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

jksander · 08-10-2024, 06:13 PM

“Ain’t Gonna Work
As Topping’s Farm No More”

What if, when the Athletics moved from Philly to Kansas City in ’55, the team didn’t become the unofficial AAAA farm team for the New York Yankees and Yankees’ president Dan Topping? No more collusion and sending all the best Athletics players to New York in exchange for the Yankees’ table scraps. Would the A’s have become a success in Kansas City before the eventual move to Oakland? I’m setting the game up in career mode, so players can get injured, sign with different teams, develop differently from the historical record, and I’ll be running the sim in challenge mode, with real minors using talent ratings and the OOTP development engine. An amateur draft will be held each year, with expansion / relocation held as it was in real life (same with financial settings). Scouting will be set for “Normal,” using a 1-100 ratings scale along with star ratings. Trading will be set as an 8 out of 10 on the “Normal to Hard” scale with my preference set to prefer prospects.

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March 30, 1955: Baseball fans are excited here in Kansas City, as the (formerly Philadelphia) Athletics are getting set to start their first season playing American League ball here in Missouri. Municipal Stadium will open its gates for the first time on April 12-13 with a pair of games against the Detroit Tigers, and while expectations are far from high -- the team’s best player looks to be Elmer Valo, a left-fielder who hasn’t hit above .250 since 1952 -- but the team does have some solid young players in their minor league system, and locals are happy to have an option to compete with the National League’s St. Louis Cardinals right here in our own backyard.

Team owner Richard Doyle recently announced the hiring of unproven 26-year-old GM / Manager Eli Gordon, who will be taking the helm of the team in its first season. Doyle, who is known to have a preference for young talent, spent the last four years as a scout with the Athletics’ minor league teams while they were in Philly, so he’ll be watched closely to see how he handles building this team from the ground up. It’s expected he’ll try to move aging players for prospects, but with the team already rumored to be nearly $70,000 in the red, his job is already a tough one if fans see the product on the field and decide it’s not worth their money.

OOC: Just noticed I originally mistitled the thread with Topper vs. Topping lol but at least you get the right joke when you click on the thread lol ...

jksander · 08-10-2024, 07:24 PM

April 3, 1955: Fans are already questioning Athletics leadership, as the team has made a trade to send their best player away for prospects and cash. The team sent Milwaukee 34-year-old veteran LF Elmer Valo, 31-year-old LF Gus Zernial and a no-name 19-year-old rookie named Paul Petrosky. In exchange they’ve received 23-year-old left hander Frank Torre, 23-year-old left-handed closer Marshall Bridges, 23-year-old right-handed starter Carl Willey and 25-year-old LF Chuck Tanner, along with $25,000 cash. Tanner, who hit .323 with 35 doubles, 12 triples and 20 homers for AA Atlanta, is going to make his debut as the left fielder for the A’s this spring. Willey, Bridgers and Torre, meanwhile, are all top-150 prospects, and the team now has just shy of $40,000 in cash flexibility as GM / Manager Eli Gordon builds his team ... clearly the rumors of his preference for youth were not exaggerated, but only time will tell if the move was a wise one.

April 11, 1955: The Athletics have announced their opening day roster ahead of tomorrow afternoon’s debut against the Tigers here at Memorial Stadium:

Lineup
C - Joe Astroth
1B - Vic Poster
2B - Jim Finigan
3B - Hector Lopez
SS - Joe DeMaestri
LF - Chuck Tanner
CF - Bill Wilson
RF - Joe Taylor

Bench
C - Billy Shantz
1B - Don Bollweg
1B - Dick Kryhoski
2B/3B/SS - Pete Slider
LF/RF - Bill Renna
LF - Russ Sullivan
CF - Jerry Scala

Starters
1 - Alex Kellner
2 - Arnie Portocarrero
3 - Bob Spicer
4 - Ray Herbert
5 - Walt Craddock

Bullpen
Stopper - Bobby Shantz
Setup - Tom Gorman
Middle - Art Ditmer, Sonny Dixon
Long - Charlie Bishop

Shantz and Gorman are expected to take on the lions share of early relief innings along with their middle relievers. All eyes will be on the team’s AAA bullpen, where Bill Harrington, Marion Fricano and Frank Torre will be pitching; either of the three could be expected to come up and fill the closer role if the need arises.

The team is also rumored to be in the running to sign free-agent shortstop Darryl Spencer, 26, who hasn’t played, majors or otherwise, since being drafted into the Army. If he’s signed, he could send Demaestri over to second base, but with the St. Louis Cardinals apparently bidding for his power from the plate, it’s considered highly unlikely that the A’s wind up winning his services.

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Edited because apparently when playing out games, there's no proper way during that era for the two-way player to actually hit and then transition to pitching. So I may call up an additional reliever in the future, but our CF will end up just playing CF.

jksander · 08-10-2024, 08:47 PM

April 12, 1955: About 12,500 fans showed up for opening day here in Kansas City as Alex Kellner faced off against the Tigers’ ace Billy Hoeft, the 22-year-old face of their pitching staff. And the fans who showed up got a hell of a show -- in the bottom of the first, Finigan, Power and Lopez got quick hits to load the bases, and with one out Joe Taylor hit a grand slam home run, putting us up 4-0! Joe DeMaestri hit an RBI single in the bottom of the third to extend the lead, and Kellner was phenomenal from the mound, allowing just three baserunners through the first six innings --- two off walks and one via hit-by-pitch. Joe Asteroth hit a shot into right that drove in another run in the bottom of the sixth to give us a six run advantage, and though Kellner did finally allow a hit in the top of the seventh, a single off the bat of Jim Delsing, he didn’t blink. In the end Kellner got us through eight innings in his debut, and with the lead unchanged we brought Tom Gorman in to pitch the final frame, getting the outs we needed to close out the 6-0 shutout win!

Kellner pitched eight innings with one hit, two walks and four strikeouts, throwing 122 pitches in a really solid debut. With his arm tiring, Gorman came in and put in the final three outs, striking out one without a hit. We outhit them 10-1 this afternoon, led by Joe Taylor with three hits, a run and the four RBIs all from his grand slam. Vic Power added two hits and two runs, while Hector Lopez added a hit, a walk and two runs.

April 13, 1955: It’s definitely going to take time to get the fans to see this team as a “must see” experience -- only about 7,500 were in the seats to see game two against the Tigers despite yesterday’s blowout win, to see 23-year-old Arnie Portocarrero pitch against Detroit’s Steve Gromek. The Tigers took the lead in the top of the second with a one-out RBI single that drove in a pair, but Joe DeMaestri hit an RBI double to get us on the board with one out in the bottom of the inning, and Jim Finigan hit an RBI single to tie the score and load the bases! We took the lead on a wild pitch, and Chuck Tanner drove in two more with a single to give us a 5-2 lead heading into the top of the third. But Portocarrero gave up a two-run homer to Ray Boone in the top of the third, struggling to find any real rhythm. Bill Tuttle tied it up with a homer of his own, and this game was just getting started. We loaded the bases in the bottom of the fourth, and Vic Power batted in two runs with a shot into right field, giving us back the lead!

Portocarrero settled down enough to get us through the fifth inning, but he gave up two hits back to back in the top of the sixth and we brought in Bobby Shantz from the pen -- Dick Marlowe flew out to left, but Harvey Kuenn singled to load the bases. Harris Fain then grounded into a fielder’s choice, Astroth making a great catch and hustling to home plate for the tag on the fielder’s choice. Al Kaline then flew out to short and we were able to get out of the jam without allowing any of Portocarrero’s runs to score -- Shantz had gotten three outs off just six pitches. Frank House got the Tigers a run back in the top of the eighth with an RBI single, and with two outs Shantz gave up an RBI double to Ferris Fain, tying the score again at seven runs apiece. Tom Gorman came in and kept the runner on second from scoring and we went into the bottom of the eighth all tied up. Hector Lopez hit a run-scoring triple to put us back up by a run, and Gorman stayed out to finish things off, pitching around a single to get us the 8-7 win!

