minor league affiliate, as a lot of good players are going to miss the major league cut.

March 23, 1959: Billy Pierce pitched against Boston’s Steve Ridzik, and Minoso batted in a run with a single that put us up 1-0 in the top of the third. But Boston scored runs in the fourth and fifth and that was all they needed to shut us down 2-1. Pierce got his five innings in, allowing three hits with three walks and two earned runs, striking out three as he took the loss, but Dewald, Green and Kuykendall pitched three innings without a baserunner to keep us in the game and keep our bullpen looking incredibly solid. Green and Kuykendall both have ERAs well below 1.00 through double-digit bullpen appearances this spring, and in Green’s case he’s playing his way onto the roster ... the lefty specialist was definitely not properly on my radar three weeks ago! We outhit Boston 7-3, led by Jerry Adair with two hits, but just came up empty down the stretch.

March 24, 1959: Stan Williams pitched against Art Houtteman of the Senators, and he got rung up in the fourth inning as the Senators put four across, keeping Williams from getting into the fifth inning. It turned into a blowout quickly, and Washington manhandled us 8-0 in the end. Williams took the loss, lasting 4.1 innings with seven hits, four earned runs and a pair of strikeouts, and they outhit us 13-7. Bobby Morgan was our only player to hit twice, and he didn’t get anywhere once he got on base.

With 11 spring games remaining, I’ve made more cuts to the bullpen. Both our lefty specialists have done incredibly well, and since they may have therefore stepped themselves into middle relief roles come opening day, I’m sending Russ Heman and Ed Roebuck down ... Heman has options left, but Roebuck had to be waived first. We have three more cuts to make, and they’re most likely going to have to come from the quintet of Bill Fischer, Ed Donnelly, Bernie Daniels, Fred Green and John Oswald, though I haven’t ruled out cutting one more positional player to make room for a six-man bullpen. If that happens, the position player cut will be Chiti, who is a defensive liability even at first base ... Felipe Alou or Sherm Lollar would be able to cover first on one of the rare days Minoso needs a night off.

March 25, 1959: Jim O’Toole made his fifth start of the spring today, and with just a couple starts remaining, we want to start seeing him go deeper into the game as our ace. Up against Baltimore’s Ted Wills, we took a quick bottom-of-the-first lead thanks to an RBI double by Minoso and a two-run homer for Willie Davis. Aparicio hit a homer in the bottom of the third that Willie Davis followed with an RBI triple, and we added on four more runs in the fourth to turn this into a blowout. But O’Toole came out after four innings anyway, replaced by Bob Rush with a nine-run shutout lead, and we completely shut them down via our bullpen as we blasted the Orioles 9-0. O’Toole got his first spring win, throwing nearly 60 pitches in four innings which kept him from staying out even with the lead. We outhit the O’s 11-5, led by the rookie Davis who hit twice with a run and three RBIs. He is rapidly improving defensively in the outfield, and can now competantly defend both center and right field without any fear of a collapse ... he is more than ready to stay up at the major league level.

March 26, 1959: Chuck Stobbs pitched against Cleveland’s Ruben Gomez, and in the bottom of the fifth he gave up two runs to the Guardians as they broke through the stalemate. That opened the floodgates and they would go on to shut us out 5-0. Stobbs lasted 4.2 innings with six hits, three walks and two earned runs with four strikeouts, taking the loss, while Kuykendall had his worst outing with three hits, two walks and three earned runs in his 1.1 innings ... but he’s still got a 2.94 spring ERA, which shows how good he’s been. We were outhit 9-3 and only had four baserunners all game, so nobody offensively actually stood out at all.

I’ve demoted Ed Donnelly along with Harry Chiti. We’ll only have one additional cut to make, and it will come out of the bullpen, so for the remainder of our spring games, I’m putting the lefty specialists in for middle relief, to be used more often, as Bill Fischer has proven himself through nearly 20 innings of spring games already ... only one of the lefties will make it, Green or Dewald, with nine games remaining.

March 27, 1959: Jack Kralick started against Dean Stone of the Kansas City A’s, and Kralick got through five scoreless innings before being replaced by Bill Fischer. We took the lead in the bottom of the sixth with a solo homer by Minnie Minoso, adding another run thanks to Kuykendall reaching base on an E7 error, scoring Don Bacon from third in the seventh inning. But long reliever Bennie Daniels blew the save, giving up three runs with just one out in the top of the eighth, and Bob Rush gave up another before getting out of the inning, digging us a 4-2 hole. Jerry Adair got us tied back up in the bottom of the inning with a two-run single, and a Bacon sac-fly scored Jerry Zimmerman to send us into the ninth leading by a run. We held them off from there, winning 5-4. Rush got the win despite giving up a run off two hits, and Ron Wells got a rare save for us. We outhit Kansas City 12-10, led by Adair with two hits and two RBIs, while Minoso put up two hits, two runs and an RBI.

March 28, 1959: Billy Pierce pitched against the Yankees’ Saul Rogovin, and we quickly went up 2-0 thanks to back to back RBI singles from Sherm Lollar and Jerry Adair in the top of the first. Pierce got through five innings, with Fred Green, one of our lefty specialists, coming out in the sixth inning leading 3-1. Dewald pitched in the seventh, blowing the save as the Yankees tied it up 3-3 thanks to a solo homer by Mantle and an RBI double by Gil McDougald. This one went to extra innings, and in the top of the 14th we got the lead off a two-run single by Kirkland, Siebern tagging up from third with a sac-fly by Merriman to put us up by three. Finally we pulled out one of these marathon games, beating the Yankees by a 6-3 margin, as long reliever Bennie Daniels came out after last night’s disappointment, getting the win with two strikeouts and no baserunners in his three innings. We outhit the Yankees 10-8, led by Aparicio and Minoso with two hits and a run each.

March 29, 1959: Stan Williams started today against Detroit’s Ben Flowers, and when he got pulled heading into the sixth inning, we were only down 1-0 against the Tigers. But Detroit was able to completely stifle our offense and we lost this one 3-0, so though he only allowed four hits with four strikeouts and an earned run in his five innings, Williams took the loss. They outhit us 6-2 and only let us place four baserunners all game, and that’ll do it in a game like this.

March 31, 1959: We have six games left and five pitchers in our starting rotation, so now the time comes for the starters to push their limits so we can see how ready they are for opening day. Jim O’Toole started today against Boston’s Frank Baumann, and Felipe Alou batted in a run with a double in the bottom of the first to give us the lead. We added on four runs in the bottom of the sixth and another in the seventh, and with O’Toole at 96 pitches, we brought out Fred Green to finish them off. He held his own, and we won this as a 9-0 shutout, a convincing showing for our ace O’Toole who went seven innings with four hits, two walks and seven strikeouts. We outhit the Red Sox 16-4 which certainly helped -- Alou led the way with three hits, two runs and two RBIs, and Jerry Coleman added three hits, a walk, a run and an RBI.

April 1, 1959: Chuck Stobbs pitched against Washington’s Harold Larned, and Stobbs had a rough start, spotting the Senators three runs in the bottom of the first. But Alou batted in a run with a single in the top of the third, scoring himself when Sherm Lollar hit a sac-fly into left. After they got a run back in the bottom of the fourth off a Johnny Temple single, Alou tied us up with a two-run homer in the top of the fifth, and Stobbs got us through the sixth, with John Dewald taking over in the bottom of the seventh still knotted up at four runs each. Willie Davis hit a three-run homer in the top of the ninth to break the stalemate, and Dewald held on through a third inning as we beat the Senators 7-4! That gave Dewald the win, with just one strikeout (no baserunners) through his entire three innings of work, giving him a 1.23 ERA through 14.2 innings of spring baseball! Each team had eight hits, ours led by Davis, who had two hits, a walk, two runs and three RBIs as he brought his spring batting average up to .291.

Green and Dewald remain neck and neck for that final roster spot, as Green has pitched 15.1 innings to Dewald’s 14.2, while putting up 9.4 K’s per nine innings with a 0.59 ERA. Our other middle reliever, Bill Fischer, has 21.1 innings pitched with a 2.53 ERA. Green and Fischer played with the White Sox last season ... Green for 39 innings in 25 appearances with a 2.54 ERA and 22 strikeouts, while Fischer had 19.2 innings over 13 appearances, with a 3.66 ERA and eight strikeouts. With Dewald being just 22 years old, it wouldn’t hurt the former ninth rounder to pitch another season at AAA, but I hate that it’s going to come down to such razor thin margins regardless.

April 2, 1959: Jack Kralick and Baltimore’s Dave Wickersham met up for the first time this spring, and Minnie Minoso hit us into the lead with an RBI single in the top of the third, but they tied it up in the bottom of the sixth off a sac-fly by Tom Gastall. Bill Fischer came out to pitch in the bottom of the seventh, still tied up at one each, and he pitched three innings to keep it that way as this game went into extra innings. We took the lead in a big way in the top of the 10th ... a Sherm Lollar sac-fly scored Aparicio from third, and then Jerry Adair hit a two-run triple and Bobby Morgan added an RBI triple, putting us up by four! John Dewald came out in the bottom of the inning and shut them down mercilessly with a hit and three strikeouts, bringing his ERA down to 1.15 as he made a continued case for getting to stay up here. Fischer took the win with a three inning effort, with one hit and one walk, improving his ERA to 2.22. Baltimore outhit us 8-7, but Minoso hit two times with two walks, scoring a run and batting in another, and Adair’s two-run triple in the 10th was definitely a difference maker as well, taking the pressure off a close game.

April 3, 1959: Billy Pierce got his start tonight against Cleveland’s Mike Garcia, and we went to work quickly, Siebern putting us up with an RBI single, while Gene Stephens added a two-run single moments later to make it a 3-0 lead after half an inning. We added a run in the bottom of the third and three more in the bottom of the fifth, and by the time Bob Rush took over on the mound in the top of the seventh we had a 7-1 lead and Pierce had thrown 97 pitches. Rush stayed out the rest of the way and got us the 7-1 win, earning the three-inning save with a three hit, one walk four strikeout effort. Pierce took the win, pitching six innings with four hits, three walks and an earned run, striking out seven ... if he can keep those walks down, he’ll throw a lot of complete games once the season gets going. We outhit Cleveland 9-7, led by Luis Aparicio with three hits and two runs, while Gene Stephens added two hits, a run and four RBIs.

April 4, 1959: We have two games left, so this will be Stan Williams’ last start of the spring, with our ace O’Toole set for one final start tomorrow against the Yankees. Williams pitched against Kansas City’s Bob Blaylock, and we took the lead with a Bobby Morgan RBI single and a Jerry Coleman run-scoring groundout, putting us up 2-0 in the top of the fourth. Bob Lillis tied it up with a two-run triple in the bottom of the fifth, and Williams got through the sixth inning with it still tied, and John Dewald took over in the bottom of the seventh. He stayed out in the eighth and Kansas City took the lead off a Billy Martin RBI double, sending us into the top of the ninth needing a run. This time we didn’t get it, losing to the A’s by a 4-3 margin. Each team had eight hits, ours led by Morgan with two hits and an RBI. Stan Williams lasted six innings with five hits, a walk, two earned runs and eight strikeouts, while Dewald took the loss with two innings pitched with three hits, a strikeout and an earned run.

April 5, 1959: Rather than start O’Toole an extra time in a game with no stakes, we decided to use the final game against the Yankees to give spot starter Bennie Daniels his first start of the spring season against the mighty Whitey Ford. Willie Davis hit an RBI single to put us up 1-0 after one inning, but in the top of the fourth Daniels gave up four runs with two outs, and we brought out Fred Green who gave up another before getting that final out. Kuykendall took over in the fifth, trailing 5-1, and Adair hit a two-run double in the bottom of the fifth to get us back within two. Gene Stephens was injured in the bottom of the sixth after getting on base with an infield single, so Don Bacon came out as a pinch runner ... he wound up being caught stealing third, but we got a run back when Aparicio singled in Zimmerman, and Felipe Alou took over in left as stopper Ron Wells came out to pitch in the top of the seventh. Bob Rush took over in the top of the ninth, still trailing by a run, and he got us the outs we needed, but we weren’t able to get a run across in the bottom of the inning, losing this one 5-4. Daniels took the loss with a 3.2 inning effort, allowing five hits, three walks and four earned runs with just one strikeout. We each had nine hits, our team led by Willie Davis with three hits, a run and an RBI.

We finished the spring season with a record of 15-15, finishing in fifth place behind Kansas City and Cleveland (16-14), Boston (18-12) and New York (19-11). And I’ve finally made my decision as to our final roster spot. We’ve gone ahead and demoted Bennie Daniels, who pitched 22.0 innings this spring with a 4.91 ERA and a save. His stuff and lack of control are a liability, and Green, Dewald and Fischer all outperformed him through equally frequent usage.He still has a minor league option, so we’ve sent him back down and he’ll be an option for us in a pinch later in the season. Bob Rush will become our long reliever, with Bill Fisher taking over as a setup man, with Green and Dewall alternating as middle relievers -- Dewald to be used more, thanks to his stronger stuff and control, with Green as our primary specialist due to his abilities agiainst right-handed batters.

April 7, 1959: Gene Stephens was already going to be a backup, so I’m not removing him from our 25-man roster even with him now day-to-day for at least two weeks with a mild hamstring strain. I’ve just removed him from our lineups ... in the interim, Willie Davis and Willie Kirkland will alternate at center field to spell Siebern when needed, with Stephens available as a defensive sub in an emergency though I am unlikely to use him until he’s back at full health.

We’ll face the Detroit Tigers on the road April 10-12 to start the season, and then will play our home opening series against the Kansas City Athletics, followed by three more against the Tigers.

April 9, 1959: Though we don’t play today, it’s opening day for Washington (vs. Baltimore) and Cincinnati (vs. Pittsburgh). Our owner, Kelly Schober, still expects us to fight for a .500 record, though preseason predictions from the Baseball News Network have us finishing fourth overall in the AL with an 80-74 record, behind Washington, Cleveland and New York, with nobody in the AL expected to win more than 90 games for the second year in a row. Milwaukee fans have plenty to be pissed about, with the press picking the three-time world champions to finish fourth in the NL with a 79-75 record, with the LA Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals predicted to finish with 96 and 94 wins respectively, while Pittsburgh (thanks to the addition of Willie Mays (traded from San Francisco) which, joining Bill Mazeroski and Roberto Clemente to create a potent lineup has them favored to finish third with 93 wins ... if that pans out, expect a hell of a pennant chase this year in the National League!

The updated prospect rankings are now out, and Willie Davis is ranked 4th overall by BNN, behind just Chicago’s Boog Powell, Baltimore’s Gaylord Perry and Philadelphia’s Carl Yastrzemski! But “Yaz” will be starting out at AAA Buffalo and Powell will be with Chicago’s AAA affiliate in Fort Worth, so Davis is the highest profile rookie to be immediately making the move to the bigs. Here’s how the rest of our farm system’s top prospects look:

#23 -- CF Mack Jones (AAA) -- expected in majors in 1960
#41 -- C Joe Pagliaroni (AA) -- expected in majors in 1960
#49 -- RF Mike Hershberger (AAA) -- expected in majors in 1960
#77 -- 2B Jerry Adair (MLB)
#89 -- RHP Ron Wells (MLB)
#96 -- RHP Hank Hemmerly (AAA) -- expected in majors in 1960
#112 -- 3B Coco Laboy (NESL, Dev League) -- expected in majors in 1962
#114 -- RHP Garland Shifflett (AAA) -- expected in majors in 1960
#117 -- CL Jim Donohue (AA) -- expected in majors in 1960

All told, that’s ten players now in the top 150 of the BNN rankings, with Willie Davis (1st), Jim Pagliaroni (2nd), Mike Hershberger (2nd) and Coco Laboy (5th round) coming out of this year’s draft. We traded for Shifflett and Donohue from the Washington Senators this offseason, giving us 60 percent of our top prospects all from this current offseason. That has allowed us to improve our farm system’s overall ranking to 6th from 11th, which coupled with our fan support boost (up to 98 from 85) and the acquisition of local players Norm Siebern and Chuck Stobbs have our owner currently over the moon in his approval. He’s also wanted to have us improve our on base percentage, a goal that we should be able to meet with our current lineup, so I’d have a hard time calling this offseason anything less than a runaway success.

Here’s our official opening day roster:

Lineup
C - Sherm Lollar
1B - Minnie Minoso
2B - Jerry Adair
3B - Bobby Morgan
SS - Luis Aparicio
LF - Felipe Alou
CF - Norm Siebern
RF - Willie Davis|

Bench: Jerry Zimmerman, Jerry Coleman, Don Bacon, Lloyd Merriman, Gene Stephens, Willie Kirkland

Starters
1 - Jim O’Toole
2 - Chuck Stobbs
3 - Jack Kralick
4 - Billy Pierce
5 - Stan Williams

CL - Bobby Kuykendall
ST - Ron Wells
SE - Bill Fischer
MR - John Dewald, Fred Green
LR - Bob Rush

The waiver wire is full at the moment with other teams cutting back their rosters at the last minute, but for the first time in years I see no reason for us to need to go on a scavenger hunt for other teams’ castoffs. With an eye toward packing the stadium early in the season, we’re going to price our tickets at $1 per fan for the first two home series, and with fan excitement at the highest it’s been in years, I’d say we’re in a great position to build on this offseason and give Southsiders plenty of watercooler fodder. And next year, when the chaos of free agency hits, we’ll be ready to go at the league hard.

jksander · 11-03-2024, 09:40 AM

April 10, 1959: Welcome to Detroit, where we’ll get to open our season this afternoon against nearly 29,000 excited Tigers fans, with our Jim O’Toole going up against their ace Bob Shaw. Willie Davis hit an RBI single to score Bobby Morgan in the top of the third, giving us our first lead of the season, and Sherm Lollar hit a two-run homer in the top of the fourth to add on! Detroit got on the board in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI single by Bobby Thompson, but we hammered them in the top of the sixth, adding on four runs to extend our lead to six! John Dewald came out to take over in the top of the eighth leading 8-1, and Detroit hit the rookie hard, scoring a run off a single by Don Blasingame and then adding a two-run homer by Kaline to cut the lead to four. Jerry Adair got one of those back with a solo homer in the top of the ninth, and Dewald boosted his confidence by staying out there to close the game out, helping us beat the Tigers 9-4. O’Toole started his season out right, allowing just five hits, striking out five and giving them just one earned run. And though Dewald gave up three earned runs off four hits, he got his first major league strikeout and pitched two innings, so his high ERA will likely just be an aberration. The fact that he threw 42 pitches says more to me than anything. We outhit Detroit 13-9, led by Aparicio who hit three times with a run and two batted in from the leadoff spot, while Sherm Lollar added two hits, two runs and two RBIs.

April 11, 1959: The bloom was off the rose for the Tigers, and only 15,800 fans showed up for game two to see Chuck Stobbs challenge their starter Frank Sullivan. This time they drew first blood, Randy Jackson doubling in Bill Virdon to get them on the board, with Bobby Thompson following him with an RBI single to go into the top of the second leading us 2-0. But we bit back quickly, with back to back RBI singles by Stobbs and Aparicio tying the score midway through the second. A Bobby Thompson sac-fly scored AL Kaline to put them back on top in the bottom of the third, Bob Schmidt adding on with a solo homer in the fourth to give them a 4-2 lead. Stobbs did a damned fine job, getting us through the seventh inning, and we battled back with Jerry Adair hitting a three-run homer out of left, a 364-footer that gave us a 5-4 lead! Stobbs stayed out one pitch too long, giving up a longball out of right off Jim Greengrass’s bat to tie it up, so Ron Wells came out to pitch in the bottom of the eighth and got us into the ninth with a real chance. We took full advantage, with Felipe Alou stunning the home crowd silent with a three-run flyball double to give us a huge lead as Bill Fischer came out to close in the bottom of the inning. He walked Blasingame but Virdon hit into a fielder’s choice, and Kaline and Randy Jackson popped out harmlessly as we won this one 8-5! Stobbs lasted seven innings with nine hits, two walks, two strikeouts and five runs, only four of which were earned, but Ron Wells came through with a critical inning, throwing nine pitches for three outs without a baserunner, giving him the win and setting Fischer up perfectly for his save, pitching around his one baserunner to seal the deal. We again outhit the Tigers by a 13-9 margin, led this time by Felipe Alou who hit twice with a run and three batted in, while Adair hit twice for two runs and three RBIs.

April 12, 1959: Jack Kralick opened his season against Detroit’s Tom Brewer, and after Don Blasingame put them ahead 1-0 in the bottom of the first with a solo homer, the scoring turned off like a crimped hose until, top of the seventh, one out, Bobby Morgan hit a two-run homer to put us in the lead! Kralick got us through the bottom of the seventh with a sweet 1-4-3 double play off a grounder by Tom Brewer, getting two more outs in the bottom of the eighth before Kuykendall came out to relieve him after his 113th pitch, pitching around a walk to get us into the ninth still leading by a run. Tom Brewer stayed out for the top of the ninth and we made him regret it, Willie Davis hitting his first major league homer to add some insurance ... and Kuykendall stayed out to finish the remainder, helping us complete the sweep with a 3-1 win! Kralick started his season out with a win, allowing four hits, three walks and an earned run with six strikeouts in his 7.2 innings. Kuykendall then picked up a 1.1 inning save, just a hit and a walk to his name. This was a real pitcher’s duel, each team notching just five hits with four walks apiece. Morgan and Davis each had homers to put us over the top, combining for all three of our runs as they led our offense.

We have an off day for travel, and will then open our home season in Chicago against my former team, Kansas City, which started out 1-2 while hosting last year’s AL champs from the Land of Cleve.

April 14, 1959: The Washington Senators went 3-1 against the Orioles in Baltimore to open their season, so we’re now alone atop the AL standings, tied for first in the “way too early” power rankings with the LA Dodgers and Milwaukee Braves, the two remaining unbeatens in the National League. The excitement around here is palpable, and our $1 ticket deal drew 39,363 fans to Comiskey Park for opening day, the largest crowd this park has seen since 1955 ... and that was with clear skies and temperatures barely getting above 40!

Billy Pierce got the start against Dean Stone, and we were locked in a scoreless duel when Pierce strained his groin while avoiding the tag as he slid into home to put us in the lead off a Minoso RBI single. He’s not expected to miss his next start, but it threw us off kilter, but Bob Rush relished the opportunity to prove himself in long relief, taking over on the mound in the fourth inning with a 1-0 lead. We need to get our trainer to work on preventing groin strains, because in the bottom of the fourth we had to pull Don Bacon from the game after taking an extra base off an RBI single by Rush that scored Alou. Mike Kirkland took over as a pinch runner with two outs and runners on the corners, but we weren’t able to add on and we had to make defensive adjustments, bringing in Bobby Morgan to replace Bacon’s defense at third base. Rush stayed out through the seventh inning and kept the shutout intact, Fred Green coming out in the top of the eighth to relieve him. That’s when the Athletics struck hard, Billy Martin hitting a solo homer and Walt Bond hitting an RBI single that, aided by an E8 error, allowed Ernie Banks to score the tying run. With Kuykendall and Dewald warming in the bullpen, Morgan singled on one out and Green sac-bunted him to second, a balk advancing him to third. But Aparicio struck out swinging and kept us from taking the lead. Bobby Kuykendall came out to pitch in the top of the ninth and pitched around a double by Bob Lillis to get us into the bottom of the ninth with a chance to walk it off. Norm Siebern took a leadoff walk, and Minoso grounded out to right, advancing him into scoring position. They walked Willie Davis intentionally, striking out Alou behind him. That put the pressure on Sherm Lollar, who on a 2-2 count swung for the fences and popped out to right field. This one was headed for extra innings!

Kuykendall got us three quick outs in the top of the 10th inning, and in the bottom of the inning Jerry Adair hit a bouncing ball into left, taking the single rather than risking the attempt at extra bases, and unfortunately Morgan grounded into a 5-4-3 double play to clear the bases. Kuykendall then stunned us all by taking a full count and then hitting a ball juuuuuust fair along the left line, doubling off a fastball with an exit velocity of nearly 105 miles per hour! That brought up Luis Aparicio, who on a full count successfully pulled off the hit and run ... slamming the ball into right field and walking this one off with a single that gave us a 3-2 win!

I’ve gotta say, this one means a lot ... with Pierce coming out of the game after three innings with two hits and a strikeout, our bullpen proved its mettle in a big way. Bob Rush threw 51 pitches in four innings, allowing one hit and three walks but keeping them all from scoring, and though Green blew the save with three hits, a walk and two runs, Kuykendall threw two innings with a single hit against him, taking the win and remaining unblemished through 3.1 innings. We outhit Kansas City 11-7, led by Minnie Minoso who hit twice and walked twice, driving in a run.

April 15, 1959: Even with opening day’s excitement in the rear view, we still drew nearly 30,000 fans back for game two against the Athletics, Stan Williams making his season debut against Milt Pappas (1-0, 2.00 ERA, 9.0 IP, 8 K’s, 0.89 WHIP). Williams started out brilliantly, and we were ready to strike in the bottom of the fourth, Sherm Lollar hitting an RBI double and Adair reaching on an error that allowed Lollar to score, putting us up 2-0! He would eventually get us through to the seventh inning stretch, throwing just 84 pitches to keep the shutout intact, and we added on in the bottom of the inning with a two-run triple by Alou and an RBI single by Lollar. John Dewald came out to pitch in the top of the eighth leading by five, setting them down three in a row in that inning, doing the same in the ninth as we held on to the 5-0 shutout win! Williams started out with a win just like all our other starters, lasting seven innings with four hits, two walks and five strikeouts. Dewald then gave us two innings without a baserunner, striking out two as he improved his ERA to 6.75 through four innings. We outhit Kansas City 10-4, led by Alou who hit twice with a run and an RBI, while Siebern added two hits and a run.

April 16, 1959: Jim O’Toole (1-0, 1.29 ERA, 7.0 IP, 5 K’s, 0.71 WHIP) pitched against Kansas City’s Ron Negray (0-1, 10.38 ERA, 4.1 IP, 3 K’s, 1.62 WHIP), and we drew more than 29,000 fans out on a Thursday afternoon to see us try and keep this streak alive. Gene Stephens hit a two-run homer to put us up 2-0 in the bottom of the second inning, but in the top of the eighth they got them both back with an RBI double by Roy Sievers and an RBI single by Ernie Banks. O’Toole stayed out in the ninth and got us the outs we needed to stay tied into the bottom of the inning, but he was gassed, no way he’d be staying out if this went to extras. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth Bobby Morgan walked, and when Alou came out to pinch hit they walked him too! Sherm Lollar came out to replace Zimmerman at catcher, and he got a grounder out to left, but it was easily fielded and we did go into extra innings, with Bobby Kuykendall coming out to pitch. He got us through the top of the inning unscathed, and in the bottom of the tenth we walked it off when Minnie Minoso reached first on an E5 groundball error, scoring Kuykendall as we won our sixth in a row, this time by a 3-2 margin, almost a carbon copy of the finish we’d had two nights ago in the 10th inning as well! O’Toole got us into extras with nine innings and seven hits, three walks, two earned runs and nine strikeouts, but it was Kuykendall who improved to 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA, allowing a single hit, giving him an 0.92 WHIP through 4.1 innings.

April 17, 1959: We’ve already swept the Tigers once this season, and now they’re in our house, having struggled to a 1-4 start. With clear skies and temps in the low 50s for our 2:05 p.m. first pitch, 31,260 fans came out to cheer on our suddenly red-hot team, with Chuck Stobbs (0-0, 5.14 ERA, 7.0 IP, 2 K’s, 1.57 WHIP) starting against Frank Sullivan (0-0, 5.62 ERA, 8.0 IP, 1 K, 1.38 WHIP). Felipe Alou hit a sac-fly that scored Willie Kirkland from third to put us up 1-0 in the bottom of the first, but Stobbs got beat up in the top of the fifth, and with two outs and a man on second, trailing 4-1, Bob Rush came out to salvage things. It did not go particularly well, and we quickly came back down to earth as the Tigers pounded us in the subsequent innings. John Dewald came out to mop things up in the top of the eighth, two outs, a man on first and the score 8-2 Tigers. They added a solo homer with two outs in the top of the ninth, and we took the 9-2 loss, coming back to reality a bit. We knew we weren’t going to stay undefeated forever, and we lasted longer than any other team in the majors, but Stobbs was mediocre in a 4.2 inning effort, taking the loss thanks to eight hits and three walks, though all four of his runs were unearned. Detroit outhit us 14-10, our team led by Kirkland with two hits and a run, while Alou had a run and an RBI.

April 18, 1959: The loss didn’t stop the fans from showing up, as 33,504 southsiders flocked to Comiskey to watch us take on the Tigers again in another afternoon game. Josh Kralick (1-0, 1.17 ERA, 7.2 IP, 6 K’s, 0.91 WHIP) pitched against Tom Brewer (0-1, 3.00 ERA, 9.0 IP, 4 K’s, 0.78 WHIP). Don Bacon hit an RBI single, and Norm Siebern added a two run homer to give us a 3-0 lead after three innings. From there we added a Jerry Adair two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth, and though Bob Schmidt homered in the top of the fifth, that was all they could muster. Kralick pitched a complete game three hitter with an earned run and three strikeouts, no walks, to improve to 2-0 with a 1.08 ERA. We outhit the Tigers 10-3, led by Siebern and Adair who each had two hits, a run and two RBIs.

April 19, 1959: Billy Pierce (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 3.0 IP, 1 K, 0.67 WHIP) has returned from his groin injury and is ready to go for his first full start of the year, facing Detroit’s Bob Kuzawa (0-1, 1.04 ERA, 8.2 IP, 3 K’s, 0.92 WHIP). Willie Davis hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the first, the rookie’s second of the season, and we picked up three more runs in the bottom of the fifth to pile on. Fred Green came out to take over in the top of the eighth, leading 7-2. Dewald came out in the ninth and handled his business as we held the Tigers back 7-2 to complete the series win, giving us an 8-1 record through our first three series! Pierce pitched seven innings with four hits, four walks and two earned runs, striking out five and throwing 114 pitches in his first full start. We outhit them 11-8, led by Davis with two hits, a walk, two runs and four RBI’s, while Siebern added three hits and a run.

We’re off tomorrow for travel, and will then take on Kansas City (3-6) for a pair Tuesday and Wednesday. We’ll then travel to Cleveland (4-4) for four games over the Friday through Sunday period. After that we return to Kansas City for two full weeks of games, and our owner is ecstatic that we packed in an average of 32,500 fans over the first six games of our season. We’ll be raising our prices back to normal for the remainder of the season, but we gave the fans a chance to see the product we’ll be putting on the field. I think it’s well worth $1.86 per fan to come here and experience what White Sox baseball is meant to be.

April 21, 1959: Stan Williams (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 7.0 IP, 5 K’s, 0.86 WHIP) pitched against Milt Pappas (1-1, 3.18 ERA, 17.0 IP, 14 K’s, 1.29 WHIP) in front of a paltry crowd of 9,500 A’s fans, who seem to be getting themselves ready for another year of same old, same old. But they got the game going in the bottom of the third when Ernie Banks hit a three-run homer, his third of the year. Alou hit himself an RBI single in the top of the sixth to get us on the board, but they got a run back with a homer by Pappas in the bottom of the inning, sending us into the top of the seventh trailing by three again. Bob Rush took over in the bottom of the seventh, still trailing 4-1, and though he got through the remainder of the game, we were unable to score and we took the loss by that same margin. They outhit us 9-4, and only Alou with two hits and an RBI got any offense going. Williams took the loss, falling to 1-1 with a 2.77 ERA, allowing nine hits, a walk and four runs with six strikeouts through his six innings.

April 22, 1959: This morning we got the signed paperwork from Bobby Morgan, who has agreed to a three-year extension to his contract. He’s earning just $70,000 this year but will get a raise to $175,000 per year for all three upcoming seasons, a deal worth a total of $525,000. Morgan plays every infield position at an above average level, and can even play catcher competantly ... he’s started out the year hitting just .212 with a pair of homers, but his true value is with his glove, and if he can stay healthy AND pick his hitting up through the season, he’ll be a critical contributor. He was a player I went into the offseason wanting to steal from the Braves, and once I got him I had no plans to let him slip away ... there just aren’t a lot of great infielders at his level.

Today Jim O’Toole (1-0, 1.69 ERA, 16.0 IP, 14 K’s, 0.94 WHIP) started against Ron Negray (0-1, 5.56 ERA, 11.1 IP, 5 K’s, 1.15 WHIP). We took the lead in the top of the fifth with an RBI single by Aparicio, and then out of nowhere O’Toole gave up four runs to the A’s, though Minoso scored off a groundout by Alou in the top of the sixth to keep us within two runs. Even at 22, however, O’Toole is the ultimate professional, and he stayed out there unabashed, pitching incredibly well. Walt Bond hit a solo homer off him in the eighth however that put them up by three, and with one out Bill Fischer came out to relieve him, getting us into the ninth without further damage. We went down quietly from there, losing the game 5-2. O’Toole pitched 7.1 innings with eight hits, one walk and four strikeouts, but he allowed five earned runs, dropping him to 1-1 with a 3.09 ERA. They outhit us again 9-6 as they took the mini-sweep, our team led by Aparicio with a hit and an RBI, while Jerry Coleman had a hit and a run.

April 24, 1959: Jack Kralick (2-0, 1.08 ERA, 16.2 IP, 9 K’s, 0.60 WHIP) pitched against Dave Sisler (1-0, 0.87 ERA, 10.1 IP, 2 K’s, 1.16 WHIP) in our first game against the Guardians this year, and it was the ultimate in pitching duels, remaining scoreless through the first nine innings, though we got to that point with Kralick fully in control, while the Guardians opened the 10th inning with their second bullpen arm, Ray Narleski, taking the mound. Kralick stayed out for an out in the bottom of the 10th, getting two outs, but Cleveland walked it off with a single by Jerry Kindall and they took the game 1-0. That’s just brutal. Kralick fell to 2-1 with a 1.03 ERA, allowing just five hits and a run with six strikeouts through 9.2 innings pitched. They outhit us 5-4, Aparicio hitting twice while Minoso and Stephens each had a hit and a walk.

April 25, 1959: Billy Pierce (1-0, 1.80 ERA, 10.0 IP, 6 K’s, 1.00 WHIP) pitched against Cleveland’s Carl Erskine, who they acquired in a trade with Kansas City last November, making his first start of the season. Bobby Morgan hit a sac-fly that scored Alou from third to put us up 1-0 in the top of the fourth, and in the top of the eighth Minnie Minoso hit a solo homer to extend the lead. Kuykendall came out to close in the bottom of the ninth, and he completed the shutout as we won 2-0! Pierce took the win, allowing just four hits with two walks and four strikeouts in his eight innings, giving him a 1.00 ERA, while Kuykendall saved his second game without a baserunner, keeping him perfect through 5.1 innings with an 0.75 WHIP. We outhit Cleveland 6-4, led by Minoso with his homer and by Willie Davis who had two hits and a walk.

April 26, 1959: It’s time for our first doubleheader of the season, and with us at 9-4, leading Washington by half a game and Cleveland by a pair, every game is important as teams jockey for position. Stan Williams (1-1, 2.77 ERA, 13.0 IP, 11 K’s, 1.23 WHIP) started against Mike Garcia (1-2, 2.19 ERA, 24.2 IP, 17 K’s, 0.97 WHIP) in the first game of the afternoon. Williams spotted them a four run lead in the bottom of the first, but he went on to get through the fifth without any further scoring. John Dewald took over in the bottom of the sixth, trailing 4-0, and in the top of the eighth we got a pair back thanks to an RBI triple by Sherm Lollar and a groundout by Bobby Morgan. Dewald got us into the ninth still trailing by two runs, but we couldn’t get over the hump and we lost this one 4-2. Williams started badly but finished with five innings and seven hits, with three walks and four earned runs, giving him a 1-2 record and a 4.00 ERA, and Dewald got through three innings with five strikeouts and no baserunners! We even outhit them 8-7, just couldn’t get it done. Lollar led the way with two hits, a run and an RBI.

Chuck Stobbs (0-1, 3.09 ERA, 11.2 IP, 2 K’s, 1.89 WHIP) pitched in game two, facing Tom Cheney (1-1, 3.72 ERA, 19.1 IP, 14 K’s, 1.50 WHIP). Each team picked up two runs in the fourth inning, so we were still tied up 2-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh when Bill Fischer came out to pitch. Ron Wells took over in the eighth, and in the top of the ninth Luis Aparicio hit an RBI single to put us in the lead! Kuykendall came out in the bottom of the inning and worked his magic and we were able to get out of here with a 3-2 win. Stobbs lasted six innings with five hits, four walks and two more unearned runs, striking out a pair. Wells wound up with the win, improving him to 2-0 with no earned runs in his two one-inning appearances, and Kuykendall saved his third game to stay perfect as well, not allowing a single baserunner. We outhit the Guardians 9-7, led by Jerry Zimmerman who hit twice, walked once and scored a run.while Aparicio won the game with his two hits and an RBI.

We’ll head back to Kansas City with a 10-5 record, leading the 10-7 Senators by a game and the Guardians (8-7) by two. We’ll host the Yankees (8-8, tied for fourth) for two, with off days tomorrow and Thursday, after which we’ll face Boston (8-8) for two, Baltimore (7-10) for one, Washington for two and Cleveland for four. With five off days spread throughout that stretch, we’ll be rolling with a four man rotation, with Stobbs essentially filling as our spot starter until we get into the more congested portion of the schedule.

jksander · 11-04-2024, 06:31 AM

April 28, 1959: Jim O’Toole (1-1, 3.09 ERA, 23.1 IP, 18 K’s, 1.03 WHIP) is fully rested and ready to pitch in front of 23,772 fans here in Kansas City as the Yankees come to town for the first time this year. He pitched against Vinegar Bend Mizell (2-1, 2.16 ERA, 25.0 IP, 18 K’s, 1.24 WHIP), who continues to fight to find the form he had back in 1956 when he won the Cy Young. The Yankees struck first with a pair in the top of the first inning, scoring off a Mantle RBI double and a sac-fly by Woodie Held. O’Toole struggled from there, and New York was more than happy to run the score up -- by the time Bob Rush took over in the top of the seventh we had dug ourselves a four-run hole, and we went on to lose this one in the end by a 7-1 margin. O’Toole, who allowed seven hits and five runs (three earned) with four strikeouts, pitched six innings and took the loss, falling to 1-2 with a 3.38 ERA, throwing a season low 76 pitches before we pulled him. But we were outhit 10-4, so the offense did little to help when he got in trouble. Minoso led the way, hitting three times with a walk and an RBI.

April 29, 1959: Jack Kralick (2-1, 1.03 ERA, 26.1 IP, 15 K’s, 0.57 WHIP) started against New York’s Saul Rogovin (0-2, 6.91 ERA, 14.1 IP, 6 K’s, 1.60 WHIP) and Willie Davis knocked in a run with a single in the bottom of the third to give us an early 1-0 lead. Minoso sliced his thumb in the bottom of the fifth as he got hit by a pitch, so Aparicio replaced him as a pinch runner, but we weren’t able to add any insurance. Alou took over at first base so Willie Kirkland could take over for Aparicio in left field, and in the top of the sixth the Yankees tied us with an RBI double by Tony Kubek, and in the top of the seventh they got two more off Kralick thanks to an Al Smith triple and a passed ball. Bill Fischer took over in the top of the eighth trailing by a pair, and he got through the remainder but our bats remained silent and we lost the game 3-1, Yankees with the two-game sweep. Kralick fell to 2-2 with a 1.62 ERA, with eight hits, two walks and three earned runs while striking out five, and we outhit the Yankees 12-9 but struggled on the basepaths. Davis had three hits and an RBI, giving the rookie a .278 average, and Minoso had a hit and a run before his injury.

The loss drops us to 10-7, and we’re now tied for first with the Senators, who hold an 11-8 record as we head into a two game set aginst the 8-9 Boston Red Sox and a Sunday game against the 9-10 Orioles to start the month of May.

May 1, 1959: Minnie Minoso needs at least a few days out of the lineup to let his thumb injury heal, so Alou will get some starts in his place at first base, but Minoso will not need to go on the IL. Billy Pierce (2-0, 1.00 ERA, 18.0 IP, 10 K’s, 0.89 WHIP) started today against Boston’s Frank Baumann (1-1, 1.40 ERA, 25.2 IP, 10 K’s, 0.70 WHIP). And in a pitcher’s duel, we got the lead finally in the bottom of the sixth thanks to an RBI double by Bobby Morgan that put us ahead 1-0 heading into the seventh inning. But thanks to a couple hits and an error at first, the Red Sox tied it up in the top of the seventh with a one-out RBI single by Ron Hansen, and with runners on the corners we brought out Bobby Fisher to take over on the mound. He got the second out and then let Nellie Fox hit an RBI single to score Willie Jones and put Boston in the lead. They added another run in the eighth and beat us 3-1, our offensive woes continuing ... since our opening six-game win streak we haven’t had a game with more than three runs scored, which is putting a lot of pressure on our pitchers. Pierce took the loss today, lasting 6.1 innings with six hits, seven strikeouts and two runs (one earned) while Fischer pitched 2.2 innings with four hits, a walk, two strikeouts and an earned run ... both are allowing barely a run a game, so they are not the problem. Us getting outhit 10-6, however, remains a continued issue. Davis had three hits and Don Bacon added two more, but none of them could get anywhere.

May 2, 1959: Stan “Big Daddy” Williams (1-2, 4.00 ERA, 18.0 IP, 16 K’s, 1.44 WHIP) took to the mound today, facing Mike Fornieles (2-2, 4.79 ERA, 20.2 IP, 11 K’s, 1.40 WHIP). We traded runs early on, and when Ron Wells came out in the seventh to take over for Williams we were knotted up at 4-4. But Rush let the Red Sox blast us with three runs in the seventh inning, and we went into the bottom of the eighth trailing 8-4. We woke up in the bottom of the inning scoring with an RBI double by Jerry Adair, a single by Gene Stephens, a sac-fly by Ron Wells and a single by Norm Siebern, so John Dewald came out in the ninth to try and give us a chance to get out of this one with a win. He got three quick outs, and with two outs in the bottom of the inning Jerry Adair made it on base thanks to a weak grounder and an E3 error ... but Morgan popped out to center and this slugfest was destined for extra innings, both teams tied at eight runs apiece.

Dewald tried to stay out for a second inning, having only thrown six pitches in the ninth, but that was a mistake ... he gave up a single to Elio Chacon and a double to Bob Allison, so Fred Green game out, no outs, to try and prevent a total collapse. Nellie Fox hit one to Davis in right, and his cannon of an arm allowed us to hold both runners. Ted Williams then hit one straight to Aparicio for out number two, bringing up Marty Keough, who walked to load the bases. Harry Simpson came in to pinch hit, and his low flyball went barely over the head of Adair, driving in two runs ... damn it! We came up to hit in the bottom of the inning and whiffed completely as we lost yet again 10-8 in the tenth inning. Now with nine losses, that six-game winning streak looks so long ago. Stan Williams allowed 11 hits with four runs and three strikeouts, but the loss went to Dewald, who is now 0-1 with a 6.10 ERA thanks to two hits and two earned runs. Boston outhit us by the insane margin of 20-12, wasting a four hit, one walk, three run two RBI game from Gene Stephens completely.

It’s a tight race in the AL early this year, and any team could be great or mediocre ... we’ve fallen from first into a tie for third with the now 10-9 Red Sox, and first place (Cleveland) has an 11-7 record while last place (Detroit) has a 7-12 record. So not time to panic, but I will say it’s disappointing for this team to be 2-8 over our last ten game stretch.

May 3, 1959: Jim O’Toole (1-2, 3.38 ERA, 29.1 IP, 22 K’s, 1.06 WHIP) pitched against Baltimore’s Glen Hobbie (2-1, 2.43 ERA, 29.2 IP, 11 K’s, 1.04 WHIP) and O’Toole had four scoreless innings and then the Orioles got runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh as our bats remained consipcuously silent. Visably frustrated, he fought through the eighth inning, giving up two more runs off a double by Lenny Green, Dewald taking over with a man on second and two outs to get us out of the inning. Dewald gave up three more runs in the ninth and we were absolutely humiliated, getting shutout 8-0 in a complete beatdown. O’Toole fell to 1-3 with 11 hits in his 7.2 innings, walking two and striking out three with five earned runs. But the real story was our team getting outhit 14-5, which is a hundred percent unacceptable ... I know Minoso’s been out with the thumb injury, but come on, guys, get some damned contact! Only Aparicio got on base twice, with a hit and a walk.

It’s not going to get easier. We’ve fallen from 6-0 to 10-10, and our next two opponents are Washington (14-10) for two games and Cleveland (12-8) for four. We’re only two games out of first, so a lot can happen quickly if we find our footing, but good Lord have we looked like goats falling off a mountaintop lately.

May 5, 1959: Gene Stephens is day to day with a mild hamstring strain, but Minnie Minoso is back in the lineup today as Jack Kralick (2-2, 1.62 ERA, 33.1 IP, 20 K’s, 0.75 WHIP) takes on Washington’s Harold Larned (4-0, 2.15 ERA, 37.2 IP, 32 K’s, 1.51 WHIP). Washington took a quick 3-0 lead in the top of the first, adding a run in the third before we woke up in the bottom of the sixth inning. Coming in to the inning we trailed 4-1, but a Zimmerman walk scored Alou to get us going, a passed ball scored Adair, and then a line drive single by Bacon batted in two more to put us in the lead 5-4! Kralick had thrown 115 pitches already, so we brought Fred Green in to pitch in the seventh, and Jerry Coleman hit an RBI single to score Minoso and give us a two-run cushion. Bill Fischer pitched in the eighth inning and Kuykendall came out in the ninth to try and put the nails in, still leading by a pair. He got one out, but with runners on first and second we brought out Ron Walls, who had a walk and two strikeouts but got the job done ... finally we snapped the losing streak, beating a good Washington team 6-4! Kralick pitched six innings with five hits, five walks, four strikeouts and four earned runs, and Green, Fischer and Kuykendall all held that lead long enough for Wells to pick up his first save of the year. Our bullpen pitched three innings with just two hits, two walks and two strikeouts, and Wells was impressive in the high leverage save situation. More importantly, we outhit them 9-7 with Willie Kirkland putting up four hits and a run to lead the way ... the backup outfielder has quietly hit .357 so far with a double and just three strikeouts through his first 28 bats.

May 6, 1959: Billy Pierce (2-1, 1.11 ERA, 24.1 IP, 17 K’s, 0.90 WHIP) pitched against Art Houtteman (1-3, 6.20 ERA, 24.2 IP, 17 K’s, 1.62 WHIP). And this time we were the ones who got going on a hot streak -- in the bottom of the first Minnie Minoso hit a two-run double, Sherm Lollar hit an RBI single, and Alou tagged up to score from third off a sac-fly by Bobby Morgan to give us a 4-0 lead heading into the top of the second! We took control from there, and by the time Bill Fischer came out in the top of the eighth to take over, we held a six-run lead. Fischer held on and didn’t give them any room to sneak back in, shutting the Senators down 9-3 as we are suddenly looking like the team that opened the season so well. Let’s keep it up, boys! Pierce now is 3-1 with a 1.72 ERA, getting through seven innings tonight with nine hits, two walks and three strikeouts, allowing just three earned runs. Fischer, meanwhile, has an 0.87 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP through seven appearances and 10.1 innings, making sure we didn’t backslide in the final frames. We outhit Washington 12-10, led by Felipe Alou, who hit three times with two runs and three RBIs to lead the offense.

May 8, 1959: Jim O’Toole (1-3, 3.09 ERA, 37.0 IP, 25 K’s, 1.19 WHIP) got the start in game one against Cleveland, facing Tom Cheney (2-1, 2.60 ERA, 34.2 IP, 24 K’s, 1.27 WHIP). Cleveland got two runs in the top of the first, thanks to an RBI double by Colavito and a single from Lopata, but we got an RBI triple from Sherm Lollar in the bottom of the second to stay in the game. Then all scoring hit a standstill, and this one became a duel between two very good pitchers. We tied it up in the bottom of the seventh when Luis Aparicio hit into a fielder’s choice ... they tried to get Stephens out at the plate and failed! Bill Fischer came out to pitch in the top of the eighth, and Ron Wells took over in the ninth still tied at two, but this one seemed aimed for extra innings since the beginning, and that was the case. Wells loaded the bases in the top of the tenth, however, and Kuykendall gave up two of those runs while fighting to get out of the inning, and our bats went silent down the stretch as we lost 4-2. Wells only threw six pitches in the ninth, and has the stamina to where it was reasonable to keep him in, but he wound up with the loss instead, falling to 2-1 with what is now a 9.53 ERA thanks to two more earned runs ... his incredible stuff is getting outmatched by his poor control, though I still think the 24-year-old has mostly suffered from bad luck so far. They outhit us 9-8 overall, led by Stephens who hit twice, walked once and scored a run while batting in one as well. He has hit .359 so far with a double, a triple, a homer and six RBIs in his first twelve games.