Arnie Portocarrero lasted five innings but allowed seven hits for five runs (four earned) with two walks and two strikeouts, giving him a miserable 7.20 ERA to start out on the year. But he didn’t get the loss -- Shantz lasted 2.2 innings with three hits, a strikeout and two unearned runs so he gets a blown save, but Tom Gorman picked up the wn to improve to 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA through 2.1 innings -- he allowed a hit and nothing else. We won this slugfest with 12 hits to their 11, with leadoff man Jim Finigan hitting four times for two runs and an RBI ... he hit .556 against the Tigers in this two game set!

It’s nice to get a 2-0 start at home, but we’re about to get our first real test of the season ... a game against the White Sox tomorrow in Chicago, followed by two against Cleveland on the road this weekend. We’ll then return to Kansas City where we’ll play two against Cleveland (4/18-19), three against the White Sox (4/22-25), and then two each against Boston (4/26-27), the Yankees (4/28-29), Washington (5/1-2) and Baltimore (5/3-4) before spending most of the month of May on the road.

jksander · 08-10-2024, 10:16 PM

Definitely interested in any feedback on this one ... I got the idea while reading "Roger Maris: Baseball's Reluctant Hero" by Tom Clavin and Danny Peary.

jksander · 08-10-2024, 11:36 PM

April 14, 1955: Veteran pitcher Bob Spicer, who went 13-16 with a 3.08 ERA for us last year in Philly, took on Chicago’s Billy Pierce in our first game of the year in the Windy City. It was definitely an adjustment, with nearly 30,000 fans packed into Comiskey Park and making a lot more noise than we’ve had in either of our home starts. Both pitchers were locked in, and in the bottom of the fifth Spicer got out of his first real jam with runners on first and second, keeping the game scoreless with a pop-out to left as we came up to hit in the top of the sixth. DeMaestri led off with a single and they walked Spicer, giving us our first scoring chance as Finigan came up to the plate. They walked him too, loading the bases, and Tanner hit into a fielder’s choice that got DeMaestri out at home plate. Vic Power popped out to left, holding the runners, and Hector Lopez popped out to right ... three runners on, nobody scored. Astroth hit a triple with one out in the top of the seventh, and this time we made something happen -- Bill Wilson doubled in the run, and we took a 1-0 lead on the road. Vic Power hit a solo homer in the top of the eighth to add some insurance, but with Spicer in trouble in the bottom of the inning, we brought Gorman back out with one out and two in scoring position. A run scored on a pop-out to center by catcher Sherm Lollar, but we held our lead when shortstop Jim Brideweser popped out to right. Bill Wilson hit a towering homer out of left in the top of the ninth to extend our lead back to two runs, but Gorman struggled in the ninth. He gave up a run thanks to three consecutive hits and we had to bring out Ray Herbert from the bullpen for his first appearance ... no outs, men on first and second, and just a one-run lead. Nellie Fox sac-bunted the runners into scoring position, and then Jim Rivera batted in two runs with a walk-off single as we took our first loss of the year, 4-3.

Bob Spicer gave us 7.1 innings with six hits, two walks, two strikeouts and an earned run, and Gorman got us through the eighth and we should have taken that. Instead he gave up three hits and three earned runs thanks to his performance in the ninth, falling to 1-1 and dropping his ERA to 9.00. Herbert got us one out but gave up the hit that blew the save on just his second pitch of the night. Chicago outhit us 10-6, our team’s offense supported by Bill Wilson with two hits, a run and two RBIs, while our catcher Joe Astroth hit twice and scored a run.

Early losses like this one are hard to take, especially on the road, but if we can consider them learning experiences we’ll come out ahead in the end (or so you tend to hope). We’ll have a day off while we take the train to Detroit, where we have a pair of games this weekend through which to recover.

April 16, 1955: It was a cold grey afternoon in Detroit this afternoon when Walt Craddock faced off against the Tigers’ veteran pitcher Ned Garver in front of about 12,000 fans. The Tigers come into the game with a 1-3 record, still looking for their first win against us. Detroit scored first, thanks to an RBI single with two outs by Ned Garver in the bottom of the second, and it wasn’t until Vic Power hit an RBI single in the top of the seventh that we were able to even things up, though we were quick to capitalize on it ... Astroth hit an RBI single to give us a one-run lead, up 2-1 as we went into the stretch. Art Ditmar came out to pitch in the bottom of the seventh, getting two outs, but Al Kaline hit a two-run homer out of right that pushed home Harvey Kuenn (who had reached on a dropped throw earlier in the inning) and put the Tigers back up 3-2. Ditmar allowed another pair of runs to score with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, thanks to a double by Ned Garver, digging us a hole we were unlikely to get out of. We went down quietly in the ninth and lost this one 5-2.

Walt Craddock worked hard to keep the lead, lasting six innings with four hits, but he walked six against one strikeout and the one earned run, so he wasn’t able to go the distance. He’ll settle for a 1.50 ERA in his first start, while Ditmar pitched two innings with three hits, four runs (two earned) and a walk, blowing the save and starting out 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA after his first appearance.

April 17, 1955: Alex Kellner (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 8.0 IP, 4 K’s, 0.38 WHIP) started this afternoon in game two against the Tigers, facing Billy Hoeft (0-1, 9.00 ERA, 5.0 IP, 1 K, 2.60 WHIP). We committed two errors in the bottom of the first but avoided giving the Tigers a lead. We had a chance to score in the top of the third, but with runners on the corners, Al Kaline made a diving catch to snag a flyball from Chuck Tanner to end our inning scoreless. At that point Kellner started to struggle, giving up three hits in a row including an RBI single by Ray Boone that put the Tigers up a run, but he got through without further incident, keeping us at least theoretically in this game. But we’d need to get some hits ... and that didn’t seem to be in the cards. But we got something going in the sixth, Finigan singling and then Tanner driving him to third with a single of his own ... no outs! But we popped out harmlessly three times and were unable to score Finigan from third. What a waste. Jim Delsing hit a solo homer off Kellner in the bottom of the sixth to add insurance for Detroit, and a third run scored off a single by Hoeft when we should have been out of the inning (Wilson committed our third error moments prior with a poor catch at second on a fielder’s choice). Kellner got us out of the inning but trailing 3-0, and he was clearly done for the afternoon. Bobby Shantz came in to pitch for the seventh onward, and he pitched well, but we lost this one 3-0 thanks to a complete absense of offensive power, coupled with our three errors on defense.

Kellner fell to 1-1 with a 1.93 ERA, allowing nine hits with two walks, a strikeout and three earned runs. Shantz gave us two innings with just a pair of strikeouts, staying perfect through his first 4.2 innings of work out of the bullpen. We were only outhit 9-8, so this game was winnable if we hadn’t shot ourselves in the foot so often defensively. Finigan hit three times in the leadoff position and Astroth hit twice but we weren’t able to score anyone.

We head back to Kansas City with a 2-3 record, perfect still at home but winless on the road.

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The Kansas City Athletics have surprised most experts in the American League by coming out on top in the bidding for infielder Daryl Spencer and his power bat. The 26-year-old signed a one year contract worth $26,500 to play for the A’s. The team has also sent Don Bollweg down to AAA and called up Frank Torre as an extra arm out of the bullpen and as a pinch-hitting option. Spencer will be a utility infielder off the bench, as well as one of our best options as a pinch hitter and runner, but his ability as a defender is questionable (though if he is needed on defense it’ll be at second rather than at shortstop).

The team will host Cleveland (2-4) tomorrow and Tuesday, followed by a pair of off days before a three-game set this weekend against Chicago (4-1). Boston (3-4) and the Yankees (4-2) will follow the week after.

jksander · 08-11-2024, 04:30 PM

April 18, 1955: It was clear and cold this evening, but 8,100 fans braved the 44-degree temps and strong winds to see us play Cleveland here at Memorial Stadium for an 8:05 p.m. first pitch. Arnie Portocarrero (0-0, 7.20 ERA, 5.0 IP, 2 K’s, 1.80 WHIP) pitched against Cleveland’s Don “The Sphinx” Mossi (0-0, 1.29 ERA, 7.0 IP, 4 K’s, 0.71 WHIP). Cleveland scored first, a solo homer out of right that barely stayed fair in the top of the fourth by Dave Philley putting them up 1-0. With runners on the corners in the bottom of the inning and two outs against us, Joe Astroth hit an RBI single into left that scored Joe Maestri from third, advancing Vic Power to third as we tied it up. Bill Renna walked the bases loaded, but we weren’t able to get the go-ahead to score when Bill Wilson hit a blisteringly sharp flyball to center only to have Larry Doby catch it while in a spectacular slide. Mossi clearly was starting to tire, and we led off with a Portocarrero walk in the bottom of the fifth, Finigan hitting a line drive single to left that advanced Portocarrero to third, Finigan trailing him to second. But yet again we left runners in scoring position and failed to take the lead, sending us into the sixth inning knotted up 1-1.

Bobby Shantz came out of the bullpen with two outs and a man on first in the top of the sixth, striking out catcher Hank Foiles to bring us back up to hit. Mossi walked Joe Taylor, and Bill Renna singled him over to second base with one out, giving us a runner in scoring position and driving Mossi out of the game for Bill “Lefty” Wight out of their bullpen. Bobby Shantz walked the bases loaded, but Finigan struck out swinging and the game remained tied. In the bottom of the seventh, Joe DeMaestri led off with a single into left, and Vic Power batted him over to third with a single into center -- and this time we finally made it count, as Hector Lopez hit a three-run blast out of right to put us up 4-1, his first homer and the fourth player on our team to have one. We brought Art Ditmer out to protect the lead in the top of the eighth and he pitched around a single by Al Rosen to keep us up by three heading into the bottom of the eighth. He stayed out for the final inning and shut them down convincingly as we won this one 4-1 to remain undefeated at home!

Portocarrero gave us 5.2 innings with just three hits, three walks, two strikeouts and a single earned run, improving his ERA to 4.22, but he still hasn’t earned a decision. Instead it was Shantz who picked up the win, improving to 1-0 with a still-perfect 0.00 ERA, walking one and striking out a pair in his 1.1 innings of solid work. Ditmar then came in for the save, his first, allowing a hit and striking out one as his ERA improved to 4.50 through 4.0 innings this season. We outhit the Guardians 9-4 but it all came down to Lopez’s homer -- he led the way with two hits, a run and three RBIs, giving him four RBIs despite a slow start hitting just .167 so far through six games. Vic Power also had two hits, scoring a run and keeping his average at .360 so far.

April 19, 1955: In today’s afternoon game, Ray Herbert (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.1 IP, 0 K’s, 3.00 WHIP) pitched his first start of the year after closing out a losing effort out of the bullpen last week, facing Cleveland’s Mike “The Big Bear” Garcia (1-0, 4.50 ERA, 8.0 IP, 0 K’s, 1.62 WHIP). Our bullpen is mostly rested, with Ditmer and Shantz available as well at about 80-percent strength if needed thanks to the two off days we have coming up. Herbert did not have a great start early by any stretch, giving up three hits in a row including an RBI single by Larry Doby that put the Guardians ahead 1-0 in the top of the first, no outs. With the bases loaded he walked in a run by advancing Al Rosen, and then Vic Wertz hit an RBI single to drive in two more -- just like that we’re down 4-0 and he still hasn’t gotten an out. With Frank Torre warming up, George Strickland hit a triple that scored two more, and with two outs Al Smith doubled in a seventh run. That was enough for me -- Torre came in to pitch, getting us out of the inning without any further damage, but this game was officially done before it started ... Herbert had five hits and three walks for seven earned runs, and he’s absolute toast with a 63.00 ERA through a single inning through his first two appearances.

Vic Power got us on the board in the bottom of the second with an RBI single, and in the top of the top of the fourth we brought out Sonny Dixon for his season debut out of the pen, still trailing 7-1. Chuck Tanner led off with a triple in the bottom of the fourth, and Hector Lopez singled him home, cuting the deficit to five runs. In the bottom of the fifth, Hector Lopez walked the bases loaded, and Bill Wilson singled up the middle and through the gap, driving in a pair! We came up to hit in the bottom of the sixth just trailing by three runs, and Garcia walked Joe Astroth and Joe Maestri to start the inning ... but we weren’t able to score, Finigan hitting into a 4-6 double play off a line drive to end the inning. Sonny Dixon was incredible, staying out there to finish the seventh inning without anyone scoring, but in the top of the eighth an RBI single by Bobby Avila drove in the eighth run of the game for Cleveland, and we brought out Art Ditmer with loaded bases and one out to finish the game. He got out of the inning with two additional runs scoring as the Guardians increased their lead back to six runs. That’s where the game would stay, as the Guardians shut us down hard in a 10-4 blowout loss, but our bullpen did the best it could under the circumstances. This was our first truly “bad” loss of the year, and I’m sure it won’t be the last or the worst.

Frank Torre got us through 2.1 innings with one hit, three walks and four strikeouts -- he’ll be a great long reliever option once he gets better control of his arsenal. Sonny Dixon got blown up in the eighth, distorting things somewhat, but he threw 56 pitches through 4.1 innings of work, allowing three hits, two walks and three earned runs, also striking out four -- his 6.23 ERA is only representative of the fact that we kept him out for an inning too long in a blowout game. Ditmer then did what was needed to get us out of the game, pitching 1.2 innings with a hit and two walks to improve his ERA to 3.18. Cleveland outhit us 10-7, but Lopez hit twice with two walks, a run and an RBI, and Vic Power hit twice with an RBI.

If there was ever a good time for a bullpen game, this was it ... we have two days to rest, and we should be back at full strength when the White Sox come to town for a three-game set this weekend.

April 22, 1955: With the two days of extra rest, we’re able to go back to the top of our pitching rotation, which is good because our 3-4 Athletics are hosting the 6-1 White Sox for three games, with Chicago locked in a tie with the 7-2 Yankees for first in the AL. Alex Kellner (1-1, 1.93 ERA, 14.0 IP, 5 K’s, 1.00 WHIP) pitched against White Sox ace Connie Johnson (2-0, 4.32 ERA, 16.2 IP, 12 K’s, 1.14 WHIP) on another windy, ice cold night in Kansas City that was expected to favor the pitchers. But the White Sox wasted no time, loading the bases with one out in the top of the first, Kellner walking in a run to put them in the lead. They added a second when DeMaestri took too long on a throw to first, allowing Chico Carrasquel to eke out an RBI single, but with the bases still loaded Kellner got a pair of outs and got us out of the inning without it becoming a complete disaster. Finigan hit a single down the left field line that rolled into the corner, and he turned that into an RBI triple that scored a pair, tying things in the bottom of the third -- an RBI single by Joe Taylor then put us in the lead. A few minutes later Bill Wilson hit his second homer of the season, a three-run blast out of right that increased our lead to four runs, sending us into the top of the fourth leading 6-2. The Sox got two of those runs back in the top of the fifth with a homer by Minnie Minoso, but Kellner got us through without any further scoring. Kellner got into a jam in the top of the seventh, putting runners on the corners without an out, but he got out of it with three quick outs to maintain our lead into the stretch! Bobby Shantz came out to pitch in the top of the eighth, our boys still leading by a pair of runs, and in the bottom of the inning we loaded the bases, Bill Wilson walking in an insurance run, Joe Astroth singling in two more to pile on. Shantz made it official with a quick finish in the top of the ninth as we stunned the White Sox with a 9-4 blowout win!

Alex Kellner overcame a rough first inning, giving us seven innings in the end with eight hits, three walks and four earned runs ... he didn’t strike anyone out, but he made great use of soft contact into the swirling winds, improving to 2-1 with a 3.00 ERA. Bobby Shantz picked up his first save, pitching two frames with no hits and two strikeouts, keeping his ERA unblemished through eight innings over four appearances. Chicago actually outhit us 8-7, but we were led by Bobby Wilson with a hit, a walk, two runs and four RBIs. Finigan led off with a hit, a run and two RBIs, and Joe Taylor added two hits, two runs and an RBI. It was a great team effort, with that six-run third inning proving to be the real clincher.