May 9, 1959: Stan Williams (1-2, 4.50 ERA, 24.0 IP, 19 K’s, 1.54 WHIP) pitched against Hoyt Wilhelm (3-0, 2.08 ERA, 34.2 IP, 20 K’s, 0.98 WHIP) in game two of this four-game series. We each notched a run in the first inning, and then the two pitchers dueled it out, with Dewald taking over in the top of the seventh still tied at 1-1. Willie Davis batted in a run with a single in the bottom of the eighth, and Kuykendall came out in the top of the ninth leading now by a run, but a Roger Maris RBI single with one out managed to tie us back up. This one went to extra innings yet again, which have been the bane of our existance all year. Bill Fischer took over on the mound in the top of the 10th, and Chuck Stobbs came out in the 11th, staying out in the 12th at which point Cleveland broke the stalemate with an RBI single by Lopata. We came up empty in the bottom of the inning, losing this one in 12 innings by a 3-2 margin. Williams did his best, going six innings with six hits, a walk, a run and eight strikeouts, but Kuykendall blew the save and Stobbs (0-2, 2.29 ERA) took the loss. Cleveland outhit us 11-8, Aparicio leading the way for us with three hits, a run and an RBI.

We’ve got a doubleheader tomorrow at the worst time, having already played 22 innings in the last two days.

May 10, 1959: Game one of today’s doubleheader featured Jack Kralick (3-2, 2.29 ERA, 39.1 IP, 24 K’s, 0.89 WHIP) pitching against Dave Sisler (1-0, 1.69 ERA, 21.1 IP, 8 K’s, 1.22 WHIP), and both teams were looking for their starters to go deep into this one. But as the game progressed, we were all just hoping someone, ANYONE, would score a goddamned run. Unfortunately it was Cleveland who, in the top of the eighth, broke it wide open, scoring three runs off Kralick with a sac-fly by Maris, a single by Avila and a double by Cash, all in quick succession. We went on to lose this game 5-1, a flurry of scoring in the final two frames defeating us. Kralick fell to 3-3 with a 2.23 ERA, pitching a complete game with 11 hits, a walk, a pair of strikeouts and five runs, only two of which were earned. Cleveland outhit us 11-5, Siebern leading the way with a walk and an RBI.

Bob Rush (0-0, 2.25 ERA, 12.0 IP, 5 K’s, 1.50 WHIP) made his first start after four bullpen appearances, facing Carl Erskine (1-1, 4.20 ERA, 15.0 IP, 8 K’s, 1.40 WHIP). Bobby Morgan hit a sac-fly that scored Willie Davis to give us a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second, and in the top of the third Norm Siebern strained his shoulder while catching a flyball off Vic Davilillo’s bat, so Gene Stephens had to come out and replace him. In the top of the fifth the Guardians tied us up with an RBI single by Bob Uecker, and they took the lead with two more runs in the top of the seventh. Ron Wells came out in the top of the eighth trailing 3-1, and he got us through the last two innings but we again failed to deliever down the stretch ... one one was all we got and we llost 3-1. Rush was solid, with seven hits, three walks, two strikeouts and three earned runs in seven innings, but he should have exited after six all things considered. Cleveland outhit us 9-6, with Bobby Morgan leading the way with two walks and an RBI, while Bacon added two hits.

We continue to show a lot of promise on pitching while our bats have us rocking a -9 run differential. Worse than that, we’re 1-4 in extra innings games already and just 5-4 in one run games ... and if you factor in two-run games we’re 6-10. So far the fans have kept showing up despite our 7-10 record at Comiskey, but I’m not sure how long they’ll keep doing that if we fall far below .500. We shead into this upcoming road trip with a 12-14 record and in sixth place in the AL. We’ve got three games in Boston (16-12), two in New York (13-14), three in Washington (16-13), two in Baltimore (14-15) and three in Kansas City (10-16) before returning to Cleveland (18-8) for a pair to start a two-week home stretch eading into June.

jksander · 11-05-2024, 04:10 AM

May 12, 1959: Billy Pierce (3-1, 1.72 ERA, 31.1 IP, 20 K’s, 1.05 WHIP) pitched in our first game of the year at Fenway, facing Boston pitcher Mike Fornieles. Luis Aparicio hit an RBI single in the top of the second to put us up 1-0, and in the bottom of the inning Aparicio was injured while making a throw to get an out off a fielder’s choice that put Bob Johnson on base. It’s a bruised toe, an injury that shouldn’t keep him out long, but it still meant moving Bobby Morgan over to short and bringing in Don Bacon to cover third in place of Aparicio. We got an RBI single from Gene Stephens and another from Bacon to go up 3-0 midway through the fourth, and Siebern scored another in the top of the seventh when Lollar reached first on an E6 error. Pierce stayed out there and completed the shutout as we beat Boston 4-0. Pierce only allowed five hits, walking one batter and striking out three more as he improved to 4-1 with a 1.34 ERA. We had ten hits ourselves, led by Bacon with two hits and an RBI while Siebern added two hits and a run.

May 13, 1959: Chuck Stobbs (0-2, 2.29 ERA, 19.2 IP, 4 K’s, 1.78 WHIP) got the start in game two, facing Boston’s George “Lefty” Brunet (1-3, 4.86 ERA, 37.0 IP, 13 K’s, 1.51 WHIP). Boston took the lead 1-0 in the bottom of the second thanks to a solo homer by Willie Jones, but in the top of the sixth we took control, tying the score off a sac-fly by Alou, and then taking the lead with a Sherm Lollar RBI single. Bobby Morgan hit an RBI single to add on, and Stobbs singled in a run followed by a Norm Siebern walk that pushed in a fifth. Leading 5-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth, Stobbs felt confident to continue to pitch for us, easily getting through the inning and well into the seventh, though we brought out Ron Walls to replace him with two outs and a man on first. Walls got the out, keeping the four-run lead intact, and he got us through the eighth inning with just one baserunner of his own. He stayed out in the ninth still leading by four, shutting them down completely as we held firm to win 5-1. Stobbs had his best start of the year with 6.2 innings and six hits, striking out three with one earned run as he improved to 1-2 with a 2.05 ERA, and Wells gave us 2.1 innings to close it out, just two walks and two strikeouts to his name as his ERA improved to 5.40. Once he gets his confidence regarding his four pitch mix, he’ll be a real force from the pen ... he just has to know he’s got the ball going where it’s supposed to. We outhit them 8-6, led by Morgan who had two hits, a run and an RBI, while Alou added two hits and an RBI.

We’ve sent Fred Green back down to AAA and called up right fielder Mike Hershberger (.261, four doubles, 11 RBIs, 5 stolen bases) from AAA Indianapolis as an extra pinch-hitting / pinch-running option off the bench. We’re also keeping a close eye on Garland Shifflett, who so far has a 1-1 record, a 1.02 ERA and 14 K’s in 17.2 AAA innings, though for now we’re sticking with our current bullpen of Kuykendall, Fischer, Dewald and Wells, with Rush and Stobbs rotating as back-end starters and long relief as necessary.

May 14, 1959: Jim O’Toole (1-3, 3.68 ERA, 44.0 IP, 29 K’s, 1.20 WHIP) got the start against Boston’s Bob Purkey (4-1, 3.22 ERA, 36.1 IP, 15 K’s, 0.94 WHIP). We took a 1-0 lead in the top of the sixth with an RBI single by Minnie Minoso, and O’Toole struggled to start the bottom of the sixth, placing runners on the corners. Ron Hansen grounded out to first, scoring a run to tie it up, and with an out and Bob Johnson on second we brought out John Dewald who got two quick outs to strand the runner and keep it tied, just throwing two pitches to get it done. Poor fielding in the infield doomed him after a good start in the seventh, and Johnny Blanchard singled in a run to put them up 2-1 with two outs and men now on the corners. Another hit, and then a fielding error at third led to two more runs scoring before Deward could strike out Purkey to end the inning now trailing 4-1. Wells took over in the eighth, getting it done with three quick outs, but our bats had nothing in them and we lost 4-1, another game spoiled by one bad inning. Dewald took the loss, 1.2 innings with three hits, a walk, two strikeouts and three runs (two earned) to give him a 7.04 ERA ... but the loss was more due to Boston outhitting us 11-6, most coming late in the game. Minoso led our offense with a hit, a walk and an RBI. We still won the series against a good Boston team, but it would have been nice to get a road sweep.

My assistant GM has informed me of his intention to step down so he can be in a position to go after the next full GM job that opens up, so we’ve made an offer to Cuckoo “Seacap” Christensen, a 59-year-old who favors speedy guys who get on base ... he has a lot of experience running teams in the minors, and our owner is a big fan of his office management style, so I’m hopeful he’ll accept the job and work well with me as we continue to buidl this team up. I’ve offered him a four year deal worth $17,550 per year, which is more than I made while in Kansas City as GM and Manager.

May 15, 1959: Stan Williams (1-2, 3.90 ERA, 30.0 IP, 27 K’s, 1.47 WHIP) started in New York against Mike McCormick (3-3, 4.15 ERA, 47.2 IP, 28 K’s, 1.51 WHIP). He did well until the bottom of the fifth when New York hit us hard, Hank Bauer hitting an RBI double to give them the lead and then Mike McCormick hitting a two-run homer to add on. Ron Wells came out in the eighth inning trailing by four runs and our bats never made a sound as we lost 4-0. Williams was solid, with just six hits, two walks and four earned runs in seven innings, his record falling to 1-3 with a 4.14 ERA, but we were outhit 6-3 with just three baserunners all game ... so anything less than perfect wasn’t going to be enough for whoever took the mound.

May 16, 1959: Jack Kralick (3-3, 2.23 ERA, 48.1 IP, 26 K’s, 0.97 WHIP) pitched against Vinegar Bend Mizell (3-2, 2.25 ERA, 48.0 IP, 36 K’s, 1.25 WHIP) in our second game in New York, and Kralick got our first run across thanks to a sac-fly by Siebern in the top of the third. The Yankees tied it in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI single by Woodie Held, but Minnie Minoso slugged a three-run homer in the top of the eighth to put us up 4-1! Mantle answered with a homer of his own in the bottom of the inning, and Bill Fischer took over with one out, striking out Held and getting Berra to ground out, leaving us a two-run lead as we came up to hit in the top of the ninth. Kuykendall came out in the bottom of the inning and they got a run through, but not enough to stop us from winning this 4-3. Kralick improved to 4-3 with the win, allowing just five hits with three walks and two earned runs in his 7.1 innings, striking out five ... Fischer got his second hold, and Kuykendall saved his fourth game with two hits and an earned run, giving him a 1.86 ERA through 9.2 innings. The Yankees outhit us 7-4, but Minoso’s three RBIs off that homer won the day.

May 17, 1959: Today was a doubleheader in Washington, and Billy Pierce (4-1, 1.34 ERA, 40.1 IP, 23 K’s, 0.97 WHIP) started against Art Houtteman (2-4, 6.44 ERA, 36.1 IP, 24 K’s, 1.62 WHIP) in game one. Pierce had the endurance to handle this one, but not the control ... Washington went up 2-0 in the second and then kept piling on, and by the time we brought out Dewald in the bottom of the seventh we were in a five-run hole. Deward gave up five more in the last two innings, and we got reamed in this one 10-0. When our bats go cold, they go ICE COLD ... we were outhit 14-4, and Pierce fell to 4-2 having allowed five hits and five runs with five runs (three earned) in his six innings. Willie Davis had three hits and nothing else, but that was almost all our offense just on his rookie shoulders.

Bob Rush (0-1, 2.84 ERA, 19.0 IP, 7 K’s, 1.47 WHIP) pitched in the second game of the afternoon, facing Camillo Pascual (5-3, 4.24 ERA, 63.2 IP, 51 K’s, 1.55 WHIP). Washington scored two runs in the bottom of the first, but we answered this time with three of our own in the top of the third -- Norm Siebern hit an RBI single and Minoso a two-run homer (his third of the year) to give us the lead. They took it back in the bottom of the fourth with a two-run Fred Hatfield homer, and Ron Walls took over in the bottom of the seventh still trailing by a run. He gave us great work the rest of the way, but we couldn’t get that one run back, losing 4-3. Rush fell to 0-2 with a 3.60 ERA, allowing three hits with four walks and four earned runs, striking out five, while we actually outhit them 6-4. Minoso led our batters with a hit, a run and two RBIs, while Siebern had a hit, a run and an RBI.

May 18, 1959: We’ve signed our new AGM, and Christensen is ready to hit the ground running. Chuck Stobbs (1-2, 2.05 ERA, 26.1 IP, 7 K’s, 1.56 WHIP) pitched today in Washington against Art Ditmar (2-3, 6.23 ERA, 34.2 IP, 14 K’s, 1.56 WHIP). Minoso batted in a run with a single to put us up 1-0 in the top of the third, and he hit a two-run homer in the top of the sixth to give us a 3-0 lead. Ron Wells came out in the bottom of the inning, and with one out and a man on first in the bottom of the eighth Kuykendall came out to close. He got out of the inning with two runners stranded in scoring position, and he shut them down in the ninth completely as we won 3-0! Stobbs improved to 2-2 with a 1.72 ERA, allowing six hits, a walk and a strikeout in his five innings. Wells had a 2.1 inning hold with a hit and two strikeouts, and Kuykendall saved his fifth game of the year with 1.2 innings, two hits a walk and a strikeout, as he improved his ERA to 1.59. They outhit us 9-7, but Minoso again stepped up with two hits a run and three RBIs as we pulled out the shutout win.

We’re working on signing our young pitching core to long term contracts, and the first one to lock his deal in was 22-year-old ace Jim O’Toole. He has agreed to a ten year extension that locks in his early arb years at $21,000 / $75,000 / $90,000 / $110,000, and then he’ll earn $170,000 starting in 1964 and running through the end of the deal in 1969. It’s a $1.3 million deal in total, and doesn’t have any other financial incentives attached, he just wanted assurance that he’d spend his prime years pitching in Chicago. The 6th pick overall in last year’s draft, O’Toole is 15-18 with a 3.56 ERA in his time here, but he’s durable and has a great four-pitch mix with good movement and control, so we’re glad to have him locked in at a rate that will look like a steal I’m sure in five years.

May 19, 1959: Jim O’Toole (1-3, 3.47 ERA, 49.1 IP, 29 K’s, 1.30 WHIP), owner of his brand new contract, pitched today in Baltimore against Chuck Estrada (3-3, 3.63 ERA, 44.2 IP, 28 K’s, 1.54 WHIP). It was rainy and windy, but we fought them hard early and broke through with a sac-fly by Lollar in the sixth that scored Minoso to put us up 1-0. O’Toole had us locked in from there as he pitched a complete game four-hitter with a walk and two strikeouts, beating the Orioles 1-0! We outhit them 8-4, led by Minoso with a hit and a run and by Davis with a hit and a walk.

Late in the afternoon we were able to put the final touches on Jack Kralick’s new contract, as the 23-year-old signed on to stay with us through 1968 ... He was already earning $75,000 this season, and has agreed to raises to $100,000 next year, $130,000 in 1961, $150,000 in 1962 and $180,000 in 1963. He’ll then earn $190,000 for the remainder of the deal, including a final option year in ’68 when he’ll be 33, with a $13,000 bonus if he wins a Cy Young, and $1,900 for any year he makes the All Star game.. He and O’Toole are our highest potential long-term starters, so I’m glad to have them locked in ... neither are on “no trade” clauses, either, which will give them good future trade value if free agency drives up pitcher prices in the near future as I’m expecting it will.

We’re still working on a deal for Stan Williams, but his is not going to be nearly as expensive ... he’s young and talented, but is considered to be a mid-rotation starter at his best due to his reliance on his stuff over average control and middling ball movement ... he’s already a fan favorite, though, so we want to keep this young trio together.

May 20, 1959: Stan Williams (1-3, 4.14 ERA, 37.0 IP, 32 K’s, 1.41 WHIP) pitched against Baltimore’s Dave Wickersham (3-5, 6.26 ERA, 50.1 IP, 24 K’s, 1.59 WHIP). We took the lead in the top of the fourth, Alou hitting an RBI double and Adair an RBI single to give us a 2-0 advantage. Baltimore got a run back in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI single by Rod Kanehl, but Williams held firm with a pair of K’s to get out of the inning. Jim Dewald took over in the bottom of the seventh still leading by a run, and with the bases loaded and one out he walked a run in to tie the game. With two outs he let Jerry Lumpe hit a two-run single for the lead, and we went into the top of the eighth trailing 4-2. Bill Fischer took over in the bottom of the eighth but it didn’t matter ... we hit nothing in the ninth and lost this one 4-2, Dewald getting rung up with the blown save and the loss, dropping to 0-3 with a 9.82 ERA, and he’s officially overmatched at this level. We’re going to send the 22-year-old down to AAA to re-discover his stuff, bringing up Garland Shifflett (1-2, 4 SV, 2.14 ERA, 21.0 IP, 19 K’s, 1.10 WHIP) to make his major league debut.

May 21, 1959: Today we’re off for travel as we head for Kansas City, but we did finalize the contract for Stan Williams. He’s making $37,000 this year and will earn $36,000 next year, followed by $48,000 in 1961, $60,000 in 1962 and $75,000 in 1963. We’ll then be paying him $85,000 per year through the remainder of the deal which runs through 1968, with no added incentives.

jksander · 11-06-2024, 11:23 AM

May 22, 1959: The race right now in the AL is crazy tight. Cleveland (21-14) leads the way in a tie with Washington (23-16), while Boston (20-18, 2.5 GB), Baltimore (20-19, 3 GB) and New York (17-18, 4 GB) are right there in the fight, us straggling slightly behind in sixth place at 17-19, 4.5 games out of first and just four games out of last (Detroit, at 16-20, and Kansas City with their 18-23 record are the two stragglers). This all makes our series against KC this weekend all that more important ... we need to be able to beat the teams we should beat if we’re going to stay in contention and not just fall into obscurity in the league.

Jack Kralick (4-3, 2.26 ERA, 55.2 IP, 31 K’s, 0.99 WHIP) pitched against Milt Pappas (2-5, 4.04 ERA, 62.1 IP, 45 K’s, 1.36 WHIP) in today’s game, and we took the lead in the top of the first, with Norm Siebern scoring after a throwing error while Willie Davis was stealing second! Siebern scored again with an RBI triple by Minoso in the top of the third, but Kansas City hit back in the bottom of the sixth with RBI singles by Sievers, Banks and Fairly in quick succession. With two outs and men on first and second in the bottom of the seventh, Garland Shiffflett came out with his upper-90s fastball hoping to get us out of the jam ... but a hit into left by Walt Bond drove in two more runs. Damn it! He got the final out by strikeout against Bob Lillis but the damage was done. He gave up three more in the eighth inning and we got creamed, losing 8-2. That’s not going to be his only chance during this call-up, but going 1.1 innings with three hits, two walks, three runs and three strikeouts certainly wasn’t an auspicious beginning. Kralick took the loss, though, going 6.2 innings with six hits, two walks, three strikeouts and five runs (three earned) against him and we were outhit 9-7, only Minoso (three hits and an RBI) looking particularly good.

May 23, 1959: Billy Pierce (4-2, 1.75 ERA, 46.1 IP, 27 K’s, 1.10 WHIP) pitched against Kansas City’s Ron Negray (1-3, 5.59 ERA, 48.1 IP, 20 K’s, 1.43 WHIP). We again took a first inning lead, this time off a double by Kirkland, but Kansas City got five runs off Pierce in the first inning, so this one became a slugfest ... Gene Stephens hit a two-run homer to get us within two in the top of the second, and Pierce stayed out to clean up his own mess, though his margin for error was now much thinner. Thankfully we kept hitting, Stephens hitting a two-run single and Pierce adding an RBI single of his own to get us into the lead 6-5 in the middle of the third. Ron Fairly tied it up with a solo bomb in the bottom of the inning, and we got that run back in the top of the fifth thanks again to Pierce, who this time walked in a run with the bases loaded. I was going to let him stay out in the fifth, but he beaned Walt Bond in the leadoff spot and I’d had it ... get your s--- together, Pierce, you’re the VETERAN on this squad! Bob Rush came out with no outs, runner on first, and he immediately let them tie it up with a double by Banks, and this game’s gonna give me a stroke. He got three quick outs from there, but the game was now tied 7-7 heading into the top of the sixth.

Rush being a long-reliever / spot starter, he did help us stabilize ourselves, getting through the sixth inning with three quick outs, pitching around a hit and a walk in the seventh to get us through that one as well. Still tied up in the eighth, we brought out Ron Wells, who got three outs off nine pitches in that inning as we continued to look for some runs on our end. Instead, Wells got us through the ninth and into extra innings thanks to a 5-4-3 double play off a Sievers grounder, and he got us through the 10th as well. Finally in the top of the 11th we broke through with an RBI single by Stephens, and Jerry Coleman reached on an error, driving in Felipe Alou to give us a two-run lead. Bobby Kuykendall came out for the save opportunity, getting his final out with runners on the corners when Crandall popped out to Lollar ... we’d held on and won a crazy one 9-7!

Wells improved to 3-1 with a three-inning effort, allowing just one hit with a strikeout, improving his ERA to 2.79, while Kuykendall with his sixth save and just two hits against him improved his to 1.46 through 12.1 innings. We outhit Kansas City 12-10 in this one, led by a herculean performance from backup outfielder Gene Stephens, who hit four times and walked once, scoring two and driving in five.

May 24, 1959: Jim O’Toole (2-3, 2.93 ERA, 58.1 IP, 31 K’s, 1.18 WHIP) pitched against Johnny Kucks (2-4, 5.78 ERA, 48.2 IP, 17 K’s, 1.50 WHIP) in our final game in Kansas City, We went up 3-0 quickly in the top of the first thanks to a two-run Davis double and an error that let Adair reach first, driving in a run via Davis. O’Toole got into a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the ninth, but we trusted him to get out of it since we still had the three-run lead, and he delivered ... Whitey Lockman popped out to right field and we won 3-0! O’Toole allowed just two hits with four walks and two strikeouts in the complete game shutout, giving him a 3-3 record and a 2.54 ERA, and we outhit them just 4-2 in this duel ... Willie Davis led the way with his one hit, one run and two RBIs.

We have an off day for travel, and then finally get back to Kansas City, our record at 19-20 ... we’ve managed to go 12-10 in road games, and if we can start actually playing up to our potential at home, I think we can get back into the pennant chase. In the next two weeks we have a pair of games against Cleveland (24-15), three against Detroit (17-23) including a doubleheader, two against Kansas City (14-25), three against Baltimore (21-22) and four against Boston (21-20) including a doubleheader.

May 26, 1959: Stan Williams (1-3, 3.77 ERA, 43.0 IP, 35 K’s, 1.40 WHIP) started against Cleveland’s Mike Garcia (5-3, 2.80 ERA, 70.2 IP, 44 K’s, 1.19 WHIP). Cleveland scored first with a sac-fly by Roger Maris in the top of the fifth pushing a run through, but we tied it up in the bottom of the sixth with a double by Siebern. Bill Fischer came out with one out and a man on third in the top of the seventh, and we were able to escape the jam with the score still tied. In the bottom half of the inning Fischer hit a two-run single to put us into the lead, and Siebern added on with another RBI single to make it a 4-1 lead. Maris led off with a solo homer in the top of the eighth, Garland Shifflett came in with two outs and men on second and third, getting the out to leave them both stranded. He pitched around a single baserunner in the top of the ninth to close it out as we won 4-2! Williams had a solid night with 6.1 innings and three hits, two walks, five strikeouts and a single unearned run, giving him a 3.28 ERA though the win went to Fischer who had two hits, a walk, a strikeout and an earned run in his 1.1 innings. Shifflett got his first save, allowing just one hit in his 1.1 innings, and we outhit Cleveland 9-6, led by Siebern with two hits and two critical RBIs.

May 27, 1959: Jack Kralick (4-4, 2.45 ERA, 62.1 IP, 34 K’s, 1.01 WHIP) pitched against Dave Sisler (3-1, 2.89 ERA, 37.1 IP, 15 K’s, 1.31 WhiP) in our second of two games against the Guardians here at Comiskey. And we were never in this one, getting completely smacked around by the Guardians and losing 6-0. Kralick pitched eight innings with 11 hits, four walks, three strikeouts and five earned runs, falling to 4-5 with a 2.82 ERA, while Fischer mopped up the final inning with a hit and an earned run, increasing his ERA to 1.65. We were outhit 12-6, and only Bobby Morgan made it on base twice, with a hit and a walk.

May 29, 1959: Billy Pierce (4-2, 2.86 ERA, 50.1 IP, 28 K’s, 1.17 WHIP) pitched against Detroit’s Bob Kuzawa (2-4, 3.86 ERA, 49.0 IP, 17 K’s, 1.51 WHIP). We took the lead in the bottom of the fourth off a sac-fly by Willie Davis, and it was lights out from there for our veteran pitcher. Pierce pitched a complete game shutout as we won the game 1-0, outhitting them in the duel by a 3-2 margin. Pierce improved to 5-2 with a three-hitter, walking two and sriking out four, and Davis led the way with his RBI via sacrifice.

May 30, 1959: Today was a doubleheader against the Tigers, and in game one Chuck Stobbs (2-2, 1.72 ERA, 31.1 IP, 8 K’s, 1.53 WHIP) faced off against Tom Brewer (2-4, 4.09 ERA< 70.1 IP, 28 K’s, 1.29 WHIP). We went back and forth in this one, trading runs but trailing 4-3 after six solid innings for Stobbs. We tied it up with an RBI single by Adair in the bottom of the inning, and Bill Fischer took over in the top of the seventh, at which point we unleashed on Detroit, scoring three in the bottom of the inning to take a commanding lead as Willie Davis hit an RBI single and Alou added a two-run double. Kuykendall came out in the top of the ninth and, though he did give up a pair of runs, we escaped with a 7-6 win and that’s what counts as we try and claw our way back into the race. Fischer got the win, improving to 2-0 with a 1.47 ERA, and Kuykendall saved his seventh game, allowing two hits and two runs thanks to a Randy Jackson two-run homer. We matched them on hits, 11-11, led by Davis and Alou who each hit twice with a run and two RBIs.

In the day’s second game, Jim O’Toole (3-3, 2.54 ERA< 67.1 IP, 33 K’s, 1.11 WHIP) pitched against Detroit’s Robin Roberts (2-1, 2.78 ERA, 35.2 IP, 5 K’s, 1.21 WHIP). Luis Aparicio led off with a solo homer in the bottom of the first and we added on with an RBI single by Willie Davis and an RBI double by Felipe Alou. Alou added another RBI single in the bottom of the third, and from there we cruised, with O’Toole pitching another complete game as we won 6-2! O’Toole is now 4-3 with a 2.48 ERA, allowing six hits and two earned runs with seven strikeouts as we outhit Detroit 7-6. Alou led the way this time with two hits, a run and two RBIs as we improved our record to 23-21, the win jumping us into a third place tie with the Yankees, just five games out of the top spot.

May 31, 1959: Stan Williams (1-3, 3.28 ERA, 49.1 IP, 40 K’s, 1.32 WHIP) pitched against Kansas City’s Dean Stone (2-2, 4.54 ERA, 39.2 IP, 15 K’s, 1.49 WHIP). The A’s took the lead in the top of the second with a wild pitch, but we flipped it in the bottom of the inning with an RBI double by Minnie Minoso and an RBI single by Willie Davis. Bob Rush took over in the top of the sixth, still leading by a run, and he pitched the rest of the way as we shut Kansas City down 2-1. Williams got the win, improving to 2-3 with a 3.15 ERA, thanks to five innings with seven hits, a run and five strikeouts. We outhit the A’s 10-8, led by Minoso who hit twice for a run and an RBI.

June 1, 1959: Jack Kralick (4-5, 2.82 ERA, 70.1 IP, 37 K’s, 1.11 WHIP) started against Milt Pappas (4-5, 3.40 ERA, 79.1 IP, 53 K’s, 1.29 WHIP). Bob Fischer came out in the top of the seventh trailing 3-0, but in the bottom of the seventh we got it all back with a two run single by Aparicio and an RBI single by Willie Kirkland! Fischer stayed out and got us through the eighth, and Ron Wells took over in the ninth, but he gave them the lead when a Phil Jantze sac-fly scored Cannizzario from third. In the bottom of the ninth with one out Willie Kirkland got on base with a single into right, and with two outs Alou hit one into right that rolled into the corner, but Kirkland tried to leg one out to third and got tagged with a throw from right field and we lost this one 4-3. Wells took the loss, falling to 3-2 with a 3.10 ERA thanks to a hit, two walks and a run with a single strikeout. We outhit them 13-6 and still screwed it up in the end, which is a frustrating way to lose a game. Kirkland led the way with two hits and an RBI, while Aparicio added a hit, a walk and two RBIs.

June 2, 1959: Baltimore’s in town for three games before a four-game set this weekend against Boston, and we need all the wins we can get to keep our momentum. Billy Pierce (5-2, 2.43 ERA, 59.1 IP, 32 K’s, 1.08 WHIP) pitched against Ted Wills (2-2, 3.74 ERA, 65.0 IP, 40 K’s, 1.35 WHIP). And though we started slow and let Baltimore build a 2-1 lead in the sixth inning, we kept our cool and Gene Stephens got us tied up with an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth. Moments later we took the lead off a Bobby Morgan sac-fly, and Pierce held his ground in the ninth as we shut them down to win 3-2. Pierce pitched a complete game with three hits, four walks, four strikeouts and two earned runs, as we picked up eight hits ourselves -- Stephens led the way with two hits, a walk, a run and two RBIs.

June 3, 1959: Chuck Stobbs (2-2, 2.41 ERA, 37.1 IP, 10 K’s, 1.61 WHIP) pitched in game two against the Orioles, facing Eli Grba (0-1, 3.95 ERA, 43.1 IP, 23 K’s, 1.27 WHIP), who the Orioles picked up in a trade last month from Cincinnati, so we haven’t seen him pitch yet this year. We figured him out in the bottom of the third, taking the lead with an RBI single by Aparicio and then adding on with a two-run single (aided by an E7 err0r) by Sherm Lollar. Stobbs scored on an RBI single by Aparicio and Siebern batted in another with a single to make it a 5-0 lead after four innings. We dominated the remainder, as Stobbs pitched a complete game and we won in a blowout 8-1! Stobbs improved to 3-2, allowing seven hits, two walks and an earned run with three strikeouts. We outhit the Orioles 15-7, led by Siebern with three hits, two runs and three RBIs.

June 4, 1959: Jim O’Toole (4-3, 2.48 ERA, 76.1 IP, 40 K’s, 1.06 WHIP) has been on a tear lately, and he went up against Dave Wickersham (5-5, 5.11 ERA, 74.0 IP, 34 K’s, 1.41 WHIP) in today’s third game against the Orioles. We took the lead in the bottom of the first with an RBI single by Alou, but in the top of the third Baltimore struck back with a two-run single by Brooks Robinson to take the lead. Bill Fischer took over in the top of the seventh, and we traded two-run frames in the seventh, going into the eighth inning still trailing by a run, 4-3. Bob Rush came out to pitch and got us through the eighth and ninth, but we couldn’t get a run across in the bottom of the inning, losing this one 4-3 as we head into the four-game Boston series. O’Toole fell to 4-4 with a 2.51 ERA, allowing five hits, two walks and two earned runs in his six innings, striking out five. They outhit us 9-7, our team led by Alou with two hits and an RBI.

We are currently 26-23 and sitting in third place, three games behind the second place Senators and a game and a half up on the fourth place Yankees. After this four-game set, we’ll have a day off before playing 20 of our last 27 re-All Star games on the road over a 27 day stretch.

jksander · 11-12-2024, 02:20 PM

June 5, 1959: Stan Williams (2-3, 3.15 ERA, 54.1 IP, 45 K’s, 1.33 WIHP) pitched against Boston’s Frank Baumann (4-2, 2.82 ERA, 73.1 IP, 32 K’s, 1.13 WHIP). Minnie Minoso got us going with a two-run homer in the bottom of the first, but the Red Sox got a run each in the second and fourth to tie it up, the tying run a triple by Willie Jones that scored Floyd Robinson. But we took them to school in the bottom of the fifth as Aparicio batted in a run with a single for the lead, San Williams scored off a sac-fly by Minoso, Aparicio then scored off an RBI double by Willie Davis, and Bobby Morgan singled in a run to give us a 6-2 lead heading into the top of the sixth. Bill Fischer came out to pitch in the sixth, and in the bottom of the inning we added two more via a single by Willie Davis and Jerry Adair driving one in as he was hit by an errant pitch. Bob Rush took over in the seventh with a six-run lead and we added on six runs in the bottom of the inning ... but Rush did give up four runs in the top of the eighth to help Boston make the margin look slightly more respectable. Garland Shifflett got us our final four outs and we still manhandled them to win 14-7. Williams got the win, lasting five innings with three hits, three strikeouts and two earned runs, and we outhit Boston 18-11, led by Willie Davis with three hits, two runs and five RBIs. Aparicio added three hits, three runs and an RBI, and Jerry Zimmerman hit three times for two runs scored.

June 6, 1959: Jack Kralick (4-5, 2.95 ERA, 76.1 IP, 39 K’s, 1.13 WHIP) got the start against Boston’s George Brunet (2-5, 5.19 ERA, 60.2 IP, 27 K’s, 1.53 WHIP). Boston got out to a quick start with a run in the first and two more in the third, but Felipe Alou got us on the board with an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth, and when Ron Wells took over in the top of the seventh we still trailed 3-1. He pitched the remainder of the game and we would go on to lose 4-1, having failed to mount any real offensive attack. Kralick took the loss and fell to 4-6, allowing eight hits and thre earned runs with four strikeouts, and Wells did his job admirably, pitching three innings with two hits, a walk, a strikeout and an earned run, improving his ERA to 3.09 through 23.1 innings. But we were outhit 10-5, Davis leading the way with two hits, while Alou added a hit and an RBI.

June 7, 1959: Today’s a doubleheader day, after which we hit the road for two weeks of road battles. Billy Pierce (6-2, 2.37 ERA, 68.1 IP, 36 K’s, 1.04 WHIP) pitched in the first game, facing Mike Fornieles (3-5, 4.35 ERA, 62.0 IP, 26 K’s, 1.44 WHIP). Pierce was on his A-game today, and in the bottom of the fifth we broke through when Don Bacon scored off a passed ball! But Pierce, who had thrown just 45 pitches in the first five innings, got knocked arounnd in the sixth for three runs off 46 pitches, and with us trailing 3-1, Bill Fischer came out to take over in the top of the seventh. Ron Wells took over in the top of the ninth still trailing by two runs, and we weren’t able to mount a real comeback, losing this one 4-2. Pierce took the loss, falling to 6-3 with a 2.64 ERA, allowing four hits with six walks and three earned runs, striking out four -- in that disastrous sixth inning he had five of those walks and two of the strikeouts, all three runs scoring off free passes. Ooof. We actually outhit them 11-9, led by Siebern and Lollar with two hits each, but all those baserunners didn’t amount to much.

Chuck Stobbs (3-2, 2.14 ERA, 46.1 IP, 13 K’s, 1.49 WHIP) pitched against Bob Purkey (5-5, 4.15 ERA, 69.1 IP, 28 K’s, 1.21 WHIP) in the afternoon’s second game. In the bottom of the fifth we went up by three runs thanks to a two run double by Stobbs and an RBI single by Siebern. Bob Rush took over in the top of the seventh, and we added on big in the bottom of the eighth with four runs, which made it possible to just outlast them in the top of the ninth when they put up three desperation runs ... but it didn’t matter, we won easily 7-3! Stobbs improved to 4-2 with a 1.89 ERA, allowing just six hits, a walk and three strikeouts in his six innings of work .Rush pitched a three-inning save, allowing six hits, a walk and two strikeouts while throwing 48 pitches. They outhit us 12-9, but Bobby Morgan led the way for us with two hits, a run and three RBIs, and Siebern added two hits, a run and an RBI.

We have an off day tomorrow for travel and will then visit Washington (31-23) for three, Baltimore (28-28) for four, New York (27-25) for three and Boston (26-29) for three. We are in third place, just 5.5 games out of first and 2.5 games behind the Senators, so this upcoming road stretch could really improve our fortunes if we can play at our best.

June 9, 1959: Jim O’Toole (4-4, 2.51 ERA, 82.1 IP, 45 K’s, 1.07 WHIP) pitched against Washington’s Harold Larned (10-1, 2.08 ERA, 90.2 IP, 71 K’s, 1.21 WHIP), their 24-year-old phenom who has so far managed to mask his below average control with stellar stuff. We got going quickly in the top of the second with a two-run single by Aparicio (the second run aided by an E8 error that allowed both Stephens and Coleman to score), and Minnie Minoso added on with an RBI single to put us up 3-0. Washington got a run back in the bottom of the second off a single by Bobby Wine, but in the top of the fifth Bobby Morgan hit an RBI single to make it a three-run lead again. Leading 4-2 in the bottom of the sixth Bob Rush took over on the mound, and in the top of the eighth we added on with a sac-fly by Coleman, Garland Shifflett coming in to pitch in the bottom of the inning leading 5-2. He got two outs but gave up a run, and with runners on the corners Ron Wells came out to fight for that final out. An RBI double by Ray Jablonski got them within a run, but Tony Taylor grounded out to first and we went into the top of the ninth still leading by a run. Minoso hit a solo homer, his seventh of the year, to put us up by a pair and we brought out Kuykendall in the bottom of the inning to close. But he had his worst inning of the season by far, two walks and an error putting him in a rough spot ... with two outs, Jim Piersall tied it up with a two-run line drive single, and an RBI walk-off single by Fred Hatfield stole this one from us 7-6. What a brutal way to lose a hard-fought game. Kuykendall wound up with his second blown save and fell to 2-1 with a 2.57 ERA, allowing two hits, two walks and three unearned runs off thirty pitches. They outhit us 14-11, Minoso leading the way for us with three hits, a run and two RBIs.

June 10, 1959: Stan Williams (3-3, 3.19 ERA, 59.1 IP, 48 K’s, 1.26 WHIP) pitched against Camilo Pascual (7-4, 3.59 ERA, 107.2 IP, 79 K’s, 1.39 WHIP). Williams did a great job holding them off early as we built a 3-0 lead in the top of the first and then added on with a pair in the fifth and sixth each, giving us a 7-2 cushion when Bill Fischer came out to take over in the bottom of the sixth inning. Fischer wound up pitching the remainder of the game and we won with ease, 9-2, outhitting the Senators 11-8 while walking five times to their one. Williams improved to 4-3 with a 2.94 ERA, allowing just five hits and two (unearned) runs with five strikeouts in his five innings, while Fischer earned a four-inning save (his second of the year) with three hits, a walk and a strikeout, improving his ERA to 1.91 through 28.1 innings. Felipe Alou led the way with three hits, a walk, a run and four RBIs, while Willie Davis hit three times for two runs scored. The rookie, who just turned 19 two months ago, is already hitting .294 with nine doubles, a triple and two homers, batting in 19 runs with eight stolen bases!

June 11, 1959: Jack Kralick (4-6, 3.06 ERA, 82.1 IP, 43 K’s, 1.14 WHIP) pitched against Bob Veale (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 3.2 IP, 2 K’s, 1.91 WHIP), the seventh-best prospect in baseball according to the Baseball News Network who, at 23, just has these 3.2 innings to his name in the majors. Willie Davis batted us into the lead with an RBI double in the top of the first, and in the top of the second we scored off an RBI triple by Aparicio, though our leadoff man was injured sliding into third. He was replaced by Don Bacon, who would wind up stranded there as we went into the bottom of the inning leading 2-0. Siebern hit an RBI triple to add on in the top of the fifth, and Davis and Morgan following with a pair of RBI singles to put us up by five. Kralick wound up pitching a complete game and we won this one 6-2, making some headway in the standings as the AL race tightened up further. Kralick had eight hits, two walks and five strikeouts with a pair of earned runs in his nine innings, improving to 5-6 with a 2.96 ERA. We outhit Washington 9-8, led by Davis who hit three times with three RBIs, getting his average up to .304!

We’re back into third place heading into our four-game set against the Orioles, who sit in fifth place with their 30-29 record. We now lead the Yankees by half a game, trailing Washington by 1.5 games and the 34-21 Guardians by just 4.5 games.

June 12, 1959: Billy Pierce (6-3, 2.54 ERA, 74.1 IP, 40 K’s, 1.09 WHIP) pitched against Baltimore’s Ted Wills (3-2, 3.58 ERA, 78.0 IP, 53 K’s, 1.37 WHIP). Sherm Lollar hit a solo homer in the top of the second to put us in the lead, and we held that lead into the top of the eighth when Willie Kirkland hit another to put us up 2-0! Ron Wells came out with an out and men on the corners in the bottom of the inning, shutting them down mercilessly to hold our lead. But in the bottom of the ninth he gave up a pair of runs thanks to an RBI double by Carroll Harris and an RBI single by Preston Ward, and this one went into extra innings. Bob Rush took over in the bottom of the 10th, keeping us in the game, but our inability to score dogged us once again. Garland Shifflett came out in the bottom of the 12th, still tied at two each, and then finally we got into the lead with an RBI single by Minoso in the top of the 13th! Kuykendall came out and did what needed to be done and we escaped with a 3-2 victory. Shifflett got the win, improving to 1-0 with a 9.53 ERA, and Kuykendall picked up his eighth save of the season, but Pierce, Wells (blown save) and Rush combined for 11 innings and 163 pitches, with just seven hits, three walks, eight strikeouts and two earned runs to keep us in position. We outhit Baltimroe 12-8, led by Kirkland who had three hits, a run and an RBI, while Norm Siebern added three hits and a run.

June 13, 1959: Chuck Stobbs (4-2, 1.89 ERA, 52.1 IP, 16 K’s, 1.45 WHIP) pitched today’s game against Eli Grba (0-2, 4.60 ERA, 47.0 IP, 24 K’s, 1.40 WHIP). We took the lead in the top of the fourth with a two-run double by Sherm Lollar, but in the bottom of the sixth they got a three-run homer off the bat of Gus Bell to take the lead back. Stobbs tried to stay out in the seventh but gave up a solo bomb to the first batter, Carroll Hardy, and we brought out Bill Fischer to take over, and that was all she wrote -- our bats were silent the rest of the way and we lost this one 4-2 heading into tomorrow’s doubleheader. Stobbs fell to 4-3 with a 1.85 ERA, lasting six innings with five hits, a strikeout and four runs (one earned), and we got outhit 6-5 ... Lollar led the way with two hits and two RBIs.

June 14, 1959: Jim O’Toole (4-4, 2.58 ERA, 87.1 IP, 51 K’s, 1.10 WHIP) started today against Dave Wickersham (6-6, 4.90 ERA, 86.1 IP, 42 K’s, 1.46 WHIP) in our first game of the afternoon, and we took the lead almost instantly thanks to a two run triple by Minoso and an E6 error that put Willie Davis on base in the top of the first. The Orioles got two runs back in the bottom of the sixth, thanks to a two-run single by Carroll Hardy, and we brought Bob Rush out to pitch in the bottom of the seventh still leading by a run. He got us through the seventh and eighth innings, and Jerry Zimmermann hit a grand slam in the top of the ninth to put the game to bed. Rush stayed out to finish things off, giving up a three-run homer to Lenny Green but getting us out of there with a 7-5 win nonetheless. O’Toole improved to 5-4 with a 2.60 ERA, lasting six innings with five hits, three walks and two earned runs with two strikeouts, and Rush gave us a three-inning save (his third save of the year) with four hits, three walks and three earned runs to go with a strikeout, improving his ERA to 3.74 through 45.2 innings while he saved the rest of our bullpen for game two.

Stan Williams (4-3, 2.94 ERA, 64.1 IP, 53 K’s, 1.24 WHIP) pitched game two against Glen Hobbie (6-3, 3.17 ERA, 93.2 IP, 48 K’s, 1.31 WHIP). Baltimore hit hard in the bottom of the third with a three-run double by ... you guessed it ... Carroll Hardy, but we scored in the top of the fourth thanks to an RBI double by Davis and an RBI single by Alou to get back within a run. But Williams strained an oblique muscle while batting in the top of the fifth, and we weren’t able to score a tying run. Garland Shfflett, who had come in to pinch-run, stayed out to pitch in the bottom of the fifth, and it didn’t go well ... he gave up two more runs, and Bob Wells took over in the bottom of the sixth trailing 5-2. He got shelled in the seventh, Fischer took over trailing by seven, and we went on to lose badly 9-3. Williams took the loss, falling to 4-4 with a 3.16 ERA after four innings with six hits, two walks, three earned runs and five strikeouts, and we were outhit 13-10. Willie Davis led the offense with two hits, a run and an RBI.

We’ve moved Williams onto the 15-day IL after his oblique strain, and since Shifflett has struggled to adjust to big league batters, we’ve dropped him back down to AAA. Bob Rush will step into the starting lineup for at least one cycle through the rotation, and we’re calling up Fred Green (3-1, 2.70 ERA, 20.0 IP, 14 K’s, 0.75 WHIP) from AAA and Jim Donohue (0-0, 3 SV, 1.20 ERA, 30.0 IP, 31 K’s, 1.03 WHIP) from AA to give us some bullpen depth in the interim. We’re off tomorrow and then will head to play the Yankees () and Red Sox () for three each before returning to Kansas City for a week.

June 16, 1959: Jack Kralick (5-6, 2.96 ERA, 91.1 IP, 48 K’s, 1.14 WHIP) pitched against Saul Rogovin (3-6, 5.20 ERA, 72.2 IP, 24 K’s, 1.44 WHIP). Willie Davis hit a two-run homer to give us the lead in the top of the first, his third homer of the season, and in the top of the third he hit a second two-run blast, giving us a 4-0 lead! Back to back RBI doubles by Yogi Berra and Alvin Dark got the Yankees on the board in the bottom of the fourth, and we brought out Bill Fischer to pitch in the bottom of the sixth with two outs and clear bases, getting out of that inning unscathed. But Bob Cerv got a run back for New York in the bottom of the seventh thanks to a dropped throw at second that let Lee Thomas take first safely. Frank Green came out in the bottom of the eighth with us still leading by a run, and Kuykendall came out in the bottom of the ninth to hold them off as we held on to win 4-3. Kralick improved to 6-6 with a 5.2 inning six-hit effort, walking two, striking out five and allowing just two earned runs as his ERA improved to 2.97. Fisher (3) and Green (2) each had holds, and Kuykendall allowed just one hit in his ninth save of the season. It’s crazy but the Yankees actually outhit us 10-3, but we won on the strength of Willie Davis’ two hits, two runs and four RBIs thanks to his pair of homers.

June 17, 1959: Billy Pierce (6-3, 2.31 ERA, 81.2 IP, 45 K’s, 1.05 WHIP) pitched against New York’s Billy O’Dell (7-4, 2.01 ERA, 103.0 IP, 51 K’s, 0.89 WHIP). Gene Stephens hit an RBI single to put us on top in the top of the second, and in the top of the third back to back RBI singles by Alou and Lollar made it a three-run lead! But Mickey Mantle hit a three-run blast in the bottom of the third to tie it up, his 17th homer of the season, and they added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth. Bill Fischer took over in the bottom of the seventh still trailing by two, and Ron Wells got us through the eighth but our bats didn’t get us anywhere from there and we lost 5-3. Pierce lasted six innings with seven hits, three strikeouts and five earned runs, falling to 6-4 with a 2.67 ERA, and we were outhit 9-7. Felipe Alou led the way with two hits, a run and an RBI.

June 18, 1959: Chuck Stobbs (4-3, 1.85 ERA, 58.1 IP, 17 K’s, 1.39 WHIP) pitched against Vinegar Bend Mizell (6-4, 2.18 ERA, 95.0 IP, 60 K’s, 1.12 WHIP) in our final game against the Yankees. We took the lead in the fourth inning with a two-run triple by Willie Davis, scoring a third run off a groundout by Adair that let Davis come in from third. Adair hit an RBI triple in the top of the fifth to add on, and Fred Green took over in the bottom of the seventh still leading by four runs. Jim Donohue took over in the bottom of the ninth, the lead unchanged, and did about as bad a job as you can do when leading by four -- he walked Mantle and Held, and then gave up a single to Yogi Berra that loaded the bases, forcing us to bring out Bill Fischer with no outs. Fischer gave up a hit to Alvin Dark, driving in the Yankees’ first run, and then walked Tony Kubek and Bob Cerv to score two more .... Kuykendall took over, still bases loaded no outs, but our lead now at one run. He got Charlie Maxwell to hit into a 1-2-3 double play, and Bobby Richardson grounded to short for an easy throw out at first ... we escaped with a 4-3 win by the skin of our teeth. Stobbs held on to his win, improving to 5-3 with a 1.63 ERA after six innings with four hits, three walks and two strikeouts, and Green had a great night with two innings and just one strikeout. But Donohue had a hit, two walks and three earned runs without securing an out, and Fischer followed with a hit and two walks. Thankfully Kuykendall got us out of the high leverage spot with four pitches for three outs and his 10th save, giving the 24-year-old a 2.12 ERA through 17 innings. We outhit New York just 7-6, led by Davis with two hits, two runs and two RBIs ... he’s now hitting .309 through his first 217 at-bats as a big leaguer.