April 23, 1955: Arnie Portocarrero (0-0, 4.22 ERA, 10.2 IP, 4 K’s, 1.41 WHIP) pitched against Virgil “Fire” Trucks (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 7.1 IP, 9 K’s, 0.95 WHIP) on a warmer clear afternoon ... temps nearly 60 degrees with win blowing out to left at 10 miles per hour, perfect hitting weather. Finigan led off with a triple in the bottom of the first, and with one out Chuck Tanner drove him home with an RBI single to give us an early lead. Bill Wilson reached first on an E5 error, driving in a second run and we went into the top of the second leading 2-0. We loaded the bases in the bottom of the third but left all our runners stranded when Chico Carrasquel made a great reaching catch to prevent the ball from going into center field ... that would have easily scored two if he’d missed. DiMaestri doubled to lead off the bottom of the fourth but we weren’t able to advance him, keeping the lead at 2-0 heading into the top of the fifth. Bill Wilson hit his third homer of the season in the bottom of the fifth to buy us some insurance, but in the top of the eighth Portocarrero got into trouble, giving up three hits including an RBI single by Bob Nieman, cutting our lead to two and bringing out Tom Gorman from the bullpen. Nellie Fox hit into a fielder’s choice for the first out, but drove in a run to cut our lead to two, but with runners on the corners Dixie Howell hit into a fielder’s choice and we got the out at first to end the inning still ahead. Bobby Shantz came out in the top of the ninth with the one run lead, and despite beaning a batter to start the inning, he got three quick outs to end this as a 3-2 victory!

Arnie Portocarrero improved to 1-0 with a 3.57 ERA, allowing eight hits and two earned runs with one strikeout and no walks in a seven inning effort. Gorman came out for his second hold of the season, allowing one hit and improving his ERA to 6.75, while Shantz continues to be unstoppable -- he closed the game out without a hit, earning his second save and giving him a perfect ERA through a full game of pitching. Chicago outhit us again 9-7, but six batters hit in the game for us, led by DiMaestri with two hits and Bill Wilson with a hit, a run and two RBIs. With a double and three homers, he leads the team with a .594 slugging percentage and more than half a game worth of WAR through his first nine games and 32 at-bats.

April 24, 1955: It’s our final game against the White Sox here in Kansas City, and the wind’s blowing in from left with clear skies again, drawing more than 8,500 fans out to see Bob Spicer (0-0, 1.23 ERA, 7.1 IP, 2 K’s, 1.09 WHIP) pitch against Dick Donovan, who is making his debut for the White Sox this afternoon. Spicer led off with a single in the bottom of the third, and he came around to score when Jim Finigan hit his first homer of the season to put us in the lead 2-0! The White Sox got on the board in the top of the fourth with an RBI double by Walt Dropo, but their next two batters struck out swinging and we got out of the inning with the lead intact. Finigan hit his second homer of the game in the bottom of the first to expand our lead to 3-1, and we brought Sonny Dixon out with one out and men on first and second in the top of the sixth -- Dick Donovan hit an RBI double to cut the lead in half, and a flustered Dixon hit Nellie Fox with a curveball to load the bases. But Jim Rivera hit one straight to Lopez at third for an out that held all the runners. The tying run came in with an RBI single by Minnie Minoso, but we got the final out on a fielder’s choice throw to second and went into the bottom of the inning tied at 3-3. Once again Spicer won’t get a decision, though Dixon blew his first save of the year. Frank Torre came in to pitch in the top of the seventh, and he was still killing it in the top of the ninth when, with one out, Sherm Lollar hit a two-run blast out of left that left our fans stunned to silence. Torre got us out of the inning trailing by two, but in the bottom of the inning we needed some serious runs if we wanted to get out of this with the sweep. It wasn’t in the cards tonight, we went three up, three down in the bottom frame and lost this one 5-3. But we took the series two wins to one, and head into our next series with a 5-5 record.

Bob Spicer lasted 5.1 innings but allowed eight hits with a walk, six strikeouts and three earned runs, giving him a 2.84 ERA through his first two starts. Sonny Dixon got us two outs but blew the save opportunity, allowing two hits but no runs, improving his ERA to 5.40, while Torre then went three innings with three hits, a walk, three strikeouts and two earned runs. He’s now 0-1 with a 3.38 ERA after 5.1 innings in two appearances out of the bullpen. But we had this coming, with Chicago outhitting us for the third day in a row by a 13-8 margin ... Finigan led the way with three hits, two runs and three RBIs thanks to his two homer night, but it was our grit alone that allowed us to win this series when Chicago clearly outplayed us all weekend.

We’re off tomorrow and then will play two games against Boston (7-7) and two against the Yankees, who currently lead the AL by a full game with their 9-3 record.

April 25, 1955: The Athletics have made a move to add a defensive utility infielder to the mix, sending 24-year-old catcher prospect Hal Bevan, 22-year-old LF prospect Bill Kern and 21-year-old pitching prospect Ken Johnson to the Cincinnati Redlegs in exchange for 27-year-old Rocky Bridges, who is rated as a top shortstop, third baseman and second baseman which will make him a solid addition to the roster. He makes decent contact with a great ability to avoid striking out, though he’ll never be considered much of a power hitter. But Bridges is earning just $16,000 this year, and his ability to defend at multiple positions makes him a better player than he’s even been given credit for while playing backup on better teams. We’ve waived and DFA’d 39-year-old second baseman Pete Suder to make room on the active roster, and Bridges will step into the starting lineup immediately at third base, with Lopez moving to right field where he’s a stronger defender.

jksander · 08-11-2024, 08:43 PM

April 26, 1955: We’ve signed 34-year-old Walt Masterson to a minor league deal with a major league option, sending the veteran right-handed starter to AAA Columbus for a few games to get the feel back ... he hasn’t pitched in the majors since 1953 when he went 10-12 with a 3.63 ERA for the Washington Senators. He’s a solid option to have if we end up having to send Ray Herbert down, though he’ll get at least another start or two to see if he can improve from his ridiculously poor start this season. Masterson still has a solid fastball, changeup and sinker combo and is a flyball pitcher with what our scout deems to be solid ability as a back-end starter.

Tonight we faced the Boston Red Sox for the first time here at Municipal Stadium, and it’s the coldest night yet for us here -- 39 degrees, wind blowing out of left at 11 miles per hour, which kept the crowd smaller than I was expecting, at just shy of 7,500 fans. Walt Craddock (0-0, 1.50 ERA, 6.0 IP, 1 K, 1.67 WHIP) got the start against Boston’s Tom Brewer (1-1, 1.62 ERA, 16.2 IP, 7 K’s, 1.14 WHIP). Jim Finigan got us our first hit and baserunner of the game to lead off in the bottom of the fourth, and Rocky Bridges batted him over to second with a single of his own, giving us a runner in scoring posititon! With one out, Hector Lopez dropped a flyball into left field to load the bases, and Vic Power singled into center to drive in a pair. Bill Wilson then hit a two-out, three-run homer -- his fourth of the year! -- to make it a 5-0 lead. Boston came roaring back in the top of the sixth with a three-run blast out of right by Ted Williams, the man, the living legend, but Craddock got through the inning safely with us still up by a pair. Craddock hit a two-out double in the bottom of the inning, and Finigan homered out of right to build our lead back to four runs, the third homer he’s hit in less than a week’s time.

With two outs and a man on third in the top of the seventh, Bobby Shantz came in to face their leadoff man Billy Goodman, and he wound up giving up his first runs of the season with a two-run homer by Goodman that pulled the Red Sox back to within two though he got us out of the inning after a Ted Williams single as we picked off Jackie Jenson trying to advance to third. Shantz got us through the eighth inning, and in the top of the ninth Billy Shantz pinch-hit for his brother, hitting a line drive single into right field with just one out. Bridges singled him into scoring position, but Chuck Tanner popped out to the first baseman to end the inning without insurance runs. Tom Gorman came out to pitch in the top of the ninth ... Sam Mele reached first on an E5 error, Billy Goodman singled him into scoring position, and then with one out, Ted Williams gutted us with his second homer of the game, a three-run blast that put Boston up 8-7. Tom Gorman added an RBI double and the game went to hell from there. After an RBI single by Milt Bolling that put us in a three-run hole, we brought in Art Ditmar who got the final out on a fielder’s choice. In the bottom of the ninth, Hector Lopez led off with a walk, but Vic Power hit into a double play. With two outs, Astroth walked and Bill Wilson singled him into scoring postion with a line drive up the middle. DeMaestri then singled into right field, driving in a run and pushing Wilson over to third ... the crowd was on their feet! Joe Taylor came in to pinch-hit for Ditmar, and he singled up the middle to drive in another run -- DeMaestri advanced to third and Taylor trailed him to second. That brought Finigan up to the plate with two outs, two in scoring position, and a chance to tie this up or walk it off ... they intentionally walked him to bring up Bridges, who took the count full but struck out swinging. We lost this one 10-9, but fought for every last minute of it ... it’s hard to ask for more than that, though a win would have been nice.

Craddock and Shantz combined for eight innings with 10 hits, five walks and a strikeout and had us in a position to win this one, but Gorman blew the save and took the loss, falling to 1-2 with an 11.57 ERA. He allowed six hits and five runs (three earned) in a disappointing appearance for the 30-year-old who no longer looks like he has what it takes to be a closer. Ditmar got us the final out on four pitches and kept his ERA at 3.00 through six innings of work. This was a real slugfest, with Boston outhitting us 16-14, led by Ted Williams who had three hits, two runs and six RBIs ... he’s a legend for a reason. Rocky Bridges had a great introduction here at home, hitting three times and scoring a run, while Finigan added two hits, a walk, two runs and two RBIs. Bill Wilson had a great night as well with two hits, two runs and three RBIs.

April 27, 1955: We’ve moved Ray Herbert into the bullpen as a spot starter, and will roll with a four-man staff for the moment. Alex Kellner (2-1, 3.00 ERA, 21.0 IP, 5 K’s, 1.19 WHIP) pitched in our second game against the Red Sox, facing Willard Nixon (1-2, 2.86 ERA, 22.0 IP, 7 K’s, 1.23 WHIP). Hector Lopez hit an RBI double in the bottom of the first, scoring Vic Power all the way from first base to give us the lead. Bill Wilson led off by reaching first on an error in the bottom of the second, making it to third thanks to a double by Bill Renna that put both in scoring position without an out. Kellner drove in a pair with an RBI single, and we went into the top of the third leading 3-0. Hector Lopez hit an RBI single to add a run for us in the bottom of the fifth, and Astroth hit an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth. Bill Wilson loaded the bases with a walk, and Kellner singled in another run to make it a six-run lead! He stayed out to finish the job, winning the game as Ted Williams popped out to left field as we won 6-0!

Alex Kellner became our first pitcher to go all the way this year, pitching a complete game three-hit shutout with a walk and seven strikeouts, taking just 108 pitches to get there! He now holds a 3-1 record and a 2.10 ERA, and he hit two times with three RBIs, improving his average to .182 as well. We outhit Boston 10-3, a dominating performance led by Kellner, and by Lopez who hit three times with two RBIs.

We’ve moved into a tie for third with the Red Sox, our record at 6-6 heading into a two game set against the 10-4 Yankees who are coming off a 3-2 loss against the White Sox in Chicago that went 10 innings. Hank Bauer (.385, 3 HR, 5 RBIs) and Mickey Mantle (.340, 2 HR, 12 RBIs) are going to be their toughest outs, and they have a +29 run differential, the best in the AL and second only to Brooklyn (11-3, +44) over in the NL.

April 28, 1955: Just shy of 7,400 fans showed up under clear 43-degree skies to see us play the Yankees for the first time this year. The wind was blowing out at 12 miles per hour, which could make it a tough night for the pitchers as Arnie Portocarrero (1-0, 3.57 ERA, 17.2 IP, 5 K’s, 1.30 WHIP) took on the amazing Johnny Sain (2-0, 1.04 ERA, 17.1 IP, 3 K’s, 0.87 WHIP) who is still going strong at age 37. The Yankees got on the board quickly with an RBI double by Mantle that put them ahead 1-0 in the top of the first, and it got ugly fast when Andy Carey hit a three-run blast out of right to make it a four-run lead. Gil McDougald added an RBI in the top of the second, and Mantle batted in another with a single as this one quickly got completely out of control. They added another two in the top of the fourth off another single by Mantle, and Portocarrero stayed out through the fifth inning only to keep our bullpen from having to blow too many arms. Frank Torre came out to pitch in the top of the sixth, still trailing by eight runs, and with two outs Yogi Berra hit a run scoring single to make it 9-0. Finigan lead off with a single in the bottom of the sixth, just our second hit of the night, and that at least seemed to finally get our blood pumping -- Turner singled Finigan into scoring position, and Lopez drove him in with a single to score our first run, denying Sain the shutout. But the Yankees got the last laugh with a three-run blast out of center by Hank Bauer, with Torre finally getting us out of the inning with a double play as we trailed 12-1 heading into the stretch. Ray Herbert came out with the game completely out of reach in the top of the eighth, and he’s clearly got to do SOMETHING to calm his damned nerves, because three batters came up and all three made it on base. I kept him out there ... there’s literally nothing to lose this late in a blowout situation ... and he got the three back-to-back outs to escape the inning without anyone scoring. Herbert stayed out in the ninth and got the three outs he needed, but the game was out of our hands at that point and we lost in the end 12-1.

Portocarrero allowed nine hits with two walks, two strikeouts and eight earned runs as we got shellacked tonight ... he’s now 1-1 with a 5.96 ERA through his fourth start of the year. Torre did what he could in two innings work, but he allowed four more hits and four earned runs with three walks and a strikeout, blowing his ERA up to 7.36. Herbert benefitted from his two innings being left to his own devices, allowing two hits with two walks but surviving without any runs scoring ... so he’s now got a 21.00 ERA through his first three innings of work. The Yankees creamed us on hits, 15-7, and only Bill Wilson came out unscathed. He hit three times, but went nowhere. Meanwhile, Mickey Mantle hit four times and walked once, scoring a run and driving in four, bringing his average up to .392; that kid can really hit!

April 29, 1955: We’ve gone ahead and sent Ray Herbert down to AAA for a spell, bringing up Walt Masterson, who will be available in long relief and as a spot starter. Bob Spicer (0-0, 2.84 ERA, 12.2 IP, 8 K’s, 1.34 WHIP) got the start against New York’s newest pitcher, Vinegar Bend Mizell, who just signed a one year contract worth $154,000 out of free agency. He has absolutely insane stuff, but not necessarily a ton of control, and he hasn’t pitched at the major league level since 1953 when he went 13-11 with a 3.49 ERA for the St. Louis Cardinals. So maybe we can ring him up a bit early ... that may be our only hope.

With two outs in the bottom of the second we loaded the bases, Mizell having walked three batters in the inning when he sent DeMaestri to his base. But Spicer grounded out to first to keep us scoreless, though we’d gotten Mizell to throw 52 pitches in two innings. Rocky Bridges led off with a single in the bottom of the third, and Hector Lopez got a line drive into center field to push him into scoring position. Chuck Turner then got our fans to their feet with a flyball double that drove in a run to give us a 1-0 lead! We struck while the iron was hot, Vic Power driving in two more runs with a single, only one out against us, but Astroth hit into a double play to end the inning with us ahead 3-0. Shantz was locked in and we took that same lead into the seventh inning stretch, with New York finally pulling Mizell for reliever Rip Coleman, who has only had two bullpen appearances this year, though through two innings of work he’s only allowed a single hit and four walks ... no runs. He shut us down in the seventh, Astroth hit a line drive double into center with one out in the bottom of the eighth, but we weren’t able to add any insurance so Bobby Shantz came out in the ninth to protect our lead. Yogi Berra doubled to lead off, and eventually made it over to third, but Shantz stranded him there as we shut the Yanks down to win 3-0!

Spicer finally got his first win, improving to 1-0 with a 1.74 ERA with just six hits, a walk and a strikeout in his eight innings. Shantz then came in and got his third save of the year, allowing a pair of hits but striking out a batter and staying scoreless, improving his ERA to 0.79 through seven bullpen appearances. Each team had eight hits, but Mantle only had one and he didn’t get anywhere so we’ll take that as a huge win. Rocky Bridges has been a valuable addition to the team, hitting twice today for a run, while six others got hits to keep us moving. Bridges has hit .294 since coming to Kansas City, bringing his average up to .241 with four walks and three RBIs this season as a whole. The 27-year-old hasn’t been a starter since batting .227 with 13 doubles and 21 RBIs for Cincinnati back in 1953, and he seems to be loving the opportunity to show off now that he’s here. You show ‘em, Rocko!

We’re off tomorrow night, and then take our 7-7 record up against the Washington Senators (6-13) for two games, followed by a pair against Baltimore (6-12). Those will be our last home games for three weeks, as we’ll then hit the road to play a total of 17 road games in a row against Cleveland (8-7), Baltimore, Boston (8-11), New York (11-5), Washington and Chicago (11-4). By the time we get back to Kansas City on May 24th we’ll have a really good idea if we have any chance of being competitive this season.