June 19, 1959: Jim O’Toole (5-4, 2.60 ERA, 93.1 IP, 53 K’s, 1.11 WHIP) pitched against Boston’s Bill Wight (4-5, 3.91 ERA, 71.1 IP, 30 K’s, 1.47 WHIP) in our first game against them at Fenway this series. Orlando Cepeda hit a solo homer in the bottom of the second to put the Red Sox in the lead, but we hit them fast in the sixth, tying it up with an RBI single by Davis and then blasting our way into the lead with a three-run Sherm Lollar homer to go into the bottom of the inning leading 4-1! Bill Fisher took over with one out and men on the corners in the bottom of the sixth, shutting them down to maintain our lead heading into the seventh, where we took firm control, adding a run when Aparicio hit an RBI single, which was followed by Minoso driving in one when he got beaned on the shoulder. Willie Davis then batted in Aparicio with a single and we went into the stretch leading by six runs. Aparicio hit an RBI single in the eighth to widen the gulf, and we brought out Donohue to give him a shot at redemption from yesterday’s fiasco. He got through the eighth inning with just one run against him, and Fred Green came out in the ninth and put them away efficiently as we won 8-2. O’Toole got the win, improving to 6-4 with a 2.55 ERA, allowing four hits, three walks and an earned run with four strikeouts in his 5.1 innings. We outhit Boston 12-8, led by Lollar with two hits, a run and three RBIs, while Aparicio added two hits, a run and two RBIs.

June 20, 1959: With yesterday’s win we’re now tied for second in the AL with the Washington Senators but still trail the Guardians (42-22) by seven games, while leading the fourth place Yankees by just half a game. But we’re six games over .500, so our owner is delighted with our progress. Jack Kralick (6-6, 2.97 ERA, 97.0 IP, 53 K’s, 1.15 WHIP) pitched against Mike Fornieles (5-6, 4.39 ERA, 80.0 IP, 33 K’s, 1.48 WHIP) in today’s game, and we took a lead in the top of the first when a Minoso groundout to first scored Luis Aparicio, though Boston answered in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single by Cepeda to tie it up. Kralick hit a solo homer to retake the lead in the top of the third, and Minoso followed him with another two batters later to put us up 3-1. Boston got a run back in the bottom of the fourth so the game stayed close. Ron Wells took over for Kralick with an out and a man on first in the bottom of the seventh, still leading by a run, and in the top of the eighth Minoso scored off a walk by Sherm Lollar to give us a bit more of a cushion. Ted Lepicio hit an RBI single for the Red Sox in the bottom of the inning, and with one out and Lepicio on second we brought out Kuykendall to try and protect the 4-3 lead. He got Blanchard out via a fly-ball to left and Bob Allison via a groundout to first, and we weren’t able to add anything in the ninth so he came out again to finish it. It was tense, with two outs and runners on first and second, but Billy Goodman hit a weak grounder and Lollar made the throw out at first to seal the deal, winning it for us 4-3. Kralick got the win, pitching 6.1 innings with six hits, three walks, two earned runs and a strikeout as he improved to 7-6 with a 2.96 ERA. Kuykendall earned his 11th save of the year, pitching 1.2 innings with a hit, a walk and a strikeout, improving his ERA to 1.93 through 18.2 innings, just his third appearance lasting more than one inning. We were evenly matched with nine hits each, our team led by Minnie Minoso who hit twice with two runs and two RBIs, including his eighth homer.

June 21, 1959: Stan Williams’ injury has run its course, but he has nine days left on the IL before I can bring him back. He should be ready to return in time for our trip to Cleveland on the 30th, and could get a couple starts in before the All Star break. Billy Pierce (6-4, 2.67 ERA, 87.2 IP, 48 K’s, 1.06 WHIP) pitched our final game at Fenway today, facing George Brunet (3-5, 4.50 ERA, 41 K’s, 1.49 WHIP). Jerry Zimmerman hit a solo homer in the top of the third to give us a 1-0 lead. We added a run in the top of the eighth, Pierce hitting an RBI single that scored Jerry Coleman, and he finished the game with ease as we shut the Red Sox out 2-0. Pierce only allowed four hits in his nine innings, didn’t walk a single batter and struck out five as he threw just 89 pitches! We outhit them 6-4, led by Zimmerman with his homer and by Pierce with a hit and an RBI as we completed the sweep.

We go into this week’s home games with a 37-29 record, tied still for second place in the AL with the 38-30 Senators of Washington (trailing Cleveland by 6.5 games), but we’ll get our chance to put some distance between ourselves and them when we play a three-game set in Chicago. We then will play four against the Yankees (35-31, 8.5 GB). We then play Cleveland (44-23) on the road for a pair, Detroit (27-42) for a pair, and then Kansas City (25-41) for three before the All Star break. The NL race has turned into a real slugfest, meanwhile ... though the Phillies (31-40), Cubs (28-41), Redlegs (26-44) and Giants (21-48) are well out of the running for a pennant, the top four teams are in a dogfight. St. Louis (43-25) currently leads Pittsburgh (45-28) by half a game and the Dodgers and Braves, each 43-27, by just one game.

In other news, we’re just four months or so away from the first-ever season of free agency, and there are a ton of great players who teams have not yet signed to contracts. Here are the biggest ones I’m seeing right now:

C Ed Bailey (28, Cleveland) -- .273, 16 HR, 42 RBI, 2.4 WAR (three-time Platinum Stick, three-time All Star, 1957 Gold Glove)
CF Al Kaline (24, Detroit) -- currently injured for two months, ruptured achiles (three-time Platinum Stick, three-time All Star)
CF Willie Mays (28, Pittsburgh) -- .345, 19 2B, 18 HR, 61 RBI, 5.1 WAR (two-time MVP, three-time Platinum Stick, 1955 Gold Glove, 5-time All Star)
CF Jim Piersall (29, Washington) -- .366, 17 2B, 7 HR, 58 RBI, 12 SB, 4.7 WAR (four-time Gold Glove, 1954 All Star)
1B Ernie Banks (28, Kansas City) -- .296, 12 2B, 21 HR, 47 RBI, 1.5 WAR (four-time Platinum Stick, three-time Gold Glove, 1955 MVP, three-time All Star)

A number of older veterans, including Ted Williams, Ted Kluszewski, Frank Thomas, Ritchie Ashburn and Ray Boone are considering their options as well. The Yankees, as expected, did not f--- around with Mantle’s future, signing him to a massive deal worth $2,016,000, keeping “The Mick” locked in through 1967 with a peak salary of $264,000 per year. Milwaukee got Eddie Mathews locked in for at least two years, paying him $210,000 next year and $232,000 for 1961 ... and if he opts in to the back end of the deal he’ll be getting $232,000 a year through 1967 as well. Don Drysdale of the LA Dodgers got the biggest pitcher deal so far ... $236,000 next year, $292,000 in 1961 and $348,000 in 1962, with a chance to then opt out or take $320,000 per year through 1966. It’s going to be interesting with Sandy Koufax coming up for FA consideration after two more arbitration seasons, to see what the Dodgers (who now have Drysdale and Johnny Podres locked in long term) will choose to do .. a 23-year-old with a Cy Young and two second-place Cy finishes will almost certainly demand well more than Mantle commanded to avoid at least testing the free agency waters.

jksander · 11-13-2024, 03:39 PM

June 23, 1959: Chuck Stobbs (5-3, 1.68 ERA, 19 K’s, 1.37 WHIP) started against Washington’s Harold Larned (10-2, 2.61 ERA, 113.2 IP, 85 K’s, 1.31 WHIP) as we fight to keep our win streak alive and take control of second place in the pennant chase with 20,000 White Sox fans making as much noise as possible. Felipe Alou hit a solo homer to put us up 1-0 in the bottom of the second. Norm Siebern got hurt taking an extra base in the bottom of the third, coming out of the game with runners on the corners and one out, having wrenched his knee sliding into third. Jerry Adair came in as a pinch runner, but was unable to score and we brought Gene Stephens out to take over in center field. Bobby Morgan hit a solo homer in the bottom of the fourth to add on to our lead, and Bill Fischer took over on the mound in the top of the seventh still leading 2-0. Minnie Minoso hit a solo insurance homer in the bottom of the seventh, and Bobby Kuykendall came out to pitch in the top of the ninth still leading by three. He got into a bases loaded jam with one out, but Ray Jablonski hit into a 5-4-3 double play and we held on to the 3-0 shutout win! Stobbs pitched six innings with four hits, a walk and five strikeouts, improving his record to 6-3 with a 1.54 ERA. Fischer got his fifth hold, two innings of one hit one walk one strikeout baseball, and then Kuykendall held on to his 12th save of the year with two hits and a walk. We outhit Washington 10-7, led by Minoso who had three hits, a run and an RBI.

June 24, 1959: We’ve sent 19-year-old Mike Hershberger down to AAA to make room for an extra bullpen arm, Ed Roebuck, who has a 4-0 record with two saves and a 5.88 ERA down in AAA. The 27-year-old has been looking for a chance to show he can still play at a major league level, and our bullpen has been in flux for most of the season so I don’t see a risk in giving him a shot. We came into today’s game with a five-game winning streak on the line, and Jim O’Toole (6-4, 2.55 ERA, 98.2 IP, 57 K’s, 1.12 WHIP) started against 42-year-old hurler Sal Maglie (3-3, 4.90 ERA, 71.2 IP, 34 K’s, 1.14 WHIP). It turned into a real pitching duel, one we broke through in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI single by Willie Davis to take a 1-0 lead. Ron Wells took over in the top of the eighth still leading by a run, and in the bottom of the eighth we got some insurance when Sherm Lollar hit a two-run single to put us up by three. Kuykendall came out to seal it, pitching around a two-out single by Fred Hatfield to get us out of here with another 3-0 win! O’Toole lasted seven innings with five hits, two walks and five strikeouts, improving his record to 7-4 with a 2.38 ERA. Ron Wells earned his fourth hold of the year and got his ERA down to 4.38 through 32.1 innings, and Kuykendall remained red hot with his 13th save ... just one hit, and now his ERA is a miniscule 1.74 through 20.2 innings. We outhit them 9-6, led by Willie Davis with two hits, a run and an RBI ... his .316 average, coupled with his 33 RBIs, eight steals and 13 doubles have him rising quickly in the Rookie of the Year discussions.

June 25, 1959: Jack Kralick (7-6, 2.96 ERA, 103.1 IP, 54 K’s, 1.17 WHIP) started our final game of the series against the Senators, facing Bob Veale (0-2, 7.13 ERA, 17.2 IP, 11 K’s, 1.98 WHIP). Felipe Alou hit an RBI single in the botom of the third to give us a 1-0 lead, and in the top of the seventh with the lead unchanged we brought out Ed Roebuck for his first bullpen appearance of the season. He gave us two excellent innings of work, and then Kuykendall came back out for the third game in a row to try and get us another tough save. But this time our luck ran out -- he faced three batters, getting Larry Doby to ground out before Jim Piersall singled and then Elston Howard hit a towering two-run homer out of center to shoot them into the lead. Ron Wells took over from there, getting two quick outs to send us up to hit in the bottom of the inning needing to score. Bobby Morgan grounded out to first, but Gene Stephens walked, giving us a chance ... until Jerry Coleman grounded into a double play as we lost this one in a 2-1 heartbreaker. Kralick had six innings with five hits, two walks and six strikeouts, and Roebuck had a two-inning hold with two strikeouts, no baserunners. Kuykendall blew the save (his third) and took the loss, falling to 2-2 with a 2.57 ERA thanks to two hits and two earned runs in his third of an inning. Washington outhit us 7-5, our team led by Alou with two hits and an RBI, and by Kralick with two hits and a run scored.

June 26, 1959: Billy Pierce (7-4, 2.42 ERA, 96.2 IP, 53 K’s, 1.00 WHIP) took on Yankee pitcher Saul Rogovin (4-7, 4.76 ERA, 90.2 IP, 36 K’s, 1.36 WHIP) in the first of four games against the Bronx Bombers this weekend. We took the lead in the bottom of the fifth thanks to an RBI single by Pierce himself, but the Yankees answered with back to back solo bombs by Mantle and Held in the top of the sixth to flip themselves into the lead. So Willie Davis hit a two-run blast himself to shoot us back to the top in the bottom of the sixth, and Fred Green took over on the mound in the top of the seventh. Norm Siebern added some insurance in the bottom of the seventh with an RBI single, and Bill Fischer came out to pitch in the eighth, Lee Thomas hitting a sac-fly to get the Yankees back within a run as Mickey Mantle tagged up and scored. Coleman hit a sac-fly for us that drove a run in to get it back in the bottom of the eighth, and Ron Wells came out in the ninth to try and close it out. Unfortunately he gave up two runs to the Yanks, both coming off walks, and we went into the bottom of the inning tied up at five apiece, and the game wound up going into extra innings. Ed Roebuck came out to pitch in the top of the 10th, getting Kubek, Cerv and Carey to go down quietly off a total of five pitches ... and in the bottom of the inning, with no outs and the bases loaded, Roebuck himself won the game for us with a flyball single that scored Gene Stephens, winning the game 6-5! Roebuck is now 1-0 with an 0.00 ERA through his first three major league innings, and we outhit the Yankees 11-8, led by Stephens with three hits, two walks and two runs while Siebern added two hits, a walk, a run and two RBIs.

June 27 ,1959: Chuck Stobbs (6-3, 1.54 ERA, 70.1 IP, 24 K’s, 1.32 WHIP) pitched against Vinegar Bend Mizell (7-5, 2.45 ERA, 110.1 IP, 67 K’s, 1.13 WHIP), and the Yankees quickly took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first thanks to a Woodie Held three-run bomb. Jerry Adair answered with a two-run homer in the bottom of the second to get us on the board, but the Yankees got insurance in the top of the sixth with an RBI triple by Held and an RBI single by Alvin Dark to lead 5-2 midway through the inning. Minoso hit a solo homer in the bottom of the inning, Fred Green taking over on the mound heading into the top of the seventh trailing by a pair. Roebuck came out to pitch with men on second and third, no outs in the top of the eighth, and was lucky to get us out of there with just two runs scored, though neither were earned by him. He stayed out the rest of the way and we lost this one 7-3. Stobbs took the loss, falling to 6-4 with a 2.00 ERA after six innings with eight hits, two walks, three strikeouts and five earned runs. They outhit us 13-8, Jerry Adair leading the way for us with two hits, a run and two RBIs.

June 28, 1959: Today’s a doubleheader, our final pair of home games before the All Star break. Bob Rush (0-2, 3.74 ERA, 45.2 IP, 25 K’s, 1.47 WHIP) got the start in the first game, facing Mike McCormick (7-6, 3.15 ERA, 122.2 IP, 75 K’s, 1.36 WHIP). The Yankees got a two-run double from Bobby Richardson in the top of the second, adding on with an RBI single by Mantle and an RBI double by Held in the fourth to take a 4-0 lead. Willie Davis got us on the board in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI single, and Jerry Zimmerman hit a two-run single moments later to cut their lead to one, heading into the seventh with Bill Fischer coming out to pitch. Fred Green came out in the top of the ninth still trailing by a run, and Alvin Dark hit an RBI single to add some Yankee insurance. We couldn’t get over the hump offensively, and we lost this one 5-3 as a result. Rush took the loss, falling to 0-3 with a 3.66 ERA, allowing seven hits, two walks and four runs (two earned) with seven strikeouts in his six innings. We each had nine hits, our team led by Zimmerman who had two hits and two RBIs.

Ron Wells (3-2, 1 SV, 4.50 ERA, 34.0 IP, 17 K’s, 1.32 WHIP) got the start in game two as we looked to reset our rotation ahead of the road trip ahead. He faced off against New York’s Billy O’Dell (9-5, 2.24 ERA, 124.1 IP, 69 K’s, 0.91 WHIP), and he did well early, keeping the Yankees scoreless while we finally broke through with a two-run Bobby Morgan homer in the bottom of the third to take the lead! Morgan hit a solo shot in the bottom of the fifth to add on, and Felipe Alou hit a two-run blast in the bottom of the sixth that gave us a five-run shutout lead! Tony Kubek hit a sac-fly that drove in a run to blow the shutout in the top of the seventh, but Wells got us into the stretch still leading by four runs. He got us two outs in the eighth as well, but with Al Smith on second, Bill Fischer came out to finish the game off. He kept them from scoring in the eighth, and then in the bottom of the inning he hit a two-run double to extend the lead! New York got a run back in the top of the ninth but it wasn’t nearly enough as we won easily 7-2. Wells, in his first start out of 24 appearances, improved to 4-2 overall with a 3.89 ERA, lasting 7.2 innings with six hits, a walk, a run and six strikeouts. He has great stuff but below-average control so we’ve avoided giving him starts ... maybe that needs to change? We only outhit them 9-8, but Bobby Morgan had two homers, hitting twice, walking twice and scoring three while batting in three. Alou had two hits, two runs and two RBIs as well, including his fourth homer of the year, and in the end power won out.

The win puts us half a game up on Washington (41-33) while still sitting 5.5 back of Cleveland (47-27) in second place. But we have the top of our rotation rested and ready to go, and should be able to give the Guardians a pair of tough road battles to start the last pre-All Star week of games.

June 29, 1959: We got an interesting call from the GM in Cincinnati, as they attempt to get value back from elite catcher Ed Bailey, 28, who says he doesn’t want to stay as part of the Reds organization. He’s a five star player known for his power and eye (he’s hitting .285 so far this year with nine doubles and 18 homers) and is a strong leader in their clubhouse with three NL Platinum Stick awards and the 1957 Great Glove award. They’re interested in Mack Jones (#23 BNN), Bobby Kuykendall (#41 BNN) and Ron Wells (#89 BNN). I’m intrigued by the deal, since Sherm Lollar’s catching ability has been starting to suffer this season as he enters his mid-30s and his bat has been not nearly as effective as I’d like ... He’d signed his extension earlier in the season, however, and if we make a move in this direction, he’ll have to transition over to first base. It’s not a dealbreaker ... he’s got the skill to become a solid player at that position. But I also don’t want to give up too much prospect leverage in the deal if I can avoid it.

With Siebern and Stephens on the 40-man right now at center field, I’m much more confident at that position than I am when it comes to our bullpen, so I wanted to see what we could do to make a fair deal that helps bail them out of a tough financial situation and giving them players to build on without hitting our depth too hard. And in the end we were able to come to terms on a deal that sends them $400,000 in cash along with Mack Jones and starting second baseman Jerry Adair in exchange for Bailey, who will immediately become our starting catcher and our cleanup hitter! Lollar will move to the bench, but will play backup at both catcher and first base, so he should still play plenty of games while he works on his defense at the new position. The fans are incredibly excited about the new addition, and we’re going to be working with Bailey to firm up an extension before the end of the season.

Stan Williams is ready to come off the IL as well, so we’re sending Jim Donohue back down to the minors to make room for him. Williams will rejoin the rotation as our fourth starter behind O’Toole, Kralick and Pierce, with Chuck Stobbs holding his spot as our number five starter. Wells and Rush will go back to the bullpen -- Wells as a seventh-inning or later stopper, and Rush as a long reliever and emergency starter.

June 30, 1959: Jim O’Toole (7-4, 2.38 ERA, 105.2 IP, 62 K’s, 1.12 WHIP) got the start in our first game against the Guardians, facing Carl Erskine (6-5, 5.32 ERA, 69.1 IP, 35 K’s, 1.38 WHIP). Cleveland scored in the bottom of the first with an RBI double by Norm Cash and a groundout by Stan Lopata that made it 2-0 quickly. Bobby Morgan hit a solo homer in the top of the fifth to get us on the board, but they quickly added another pair to put us in a pretty deep hole. We loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the sixth, Willie Davis cutting the lead down to two when he came in after Lollar took a hit to the knee, taking him out of the game. Minoso took over for him, but we weren’t able to take further advantage of the full bases, going into the bottom of the inning still trailing 4-2. O’Toole got us through the seventh with the score unchanged, and Bill Fischer took over in the bottom of the eighth still trailing by two. But our bats were just no match for their pitching, and we lost this one 4-2 despite putting up a hell of a fight. O’Toole took the loss, falling to 7-5 with a 2.56 ERA, allowing seven hits, five walks and four earned runs with two strikeouts. They outhit us 8-5, our team led by Bobby Morgan who had the fifth-inning homer. Lollar has a bruised knee but should be able to stay available if needed.

July 1, 1959: Jack Kralick (7-6, 2.80 ERA, 109.1 IP, 60 K’s, 1.17 WHIP) started against Mike Garcia (7-5, 3.29 ERA, 127.1 IP, 84 K’s, 1.25 WHIP). Cleveland took the lead in the bottom of the fourth with a two-run homer by Norm Cash, but Willie Davis had a solo blast of his own to get us on the board in the top of the sixth. Kralick got us through the seventh inning, and Ron Wells took over in the bottom of the eighth, keeping them from adding on. But again our bats failed us, and we lost another heartbreaker, this time by a 2-1 margin. We outhit them in the duel 5-4, led by Davis who hit three times with a run and an RBI thanks to his sixth homer of the year. Kralick wound up taking the loss, falling to 7-7 with a 2.79 ERA despite only allowing three hits, a walk and two earned runs with three strikeouts.

July 2, 1959: Onward to Detroit for a pair, with Billy Pierce (7-4, 2.45 ERA, 102.2 IP, 54 K’s, 1.01 WHIP) set to pitch against Bob Kuzawa (3-8, 4.00 ERA, 83.1 IP, 32 K’s, 1.54 WHIP). Davis scored off a Minoso groundout, giving us the 1-0 lead after half an inning, and in the top of the fifth Jerry Coleman hit a solo homer to add on. But Pierce got destroyed in the bottom of the inning, allowing four runs, and with two outs and a man on third we had to bring out Bob Rush, who gave up the fifth run before getting us out of the inning. He gave up three more in the sixth as this one turned into a real mess. Fred Green took over in the seventh, staying out the rest of the way as we completely collapsed, losing 9-3. Pierce took the loss, lasting just 4.2 innings with six hits, six strikeouts and five earned runs. It was by far his worst start since mid-May. They outhit us 13-10, and Davis again led the way with three hits and two runs scored as his average has climbed to .323 through 67 games.

July 3, 1959: Stan Williams (4-4, 3.16 ERA, 68.1 IP, 58 K’s, 1.29 WHIP) got the start against Tom Brewer (5-8, 4.57 ERA, 122.0 IP, 50 K’s, 1.30 WHIP). Willie Davis hit a solo homer to lead off in the top of the first, but they quickly got it back with a Randy Jackson RBI single in the bottom of the inning to tie it up, and in the bottom of the third a triple by Virdon and a groundout by Jackson drove in a pair of runs to give them a 3-1 lead. Williams gave up two more in the fifth and his night was done. Ed Roebuck took over for him in the bottom of the sixth trailing 5-1, giving us two innings but giving up two more runs ... Fischer got us through the eighth without further damage, but we lost 7-2, our bats continuing to come up short -- we haven’t scored more than three runs in a game on this entire road trip, and with three games coming up against the last-place Athletics, we REALLY need that to change if we don’t want to fall out of the pennant chase completely. Williams lasted five innings but allowed eight hits, a walk and five earned runs as he fell to 4-5 with a 3.56 ERA. We were outhit 12-9, Davis picking up two hits, a walk and a homer as he led the way once again.

July 4, 1959: Happy birthday, America, we’re playing a couple of games today in Kansas City against the last-place A’s, so I’m not surprised to see just 10,000 fans in the stands for the first one. Chuck Stobbs (6-4, 2.00 ERA, 76.1 IP, 27 K’s, 1.35 WHIP) started against Johnny Kucks (4-10, 5.42 ERA, 91.1 IP, 33 K’s, 1.45 WHIP) in the early afternoon game, and Felipe Alou got us going with an RBI single to take a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Willie Davis hit a two-run homer in the top of the second, and Ed Bailey hit his first homer for our White Sox in the top of the third to extend the lead to four runs, his 19th homer of the year overall. In the top of the fifth Alou singled in another run, and then Bobby Morgan gutted the hometown fans with a grand slam to put us up 9-1 heading into the bottom of the inning. Luis Aparicio added on with an RBI double in the top of the eighth, and we’d go on to win easily 10-1. Stobbs pitched a complete game seven hitter, allowing a walk and an earned run while striking out five. We outhit the A’s 12-7, led by Alou with three hits, a run and two RBIs, while Morgan batted in four with his grand slam.

Ron Wells (4-2, 1 SV, 3.80 ERA, 42.2 IP, 25 K’s, 1.24 WHIP) started game two against Milt Pappas (9-6, 3.33 ERA, 138.0 IP, 82 K’s, 1.32 WHIP). Wells hit an RBI single to put us into the lead 1-0 in the top of the second, but Cannizzaro scored for KC when William Cottrell hit an RBI single in the bottom of the inning to tie it back up. We retook the lead in the top of the fifth thanks to an RBI single by Norm Siebern, and Siebern scored moments later when Lollar reached on an E5 error, giving us a 3-1 advantage midway though the fifth. Again, however, the A’s tied it up with a two-run homer by Roy Sievers in the bottom of the inning as we continued to struggle at putting them away. Aparicio hit a run scoring single and, after Minoso was walked intentionally, Norm Siebern hit a two-run triple to give us a 6-3 lead. Fred Green took over in the bottom of the sixth, and with one out and a man on first in the bottom of the seventh Bill Fischer took over, getting us out of the inning on a 5-4-3 double play. Aparicio scored another insurance run with an RBI single by Alou in the top of the eighth, and Green was able to hold on the rest of the way as we beat the A’s 8-3. Wells improved to 5-2 with his second win in a row, allowing nine hits, a walk and three earned runs with three strikeouts in his five innings. Green picked up a 1.1 inning hold with two hits and a strikeout, and Fischer pitched the last 2.2 innings for a save, his third, allowing just one baserunner the entire time. We barely managed to outhit them 13-12, but we were dominant with two doubles and two triples, Davis leading the way with three hits, two runs and an RBI while Siebern added two hits, a walk, a run and three RBIs. Davis is proving to be a brilliant leadoff hitter and already has 3.2 WAR through the first half of the season, and his .331 average has him inching his way toward the top five on the leaderboard nationally, though Mantle’s .394 average has him well out of reach ... he’s definitely playing like he wants the MVP Award again (he won in ’56 and ’57, finishing second in ’55 and third in ’58).

The All Star teams have been announced, and here are the players who will be representing the White Sox:

SP Jim O’Toole (7-5, 2.56 ERA, 112.2 IP, 1.15 WHIP, 5.1 K/9, 3.1 WAR)
SP Billy Pierce (7-5, 2.77 ERA, 107.1 IP, 1.02 WHIP, 5.0 K/9, 1.9 WAR)
SP Chuck Stobbs (7-4, 1.90 ERA, 85.1 IP, 1.30 WHIP, 3.4 K/9, 1.1 WAR)
RP Bill Fischer (2-0, 1.59 ERA, 45.1 IP, 1.17 WHIP, 3.0 K/9, 0.5 WAR)
RF Willie Davis (.331/.378/.498, 281 AB, 8 HR, 10 SB, 136 wRC+, 3.2 WAR)

July 5, 1959: Jack Kralick (7-7, 2.79 ERA, 116.1 IP, 63 K’s, 1.13 WHIP) got the start in our last game before the All Star break, facing Dean Stone (2-7, 5.19 ERA, 76.1 IP, 33 K’s, 1.66 WHIP). Aparicio grounded out but allowed Kralick to score the go-ahead run in the top of the third, and Davis battted in Kralick for another run in the top of the fifth! Norm Siebern batted in two more with a double in the top of the sixth, and though they finally got a run in the bottom of the inning, we slammed the door shut in the top of the seventh with an RBI single by Ed Bailey, a two-run triple by Alou and a groundout by Siebern that drove home Alou to make it 8-1 White Sox heading into the stretch. Bob Rush took over for the remainder as we destroyed the A’s for the sweep, winning 10-1. Kralick improved to 8-7 overall with a six inning effort, allowing three hits and a run with five strikeouts. Rush then got the three-inning save, his fourth save of the year, with two hits and three strikeouts through his innings. We outhit them 13-5, led by Davis who had four hits, two runs and an RBI, giving him a .339 average heading into the break.

July 7, 1959: The All Star game didn’t go our way this year, as the NL team powered past us to win 4-2. It started out close, with the NL team going up quickly with two runs (thanks to an RBI double by Ken Boyer and and RBI single by Johnny Roseboro), but we’d answered effectively in the bottom of the inning, Roger Maris hitting into a fielder’s choice that scored Jim Piersall, after which Wayne Causey scored off a passed ball. It remained knotted from there until the top of the eighth, when Eddie Mathews and Wally Post hit back to back homers to win it for their team. The loss went to our reliever, Bill Fischer, who had two hits, a walk and the two earned runs against him. Wally Post was named Player of the Game, and none of our hitters really did much to distinguish themselves. Willie Davis at least did pick up one of our four hits, so there was that for our fans, and it was a rare chance for our players to play a game in LA, since the Dodgers were hosting this year.

We’re fully rested and will start the post-All Star stretch with two games at home against Cleveland (52-29) and three against Kansas City (30-51) including a Sunday doubleheader. We’ll then play three against Boston (35-57) and four against New York (46-35) on the road before returning to Chicago for three against Boston, four against Baltimore (40-43), three against New York and four against Washington (43-38) to get us into August. Our 44-36 first-half record has us in third place, a game and a half behind New York and a game and a half up on Washington, trailing Cleveland by seven and a half. Though we have eleven games left against the 36-47 Tigers, we don’t face them until mid-August, and eight of those games will come in September.

jksander · 11-13-2024, 06:24 PM

July 9, 1959: Jim O’Toole (7-5, 2.56 ERA, 112.2 IP, 64 K’s, 1.15 WHIP) pitched against Cleveland’s ace Tom Cheney (6-2, 3.24 ERA, 116.2 IP, 63 K’s, 1.29 WHIP) in our first of two games against the league leaders. We took the lead in the bottom of the second, Ed Bailey scoring off a groundout by Norm Siebern after which Bobby Morgan hit an RBI single that drove home Felipe Alou. But in the top of the fifth after a solid start, O’Toole got knocked around for four Cleveland runs, and Bob Rush took over with two outs and a man on first trailing 4-2. Ed Bailey hit a solo homer to get us back within a run heading into the seventh inning, and Rush got us into the seventh inning stretch still trailing just four runs to three. Ron Wells took over in the top of the eighth, and he got us through that inning and the next, but we needed something offensively or it was all for naught ... and that didn’t happen. We went down one, two, three and lost this one 4-3, Cleveland continuing to be our kryptonite. O’Toole had his worst start of the season, only lasting 4.2 innings with seven hits and four earned runs, striking out five with three walks as he fell to 7-6 with a 2.76 ERA. Cleveland outhit us 9-6, Bailey leading the offense with a hit, a walk, two runs and an RBI.

July 10, 1959: Jack Kralick (8-7, 2.72 ERA, 122.1 IP, 68 K’s, 1.10 WHIP) pitched against Hoyt Wilhelm (7-3, 3.61 ERA, 109.2 IP, 52 K’s, 1.25 WHIP) in our second game against the Guardians, and Cleveland got going with a solo homer in the top of the first by Rocky Colavito. We answered with another Ed Bailey solo bomb in the bottom of the fourth to tie it up, but Roger Maris got one out of the park in the top of the fifth to keep them ahead. Fred Green took over in the top of the sixth, and Ed Roebuck came out in the seventh still trailing by a run. In the bottom of the seventh we bounced back with a two-run triple by Roebuck, and in the top of the ninth Kuykendall came out to close it. We held our ground and came out of this with a 3-2 win to split the series, despite Cleveland outhitting us 7-6. Ed Roebuck got the win, improving to 2-0 with a two-inning effort, not allowing a single baserunner as he struck out a pair, and Kuykendall got his 14th save with a hit and two strikeouts. Roebuck led the offense as well, hitting once with two RBIs, giving him a .500 average since getting his call-up.

July 11, 1959: We’ve got a single game against the A’s today followed by a doubleheader tomorrow, and so far this year we’ve had their number, winning nine times out of 13 attempts. Billy Pierce (7-5, 2.77 ERA, 107.1 IP, 60 K’s, 1.02 WHIP) got the start, facing Bob Blaylock (1-7, 5.53 ERA, 83.0 IP, 47 K’s, 1.42 WHIP), in front of a robust crowd of nearly 24,000 fans. They all got rewarded in the bottom of the third when Willie Davis hit a two-run homer to break the nil-nil stalemate, and moments later Ed Bailey hit a two-run blast to make it a 4-0 lead! They picked up a run in the fourth and a run in the fifth, but in the bottom of the fifth inning Willie Davis and Ed Bailey each hit solo homers to make it 6-2 White Sox. Pierce got us into the stretch leading 6-4, and Ron Wells came out to relieve him in the top of the eighth. In the bottom of the inning Kirkland batted in two runs with a groundball single, and a Coleman groundout scored Gene Stephens to extend our lead to five runs. Wells, who had only thrown three pitches in the eighth inning to get our three outs, stayed out in the ninth and shut them down completely as we won 9-4. Pierce won the game, improving to 8-5 with a 2.91 ERA, allowing nine hits and four earned runs with four strikeouts through seven innings, and Ron Wells got the two-inning save, allowing two hits. KC outhit us 11-10, but Willie Davis and Ed Bailey each had two homers tonight, and they had no answer for that. Bailey led the way with two hits, three runs and three RBIs, while Davis added his two hits, two runs and three RBIs to lead the offense.Bailey has stayed hot since coming to Chicago from Cincinnati, adding five homers for nine RBIs while hitting .308.

July 12, 1959: Stan Williams (4-5, 3.56 ERA, 73.1 IP, 59 K’s, 1.32 WHIP) started game one against Milt Pappas (9-7, 3.56 ERA, 146.2 IP, 88 K’s, 1.36 WHIP). Willie Davis hit a solo homer in the bottom of the first to give us a quick lead, and we reamed them in the bottom of the second thanks to a Stan Williams RBI single and a three-run blast by Davis (his second game with two homers!) as we built a 5-0 lead. Williams hit an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth, and Davis grounded out to drive home Jerry Coleman to pile on. Minoso and Bailey hit back to back solo homers in the bottom of the fifth to make it a massive 9-0 blowout. Williams stayed out and completed the game as we smothered them defensively, winning 9-0. Williams allowed six hits and a walk with six strikeouts in his complete game, improving to 5-5 with a 3.17 ERA, while we outhit the A’s 12-6. Willie Davis led the way with two hits, two runs and five RBIs, hitting the 11th and 12th homeruns of his season.

For game two, Chuck Stobbs (7-4, 1.90 ERA, 85.1 IP, 32 K’s, 1.30 WHIP) pitched against Dave Stone (2-8, 5.25 ERA, 82.1 IP, 34 K’s, 1.68 WHIP). Felipe Alou grounded out in the top of the first but drove home Luke Aparicio to get us the early lead, and once again we had a strong second inning, Willie Davis keeping his streak going with a two-run homer that followed an RBI single by Chuck Stobbs! Felipe Alou was injured in the top of the fifth, what appears to be a mild hamstring strain, as KC got on the board with an RBI single by Stone. Ed Roebuck came out to pitch in the top of the seventh leading 4-1, and in the bottom of the eighth we added on with a RBI single by Jerry Coleman. Roebuck closed it out as we beat the A’s 5-1 to complete back to back sweeps against the hapless club. Stobbs improved to 8-4, pitching six innings with five hits, a walk, two strikeouts and an earned run, while Roebuck earned his first save, allowing just three hits through three innings as he improved his ERA to 0.75 through six appearances. We outhit the A’s 10-8, led by Bobby Morgan with two hits and two runs, while Davis added his two RBIs off the homer, his third game in a row with at least one leaving the ballpark.

I got word from Ed Bailey that he’s agreed to the contract we offered to keep the 28-year-old Gold Glover with us long term now that we made the trade to get him from the Reds. We’ll have him through 1964 when he’ll be 33 years old, and the catcher (who is earning $125,400) will get a big raise next year to $215,000. He’ll then get escalating raises yearly through 1964 when he’ll be making $300,000. He has a no-trade clause and would get bonuses of $3,600 for each all star appearance as well as $20,000 if he wins the AL MVP.

We hit the road this week for three against Boston (35-51) and four against New York (50-35). The Yankees lead us by two games at the moment, and those four games at Yankee Stadium are going to be critical if we want to stay in the pennant race.

July 14, 1959: Jim O’Toole (7-6, 2.76 ERA, 117.1 IP, 69 K’s, 1.19 WHIP) took on Frank Baumann (4-5, 3.73 ERA, 123.0 IP, 51 K’s, 1.35 WHIP) in our first of three against the Red Sox at Fenway. Gene Stephens hit an RBI single in the top of the second to put us into the lead, and in the top of the fifth we added some insurance with an RBI single by Willie Davis. Frank Baumann got the Red Sox on the board with an RBI single in the bottom of the inning, and Ron Wells took over for us in the bottom of the seventh still leading 2-1. Alas, he got blasted himself for three runs, thanks to an RBI single by Floyd Robinson and a two-run single by Ted Williams. Davis batted in another run with a double in the top of the eighth to cut the Sox’s lead to one, and Roebuck came out in the bottom of the inning to try and keep us in this one. But Ted Lepicio hit an RBI single to add on for Boston, and we only got one run back in the ninth, losing this game 5-4. Wells, with his third blown save, took the loss and fell to 5-3 with a 4.10 ERA, and we lost despite outhitting the Red Sox 9-8. Willie Davis hit twice with two RBIs to try and keep us fighting, but he’s only one man -- he’s got a really good head on his shoulders, but he chooses to lead with his bat rather than with his words.

July 15, 1959: Josh Kralick (8-7, 2.76 ERA, 127.1 IP, 72 K’s, 1.12 WHIP) pitched against Mike Fornieles (7-9, 4.27 ERA, 111.2 IP, 52 K’s, 1.42 WHIP). We traded groundout scores in the first and second, going into the top of the fourth tied up 1-1. Alou got us the lead with an RBI triple, and Siebern singled him home to make it a 3-1 lead ... Boston got a run back in the bottom of the sixth, but we went into the stretch still leading by one, and Bill Fischer came out to pitch in the bottom of the inning. We came alive in the top of the eighth, Minoso leading off with a solo homer that was followed by us walking in two runs thanks to Bobby Morgan and Jerry Coleman. Fischer tried to stay out in the bottom of the ninth but gave up a pair, and we had to bring out Bob Rush with no outs to try and get us out of the jam, runners on first and second. He got two quick outs and then let Donn Clendenon hit an RBI single to cut our lead to one. Kuykendall came out with the lead at one, runners again on first and second, but Billy Klaus hit a slow bouncer to Kuykendall, who was slow on the throw to first ... bases loaded, and leadoff man Nellie Fox coming to the plate. He hit a solid shot into right, and it was all over ... two runs scored and we lost 7-6. That’s a game that’ll haunt you. Kuykendall wound up with the blown save, his fourth, but to be honest it all really fell on Fischer, who stayed out too long as we got cocky with the four-run lead. Rush took the loss, falling to 0-4 with a 3.66 ERA, thanks to a hit and two unearned runs, while Fischer, who had two innings of work, allowed three hits and three runs (one earned) with two strikeouts. Each team had 11 hits, ours led by Alou with three hits, three runs and an RBI, while Bailey had two hits, a walk and two runs.

July 16, 1959: Billy Pierce (8-5, 2.91 ERA, 114.1 IP, 64 K’s, 1.04 WHIP) pitched against Bob Purkey (7-10, 4.60 ERA, 115.1 IP, 46 K’s, 1.31 WHIP) as we tried to get out of the city of Boston with at least one win from this series. Ted Williams hit Boston into the lead with an RBI double in the bottom of the first, but Minoso hit a two-run blast for us in the top of the fourth to take the lead ourselves. But Pierce got destroyed in the bottom of that inning, giving up four runs and shortening his night significantly as we dug ourselves a 5-2 hole. Minoso hit a solo bomb in the top of the sixth, his second of the game, to cut their lead to two with Fred Green coming out to pitch in the bottom of the sixth. In the top of the eighth an RBI double by Minoso and a sac-fly by Ed Bailey helped us tie it up 5-5, and Ed Roebuck took over with a chance for us to make a statement. Ron Wells pitched in the bottom of the ninth, still tied, and Boston had no interest in extra innings ... Harry Simpson hit a sac-fly with runners on first and third and they walked it off, Nellie Fox socring the go-ahead run as they swept us with a 6-5 win. Walls took the loss, falling to 5-4 as he got just one out for us, a hit, a walk and a run in his frame. But Boston outhit us all night, 10-6, and we had no business being in this one with a chance at extra innings. Minoso had us on his shoulders with three hits, three runs and four RBIs, and we’ll head into the Yankees series trying to shake off a losing streak as we now trail them by four games (though we’re still just 7.5 games back of first).

July 17, 1959: Stan Williams (5-5, 3.17 ERA, 82.1 IP, 65 K’s, 1.26 WHIP) is coming off his best start of the year, and he got to face Billy O’Dell (11-6, 2.61 ERA, 148.1 IP, 84 K’s, 0.96 WHIP) in our first of four at Yankee Stadium. Norm Siebern hit a solo homer in the top of the second to give us a one run lead, but in the bottom of the fifth Al Smith hit a two-run double to put the Yankees back on top. But that lit a spark in us, apparently ... Minoso tied it up with a solo homer in the top of the sixth, Bobby Morgan then adding an RBI single that was followed with a Gene Stephens two-run triple to give us a 5-2 lead! Ed Roebuck came out with one out and Alvin Dark on first base in the bottom of the inning, getting out of the inning and stranding a pair as we held on to our lead. With two outs and Hank Bauer standing at first base in the bottom of the eighth we brought out Ron Wells ... a wild pitch and a single by Tony Kubek drove in a run for the Yankees, but Wells finally got us out of the inning with a strikeout by Yogi Berra. Leading by a pair heading into the bottom of the ninth, Kuykendall came out to face the top of their lineup. Aparicio botched a catch to allow Bobby Richardson to take first, which will be scored as an error. Al Smith grounded out to first, advancing the runner into scoring position, and we intentionally walked Mantle, UNINTENTIONALLY walking Woodie Held to load the goddamned bases. Alvin Dark walked in a run, but he got Charlie Maxwell to strike out swinging. That set up a matchup of Kuykendall vs. Kubek, three runners on base, two outs, a one-run lead in hand. Kubek hit a shot into right field, and that was all she wrote. We f---ed it up again, losing our fourth straight by a 6-5 margin. That’s Kuykendall’s fifth blown save, and this time he took the loss on his shoulders as well, falling to 2-3 with a 2.38 ERA ... he allowed a hit, walked three, struck out one and gave up three runs, all unearned. The Yankees outhit us 10-6, and Siebern led our batters with a hit, a walk, two runs and an RBI.

Cleveland took a loss, so we remain 7.5 games back of first ... but Casey Stengel’s Yankees are making a real run here, they’re now just 2.5 games out of first and closing fast.

July 18, 1959: Chuck Stobbs (8-4, 1.87 ERA, 91.1 IP, 34 K’s, 1.28 WHIP) pitched against Saul Rogovin (5-7, 4.43 ERA, 107.2 IP, 42 K’s, 1.28 WHIP) in what looked like a pretty even matchup overall despite the significant difference in ERAs. Minoso grounded out but allowed Aparicio to push us into the lead in the top of the first, but a Bobby Richardson RBI single tied it up in the bottom of the fifth. Minoso hit a sac-fly in the top of the sixth to score Willie Davis for the 2-1 lead, and we brought out Ron Wells to pitch in the bottom of the seventh still leading by a run. Bill Fischer took over in the bottom of the eighth with one out and men on first and second, and he stranded them both as we held on to the slim lead. Kuykendall came out in the bottom of the ninth with the lead unchanged, and once again we f---ed ourselves out of a win, when Bobby Richardson hit an RBI single that scored both Alvin Dark and Ed Charles, beating us 3-2. That’s Kuykendall’s sixth blown save and fourth loss, and though his ERA remains at 3.13, he’s walking way too many batters and his 1.87 WHIP is becoming highly disconcerting. Four of his last five appearances have now resulted in either a blown save, a loss, or both. But the Yankees outhit us 12-6 and we were playing with fire all night ... we’re brutal in close games, and that’s been all we’ve seen lately. Minoso led the way with two RBIs and no hits, while Willie Davis added a pair of hits and a run scored.

Tomorrow we’ve got the doubleheader, with our two top starters good to go. We need our bats to help keep these games out of reach so we can take a little strain off the bullpen to not get stuck in another high leverage situation. Since our 5-1 win against Kansas City in the doubleheader on July 12th we’ve lost five in a row by one run margins ... but we’re still within 8.5 games of the pennant, and the season is far from being unsalvageable, we just need to find our mojo.

July 19, 1959: Jim O’Toole (7-6, 2.70 ERA, 123.1 IP, 71 K’s, 1.18 WHIP) pitched against Mike McCormick (10-6, 3.18 ERA, 155.2 IP, 100 K’s, 1.36 WHIP) in the first game of today’s doubleheader, and Willie Davis scored off an RBI single by Aparicio to put us up 1-0 after half an inning. In the top of the fifth Felipe Alou hit an RBI double that scored Minoso and gave us a bit more room to breathe. In the top of the ninth Alou batted in Minoso again with an RBI single, and Ed Bailey scored off a walk by Jerry Coleman to give us a four-run lead. O’Toole stayed out to complete his game, and we won in a 4-0 shutout, snapping the streak and finally sloughing off a ton of negativity that had been swirling around us. O’Toole improved to 8-6 with his four-hit shutout, walking one and striking out four, and we outhit New York 9-4. Alou led the way with three hits and two RBIs, and he’s now hitting .330, tied with Davis as our two most consistent hitters.

Jack Kralick (8-7, 2.77 ERA, 133.1 IP, 74 K’s, 1.11 WHIP) pitched against Vinegar Bend Mizell (11-6, 2.54 ERA, 149.0 IP, 88 K’s, 1.11 WHIP) in the second game of our afternoon, and we’d clearly awakened our bats -- in the top of the first Aparicio hit an RBI double which was followed by RBI singles by Minoso and Alou. Minoso scored our fourth run off a passed ball, and Joey Zimmerman hit an RBI single to make it 5-0 as we headed into the bottom of the first having batted around. New York got a run back in the bottom of the second when Vinegar Bend Mizell reached on an E5 error, allowing Kubek to score, but that was all they got this game. Kralick pitched a complete game six-hitter with three strikeouts and a run, and we were able to get out of New York with a 5-1 win and a split series! Kralick is now 9-7 with a 2.59 ERA, and we outhit New York 9-6, led by Alou who had two hits, a walk, a run and an RBI.

With that doubleheader sweep, we head back to Chicago on a really solid note, with two weeks of home games on the slate. We’re 50-42, sitting in third place, four games behind New York and eight games back of Cleveland, with a one-game lead over fourth place Washington. We’ve got three against Boston (39-53), four aganst Baltimore (45-48), and then three against the Yankees (54-38) before playing Washington (49-43) for four. Hopefully we can draw good crowds and claw our way back into the heart of the pennant race with wins against some lower level teams we need to be able to dominate.

jksander · 11-20-2024, 06:27 PM

July 21, 1959: Billy Pierce (8-5, 3.17 ERA, 119.1 IP, 66 K’s, 1.09 WHIP) pitched against Mike Fornieles (7-9, 4.28 ERA, 117.2 IP, 55 K’s, 1.41 WHIP) today, and with the two doubleheader complete games and yesterday’s travel day our bullpen is completely rested. That didn’t help us when our bats were completely silent and Boston got out to a 3-0 lead after three innings. We finally got on the board in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI single by Gene Stephens, and Ed Bailey hit an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh to inch us back within a run. But Boston got a run in the top of the eighth off an RBI double by Willie Jones, bringing out Ed Roebuck with an out and a man in scoring position. He got us into the bottom of the inning trailing 4-2, and then through the ninth as well ... but we needed runs to make anything happen, and that didn’t seem to be in the cards tonight. They beat us 4-2, and Pierce took the loss, falling to 8-6 with ten hits, three strikeouts and four earned runs. We had ten hits ourselves, led by Gene Stephens who had three hits and an RBI. But Davis and Minoso combined for five hits to nowhere, which was a big reason we couldn’t string hits together.

July 22, 1959: Stan Williams (5-5, 3.18 ERA, 87.2 IP, 68 K’s, 1.28 WHIP) pitched against Bob Purkey (7-10, 4.52 ERA, 123.1 IP, 47 K’s, 1.29 WHIP). Boston took control quickly after breaking a first inning tie (we’d tied it in the bottom of the first with a solo homer by Bailey) ... They’d score runs in the third, fourth and fifth to take a 5-1 lead on us, and Bill Fischer came out in the top of the seventh facing another rough situation. He got shelled in the eighth, Bob Rush taking over with the score 9-1, two outs, runner on first. Our offense took the day off and we lost 9-1, another humiliating loss as we continue to show signs of future greatness while falling on our faces in the present. Williams lasted six innings but allowed ten hits, a walk and five runs (four earned) with a single strikeout. We were outhit by a staggering 14-2 margin, and we only had three baseruners the entire game, making Bailey’s first-inning homer stand out all the more.

July 23, 1959: Chuck Stobbs (8-4, 1.85 ERA, 97.1 IP, 35 K’s, 1.27 WHIP) pitched today against George Brunet (4-7, 3.78 ERA, 121.1 IP, 59 K’s, 1.46 WHIP). Ed Bailey hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the third to get us on the board, and Aparicio hit an RBI single in the fourth to add on. Ron Wells took over for Stobbs in the top of the eighth with two outs and a man on third, Boston having gotten a run back with an RBI double by Marty Keough. Kuykendall came out with the bases loaded and no outs in the bottom of the ninth, and he got rung up with three runs before finally getting us into the bottom of the ninth tied up 4-4 ... our bullpen continues to struggle even when handed big leads. This one went into extra innings, Kuykendall getting us through the 10th without conceding the lead. Bob Rush took over in the 11th, and in the bottom of the inning we walked it off with an Aparicio RBI single on two outs to take this one 5-4! Stobbs had given us 7.2 innings with eight hits, a walk, a run and five strikeouts, but Kuykendall blew his seventh save with two hits, two walks and a strikeout in his two innings (the runs all getting tagged to Wells, who had his seventh hold despite only getting one out). Bob Rush finally got a win, improving to 1-4 with a 3.52 ERA, allowing a hit and a walk with one strikeout in the 11th. Boston outhit us 12-7, but we managed to steal the win thanks to Siebern (two hits, a walk and a run) and Aparicio (two hits, a walk and two RBIs).

July 24, 1959: Baltimore’s in town for four games, including a doubleheader this Sunday, and we need them all if we’re going to stay in the race, since they only trail us by 3.5 games ... we definitely don’t want to give the Orioles an opening. Jim O’Toole (8-6, 2.52 ERA, 132.1 IP, 75 K’s, 1.14 WHIP) got the start against Ted Wills (5-5, 4.13 ERA, 124.1 IP, 92 K’s, 1.39 WHIP). And this one featured next-to-no offense through much of the proceedings, as O’Toole got us into the seventh inning stretch still knotted up with nothing, just two hits and an error each. Bill Fischer took over in the top of the eighth, and he kept it that way through the inning, but we weren’t any luckier at finding a way to score, so Ron Wells came out to pitch in the top of the ninth, shutting them down quietly. With one out in the bottom of the ninth, Ed Bailey got himself a base hit and they walked Siebern to push Bailey into scoring position. That’s when Bobby Morgan hit a walk-off single into right field, driving in the winning run as we beat the Orioles 1-0! Wells took the win, improving to 6-4 with a 4.50 ERA ... we matched them 4-4 on hits, led by Bailey, who had two hits and a run scored. O’Toole was solid and set us up well for success, lasting seven innings with two hits, three walks and five strikeouts.

July 25, 1959: Jack Kralick (9-7, 2.59 ERA, 142.1 IP, 77 K’s, 1.08 WHIP) pitched against Baltimore’s Ed Grba (2-3, 4.50 ERA, 42.0 IP, 21 K’s, 1.21 WHIP) in game two, and though the game started out similarly to yesterday, the offenses both took off in the fourth inning. Baltimore took the lead in the top of the fourth with a two-run single by Gus Bell, and then we answered with a two-run single in the bottom of the inning to tie it up, with Felipe Alou hitting an RBI single that scored Siebern from second to put us up 3-2! Bob Rush took over in the top of the sixth, and Ed Roebuck came out in the eighth with the score unchanged. With one out, a runner scored for Baltimore to tie it up thanks to a wild pitch, however, and they took the lead when Hal Smith hit an RBI single to put them up by a run. Roebuck got us out of the inning, but we suddenly had work to do following the blown save. Ron Wells took over in the top of the ninth, still trailing by a run, and with two outs they got another run to score thanks to a sac-fly by Preston Ward, and they added on with an RBI double by Jerry Lynch and an RBI triple by Wayne Cauey to put this one well out of reach. Wells couldn’t get that third out, and by the time he finally did we were in a five-run hole and ready to just get this one over with. They won with ease, 8-3, thanks to six unanswered runs in the final two innings. Roebuck blew his first save and took the loss, falling to 2-1 with a 1.89 ERA ... he allowed three hits and two earned runs. But Wells got even more banged up in garbage time, allowing four hits, two walks and four earned runs as his ERA exploded to 5.05 through 57.0 innings. They outhit us 14-8, our team led by Minoso with two hits and a run, and by Siebern with a hit , a run and two RBIs.

July 26, 1959: Billy Pierce (8-6, 3.27 ERA, 126.2 IP, 69 K’s, 1.11 WHIP) pitched against Dave Wickersham (10-9, 3.62 ERA, 154.1 IP, 80 K’s, 1.28 WHIP) in the first game of today’s doubleheader against the Orioles, and they got the lead in the third with a groundout by Jerry Lumpe scoring a run by Jerry Lynch, adding on in the fourth with an RBI single by Lenny Green to lead 2-0. Bob Rush took over in the top of the sixth, and then we unleashed in the bottom of the inning, tying the score with a Bobby Morgan two-run double, taking the lead with a Rush RBI single, and then adding five more runs for good measure including a three-run homer by Willie Davis! We traded runs in the seventh, Bobby Fischer taking over in the top of the eighth, and we went on to win this one 9-4! Rush took the win, improving to 2-4 with a two inning performance (one hit, two walks, one strikeout and one earned run), improving his ERA to 3.44. We outhit Baltimore 12-8, led by Davis, who had two hits and three RBIs thanks to his 14th homer of the season.

Stan Williams (5-6, 3.36 ERA, 93.2 IP, 69 K’s, 1.31 WHIP) pitched in game two, facing Glen Hobbie (10-6, 3.31 ERA, 147.0 IP, 82 K’s, 1.37 WHIP). We took the lead quickly in the bottom of the first thanks to a two-run single by Siebern and and RBI single by Bobby Morgan. But they scored four unanswered runs in the third and fourth innings, including an RBI triple and two RBI singles in the fourth, to retake the lead 4-3. Ed Roebuck took over in the top of the sixth, giving up another pair, and we brought out Kuykendall in the seventh and the game fell apart. They scored four on him in the inning, and this one became a rout ... Wells pitched the remainder, and we got one paltry run back in the bottom of the ninth, losing 10-4. This series wound up being a split one, and our performance was all over the charts in the four games. Stan Williams took the loss, falling to 5-7 with nine hits, two walks, four runs and three strikeouts in his five innings, and we were outhit 15-10. Minnie Minoso had a good night, hitting four times with a run scored, while Siebern did his level best with two hits, a walk and three RBIs.

We’re off tomorrow for a travel day and then start a home stretch with three against the Yankees (57-41) and four against the Senators (51-48). We’ll then spend two weeks on the road playing Baltimore (50-50), Washington, Detroit (44-56) and Kansas City (33-66).

jksander · 11-22-2024, 08:36 AM

July 27, 1959: Chuck Stobbs has signed a four year extension worth $925,000 total to keep him in Chicago through his early 30’s. He’ll earn $200,000 next year, $225,000 in 1961, and then a quarter million per year in 1962 and 1963. He currently has an 8-4 record this season with a 1.80 ERA and nearly 2.0 total WAR.

July 28, 1959: Chuck Stobbs (8-4, 1.80 ERA, 105.0 IP, 40 K’s, 1.27 WHIP) got the start today fresh off the signing of his extension, facing Yankees pitcher Billy O’Dell (11-6, 2.96 ERA, 161.1 IP, 90 K’s, 1.00 WHIP). We took the lead quickly, Minnie Minoso batting in a run with a double, followed by a Norm Siebern groundout that scored Aparicio, and Bobby Morgan reaching via error to drive in Minoso. Still leading 3-1 heading into the top of the sixth, Bob Rush took over on the mound, pitching two solid innings to get us into the bottom of the seventh, when Willie Davis hit a solo homer to extend our lead. But Rush stayed out too long, and with the bases loaded Bob Cerv hit a grand slam to punch us straight in the face. Bill Fischer came out with the lead now 5-4 for the Yankees, one out, getting us out of there without it getting worse, but our bats were silent in the bottom of the inning and they added on in the top of the ninth with an RBI single by Woodie Held. Incredibly we managed to load the bases in the bottom of the ninth thanks to a walk by Willie Davis, and with one out Luis Aparicio came to the plate ... he hit into a fielder’s choice and they got the out at home, keeping the bases loaded for Minnie Minoso, who popped out harmlessly ... game over, Yankees win it 6-4. Rush blew his first save of the year and took the loss, falling to 2-5 with a 3.86 ERA, allowing four hits, three walks and four earned runs through 2.1 innings. We outhit them 10-9, led by Davis with two hits, a walk, two runs and an RBI.

July 29, 1959: Jim O’Toole (8-6, 2.39 ERA, 139.1 IP, 80 K’s, 1.12 WHIP) got the start in game two, facing Mike McCormick (10-8, 3.33 ERA, 170.1 IP, 107 K’s, 1.39 WHIP). This one was deadlocked until the bottom of the seventh when Gene Stephens hit an RBI single to put us up 1-0! Ed Roebuck took over in the top of the eighth, and of course he gave up the tying run to Lee Thomas, who scored off an RBI single by Bobby Richardson. Ron Wells took over in the top of the ninth, and this one went into extra innings. Bill Fischer took over in the top of the 12th, and Kuykendall came out in the top of the 15th with the score still unchanged. Our luck ran out in that frame, with Bobby Richardson hitting an RBI single to put the Yanks up by a run. But Whitey Ford came out in the bottom of the inning and got sloppy, loading the bases and walking in Norm Siebern to tie the score! Kuykendall took the count full and then struck out swinging so the game continued. We had runners on second and third with two outs in the bottom of the 17th, so we brought out Sherm Lollar to try and walk it off, but he popped out to right and we had to bring out Stan Williams to pitch in relief and get us out of this one. Williams got two quick outs and then allowed a double by Al Smith and a homer by Mantle to put the Yankees back on top by two. They flexed their muscles with back to back jacks when Willie Held added on, and at that point Williams completely melted down ... we should have kept Kuykendall out there despite his exhaustion, he could have pitched better than this. By the time Williams got the third out we were down by four, and it stayed that way, New York winning 6-2 in the 18th goddamned inning.

Roebuck blew the save, his second, in the eighth inning, but Wells, Fischer and Kuykendall combined for nine innings with five hits, a walk, three strikeouts and a run. Williams then came out to take the loss, falling to 5-8 with a miserable inning ... five hits, a strikeout and four earned runs, three of them coming off homers. The Yankees outhit us 15-11, our offense led by Felipe Alou who had two hits, a walk and a run scored.

Our pitching staff is worn down after that epic-length loss ... we’ve switched Stobbs and Williams in the starting rotation so Williams will get an extra day’s rest before pitching again, so Jim Donohue will get another chance to come up, replacing Don Bacon.

July 30, 1959: Jack Kralick (9-7, 2.63 ERA, 147.1 IP, 78 K’s, 1.11 WHIP) pitched against Vinegar Bend Mizell (12-7, 2.71 ERA, 162.2 IP, 95 K’s, 1.14 WHIP). In another squeaker of a game, we took the lead in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI single by Aparicio, and Kralick was able to hold that lead through the eighth inning. But we were unable to add any offense in the bottom of the eighth, so Kralick stayed out to finish what he’d started. Mickey Mantle popped out to short for our final out, and we were able to get out of here with a 1-0 win. Kralick improved to 10-7 with the complete game two hit shutout, walking a pair and striking out six as we outhit New York 4-2. Aparicio’s hit and RBI in the sixth inning won it for us, with Coleman scoring the run on the ground.

July 31, 1959: It’s trade deadline day and we’re staying quiet on our end. We have a four-game series against the Washington Senators this weekend, and then will hit the road to face two weeks of games against Baltimore, Washington, Detroit and Kansas City, all teams with records worse than ours so in theory we’ve got a great opportunity to make some upward moves. But Washington comes into this series trailing us just by half a game, and Baltimore’s only three games back, so there’s also a lot of room to lose ground if we don’t play smart baseball.

Billy Pierce (8-6, 3.28 ERA, 131.2 IP, 74 K’s, 1.09 WHIP) pitched today against Washington’s Sal Maglie (4-9, 6.00 ERA, 111.0 IP, 51 K’s, 1.40 WHIP) who at 42 almost seems immortal out there on the mound. The runs came quick in the first inning, both teams scoring three each, and then they shut off like a spigot. Ed Roebuck came out in the top of the seventh, still knotted at 3-3, and Washington struck quickly with an Eddie Yost two-run homer to retake the lead. Ron Wells took over in the eighth still trailing by two, and he got us into the bottom of the ninth still trailing by the same ... but Willie Davis had himself a real hero moment, hitting a three-run walkoff homer in the bottom of the inning to give us a 6-5 win! That was the 19-year-old’s 16th homer of the season ... we outhit them 8-7 and his two hits, two runs and three RBIs easily led the night. Ron Wells improved to 7-4 with the win, his two innings with two hits, two walks and three strikeouts improving his ERA to 4.50 through 64 innings.

August 1, 1959: Chuck Stobbs (8-4, 1.80 ERA, 110.0 IP, 42 K’s, 1.25 WHIP) pitched against Bob Veale (3-3, 4.92 ERA, 53.0 IP, 31 K’s, 1.64 WHIP). We scored three runs in the bottom of the first to take an early lead, but Stobbs allowed a pair of runs in each of the third and sixth innings to shoot the Senators back into the lead 4-3, thanks to a two-run homer by Tommy Davis in the third and a two-run homer by Gene Freese in the top of the sixth. Alou answered with a two-run homer of his own in the bottom of the sixth to give us back the lead, and Bill Fischer took over in the top of the seventh. Alou drove in another run with a sac-fly in the bottom of the eighth that was immediately followed by an RBI single by Siebern, giving us a three-run cushion when Kuykendall came out to pitch in the top of the ninth. He got us through, his first successful save since July 10, and we won this one 7-4! Stobbs got the win with six innings and four hits, a walk and four earned runs, striking out three as he improved to 9-4 with a 2.02 ERA. Fischer earned his ninth hold, while Kuykendall picked up his 15th save, a hit and a walk but no outs improving his ERA to 3.90 through 30 innings.

August 2, 1959: It’s a doubleheader day, and we’ve got Stan Williams (5-8, 3.88 ERA, 99.2 IP, 73 K’s, 1.39 WHIP) trying to pitch his way out of a cold stretch in the first game. He faced Curt Simmons (3-1, 1 SV, 3.67 ERA, 56.1 IP, 29 Ks, 1.40 WHIP), and he had a 4-2 lead when we put Jim Donohue out there in the top of the sixth inning. Bob Rush took over in the seventh, and he got two outs into the eighth inning before giving up an RBI single to Tommy Davis that put runners on the corners. Ron Wells came out for the final out, hitting Fred Hatfield on the shoulder to load the bases, but he got Harmon Killebrew to hit harmlessly to left field to get us out of the inning with the lead still safe. In the bottom of the inning our bats came to life and we were able to turn this one from a brutally tight game into one we had all the momentum in. Ed Bailey scored on a single by Bobby Morgan, and Siebern tagged up and scored on a sac-fly by Ron Wells, with Aparicio then hitting a two-run line drive single to put us up by five runs! Wells stayed out to finish the final inning with three quick outs and we won this one 8-3. Williams got a much-needed win, improving to 6-8 with a 3.78 ERA ... he only allowed a hit, four walks and two runs (one earned) with three strikeouts in five innings. Donohue (1) and Rush (4) picked up holds, and Wells saved his third game of the season with 1.1 innings only marred by that one bean-ball in the eighth. We outhit Washington 12-3, led by Bobby Morgan who had three hits, three runs and two RBIs.

Jim O’Toole (8-6, 2.28 ERA, 146.1 IP, 81 K’s, 1.09 WHIP) pitched in the day’s second game, facing Camilo Pascual (13-6, 3.22 ERA, 187.0 IP, 129 K’s, 1.28 WHIP). Again we got out to a fiery hot start, scoring three in the bottom of the first. Bill Fischer took over in the top of the eighth with the lead at 4-1, and after Gene Freese got them an RBI double in the eighth to cut our lead to two, Kuykendall came out to pich in the ninth to close things out. He did just that, getting three quick outs as we completed the four-game sweep, winning 4-2! O’Toole improved to 9-6 with seven innings and just four hits, four walks and an earned run, striking out two. Fischer earned his 10th hold of the season, and Kuykendall saved his 16th, striking out a batter and not allowing a single baserunner. They outhit us 6-5 in this one, but Siebern had two hits, a walk and two RBIs as we shut them down in the end.

We improved to 58-48 with the win, getting back within 9.5 games of the Guardians, just three games behind the second-place Yankees. More importantly, we put some distance between ourselves and both Baltimore and Washington, with six games against those two teams coming on the road this week as we look to keep our winning streak going ... it now stands at five games.

jksander · 11-24-2024, 07:58 PM

August 4, 1959: Jack Kralick (10-7, 2.48 ERA, 156.1 IP, 84 K’s, 1.07 WHIP) got the start against Baltimore on the road, facing Eli Grba (3-3, 4.34 ERA, 87.0 IP, 41 K’s, 1.31 WHIP). We took the lead with an RBI double by Minoso, adding on via a groundout by Ed Bailey and a sac-fly by Bobby Morgan to lead 3-0 midway through the first. But they got all three runs back in the bottom of the second, and then we blasted them in the top of the third by getting six more of our own, turning this one into a slugfest. Kralick wound up holding tough for the remainder of the game as he completed what he started, and we won this game 9-5 to keep our streak alive. Kralick improved to 11-7 with a 10-hit complete game, with four walks, three strikeouts and five runs (four earned) as his ERA slipped slightly to 2.56. We narrowly outhit the Orioles 11-10, led by Minoso who hit twice with a walk, two runs and an RBI.

August 5, 1959: Billy Pierce (8-6, 3.33 ERA, 137.2 IP, 78 K’s, 1.10 WHIP) started against Baltimore’s Glen Hobbie (11-7, 3.43 ERA, 160.0 IP, 89 K’s, 1.38 WHIP). Again we got out to a quick start, scoring off a groundout by Ed Bailey and then adding on with an RBI single by Siebern to go up 2-0 in the top of the first. Willie Davis hit a solo homer to lead off in the top of the third, and an RBI single by Siebern coupled with an E9 throwing error got our lead to four runs. The Orioles got a pair in the bottom of the fourth to get back into this one, and Bob Rush took over on the mound in the bottom of the sixth, with Ron Wells coming in for the seventh. Unfortunately he got shellacked, and by the time Bill Fischer was able to take the ball we were in a 6-4 hole out of nowhere, bases loaded, two outs. The game turned into a rout from there, seven runs scoring off five consecutive hits plus a throwing error, as Fischer proved fully incapable of getting that one f---ing out. By the time he did we trailed 13-4, the Orioles having reamed us for 11 runs in the frame. Jim Donohue came out for mop-up duty, and we lost in the end 13-6. Wells blew his fourth save and fell to 7-5, allowing three hits, four walks and seven earned runs, while Fischer contributed five hits and four runs (three earned). They outhit us 13-9, our team led by Minoso with three hits, a walk and two runs while Willie Davis added two hits, two runs and two RBIs.

August 6, 1959: Chuck Stobbs (9-4, 2.02 ERA, 116.0 IP, 45 K’s, 1.23 WHIP) pitched against Ted Wills (5-7, 4.19 ERA, 144.0 IP, 108 K’s, 1.33 WHIP). For the third day in a row we got a quick top-of-the-first lead, this time getting a two-run homer by Ed Bailey to take that early lead. They got on the board with an RBI double by Wayne Causey in the bottom of the second, but we answered with six runs in the top of the third. They never closed the gap, and Stobbs pitched a complete game as we shut them down to win 9-2. Stobbs improved to 10-4 with a 2.02 ERA, allowing just six hits, two earned runs and striking out six to get there. We outhit Baltimore 14-6, led by Bailey who had two hits, a run and three RBIs.

August 7, 1959: We took a quick drive from Baltimore to Washington to face the Senators, Stan Williams (6-8, 3.78 ERA, 104.2 IP, 76 K’s, 1.38 WHIP) facing the red-hot right-hander Camilo Pascual (13-7, 3.23 ERA, 195.0 IP, 131 K’s, 1.28 WHIP). Washington struck first, scoring thanks to a double by Willie McCovey in the bottom of the first, and when Bill Fischer took over in the bottom of the eighth we remained down by that one run. Fischer got destroyed in the bottom of that inning, giving up four runs, and we were shut out 5-0 in a game that Williams had worked his ass off to keep close. Instead, the 22-year-old got stuck with the loss, despite allowing just four hits, two walks and a run in his seven innings, striking out eight. Our bats did us no favors, as the Senators outhit us 9-3 ... none of them did anything of note in what was a truly disappointing loss.

August 8, 1959: Jim O’Toole (9-6, 2.23 ERA, 153.1 IP, 83 K’s, 1.09 WHIP) started against Bill Stafford, their 19-year-old top 40 prospect who was making his major league debut. Washington took a three-run lead in the bottom of the first, and it looked grim until the top of the fifth when Sherm Lollar hit a two-run blast to get us back into the game. In the top of the seventh we tied it up with an RBI double by Bobby Morgan, taking the lead with an RBI single by Jerry Colleman and adding on with an RBI single by Willie Davis. With a 5-3 lead in hand, Bob Rush took over on the mound in the bottom of the seventh, but he choked, giving up three runs to shoot them back into the lead. Ed Roebuck came out in the eighth trailing by a run, and in the top of the ninth we picked up three runs to get back into the lead, tying it up with a walk by Aparicio and taking the lead off a two-run single by Felipe Alou. Roebuck stayed out to finish the game, and we won this game 8-6 after a true roller coaster ride to get there. Roebuck got the win, improving to 3-1 with a 3.38 ERA, walking one and striking out another in his two innings. We outhit Washington 11-8, led by Lollar, who had two hits, two runs and two RBIs including just his fourth homer of the season.

August 9, 1959: Jack Kralick (11-7, 2.56 ERA, 165.1 IP, 87 K’s, 1.09 WHIP) started against Harold Larned (11-8, 3.13 ERA, 172.1 IP, 132 K’s, 1.35 WHIP). We took the lead in the top of the third with an RBI single by Luis Aparicio that scored Jack Kralick from second, and we added on two more in the top of the fourth thanks to an RBI triple by Siebern and a groundout by Bobby Morgan. Our bats stayed awake the rest of the game, adding on two in the sixth and three more in the seventh, and Kralick was able to stay out to complete his game as we won 8-1. Kralick, now 12-7 with a 2.48 ERA, allowed just seven hits, two walks and a run with four strikeouts as we outhit Washington 10-7 for the series win. Alou led the way with three hits and three runs scored, taking a walk as well.

The win improved our record to 62-50, and we’re now within 3.5 games of New York, trailing the Guardians by 7.5 games. Washington and Baltimore now sit six and six-and-a-half games behind us respectively, and are all but out of the pennant picture at this point. We’re off tomorrow for a travel day, and then face Detroit (49-64) and Kansas City (40-73) for three apiece before heading back to Chicago to play Baltimore (57-57) for three, Washington (57-56) for two, New York (66-46) in a Sunday doubleheader, and then Boston (50-62) for two. We’ll then finish the month with a four-game set against the pennant-leading Guardians (70-43) in Cleveland.

August 11, 1959: Billy Pierce (8-6, 3.34 ERA, 142.2 IP, 82 K’s, 1.11 WHIP) got the start today against Detroit’s Frank Sullivan (9-7, 4.55 ERA, 176.0 IP, 94 K’s, 1.35 WHIP). Detroit got going early, building a 3-1 lead on us through four innings, but Minoso hit a solo homer in the top of the sixth and Willie Davis hit a two-run double in the top of the seventh to send us into the stretch leading 5-3! Ed Roebuck took over on the mound with one out and a man on third in the bottom of the inning, and they got a run back off a groundout by Johnny Callison, and Randy Jackson hit a solo homer to tie it up. Norm Siebern hit a two-run homer to get us back into the lead in the top of the eighth, and Bob Rush took over in the bottom of the inning. Kuykendall took over in the bottom of the ninth, the lead still at two runs, and we held our ground to win 7-5! Roebuck blew his third save but came out of it with a win, improving to 4-1 with a 3.65 ERA, allowing a hit and an earned run. Rush got his sixth hold and Kuykendall earned save number 17, and we won despite Detroit outhitting us 10-8. Minoso led the way with two hits, two runs and two RBIs, while Davis had a hit, a walk, a run and two RBIs.

August 12, 1959: Chuck Stobbs (10-4, 2.02 ERA, 125.0 IP, 51 K’s, 1.19 WHIP) pitched against Bob Shaw (7-11, 4.88 ERA, 184.1 IP, 80 K’s, 1.37 WHIP). We hammered them in the top of the second with five runs, including two-run singles by Coleman and Davis, and Stobbs added on with an RBI single in the top of the fourth to make it a six-run lead. Jim Donohue took over in the bottom of the eighth, leading 8-1, and he did well in that inning but got shelled in the ninth, giving up four runs. We brought out Kuykendall just get us out of the game, and we were able to stave them off to win 8-6 ... but that was closer than we wanted it to be. Stobbs’ win was safe -- he improved to 11-4 with a 1.98 ERA thanks to seven innings with six hits, six strikeouts and an earned run, and Kuykendall saved his 18th game by getting the final out on five pitches. We outhit them 9-8, led by Siebern, with two hits, two runs and an RBI, and by Davis who had a hit, a run and two RBIs.

August 13, 1959: Stan Williams (6-9, 3.63 ERA, 111.2 IP, 84 K’s, 1.34 WHIP) pitched against Tom Brewer (9-11, 4.30 ERA, 178.0 IP, 78 K’s, 1.28 WHIP) in the final game of this series against the Tigers. And after five great innings from Williams, we picked up three runs off an Alou homer in the top of the sixth and we went to Fischer out of the pen in the bottom of the inning. Minnie Minoso hit a two-run blast in the top of the seventh and Ron Wells took over on the mound after the stretch, pitching the remainder of the way as we held the Tigers off to win 6-2 and complete the sweep! Williams got the win, improving to 7-9 with a 3.47 ERA, thanks to five innings with seven hits, a walk and four strikeouts. Fischer earned his 11th hold, and Wells hung on through three innings for his fourth save, allowing four hits, a walk and two earned runs with two strikeouts. We outhit them 13-12, led by Alou who had two hits, a run and three RBIs.

With the three wins, we now are within two games of the Yankees, though the Guardians have not missed a step and remain 7.5 games up on us with a 73-43 record. We’ll take our five-game winning streak onward to Kansas City, where we have three games against the 40-76 Athletics before returning home for a decent stretch.

August 14, 1959: Jim O’Toole (9-6, 2.32 ERA, 159.1 IP, 87 K’s, 1.10 WHIP) pitched against Milt Pappas (10-11, 4.13 ERA, 194.0 IP, 108 K’s, 1.39 WHIP). Minoso tripled in the top of the first and came around to score our first run with a single by Bailey, but Kansas City took the lead back in the bottom of the second with back to back RBI doubles by Donald Dantoni and Milt Pappas. O’Toole did not have a great night, and by the time we replaced him with Bob Rush in the bottom of the sixth we were in an 8-1 hole with just one out ... Rush gave up one more before getting us into the seventh inning, Bill Fischer took over after the seventh inning stretch, and we went on to lose badly, 9-3. O’Toole allowed 14 hits and eight earned runs in his 5.1 innings, deservedly taking the loss, and we were outhit 15-5. Ed Bailey, with a hit and two RBIs, was our only batter to come out of the game looking decent at all.

August 15, 1959: Jack Kralick (12-7, 2.48 ERA, 174.1 IP, 91 K’s, 1.08 WHIP) pitched against Ron Negray (4-13, 4.89 ERA, 151.0 IP, 81 K’s, 1.42 WHIP). Ed Bailey hit an RBI triple to again give us a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, but Walt Bond hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning to put Kansas City into the lead. We answered in the top of the third with an RBI single by Minoso and a two-run homer by Bailey to put us back up 4-2, and Minoso hit an RBI single in the top of the fifth to add on. But in the bottom of the sixth the A’s hit three RBI singles to tie the game up, and Wells took over on the mound after the stretch, still tied up at 5-5. We unleashed in the top of the eighth, however, with Ed Bailey hitting a two-run homer (his second of the game!) and pitcher Ron Wells then hitting a GRAND SLAM to put us up by six, giving the 24-year-old his first career homer of any kind! He stayed out and pitched the remainder of the game, and we were able to win easily 11-6. Kralick had eight hits, four strikeouts and five earned runs in his six innings, but Wells got the win with three innings and just a hit and three strikeouts, improving his record to 8-5 with a 5.12 ERA. We outhit Kansas City 12-9, led by Ed Bailey with three hits, a walk, two runs and five RBIs, while Minoso added three hits, a walk, two runs and two RBIs. Wells’ four RBIs doubled his total for the year, and he’s hitting .172 through 34 plate appearances.

August 16, 1959: Billy Pierce (8-6, 3.44 ERA, 149.0 IP, 89 K’s, 1.13 WHIP) started against Johnny Kucks (5-15, 5.76 ERA, 136.0 IP, 50 K’s, 1.54 WHIP). The A’s took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first thanks to an RBI double by Cookie Rojas, but Pierce was locked in the rest of the way, and in the top of the seventh we tied it up with an RBI single by Siebern, taking the lead when Minoso scored off a single by Bobby Morgan! Jerry Zimmerman bought us some insurance with a two-run single, and we led 4-1 going into the stretch. Pierce pitched the whole game, helping us hold them off 4-2 to take the win heading into our off day and the upcoming stretch of home games. He allowed just four hits, two walks and two earned runs, striking out five as he improved to 9-6 with a 3.36 ERA. We outhit Kansas City 7-4, led by Bobby Morgan who hit three times for a run and an RBI.

With six weeks to go in the season we’ve got a 67-51 record, and are heading into a favorable stretch of home games -- three against Baltimore (59-59), two against Washington (59-59), a doubleheader against the Yankees (70-49), and a pair of games against Boston (53-65) before we get four on the road against the AL-leading Guardians (75-44). With just eight games left this year against the Guardians and four against the Yankees, those 12 games are likely to do more to decide our chances in the pennant race than any others with us currently sitting 7.5 games out of first.

jksander · 11-26-2024, 08:36 AM

August 18, 1959: Chuck Stobbs (11-4, 1.98 ERA, 132.0 IP, 57 K’s, 1.17 WHIP) took the mound against Baltimore’s Dave Wickersham (11-12, 4.05 ERA, 182.1 IP, 97 K’s, 1.41 WHIP). Minnie Minoso hit an RBI double in the bottom of the third to put us into the lead, and we traded runs in the fourth inning, retaking the lead with a solo homer by Norm Siebern. They answered with a two-run homer by Billy Williams in the top of the sixth, and with two outs they got another solo blast by Gus Triandos to give the Orioles a 4-2 lead. Ed Bailey scored off a single by Gene Stephens in the bottom of the inning to get us back within a run, and Stobbs gave up a leadoff triple in the seventh to force us to go to the pen. Bill Fischer took over, getting us out of the inning with just one run scored off that initial triple, and Ron Wells took over in the ninth still trailing by a pair. He got us into the bottom of the ninth with a chance -- Gene Stephens hit an RBI single into left as our leadoff hitter, and with two outs Sherm Lollar hit one through the gap to put Stephens in scoring position. But Aparicio struck out swinging and we lost this one 5-3. Stobbs took the loss, falling to 11-5 with a six inning eight hit effort, striking out two without a walk but allowing five earned runs. Baltimore outhit us 12-9, our bats led by Siebern who had two hits, a run and an RBI.

August 19, 1959: Stan Williams (7-9, 3.47 ERA, 116.2 IP, 88 K’s, 1.35 WHIP) got the start today against Gaylord Perry (9-7, 3.99 ERA, 162.1 IP, 77 K’s, 1.32 WHIP), their 20-year-old wunderkind who was ranked as the #2 prospect in baseball this spring. We each scored a run in the first inning, but in the bottom of the second we broke it open, taking the lead with an RBI double by Coleman, adding an RBI double by Williams, and then silencing the fans completely with a three-run blast by Ed Bailey to give us a 6-1 lead! Ron Wells took over in the top of the eighth leading 7-2, and he gave us a great eighth inning but got roughed up to start the ninth ... Kuykendall came in with two outs and the bases loaded, with the lead suddenly sliced down to three runs, and he finished them off with a pop-out to left as we won 8-5. Stan Williams improved to 8-9 with a 3.35 ERA, allowing six hits, five strikeouts and two runs (one earned) through seven innings, with Kuykendall coming in for the save (his 19th), getting that last out with three pitches. Baltimore outhit us 11-9, but Bailey led the way with two hits, a run and three RBIs thanks to his 12th homer of the season which proved the difference.

August 20, 1959: Jim O’Toole (9-7, 2.68 ERA, 164.2 IP, 88 K’s, 1.16 WHIP) got the start in our final game against the Orioles, challenging Ted Wills (6-8, 4.52 ERA, 153.1 IP, 114 K’s, 1.36 WHIP) from the mound. We took the lead in the bottom of the first when Norm Siebern scored off a fielder’s choice, and though that was all our bats gave us, it wound up being all we needed. O’Toole was locked in all the way and we held tough to win 1-0 as he pitched another complete game, this time a four-hit shutout with three walks and seven strikeouts! We outhit the Orioles 8-4, led by Siebern with a hit, two walks and the run scored, and our bullpen got to take a much-needed rest day.

August 21, 1959: Jack Kralick (12-7, 2.65 ERA, 180.1 IP, 95 K’s, 1.09 WHIP) got the start against Bob Veale (4-4, 4.42 ERA, 71.1 IP, 43 K’s, 1.46 WHIP) as Washington made their way to Chicago. They scored two in the top of the first, but we got them back in the bottom of the third when Ed Bailey hit a two-run flyball single to tie it up. Kralick got blown up in the fifth inning, however, giving up four runs and having to be replaced by Bob Rush with two outs and a man on third. Rush avoided any further run scoring with a quick groundout to first, and Bailey batted in another run for us in the bottom of the fifth to cut their lead to three heading into the sixth ... but we’d dug a nice hole for ourselves that was going to be tough to get out of. It got worse when Rush gave up a pair in the sixth, and Donohue added to the tally against us with a run in the seventh. Bill Fischer came out in the top of the ninth with us trailing by four runs, and we’d go on to lose 9-6 in a game we by all accounts should have been much more competitive in. Kralick fell to 12-8, thanks to 4.2 innings with five hits, two walks and six earned runs, striking out four, and the Senators outhit us 10-9. Ed Bailey was a bright spot in the lineup, hitting twice with three RBIs, keeping his average at .319 through the season so far, while Davis (also hitting .319) added three hits, two runs and an RBI from the leadoff spot.

August 22, 1959: In our second game of this two-game set against the Senators, Billy Pierce (9-6, 3.36 ERA, 158.0 IP, 94 K’s, 1.10 WHIP) pitched against Bill Stafford (0-1, 8.31 ERA, 8.2 IP, 4 K’s, 1.38 WHIP), their 20-year-old rookie pitcher who is ranked 30th nationally and who was their #2 pick overall in the 1956 draft. We traded runs in the first and second innings, and went into the top of the sixth still tied ... and again our starter got shelled, giving up four runs before we brought out Bill Fischer with an out and a man on first trailing 5-1. Felipe Alou hit a solo homer in the bottom of the seventh, and Bob Rush took over in the eighth trailing by three. Ed Roebuck got us through the ninth, but we weren’t able to get the runs back, losing 5-3 as we head into a doubleheader with the Yankees tomorrow. The timing for these two collapses is far from impeccable ... we’d pulled to within 6.5 games of Cleveland, and now are 8.5 back and looking like we’re not ready at all for the pressure of a pennant chase. Pierce took the loss, falling to 9-7 with an eight hit, three walk, five earned run game, and we were again outhit 11-5, our bats coming in muted and staying that way. Only Alou was unscathed, hitting three times with a run and an RBI, bringing his average up to .314.

August 23, 1959: It’s a doubleheader day, one of just three of those remaining on our schedule this season. Chuck Stobbs (11-5, 2.22 ERA, 138.0 IP, 59 K’s, 1.18 WHIP) pitched in game one, facing the Yankees’ Saul Rogovin (9-8, 4.01 ERA, 152.2 IP, 63 K’s, 1.20 WHIP). And yet again our starter got destroyed early as our bats did next to nothing ... Rush took over in the fifth with one out and we were in a 10-0 hole, as Mickey Mantle had just bombed us with a three-runner out of left. Rush preserved the rest of our bullpen by staying out the rest of the way, but it was an embarrassing game all around as we got reamed 11-0 ... this season is slipping away from us after we’d fought hard to stay in the race. Stobbs fell to 11-6 with a brutal 4.1 inning effort, allowing 12 hits, four walks and 10 earned runs, his ERA exploding to 2.78. The Yankees outhit us 15-7, and none of our batters could make anything happen, even Alou who hit three times.

Stan Williams (8-9, 3.35 ERA, 123.2 IP, 93 K’s, 1.33 WHIP pitched against Vinegar Bend Mizell (13-9, 2.74 ERA, 200.1 IP, 114 K’s, 1.16 WHIP) in game two, and we took the lead in the bottom of the first with an RBI single by Alou. We traded runs in the second and then scored three in the bottom of the third thanks to an RBI single by Morgan, a sac-fly by Coleman and a passed ball. Williams gave us a quality start, and Bill Fischer took over in the top of the seventh leading 6-1. Fischer pitched the remainder of the game and we held the Yankees off to snap the slide, winning the game 7-2. Williams got the win, improving to 9-9 with a 3.26 ERA, allowing just two hits, a walk and a run through six, with five K’s. Fischer then earned a three-inning save, his fourth, with five hits, a strikeout and an earned run. We outhit New York 13-7, led by Alou with three hits, two runs and an RBI.

August 25, 1959: Jim O’Toole (10-7, 2.54 ERA, 173.2 IP, 95 K’s, 1.14 WHIP) pitched the first of our two games against Boston, battling Mike Fornieles (8-13, 4.67 ERA, 154.1 IP, 78 K’s, 1.49 WHIP). It was a close battle throughout, but O’Toole gave us eight great innings and Ron Wells helped finish it as we beat the Red Sox in the end 4-3. O’Toole allowed just six hits, two walks and three earned runs in his eight innings, and Wells earned his fifth save of the year with a hit and two K’s in the ninth. We matched them seven to seven on hits, Ed Bailey hitting a solo homer in the bottom of the seventh that won it for us. Coleman had two hits and a run scored, and Bailey finished with a hit, a walk, a run and an RBI thanks to his 14th homer of the year.

August 26, 1959: Jack Kralick (12-8, 2.87 ERA, 185.0 IP, 99 K’s, 1.10 WHIP) got the start against Bill Wight (10-9, 2 SV, 4.05 ERA, 129.0 IP, 51 K’s, 1.46 WHIP) in the second game against Boston (and the last of this home stand). Ed Bailey stayed red hot, hitting his 15th homer since joining our team (a three-run slam!) to put us up 3-0 in the bottom of the first. Ron Wells took over in the top of the eighth leading by three, and Kuykendall came out in the ninth to seal it as we beat the Red Sox soundly 4-1. Kralick had six hits, three walks, three strikeouts and one earned run in his seven innings, Wells got his eighth hold of the year, and Kuykendall saved his 20th with just one hit and one strikeout in the ninth. They outhit us 8-7, but Bailey again won it for us with his three-run blast right at the beginning of the game.

We have another off day tomorrow for travel, and then face our most important series of the season against the Cleveland Guardians ... four games including a Sunday doubleheader, as we trail New York by 3.5 games and the Guardians by 8.5. We’re calling up 27-year-old Bennie Daniels from AAA Indianapolis ... he’s got a 19-5 record with a 2.98 ERA, 131 K’s and a 1.22 WHIP through 208.1 innings, putting up 5.4 WAR at the AAA level. The 1956 NL Rookie of the Year hasn’t quite developed as many had expected, but he’s more than earned his shot to come in as a spot starter and key bullpen arm as we enter the season’s back stretch.

August 28, 1959: Billy Pierce (9-7, 3.53 ERA, 163.1 IP, 98 K’s, 1.13 WHIP) pitched against Cleveland’s Mike “The Big Bear” Garcia (11-8, 3.29 ERA< 218.2 IP, 140 K’s, 1.28 WHIP) in the first of the four games in this series. We broke the stalemate in the top of the fourth with an RBI single by Alou, and Coleman hit one a few minutes later to extend our lead to 2-0. Ed Bailey hit a sac-fly that drove in another run in the top of the fifth, but Cleveland got on the board with a two-run homer by Rocky Colavito in the bottom of the inning to keep this battle close. We added on with a two-run single by Willie Davis in the top of the sixth, and Bill Fischer took over in the bottom of the inning, Ron Wells coming out to pitch in the seventh as we worked to hold the lead. With the lead still at three runs in the bottom of the eighth, Bennie Daniels came out for the first time this season, and it didn’t go to plan ... they picked up a pair of runs and Ed Roebuck came out with an out and Vic Power on second. They tied the score on an RBI single by Bobby Avila, but we didn’t let them take the lead. Bob Rush came out in the bottom of the ninth and got us into extra innings, and in the top of the 11th inning Luis Aparicio hit an RBI triple that scored Rush, giving us a one-run lead! Bobby Kuykendall came out to pitch in the bottom of the inning, shutting them down nicely as we won this one 6-5! Seven pitchers took the mound for us in this marathon, with Fischer (12), Wells (9) and Daniels (1) picking up holds ... Roebuck blew the save, his fourth, so Bob Rush (3-5, 3.72 ERA) took the win, with Kuykendall getting his 21st save with a walk and a strikeout in the 11th inning. We outhit Cleveland 12-8, led by Willie Davis with three hits, a run and two RBIs, and by Coleman who hit three times with a run and an RBI.

August 29, 1959: Chuck Stobbs (11-6, 2.78 ERA, 142.1 IP, 60 K’s, 1.26 WHIP) had a rough outing his last start, so he’s ready to get that behind him as he faces off against Hoyt Wilhelm (14-4, 3.33 ERA, 167.2 IP, 81 K’s, 1.23 WHIP). Our bats got behind him in the top of the fourth as Bobby Morgan hit an RBI single and Jerry Coleman hit a two-run double to add on. They got a pair back in the bottom of the sixth, and Ron Wells came out to pitch in the bottom of the seventh still leading 3-2. Norm Cash tied it up for Cleveland in the bottom of the eighth with an RBI single, and Bob Rush came out in the bottom of the ninth but this time could not get us into extras -- George Crowe hit an RBI walk-off double to win it for the Guardians 4-3, with no outs for Rush in the inning. He took the loss, falling to 3-6 with a 3.83 ERA, but it was thanks to Wells’ fifth blown save of the year in a two inning effort, giving up two hits, a walk and an earned run. Our bats were not particularly effective, as we were outhit 10-5, which certainly did not do our pitchers any favors. Bobby Morgan led the pack with two hits, a run and an RBI.

August 30, 1959: Doubleheader time! Cleveland, still leading by 8.5 games over us and four games over the Yankees, are firmly in the driver’s seat in the pennant race, though we’ve seen over the years that anything can and often will happen in this game. Stan Williams (9-9, 3.26 ERA, 129.2 IP, 98 K’s, 1.29 WHIP) pitched game one for us, facing Carl Erskine (10-9, 4.66 ERA, 148.2 IP, 70 K’s, 1.36 WHIP). Minoso hit a solo homer in the top of the first to put us on the board, his 21st homer of the season, but they tied it up with an RBI single by Colavito, so we answered with a Coleman homer in the top of the second to retake the lead, just the second time this year he’s gotten one out of the park. Aparicio hit a two-run blast in the top 0f the third to add on, and Minoso hit a sac-fly to score another in the fourth. The Guardians got a run each in the fourth and fifth to get back within a pair, and Ed Roebuck took over in the bottom of the sixth still leading 5-3. Bill Fischer took over in the bottom of the eighth, and it went as badly as it could have ... Roger Maris hit a three-run blast to put them ahead 6-5, and we couldn’t make it up in the ninth as we lost this one by a single run. BRUTAL ... That was Fisher’s first blown save of the year, and he took the loss, falling to 2-1 with a 3.16 ERA through 74 innings of work ... he got blown up for four hits and a walk to set up Maris for the power hit. We had 11 hits to match theirs, led by Luis Aparicio with two hits, a walk, a run and two RBIs.

In game two Jim O’Toole (11-7, 2.58 ERA, 181.2 IP, 96 K’s, 1.13 WHIP) pitched against Ruben Gomez (6-7, 3.24 ERA, 119.1 IP, 38 K’s, 1.32 WHIP). Cleveland got a lead in the bottom of the first with a Colavito RBI double, but we tied it with an RBI single by Aparicio in the top of the third, scoring two more off an E8 error that put Minoso on base and then adding on with a sac-fly by Alou to lead 4-1 midway through the third. Bob Rush took over in the bottom of the eighth leading by four runs, and he got us through the remainder as we won this one 6-2, splitting the four-game series. O’Toole improved to 12-7 with a seven inning four hit, two walk, two run effort, striking out six, and we outhit the Guardians 11-5, led by Coleman with four hits and by Minoso with two hits, a run and two RBIs.

We’re off tomorrow and will then start September on our field, with two against Detroit (56-75), three against Cleveland (83-49) and three against Kansas City (45-86), including a doubleheader on the 7th which will be our last two-gamer of the season. Our 74-57 record has us firmly in third place, four back of the Yankees and 8.5 behind the Guardians.

jksander · 11-27-2024, 05:19 AM

September 1, 1959: It’s time for September call-ups, with rosters expanding to a full 40-man contingent if a team so chooses. We’re calling up center fielder Lou Johnson, third baseman Daryl Spencer, first baseman Henry Chiti and a pair of relievers, Fred Green and Garland Shifflett from AAA, along with backup catcher Jim Pagliaroni, age 21, from AA, which brings our roster up to 31 players.

This evening Jack Kralick (13-8, 2.81 ERA, 192.0 IP, 102 K’s, 1.11 WHIP) pitched against Detroit’s Frank Sullivan (10-9, 4.67 ERA, 208.0 IP, 107 K’s, 1.34 WHIP). Detroit drew first blood in the top of the first with a solo homer by Russ Snyder, but we tied it with a Kralick RBI single in the bottom of the second and then took the lead in the bottom of the third with a two-run single by Bobby Morgan. Ed Bailey hit a sac-fly to score a run in the bottom of the seventh, and an Alou RBI triple extended our lead to three runs heading into the top of the eighth. Kuykendall came out to pitch with one out and a man on first, and we added two more runs in the bottom of the inning, so he stayed out and shut them down again in the ninth as we won easily 7-2. Kralick improved to 14-8 with his 7.1 inning effort, allowing nine hits, two walks and two runs with two strikeouts, setting up Kuykendall for a 1.2 inning save, his 22nd of the year. He walked two and struck out two, improving his ERA to 3.22 through 36.1 innings. We outhit them 12-9, led by Alou who hit twice with a run and an RBI, while Kuykendall added a hit, a run and two RBIs with his two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth, his first four-bagger of the season!

September 2, 1959: We’ve now won 75 games, and we’re on pace for our best season from a wins and losses standpoint since finishing 93-61 in 1955. That year we finished 2nd in the AL, and THAT hadn’t happened since 1922. We haven’t won a pennant since the Black Sox scandal broke in 1919, so our fans are definitely enjoying our solid improvements this year, though the hope is certainly there that we can find a way to climb back into this race and make a pennant push this year, rather than waiting for the new decade. Billy Pierce (9-7, 3.53 ERA, 168.1 IP, 100 K’s, 1.15 WHIP) got the start against Detroit’s Bob Shaw (8-14, 4.94 ERA, 211.1 IP, 92 K’s, 1.35 WHIP) this afternoon, and aside from the fourth inning (when both of our teams scored a pair each), this one was a real nailbiter. Unfortunately they got the lead in the top of the eighth with a two-run blast by Jim Greengrass that put them up 4-2, but Ed Roebuck came out and got us through the ninth and we tied it up in the bottom of the inning with a two-run double by Minnie Minoso that pushed us into extra innings! Ron Wells took over in the top of the 11th, and in the bottom of the inning with two outs and the bases loaded, Bobby Morgan walked it off with a single that scored Minoso, winning this one for us 5-4! Wells got the win, improving to 9-5 with a 5.02 ERA through 80.2 innings, and we outhit the Tigers 16-8 ... Morgan led the way with five hits and the winning run, an impressive showing for our second baseman who has been fighting his way out of a slump for a while now.