Bob Spicer has been named Rookie of the Month! He’s got nine K’s, a 1.74 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP through 21 innings, and though the 30-year-0ld isn’t known for killer stuff, he’s been dominating with his pinpoint control. It’ll be interesting to see if he can keep it up through a long season, but it’s good to see veteran players stepping up and giving the fans comething to cheer about.

jksander · 08-11-2024, 11:00 PM

May 1, 1955: Walt Craddock (0-0, 3.55 ERA, 12.2 IP, 2 K’s, 1.58 WHIP) started our first game against the Senators’ Camilo Pascual (0-4, 4.39 ERA, 26.2 IP, 24 K’s, 1.91 WHIP) ... Pascual has 22 walks to go with his gaudy strikeout totals, and has put up nearly half a game of WAR despite losing all four of his starts in the 21-year-old’s second season in the majors. We quickly took the lead in the bottom of the first with a sac-fly by Lopez with loaded bags, and Vic Power drove in another with an RBI single. Astroth hit into a fielder’s choice for our second out and Bill Wilson struck out swinging, but we held a 2-0 lead just twenty minutes into the game. Washington scored in the top of the second off a sac-fly by Pascual, but he got stranded there as we held on to our lead. Vic Power was injured trying to slide into third in the bottom of the third inning, straining his hip ... he was safe on the slide but may miss two weeks of action as a result. Frank Torre stepped in to take his place today, both on base and in the field at first base and we went into the top of the fourth still leading 2-1. They tied it up in the top of the fourth with a groundout by Ed Fitz Gerald, and they took the lead in the top of the fifth with an RBI single by Mickey Vernon. Pascual walked Finigan to load the bases in the bottom of the sixth with two outs, and despite the fact that it was his sixth walk and he’d thrown 127 pitches, they kept him in. Big mistake, as Rocky Bridges hit a shot up the middle to drive in a pair and give us back the lead, crushing Pascual’s hope of getting a win out of this one -- his night was over, as Ted Abernathy (1-0, 5.91 ERA, 10.2 IP, 7 K’s, 1.88 WHIP) took over for him to get the final out with us up 4-3 heading into the top of the seventh. Sonny Dixon came out to pitch in the top of the eighth with a one run lead, and he quietly and efficiently shut them down through the final two innings as we held tough to win the game 4-3.

Craddock got us the win, improving to 1-0 with a 3.66 ERA, allowing five hits with three walks, five strikeouts and three earned runs. Dixon then held it for him, saving his first game this season with one hit, one strikeout and no runs scored during two innings of work, bringing his ERA down to 3.86 through his first three appearances. Each team had six hits, with Bridges again leading the way for us with two hits, a walk, a run and two RBIs.

May 2, 1955: It’s not even 50 degrees, with wind blowing out hard from left, and this has to be the coldest start to the season ever for us ... normally we’d have had some nice sunny 70-degree days by now. That’s kept a lot of fans away despite our solid 8-7 start. Dick Kryhoski filled in tonight for the injured Vic Power, just his second appearance this year, and Alex Kellner (3-1, 2.10 ERA, 30.0 IP, 12 K’s, 0.97 WHIP) pitched against Mickey McDermott (0-1, 5.04 ERA, 25.0 IP, 13 K’s, 1.56 WHIP). Hector Lopez hit a solo homer in the bottom of the fourth to put us into the lead, his second longball of the season! Jim Finigan hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth, his fourth of the season, extending our lead to 3-0 heading into the top of the sixth. The Senators got on the board with an RBI triple by Eddie Yost in the top of the seventh, and Bobby Shantz came in to relieve Kellner with one out and the runner on third. He got a quick out then allowed a run to score off a wild pitch, cutting our lead to one and causing Kellner to yell loud enough for the radio broadcast to pick him up from the bullpen: “Now I could have done that, Shantz!” But we got out of the inning with the lead still at one run, and we got the run back in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single by Hector Lopez. Sonny Dixon came in to pitch in the top of the ninth with the two run lead, getting two quick pop-outs before Eddie Yost hit a double to keep their hopes alive ... but Ed Fitz Gerald hit a pop-fly to left for an easy out and we won this one 4-2, improving to 9-7 on the season.

Alex Kellner wasn’t happy to get pulled after 6.1 innings with five hits, a walk, three strikeouts and two runs (one earned) but he took the win, inproving to 4-1 with a 1.98 ERA. Shantz held his first game this season, going 1.2 innings with a hit and a strikeout, dropping his ERA to 0.69, while Dixon saved his second game with just one hit, improving his ERA to 3.38. We outhit the Senators 9-7, led by Hector Lopez with three hits, a run and two RBIs, while Finigan added two hits, a walk, two runs and two RBIs. He’s now slashing .355/.444/.645 in the leadoff position, with four doubles, a triple, four homers and 10 RBIs, good for 1.5 WAR already this season!

May 3, 1955: Baltimore comes into town with an 8-12 record, and we’re on a three-game winning streak, our best of the year! It’s another clear, cold, windy day in May, and Arnie Portocarrero (1-1, 5.96 ERA, 22.2 IP, 7 K’s, 1.50 WHIP) got the start against Duane “Dee” Pillettte (0-2, 7.88 ERA, 16.0 IP, 6 K’s, 2.56 WHIP). We took the lead in the bottom of the second when Vic Power scored from third on a sac-fly by DeMaestri ... our trainer said he could play as long as his hip isn’t straining him, and we’ll have him on a short leash tonight. The Senators got us back in the top of the fourth, Bobby Young hitting a two-run double to give them the lead, and an RBI single by Vern Stephens added to the damage. In the bottom of the seventh, still trailing by a pair, Wilson hit a double into right and then DeMaestri walked to give us two on base and no outs. Portocarrero tried to sac-bunt but instead popped out to third for an easy out. With two outs and the count 2-2 against Rocky Bridges, both runners advanced thanks to a wild pitch, but Bridges popped out to short, another missed opportunity. Tom Gorman came out to pitch in the eighth inning, pitching two excellent innings as he kept us within two runs as we came up in the bottom of the ninth. Their closer, Ray Moore, walked Astroth to lead off, and Wilson took the count full but popped out to the catcher for our first out. Darryl Spencer came in to pinch-hit for DeMaestri who is mired in a cold stretch .... but Spencer struck out swinging, Billy Shantz coming in to pinch-hit for Gorman as our final gambit. It was a failure, as he struck out swinging -- Baltimore pulled out the win as the Orioles snapped our winning streak.

Portocarrero fell to 1-2 with a 5.46 ERA, allowing six hits and three earned runs with three walks and five strikeouts in his seven innings. Gorman did what he could, walking one, striking out another, and not surrendering a single hit through 27 pitches and two innings, his ERA improving to 8.10, but he wasn’t able to get the team to rally. The Orioles outdueled us 6-4 on hits, Vic Power scoring our only run with his hit early in the game, a run batted in by DeMaestri, who walked later in the game though he’s only hitting .194 and has gone hitless three games running.

May 4, 1955: This is our final home game for close to three weeks, and only 6,200 fans showed up despite clear skies and temps nearing 60 degrees, wind blowing out to right at a brisk 12 miles per hour. Bob Spicer (1-0, 1.74 ERA, 20.2 IP, 9 K’s, 1.16 WHIP) started against Baltimore’s Mel Held, who is making his season debut this afternoon. Vic Power got us on the board in the bottom of the third with a three-run homer out of left, his second of the season! Hector Lopez followed it with a solo bomb, his third of the year, sending us into the top of the fourth with a sudden 4-0 advantage. The Orioles got on the board with a solo homer by Gus Triandos in the top of the fourth, and they got Spicer into real trouble in the top of the sixth -- he loaded the bases and walked in a run as we frantically worked to warm up the bullpen. Art Ditmar came in with no outs, bases loaded, and a run scored on a sac-fly by Cal Abrams, but a fielder’s choice and a groundout to first got us out of the frame still leading 4-3. We brought Bobby Shantz out in the seventh with two outs and men on the corners, and he got Gene Woodling to hit it straight to DeMaestro who was able to make the tag out at second to keep us on top. Vic Power bought us some insurance with his second homer of the night in the bottom of the eighth, and Shantz stayed out to finish the game as we held on to win 5-3. We’ll go into our road trip with a 10-8 record, which is better than just about anyone expected, even with us playing 15 of our first 18 games here in Kansas City.