Cleveland keeps on winning, so we’ve gained no ground on them ... we’ve got our last three games against them here at home this weekend, and it’s our big chance to keep our winning streak going and finally claw some games back in this race.

September 4, 1959: Chuck Stobbs (11-6, 2.79 ERA, 148.1 IP, 63 K’s, 1.25 WHIP)) hasn’t won a game since the 12th of August, so he’s hopiong to end his cold snap with a good game against Hoyt Wilhelm (14-4, 3.25 ERA, 174.2 IP, 85 K’s, 1.23 WHIP). We went into the bottom of the fifth trailing the Guardians 2-1, but Minnie Minoso hit a three-run homer to shoot us cleanly into the lead, and when Garland Shifflett took over in the top of the seventh we led 6-2. Ed Roebuck took over in the top of the eighth, and Jim Donohue came out in the ninth with his power fastball, pitching around a leadoff single to get us out of the game with the 6-2 victory over our toughest opponent of the season. Stobbs got the win he needed, improving to 12-6 with a 2.80 ERA thanks to nine hits, five strikeouts and two earned runs in his six innings, and though they outhit us 10-8, Minoso led the way with a hit, two walks, two runs and three RBIs.

September 5, 1959: Stan Williams (9-9, 3.27 ERA, 134.2 IP, 106 K’s, 1.31 WHIP) got the start against Carl Erskine (10-9, 4.75 ERA, 153.1 IP, 72 K’s, 1.38 WHIP). Bobby Morgan hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth to put us into the lead, and Siebern walked in a run to extend the lead in the bottom of the fifth. Ed Roebuck took over in the top of the seventh with a 4-0 lead, and he did well enough in that inning that we kept him out there in the eighth ... big mistake. Ron Wells came in with two outs and a man on, our lead cut down to a single run, and we were able to get out of the frame with the lead still safe, but this game was suddenly very much in play. Thankfully Wells pitched like a dream, and he got us through the top of the ninth unblemished as we held off the Guardians for another great win, this time 4-3! Williams improved to 10-9 with a 3.14 ERA, allowing just two hits and two walks with six strikeouts in his six innings. Wells saved his sixth game of the year with three strikeouts through 1.1 innings, and we outhit Cleveland 8-5, led by Aparicio with two hits, a run and an RBI.

September 6, 1959: We’ve got two tight races going right now, with Cleveland now just three games up on New York and 6.5 games ahead of us; meanwhile in the National League, Pittsburgh (86-50) has just a two-game lead on St. Louis (84-53), with the LA Dodgers now eight games back and our reigning three-time champions from Milwaukee on the brink of elimination trailing by double digits. We have just two games left against the Yankees this year, both on the road, and one game left against Cleveland on the road after today (on September 22) ... but with the rest of our games against .500 teams (or worse ... still nine games left against the Tigers and A’s, along with two each against Washington, Baltimore and Boston) we’re in a really good position to backdoor our way into a pennant if we don’t screw up in the four head-to-head games.

Jim O’Toole (12-7, 2.58 ERA, 188.2 IP, 102 K’s, 1.12 WHIP) got the start against Cleveland’s Tom Cheney (12-4, 3.13 ERA, 198.1 IP, 108 K’s, 1.31 WHIP. We each got a run in the first inning, but we added two off a homer by Davis in the bottom of the second to take a 3-1 lead! They tied it up in the top of the fourth, but we had an answer via Davis again in the bottom of the inning, taking the lead 4-3 off an RBI single. We added a run in the bottom of the fifth off a sac-fly by Morgan, and Bob Rush took over in the top of the seventh still leading 5-3. We traded runs in the seventh, Wells taking the mound in the eighth, and we picked up two insurance runs in the bottom of the inning, Wells holding the Guardians off in the ninth as we won 8-4 ... it’s a clean sweep! O’Toole kept our win streak going, improving to 13-7 with a 2.64 ERA thanks to six innings with nine hits, two walks, three earned runs and seven strikeouts. Rush got his seventh hold of the year and Wells his seventh save, and we were outhit 13-12 but made our hits count. Davis led the way with three hits, two runs and three RBIs as the near-consensus pick so far for Rookie of the Year.

New York dropped another game, so we gained ground on both teams ... we now hold a 79-57 record, just 2.5 games behind the Yankees and 5.5 games behind the Guardians, our winning streak now at six games heading into three home games against the last-place Kansas City A’s and their 47-89 record. We’ll play two against them tomorrow as we look to keep to our winning ways. We’ll then hit the road for two against Washington (68-69), two against Baltimore (65-71), two against Boston (63-74) and two against the Yankees (82-55). We then return home for three against the Tigers (57-79), play our one remaining road game against Cleveland (85-52) and then finish the year out with three more against the Tigers.

September 7, 1959: Josh Kralick (14-8, 2.80 ERA, 199.1 IP, 104 K’s, 1.12 WHIP) started in game one of today’s doubleheader against Kansas City, facing Ron Negray (6-15, 5.21 ERA, 178.0 IP, 94 K’s, 1.46 WHIP). We took the lead in the bottom of the first with a sac-fly by Ed Bailey that was coupled with an E7 error, and then added on with an RBI double by Felipe Alou. Jack Kralick hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the second to double our lead, and we piled on in the bottom of the third with an RBI single by Bailey, a two-run homer by Alou and an RBI single by Daryl Spencer. The rout was on from there -- Kralick pitched a complete game four-hit shutout and we slaughtered the A’s 15-0. Totally brutal all the way around. Kralick struck out 10 batters and threw 142 pitches, both season highs, and we outhit the A’s 17-4, led by Felipe Alou who hit three times with two runs and three RBIs.

Billy Pierce (9-7, 3.57 ERA, 176.1 IP, 106 K’s, 1.14 WHIP) pitched against Bob Blaylock (4-10, 5.64 ERA, 137.1 IP, 79 K’s, 1.49 WHIP) in the day’s second game, and this time Kansas City got some offense going in the top of the first, with a two-run homer by Ernie Banks that gave the former “Mr. Cub” his 44th homer of the season. But we answered with RBI singles by Alou and Morgan to tie it up, and Daryl Spencer hit a sac-fly that scored Siebern to put us up 3-2 after one inning. The game became a hit-fest from there, with runs scoring left and right. Pierce came out in the top of the fourth with the score knotted up 5-5, Bill Bruton then hitting a sac-fly to put the A’s back up by a run. And they kept scoring ... Pierce didn’t get a single clean inning and we brought Bob Rush out in the top of the sixth trailing 7-5. Bill Fischer took over in the top of the eighth, but this was a slugfest we couldn’t win ... KC took the victory 9-7 in the end, and our winning streak came to an end. Pierce fell to 9-8 with a 3.77 ERA, allowing eight hits, three walks and seven runs (six earned) in his five innings, and the A’s outhit us 12-10. Bobby Morgan led the way with two hits, a run and four RBIs, while Willie Davis added three hits, a run and an RBI.

Ernie Banks took his team on his shoulders, hitting five times including three homers (1st, 3rd and 5th), a single in the sixth and a triple in the eighth, scoring four runs and driving in five -- that fifth inning homer was the 250th of his career. And yet the team’s owners have not seen fit to offer him an extension, and the league’s most consistent slugger (and last year’s MVP) may find himself hitting the FA market in the fall.

September 8, 1959: Chuck Stobbs (12-6, 2.80 ERA, 154.1 IP, 68 K’s, 1.26 WHIP) pitched against Mickey McDermott (4-1, 3 SV, 1.97 ERA, 68.2 IP, 33 K’s, 1.17 WHIP), who signed a minor league contract with a major league option three weeks ago with the A’s after being released by the Pittsburgh Pirates back on August 11. We took the lead in the bottom of the first with an RBI double by Minoso, scoring two more in the bottom of the third thanks to an RBI double by Siebern and a groundout by Morgan. We led 4-2 going into the bottom of the seventh, at which point we blew them out of the water with five quick runs and Stobbs held tough from there ... he completed the game and we won 9-5, taking the series win. Stobbs improved to 13-6 with a 2.92 ERA, allowing six hits, two walks and five runs with seven strikeouts, our team outslugging them 16-6. Alou led the way with three hits and two runs, while Morgan had a hit, a walk, a run and three RBIs.

We’ve cut into the pennant lead, moving to within five games of Cleveland and 1.5 games of the Yankees, with our record now 81-58 as we head to Washington, Baltimore, Boston and New York for two games apiece.

- - - - -

SEPTEMBER 9, 1959 ... Kansas City Times, p.B1

Athletics Can’t Blame Gordon for Bailing, Lack Drive to Win
by Alvin Reynolds, Sports Editor

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A great deal has been spoken and written this year about the exodus of former Athletics GM and Manager Eli Gordon after last year’s rough season; was he a carpetbagger leaving our small town for the “big money” White Sox, incapable of winning here so he went with the team with the biggest pockets? Or was his exit more emblematic of a crippling problem within our own organization?

When Gordon arrived in Kansas City in 1955 he was a 26-year-old with big ambitions, and it has to be said -- for the most part he proved those ambitions to be reachable, and his skills impeccable. Early on he had to rely on the waiver wire for his big moves, but drafted well and seemingly positioned our club for long-term winning. He even managed to trade for Ernie Banks back in June of 1957, a move that helped the team gel around a strong core of hitting to make a real run in the standings. That year Banks hit 37 of his 49 homers in Kansas City, making a run at the MVP title -- the title he won in ’58 when he hit 53 homers and one the slugging crown over Mickey Mantle.

So how did things go so wrong, so fast?

Sure, our team underperformed last year, only winning 62 games even with Banks slugging like crazy. Had Gordon stayed, that was certainly going to be a topic of conversation, but the team did have the third best pick in the draft and a chance to sign Ron Santo ... who chose not to sign with the team after our owner, Richard Doyle, refused to sign on for his $30,000 bonus ask. Now he’s back at the University of Washington, and we’re looking at two picks in the top of the draft and the question -- is our owner even willing to pay small money now to lock in good players for this team’s future?

Gordon can be faulted for cutting and running, if that’s how you want to see things. But with the league transitioning to a free-market for players after the Supreme Court’s ruling, it’s hard to see our Athletics as a team that can compete in the future of baseball. If ownership won’t pay small bonuses now to lock in a young phenom, how can we expect him to pay to keep the players we have? Case in point ... Ernie Banks, earning $130,000 this season, has now hit 250 homers and he’s only 28. He could be the face of this franchise for the next decade, and yet three weeks before the World Series, with our team mired in mediocrity, he’s likely headed for free agency.

Are we going to accuse him of cutting and running?

If A’s baseball is going to become more than a league laughingstock, things have to change from the top down. And right now I have to think we’re destined to remain in the bottom, while Gordon has his White Sox in a tight pennant race, with an owner who is willing to spend in a free market to bring in the players they need to compete in the new decade.

Hats off to Gordon for at least trying in Kansas City. Now it’s up to the fans here to demand more from Athletics ownership, or maybe it’s time to turn our attention to luring in a professional football outfit.

jksander · 11-27-2024, 08:03 AM

September 10, 1959: Jim O’Toole (13-7, 2.64 ERA, 194.2 IP, 109 K’s, 1.15 WHIP) pitched against Bob Veale (5-5, 4.14 ERA, 95.2 IP, 62 K’s, 1.43 WHIP) in our second of two games against the Senators, and Ed Bailey hit a two-run blast in the top of the first to give us a lead. He hit a two-run double in the top of the third to add on, but O’Toole gave up four in the bottom of the third to let Washington tie it up, shades of yesterday repeating. Willie Davis tagged up and scored off a sac-fly by Alou in the top of the fifth to give us back the lead, but they answered to tie it back up in the bottom of the inning, so Luis Aparicio hit an RBI single that, coupled with an E7 error, allowed Davis to score and put us back up 6-5. I’d seen enough from O’Toole, who clearly did not have great stuff today ... Bill Fischer took over with the one-run lead in the bottom of the sixth, and Ron Wells came out in the seventh, holding it into the ninth inning, when he completed the three-inning save by holding them off to win 6-5! O’Toole allowed six hits and a walk with five runs (only one of them earned) as he took the win, improving to 14-7 with a 2.61 ERA. Fischer got his 13th hold of the year, and Wells saved his eighth game of the year with a three inning effort, walking one and striking out three without a hit. We outhit Washington 8-6, led by Bailey with two hits, a walk, a run and four RBIs, while Davis added three hits, two walks and four runs scored.

The AL pennant race is now razor tight ... Cleveland still leads the Yankees by a game and a half, with an 86-55 record, but we’re closing fast in third, just 2.5 games behind New York and four behind the Guardians. Over in the NL it looks like Pittsburgh (90-51) is doing what they need to do, having extended their lead over St. Louis (84-57) to six games, the Dodgers (81-58) now trailing by eight. Cleveland has three head-to-head games with the Dodgers this weekend and just one against St. Louis on the 17th, all on the road, and their magic number is just eight, so they’ve got a really good chance to close this out and clinch within the next week if they can keep winning. Cleveland’s magic number in the AL is 13, and it seems likely our race will go down to the wire.

In contract news ahead of free agency, the big news is that Willie Mays officially signed on to stay with the Pirates! The Giants had traded him to the Pirates back in November with one year left on his contract, and many had wondered if the Pirates were serious about keeping him and remaining long-term NL contenders. It turns out they were ... he was only getting $150,000 this season, but will get $200,000 next year, the first year of a seven-year $1.7 million contract that keeps him in Pittsburgh through a 1966 player option when Mays will be 35. Mays is hitting .343/.401/.646 this year for the Pirates with 27 doubles, 13 triples and 37 homers, batting in 111 runs and asserting himself as the all-but-guaranteed MVP of the National League ... if he wins it it’ll be his third MVP award, another jewel in what is a surefire Hall of Fame career.

As of right now, Al Kaline in Detroit and Ernie Banks of the A’s are the two highest profile potential free agents of the upcoming class. Alongside Jim Piersall (Washington). Other various veterans will be available, but they’re the three who, if they do remain unsigned, have the potential to reset the league’s salary ceiling.

September 11, 1959: Jack Kralick (15-8, 2.68 ERA, 208.1 IP, 114 K’s, 1.11 WHIP) got the start against Baltimore’s Roger Craig (0-0, 9.53 ERA, 5.2 IP, 4 K’s, 2.12 WHIP). Gus Bell hit a solo homer for the Orioles in the bottom of the first, but Ed Bailey hit one in the top of the fourth to tie it up. The game stayed locked up from there, and in the bottom of the ninth, still tied at 1-1, Kralick stayed out there and got us into extra innings. Bob Rush came out in the bottom of the 10th, and without getting an out, he let Jerry Lynch hit a line drive walk-off single as the Orioles stole this one 2-1. That’s a rough way to lose one, as Rush fell to 3-7 with a 3.92 ERA. Kralick pitched nine innings with six hits, a walk, three strikeouts and the one earned run, but our bats weren’t able to get him any help down the stretch. The Orioles outhit us 9-4, Stephens hitting twice but getting nowhere, Bailey’s homer our only offense.

September 12, 1959: Billy Pierce (9-8, 3.77 ERA, 181.1 IP, 107 K’s, 1.17 WHIP) started against Dave Wickersham (12-14, 4.35 ERA, 107 K’s, 1.48 WHIP), and today we drew first blood, Ed Bailey hitting an RBI double that scored Minoso in the top of the first. Norm Siebern hit an RBI single in the top of the fifth and Bailey added another RBI single to give us a 3-0 lead midway through that inning. Pierce was injured, however, in the bottom of the sixth with the score 3-2 White Sox, no outs, runner on first. I’m told it’s a mild calf strain, won’t sideline him long, but it meant we had to bring out Bill Fischer earlier than planned. Ron Wells took over in the bottom of the eighth with the lead unchanged, but he had another really bad night ... the Orioles scored three on him, and we went into the top of the ninth trailing by a pair. Luckily for us, Bobby Morgan hit a two-run single to tie it up, and Ed Roebuck came out in the bottom of the inning to get us into extras again for the second day in a row. Garland Shifflett took over in the bottom of the 10th with his upper-90s fastball, but for the second night in a row we couldn’t stop their offense; Brooks Robinson led off with a solo homer and that was it, we lost this one 6-5. Baltimore outhit us 12-9, our bats led by Bailey who hit three times with two RBIs. Fisher had his 14th hold, Wells blew his sixth save, and Shifflett took the loss as he fell to 1-1 with an 8.38 ERA.

The Yankees have now won four in a row, with their pitcher Mike McCormick throwing a no-hitter yesterday against Detroit at the age of 20! The Yankees drafted him back in 1955, taking him 15th overall, and through his first three seasons in the majors he’s got a 48-30 record with the no-hitter, two two-hitters and two three-hitters. New York now leads the Guardians by just half a game, with a doubleheader tomorrow against them tomorrow. We’re 4.5 games back and still in a good position, but we have to win close games like this if we’re gonna make a run.

September 13, 1959: Chuck Stobbs (13-6, 2.92 ERA, 163.1 IP, 75 K’s, 1.24 WHIP) pitched against Boston’s Steve Ridzik (2-1, 3 SV, 3.89 ERA, 81.2 IP, 58 K’s, 1.35 WHIP) in our first of two games. Aparicio scored off a groundout by Minoso in the top of the first, but Boston scored three unanswered runs in the fourth and fifth to give them a 3-1 lead through five innings. We went into the top of the seventh trailing by four, but Siebern hit a solo homer and Daryl Spencer hit a two-run single to get us back within a run heading into the stretch. Wells took over for Stobbs in the bottom of the inning with two outs and nobody on, giving up back to back hits but escaping the inning without a run scoring. Bob Rush took over in the eighth, pitching around a Floyd Robinson double to keep us within the one run heading into the top of the ninth. With two outs, Bobby Morgan beat out an infield single to take first, but Gene Stephens struck out harmlessly and we lost another one-run game, this time 5-4. Stobbs fell to 13-7 with a 3.07 ERA, allowing 11 hits and five earned runs with a walk and two strikeouts in his 6.2 innings, but more critically we were outhit 14-6 which is unsustainable. Siebern led the offense with three hits, a run and an RBI, but our bats left our pitchers hung out to dry in yet another game where every hit counted.

The Yankees and Guardians split their doubleheader, so New York maintained its half game lead. We’re now five game out with just 10 games remaining, including three head-to-heads against the league leaders (two against New York, one against Cleveland, all three on the road).

September 14, 1959: Stan Williams (10-9, 3.54 ERA, 145.0 IP, 114 K’s, 1.32 WHIP) pitched against Boston’s Mike Fornieles (10-13, 4.34 ERA, 108.1 IP, 93 K’s, 1.43 WHIP). Boston took the lead in the bottom of the second with an RBI single by Fornieles, and they still held the same lead in the bottom of the sixth when we brought out Ed Roebuck to pitch. Fred Green took over in the seventh and Bill Fischer in the eighth, our bats completely failing to deliver. Still down just one run in the top of the ninth, the heart of our order went down one, two, three and we lost 1-0. This is an unbelievably frustrating losing streak as we head into New York, with four one-run losses in a row. We’ll need to be damned near perfect to find a way to claw our way back into this race. Williams took the loss and fell to 10-10, allowing three hits, three walks and an earned run in his five innings. They outhit us 5-4, nobody on offense doing anything worth noting.

September 15, 1959: It’s all on the line heading into Yankee Stadium, with Jim O’Toole (14-7, 2.61 ERA, 199.2 IP, 112 K’s, 1.15 WHIP) pitching against Vinegar Bend Mizell (15-10, 2.95 ERA, 225.2 IP, 126 K’s, 1.21 WHIP). Our bats were awake at the start, Willie Davis giving us the lead in the top of the first off an RBI single by Aparicio that combined with an E8 error. Aparicio then scored off an RBI single by Bailey, and Gene Stephens hit another RBI single to give us a quick 3-0 lead. But New York tied it in the bottom of the inning with a two-run homer by Yogi Berra, they took the lead in the second with an RBI single by Tony Kubek, and we looked helpless from there. Trailing by a pair heading into the eighth, we got a run back thanks to Davis, who scored off a single by Minoso, but we gave them back two in the bottom of the inning and lost this one 7-4. I’d say it’s safe to say our playoff hopes are over. O’Toole took the loss and fell to 14-8, allowing seven hits and five earned runs with a walk and a strikeout through five innings. They outhit us 11-8, our team led by Aparicio who hit twice with a run and an RBI.

September 16, 1959: Jack Kralick (15-8, 2.61 ERA, 217.1 IP, 117 K’s, 1.10 WHIP) faced Billy Hoeft (15-6, 3.26 ERA, 198.2 IP, 108 K’s, 1.30 WHIP) in our last game of the year against the Yankees, and Bobby Morgan hit a solo shot to put us up 1-0 in the top of the second. Felipe Alou hit a two-run homer in the top of the third to add on, but the Yankees then scored a run in the bottom of the inning and tied it up in the fourth with another two-run Berra blast. Luis Aparicio tagged up and scored off a sac-fly by Alou in the top of the seventh to give us the lead, Bob Rush taking over on the mound after the stretch. Rush got us through the inning, and though we still held a 4-3 lead after the seventh when the game was suspended due to bad weather, the game was not deemed finished, and we’ll have to resume tomorrow afternoon.

September 17, 1959: In the top of the eighth inning, Whitey Ford came out to pitch for the Yankees, and with two outs and a man on second we got an RBI double off Davis, his 90th RBI of the season, extending our lead to 5-3! Bobby Kuykendall came out to pitch in the bottom of the eighth, and he got us through the remainder of the game as we held on to win 5-4. Kralick took the win, lasting six innings with four hits, two walks and three runs (two earned) with four strikeouts. Rush got his eighth hold, and Kuykendall pitched a two-inning save (his 23rd save of the year), improving his ERA to 3.29 through 38.1 innings. We outhit New York 12-5, Davis leading the way with three hits and his lead-extending RBI.

The win got us back within 5.5 games of the lead, with New York still clinging to a half game lead on the Guardians.

September 18, 1959: Chuck Stobbs (13-7, 3.07 ERA, 170.0 IP, 77 K’s, 1.26 WHIP) pitched against Detroit’s Bob Shaw (9-15, 4.67 ERA, 235.1 IP, 103 K’s, 1.33 WHIP) as we returned home for our final home-games of the season. We built a quiet 4-2 lead on them early in front of 25,000 of our biggest fans, Roebuck taking over for Stobbs in the top of the seventh. Kuykendall came out in the top of the ninth still leading by two, and we shut them down nicely, winning this one 4-2 to keep our slim hopes of a World Series alive with six games remaining. Stobbs improved to 14-7, allowing six hits, two walks and two runs in his six innings, with Roebuck earning his fourth hold and Kuykendall his 24th save. We matched them on hits, nine against nine, Minnie Minoso leading the way with two hits, a run and an RBI.

September 19, 1959: Stan Williams (10-10, 3.48 ERA, 150.0 IP, 117 K’s, 1.32 WHIP) pitched against Tom Brewer (11-12, 3.91 ERA, 221.0 IP, 100 K’s, 1.26 WHIP). Detroit took a 3-0 lead in the top of the fifth, scoring off an RBI single by Tom Brewer and a two-run single by Don Blasingame. And it looked bleak for us, until the bottom of the eighth when all hell broke loose -- Willie Davis hit an RBI triple to get us on the board, Aparicio batted him home with a flyball double, and Minnie Minoso hit an RBI double to drive in Aparicio, tying the score! Gene Stephens then completed the comeback by walking in a run with the bases loaded, sending us into the top of the ninth leading by a run! Williams stayed out to complete the final frame and we won 4-3, completing his six hitter (with four walks, four strikeouts and three runs, only one of which was earned). We again matched them on hits, six to six, led by Willie Davis with a hit, a walk, a run and an RBI.

September 20, 1959: Jim O’Toole (14-8, 2.77 ERA, 204.2 IP, 113 K’s, 1.16 WHIP) got the start against Bob Kuzawa (9-14, 4.44 ERA, 162.1 IP, 78 K’s, 1.50 WHIP) in our final home game of the season. Detroit took the lead in the top of the first via two groundouts and an RBI single, giving them a 3-0 advantage they held until the bottom of the third when we got a two-run single from Alou, a two-run double by Bobby Morgan and an RBI single by Gene Stephens to give us a 5-3 lead going into the fourth inning. Ed Roebuck took over for O’Toole in the top of the seventh leading 6-3, but he struggled and Wells had to dig him out of it to get us into the stretch leading by a much slimmer 6-5 margin. Wells did well in the eighth, but wound up blowing the save and taking the loss in the ninth when Bill Virdon hit a two-run double on two outs. We lost the game 7-6, and with it our chances of making the postseason. Wells’ seventh blown save led to his seventh loss despite us outhitting them 11-4. Stephens led the way with three hits and a run batted in.

We’re officially eliminated from the race, with New York now running away with it -- they’re 91-58 with a 2.5 game lead on Cleveland, and their magic number is three. Incredibly, the NL race remains undecided as well ... Pittsburgh (93-56) leads by three games over the 90-59 Dodgers, with the Cardinals (87-61, 5.5 GB) now on the verge of elimination. Pittsburgh’s magic number is also three. Who will clinch first?

11-01-2024, 05:47 PM	#101
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,932	October 6, 1958: Cheney and Spahn faced off again in game five, as the Guardians played their final game of the series in front of their hometown faithful. Milwaukee stuck quickly, scoring via an RBI double by Johnny Logan and a groundout by Hank Aaron to take a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Cleveland then got on the baord finally in the bottom of the sixth, Bobby Avila batting in Rocky Colavito with a single to make it a one-run game. Milwaukee didn’t blink, a two-run homer by Joe Adcock building their lead to three runs heading into the stretch, and that would be all they needed to shut Cleveland down 4-1. They take a three to two lead in the series as it heads back west to Milwaukee, and unless the Guardians can steal both remaining road wins, a three-peat for the Braves now looks all but inevitable. Both pitchers went all the way, with Spahn allowing just seven hits, a walk and a run with four strikeouts, while Cheney had five hits, four walks and four runs with five strikeouts. Adcock led the way offensively for the Braves, hitting once, walking once, with a run and two RBIs thanks to his homer. October 8, 1958: Garcia and Terry faced off in game six back in Milwaukee, and Cleveland took the lead in the top of the third with an RBI single by Roger Maris, adding on two more with a homer by Rosen in the top of the fourth to lead 3-0. The Braves struck back with a two-run single by Norm Siebern in the bottom of the fifth, tying the score in the seventh with an RBI double by the pitcher, Terry! This place erupted in the bottom of the eighth when Hank Aaron slugged a two-run homer out of center to give the home team a two-run lead, and that was all she wrote ... Milwaukee won game six 5-3, taking the series for the third year in a row, and I think it’s safe to say we have a dynasty on our hands! Terry won the game off 8.1 innings with seven hits, five walks and three runs, with nine strikeouts, while Murray Wall got the save, making the final two outs with a hit and a strikeout. The Braves outhit Cleveland 10-8, led by Aaron who had two hits, a run and the two RBIs from his game-winning homer. Catcher Dick Brown was named World Series MVP ... the 23-year-old, playing in his first postseason, hit .364 with two doubles, a homer and six runs batted in. *The Milwaukee Braves are your World Champions for the third year in a row, winning the series four games to two.* - - - - - October 15, 1958: Another offseason of baseball is upon us, and this year I’m embarking on the new challenge of turning Chicago’s White Sox back into a winning proposition. We have a solid budget of well over $2.2 million, which will allow us to significantly build on our current team payroll of $1.1 million, and we have $866,000 in cash reserves which gives me a lot of leeway when it comes to building our team ... if the Supreme Court does strike down the reserve clause, we’ll definitely be in a solid starting position next offseason when any big name players hit the open market. The owners are expected to start winter meetings in late November, at which point the writing may already be on the wall in that regard. So this year may be about biding our time, building up further cash reserves, and then plotting to win the first year of free agency in style as a future big-city juggernaut. My first few meetings with owner Kelly Schober have gone quite well. He’s about the age of my father, and like me is a true baseball rat, not your usual “hands off” owner -- he’ll put up money when needed but wants to be involved in what I’m planning for the team. He’s known for penny pinching, but understands the role of a big city owner and isn’t interested in losing, so he’ll put up the money needed to field a winning team. His priority is on building a balanced team, and while he wants to compete for a World Series by 1963, he’s understanding of the fact that we’ve got a long way to climb if we want to have a team that can get there more than as a flash in the pan. The current focus will be on maintaining and building our fan support, improving our draft record, increasing attendance and building our farm. He’s already told me he doesn’t necessarily care about a player being ready to come straight from the draft to the team -- we already have a lot of good young players on the roster who will need time to develop, so building the farm with long term prospects is the way to go. He expects us to be close to .500 this season, so no backsliding from our sixth place finish this year. And the press rumors were right ... he does want us to go after hometown third-baseman Gene Freese, though I’m not sure Washington’s going to want to let go of a young player of his caliber without getting a significant return. The biggest priorities, however, are the fans, the attendance and the farm in that order. We’re maximizing our scouting budget ($119,700) and our development budget ($179,550), which is going to cut into our cash reserves somewhat, but it’s more than worthwhile in the long term. We have half of our development spots filled by current young players, and will reserve the remainder for players we draft in November. The draft class announcement comes tomorrow, and then our new Director of Scouting Operations, October 16, 1958: As expected, the Senators had zero interest in discussing a trade for Freese, but they do need cash badly and that we have plenty of. I’ve had my eye on closer Jim Donohue, age 19, who the Senators had picked up back in 1955 as an undrafted free agent. The kid throws a ridiculously good fastball and curveball combo with his fastball frequently reaching the upper nineties ... and last year at the AA level he went 5-3 with seven saves, a 2.90 ERA and 56 K’s in 59 innings, giving him nearly two games of WAR as a reliever, frequently pitching two innings at a time as well. He’s on the verge of being a top 75 prospect at the moment, and we want him. After some dickering back and forth, we’ve come to an arrangement. The Senators will get 25-year-old minor league first baseman Gene Wallace (a former seventh rounder playing for AAA Indianapolis) and $125,000 in cash, and we get the closer of our future in Donahue, who will be going to AAA Indianapolis and into our development lab for strength and conditioning training .... with a cannon for an arm like he has, we want to make sure he’s conditioned to use it well and not flame out. It is a great looking draft, with any number of amazing players we could get, with our pick coming sixth overall in the first round. The early favorites among the press right now are third baseman Ron Santo, power lefty Carl Yastrzemski, extreme power first baseman Boog Powell, knuckleballer Phil Niekro, outfielder Willie Davis and catcher / outfielder Duke Sims. But we’ll be scouting the bunch to see how many diamonds in the rough we can poach from the lower levels of the draft as well. __________________ "Campus Chronicles" -- The Indiana Hoosiers in a New College World (An OOTP 27 Dynasty) Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Indianapolis Grays) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

11-01-2024, 06:43 PM	#102
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,932	November 1, 1958: The Supreme Court officially made their ruling in the case of Maglie, Maris, et al. vs. Major League Baseball, Inc., officially legally striking down the reserve clause as “capricious, collusive, and in direct conflict with the intent behind the 13th Amendment.” Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote in the majority opinion that, because we now have an official player draft, which keeps players from signing with the team of their choice as had been done in the early days of baseball, the fact that the reserve clause then limited their future movement while allowing owners to trade players at will, makes the clause itself unconstitutional. Therefore, effective at the end of the current season, players will become eligible for free agency after a minimum of six years’ service time, with salary arbitration taking affect after three years. There will be no compensation for lost free agents at the current time, though changes to the system could be added once the owners and the players begin negotiating terms for future collective bargaining agreements. This is going to be a huge deal for the baseball world, and it will be interesting to see how things shake out. Each team’s situation will be different, but as it stands for us right now, Sherm Lollar, Minnie Minoso, Billy Pierce, Larry Doby, Bob Rush, Jerry Coleman and Bill Serena will be immediately free agents after the 1959 season, and among our young arbitration eligible players, 25-year-old CF Gene Stephens will, with one year of arbitration left, suddenly have a lot more negotiating power at a very young age. We also have 24-year-old shortstop Luis Aparicio who, with two years of arbitration left, also stands to benefit from this arrangement. There could be some HUGE names in the free agency pool next season, including the likes of Eddie Mathews, Ernie Banks, Jim Piersall, Al Kaline, Billy Hoeft, Mickey Mantle, Johnny Antonelli, Frank Thomas and Willie Mays. That’s going to make things very interesting, especially as the larger markets have to balance team building with financials. Will it become a wild west when salaries are taken into account? __________________ "Campus Chronicles" -- The Indiana Hoosiers in a New College World (An OOTP 27 Dynasty) Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Indianapolis Grays) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

11-01-2024, 08:14 PM	#103
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,932	November 15, 1958: It’s draft day, and there’s a lot of excitement in the air as we wait and see who we’ll be able to bring into our organization. The Phillies had the number one pick, followed by Kansas City, the Cubs, Giants and Orioles. As expected, the Phillies drafted 19-year-old LF phenom Carl “Yaz” Yastrzemski, a Southampton, Pennsylvania native who is sure to become a star there. Kansas City took 18-year-old third baseman Ron Santo, a player the Cubs at #3 were really hoping to get. Instead they settled for first baseman Boog Powell, while the Giants took 17-year-old right handed starter Dean Chance and the Orioles went with 18-year-old right-handed starter Jim Maloney. That brought us up to the plate to pick our future ... here’s who we wound up with in this year’s amateur draft! ROUND 1, Pick 6: CF Willie Davis Davis, an 18-year-old outfield prospect hailing from Mineral Springs, North Carolina, has incredible outfield range and a solid arm, with potential to be an incredible left fielder, but with the range to handle center and right as well. He’s a fast runner with top-notch agressiveness on the basepaths, with the ability and the intelligence needed to steal at a well-above average clip. He is said to be very durable as a player, and has the potential to become an above average hitter with a loose, quick stroke that works inside the ball. His defense and that incredible speed should quickly make him a top level starter. He’s already close to major league ready, but may spend a year in the minors as he continues to develop, since unless we start him in right field there isn’t necessarily a spot for him on the roster yet. ROUND 2, Pick 22 (Comp): RF Mike Hershberger Hershberger, at 19, has one of the best outfield arms I’ve seen, which makes him a perfect fit for right field. Another durable athlete, the native of Massillon, Ohio has played for James Madison University, where he’s earned a reputation for having very high contact potential. He’s a great defender with tons of upside, and is projected to become an above average everyday big league player with the ability to patiently avoid striking out at the plate. ROUND 2, Pick 24: C Jim Pagliaroni Jim is one of the better defensive catchers in the draft this year, with great blocking and framing skills, and he’s been having his way while catching at Oklahoma State University. The 20-year-old native of Dearborn, Michigan should be an above average power hitter once he fully develops, and he’s a very athletic catcher. Another patient player at the plate, he’s got the potential to unleash his obvious talents both on the field and at the plate, making him a great potential replacement for Sherm Lollar down the road. ROUND 3, Pick 38: SP Hank Fischer An 18-year-old who already goes by the nickname “Bulldog,” Fischer is a right hander who already has a great fastball / slider / changeup combo, but with the potential to develop those with pinpoint control. He’ll need to work on his stamina if he wants to stay a starter at the major league level, but if that control comes up and he can keep throwing deeper into games, he’ll be a keeper. Worst case scenario he becomes a bullpen ace, capable of going two or three innings in high leverage situations and throwing more than a hundred innings per season while striking out more than his share of baffled batters. It was not a particularly deep draft when it comes to high profile players, so I let our scout handle the remaining rounds. But these top four players definitely have the most potential to be top prospects and make the major league roster before long. November 19, 1958: Billy Pierce’s contract extension was a top priority, as he’s our current ace and we did not want to risk having to pay him even more in free agency. So we’ve made him the first Chicago player ever get a “million dollar offer,” though of course it’s all spread over a five year period. In addition to us agreeing not to trade him, the 31-year-old, who has amassed a record of 145-130 with a 3.21 ERA, 1,569 strikeouts and 51.6 total WAR, agreed to a deal worth $175,000 for next year, $190,000 in 1961 and $205,000 in 1962. At that point he has an option to opt out and pursue free agency at age 36 or buy in to his last two years, at $220,000. The final year has a vesting option attached, which will be void if he didn’t pitch at least 200 innings in the fourth year of the deal. He’s our only pitcher over the age of 26, and will provide leadership and stability with the long term signing. The fans are happy about it, ownership is happy about it, and that makes me feel a lot more comfortable as I get my feet wet here in Chicago. Minnie Minoso and Sherm Lollar remain our two highest profile potential free agents, and Minoso’s contract in particular is going to cost significantly more long term if we’re going to get it done. Lollar wants a five or six year deal, but if we can get him down to a shorter term I’m thinking it’s more likely to come to fruition ... I’m not wanting to risk keeping any catcher up to the age of 40, even one who injures as rarely as Lollar does. November 23, 1958: Sherm Lollar is staying in Chicago! We’ve come to terms on a four year deal that will keep him on the southside through 1963 when he’ll be 38 years old. The deal features two years at $194,000, followed by two years at $184,000, the final year of which is a player option. He also has a no trade clause that would restrict who he could be moved to if we were to discuss moving him in the future. In other news, our third round draft pick, Hank Fischer, proved more difficult to sign than we’d expected, and he has decided to go back to college rather than join our minor league system. He will, however, earn us a compensatory third round pick next year as we did negotiate in good faith. I just wasn’t willing to pay him more than $10,000 as a third rounder who may or may not ever develop the stamina to be more than a bullpen arm. Get back with us in a few years when you have college experience under your belt, son. November 26, 1958: Happy Thanksgiving, White Sox fans, because we’ve finally come to terms on a nine-year deal for Minnie Minoso that will ensure the star first baseman remains here for as long as he decides to keep playing. He’ll earn $200,000 per year through 1963, and then then choose to opt in to the remainder of the deal which would pay him $185,000 per year in 1964 and 1965, and $175,000 in 1965. He’ll have the option to agree to stay at $175,000 in 1967, and then we have a team option on his final year at age 42, which would either pay him $150,000 to keep playing or $75,000 if his skills aren’t there. He told the fans on local radio that the reason he stayed here is because he wants to win a title for us and erase the Black Sox legacy once and for all ... and let me tell you, based on the fan reaction I’ve already received, they were eating out of the palm of his hands. Now my job is to build a team around him that can get us to that goal. It sounds like a ton of money getting thrown around, but we’re looking at just $1.3M in payroll next year and the year after, rising to $1.5m and $1.6M in ’62 and ’63 projected ahead. We’ve got budget space to build around our top players and make sure we’re competitive for years to come, and I’ve been told by ownership that if the chance to win is there, the budget will reflect the work we’ve put in. The days of our club being a big market one acting like we’re in a small market are over ... but the expectations on the field will rise accordingly. __________________ "Campus Chronicles" -- The Indiana Hoosiers in a New College World (An OOTP 27 Dynasty) Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Indianapolis Grays) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

11-01-2024, 09:26 PM	#104
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,932	December 21, 1958: The “Rule 5” pool was incredibly weak this year, so we chose not to take part in that draft. And it turned out the rest of the league did the same. For the first time I can recall, nobody lost a player in the rule five draft. Ho, hum. I guess that means all of us general managers were actually doing our jobs? December 22, 1958: We’ve made the trade that’s going to make our owner very happy, as he’d wanted us to bring in another hometown player. I made myself happy by making that player Pittsburgh lefty starter Chuck Stobbs, who put together a 10-3 campaign last year with a 3.23 ERA and 68 K’s through 133.2 innings of work, with a 1.24 WHIP and 2.3 in total WAR. Stobbs is a smart player with great defensive skills as a pitcher, and he holds runners extremely well while using his pinpoint control and solid ball movement to keep players off kilter. And all we had to trade the Pirates for him was 24-year-old left fielder David Smith, a former rule five pick who last year hit just .259 for us as a pinch hitter. Easy deal! Stobbs is in the last year of his contract and could become a free agent next year, but for right now he’s a steal at $60,000 and will definitely have a role on our team this year. The fans, who thought we were done making deals, are excited to see what he can do in a White Sox uniform! If he does well, an extension would certainly not be out of the question. January 15, 1959: For the first time in years, we have a new Hall of Fame inductee! Johnny Mize received 88.8% of the vote in his first year on the ballot! The first baseman, who spent most of his career with the Yankees, finished his 15-year career (which was interrupted by his service in World War II) with 2,011 hits, 367 doubles, 359 homers, 1,337 runs and 1,118 RBIs, hitting .312 and putting up 66.1 career wins above replacement. The 10-time All Star retired after the 1953 season. No other player on the ballot received more than 41% of the vote. February 14, 1959: Preseason is upon us, and our successes in the offseason so far have encouraged our owner to add $320,000 to our budget! That will certainly help us with any further extensions, and anticipation for the season is at an all time high ... we’ve sold more than 9,100 season tickets already, and are hopeful that we can improve our attendance well beyond the 14,900 per game we achieved last year. I forgot to mention, I’m extremely glad to be out of Kansas City, because they made the biggest bonehead move of the offseason when they failed to sign Ron Santo, their pick at the top of the draft! They will receive a compensatory pick next year at the top of the draft, but if ownership chose not to sign that guy, who will they possibly want to pay next year when they have to pay TWO players at the top of the first round? Santo will return to college where he plans to play for the University of Washington ... I can see a college World Series in their future if they play their cards right. __________________ "Campus Chronicles" -- The Indiana Hoosiers in a New College World (An OOTP 27 Dynasty) Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Indianapolis Grays) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

11-02-2024, 01:09 AM	#105
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,932	March 4, 1959: It’s time for Spring Training once again, and we have 42 players who have been invited to our spring complex to compete for 25 roster spots. Here are the players competing for spots, with the players who would make the team if I had to pick a top 25 immediately in red: CATCHER -- Sherm Lollar, Clay Dalrymple, Jerry Zimmerman FIRST BASE: Minnie Minoso, Henry Chiti SECOND BASE: Jerry Adair, Jerry Coleman THIRD BASE: Darryl Spencer, Bill Serena, Robert Sagers, Don Bacon SHORTSTOP: Luis Aparicio, Jim Brideweser, Chuck Cottier, Maury Wills LEFT FIELD: Felipe Alou, Lloyd Merriman CENTER FIELD: Gene Stephens, Larry Doby, Lou Johnson, Willie Davis RIGHT FIELD: Deron Johnson, Willie Kirkland STARTING PITCHERS: Jim O’Toole, Jack Kralick, Billy Pierce, Stan Williams, Chuck Stobbs CLOSER: Jim Donahue, Bobby Kuykendahl STOPPER: Ron Wells SETUP: Bob Rush, Hank Hemmerly MIDDLE: Bill Fischer, Ed Rakow, Ed Bauta, Russ Heman, Ed Roebuck, Ed Donnelly LONG / SPOT: Bernie Daniels SPECIALIST: Fred Green, John Dewald* * neither are likely to make the roster, but could use the reps this spring ... if we keep a sixth bullpen arm up, it’d be Kuykendahl or Hemmerly. We are weakest overall at backup shortstop, third base and defensively in the outfield. Willie Davis would make the roster immediately if ht was all about hitting, and he could still sneak in as a pinch hitter and runner. But as a defender, he’s all potential that has yet to be realized. It’ll be interesting to see how he does in spring games. Daryl Spencer signed a minors to majors deal worth $21,000 back in November, none of it guaranteed, and he’s our best third base option right now though, if he has the injuries he did last year in Kansas City, his time here could be short and we’d have to hit the trade market. As for our bullpen, if I had to pick a sixth player to make the cut it’d be either Kuykendahl or Hank Hemmerly, with our two “specialists” up just to get reps. Neither is over 25, so it won’t hurt to have them back in the minors ... but it’s good to get them out there in the spring and see where any deficiencies lie. We have had interest from Milwaukee in sending us Bobby Morgan, who would immediately help us at either second, third or short defensively. But the price would be very high ... they’d want Jack Kralick, and though they’re willing to throw in $250,000 cash to seal the deal, Kralick is just 23 and has a ton of upside. I’m not ready to jump on any kind of crazy deals right now, knowing that ownership just wants us to stay even this year. We’ll keep it on the back burner, however, and see if the three-time World Champs up their offer. __________________ "Campus Chronicles" -- The Indiana Hoosiers in a New College World (An OOTP 27 Dynasty) Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Indianapolis Grays) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds) Last edited by jksander; 11-02-2024 at 01:10 AM.