Bob Spicer improved to 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA, allowing three hits and three earned runs with three walks and a strikeout in five innings. Art Ditmar pitched 1.2 innings for his first hold of the year, just one hit and one walk against him as he improved his ERA to 2.35. Shantz then came out for a 2.1 inning save, his fourth of the season, with just two hits and a walk as he improved his improbably solid ERA to 0.59 through 15.1 innings.They outhit us 6-5 and out-walked us 5-3, but we got a great game out of Vic Power who hit twice (both homers) with two runs and four RBIs, giving him a .323 average, 14 RBIs and a .484 slugging average through his first 16 games.

Heading into our four-game weekend series against the Cleveland Guardians on the road (including a Sunday doubleheader) we’re alone in fourth place in the American League, just 2.5 games out of first. The Guardians (12-8, 1.5 GB) have started the month of May out on a 4-1 tear, and they’ve won nine of their last ten, so this is going to be a tough test. We went 1-1 against them earlier in April. They’re an all around good team with solid bats and pitching, so we’re going to have to be on our “A”-game if we want to come out of there with some wins.

jksander · 08-12-2024, 04:35 PM

May 6, 1955: Alex Kellner (4-1, 1.98 ERA, 36.1 IP, 15 K’s, 0.96 WHIP) pitched in game one against Cleveland, facing Early Wynn (3-0, 3.00 ERA, 27.0 IP, 17 K’s, 1.48 WHIP). Wynn has walked 16 batters, so we’re going to be encouraging all our batters to stay patient at the plate and see if we can bait him to lose his control early. Cleveland got going quickly with a solo homer by Al Rosen (his fifth of the year) in the bottom of the first. He hit another one in the bottom of the third, scoring three more runs, and Larry Doby hit a solo blast out of left to make it a 5-0 Cleveland lead. Frank Torre came out to pitch in the bottom of the fifth, still trailing by five, and in the top of the sixth we got on the board with a solo homer by Hector Lopez, his fourth of the year. The Guardians added three runs in the bottom of the sixth, and Art Ditmar came in to pitch in the bottom of the seventh trailing by seven runs. Ditmar took a beating in the bottom of the eighth, loading the bases and allowing two more runs to score, but he stayed out there to save our bullpen arms for the rest of the series. We never stood a chance, losing this one 10-1.

Kellner was bound to have a bad start eventually, and tonight it hit him hard ... five hits, two walks and five runs (three earned) in four innings as he fell to 4-2 with a 2.45 ERA. Torre lasted two innings with six hits, allowing three runs (two earned), while Ditmar gave us two innings with just two hits ... but his two walks against two strikeouts led to a pair of earned runs as his ERA grew to 3.72. They outhit us 13-3, Lopez’s homer being our only offense of the night.

May 7, 1955: Walt Craddock (1-0, 3.66 ERA, 19.2 IP, 7 K’s, 1.42 WHIP) pitched in our Saturday game against Herb Score (2-3, 5.45 ERA, 36.1 IP, 37 K’s, 1.62 WHIP) so we can save Portocarrero and Spicer for tomorrow’s doubleheader. Craddock got in trouble almost immediately, loading the bases and allowing a run to score when Larry Doby hit into a fielder’s choice with the out made at second. Another run scored when George Strickland hit an RBI infield single, digging us a nice two-run hole to start the game. And from there it seemed like we could do nothing right -- this Cleveland team is really good, but watching another run score off an RBI double by Bobby Avila, and then two more off a single by Al Rosen, was frustrating as hell. Craddock had to fight through it, however, because we can’t pitch another bullpen game with a doubleheader tomorrow ... he’s going to have to find a way to stay in a few more innings while we try to catch up. Too little too late, Craddock struck out the side in the bottom of the fourth, but we couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn and they picked up another run in the bottom of the fifth. With Craddock at 115 pitches, Frank Torre came back out for the second day in a row, getting two outs before Avila hit a solo bomb out of left to increase their margin to seven runs. Hank Majeski hit a solo homer in the bottom of the seventh as they piled on. Russ Sullivan stunned everyone with a three-run homer in the top of the ninth, his first of the year, and we picked up back to back walks for Wilson and Torre as the Cleveland fans started to sweat ... everyone wondering why they refused to pull an obviously gassed Herb Score (145 pitches!) But Jim Finigan hit into a fielder’s choice and we lost this one badly, 8-3, despite any desperation runs in the final frame.

Walt Craddock basically blew the game for us in the first two innings, though he’d last five and finish with five hits, six walks, four strikeouts and six runs (five earned) as he fell to 1-1 with a 4.74 ERA. Frank Torre helped mop up the damage with three solid innings -- four hits, a strikeout and a pair of earned runs -- and his ERA stands at 7.30 through 12.1 innings over five appearances. He took one for the team, working back to back days, in hopes that our two starters tomorrow will do better and our higher leverage relievers will get a chance to help us win. Cleveland outhit us 9-5, with Sullivan’s three-run homer giving us our only offense yet again (though Finigan did get two hits and a walk, trying desperately to help us get back in it.

Twenty games into our season we’re now 10-10 and heading into our first doubleheader. We’re 0-5 on the road.

May 8, 1955: Not a huge fan of doubleheaders, but they’re a fact of life. Hopefully we can come up with some solid play to turn around our fortunes. Alex Kellner is fully rested, after only throwing 74 pitches two nights ago, but we’re sticking with the plan of using Portocarrero and Spicer today. Kellner will get an extra rest day tomorrow and we can then reset the rotation.

In game one today, Arnie Portocarrero (1-2, 5.46 ERA, 29.2 IP, 12 K’s, 1.45 WHIP) pitched against Cleveland’s Don “The Sphinx” Mossi (2-1, 2.94 ERA, 33.2 IP, 17 K’s, 1.25 WHIP). The Guardians got a run in the bottom of the first off a groundout by Rosen, and our hitting woes continued. That and two early errors made life tougher for our pitcher, but he kept us in the game. In the top of the fourth, Chuck Tanner struck out swinging, but the catcher bobbled the ball and he made it to first safely on two outs ... just our second baserunner of the game! Too bad Vic Power popped up harmlessly to third and we went down with nothing. The game turned into a pitching duel, but the Guardians hit twice against Portocarrero in the sixth inning, taking a 2-0 lead when Dave Philley hit a double that drove in Vic Wertz from first on just Cleveland’s third hit of the game. They added on with an RBI single by Bobby Avila in the bottom of the seventh, and we couldn’t buy a hit to save our lives. Tom Gorman came in to pitch in the eighth, and they got a two-run homer off of Dave Philley to add to our humiliation. They shut us down one, two, three in the ninth and we lost this one 5-0.

Portocarrero took the loss, falling to 1-3 with a 4.91 ERA, allowing just four hits with a walk, three strikeouts and three runs (two earned) in seven innings’ work. Gorman then allowed a hit, a walk and two earned runs with just one strikeout, his ERA now at a miserable 9.39. They outhit us 5-1, didn’t walk us once, and only Astroth (with a hit) and Power (with the accidental base) even had a chance ... nobody got into scoring position.

Cleveland’s now tied for second with the Yankees, two games back of the White Sox, so we knew we weren’t going to see them slacking off in the second game. Bob Spicer (2-0, 2.45 ERA, 25.2 IP, 10 K’s, 1.17 WHIP), who has been red hot for us, took the mound against Bob Lemon (0-2, 1.20 ERA, 15.0 IP, 4 K’s, 1.13 WHIP) for the late afternoon start as the Guardians worked to defend their six-game winning streak. We had an opportunity in the top of the first, when Rocky Bridges walked and then Chuck Tanner doubled him over to third, giving us two runners in scoring position with one out! With two outs, Vic Power singled into right and we took our first lead of the entire series when both runners scored, going up 2-0! DeMaestri committed an error at shortstop right away in the bottom of the inning, but Spicer handled his business and stranded the Guardians’ lone baserunner. George Strickland hit an RBI single in the bottom of the second to get Cleveland on the board, and we missed a chance to add some insurance runs with the bases loaded in the top of the third, when Bill Wilson popped out to the catcher for our final out. DeMaestri reached first on an error to lead off in the top of the fourth, and a Finigan single into right drove him over to third with two outs. Bridges walked to again load the bases, and this time Chuck Tanner got a hit through the gap and we drove in two runs with the single! Vic Power added a solo bomb out of center in the top of the fifth, making him our fourth player to have four homers so far this year, giving us a 5-1 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth. We loaded the bases again in the top of the seventh, this time with one out, DeMaestri driving in a run with a sac-fly ... he’s still in a maddening slump, but this time he helped us add on. Darryl Spencer pinch hit for Spicer, walking in another run, and we went into the stretch leading by six with Bobby Shantz coming out to pitch. Shantz stayed out the remainder of the game and won this one 7-1!