11-02-2024, 01:17 AM	#106
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,932	March 5, 1959: Today we opened spring training with a game against the Kansas City Athletics, with Jim O’Toole pitching against Milt Pappas. Kansas City got out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning thanks to back to back solo homers for Bill Bruton and Roy Sievers, and Del Crandall hit one in the bottom of the fourth to put them ahead by three. Bill Serena hit a two-run single for us in the fifth and Jerry Zimmerman hit a two-run homer in the top of the seventh, but we would lose this one in the end 6-4. We outhit the A’s 7-6, led by Zimmerman’s two RBIs, and O’Toole took the loss but did throw four innings with just three hits and three earned runs, striking out four batters. March 6, 1959: Chuck Stobbs pitched against the Yankees’ Mike McCormick today, and though Willie Davis opened with a homer in the bottom of the first, the rest of the day was a wash as the Yankees used us for batting practice. We trailed by seven runs when Harry Chiti scored off a sac-fly and Willie Kirkland batted in another with an RBI single, but all that did was help us lose 8-3. New York outhit us 13-4, a real bloodbath ... thankfully it’s in a game that doesn’t count. Kirkland had two hits and an RBI, and Davis had his homer and a walk in the game. Stobbs only lasted three innings but had just three hits, a walk, two strikeouts and a run. It was Hank Hemmerly and Bill Fischer who combined for seven earned runs. Both deserve more reps before making a final decision, but Fischer’s performance was definitely troubling ... he was among my favorites of the middle relievers we invited to camp. Here’s hoping it’s an anomaly. March 7, 1959: Jack Kralick pitched against Detroit’s Tom Brewer today, and though he gave up a run in the second, the real story was our offense’s continued inability to get hits. We’d go on to lose 2-0, matching them with three hits each, though they at least got two hits and two RBIs off catcher Bob Schmidt. Ours basically put up no resistance. Kralick took the loss, allowing two hits, three walks and a run with two strikeouts through just 2.1 innings. I know the games don’t count, but it’d be nice to see more hustle out there from our big-money batters. Ed Bauta has been diagnosed with forearm tendinitis and will go on the IL ... whether he gets any more shots this spring will depend on his recovery, but his performance so far hadn’t turned my head. March 8, 1959: Billy Pierce went up against Bill Wight today as we took on the Boston Red Sox, and in the top of the fifth we took the lead with an RBI single by Minnie Minoso. Robert Sagers hit an RBI single in the top of the seventh that made it a 2-1 White Sox lead, and then we hammered them for five runs in the top of the eighth to take total control, adding another pair in the ninth as we won 9-1! Pierce lasted four innings with four hits and three strikeouts, but since Ed Roebuck blew the save, Ed Donnelly took the win, with Donnelly, Kuykendall, Wells and Green putting together four no-hit innings out of the pen. We outhit them 13-5, led by Felipe Alou with two hits, two runs and an RBI. March 9, 1959: Stan Williams went up against Washington’s Camilo Pascual in today’s game, and we took the lead in the bottom of the fourth when Jerry Adair reached on an error, driving in Deron Johnson. Jerry Coleman batted in two with a single in the bottom of the sixth, and from there we blew them away, winning 7-3 ... all three of their runs came in the top of the ninth against Jim Donohue, who gave up an RBI single to Chuck Strange and a two-run double to Mickey Vernon. Williams got the win, pitching four innings with no baserunners and five strikeouts. We outhit them 11-6, led by Coleman with two hits and two RBIs, and by Willie Davis who had two hits. March 10, 1959: O’Toole started against Baltimore’s Ted Wills today, and though he gave up an RBI single to Jerry Lumpe in the top of the first, Willie Davis ground out to first in the third inning to drive in Gene Stephens to tie it up. And there it stayed, until the bottom of the eighth when Jerry Coleman reached on an error, driving in Clay Dalrymple for the lead! That was enough, and we won this one 2-1 despite the Orioles outhitting us 6-4! Bill Fischer got the win, pitching two innings and bringing his spring ERA down to 12.00 after that disasterous first appearance. Gene Stephens led the way offensively with two hits and a run scored. March 11, 1959: Stobbs faced off with Cleveland’s Tom Cheney, the first time we’ve seen him since they lost the World Series. We kicked the hell out of him in the top of the second, batting around the order and putting up six runs on them! This turned into a spring shootout, and though they got back to within a run as we went into the sixth inning, we outscored them 5-1 down the stretch and won the game 11-5. We only outhit them 10-9, but Chuck Cottier led with a hit, a run and three RBIs while Willie Davis added a hit, a run and two RBIs. Stobbs threw 53 pitches and only lasted three innings, but he got the win with four hits, a walk, two runs and three strikeouts. Ed Bauta had a setback and will be unlikely to return this spring. He still has two minor league options left, and will more than likely start his season with AAA Indianapolis. March 12, 1959: We had ourselves another matchup agianst Kansas City, with Jack Kralick starting against Bob Blaylock. Blaylock has no business being a starter, and we blasted him with four runs in the bottom of the first, adding a two-run Zimmerman homer in the bottom of the fifth to pile on. We would end up shutting them out 7-0 to keep our spring winning streak alive, outhitting them 10-2. Kralick lasted four innings with a hit and five strikeouts, throwing 56 pitches, and our bullpen only allowed a single baserunner through the remaining five. Bill Serena was our only player who hit twice, but Zimmerman and Spencer led the way with two homers between them acounting for five RBIs. March 13, 1959: Billy Pierce pitched against New York’s Vinegar Bend Mizell, and the Yankees took the lead in the bottom of the third with an RBI double by Tony Kubek. But we tied it up in the top of the ninth off a passed ball that allowed Harry Chiti in to score, and this spring game went into extra innings. And it kept going, and going, until it seemed nobody was going to win this one. In the top of the 19th Lloyd Merriman batted in Deron Johnson with an RBI single to put us up 2-1, and then the Yankees walked it off with an RBI single by Ronald Debus, a no-name 21-year-old minor leaguer, to beat us 3-2. Somebody had to end it, after nearly six hours of spring insanity. The Yankees outhit us 16-12, and in the end Bill Fischer took the loss, having pitched the last 3.2 innings with eight hits, a walk, a strikeout and two earned runs. Deron Johnson had two hits and a run to lead our offense. March 14, 1959: Stan Williams got his second start of the year, facing Robin Roberts and the Detroit Tigers. We took the lead in the top of the third with a solo homer by Bill Serena, who drove in another run in the top of the fifth with a single as well. Larry Doby hit a solo shot in the top of the sixth to make it a 3-1 ballgame, but we wound up knotted up again when Detroit got a three-run homer from Irv Noren. Unable to score again, we took this one into extra innings for the second day in a row, and I still can’t believe it but today’s game went on even longer than yesterday’s! It finally ended much like yesterday’s, with a walk-off to end it ... but this time it was an RBI single by John Orsino and it came in the 28TH inning, and the game that started at 2:05 p.m. didn’t end until nearly 10:30 p.m.! Detroit outhit us 27-17, and Bill Fischer threw 6.2 innings with five hits and a strikeout, handing the ball to starter Jim O’Toole who then went five innings with four hits and an UNEARNED run to take the loss. I may never see another game like this in the spring or otherwise, and certainly hope not to. Minnie Minoso had three hits tonight but didn’t manage to score off any of them. Neither did Gene Stephens, who hit FOUR times, batting 11 times in the game! Bill Serena hit twice with a run and two RBIs to lead the way when it came to actual scoring. March 15, 1959: We’ve played 47 INNINGS of spring baseball over the last two days, the equivalent of five full games as well as a couple bonus innings. And since O’Toole basically got his start yesterday in the game’s final hours, we went with O’Toole today against Boston’s George Brunet. And I couldn’t have scripted it like this if I’d tried ... Boston took the lead with a two-run homer by Floyd Robinson in the top of the second, and then in the bottom of the ninth we tied it with an RBI double by Dalrymple and a groundout by Lou Johnson that scored Jerry Zimmerman. So our third game in three days went into extra innings. This time it all got decided in the 14th, Boston getting an RBI single from Lou Klimchock and another from Frank Reveira that put them up by two. Lou Johnson hit a solo homer in the bottom of the inning but we lost in the end 4-3. Donohue took the loss with two hits, a walk, a strikeout and two runs against him in the final inning. Lou Johnson led the way for our offense with a hit, a run and two RBIs. We’re officially petitioning Major League Baseball to stop the insanity of extra innings play in spring games, though it will probably require an official owner vote later in the season. Our bullpen guys are definitely getting some really good reps, which is going to help me as I cut the rosters down ... but I’m amazed we got through all that without anyone getting hurt. We have one game left tomorrow before a day off, at which point I will have to start making some cuts. March 16, 1959: Jack Kralick and Washington’s Art Ditmar faced off today and we took a four run lead in the top of the second, thanks to a Don Bacon grand slam! This time we kept adding runs and there was no risk of this game going beyond nine innings, as we shut out the Senators 8-0 to earn our day off. Kralick got the win, allowing a hit and a walk with two strikeouts in fuor innings. Bobby Kuykendall remains impressive, having now pitched in seven spring games with just one hit against him! He has struck out seven batters with just one walk through 7.1 innings, giving him an 0.00 ERA and a ridiculous 0.28 WHIP! March 17, 1959: Sherm Lollar certainly isn’t playing like a fan favorite who just signed an epic contract ... he’s hitting .125 so far this spring, but he’s gonna be starting this year regardless. Since it’s going to be all the more important that we have our best backup on the field (and since both Dalrymple and Zimmerman are exceptional defensive catchers, we’ve been shopping both of them around the league to see if we might get some good trade value back, particularly since we have Pagliaroni from our most recent draft as well. The offers we got back for Dalrymple, who was ranked inside the top 30 last year by the Baseball News Network, were impressive all around, but we got a real stunner back from Kansas City, whose owner is not at all interested in negotiating with the greatest power hitter in the game not named Mickey Mantle ... they want to dump Ernie Banks’ $133,650 salary in exchange for a defensive catcher they can use now. And I’ve got zero interest in passing up that opportunity! But with Minnie Minoso signed to a long term deal, our fans, even those who love Banks, would find this to be a head-scratching move -- maybe if there was a designated hitter in baseball, but otherwise we’d have two of the top first basemen in the game and no ability to play them both. So we passed. Then I got an intriguing call from the Braves up in Milwaukee. They’ve offered us 25-year-old center fielder Norm Siebern, the 1957 Rookie of the Year winner, who still has all his arbitration years in the bank, along with 2B/3B/SS Bobby Morgan, who we’ve been trying to make a trade for all offseason. In exchange, they want Dalrymple, which is a given, and outfielder Deron Johnson. Morgan is a three-time world champion, but will surely cost us dearly as he’s going to be a free agent after this season and he’s got to be looking for far more than the $70,000 he’ll earn this season ... and he’d be well worth it even at age 32. Seibern’s a huge improvement for us at center field, and if we move Willie Davis over to right field we can keep him up as our starter replacing Johnson ... rather than sending him back down to the minors. So I’ve decided to pull the trigger on the deal ... Dalrymple and Johnson straight up for Siebern and Morgan, a deal which at least on paper nets us nearly 8 WAR in proven production, at positions we needed to fill. Early reaction from the fans and the Chicago media suggest I wasn’t completely insane, and the deal has folks in both cities buzzing. We’ve made the following cuts and moves relating to our spring roster as we sit in the middle of the pack with a 6-6 record: - We waived and DFA’d CF Lou Johnson, with the aim to send him back to the minors once he clears. - With Siebern now set to start at CF, and with Gene Stephens by far our best defensive backup, *we traded Larry Doby to the Washington Senators in exchange for 23-year-old Garland Shifflett, who is ranked 91st overall by the Baseball News Network. - We’ve dropped all three of our backup shorstops back down to the minors -- Jim Brideweser, Chuck Cottier and Maury Wills. None of them are ready for the majors. Cottier had an option left, but Brideweser and Wills had to be waived first. Aparicio will be starting, and we’ve got Morgan now who can fill in at short whenever Don Bacon cannot. So we’re much more significantly covered than we were before.And Bacon can cover third any time we have to move Morgan over. And with Adair starting at second, we have ample backups there as well, from Morgan, Bacon and Jerry Coleman. Middle infield depth issues solved! - Waived Robert Sagers, with the intent to move the 25-year-old down to the minors as added depth. Released Bill Serena, age 35, at a cost of $16,000, when he refused to be demoted. Since Daryl Spencer is on a minor league deal, he moved down to AAA as well, leaving us with Aparicio, Bacon, Morgan, Adair and Coleman in the infield. All five should get significant playing time. - As Kuykendall has clearly won the closer spot with his stellar performance this spring, we’re moving Jim Donohue back down to the minors for further seasoning, along with Hank Hemmerly, using the first option for either player. Though the bulk of our remaining cuts will have to be made from the bullpen, these moves drop our roster down to 31 players, and we have plenty of time to make the final six cuts before opening day. This has been by far my most active offseason as a general manager, and I’m excited to see what this team can do once we have our roster finalized. I think fans on the south side are going to have plenty to be excited about! __________________ "Campus Chronicles" -- The Indiana Hoosiers in a New College World* (An OOTP 27 Dynasty) Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Indianapolis Grays) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

11-04-2024, 06:31 AM	#109
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,932	April 28, 1959: Jim O’Toole (1-1, 3.09 ERA, 23.1 IP, 18 K’s, 1.03 WHIP) is fully rested and ready to pitch in front of 23,772 fans here in Kansas City as the Yankees come to town for the first time this year. He pitched against Vinegar Bend Mizell (2-1, 2.16 ERA, 25.0 IP, 18 K’s, 1.24 WHIP), who continues to fight to find the form he had back in 1956 when he won the Cy Young. The Yankees struck first with a pair in the top of the first inning, scoring off a Mantle RBI double and a sac-fly by Woodie Held. O’Toole struggled from there, and New York was more than happy to run the score up -- by the time Bob Rush took over in the top of the seventh we had dug ourselves a four-run hole, and we went on to lose this one in the end by a 7-1 margin. O’Toole, who allowed seven hits and five runs (three earned) with four strikeouts, pitched six innings and took the loss, falling to 1-2 with a 3.38 ERA, throwing a season low 76 pitches before we pulled him. But we were outhit 10-4, so the offense did little to help when he got in trouble. Minoso led the way, hitting three times with a walk and an RBI. April 29, 1959: Jack Kralick (2-1, 1.03 ERA, 26.1 IP, 15 K’s, 0.57 WHIP) started against New York’s Saul Rogovin (0-2, 6.91 ERA, 14.1 IP, 6 K’s, 1.60 WHIP) and Willie Davis knocked in a run with a single in the bottom of the third to give us an early 1-0 lead. Minoso sliced his thumb in the bottom of the fifth as he got hit by a pitch, so Aparicio replaced him as a pinch runner, but we weren’t able to add any insurance. Alou took over at first base so Willie Kirkland could take over for Aparicio in left field, and in the top of the sixth the Yankees tied us with an RBI double by Tony Kubek, and in the top of the seventh they got two more off Kralick thanks to an Al Smith triple and a passed ball. Bill Fischer took over in the top of the eighth trailing by a pair, and he got through the remainder but our bats remained silent and we lost the game 3-1, Yankees with the two-game sweep. Kralick fell to 2-2 with a 1.62 ERA, with eight hits, two walks and three earned runs while striking out five, and we outhit the Yankees 12-9 but struggled on the basepaths. Davis had three hits and an RBI, giving the rookie a .278 average, and Minoso had a hit and a run before his injury. The loss drops us to 10-7, and we’re now tied for first with the Senators, who hold an 11-8 record as we head into a two game set aginst the 8-9 Boston Red Sox and a Sunday game against the 9-10 Orioles to start the month of May. May 1, 1959: Minnie Minoso needs at least a few days out of the lineup to let his thumb injury heal, so Alou will get some starts in his place at first base, but Minoso will not need to go on the IL. Billy Pierce (2-0, 1.00 ERA, 18.0 IP, 10 K’s, 0.89 WHIP) started today against Boston’s Frank Baumann (1-1, 1.40 ERA, 25.2 IP, 10 K’s, 0.70 WHIP). And in a pitcher’s duel, we got the lead finally in the bottom of the sixth thanks to an RBI double by Bobby Morgan that put us ahead 1-0 heading into the seventh inning. But thanks to a couple hits and an error at first, the Red Sox tied it up in the top of the seventh with a one-out RBI single by Ron Hansen, and with runners on the corners we brought out Bobby Fisher to take over on the mound. He got the second out and then let Nellie Fox hit an RBI single to score Willie Jones and put Boston in the lead. They added another run in the eighth and beat us 3-1, our offensive woes continuing ... since our opening six-game win streak we haven’t had a game with more than three runs scored, which is putting a lot of pressure on our pitchers. Pierce took the loss today, lasting 6.1 innings with six hits, seven strikeouts and two runs (one earned) while Fischer pitched 2.2 innings with four hits, a walk, two strikeouts and an earned run ... both are allowing barely a run a game, so they are not the problem. Us getting outhit 10-6, however, remains a continued issue. Davis had three hits and Don Bacon added two more, but none of them could get anywhere. May 2, 1959: Stan “Big Daddy” Williams (1-2, 4.00 ERA, 18.0 IP, 16 K’s, 1.44 WHIP) took to the mound today, facing Mike Fornieles (2-2, 4.79 ERA, 20.2 IP, 11 K’s, 1.40 WHIP). We traded runs early on, and when Ron Wells came out in the seventh to take over for Williams we were knotted up at 4-4. But Rush let the Red Sox blast us with three runs in the seventh inning, and we went into the bottom of the eighth trailing 8-4. We woke up in the bottom of the inning scoring with an RBI double by Jerry Adair, a single by Gene Stephens, a sac-fly by Ron Wells and a single by Norm Siebern, so John Dewald came out in the ninth to try and give us a chance to get out of this one with a win. He got three quick outs, and with two outs in the bottom of the inning Jerry Adair made it on base thanks to a weak grounder and an E3 error ... but Morgan popped out to center and this slugfest was destined for extra innings, both teams tied at eight runs apiece. Dewald tried to stay out for a second inning, having only thrown six pitches in the ninth, but that was a mistake ... he gave up a single to Elio Chacon and a double to Bob Allison, so Fred Green game out, no outs, to try and prevent a total collapse. Nellie Fox hit one to Davis in right, and his cannon of an arm allowed us to hold both runners. Ted Williams then hit one straight to Aparicio for out number two, bringing up Marty Keough, who walked to load the bases. Harry Simpson came in to pinch hit, and his low flyball went barely over the head of Adair, driving in two runs ... damn it! We came up to hit in the bottom of the inning and whiffed completely as we lost yet again 10-8 in the tenth inning. Now with nine losses, that six-game winning streak looks so long ago. Stan Williams allowed 11 hits with four runs and three strikeouts, but the loss went to Dewald, who is now 0-1 with a 6.10 ERA thanks to two hits and two earned runs. Boston outhit us by the insane margin of 20-12, wasting a four hit, one walk, three run two RBI game from Gene Stephens completely. It’s a tight race in the AL early this year, and any team could be great or mediocre ... we’ve fallen from first into a tie for third with the now 10-9 Red Sox, and first place (Cleveland) has an 11-7 record while last place (Detroit) has a 7-12 record. So not time to panic, but I will say it’s disappointing for this team to be 2-8 over our last ten game stretch. May 3, 1959: Jim O’Toole (1-2, 3.38 ERA, 29.1 IP, 22 K’s, 1.06 WHIP) pitched against Baltimore’s Glen Hobbie (2-1, 2.43 ERA, 29.2 IP, 11 K’s, 1.04 WHIP) and O’Toole had four scoreless innings and then the Orioles got runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh as our bats remained consipcuously silent. Visably frustrated, he fought through the eighth inning, giving up two more runs off a double by Lenny Green, Dewald taking over with a man on second and two outs to get us out of the inning. Dewald gave up three more runs in the ninth and we were absolutely humiliated, getting shutout 8-0 in a complete beatdown. O’Toole fell to 1-3 with 11 hits in his 7.2 innings, walking two and striking out three with five earned runs. But the real story was our team getting outhit 14-5, which is a hundred percent unacceptable ... I know Minoso’s been out with the thumb injury, but come on, guys, get some damned contact! Only Aparicio got on base twice, with a hit and a walk. It’s not going to get easier. We’ve fallen from 6-0 to 10-10, and our next two opponents are Washington (14-10) for two games and Cleveland (12-8) for four. We’re only two games out of first, so a lot can happen quickly if we find our footing, but good Lord have we looked like goats falling off a mountaintop lately. May 5, 1959: Gene Stephens is day to day with a mild hamstring strain, but Minnie Minoso is back in the lineup today as Jack Kralick (2-2, 1.62 ERA, 33.1 IP, 20 K’s, 0.75 WHIP) takes on Washington’s Harold Larned (4-0, 2.15 ERA, 37.2 IP, 32 K’s, 1.51 WHIP). Washington took a quick 3-0 lead in the top of the first, adding a run in the third before we woke up in the bottom of the sixth inning. Coming in to the inning we trailed 4-1, but a Zimmerman walk scored Alou to get us going, a passed ball scored Adair, and then a line drive single by Bacon batted in two more to put us in the lead 5-4! Kralick had thrown 115 pitches already, so we brought Fred Green in to pitch in the seventh, and Jerry Coleman hit an RBI single to score Minoso and give us a two-run cushion. Bill Fischer pitched in the eighth inning and Kuykendall came out in the ninth to try and put the nails in, still leading by a pair. He got one out, but with runners on first and second we brought out Ron Walls, who had a walk and two strikeouts but got the job done ... finally we snapped the losing streak, beating a good Washington team 6-4! Kralick pitched six innings with five hits, five walks, four strikeouts and four earned runs, and Green, Fischer and Kuykendall all held that lead long enough for Wells to pick up his first save of the year. Our bullpen pitched three innings with just two hits, two walks and two strikeouts, and Wells was impressive in the high leverage save situation. More importantly, we outhit them 9-7 with Willie Kirkland putting up four hits and a run to lead the way ... the backup outfielder has quietly hit .357 so far with a double and just three strikeouts through his first 28 bats. May 6, 1959: Billy Pierce (2-1, 1.11 ERA, 24.1 IP, 17 K’s, 0.90 WHIP) pitched against Art Houtteman (1-3, 6.20 ERA, 24.2 IP, 17 K’s, 1.62 WHIP). And this time we were the ones who got going on a hot streak -- in the bottom of the first Minnie Minoso hit a two-run double, Sherm Lollar hit an RBI single, and Alou tagged up to score from third off a sac-fly by Bobby Morgan to give us a 4-0 lead heading into the top of the second! We took control from there, and by the time Bill Fischer came out in the top of the eighth to take over, we held a six-run lead. Fischer held on and didn’t give them any room to sneak back in, shutting the Senators down 9-3 as we are suddenly looking like the team that opened the season so well. Let’s keep it up, boys! Pierce now is 3-1 with a 1.72 ERA, getting through seven innings tonight with nine hits, two walks and three strikeouts, allowing just three earned runs. Fischer, meanwhile, has an 0.87 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP through seven appearances and 10.1 innings, making sure we didn’t backslide in the final frames. We outhit Washington 12-10, led by Felipe Alou, who hit three times with two runs and three RBIs to lead the offense. May 8, 1959: Jim O’Toole (1-3, 3.09 ERA, 37.0 IP, 25 K’s, 1.19 WHIP) got the start in game one against Cleveland, facing Tom Cheney (2-1, 2.60 ERA, 34.2 IP, 24 K’s, 1.27 WHIP). Cleveland got two runs in the top of the first, thanks to an RBI double by Colavito and a single from Lopata, but we got an RBI triple from Sherm Lollar in the bottom of the second to stay in the game. Then all scoring hit a standstill, and this one became a duel between two very good pitchers. We tied it up in the bottom of the seventh when Luis Aparicio hit into a fielder’s choice ... they tried to get Stephens out at the plate and failed! Bill Fischer came out to pitch in the top of the eighth, and Ron Wells took over in the ninth still tied at two, but this one seemed aimed for extra innings since the beginning, and that was the case. Wells loaded the bases in the top of the tenth, however, and Kuykendall gave up two of those runs while fighting to get out of the inning, and our bats went silent down the stretch as we lost 4-2. Wells only threw six pitches in the ninth, and has the stamina to where it was reasonable to keep him in, but he wound up with the loss instead, falling to 2-1 with what is now a 9.53 ERA thanks to two more earned runs ... his incredible stuff is getting outmatched by his poor control, though I still think the 24-year-old has mostly suffered from bad luck so far. They outhit us 9-8 overall, led by Stephens who hit twice, walked once and scored a run while batting in one as well. He has hit .359 so far with a double, a triple, a homer and six RBIs in his first twelve games. May 9, 1959: Stan Williams (1-2, 4.50 ERA, 24.0 IP, 19 K’s, 1.54 WHIP) pitched against Hoyt Wilhelm (3-0, 2.08 ERA, 34.2 IP, 20 K’s, 0.98 WHIP) in game two of this four-game series. We each notched a run in the first inning, and then the two pitchers dueled it out, with Dewald taking over in the top of the seventh still tied at 1-1. Willie Davis batted in a run with a single in the bottom of the eighth, and Kuykendall came out in the top of the ninth leading now by a run, but a Roger Maris RBI single with one out managed to tie us back up. This one went to extra innings yet again, which have been the bane of our existance all year. Bill Fischer took over on the mound in the top of the 10th, and Chuck Stobbs came out in the 11th, staying out in the 12th at which point Cleveland broke the stalemate with an RBI single by Lopata. We came up empty in the bottom of the inning, losing this one in 12 innings by a 3-2 margin. Williams did his best, going six innings with six hits, a walk, a run and eight strikeouts, but Kuykendall blew the save and Stobbs (0-2, 2.29 ERA) took the loss. Cleveland outhit us 11-8, Aparicio leading the way for us with three hits, a run and an RBI. We’ve got a doubleheader tomorrow at the worst time, having already played 22 innings in the last two days. May 10, 1959: Game one of today’s doubleheader featured Jack Kralick (3-2, 2.29 ERA, 39.1 IP, 24 K’s, 0.89 WHIP) pitching against Dave Sisler (1-0, 1.69 ERA, 21.1 IP, 8 K’s, 1.22 WHIP), and both teams were looking for their starters to go deep into this one. But as the game progressed, we were all just hoping someone, ANYONE, would score a goddamned run. Unfortunately it was Cleveland who, in the top of the eighth, broke it wide open, scoring three runs off Kralick with a sac-fly by Maris, a single by Avila and a double by Cash, all in quick succession. We went on to lose this game 5-1, a flurry of scoring in the final two frames defeating us. Kralick fell to 3-3 with a 2.23 ERA, pitching a complete game with 11 hits, a walk, a pair of strikeouts and five runs, only two of which were earned. Cleveland outhit us 11-5, Siebern leading the way with a walk and an RBI. Bob Rush (0-0, 2.25 ERA, 12.0 IP, 5 K’s, 1.50 WHIP) made his first start after four bullpen appearances, facing Carl Erskine (1-1, 4.20 ERA, 15.0 IP, 8 K’s, 1.40 WHIP). Bobby Morgan hit a sac-fly that scored Willie Davis to give us a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second, and in the top of the third Norm Siebern strained his shoulder while catching a flyball off Vic Davilillo’s bat, so Gene Stephens had to come out and replace him. In the top of the fifth the Guardians tied us up with an RBI single by Bob Uecker, and they took the lead with two more runs in the top of the seventh. Ron Wells came out in the top of the eighth trailing 3-1, and he got us through the last two innings but we again failed to deliever down the stretch ... one one was all we got and we llost 3-1. Rush was solid, with seven hits, three walks, two strikeouts and three earned runs in seven innings, but he should have exited after six all things considered. Cleveland outhit us 9-6, with Bobby Morgan leading the way with two walks and an RBI, while Bacon added two hits. We continue to show a lot of promise on pitching while our bats have us rocking a -9 run differential. Worse than that, we’re 1-4 in extra innings games already and just 5-4 in one run games ... and if you factor in two-run games we’re 6-10. So far the fans have kept showing up despite our 7-10 record at Comiskey, but I’m not sure how long they’ll keep doing that if we fall far below .500. We shead into this upcoming road trip with a 12-14 record and in sixth place in the AL. We’ve got three games in Boston (16-12), two in New York (13-14), three in Washington (16-13), two in Baltimore (14-15) and three in Kansas City (10-16) before returning to Cleveland (18-8) for a pair to start a two-week home stretch eading into June. __________________ "Campus Chronicles" -- The Indiana Hoosiers in a New College World (An OOTP 27 Dynasty) Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Indianapolis Grays) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

11-05-2024, 04:10 AM	#110
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,932	May 12, 1959: Billy Pierce (3-1, 1.72 ERA, 31.1 IP, 20 K’s, 1.05 WHIP) pitched in our first game of the year at Fenway, facing Boston pitcher Mike Fornieles. Luis Aparicio hit an RBI single in the top of the second to put us up 1-0, and in the bottom of the inning Aparicio was injured while making a throw to get an out off a fielder’s choice that put Bob Johnson on base. It’s a bruised toe, an injury that shouldn’t keep him out long, but it still meant moving Bobby Morgan over to short and bringing in Don Bacon to cover third in place of Aparicio. We got an RBI single from Gene Stephens and another from Bacon to go up 3-0 midway through the fourth, and Siebern scored another in the top of the seventh when Lollar reached first on an E6 error. Pierce stayed out there and completed the shutout as we beat Boston 4-0. Pierce only allowed five hits, walking one batter and striking out three more as he improved to 4-1 with a 1.34 ERA. We had ten hits ourselves, led by Bacon with two hits and an RBI while Siebern added two hits and a run. May 13, 1959: Chuck Stobbs (0-2, 2.29 ERA, 19.2 IP, 4 K’s, 1.78 WHIP) got the start in game two, facing Boston’s George “Lefty” Brunet (1-3, 4.86 ERA, 37.0 IP, 13 K’s, 1.51 WHIP). Boston took the lead 1-0 in the bottom of the second thanks to a solo homer by Willie Jones, but in the top of the sixth we took control, tying the score off a sac-fly by Alou, and then taking the lead with a Sherm Lollar RBI single. Bobby Morgan hit an RBI single to add on, and Stobbs singled in a run followed by a Norm Siebern walk that pushed in a fifth. Leading 5-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth, Stobbs felt confident to continue to pitch for us, easily getting through the inning and well into the seventh, though we brought out Ron Walls to replace him with two outs and a man on first. Walls got the out, keeping the four-run lead intact, and he got us through the eighth inning with just one baserunner of his own. He stayed out in the ninth still leading by four, shutting them down completely as we held firm to win 5-1. Stobbs had his best start of the year with 6.2 innings and six hits, striking out three with one earned run as he improved to 1-2 with a 2.05 ERA, and Wells gave us 2.1 innings to close it out, just two walks and two strikeouts to his name as his ERA improved to 5.40. Once he gets his confidence regarding his four pitch mix, he’ll be a real force from the pen ... he just has to know he’s got the ball going where it’s supposed to. We outhit them 8-6, led by Morgan who had two hits, a run and an RBI, while Alou added two hits and an RBI. We’ve sent Fred Green back down to AAA and called up right fielder Mike Hershberger (.261, four doubles, 11 RBIs, 5 stolen bases) from AAA Indianapolis as an extra pinch-hitting / pinch-running option off the bench. We’re also keeping a close eye on Garland Shifflett, who so far has a 1-1 record, a 1.02 ERA and 14 K’s in 17.2 AAA innings, though for now we’re sticking with our current bullpen of Kuykendall, Fischer, Dewald and Wells, with Rush and Stobbs rotating as back-end starters and long relief as necessary. May 14, 1959: Jim O’Toole (1-3, 3.68 ERA, 44.0 IP, 29 K’s, 1.20 WHIP) got the start against Boston’s Bob Purkey (4-1, 3.22 ERA, 36.1 IP, 15 K’s, 0.94 WHIP). We took a 1-0 lead in the top of the sixth with an RBI single by Minnie Minoso, and O’Toole struggled to start the bottom of the sixth, placing runners on the corners. Ron Hansen grounded out to first, scoring a run to tie it up, and with an out and Bob Johnson on second we brought out John Dewald who got two quick outs to strand the runner and keep it tied, just throwing two pitches to get it done. Poor fielding in the infield doomed him after a good start in the seventh, and Johnny Blanchard singled in a run to put them up 2-1 with two outs and men now on the corners. Another hit, and then a fielding error at third led to two more runs scoring before Deward could strike out Purkey to end the inning now trailing 4-1. Wells took over in the eighth, getting it done with three quick outs, but our bats had nothing in them and we lost 4-1, another game spoiled by one bad inning. Dewald took the loss, 1.2 innings with three hits, a walk, two strikeouts and three runs (two earned) to give him a 7.04 ERA ... but the loss was more due to Boston outhitting us 11-6, most coming late in the game. Minoso led our offense with a hit, a walk and an RBI. We still won the series against a good Boston team, but it would have been nice to get a road sweep. My assistant GM has informed me of his intention to step down so he can be in a position to go after the next full GM job that opens up, so we’ve made an offer to Cuckoo “Seacap” Christensen, a 59-year-old who favors speedy guys who get on base ... he has a lot of experience running teams in the minors, and our owner is a big fan of his office management style, so I’m hopeful he’ll accept the job and work well with me as we continue to buidl this team up. I’ve offered him a four year deal worth $17,550 per year, which is more than I made while in Kansas City as GM and Manager. May 15, 1959: Stan Williams (1-2, 3.90 ERA, 30.0 IP, 27 K’s, 1.47 WHIP) started in New York against Mike McCormick (3-3, 4.15 ERA, 47.2 IP, 28 K’s, 1.51 WHIP). He did well until the bottom of the fifth when New York hit us hard, Hank Bauer hitting an RBI double to give them the lead and then Mike McCormick hitting a two-run homer to add on. Ron Wells came out in the eighth inning trailing by four runs and our bats never made a sound as we lost 4-0. Williams was solid, with just six hits, two walks and four earned runs in seven innings, his record falling to 1-3 with a 4.14 ERA, but we were outhit 6-3 with just three baserunners all game ... so anything less than perfect wasn’t going to be enough for whoever took the mound. May 16, 1959: Jack Kralick (3-3, 2.23 ERA, 48.1 IP, 26 K’s, 0.97 WHIP) pitched against Vinegar Bend Mizell (3-2, 2.25 ERA, 48.0 IP, 36 K’s, 1.25 WHIP) in our second game in New York, and Kralick got our first run across thanks to a sac-fly by Siebern in the top of the third. The Yankees tied it in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI single by Woodie Held, but Minnie Minoso slugged a three-run homer in the top of the eighth to put us up 4-1! Mantle answered with a homer of his own in the bottom of the inning, and Bill Fischer took over with one out, striking out Held and getting Berra to ground out, leaving us a two-run lead as we came up to hit in the top of the ninth. Kuykendall came out in the bottom of the inning and they got a run through, but not enough to stop us from winning this 4-3. Kralick improved to 4-3 with the win, allowing just five hits with three walks and two earned runs in his 7.1 innings, striking out five ... Fischer got his second hold, and Kuykendall saved his fourth game with two hits and an earned run, giving him a 1.86 ERA through 9.2 innings. The Yankees outhit us 7-4, but Minoso’s three RBIs off that homer won the day. May 17, 1959: Today was a doubleheader in Washington, and Billy Pierce (4-1, 1.34 ERA, 40.1 IP, 23 K’s, 0.97 WHIP) started against Art Houtteman (2-4, 6.44 ERA, 36.1 IP, 24 K’s, 1.62 WHIP) in game one. Pierce had the endurance to handle this one, but not the control ... Washington went up 2-0 in the second and then kept piling on, and by the time we brought out Dewald in the bottom of the seventh we were in a five-run hole. Deward gave up five more in the last two innings, and we got reamed in this one 10-0. When our bats go cold, they go ICE COLD ... we were outhit 14-4, and Pierce fell to 4-2 having allowed five hits and five runs with five runs (three earned) in his six innings. Willie Davis had three hits and nothing else, but that was almost all our offense just on his rookie shoulders. Bob Rush (0-1, 2.84 ERA, 19.0 IP, 7 K’s, 1.47 WHIP) pitched in the second game of the afternoon, facing Camillo Pascual (5-3, 4.24 ERA, 63.2 IP, 51 K’s, 1.55 WHIP). Washington scored two runs in the bottom of the first, but we answered this time with three of our own in the top of the third -- Norm Siebern hit an RBI single and Minoso a two-run homer (his third of the year) to give us the lead. They took it back in the bottom of the fourth with a two-run Fred Hatfield homer, and Ron Walls took over in the bottom of the seventh still trailing by a run. He gave us great work the rest of the way, but we couldn’t get that one run back, losing 4-3. Rush fell to 0-2 with a 3.60 ERA, allowing three hits with four walks and four earned runs, striking out five, while we actually outhit them 6-4. Minoso led our batters with a hit, a run and two RBIs, while Siebern had a hit, a run and an RBI. May 18, 1959: We’ve signed our new AGM, and Christensen is ready to hit the ground running. Chuck Stobbs (1-2, 2.05 ERA, 26.1 IP, 7 K’s, 1.56 WHIP) pitched today in Washington against Art Ditmar (2-3, 6.23 ERA, 34.2 IP, 14 K’s, 1.56 WHIP). Minoso batted in a run with a single to put us up 1-0 in the top of the third, and he hit a two-run homer in the top of the sixth to give us a 3-0 lead. Ron Wells came out in the bottom of the inning, and with one out and a man on first in the bottom of the eighth Kuykendall came out to close. He got out of the inning with two runners stranded in scoring position, and he shut them down in the ninth completely as we won 3-0! Stobbs improved to 2-2 with a 1.72 ERA, allowing six hits, a walk and a strikeout in his five innings. Wells had a 2.1 inning hold with a hit and two strikeouts, and Kuykendall saved his fifth game of the year with 1.2 innings, two hits a walk and a strikeout, as he improved his ERA to 1.59. They outhit us 9-7, but Minoso again stepped up with two hits a run and three RBIs as we pulled out the shutout win. We’re working on signing our young pitching core to long term contracts, and the first one to lock his deal in was 22-year-old ace Jim O’Toole. He has agreed to a ten year extension that locks in his early arb years at $21,000 / $75,000 / $90,000 / $110,000, and then he’ll earn $170,000 starting in 1964 and running through the end of the deal in 1969. It’s a $1.3 million deal in total, and doesn’t have any other financial incentives attached, he just wanted assurance that he’d spend his prime years pitching in Chicago. The 6th pick overall in last year’s draft, O’Toole is 15-18 with a 3.56 ERA in his time here, but he’s durable and has a great four-pitch mix with good movement and control, so we’re glad to have him locked in at a rate that will look like a steal I’m sure in five years. May 19, 1959: Jim O’Toole (1-3, 3.47 ERA, 49.1 IP, 29 K’s, 1.30 WHIP), owner of his brand new contract, pitched today in Baltimore against Chuck Estrada (3-3, 3.63 ERA, 44.2 IP, 28 K’s, 1.54 WHIP). It was rainy and windy, but we fought them hard early and broke through with a sac-fly by Lollar in the sixth that scored Minoso to put us up 1-0. O’Toole had us locked in from there as he pitched a complete game four-hitter with a walk and two strikeouts, beating the Orioles 1-0! We outhit them 8-4, led by Minoso with a hit and a run and by Davis with a hit and a walk. Late in the afternoon we were able to put the final touches on Jack Kralick’s new contract, as the 23-year-old signed on to stay with us through 1968 ... He was already earning $75,000 this season, and has agreed to raises to $100,000 next year, $130,000 in 1961, $150,000 in 1962 and $180,000 in 1963. He’ll then earn $190,000 for the remainder of the deal, including a final option year in ’68 when he’ll be 33, with a $13,000 bonus if he wins a Cy Young, and $1,900 for any year he makes the All Star game.. He and O’Toole are our highest potential long-term starters, so I’m glad to have them locked in ... neither are on “no trade” clauses, either, which will give them good future trade value if free agency drives up pitcher prices in the near future as I’m expecting it will. We’re still working on a deal for Stan Williams, but his is not going to be nearly as expensive ... he’s young and talented, but is considered to be a mid-rotation starter at his best due to his reliance on his stuff over average control and middling ball movement ... he’s already a fan favorite, though, so we want to keep this young trio together. May 20, 1959: Stan Williams (1-3, 4.14 ERA, 37.0 IP, 32 K’s, 1.41 WHIP) pitched against Baltimore’s Dave Wickersham (3-5, 6.26 ERA, 50.1 IP, 24 K’s, 1.59 WHIP). We took the lead in the top of the fourth, Alou hitting an RBI double and Adair an RBI single to give us a 2-0 advantage. Baltimore got a run back in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI single by Rod Kanehl, but Williams held firm with a pair of K’s to get out of the inning. Jim Dewald took over in the bottom of the seventh still leading by a run, and with the bases loaded and one out he walked a run in to tie the game. With two outs he let Jerry Lumpe hit a two-run single for the lead, and we went into the top of the eighth trailing 4-2. Bill Fischer took over in the bottom of the eighth but it didn’t matter ... we hit nothing in the ninth and lost this one 4-2, Dewald getting rung up with the blown save and the loss, dropping to 0-3 with a 9.82 ERA, and he’s officially overmatched at this level. We’re going to send the 22-year-old down to AAA to re-discover his stuff, bringing up Garland Shifflett (1-2, 4 SV, 2.14 ERA, 21.0 IP, 19 K’s, 1.10 WHIP) to make his major league debut. May 21, 1959: Today we’re off for travel as we head for Kansas City, but we did finalize the contract for Stan Williams. He’s making $37,000 this year and will earn $36,000 next year, followed by $48,000 in 1961, $60,000 in 1962 and $75,000 in 1963. We’ll then be paying him $85,000 per year through the remainder of the deal which runs through 1968, with no added incentives. __________________ "Campus Chronicles" -- The Indiana Hoosiers in a New College World (An OOTP 27 Dynasty) Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Indianapolis Grays) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds) Last edited by jksander; 11-05-2024 at 01:26 PM.

11-06-2024, 11:23 AM	#111
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,932	May 22, 1959: The race right now in the AL is crazy tight. Cleveland (21-14) leads the way in a tie with Washington (23-16), while Boston (20-18, 2.5 GB), Baltimore (20-19, 3 GB) and New York (17-18, 4 GB) are right there in the fight, us straggling slightly behind in sixth place at 17-19, 4.5 games out of first and just four games out of last (Detroit, at 16-20, and Kansas City with their 18-23 record are the two stragglers). This all makes our series against KC this weekend all that more important ... we need to be able to beat the teams we should beat if we’re going to stay in contention and not just fall into obscurity in the league. Jack Kralick (4-3, 2.26 ERA, 55.2 IP, 31 K’s, 0.99 WHIP) pitched against Milt Pappas (2-5, 4.04 ERA, 62.1 IP, 45 K’s, 1.36 WHIP) in today’s game, and we took the lead in the top of the first, with Norm Siebern scoring after a throwing error while Willie Davis was stealing second! Siebern scored again with an RBI triple by Minoso in the top of the third, but Kansas City hit back in the bottom of the sixth with RBI singles by Sievers, Banks and Fairly in quick succession. With two outs and men on first and second in the bottom of the seventh, Garland Shiffflett came out with his upper-90s fastball hoping to get us out of the jam ... but a hit into left by Walt Bond drove in two more runs. Damn it! He got the final out by strikeout against Bob Lillis but the damage was done. He gave up three more in the eighth inning and we got creamed, losing 8-2. That’s not going to be his only chance during this call-up, but going 1.1 innings with three hits, two walks, three runs and three strikeouts certainly wasn’t an auspicious beginning. Kralick took the loss, though, going 6.2 innings with six hits, two walks, three strikeouts and five runs (three earned) against him and we were outhit 9-7, only Minoso (three hits and an RBI) looking particularly good. May 23, 1959: Billy Pierce (4-2, 1.75 ERA, 46.1 IP, 27 K’s, 1.10 WHIP) pitched against Kansas City’s Ron Negray (1-3, 5.59 ERA, 48.1 IP, 20 K’s, 1.43 WHIP). We again took a first inning lead, this time off a double by Kirkland, but Kansas City got five runs off Pierce in the first inning, so this one became a slugfest ... Gene Stephens hit a two-run homer to get us within two in the top of the second, and Pierce stayed out to clean up his own mess, though his margin for error was now much thinner. Thankfully we kept hitting, Stephens hitting a two-run single and Pierce adding an RBI single of his own to get us into the lead 6-5 in the middle of the third. Ron Fairly tied it up with a solo bomb in the bottom of the inning, and we got that run back in the top of the fifth thanks again to Pierce, who this time walked in a run with the bases loaded. I was going to let him stay out in the fifth, but he beaned Walt Bond in the leadoff spot and I’d had it ... get your s--- together, Pierce, you’re the VETERAN on this squad! Bob Rush came out with no outs, runner on first, and he immediately let them tie it up with a double by Banks, and this game’s gonna give me a stroke. He got three quick outs from there, but the game was now tied 7-7 heading into the top of the sixth. Rush being a long-reliever / spot starter, he did help us stabilize ourselves, getting through the sixth inning with three quick outs, pitching around a hit and a walk in the seventh to get us through that one as well. Still tied up in the eighth, we brought out Ron Wells, who got three outs off nine pitches in that inning as we continued to look for some runs on our end. Instead, Wells got us through the ninth and into extra innings thanks to a 5-4-3 double play off a Sievers grounder, and he got us through the 10th as well. Finally in the top of the 11th we broke through with an RBI single by Stephens, and Jerry Coleman reached on an error, driving in Felipe Alou to give us a two-run lead. Bobby Kuykendall came out for the save opportunity, getting his final out with runners on the corners when Crandall popped out to Lollar ... we’d held on and won a crazy one 9-7! Wells improved to 3-1 with a three-inning effort, allowing just one hit with a strikeout, improving his ERA to 2.79, while Kuykendall with his sixth save and just two hits against him improved his to 1.46 through 12.1 innings. We outhit Kansas City 12-10 in this one, led by a herculean performance from backup outfielder Gene Stephens, who hit four times and walked once, scoring two and driving in five. May 24, 1959: Jim O’Toole (2-3, 2.93 ERA, 58.1 IP, 31 K’s, 1.18 WHIP) pitched against Johnny Kucks (2-4, 5.78 ERA, 48.2 IP, 17 K’s, 1.50 WHIP) in our final game in Kansas City, We went up 3-0 quickly in the top of the first thanks to a two-run Davis double and an error that let Adair reach first, driving in a run via Davis. O’Toole got into a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the ninth, but we trusted him to get out of it since we still had the three-run lead, and he delivered ... Whitey Lockman popped out to right field and we won 3-0! O’Toole allowed just two hits with four walks and two strikeouts in the complete game shutout, giving him a 3-3 record and a 2.54 ERA, and we outhit them just 4-2 in this duel ... Willie Davis led the way with his one hit, one run and two RBIs. We have an off day for travel, and then finally get back to Kansas City, our record at 19-20 ... we’ve managed to go 12-10 in road games, and if we can start actually playing up to our potential at home, I think we can get back into the pennant chase. In the next two weeks we have a pair of games against Cleveland (24-15), three against Detroit (17-23) including a doubleheader, two against Kansas City (14-25), three against Baltimore (21-22) and four against Boston (21-20) including a doubleheader. May 26, 1959: Stan Williams (1-3, 3.77 ERA, 43.0 IP, 35 K’s, 1.40 WHIP) started against Cleveland’s Mike Garcia (5-3, 2.80 ERA, 70.2 IP, 44 K’s, 1.19 WHIP). Cleveland scored first with a sac-fly by Roger Maris in the top of the fifth pushing a run through, but we tied it up in the bottom of the sixth with a double by Siebern. Bill Fischer came out with one out and a man on third in the top of the seventh, and we were able to escape the jam with the score still tied. In the bottom half of the inning Fischer hit a two-run single to put us into the lead, and Siebern added on with another RBI single to make it a 4-1 lead. Maris led off with a solo homer in the top of the eighth, Garland Shifflett came in with two outs and men on second and third, getting the out to leave them both stranded. He pitched around a single baserunner in the top of the ninth to close it out as we won 4-2! Williams had a solid night with 6.1 innings and three hits, two walks, five strikeouts and a single unearned run, giving him a 3.28 ERA though the win went to Fischer who had two hits, a walk, a strikeout and an earned run in his 1.1 innings. Shifflett got his first save, allowing just one hit in his 1.1 innings, and we outhit Cleveland 9-6, led by Siebern with two hits and two critical RBIs. May 27, 1959: Jack Kralick (4-4, 2.45 ERA, 62.1 IP, 34 K’s, 1.01 WHIP) pitched against Dave Sisler (3-1, 2.89 ERA, 37.1 IP, 15 K’s, 1.31 WhiP) in our second of two games against the Guardians here at Comiskey. And we were never in this one, getting completely smacked around by the Guardians and losing 6-0. Kralick pitched eight innings with 11 hits, four walks, three strikeouts and five earned runs, falling to 4-5 with a 2.82 ERA, while Fischer mopped up the final inning with a hit and an earned run, increasing his ERA to 1.65. We were outhit 12-6, and only Bobby Morgan made it on base twice, with a hit and a walk. May 29, 1959: Billy Pierce (4-2, 2.86 ERA, 50.1 IP, 28 K’s, 1.17 WHIP) pitched against Detroit’s Bob Kuzawa (2-4, 3.86 ERA, 49.0 IP, 17 K’s, 1.51 WHIP). We took the lead in the bottom of the fourth off a sac-fly by Willie Davis, and it was lights out from there for our veteran pitcher. Pierce pitched a complete game shutout as we won the game 1-0, outhitting them in the duel by a 3-2 margin. Pierce improved to 5-2 with a three-hitter, walking two and sriking out four, and Davis led the way with his RBI via sacrifice. May 30, 1959: Today was a doubleheader against the Tigers, and in game one Chuck Stobbs (2-2, 1.72 ERA, 31.1 IP, 8 K’s, 1.53 WHIP) faced off against Tom Brewer (2-4, 4.09 ERA< 70.1 IP, 28 K’s, 1.29 WHIP). We went back and forth in this one, trading runs but trailing 4-3 after six solid innings for Stobbs. We tied it up with an RBI single by Adair in the bottom of the inning, and Bill Fischer took over in the top of the seventh, at which point we unleashed on Detroit, scoring three in the bottom of the inning to take a commanding lead as Willie Davis hit an RBI single and Alou added a two-run double. Kuykendall came out in the top of the ninth and, though he did give up a pair of runs, we escaped with a 7-6 win and that’s what counts as we try and claw our way back into the race. Fischer got the win, improving to 2-0 with a 1.47 ERA, and Kuykendall saved his seventh game, allowing two hits and two runs thanks to a Randy Jackson two-run homer. We matched them on hits, 11-11, led by Davis and Alou who each hit twice with a run and two RBIs. In the day’s second game, Jim O’Toole (3-3, 2.54 ERA< 67.1 IP, 33 K’s, 1.11 WHIP) pitched against Detroit’s Robin Roberts (2-1, 2.78 ERA, 35.2 IP, 5 K’s, 1.21 WHIP). Luis Aparicio led off with a solo homer in the bottom of the first and we added on with an RBI single by Willie Davis and an RBI double by Felipe Alou. Alou added another RBI single in the bottom of the third, and from there we cruised, with O’Toole pitching another complete game as we won 6-2! O’Toole is now 4-3 with a 2.48 ERA, allowing six hits and two earned runs with seven strikeouts as we outhit Detroit 7-6. Alou led the way this time with two hits, a run and two RBIs as we improved our record to 23-21, the win jumping us into a third place tie with the Yankees, just five games out of the top spot. May 31, 1959: Stan Williams (1-3, 3.28 ERA, 49.1 IP, 40 K’s, 1.32 WHIP) pitched against Kansas City’s Dean Stone (2-2, 4.54 ERA, 39.2 IP, 15 K’s, 1.49 WHIP). The A’s took the lead in the top of the second with a wild pitch, but we flipped it in the bottom of the inning with an RBI double by Minnie Minoso and an RBI single by Willie Davis. Bob Rush took over in the top of the sixth, still leading by a run, and he pitched the rest of the way as we shut Kansas City down 2-1. Williams got the win, improving to 2-3 with a 3.15 ERA, thanks to five innings with seven hits, a run and five strikeouts. We outhit the A’s 10-8, led by Minoso who hit twice for a run and an RBI. June 1, 1959: Jack Kralick (4-5, 2.82 ERA, 70.1 IP, 37 K’s, 1.11 WHIP) started against Milt Pappas (4-5, 3.40 ERA, 79.1 IP, 53 K’s, 1.29 WHIP). Bob Fischer came out in the top of the seventh trailing 3-0, but in the bottom of the seventh we got it all back with a two run single by Aparicio and an RBI single by Willie Kirkland! Fischer stayed out and got us through the eighth, and Ron Wells took over in the ninth, but he gave them the lead when a Phil Jantze sac-fly scored Cannizzario from third. In the bottom of the ninth with one out Willie Kirkland got on base with a single into right, and with two outs Alou hit one into right that rolled into the corner, but Kirkland tried to leg one out to third and got tagged with a throw from right field and we lost this one 4-3. Wells took the loss, falling to 3-2 with a 3.10 ERA thanks to a hit, two walks and a run with a single strikeout. We outhit them 13-6 and still screwed it up in the end, which is a frustrating way to lose a game. Kirkland led the way with two hits and an RBI, while Aparicio added a hit, a walk and two RBIs. June 2, 1959: Baltimore’s in town for three games before a four-game set this weekend against Boston, and we need all the wins we can get to keep our momentum. Billy Pierce (5-2, 2.43 ERA, 59.1 IP, 32 K’s, 1.08 WHIP) pitched against Ted Wills (2-2, 3.74 ERA, 65.0 IP, 40 K’s, 1.35 WHIP). And though we started slow and let Baltimore build a 2-1 lead in the sixth inning, we kept our cool and Gene Stephens got us tied up with an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth. Moments later we took the lead off a Bobby Morgan sac-fly, and Pierce held his ground in the ninth as we shut them down to win 3-2. Pierce pitched a complete game with three hits, four walks, four strikeouts and two earned runs, as we picked up eight hits ourselves -- Stephens led the way with two hits, a walk, a run and two RBIs. June 3, 1959: Chuck Stobbs (2-2, 2.41 ERA, 37.1 IP, 10 K’s, 1.61 WHIP) pitched in game two against the Orioles, facing Eli Grba (0-1, 3.95 ERA, 43.1 IP, 23 K’s, 1.27 WHIP), who the Orioles picked up in a trade last month from Cincinnati, so we haven’t seen him pitch yet this year. We figured him out in the bottom of the third, taking the lead with an RBI single by Aparicio and then adding on with a two-run single (aided by an E7 err0r) by Sherm Lollar. Stobbs scored on an RBI single by Aparicio and Siebern batted in another with a single to make it a 5-0 lead after four innings. We dominated the remainder, as Stobbs pitched a complete game and we won in a blowout 8-1! Stobbs improved to 3-2, allowing seven hits, two walks and an earned run with three strikeouts. We outhit the Orioles 15-7, led by Siebern with three hits, two runs and three RBIs. June 4, 1959: Jim O’Toole (4-3, 2.48 ERA, 76.1 IP, 40 K’s, 1.06 WHIP) has been on a tear lately, and he went up against Dave Wickersham (5-5, 5.11 ERA, 74.0 IP, 34 K’s, 1.41 WHIP) in today’s third game against the Orioles. We took the lead in the bottom of the first with an RBI single by Alou, but in the top of the third Baltimore struck back with a two-run single by Brooks Robinson to take the lead. Bill Fischer took over in the top of the seventh, and we traded two-run frames in the seventh, going into the eighth inning still trailing by a run, 4-3. Bob Rush came out to pitch and got us through the eighth and ninth, but we couldn’t get a run across in the bottom of the inning, losing this one 4-3 as we head into the four-game Boston series. O’Toole fell to 4-4 with a 2.51 ERA, allowing five hits, two walks and two earned runs in his six innings, striking out five. They outhit us 9-7, our team led by Alou with two hits and an RBI. We are currently 26-23 and sitting in third place, three games behind the second place Senators and a game and a half up on the fourth place Yankees. After this four-game set, we’ll have a day off before playing 20 of our last 27 re-All Star games on the road over a 27 day stretch. __________________ "Campus Chronicles" -- The Indiana Hoosiers in a New College World (An OOTP 27 Dynasty) Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Indianapolis Grays) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

11-13-2024, 06:24 PM	#114
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,932	July 9, 1959: Jim O’Toole (7-5, 2.56 ERA, 112.2 IP, 64 K’s, 1.15 WHIP) pitched against Cleveland’s ace Tom Cheney (6-2, 3.24 ERA, 116.2 IP, 63 K’s, 1.29 WHIP) in our first of two games against the league leaders. We took the lead in the bottom of the second, Ed Bailey scoring off a groundout by Norm Siebern after which Bobby Morgan hit an RBI single that drove home Felipe Alou. But in the top of the fifth after a solid start, O’Toole got knocked around for four Cleveland runs, and Bob Rush took over with two outs and a man on first trailing 4-2. Ed Bailey hit a solo homer to get us back within a run heading into the seventh inning, and Rush got us into the seventh inning stretch still trailing just four runs to three. Ron Wells took over in the top of the eighth, and he got us through that inning and the next, but we needed something offensively or it was all for naught ... and that didn’t happen. We went down one, two, three and lost this one 4-3, Cleveland continuing to be our kryptonite. O’Toole had his worst start of the season, only lasting 4.2 innings with seven hits and four earned runs, striking out five with three walks as he fell to 7-6 with a 2.76 ERA. Cleveland outhit us 9-6, Bailey leading the offense with a hit, a walk, two runs and an RBI. July 10, 1959: Jack Kralick (8-7, 2.72 ERA, 122.1 IP, 68 K’s, 1.10 WHIP) pitched against Hoyt Wilhelm (7-3, 3.61 ERA, 109.2 IP, 52 K’s, 1.25 WHIP) in our second game against the Guardians, and Cleveland got going with a solo homer in the top of the first by Rocky Colavito. We answered with another Ed Bailey solo bomb in the bottom of the fourth to tie it up, but Roger Maris got one out of the park in the top of the fifth to keep them ahead. Fred Green took over in the top of the sixth, and Ed Roebuck came out in the seventh still trailing by a run. In the bottom of the seventh we bounced back with a two-run triple by Roebuck, and in the top of the ninth Kuykendall came out to close it. We held our ground and came out of this with a 3-2 win to split the series, despite Cleveland outhitting us 7-6. Ed Roebuck got the win, improving to 2-0 with a two-inning effort, not allowing a single baserunner as he struck out a pair, and Kuykendall got his 14th save with a hit and two strikeouts. Roebuck led the offense as well, hitting once with two RBIs, giving him a .500 average since getting his call-up. July 11, 1959: We’ve got a single game against the A’s today followed by a doubleheader tomorrow, and so far this year we’ve had their number, winning nine times out of 13 attempts. Billy Pierce (7-5, 2.77 ERA, 107.1 IP, 60 K’s, 1.02 WHIP) got the start, facing Bob Blaylock (1-7, 5.53 ERA, 83.0 IP, 47 K’s, 1.42 WHIP), in front of a robust crowd of nearly 24,000 fans. They all got rewarded in the bottom of the third when Willie Davis hit a two-run homer to break the nil-nil stalemate, and moments later Ed Bailey hit a two-run blast to make it a 4-0 lead! They picked up a run in the fourth and a run in the fifth, but in the bottom of the fifth inning Willie Davis and Ed Bailey each hit solo homers to make it 6-2 White Sox. Pierce got us into the stretch leading 6-4, and Ron Wells came out to relieve him in the top of the eighth. In the bottom of the inning Kirkland batted in two runs with a groundball single, and a Coleman groundout scored Gene Stephens to extend our lead to five runs. Wells, who had only thrown three pitches in the eighth inning to get our three outs, stayed out in the ninth and shut them down completely as we won 9-4. Pierce won the game, improving to 8-5 with a 2.91 ERA, allowing nine hits and four earned runs with four strikeouts through seven innings, and Ron Wells got the two-inning save, allowing two hits. KC outhit us 11-10, but Willie Davis and Ed Bailey each had two homers tonight, and they had no answer for that. Bailey led the way with two hits, three runs and three RBIs, while Davis added his two hits, two runs and three RBIs to lead the offense.Bailey has stayed hot since coming to Chicago from Cincinnati, adding five homers for nine RBIs while hitting .308. July 12, 1959: Stan Williams (4-5, 3.56 ERA, 73.1 IP, 59 K’s, 1.32 WHIP) started game one against Milt Pappas (9-7, 3.56 ERA, 146.2 IP, 88 K’s, 1.36 WHIP). Willie Davis hit a solo homer in the bottom of the first to give us a quick lead, and we reamed them in the bottom of the second thanks to a Stan Williams RBI single and a three-run blast by Davis (his second game with two homers!) as we built a 5-0 lead. Williams hit an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth, and Davis grounded out to drive home Jerry Coleman to pile on. Minoso and Bailey hit back to back solo homers in the bottom of the fifth to make it a massive 9-0 blowout. Williams stayed out and completed the game as we smothered them defensively, winning 9-0. Williams allowed six hits and a walk with six strikeouts in his complete game, improving to 5-5 with a 3.17 ERA, while we outhit the A’s 12-6. Willie Davis led the way with two hits, two runs and five RBIs, hitting the 11th and 12th homeruns of his season. For game two, Chuck Stobbs (7-4, 1.90 ERA, 85.1 IP, 32 K’s, 1.30 WHIP) pitched against Dave Stone (2-8, 5.25 ERA, 82.1 IP, 34 K’s, 1.68 WHIP). Felipe Alou grounded out in the top of the first but drove home Luke Aparicio to get us the early lead, and once again we had a strong second inning, Willie Davis keeping his streak going with a two-run homer that followed an RBI single by Chuck Stobbs! Felipe Alou was injured in the top of the fifth, what appears to be a mild hamstring strain, as KC got on the board with an RBI single by Stone. Ed Roebuck came out to pitch in the top of the seventh leading 4-1, and in the bottom of the eighth we added on with a RBI single by Jerry Coleman. Roebuck closed it out as we beat the A’s 5-1 to complete back to back sweeps against the hapless club. Stobbs improved to 8-4, pitching six innings with five hits, a walk, two strikeouts and an earned run, while Roebuck earned his first save, allowing just three hits through three innings as he improved his ERA to 0.75 through six appearances. We outhit the A’s 10-8, led by Bobby Morgan with two hits and two runs, while Davis added his two RBIs off the homer, his third game in a row with at least one leaving the ballpark. I got word from Ed Bailey that he’s agreed to the contract we offered to keep the 28-year-old Gold Glover with us long term now that we made the trade to get him from the Reds. We’ll have him through 1964 when he’ll be 33 years old, and the catcher (who is earning $125,400) will get a big raise next year to $215,000. He’ll then get escalating raises yearly through 1964 when he’ll be making $300,000. He has a no-trade clause and would get bonuses of $3,600 for each all star appearance as well as $20,000 if he wins the AL MVP. We hit the road this week for three against Boston (35-51) and four against New York (50-35). The Yankees lead us by two games at the moment, and those four games at Yankee Stadium are going to be critical if we want to stay in the pennant race. July 14, 1959: Jim O’Toole (7-6, 2.76 ERA, 117.1 IP, 69 K’s, 1.19 WHIP) took on Frank Baumann (4-5, 3.73 ERA, 123.0 IP, 51 K’s, 1.35 WHIP) in our first of three against the Red Sox at Fenway. Gene Stephens hit an RBI single in the top of the second to put us into the lead, and in the top of the fifth we added some insurance with an RBI single by Willie Davis. Frank Baumann got the Red Sox on the board with an RBI single in the bottom of the inning, and Ron Wells took over for us in the bottom of the seventh still leading 2-1. Alas, he got blasted himself for three runs, thanks to an RBI single by Floyd Robinson and a two-run single by Ted Williams. Davis batted in another run with a double in the top of the eighth to cut the Sox’s lead to one, and Roebuck came out in the bottom of the inning to try and keep us in this one. But Ted Lepicio hit an RBI single to add on for Boston, and we only got one run back in the ninth, losing this game 5-4. Wells, with his third blown save, took the loss and fell to 5-3 with a 4.10 ERA, and we lost despite outhitting the Red Sox 9-8. Willie Davis hit twice with two RBIs to try and keep us fighting, but he’s only one man -- he’s got a really good head on his shoulders, but he chooses to lead with his bat rather than with his words. July 15, 1959: Josh Kralick (8-7, 2.76 ERA, 127.1 IP, 72 K’s, 1.12 WHIP) pitched against Mike Fornieles (7-9, 4.27 ERA, 111.2 IP, 52 K’s, 1.42 WHIP). We traded groundout scores in the first and second, going into the top of the fourth tied up 1-1. Alou got us the lead with an RBI triple, and Siebern singled him home to make it a 3-1 lead ... Boston got a run back in the bottom of the sixth, but we went into the stretch still leading by one, and Bill Fischer came out to pitch in the bottom of the inning. We came alive in the top of the eighth, Minoso leading off with a solo homer that was followed by us walking in two runs thanks to Bobby Morgan and Jerry Coleman. Fischer tried to stay out in the bottom of the ninth but gave up a pair, and we had to bring out Bob Rush with no outs to try and get us out of the jam, runners on first and second. He got two quick outs and then let Donn Clendenon hit an RBI single to cut our lead to one. Kuykendall came out with the lead at one, runners again on first and second, but Billy Klaus hit a slow bouncer to Kuykendall, who was slow on the throw to first ... bases loaded, and leadoff man Nellie Fox coming to the plate. He hit a solid shot into right, and it was all over ... two runs scored and we lost 7-6. That’s a game that’ll haunt you. Kuykendall wound up with the blown save, his fourth, but to be honest it all really fell on Fischer, who stayed out too long as we got cocky with the four-run lead. Rush took the loss, falling to 0-4 with a 3.66 ERA, thanks to a hit and two unearned runs, while Fischer, who had two innings of work, allowed three hits and three runs (one earned) with two strikeouts. Each team had 11 hits, ours led by Alou with three hits, three runs and an RBI, while Bailey had two hits, a walk and two runs. July 16, 1959: Billy Pierce (8-5, 2.91 ERA, 114.1 IP, 64 K’s, 1.04 WHIP) pitched against Bob Purkey (7-10, 4.60 ERA, 115.1 IP, 46 K’s, 1.31 WHIP) as we tried to get out of the city of Boston with at least one win from this series. Ted Williams hit Boston into the lead with an RBI double in the bottom of the first, but Minoso hit a two-run blast for us in the top of the fourth to take the lead ourselves. But Pierce got destroyed in the bottom of that inning, giving up four runs and shortening his night significantly as we dug ourselves a 5-2 hole. Minoso hit a solo bomb in the top of the sixth, his second of the game, to cut their lead to two with Fred Green coming out to pitch in the bottom of the sixth. In the top of the eighth an RBI double by Minoso and a sac-fly by Ed Bailey helped us tie it up 5-5, and Ed Roebuck took over with a chance for us to make a statement. Ron Wells pitched in the bottom of the ninth, still tied, and Boston had no interest in extra innings ... Harry Simpson hit a sac-fly with runners on first and third and they walked it off, Nellie Fox socring the go-ahead run as they swept us with a 6-5 win. Walls took the loss, falling to 5-4 as he got just one out for us, a hit, a walk and a run in his frame. But Boston outhit us all night, 10-6, and we had no business being in this one with a chance at extra innings. Minoso had us on his shoulders with three hits, three runs and four RBIs, and we’ll head into the Yankees series trying to shake off a losing streak as we now trail them by four games (though we’re still just 7.5 games back of first). July 17, 1959: Stan Williams (5-5, 3.17 ERA, 82.1 IP, 65 K’s, 1.26 WHIP) is coming off his best start of the year, and he got to face Billy O’Dell (11-6, 2.61 ERA, 148.1 IP, 84 K’s, 0.96 WHIP) in our first of four at Yankee Stadium. Norm Siebern hit a solo homer in the top of the second to give us a one run lead, but in the bottom of the fifth Al Smith hit a two-run double to put the Yankees back on top. But that lit a spark in us, apparently ... Minoso tied it up with a solo homer in the top of the sixth, Bobby Morgan then adding an RBI single that was followed with a Gene Stephens two-run triple to give us a 5-2 lead! Ed Roebuck came out with one out and Alvin Dark on first base in the bottom of the inning, getting out of the inning and stranding a pair as we held on to our lead. With two outs and Hank Bauer standing at first base in the bottom of the eighth we brought out Ron Wells ... a wild pitch and a single by Tony Kubek drove in a run for the Yankees, but Wells finally got us out of the inning with a strikeout by Yogi Berra. Leading by a pair heading into the bottom of the ninth, Kuykendall came out to face the top of their lineup. Aparicio botched a catch to allow Bobby Richardson to take first, which will be scored as an error. Al Smith grounded out to first, advancing the runner into scoring position, and we intentionally walked Mantle, UNINTENTIONALLY walking Woodie Held to load the goddamned bases. Alvin Dark walked in a run, but he got Charlie Maxwell to strike out swinging. That set up a matchup of Kuykendall vs. Kubek, three runners on base, two outs, a one-run lead in hand. Kubek hit a shot into right field, and that was all she wrote. We f---ed it up again, losing our fourth straight by a 6-5 margin. That’s Kuykendall’s fifth blown save, and this time he took the loss on his shoulders as well, falling to 2-3 with a 2.38 ERA ... he allowed a hit, walked three, struck out one and gave up three runs, all unearned. The Yankees outhit us 10-6, and Siebern led our batters with a hit, a walk, two runs and an RBI. Cleveland took a loss, so we remain 7.5 games back of first ... but Casey Stengel’s Yankees are making a real run here, they’re now just 2.5 games out of first and closing fast. July 18, 1959: Chuck Stobbs (8-4, 1.87 ERA, 91.1 IP, 34 K’s, 1.28 WHIP) pitched against Saul Rogovin (5-7, 4.43 ERA, 107.2 IP, 42 K’s, 1.28 WHIP) in what looked like a pretty even matchup overall despite the significant difference in ERAs. Minoso grounded out but allowed Aparicio to push us into the lead in the top of the first, but a Bobby Richardson RBI single tied it up in the bottom of the fifth. Minoso hit a sac-fly in the top of the sixth to score Willie Davis for the 2-1 lead, and we brought out Ron Wells to pitch in the bottom of the seventh still leading by a run. Bill Fischer took over in the bottom of the eighth with one out and men on first and second, and he stranded them both as we held on to the slim lead. Kuykendall came out in the bottom of the ninth with the lead unchanged, and once again we f---ed ourselves out of a win, when Bobby Richardson hit an RBI single that scored both Alvin Dark and Ed Charles, beating us 3-2. That’s Kuykendall’s sixth blown save and fourth loss, and though his ERA remains at 3.13, he’s walking way too many batters and his 1.87 WHIP is becoming highly disconcerting. Four of his last five appearances have now resulted in either a blown save, a loss, or both. But the Yankees outhit us 12-6 and we were playing with fire all night ... we’re brutal in close games, and that’s been all we’ve seen lately. Minoso led the way with two RBIs and no hits, while Willie Davis added a pair of hits and a run scored. Tomorrow we’ve got the doubleheader, with our two top starters good to go. We need our bats to help keep these games out of reach so we can take a little strain off the bullpen to not get stuck in another high leverage situation. Since our 5-1 win against Kansas City in the doubleheader on July 12th we’ve lost five in a row by one run margins ... but we’re still within 8.5 games of the pennant, and the season is far from being unsalvageable, we just need to find our mojo. July 19, 1959: Jim O’Toole (7-6, 2.70 ERA, 123.1 IP, 71 K’s, 1.18 WHIP) pitched against Mike McCormick (10-6, 3.18 ERA, 155.2 IP, 100 K’s, 1.36 WHIP) in the first game of today’s doubleheader, and Willie Davis scored off an RBI single by Aparicio to put us up 1-0 after half an inning. In the top of the fifth Felipe Alou hit an RBI double that scored Minoso and gave us a bit more room to breathe. In the top of the ninth Alou batted in Minoso again with an RBI single, and Ed Bailey scored off a walk by Jerry Coleman to give us a four-run lead. O’Toole stayed out to complete his game, and we won in a 4-0 shutout, snapping the streak and finally sloughing off a ton of negativity that had been swirling around us. O’Toole improved to 8-6 with his four-hit shutout, walking one and striking out four, and we outhit New York 9-4. Alou led the way with three hits and two RBIs, and he’s now hitting .330, tied with Davis as our two most consistent hitters. Jack Kralick (8-7, 2.77 ERA, 133.1 IP, 74 K’s, 1.11 WHIP) pitched against Vinegar Bend Mizell (11-6, 2.54 ERA, 149.0 IP, 88 K’s, 1.11 WHIP) in the second game of our afternoon, and we’d clearly awakened our bats -- in the top of the first Aparicio hit an RBI double which was followed by RBI singles by Minoso and Alou. Minoso scored our fourth run off a passed ball, and Joey Zimmerman hit an RBI single to make it 5-0 as we headed into the bottom of the first having batted around. New York got a run back in the bottom of the second when Vinegar Bend Mizell reached on an E5 error, allowing Kubek to score, but that was all they got this game. Kralick pitched a complete game six-hitter with three strikeouts and a run, and we were able to get out of New York with a 5-1 win and a split series! Kralick is now 9-7 with a 2.59 ERA, and we outhit New York 9-6, led by Alou who had two hits, a walk, a run and an RBI. With that doubleheader sweep, we head back to Chicago on a really solid note, with two weeks of home games on the slate. We’re 50-42, sitting in third place, four games behind New York and eight games back of Cleveland, with a one-game lead over fourth place Washington. We’ve got three against Boston (39-53), four aganst Baltimore (45-48), and then three against the Yankees (54-38) before playing Washington (49-43) for four. Hopefully we can draw good crowds and claw our way back into the heart of the pennant race with wins against some lower level teams we need to be able to dominate. __________________ "Campus Chronicles" -- The Indiana Hoosiers in a New College World (An OOTP 27 Dynasty) Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Indianapolis Grays) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

11-20-2024, 06:27 PM	#115
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,932	July 21, 1959: Billy Pierce (8-5, 3.17 ERA, 119.1 IP, 66 K’s, 1.09 WHIP) pitched against Mike Fornieles (7-9, 4.28 ERA, 117.2 IP, 55 K’s, 1.41 WHIP) today, and with the two doubleheader complete games and yesterday’s travel day our bullpen is completely rested. That didn’t help us when our bats were completely silent and Boston got out to a 3-0 lead after three innings. We finally got on the board in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI single by Gene Stephens, and Ed Bailey hit an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh to inch us back within a run. But Boston got a run in the top of the eighth off an RBI double by Willie Jones, bringing out Ed Roebuck with an out and a man in scoring position. He got us into the bottom of the inning trailing 4-2, and then through the ninth as well ... but we needed runs to make anything happen, and that didn’t seem to be in the cards tonight. They beat us 4-2, and Pierce took the loss, falling to 8-6 with ten hits, three strikeouts and four earned runs. We had ten hits ourselves, led by Gene Stephens who had three hits and an RBI. But Davis and Minoso combined for five hits to nowhere, which was a big reason we couldn’t string hits together. July 22, 1959: Stan Williams (5-5, 3.18 ERA, 87.2 IP, 68 K’s, 1.28 WHIP) pitched against Bob Purkey (7-10, 4.52 ERA, 123.1 IP, 47 K’s, 1.29 WHIP). Boston took control quickly after breaking a first inning tie (we’d tied it in the bottom of the first with a solo homer by Bailey) ... They’d score runs in the third, fourth and fifth to take a 5-1 lead on us, and Bill Fischer came out in the top of the seventh facing another rough situation. He got shelled in the eighth, Bob Rush taking over with the score 9-1, two outs, runner on first. Our offense took the day off and we lost 9-1, another humiliating loss as we continue to show signs of future greatness while falling on our faces in the present. Williams lasted six innings but allowed ten hits, a walk and five runs (four earned) with a single strikeout. We were outhit by a staggering 14-2 margin, and we only had three baseruners the entire game, making Bailey’s first-inning homer stand out all the more. July 23, 1959: Chuck Stobbs (8-4, 1.85 ERA, 97.1 IP, 35 K’s, 1.27 WHIP) pitched today against George Brunet (4-7, 3.78 ERA, 121.1 IP, 59 K’s, 1.46 WHIP). Ed Bailey hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the third to get us on the board, and Aparicio hit an RBI single in the fourth to add on. Ron Wells took over for Stobbs in the top of the eighth with two outs and a man on third, Boston having gotten a run back with an RBI double by Marty Keough. Kuykendall came out with the bases loaded and no outs in the bottom of the ninth, and he got rung up with three runs before finally getting us into the bottom of the ninth tied up 4-4 ... our bullpen continues to struggle even when handed big leads. This one went into extra innings, Kuykendall getting us through the 10th without conceding the lead. Bob Rush took over in the 11th, and in the bottom of the inning we walked it off with an Aparicio RBI single on two outs to take this one 5-4! Stobbs had given us 7.2 innings with eight hits, a walk, a run and five strikeouts, but Kuykendall blew his seventh save with two hits, two walks and a strikeout in his two innings (the runs all getting tagged to Wells, who had his seventh hold despite only getting one out). Bob Rush finally got a win, improving to 1-4 with a 3.52 ERA, allowing a hit and a walk with one strikeout in the 11th. Boston outhit us 12-7, but we managed to steal the win thanks to Siebern (two hits, a walk and a run) and Aparicio (two hits, a walk and two RBIs). July 24, 1959: Baltimore’s in town for four games, including a doubleheader this Sunday, and we need them all if we’re going to stay in the race, since they only trail us by 3.5 games ... we definitely don’t want to give the Orioles an opening. Jim O’Toole (8-6, 2.52 ERA, 132.1 IP, 75 K’s, 1.14 WHIP) got the start against Ted Wills (5-5, 4.13 ERA, 124.1 IP, 92 K’s, 1.39 WHIP). And this one featured next-to-no offense through much of the proceedings, as O’Toole got us into the seventh inning stretch still knotted up with nothing, just two hits and an error each. Bill Fischer took over in the top of the eighth, and he kept it that way through the inning, but we weren’t any luckier at finding a way to score, so Ron Wells came out to pitch in the top of the ninth, shutting them down quietly. With one out in the bottom of the ninth, Ed Bailey got himself a base hit and they walked Siebern to push Bailey into scoring position. That’s when Bobby Morgan hit a walk-off single into right field, driving in the winning run as we beat the Orioles 1-0! Wells took the win, improving to 6-4 with a 4.50 ERA ... we matched them 4-4 on hits, led by Bailey, who had two hits and a run scored. O’Toole was solid and set us up well for success, lasting seven innings with two hits, three walks and five strikeouts. July 25, 1959: Jack Kralick (9-7, 2.59 ERA, 142.1 IP, 77 K’s, 1.08 WHIP) pitched against Baltimore’s Ed Grba (2-3, 4.50 ERA, 42.0 IP, 21 K’s, 1.21 WHIP) in game two, and though the game started out similarly to yesterday, the offenses both took off in the fourth inning. Baltimore took the lead in the top of the fourth with a two-run single by Gus Bell, and then we answered with a two-run single in the bottom of the inning to tie it up, with Felipe Alou hitting an RBI single that scored Siebern from second to put us up 3-2! Bob Rush took over in the top of the sixth, and Ed Roebuck came out in the eighth with the score unchanged. With one out, a runner scored for Baltimore to tie it up thanks to a wild pitch, however, and they took the lead when Hal Smith hit an RBI single to put them up by a run. Roebuck got us out of the inning, but we suddenly had work to do following the blown save. Ron Wells took over in the top of the ninth, still trailing by a run, and with two outs they got another run to score thanks to a sac-fly by Preston Ward, and they added on with an RBI double by Jerry Lynch and an RBI triple by Wayne Cauey to put this one well out of reach. Wells couldn’t get that third out, and by the time he finally did we were in a five-run hole and ready to just get this one over with. They won with ease, 8-3, thanks to six unanswered runs in the final two innings. Roebuck blew his first save and took the loss, falling to 2-1 with a 1.89 ERA ... he allowed three hits and two earned runs. But Wells got even more banged up in garbage time, allowing four hits, two walks and four earned runs as his ERA exploded to 5.05 through 57.0 innings. They outhit us 14-8, our team led by Minoso with two hits and a run, and by Siebern with a hit , a run and two RBIs. July 26, 1959: Billy Pierce (8-6, 3.27 ERA, 126.2 IP, 69 K’s, 1.11 WHIP) pitched against Dave Wickersham (10-9, 3.62 ERA, 154.1 IP, 80 K’s, 1.28 WHIP) in the first game of today’s doubleheader against the Orioles, and they got the lead in the third with a groundout by Jerry Lumpe scoring a run by Jerry Lynch, adding on in the fourth with an RBI single by Lenny Green to lead 2-0. Bob Rush took over in the top of the sixth, and then we unleashed in the bottom of the inning, tying the score with a Bobby Morgan two-run double, taking the lead with a Rush RBI single, and then adding five more runs for good measure including a three-run homer by Willie Davis! We traded runs in the seventh, Bobby Fischer taking over in the top of the eighth, and we went on to win this one 9-4! Rush took the win, improving to 2-4 with a two inning performance (one hit, two walks, one strikeout and one earned run), improving his ERA to 3.44. We outhit Baltimore 12-8, led by Davis, who had two hits and three RBIs thanks to his 14th homer of the season. Stan Williams (5-6, 3.36 ERA, 93.2 IP, 69 K’s, 1.31 WHIP) pitched in game two, facing Glen Hobbie (10-6, 3.31 ERA, 147.0 IP, 82 K’s, 1.37 WHIP). We took the lead quickly in the bottom of the first thanks to a two-run single by Siebern and and RBI single by Bobby Morgan. But they scored four unanswered runs in the third and fourth innings, including an RBI triple and two RBI singles in the fourth, to retake the lead 4-3. Ed Roebuck took over in the top of the sixth, giving up another pair, and we brought out Kuykendall in the seventh and the game fell apart. They scored four on him in the inning, and this one became a rout ... Wells pitched the remainder, and we got one paltry run back in the bottom of the ninth, losing 10-4. This series wound up being a split one, and our performance was all over the charts in the four games. Stan Williams took the loss, falling to 5-7 with nine hits, two walks, four runs and three strikeouts in his five innings, and we were outhit 15-10. Minnie Minoso had a good night, hitting four times with a run scored, while Siebern did his level best with two hits, a walk and three RBIs. We’re off tomorrow for a travel day and then start a home stretch with three against the Yankees (57-41) and four against the Senators (51-48). We’ll then spend two weeks on the road playing Baltimore (50-50), Washington, Detroit (44-56) and Kansas City (33-66). __________________ "Campus Chronicles" -- The Indiana Hoosiers in a New College World (An OOTP 27 Dynasty) Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Indianapolis Grays) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

11-22-2024, 08:36 AM	#116
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,932	July 27, 1959: Chuck Stobbs has signed a four year extension worth $925,000 total to keep him in Chicago through his early 30’s. He’ll earn $200,000 next year, $225,000 in 1961, and then a quarter million per year in 1962 and 1963. He currently has an 8-4 record this season with a 1.80 ERA and nearly 2.0 total WAR. July 28, 1959: Chuck Stobbs (8-4, 1.80 ERA, 105.0 IP, 40 K’s, 1.27 WHIP) got the start today fresh off the signing of his extension, facing Yankees pitcher Billy O’Dell (11-6, 2.96 ERA, 161.1 IP, 90 K’s, 1.00 WHIP). We took the lead quickly, Minnie Minoso batting in a run with a double, followed by a Norm Siebern groundout that scored Aparicio, and Bobby Morgan reaching via error to drive in Minoso. Still leading 3-1 heading into the top of the sixth, Bob Rush took over on the mound, pitching two solid innings to get us into the bottom of the seventh, when Willie Davis hit a solo homer to extend our lead. But Rush stayed out too long, and with the bases loaded Bob Cerv hit a grand slam to punch us straight in the face. Bill Fischer came out with the lead now 5-4 for the Yankees, one out, getting us out of there without it getting worse, but our bats were silent in the bottom of the inning and they added on in the top of the ninth with an RBI single by Woodie Held. Incredibly we managed to load the bases in the bottom of the ninth thanks to a walk by Willie Davis, and with one out Luis Aparicio came to the plate ... he hit into a fielder’s choice and they got the out at home, keeping the bases loaded for Minnie Minoso, who popped out harmlessly ... game over, Yankees win it 6-4. Rush blew his first save of the year and took the loss, falling to 2-5 with a 3.86 ERA, allowing four hits, three walks and four earned runs through 2.1 innings. We outhit them 10-9, led by Davis with two hits, a walk, two runs and an RBI. July 29, 1959: Jim O’Toole (8-6, 2.39 ERA, 139.1 IP, 80 K’s, 1.12 WHIP) got the start in game two, facing Mike McCormick (10-8, 3.33 ERA, 170.1 IP, 107 K’s, 1.39 WHIP). This one was deadlocked until the bottom of the seventh when Gene Stephens hit an RBI single to put us up 1-0! Ed Roebuck took over in the top of the eighth, and of course he gave up the tying run to Lee Thomas, who scored off an RBI single by Bobby Richardson. Ron Wells took over in the top of the ninth, and this one went into extra innings. Bill Fischer took over in the top of the 12th, and Kuykendall came out in the top of the 15th with the score still unchanged. Our luck ran out in that frame, with Bobby Richardson hitting an RBI single to put the Yanks up by a run. But Whitey Ford came out in the bottom of the inning and got sloppy, loading the bases and walking in Norm Siebern to tie the score! Kuykendall took the count full and then struck out swinging so the game continued. We had runners on second and third with two outs in the bottom of the 17th, so we brought out Sherm Lollar to try and walk it off, but he popped out to right and we had to bring out Stan Williams to pitch in relief and get us out of this one. Williams got two quick outs and then allowed a double by Al Smith and a homer by Mantle to put the Yankees back on top by two. They flexed their muscles with back to back jacks when Willie Held added on, and at that point Williams completely melted down ... we should have kept Kuykendall out there despite his exhaustion, he could have pitched better than this. By the time Williams got the third out we were down by four, and it stayed that way, New York winning 6-2 in the 18th goddamned inning. Roebuck blew the save, his second, in the eighth inning, but Wells, Fischer and Kuykendall combined for nine innings with five hits, a walk, three strikeouts and a run. Williams then came out to take the loss, falling to 5-8 with a miserable inning ... five hits, a strikeout and four earned runs, three of them coming off homers. The Yankees outhit us 15-11, our offense led by Felipe Alou who had two hits, a walk and a run scored. Our pitching staff is worn down after that epic-length loss ... we’ve switched Stobbs and Williams in the starting rotation so Williams will get an extra day’s rest before pitching again, so Jim Donohue will get another chance to come up, replacing Don Bacon. July 30, 1959: Jack Kralick (9-7, 2.63 ERA, 147.1 IP, 78 K’s, 1.11 WHIP) pitched against Vinegar Bend Mizell (12-7, 2.71 ERA, 162.2 IP, 95 K’s, 1.14 WHIP). In another squeaker of a game, we took the lead in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI single by Aparicio, and Kralick was able to hold that lead through the eighth inning. But we were unable to add any offense in the bottom of the eighth, so Kralick stayed out to finish what he’d started. Mickey Mantle popped out to short for our final out, and we were able to get out of here with a 1-0 win. Kralick improved to 10-7 with the complete game two hit shutout, walking a pair and striking out six as we outhit New York 4-2. Aparicio’s hit and RBI in the sixth inning won it for us, with Coleman scoring the run on the ground. July 31, 1959: It’s trade deadline day and we’re staying quiet on our end. We have a four-game series against the Washington Senators this weekend, and then will hit the road to face two weeks of games against Baltimore, Washington, Detroit and Kansas City, all teams with records worse than ours so in theory we’ve got a great opportunity to make some upward moves. But Washington comes into this series trailing us just by half a game, and Baltimore’s only three games back, so there’s also a lot of room to lose ground if we don’t play smart baseball. Billy Pierce (8-6, 3.28 ERA, 131.2 IP, 74 K’s, 1.09 WHIP) pitched today against Washington’s Sal Maglie (4-9, 6.00 ERA, 111.0 IP, 51 K’s, 1.40 WHIP) who at 42 almost seems immortal out there on the mound. The runs came quick in the first inning, both teams scoring three each, and then they shut off like a spigot. Ed Roebuck came out in the top of the seventh, still knotted at 3-3, and Washington struck quickly with an Eddie Yost two-run homer to retake the lead. Ron Wells took over in the eighth still trailing by two, and he got us into the bottom of the ninth still trailing by the same ... but Willie Davis had himself a real hero moment, hitting a three-run walkoff homer in the bottom of the inning to give us a 6-5 win! That was the 19-year-old’s 16th homer of the season ... we outhit them 8-7 and his two hits, two runs and three RBIs easily led the night. Ron Wells improved to 7-4 with the win, his two innings with two hits, two walks and three strikeouts improving his ERA to 4.50 through 64 innings. August 1, 1959: Chuck Stobbs (8-4, 1.80 ERA, 110.0 IP, 42 K’s, 1.25 WHIP) pitched against Bob Veale (3-3, 4.92 ERA, 53.0 IP, 31 K’s, 1.64 WHIP). We scored three runs in the bottom of the first to take an early lead, but Stobbs allowed a pair of runs in each of the third and sixth innings to shoot the Senators back into the lead 4-3, thanks to a two-run homer by Tommy Davis in the third and a two-run homer by Gene Freese in the top of the sixth. Alou answered with a two-run homer of his own in the bottom of the sixth to give us back the lead, and Bill Fischer took over in the top of the seventh. Alou drove in another run with a sac-fly in the bottom of the eighth that was immediately followed by an RBI single by Siebern, giving us a three-run cushion when Kuykendall came out to pitch in the top of the ninth. He got us through, his first successful save since July 10, and we won this one 7-4! Stobbs got the win with six innings and four hits, a walk and four earned runs, striking out three as he improved to 9-4 with a 2.02 ERA. Fischer earned his ninth hold, while Kuykendall picked up his 15th save, a hit and a walk but no outs improving his ERA to 3.90 through 30 innings. August 2, 1959: It’s a doubleheader day, and we’ve got Stan Williams (5-8, 3.88 ERA, 99.2 IP, 73 K’s, 1.39 WHIP) trying to pitch his way out of a cold stretch in the first game. He faced Curt Simmons (3-1, 1 SV, 3.67 ERA, 56.1 IP, 29 Ks, 1.40 WHIP), and he had a 4-2 lead when we put Jim Donohue out there in the top of the sixth inning. Bob Rush took over in the seventh, and he got two outs into the eighth inning before giving up an RBI single to Tommy Davis that put runners on the corners. Ron Wells came out for the final out, hitting Fred Hatfield on the shoulder to load the bases, but he got Harmon Killebrew to hit harmlessly to left field to get us out of the inning with the lead still safe. In the bottom of the inning our bats came to life and we were able to turn this one from a brutally tight game into one we had all the momentum in. Ed Bailey scored on a single by Bobby Morgan, and Siebern tagged up and scored on a sac-fly by Ron Wells, with Aparicio then hitting a two-run line drive single to put us up by five runs! Wells stayed out to finish the final inning with three quick outs and we won this one 8-3. Williams got a much-needed win, improving to 6-8 with a 3.78 ERA ... he only allowed a hit, four walks and two runs (one earned) with three strikeouts in five innings. Donohue (1) and Rush (4) picked up holds, and Wells saved his third game of the season with 1.1 innings only marred by that one bean-ball in the eighth. We outhit Washington 12-3, led by Bobby Morgan who had three hits, three runs and two RBIs. Jim O’Toole (8-6, 2.28 ERA, 146.1 IP, 81 K’s, 1.09 WHIP) pitched in the day’s second game, facing Camilo Pascual (13-6, 3.22 ERA, 187.0 IP, 129 K’s, 1.28 WHIP). Again we got out to a fiery hot start, scoring three in the bottom of the first. Bill Fischer took over in the top of the eighth with the lead at 4-1, and after Gene Freese got them an RBI double in the eighth to cut our lead to two, Kuykendall came out to pich in the ninth to close things out. He did just that, getting three quick outs as we completed the four-game sweep, winning 4-2! O’Toole improved to 9-6 with seven innings and just four hits, four walks and an earned run, striking out two. Fischer earned his 10th hold of the season, and Kuykendall saved his 16th, striking out a batter and not allowing a single baserunner. They outhit us 6-5 in this one, but Siebern had two hits, a walk and two RBIs as we shut them down in the end. We improved to 58-48 with the win, getting back within 9.5 games of the Guardians, just three games behind the second-place Yankees. More importantly, we put some distance between ourselves and both Baltimore and Washington, with six games against those two teams coming on the road this week as we look to keep our winning streak going ... it now stands at five games. __________________ "Campus Chronicles" -- The Indiana Hoosiers in a New College World (An OOTP 27 Dynasty) Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Indianapolis Grays) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

11-24-2024, 07:58 PM	#117
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,932	August 4, 1959: Jack Kralick (10-7, 2.48 ERA, 156.1 IP, 84 K’s, 1.07 WHIP) got the start against Baltimore on the road, facing Eli Grba (3-3, 4.34 ERA, 87.0 IP, 41 K’s, 1.31 WHIP). We took the lead with an RBI double by Minoso, adding on via a groundout by Ed Bailey and a sac-fly by Bobby Morgan to lead 3-0 midway through the first. But they got all three runs back in the bottom of the second, and then we blasted them in the top of the third by getting six more of our own, turning this one into a slugfest. Kralick wound up holding tough for the remainder of the game as he completed what he started, and we won this game 9-5 to keep our streak alive. Kralick improved to 11-7 with a 10-hit complete game, with four walks, three strikeouts and five runs (four earned) as his ERA slipped slightly to 2.56. We narrowly outhit the Orioles 11-10, led by Minoso who hit twice with a walk, two runs and an RBI. August 5, 1959: Billy Pierce (8-6, 3.33 ERA, 137.2 IP, 78 K’s, 1.10 WHIP) started against Baltimore’s Glen Hobbie (11-7, 3.43 ERA, 160.0 IP, 89 K’s, 1.38 WHIP). Again we got out to a quick start, scoring off a groundout by Ed Bailey and then adding on with an RBI single by Siebern to go up 2-0 in the top of the first. Willie Davis hit a solo homer to lead off in the top of the third, and an RBI single by Siebern coupled with an E9 throwing error got our lead to four runs. The Orioles got a pair in the bottom of the fourth to get back into this one, and Bob Rush took over on the mound in the bottom of the sixth, with Ron Wells coming in for the seventh. Unfortunately he got shellacked, and by the time Bill Fischer was able to take the ball we were in a 6-4 hole out of nowhere, bases loaded, two outs. The game turned into a rout from there, seven runs scoring off five consecutive hits plus a throwing error, as Fischer proved fully incapable of getting that one f---ing out. By the time he did we trailed 13-4, the Orioles having reamed us for 11 runs in the frame. Jim Donohue came out for mop-up duty, and we lost in the end 13-6. Wells blew his fourth save and fell to 7-5, allowing three hits, four walks and seven earned runs, while Fischer contributed five hits and four runs (three earned). They outhit us 13-9, our team led by Minoso with three hits, a walk and two runs while Willie Davis added two hits, two runs and two RBIs. August 6, 1959: Chuck Stobbs (9-4, 2.02 ERA, 116.0 IP, 45 K’s, 1.23 WHIP) pitched against Ted Wills (5-7, 4.19 ERA, 144.0 IP, 108 K’s, 1.33 WHIP). For the third day in a row we got a quick top-of-the-first lead, this time getting a two-run homer by Ed Bailey to take that early lead. They got on the board with an RBI double by Wayne Causey in the bottom of the second, but we answered with six runs in the top of the third. They never closed the gap, and Stobbs pitched a complete game as we shut them down to win 9-2. Stobbs improved to 10-4 with a 2.02 ERA, allowing just six hits, two earned runs and striking out six to get there. We outhit Baltimore 14-6, led by Bailey who had two hits, a run and three RBIs. August 7, 1959: We took a quick drive from Baltimore to Washington to face the Senators, Stan Williams (6-8, 3.78 ERA, 104.2 IP, 76 K’s, 1.38 WHIP) facing the red-hot right-hander Camilo Pascual (13-7, 3.23 ERA, 195.0 IP, 131 K’s, 1.28 WHIP). Washington struck first, scoring thanks to a double by Willie McCovey in the bottom of the first, and when Bill Fischer took over in the bottom of the eighth we remained down by that one run. Fischer got destroyed in the bottom of that inning, giving up four runs, and we were shut out 5-0 in a game that Williams had worked his ass off to keep close. Instead, the 22-year-old got stuck with the loss, despite allowing just four hits, two walks and a run in his seven innings, striking out eight. Our bats did us no favors, as the Senators outhit us 9-3 ... none of them did anything of note in what was a truly disappointing loss. August 8, 1959: Jim O’Toole (9-6, 2.23 ERA, 153.1 IP, 83 K’s, 1.09 WHIP) started against Bill Stafford, their 19-year-old top 40 prospect who was making his major league debut. Washington took a three-run lead in the bottom of the first, and it looked grim until the top of the fifth when Sherm Lollar hit a two-run blast to get us back into the game. In the top of the seventh we tied it up with an RBI double by Bobby Morgan, taking the lead with an RBI single by Jerry Colleman and adding on with an RBI single by Willie Davis. With a 5-3 lead in hand, Bob Rush took over on the mound in the bottom of the seventh, but he choked, giving up three runs to shoot them back into the lead. Ed Roebuck came out in the eighth trailing by a run, and in the top of the ninth we picked up three runs to get back into the lead, tying it up with a walk by Aparicio and taking the lead off a two-run single by Felipe Alou. Roebuck stayed out to finish the game, and we won this game 8-6 after a true roller coaster ride to get there. Roebuck got the win, improving to 3-1 with a 3.38 ERA, walking one and striking out another in his two innings. We outhit Washington 11-8, led by Lollar, who had two hits, two runs and two RBIs including just his fourth homer of the season. August 9, 1959: Jack Kralick (11-7, 2.56 ERA, 165.1 IP, 87 K’s, 1.09 WHIP) started against Harold Larned (11-8, 3.13 ERA, 172.1 IP, 132 K’s, 1.35 WHIP). We took the lead in the top of the third with an RBI single by Luis Aparicio that scored Jack Kralick from second, and we added on two more in the top of the fourth thanks to an RBI triple by Siebern and a groundout by Bobby Morgan. Our bats stayed awake the rest of the game, adding on two in the sixth and three more in the seventh, and Kralick was able to stay out to complete his game as we won 8-1. Kralick, now 12-7 with a 2.48 ERA, allowed just seven hits, two walks and a run with four strikeouts as we outhit Washington 10-7 for the series win. Alou led the way with three hits and three runs scored, taking a walk as well. The win improved our record to 62-50, and we’re now within 3.5 games of New York, trailing the Guardians by 7.5 games. Washington and Baltimore now sit six and six-and-a-half games behind us respectively, and are all but out of the pennant picture at this point. We’re off tomorrow for a travel day, and then face Detroit (49-64) and Kansas City (40-73) for three apiece before heading back to Chicago to play Baltimore (57-57) for three, Washington (57-56) for two, New York (66-46) in a Sunday doubleheader, and then Boston (50-62) for two. We’ll then finish the month with a four-game set against the pennant-leading Guardians (70-43) in Cleveland. August 11, 1959: Billy Pierce (8-6, 3.34 ERA, 142.2 IP, 82 K’s, 1.11 WHIP) got the start today against Detroit’s Frank Sullivan (9-7, 4.55 ERA, 176.0 IP, 94 K’s, 1.35 WHIP). Detroit got going early, building a 3-1 lead on us through four innings, but Minoso hit a solo homer in the top of the sixth and Willie Davis hit a two-run double in the top of the seventh to send us into the stretch leading 5-3! Ed Roebuck took over on the mound with one out and a man on third in the bottom of the inning, and they got a run back off a groundout by Johnny Callison, and Randy Jackson hit a solo homer to tie it up. Norm Siebern hit a two-run homer to get us back into the lead in the top of the eighth, and Bob Rush took over in the bottom of the inning. Kuykendall took over in the bottom of the ninth, the lead still at two runs, and we held our ground to win 7-5! Roebuck blew his third save but came out of it with a win, improving to 4-1 with a 3.65 ERA, allowing a hit and an earned run. Rush got his sixth hold and Kuykendall earned save number 17, and we won despite Detroit outhitting us 10-8. Minoso led the way with two hits, two runs and two RBIs, while Davis had a hit, a walk, a run and two RBIs. August 12, 1959: Chuck Stobbs (10-4, 2.02 ERA, 125.0 IP, 51 K’s, 1.19 WHIP) pitched against Bob Shaw (7-11, 4.88 ERA, 184.1 IP, 80 K’s, 1.37 WHIP). We hammered them in the top of the second with five runs, including two-run singles by Coleman and Davis, and Stobbs added on with an RBI single in the top of the fourth to make it a six-run lead. Jim Donohue took over in the bottom of the eighth, leading 8-1, and he did well in that inning but got shelled in the ninth, giving up four runs. We brought out Kuykendall just get us out of the game, and we were able to stave them off to win 8-6 ... but that was closer than we wanted it to be. Stobbs’ win was safe -- he improved to 11-4 with a 1.98 ERA thanks to seven innings with six hits, six strikeouts and an earned run, and Kuykendall saved his 18th game by getting the final out on five pitches. We outhit them 9-8, led by Siebern, with two hits, two runs and an RBI, and by Davis who had a hit, a run and two RBIs. August 13, 1959: Stan Williams (6-9, 3.63 ERA, 111.2 IP, 84 K’s, 1.34 WHIP) pitched against Tom Brewer (9-11, 4.30 ERA, 178.0 IP, 78 K’s, 1.28 WHIP) in the final game of this series against the Tigers. And after five great innings from Williams, we picked up three runs off an Alou homer in the top of the sixth and we went to Fischer out of the pen in the bottom of the inning. Minnie Minoso hit a two-run blast in the top of the seventh and Ron Wells took over on the mound after the stretch, pitching the remainder of the way as we held the Tigers off to win 6-2 and complete the sweep! Williams got the win, improving to 7-9 with a 3.47 ERA, thanks to five innings with seven hits, a walk and four strikeouts. Fischer earned his 11th hold, and Wells hung on through three innings for his fourth save, allowing four hits, a walk and two earned runs with two strikeouts. We outhit them 13-12, led by Alou who had two hits, a run and three RBIs. With the three wins, we now are within two games of the Yankees, though the Guardians have not missed a step and remain 7.5 games up on us with a 73-43 record. We’ll take our five-game winning streak onward to Kansas City, where we have three games against the 40-76 Athletics before returning home for a decent stretch. August 14, 1959: Jim O’Toole (9-6, 2.32 ERA, 159.1 IP, 87 K’s, 1.10 WHIP) pitched against Milt Pappas (10-11, 4.13 ERA, 194.0 IP, 108 K’s, 1.39 WHIP). Minoso tripled in the top of the first and came around to score our first run with a single by Bailey, but Kansas City took the lead back in the bottom of the second with back to back RBI doubles by Donald Dantoni and Milt Pappas. O’Toole did not have a great night, and by the time we replaced him with Bob Rush in the bottom of the sixth we were in an 8-1 hole with just one out ... Rush gave up one more before getting us into the seventh inning, Bill Fischer took over after the seventh inning stretch, and we went on to lose badly, 9-3. O’Toole allowed 14 hits and eight earned runs in his 5.1 innings, deservedly taking the loss, and we were outhit 15-5. Ed Bailey, with a hit and two RBIs, was our only batter to come out of the game looking decent at all. August 15, 1959: Jack Kralick (12-7, 2.48 ERA, 174.1 IP, 91 K’s, 1.08 WHIP) pitched against Ron Negray (4-13, 4.89 ERA, 151.0 IP, 81 K’s, 1.42 WHIP). Ed Bailey hit an RBI triple to again give us a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, but Walt Bond hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning to put Kansas City into the lead. We answered in the top of the third with an RBI single by Minoso and a two-run homer by Bailey to put us back up 4-2, and Minoso hit an RBI single in the top of the fifth to add on. But in the bottom of the sixth the A’s hit three RBI singles to tie the game up, and Wells took over on the mound after the stretch, still tied up at 5-5. We unleashed in the top of the eighth, however, with Ed Bailey hitting a two-run homer (his second of the game!) and pitcher Ron Wells then hitting a GRAND SLAM to put us up by six, giving the 24-year-old his first career homer of any kind! He stayed out and pitched the remainder of the game, and we were able to win easily 11-6. Kralick had eight hits, four strikeouts and five earned runs in his six innings, but Wells got the win with three innings and just a hit and three strikeouts, improving his record to 8-5 with a 5.12 ERA. We outhit Kansas City 12-9, led by Ed Bailey with three hits, a walk, two runs and five RBIs, while Minoso added three hits, a walk, two runs and two RBIs. Wells’ four RBIs doubled his total for the year, and he’s hitting .172 through 34 plate appearances. August 16, 1959: Billy Pierce (8-6, 3.44 ERA, 149.0 IP, 89 K’s, 1.13 WHIP) started against Johnny Kucks (5-15, 5.76 ERA, 136.0 IP, 50 K’s, 1.54 WHIP). The A’s took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first thanks to an RBI double by Cookie Rojas, but Pierce was locked in the rest of the way, and in the top of the seventh we tied it up with an RBI single by Siebern, taking the lead when Minoso scored off a single by Bobby Morgan! Jerry Zimmerman bought us some insurance with a two-run single, and we led 4-1 going into the stretch. Pierce pitched the whole game, helping us hold them off 4-2 to take the win heading into our off day and the upcoming stretch of home games. He allowed just four hits, two walks and two earned runs, striking out five as he improved to 9-6 with a 3.36 ERA. We outhit Kansas City 7-4, led by Bobby Morgan who hit three times for a run and an RBI. With six weeks to go in the season we’ve got a 67-51 record, and are heading into a favorable stretch of home games -- three against Baltimore (59-59), two against Washington (59-59), a doubleheader against the Yankees (70-49), and a pair of games against Boston (53-65) before we get four on the road against the AL-leading Guardians (75-44). With just eight games left this year against the Guardians and four against the Yankees, those 12 games are likely to do more to decide our chances in the pennant race than any others with us currently sitting 7.5 games out of first. __________________ "Campus Chronicles" -- The Indiana Hoosiers in a New College World (An OOTP 27 Dynasty) Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Indianapolis Grays) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

11-26-2024, 08:36 AM	#118
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,932	August 18, 1959: Chuck Stobbs (11-4, 1.98 ERA, 132.0 IP, 57 K’s, 1.17 WHIP) took the mound against Baltimore’s Dave Wickersham (11-12, 4.05 ERA, 182.1 IP, 97 K’s, 1.41 WHIP). Minnie Minoso hit an RBI double in the bottom of the third to put us into the lead, and we traded runs in the fourth inning, retaking the lead with a solo homer by Norm Siebern. They answered with a two-run homer by Billy Williams in the top of the sixth, and with two outs they got another solo blast by Gus Triandos to give the Orioles a 4-2 lead. Ed Bailey scored off a single by Gene Stephens in the bottom of the inning to get us back within a run, and Stobbs gave up a leadoff triple in the seventh to force us to go to the pen. Bill Fischer took over, getting us out of the inning with just one run scored off that initial triple, and Ron Wells took over in the ninth still trailing by a pair. He got us into the bottom of the ninth with a chance -- Gene Stephens hit an RBI single into left as our leadoff hitter, and with two outs Sherm Lollar hit one through the gap to put Stephens in scoring position. But Aparicio struck out swinging and we lost this one 5-3. Stobbs took the loss, falling to 11-5 with a six inning eight hit effort, striking out two without a walk but allowing five earned runs. Baltimore outhit us 12-9, our bats led by Siebern who had two hits, a run and an RBI. August 19, 1959: Stan Williams (7-9, 3.47 ERA, 116.2 IP, 88 K’s, 1.35 WHIP) got the start today against Gaylord Perry (9-7, 3.99 ERA, 162.1 IP, 77 K’s, 1.32 WHIP), their 20-year-old wunderkind who was ranked as the #2 prospect in baseball this spring. We each scored a run in the first inning, but in the bottom of the second we broke it open, taking the lead with an RBI double by Coleman, adding an RBI double by Williams, and then silencing the fans completely with a three-run blast by Ed Bailey to give us a 6-1 lead! Ron Wells took over in the top of the eighth leading 7-2, and he gave us a great eighth inning but got roughed up to start the ninth ... Kuykendall came in with two outs and the bases loaded, with the lead suddenly sliced down to three runs, and he finished them off with a pop-out to left as we won 8-5. Stan Williams improved to 8-9 with a 3.35 ERA, allowing six hits, five strikeouts and two runs (one earned) through seven innings, with Kuykendall coming in for the save (his 19th), getting that last out with three pitches. Baltimore outhit us 11-9, but Bailey led the way with two hits, a run and three RBIs thanks to his 12th homer of the season which proved the difference. August 20, 1959: Jim O’Toole (9-7, 2.68 ERA, 164.2 IP, 88 K’s, 1.16 WHIP) got the start in our final game against the Orioles, challenging Ted Wills (6-8, 4.52 ERA, 153.1 IP, 114 K’s, 1.36 WHIP) from the mound. We took the lead in the bottom of the first when Norm Siebern scored off a fielder’s choice, and though that was all our bats gave us, it wound up being all we needed. O’Toole was locked in all the way and we held tough to win 1-0 as he pitched another complete game, this time a four-hit shutout with three walks and seven strikeouts! We outhit the Orioles 8-4, led by Siebern with a hit, two walks and the run scored, and our bullpen got to take a much-needed rest day. August 21, 1959: Jack Kralick (12-7, 2.65 ERA, 180.1 IP, 95 K’s, 1.09 WHIP) got the start against Bob Veale (4-4, 4.42 ERA, 71.1 IP, 43 K’s, 1.46 WHIP) as Washington made their way to Chicago. They scored two in the top of the first, but we got them back in the bottom of the third when Ed Bailey hit a two-run flyball single to tie it up. Kralick got blown up in the fifth inning, however, giving up four runs and having to be replaced by Bob Rush with two outs and a man on third. Rush avoided any further run scoring with a quick groundout to first, and Bailey batted in another run for us in the bottom of the fifth to cut their lead to three heading into the sixth ... but we’d dug a nice hole for ourselves that was going to be tough to get out of. It got worse when Rush gave up a pair in the sixth, and Donohue added to the tally against us with a run in the seventh. Bill Fischer came out in the top of the ninth with us trailing by four runs, and we’d go on to lose 9-6 in a game we by all accounts should have been much more competitive in. Kralick fell to 12-8, thanks to 4.2 innings with five hits, two walks and six earned runs, striking out four, and the Senators outhit us 10-9. Ed Bailey was a bright spot in the lineup, hitting twice with three RBIs, keeping his average at .319 through the season so far, while Davis (also hitting .319) added three hits, two runs and an RBI from the leadoff spot. August 22, 1959: In our second game of this two-game set against the Senators, Billy Pierce (9-6, 3.36 ERA, 158.0 IP, 94 K’s, 1.10 WHIP) pitched against Bill Stafford (0-1, 8.31 ERA, 8.2 IP, 4 K’s, 1.38 WHIP), their 20-year-old rookie pitcher who is ranked 30th nationally and who was their #2 pick overall in the 1956 draft. We traded runs in the first and second innings, and went into the top of the sixth still tied ... and again our starter got shelled, giving up four runs before we brought out Bill Fischer with an out and a man on first trailing 5-1. Felipe Alou hit a solo homer in the bottom of the seventh, and Bob Rush took over in the eighth trailing by three. Ed Roebuck got us through the ninth, but we weren’t able to get the runs back, losing 5-3 as we head into a doubleheader with the Yankees tomorrow. The timing for these two collapses is far from impeccable ... we’d pulled to within 6.5 games of Cleveland, and now are 8.5 back and looking like we’re not ready at all for the pressure of a pennant chase. Pierce took the loss, falling to 9-7 with an eight hit, three walk, five earned run game, and we were again outhit 11-5, our bats coming in muted and staying that way. Only Alou was unscathed, hitting three times with a run and an RBI, bringing his average up to .314. August 23, 1959: It’s a doubleheader day, one of just three of those remaining on our schedule this season. Chuck Stobbs (11-5, 2.22 ERA, 138.0 IP, 59 K’s, 1.18 WHIP) pitched in game one, facing the Yankees’ Saul Rogovin (9-8, 4.01 ERA, 152.2 IP, 63 K’s, 1.20 WHIP). And yet again our starter got destroyed early as our bats did next to nothing ... Rush took over in the fifth with one out and we were in a 10-0 hole, as Mickey Mantle had just bombed us with a three-runner out of left. Rush preserved the rest of our bullpen by staying out the rest of the way, but it was an embarrassing game all around as we got reamed 11-0 ... this season is slipping away from us after we’d fought hard to stay in the race. Stobbs fell to 11-6 with a brutal 4.1 inning effort, allowing 12 hits, four walks and 10 earned runs, his ERA exploding to 2.78. The Yankees outhit us 15-7, and none of our batters could make anything happen, even Alou who hit three times. Stan Williams (8-9, 3.35 ERA, 123.2 IP, 93 K’s, 1.33 WHIP pitched against Vinegar Bend Mizell (13-9, 2.74 ERA, 200.1 IP, 114 K’s, 1.16 WHIP) in game two, and we took the lead in the bottom of the first with an RBI single by Alou. We traded runs in the second and then scored three in the bottom of the third thanks to an RBI single by Morgan, a sac-fly by Coleman and a passed ball. Williams gave us a quality start, and Bill Fischer took over in the top of the seventh leading 6-1. Fischer pitched the remainder of the game and we held the Yankees off to snap the slide, winning the game 7-2. Williams got the win, improving to 9-9 with a 3.26 ERA, allowing just two hits, a walk and a run through six, with five K’s. Fischer then earned a three-inning save, his fourth, with five hits, a strikeout and an earned run. We outhit New York 13-7, led by Alou with three hits, two runs and an RBI. August 25, 1959: Jim O’Toole (10-7, 2.54 ERA, 173.2 IP, 95 K’s, 1.14 WHIP) pitched the first of our two games against Boston, battling Mike Fornieles (8-13, 4.67 ERA, 154.1 IP, 78 K’s, 1.49 WHIP). It was a close battle throughout, but O’Toole gave us eight great innings and Ron Wells helped finish it as we beat the Red Sox in the end 4-3. O’Toole allowed just six hits, two walks and three earned runs in his eight innings, and Wells earned his fifth save of the year with a hit and two K’s in the ninth. We matched them seven to seven on hits, Ed Bailey hitting a solo homer in the bottom of the seventh that won it for us. Coleman had two hits and a run scored, and Bailey finished with a hit, a walk, a run and an RBI thanks to his 14th homer of the year. August 26, 1959: Jack Kralick (12-8, 2.87 ERA, 185.0 IP, 99 K’s, 1.10 WHIP) got the start against Bill Wight (10-9, 2 SV, 4.05 ERA, 129.0 IP, 51 K’s, 1.46 WHIP) in the second game against Boston (and the last of this home stand). Ed Bailey stayed red hot, hitting his 15th homer since joining our team (a three-run slam!) to put us up 3-0 in the bottom of the first. Ron Wells took over in the top of the eighth leading by three, and Kuykendall came out in the ninth to seal it as we beat the Red Sox soundly 4-1. Kralick had six hits, three walks, three strikeouts and one earned run in his seven innings, Wells got his eighth hold of the year, and Kuykendall saved his 20th with just one hit and one strikeout in the ninth. They outhit us 8-7, but Bailey again won it for us with his three-run blast right at the beginning of the game. We have another off day tomorrow for travel, and then face our most important series of the season against the Cleveland Guardians ... four games including a Sunday doubleheader, as we trail New York by 3.5 games and the Guardians by 8.5. We’re calling up 27-year-old Bennie Daniels from AAA Indianapolis ... he’s got a 19-5 record with a 2.98 ERA, 131 K’s and a 1.22 WHIP through 208.1 innings, putting up 5.4 WAR at the AAA level. The 1956 NL Rookie of the Year hasn’t quite developed as many had expected, but he’s more than earned his shot to come in as a spot starter and key bullpen arm as we enter the season’s back stretch. August 28, 1959: Billy Pierce (9-7, 3.53 ERA, 163.1 IP, 98 K’s, 1.13 WHIP) pitched against Cleveland’s Mike “The Big Bear” Garcia (11-8, 3.29 ERA< 218.2 IP, 140 K’s, 1.28 WHIP) in the first of the four games in this series. We broke the stalemate in the top of the fourth with an RBI single by Alou, and Coleman hit one a few minutes later to extend our lead to 2-0. Ed Bailey hit a sac-fly that drove in another run in the top of the fifth, but Cleveland got on the board with a two-run homer by Rocky Colavito in the bottom of the inning to keep this battle close. We added on with a two-run single by Willie Davis in the top of the sixth, and Bill Fischer took over in the bottom of the inning, Ron Wells coming out to pitch in the seventh as we worked to hold the lead. With the lead still at three runs in the bottom of the eighth, Bennie Daniels came out for the first time this season, and it didn’t go to plan ... they picked up a pair of runs and Ed Roebuck came out with an out and Vic Power on second. They tied the score on an RBI single by Bobby Avila, but we didn’t let them take the lead. Bob Rush came out in the bottom of the ninth and got us into extra innings, and in the top of the 11th inning Luis Aparicio hit an RBI triple that scored Rush, giving us a one-run lead! Bobby Kuykendall came out to pitch in the bottom of the inning, shutting them down nicely as we won this one 6-5! Seven pitchers took the mound for us in this marathon, with Fischer (12), Wells (9) and Daniels (1) picking up holds ... Roebuck blew the save, his fourth, so Bob Rush (3-5, 3.72 ERA) took the win, with Kuykendall getting his 21st save with a walk and a strikeout in the 11th inning. We outhit Cleveland 12-8, led by Willie Davis with three hits, a run and two RBIs, and by Coleman who hit three times with a run and an RBI. August 29, 1959: Chuck Stobbs (11-6, 2.78 ERA, 142.1 IP, 60 K’s, 1.26 WHIP) had a rough outing his last start, so he’s ready to get that behind him as he faces off against Hoyt Wilhelm (14-4, 3.33 ERA, 167.2 IP, 81 K’s, 1.23 WHIP). Our bats got behind him in the top of the fourth as Bobby Morgan hit an RBI single and Jerry Coleman hit a two-run double to add on. They got a pair back in the bottom of the sixth, and Ron Wells came out to pitch in the bottom of the seventh still leading 3-2. Norm Cash tied it up for Cleveland in the bottom of the eighth with an RBI single, and Bob Rush came out in the bottom of the ninth but this time could not get us into extras -- George Crowe hit an RBI walk-off double to win it for the Guardians 4-3, with no outs for Rush in the inning. He took the loss, falling to 3-6 with a 3.83 ERA, but it was thanks to Wells’ fifth blown save of the year in a two inning effort, giving up two hits, a walk and an earned run. Our bats were not particularly effective, as we were outhit 10-5, which certainly did not do our pitchers any favors. Bobby Morgan led the pack with two hits, a run and an RBI. August 30, 1959: Doubleheader time! Cleveland, still leading by 8.5 games over us and four games over the Yankees, are firmly in the driver’s seat in the pennant race, though we’ve seen over the years that anything can and often will happen in this game. Stan Williams (9-9, 3.26 ERA, 129.2 IP, 98 K’s, 1.29 WHIP) pitched game one for us, facing Carl Erskine (10-9, 4.66 ERA, 148.2 IP, 70 K’s, 1.36 WHIP). Minoso hit a solo homer in the top of the first to put us on the board, his 21st homer of the season, but they tied it up with an RBI single by Colavito, so we answered with a Coleman homer in the top of the second to retake the lead, just the second time this year he’s gotten one out of the park. Aparicio hit a two-run blast in the top 0f the third to add on, and Minoso hit a sac-fly to score another in the fourth. The Guardians got a run each in the fourth and fifth to get back within a pair, and Ed Roebuck took over in the bottom of the sixth still leading 5-3. Bill Fischer took over in the bottom of the eighth, and it went as badly as it could have ... Roger Maris hit a three-run blast to put them ahead 6-5, and we couldn’t make it up in the ninth as we lost this one by a single run. BRUTAL ... That was Fisher’s first blown save of the year, and he took the loss, falling to 2-1 with a 3.16 ERA through 74 innings of work ... he got blown up for four hits and a walk to set up Maris for the power hit. We had 11 hits to match theirs, led by Luis Aparicio with two hits, a walk, a run and two RBIs. In game two Jim O’Toole (11-7, 2.58 ERA, 181.2 IP, 96 K’s, 1.13 WHIP) pitched against Ruben Gomez (6-7, 3.24 ERA, 119.1 IP, 38 K’s, 1.32 WHIP). Cleveland got a lead in the bottom of the first with a Colavito RBI double, but we tied it with an RBI single by Aparicio in the top of the third, scoring two more off an E8 error that put Minoso on base and then adding on with a sac-fly by Alou to lead 4-1 midway through the third. Bob Rush took over in the bottom of the eighth leading by four runs, and he got us through the remainder as we won this one 6-2, splitting the four-game series. O’Toole improved to 12-7 with a seven inning four hit, two walk, two run effort, striking out six, and we outhit the Guardians 11-5, led by Coleman with four hits and by Minoso with two hits, a run and two RBIs. We’re off tomorrow and will then start September on our field, with two against Detroit (56-75), three against Cleveland (83-49) and three against Kansas City (45-86), including a doubleheader on the 7th which will be our last two-gamer of the season. Our 74-57 record has us firmly in third place, four back of the Yankees and 8.5 behind the Guardians. __________________ "Campus Chronicles" -- The Indiana Hoosiers in a New College World (An OOTP 27 Dynasty) Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Indianapolis Grays) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds) Last edited by jksander; 11-26-2024 at 08:38 AM.

11-27-2024, 05:19 AM	#119
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,932	September 1, 1959: It’s time for September call-ups, with rosters expanding to a full 40-man contingent if a team so chooses. We’re calling up center fielder Lou Johnson, third baseman Daryl Spencer, first baseman Henry Chiti and a pair of relievers, Fred Green and Garland Shifflett from AAA, along with backup catcher Jim Pagliaroni, age 21, from AA, which brings our roster up to 31 players. This evening Jack Kralick (13-8, 2.81 ERA, 192.0 IP, 102 K’s, 1.11 WHIP) pitched against Detroit’s Frank Sullivan (10-9, 4.67 ERA, 208.0 IP, 107 K’s, 1.34 WHIP). Detroit drew first blood in the top of the first with a solo homer by Russ Snyder, but we tied it with a Kralick RBI single in the bottom of the second and then took the lead in the bottom of the third with a two-run single by Bobby Morgan. Ed Bailey hit a sac-fly to score a run in the bottom of the seventh, and an Alou RBI triple extended our lead to three runs heading into the top of the eighth. Kuykendall came out to pitch with one out and a man on first, and we added two more runs in the bottom of the inning, so he stayed out and shut them down again in the ninth as we won easily 7-2. Kralick improved to 14-8 with his 7.1 inning effort, allowing nine hits, two walks and two runs with two strikeouts, setting up Kuykendall for a 1.2 inning save, his 22nd of the year. He walked two and struck out two, improving his ERA to 3.22 through 36.1 innings. We outhit them 12-9, led by Alou who hit twice with a run and an RBI, while Kuykendall added a hit, a run and two RBIs with his two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth, his first four-bagger of the season! September 2, 1959: We’ve now won 75 games, and we’re on pace for our best season from a wins and losses standpoint since finishing 93-61 in 1955. That year we finished 2nd in the AL, and THAT hadn’t happened since 1922. We haven’t won a pennant since the Black Sox scandal broke in 1919, so our fans are definitely enjoying our solid improvements this year, though the hope is certainly there that we can find a way to climb back into this race and make a pennant push this year, rather than waiting for the new decade. Billy Pierce (9-7, 3.53 ERA, 168.1 IP, 100 K’s, 1.15 WHIP) got the start against Detroit’s Bob Shaw (8-14, 4.94 ERA, 211.1 IP, 92 K’s, 1.35 WHIP) this afternoon, and aside from the fourth inning (when both of our teams scored a pair each), this one was a real nailbiter. Unfortunately they got the lead in the top of the eighth with a two-run blast by Jim Greengrass that put them up 4-2, but Ed Roebuck came out and got us through the ninth and we tied it up in the bottom of the inning with a two-run double by Minnie Minoso that pushed us into extra innings! Ron Wells took over in the top of the 11th, and in the bottom of the inning with two outs and the bases loaded, Bobby Morgan walked it off with a single that scored Minoso, winning this one for us 5-4! Wells got the win, improving to 9-5 with a 5.02 ERA through 80.2 innings, and we outhit the Tigers 16-8 ... Morgan led the way with five hits and the winning run, an impressive showing for our second baseman who has been fighting his way out of a slump for a while now. Cleveland keeps on winning, so we’ve gained no ground on them ... we’ve got our last three games against them here at home this weekend, and it’s our big chance to keep our winning streak going and finally claw some games back in this race. September 4, 1959: Chuck Stobbs (11-6, 2.79 ERA, 148.1 IP, 63 K’s, 1.25 WHIP)) hasn’t won a game since the 12th of August, so he’s hopiong to end his cold snap with a good game against Hoyt Wilhelm (14-4, 3.25 ERA, 174.2 IP, 85 K’s, 1.23 WHIP). We went into the bottom of the fifth trailing the Guardians 2-1, but Minnie Minoso hit a three-run homer to shoot us cleanly into the lead, and when Garland Shifflett took over in the top of the seventh we led 6-2. Ed Roebuck took over in the top of the eighth, and Jim Donohue came out in the ninth with his power fastball, pitching around a leadoff single to get us out of the game with the 6-2 victory over our toughest opponent of the season. Stobbs got the win he needed, improving to 12-6 with a 2.80 ERA thanks to nine hits, five strikeouts and two earned runs in his six innings, and though they outhit us 10-8, Minoso led the way with a hit, two walks, two runs and three RBIs. September 5, 1959: Stan Williams (9-9, 3.27 ERA, 134.2 IP, 106 K’s, 1.31 WHIP) got the start against Carl Erskine (10-9, 4.75 ERA, 153.1 IP, 72 K’s, 1.38 WHIP). Bobby Morgan hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth to put us into the lead, and Siebern walked in a run to extend the lead in the bottom of the fifth. Ed Roebuck took over in the top of the seventh with a 4-0 lead, and he did well enough in that inning that we kept him out there in the eighth ... big mistake. Ron Wells came in with two outs and a man on, our lead cut down to a single run, and we were able to get out of the frame with the lead still safe, but this game was suddenly very much in play. Thankfully Wells pitched like a dream, and he got us through the top of the ninth unblemished as we held off the Guardians for another great win, this time 4-3! Williams improved to 10-9 with a 3.14 ERA, allowing just two hits and two walks with six strikeouts in his six innings. Wells saved his sixth game of the year with three strikeouts through 1.1 innings, and we outhit Cleveland 8-5, led by Aparicio with two hits, a run and an RBI. September 6, 1959: We’ve got two tight races going right now, with Cleveland now just three games up on New York and 6.5 games ahead of us; meanwhile in the National League, Pittsburgh (86-50) has just a two-game lead on St. Louis (84-53), with the LA Dodgers now eight games back and our reigning three-time champions from Milwaukee on the brink of elimination trailing by double digits. We have just two games left against the Yankees this year, both on the road, and one game left against Cleveland on the road after today (on September 22) ... but with the rest of our games against .500 teams (or worse ... still nine games left against the Tigers and A’s, along with two each against Washington, Baltimore and Boston) we’re in a really good position to backdoor our way into a pennant if we don’t screw up in the four head-to-head games. Jim O’Toole (12-7, 2.58 ERA, 188.2 IP, 102 K’s, 1.12 WHIP) got the start against Cleveland’s Tom Cheney (12-4, 3.13 ERA, 198.1 IP, 108 K’s, 1.31 WHIP. We each got a run in the first inning, but we added two off a homer by Davis in the bottom of the second to take a 3-1 lead! They tied it up in the top of the fourth, but we had an answer via Davis again in the bottom of the inning, taking the lead 4-3 off an RBI single. We added a run in the bottom of the fifth off a sac-fly by Morgan, and Bob Rush took over in the top of the seventh still leading 5-3. We traded runs in the seventh, Wells taking the mound in the eighth, and we picked up two insurance runs in the bottom of the inning, Wells holding the Guardians off in the ninth as we won 8-4 ... it’s a clean sweep! O’Toole kept our win streak going, improving to 13-7 with a 2.64 ERA thanks to six innings with nine hits, two walks, three earned runs and seven strikeouts. Rush got his seventh hold of the year and Wells his seventh save, and we were outhit 13-12 but made our hits count. Davis led the way with three hits, two runs and three RBIs as the near-consensus pick so far for Rookie of the Year. New York dropped another game, so we gained ground on both teams ... we now hold a 79-57 record, just 2.5 games behind the Yankees and 5.5 games behind the Guardians, our winning streak now at six games heading into three home games against the last-place Kansas City A’s and their 47-89 record. We’ll play two against them tomorrow as we look to keep to our winning ways. We’ll then hit the road for two against Washington (68-69), two against Baltimore (65-71), two against Boston (63-74) and two against the Yankees (82-55). We then return home for three against the Tigers (57-79), play our one remaining road game against Cleveland (85-52) and then finish the year out with three more against the Tigers. September 7, 1959: Josh Kralick (14-8, 2.80 ERA, 199.1 IP, 104 K’s, 1.12 WHIP) started in game one of today’s doubleheader against Kansas City, facing Ron Negray (6-15, 5.21 ERA, 178.0 IP, 94 K’s, 1.46 WHIP). We took the lead in the bottom of the first with a sac-fly by Ed Bailey that was coupled with an E7 error, and then added on with an RBI double by Felipe Alou. Jack Kralick hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the second to double our lead, and we piled on in the bottom of the third with an RBI single by Bailey, a two-run homer by Alou and an RBI single by Daryl Spencer. The rout was on from there -- Kralick pitched a complete game four-hit shutout and we slaughtered the A’s 15-0. Totally brutal all the way around. Kralick struck out 10 batters and threw 142 pitches, both season highs, and we outhit the A’s 17-4, led by Felipe Alou who hit three times with two runs and three RBIs. Billy Pierce (9-7, 3.57 ERA, 176.1 IP, 106 K’s, 1.14 WHIP) pitched against Bob Blaylock (4-10, 5.64 ERA, 137.1 IP, 79 K’s, 1.49 WHIP) in the day’s second game, and this time Kansas City got some offense going in the top of the first, with a two-run homer by Ernie Banks that gave the former “Mr. Cub” his 44th homer of the season. But we answered with RBI singles by Alou and Morgan to tie it up, and Daryl Spencer hit a sac-fly that scored Siebern to put us up 3-2 after one inning. The game became a hit-fest from there, with runs scoring left and right. Pierce came out in the top of the fourth with the score knotted up 5-5, Bill Bruton then hitting a sac-fly to put the A’s back up by a run. And they kept scoring ... Pierce didn’t get a single clean inning and we brought Bob Rush out in the top of the sixth trailing 7-5. Bill Fischer took over in the top of the eighth, but this was a slugfest we couldn’t win ... KC took the victory 9-7 in the end, and our winning streak came to an end. Pierce fell to 9-8 with a 3.77 ERA, allowing eight hits, three walks and seven runs (six earned) in his five innings, and the A’s outhit us 12-10. Bobby Morgan led the way with two hits, a run and four RBIs, while Willie Davis added three hits, a run and an RBI. Ernie Banks took his team on his shoulders, hitting five times including three homers (1st, 3rd and 5th), a single in the sixth and a triple in the eighth, scoring four runs and driving in five -- that fifth inning homer was the 250th of his career. And yet the team’s owners have not seen fit to offer him an extension, and the league’s most consistent slugger (and last year’s MVP) may find himself hitting the FA market in the fall. September 8, 1959: Chuck Stobbs (12-6, 2.80 ERA, 154.1 IP, 68 K’s, 1.26 WHIP) pitched against Mickey McDermott (4-1, 3 SV, 1.97 ERA, 68.2 IP, 33 K’s, 1.17 WHIP), who signed a minor league contract with a major league option three weeks ago with the A’s after being released by the Pittsburgh Pirates back on August 11. We took the lead in the bottom of the first with an RBI double by Minoso, scoring two more in the bottom of the third thanks to an RBI double by Siebern and a groundout by Morgan. We led 4-2 going into the bottom of the seventh, at which point we blew them out of the water with five quick runs and Stobbs held tough from there ... he completed the game and we won 9-5, taking the series win. Stobbs improved to 13-6 with a 2.92 ERA, allowing six hits, two walks and five runs with seven strikeouts, our team outslugging them 16-6. Alou led the way with three hits and two runs, while Morgan had a hit, a walk, a run and three RBIs. We’ve cut into the pennant lead, moving to within five games of Cleveland and 1.5 games of the Yankees, with our record now 81-58 as we head to Washington, Baltimore, Boston and New York for two games apiece. - - - - - SEPTEMBER 9, 1959 ... Kansas City Times, p.B1 Athletics Can’t Blame Gordon for Bailing, Lack Drive to Win by Alvin Reynolds, Sports Editor KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A great deal has been spoken and written this year about the exodus of former Athletics GM and Manager Eli Gordon after last year’s rough season; was he a carpetbagger leaving our small town for the “big money” White Sox, incapable of winning here so he went with the team with the biggest pockets? Or was his exit more emblematic of a crippling problem within our own organization? When Gordon arrived in Kansas City in 1955 he was a 26-year-old with big ambitions, and it has to be said -- for the most part he proved those ambitions to be reachable, and his skills impeccable. Early on he had to rely on the waiver wire for his big moves, but drafted well and seemingly positioned our club for long-term winning. He even managed to trade for Ernie Banks back in June of 1957, a move that helped the team gel around a strong core of hitting to make a real run in the standings. That year Banks hit 37 of his 49 homers in Kansas City, making a run at the MVP title -- the title he won in ’58 when he hit 53 homers and one the slugging crown over Mickey Mantle. So how did things go so wrong, so fast? Sure, our team underperformed last year, only winning 62 games even with Banks slugging like crazy. Had Gordon stayed, that was certainly going to be a topic of conversation, but the team did have the third best pick in the draft and a chance to sign Ron Santo ... who chose not to sign with the team after our owner, Richard Doyle, refused to sign on for his $30,000 bonus ask. Now he’s back at the University of Washington, and we’re looking at two picks in the top of the draft and the question -- is our owner even willing to pay small money now to lock in good players for this team’s future? Gordon can be faulted for cutting and running, if that’s how you want to see things. But with the league transitioning to a free-market for players after the Supreme Court’s ruling, it’s hard to see our Athletics as a team that can compete in the future of baseball. If ownership won’t pay small bonuses now to lock in a young phenom, how can we expect him to pay to keep the players we have? Case in point ... Ernie Banks, earning $130,000 this season, has now hit 250 homers and he’s only 28. He could be the face of this franchise for the next decade, and yet three weeks before the World Series, with our team mired in mediocrity, he’s likely headed for free agency. Are we going to accuse him of cutting and running? If A’s baseball is going to become more than a league laughingstock, things have to change from the top down. And right now I have to think we’re destined to remain in the bottom, while Gordon has his White Sox in a tight pennant race, with an owner who is willing to spend in a free market to bring in the players they need to compete in the new decade. Hats off to Gordon for at least trying in Kansas City. Now it’s up to the fans here to demand more from Athletics ownership, or maybe it’s time to turn our attention to luring in a professional football outfit. __________________ "Campus Chronicles" -- The Indiana Hoosiers in a New College World (An OOTP 27 Dynasty) Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Indianapolis Grays) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds) Last edited by jksander; 11-27-2024 at 06:38 AM.

11-27-2024, 08:03 AM	#120
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,932	September 10, 1959: Jim O’Toole (13-7, 2.64 ERA, 194.2 IP, 109 K’s, 1.15 WHIP) pitched against Bob Veale (5-5, 4.14 ERA, 95.2 IP, 62 K’s, 1.43 WHIP) in our second of two games against the Senators, and Ed Bailey hit a two-run blast in the top of the first to give us a lead. He hit a two-run double in the top of the third to add on, but O’Toole gave up four in the bottom of the third to let Washington tie it up, shades of yesterday repeating. Willie Davis tagged up and scored off a sac-fly by Alou in the top of the fifth to give us back the lead, but they answered to tie it back up in the bottom of the inning, so Luis Aparicio hit an RBI single that, coupled with an E7 error, allowed Davis to score and put us back up 6-5. I’d seen enough from O’Toole, who clearly did not have great stuff today ... Bill Fischer took over with the one-run lead in the bottom of the sixth, and Ron Wells came out in the seventh, holding it into the ninth inning, when he completed the three-inning save by holding them off to win 6-5! O’Toole allowed six hits and a walk with five runs (only one of them earned) as he took the win, improving to 14-7 with a 2.61 ERA. Fischer got his 13th hold of the year, and Wells saved his eighth game of the year with a three inning effort, walking one and striking out three without a hit. We outhit Washington 8-6, led by Bailey with two hits, a walk, a run and four RBIs, while Davis added three hits, two walks and four runs scored. The AL pennant race is now razor tight ... Cleveland still leads the Yankees by a game and a half, with an 86-55 record, but we’re closing fast in third, just 2.5 games behind New York and four behind the Guardians. Over in the NL it looks like Pittsburgh (90-51) is doing what they need to do, having extended their lead over St. Louis (84-57) to six games, the Dodgers (81-58) now trailing by eight. Cleveland has three head-to-head games with the Dodgers this weekend and just one against St. Louis on the 17th, all on the road, and their magic number is just eight, so they’ve got a really good chance to close this out and clinch within the next week if they can keep winning. Cleveland’s magic number in the AL is 13, and it seems likely our race will go down to the wire. *In contract news ahead of free agency, the big news is that Willie Mays officially signed on to stay with the Pirates!* The Giants had traded him to the Pirates back in November with one year left on his contract, and many had wondered if the Pirates were serious about keeping him and remaining long-term NL contenders. It turns out they were ... he was only getting $150,000 this season, but will get $200,000 next year, the first year of a seven-year $1.7 million contract that keeps him in Pittsburgh through a 1966 player option when Mays will be 35. Mays is hitting .343/.401/.646 this year for the Pirates with 27 doubles, 13 triples and 37 homers, batting in 111 runs and asserting himself as the all-but-guaranteed MVP of the National League ... if he wins it it’ll be his third MVP award, another jewel in what is a surefire Hall of Fame career. As of right now, Al Kaline in Detroit and Ernie Banks of the A’s are the two highest profile potential free agents of the upcoming class. Alongside Jim Piersall (Washington). Other various veterans will be available, but they’re the three who, if they do remain unsigned, have the potential to reset the league’s salary ceiling. September 11, 1959: Jack Kralick (15-8, 2.68 ERA, 208.1 IP, 114 K’s, 1.11 WHIP) got the start against Baltimore’s Roger Craig (0-0, 9.53 ERA, 5.2 IP, 4 K’s, 2.12 WHIP). Gus Bell hit a solo homer for the Orioles in the bottom of the first, but Ed Bailey hit one in the top of the fourth to tie it up. The game stayed locked up from there, and in the bottom of the ninth, still tied at 1-1, Kralick stayed out there and got us into extra innings. Bob Rush came out in the bottom of the 10th, and without getting an out, he let Jerry Lynch hit a line drive walk-off single as the Orioles stole this one 2-1. That’s a rough way to lose one, as Rush fell to 3-7 with a 3.92 ERA. Kralick pitched nine innings with six hits, a walk, three strikeouts and the one earned run, but our bats weren’t able to get him any help down the stretch. The Orioles outhit us 9-4, Stephens hitting twice but getting nowhere, Bailey’s homer our only offense. September 12, 1959: Billy Pierce (9-8, 3.77 ERA, 181.1 IP, 107 K’s, 1.17 WHIP) started against Dave Wickersham (12-14, 4.35 ERA, 107 K’s, 1.48 WHIP), and today we drew first blood, Ed Bailey hitting an RBI double that scored Minoso in the top of the first. Norm Siebern hit an RBI single in the top of the fifth and Bailey added another RBI single to give us a 3-0 lead midway through that inning. Pierce was injured, however, in the bottom of the sixth with the score 3-2 White Sox, no outs, runner on first. I’m told it’s a mild calf strain, won’t sideline him long, but it meant we had to bring out Bill Fischer earlier than planned. Ron Wells took over in the bottom of the eighth with the lead unchanged, but he had another really bad night ... the Orioles scored three on him, and we went into the top of the ninth trailing by a pair. Luckily for us, Bobby Morgan hit a two-run single to tie it up, and Ed Roebuck came out in the bottom of the inning to get us into extras again for the second day in a row. Garland Shifflett took over in the bottom of the 10th with his upper-90s fastball, but for the second night in a row we couldn’t stop their offense; Brooks Robinson led off with a solo homer and that was it, we lost this one 6-5. Baltimore outhit us 12-9, our bats led by Bailey who hit three times with two RBIs. Fisher had his 14th hold, Wells blew his sixth save, and Shifflett took the loss as he fell to 1-1 with an 8.38 ERA. The Yankees have now won four in a row, with their pitcher Mike McCormick throwing a no-hitter yesterday against Detroit at the age of 20! The Yankees drafted him back in 1955, taking him 15th overall, and through his first three seasons in the majors he’s got a 48-30 record with the no-hitter, two two-hitters and two three-hitters. New York now leads the Guardians by just half a game, with a doubleheader tomorrow against them tomorrow. We’re 4.5 games back and still in a good position, but we have to win close games like this if we’re gonna make a run. September 13, 1959: Chuck Stobbs (13-6, 2.92 ERA, 163.1 IP, 75 K’s, 1.24 WHIP) pitched against Boston’s Steve Ridzik (2-1, 3 SV, 3.89 ERA, 81.2 IP, 58 K’s, 1.35 WHIP) in our first of two games. Aparicio scored off a groundout by Minoso in the top of the first, but Boston scored three unanswered runs in the fourth and fifth to give them a 3-1 lead through five innings. We went into the top of the seventh trailing by four, but Siebern hit a solo homer and Daryl Spencer hit a two-run single to get us back within a run heading into the stretch. Wells took over for Stobbs in the bottom of the inning with two outs and nobody on, giving up back to back hits but escaping the inning without a run scoring. Bob Rush took over in the eighth, pitching around a Floyd Robinson double to keep us within the one run heading into the top of the ninth. With two outs, Bobby Morgan beat out an infield single to take first, but Gene Stephens struck out harmlessly and we lost another one-run game, this time 5-4. Stobbs fell to 13-7 with a 3.07 ERA, allowing 11 hits and five earned runs with a walk and two strikeouts in his 6.2 innings, but more critically we were outhit 14-6 which is unsustainable. Siebern led the offense with three hits, a run and an RBI, but our bats left our pitchers hung out to dry in yet another game where every hit counted. The Yankees and Guardians split their doubleheader, so New York maintained its half game lead. We’re now five game out with just 10 games remaining, including three head-to-heads against the league leaders (two against New York, one against Cleveland, all three on the road). September 14, 1959: Stan Williams (10-9, 3.54 ERA, 145.0 IP, 114 K’s, 1.32 WHIP) pitched against Boston’s Mike Fornieles (10-13, 4.34 ERA, 108.1 IP, 93 K’s, 1.43 WHIP). Boston took the lead in the bottom of the second with an RBI single by Fornieles, and they still held the same lead in the bottom of the sixth when we brought out Ed Roebuck to pitch. Fred Green took over in the seventh and Bill Fischer in the eighth, our bats completely failing to deliver. Still down just one run in the top of the ninth, the heart of our order went down one, two, three and we lost 1-0. This is an unbelievably frustrating losing streak as we head into New York, with four one-run losses in a row. We’ll need to be damned near perfect to find a way to claw our way back into this race. Williams took the loss and fell to 10-10, allowing three hits, three walks and an earned run in his five innings. They outhit us 5-4, nobody on offense doing anything worth noting. September 15, 1959: It’s all on the line heading into Yankee Stadium, with Jim O’Toole (14-7, 2.61 ERA, 199.2 IP, 112 K’s, 1.15 WHIP) pitching against Vinegar Bend Mizell (15-10, 2.95 ERA, 225.2 IP, 126 K’s, 1.21 WHIP). Our bats were awake at the start, Willie Davis giving us the lead in the top of the first off an RBI single by Aparicio that combined with an E8 error. Aparicio then scored off an RBI single by Bailey, and Gene Stephens hit another RBI single to give us a quick 3-0 lead. But New York tied it in the bottom of the inning with a two-run homer by Yogi Berra, they took the lead in the second with an RBI single by Tony Kubek, and we looked helpless from there. Trailing by a pair heading into the eighth, we got a run back thanks to Davis, who scored off a single by Minoso, but we gave them back two in the bottom of the inning and lost this one 7-4. I’d say it’s safe to say our playoff hopes are over. O’Toole took the loss and fell to 14-8, allowing seven hits and five earned runs with a walk and a strikeout through five innings. They outhit us 11-8, our team led by Aparicio who hit twice with a run and an RBI. September 16, 1959: Jack Kralick (15-8, 2.61 ERA, 217.1 IP, 117 K’s, 1.10 WHIP) faced Billy Hoeft (15-6, 3.26 ERA, 198.2 IP, 108 K’s, 1.30 WHIP) in our last game of the year against the Yankees, and Bobby Morgan hit a solo shot to put us up 1-0 in the top of the second. Felipe Alou hit a two-run homer in the top of the third to add on, but the Yankees then scored a run in the bottom of the inning and tied it up in the fourth with another two-run Berra blast. Luis Aparicio tagged up and scored off a sac-fly by Alou in the top of the seventh to give us the lead, Bob Rush taking over on the mound after the stretch. Rush got us through the inning, and though we still held a 4-3 lead after the seventh when the game was suspended due to bad weather, the game was not deemed finished, and we’ll have to resume tomorrow afternoon. September 17, 1959: In the top of the eighth inning, Whitey Ford came out to pitch for the Yankees, and with two outs and a man on second we got an RBI double off Davis, his 90th RBI of the season, extending our lead to 5-3! Bobby Kuykendall came out to pitch in the bottom of the eighth, and he got us through the remainder of the game as we held on to win 5-4. Kralick took the win, lasting six innings with four hits, two walks and three runs (two earned) with four strikeouts. Rush got his eighth hold, and Kuykendall pitched a two-inning save (his 23rd save of the year), improving his ERA to 3.29 through 38.1 innings. We outhit New York 12-5, Davis leading the way with three hits and his lead-extending RBI. The win got us back within 5.5 games of the lead, with New York still clinging to a half game lead on the Guardians. September 18, 1959: Chuck Stobbs (13-7, 3.07 ERA, 170.0 IP, 77 K’s, 1.26 WHIP) pitched against Detroit’s Bob Shaw (9-15, 4.67 ERA, 235.1 IP, 103 K’s, 1.33 WHIP) as we returned home for our final home-games of the season. We built a quiet 4-2 lead on them early in front of 25,000 of our biggest fans, Roebuck taking over for Stobbs in the top of the seventh. Kuykendall came out in the top of the ninth still leading by two, and we shut them down nicely, winning this one 4-2 to keep our slim hopes of a World Series alive with six games remaining. Stobbs improved to 14-7, allowing six hits, two walks and two runs in his six innings, with Roebuck earning his fourth hold and Kuykendall his 24th save. We matched them on hits, nine against nine, Minnie Minoso leading the way with two hits, a run and an RBI. September 19, 1959: Stan Williams (10-10, 3.48 ERA, 150.0 IP, 117 K’s, 1.32 WHIP) pitched against Tom Brewer (11-12, 3.91 ERA, 221.0 IP, 100 K’s, 1.26 WHIP). Detroit took a 3-0 lead in the top of the fifth, scoring off an RBI single by Tom Brewer and a two-run single by Don Blasingame. And it looked bleak for us, until the bottom of the eighth when all hell broke loose -- Willie Davis hit an RBI triple to get us on the board, Aparicio batted him home with a flyball double, and Minnie Minoso hit an RBI double to drive in Aparicio, tying the score! Gene Stephens then completed the comeback by walking in a run with the bases loaded, sending us into the top of the ninth leading by a run! Williams stayed out to complete the final frame and we won 4-3, completing his six hitter (with four walks, four strikeouts and three runs, only one of which was earned). We again matched them on hits, six to six, led by Willie Davis with a hit, a walk, a run and an RBI. September 20, 1959: Jim O’Toole (14-8, 2.77 ERA, 204.2 IP, 113 K’s, 1.16 WHIP) got the start against Bob Kuzawa (9-14, 4.44 ERA, 162.1 IP, 78 K’s, 1.50 WHIP) in our final home game of the season. Detroit took the lead in the top of the first via two groundouts and an RBI single, giving them a 3-0 advantage they held until the bottom of the third when we got a two-run single from Alou, a two-run double by Bobby Morgan and an RBI single by Gene Stephens to give us a 5-3 lead going into the fourth inning. Ed Roebuck took over for O’Toole in the top of the seventh leading 6-3, but he struggled and Wells had to dig him out of it to get us into the stretch leading by a much slimmer 6-5 margin. Wells did well in the eighth, but wound up blowing the save and taking the loss in the ninth when Bill Virdon hit a two-run double on two outs. We lost the game 7-6, and with it our chances of making the postseason. Wells’ seventh blown save led to his seventh loss despite us outhitting them 11-4. Stephens led the way with three hits and a run batted in. We’re officially eliminated from the race, with New York now running away with it -- they’re 91-58 with a 2.5 game lead on Cleveland, and their magic number is three. Incredibly, the NL race remains undecided as well ... Pittsburgh (93-56) leads by three games over the 90-59 Dodgers, with the Cardinals (87-61, 5.5 GB) now on the verge of elimination. Pittsburgh’s magic number is also three. Who will clinch first? __________________ "Campus Chronicles" -- The Indiana Hoosiers in a New College World (An OOTP 27 Dynasty) Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Indianapolis Grays) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)