Bob Spicer, our surprising 30-year-old rookie, had a six inning game with four hits, two walks, a strikeout and an earned run -- he’s now 3-0 with a 2.27 ERA, one of the biggest surprises of the young season. Bobby Shantz then came in for the three-inning save, his fifth save of the season, allowing just one hit with a walk and two strikeouts to improve his ERA to 0.49 through 18.1 innings ... unbelievable! We turned it around and outhit the Guardians 10-5 in our fourth game of the series, led by Vic Power who hit twice, walked twice, scored two runs and drove in three. He’s hitting .324 with 17 RBIs and a .500 slugging average. Hector Lopez hit three times and scored a run, and Chuck Tanner added two hits a run and two RBIs, so the middle of our order really kept us going today.

The win gets us back to .500, currently 11-11 heading into the off day and then a tough week, where we’ll face Baltimore (11-14) for two, Boston (11-17) for three and the Yankees (15-8) in a Sunday doubleheader.

jksander · 08-12-2024, 04:37 PM

OOC: Spicer's been interesting .. I looked him up, and he played for KC in 1955 and 1956 but saw a total of five innings of work. OOTP must have given him decent ratings based on his minor league stats, but with us using development instead of recalc, it'll be interesting to see if this 30-year-old surprise success can keep it going.

jksander · 08-12-2024, 09:23 PM

May 10, 1955: Vic Power is still having a bit of trouble with his strained hip flexor muscle, so we’re going to rest him for the pair of games in Baltimore. Alex Kellner (4-2, 2.45 ERA, 40.1 IP, 15 K’s, 1.04 WHIP) pitched today against the Orioles’ Mel Held (0-1, 6.00 ERA, 6.0 IP, 1 K, 1.00 WHIP). We made some moves in our lineup to help hopefully bust some guys out of their slumps. In the top of the third, Joe DeMaestri got a hit, reaching base for the second time (his first was via error in the first inning), and Wilson walked to put him in scoring position -- this was his first hit since April 29, when he was still batting .226. Hector Lopez singled into right and DeMaestri came in to score, giving us a 1-0 lead! Joe Astroth grounded out to first but allowed a second run to score, and a Chuck Taylor flyball into left drove in a third ... that was a good hit for Tanner, who was on the verge of a slump himself! Rocky Bridges singled Tanner over to third, his second hit of the night, and though we didn’t manage to score again, we went into the bottom of the third leading 3-0. Baltimore’s Hal Smith hit a solo bomb out of left in the bottom of the fourth, his third of the season, and Kellner got into some trouble ... they added a second run off an RBI single by Vern Stephens, but a 6-4-3 double play got us out of the inning with the lead still 3-2 heading into the top of the fifth. Kellner left two stranded in the bottom of the sixth to help maintain the lead, and DeMaestri got his second hit of the night to lead off in the top of the seventh though he stayed stranded at first. Unable to get any insurance runs in the top of the ninth, we went into the bottom with a one-run lead, Sonny Dixon coming in to protect it. With two outs and Bob Hale in scoring position at second base, he struck out Chuck Dierling swinging as we held on to win 3-2!

Alex Kellner was incredible tonight through eight innings, allowing just six hits with four walks and two earned runs, pitching well to contact as he improved to 5-2 with a 2.42 ERA. Dixon then saved his third game, allowing two hits but striking out Dierling when it counted, improving his ERA to 3.00 through nine innings. Baltimore outhit us 8-7, but DeMaestri hit twice and scored a run, Bridges hit twice, and Hector Lopez had two hits a run and an RBI.

May 11, 1955: Walt Craddock (1-1, 4.74 ERA, 24.2 IP, 11 K’s, 1.58 WHIP) pitched in this afternoon’s game against the Orioles, facing Bob “Sarge” Kuzava (1-1, 5.60 ERA, 15 K’s, 1.98 WHIP). This time Baltimore scored first, an RBI single by Bob Kuzava driving in a pair to give them a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second. With Joe Astroth at third with one out in the top of the fourth we pulled off the safety squeeze, with Walt Craddock safely taking first and putting us on the board, pushing Dick Kryhoski into scoring position at second. Finigan hit a great flyball into right field, a bouncing ball that evaded the fielders and allowed him to eke out a triple, scoring two more to put us in the lead! Lopez and Tanner walked to load the bases with two outs, and then Kuzava walked Wilson, driving in another run for us! Joe DeMaestri popped out to left to end the inning, but we went into the bottom of the fourth leading 4-2. They went to the bullpen in the top of the fifth, bringing out spot starter / long reliever Lou Kretlow and he kept us from adding any runs through the middle innings. We brought out Walt Masterson to make his A’s debut with two outs and men on first and second in the bottom of the sixth, and he got us out of there with no damage, but with two outs and a man on first he allowed a triple by Eddie Waitkus to drive in a run in the bottom of the seventh, and a wild pitch tied it up 4-4. Damn it! Their closer, Jim McDonald, came out and shut us down in the top of the ninth, and Bobby Shantz came out of the pen in the bottom of the inning, and despite allowing two baserunners, we made a bang-bang 8-2 play for an out at home plate, and then Jim Dyck struck out swinging ... this one was going into extra innings!

In the top of the 10th, Dick Kryhoski took a leadoff walk, and Bobby Shantz reached first when they took Kryhoski out on a fielder’s choice off his failed sac-bunt ... and we weren’t able to get him anywhere. Art Ditmar came out to pitch in the bottom of the 11th, and though he loaded the bases we got out of the inning unscathed. Joe DeMaestri took a leadoff walk in the top of the 12th, and with the count 3-1, Joe Astroth hit one ino left field, driving DeMaestri over to third! Daryl Spencer came in to pinch hit for Kryhoski, striking out swinging after taking the count full. A failed safety squeeze play and a groundout by Finigan kept us from capitalizing on the opportunity, however, and this game seemed destined to never end. With two outs in the top of the 13th, Chuck Tanner singled into center, but came up empty when Bill Wilson hit into a fielder’s choice. And in the bottom of the 13th, when we thought we’d lost the game thanks to a leadoff triple by Gus Triandos, Ditmar got Cal Abrams to ground out, and Billy Cox flew out to center off a line drive, and the runner was cut off at home by another incredible 8-2 play! This game will go on forever, friends!

DeMaestri led off with a single into center in the top of the 14th, and they walked Astroth to put him in scoring position. Frank Torre hit into a fielder’s choice for an out at second, but DeMaestri made it over to third, and we had a real shot! Billy Shantz came in to pinch hit for Ditmar, but he struck out swinging for our second out. They walked Finigan to load the bases, but with a full count on him, Rocky Bridges popped out to center. We brought Tom Gorman out to pitch in the bottom of the inning, and he got three quick outs to keep us going as this game neared its fifth hour. With one out in the top of the 15th, Chuck Tanner walked, but Bill Wilson hit into a double play to yet again keep us from finding a way to score, but Gorman pitched around a single by Gene Woodling to get us through the inning. Pete Suder came in to lead off in place of Gorman in the top of the 17th, with closer Sonny Dixon warming up in the pen ... our last reliever available. Suder popped out, but with two outs, Bridges got a hit into center for a single ... but Lopez popped up to short and we went onward into the breach. Dixon loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the 18th,and as the sun set over Baltimore, Jim Dyck walked in the winning run as the Orioles finally won it 5-4 to split the series five hours and forty minutes after we started.

Twelve pitchers played in this game ... Walt Masterson blew the save in the seventh, and Dixon took the loss in the 18th. They outhit us 16-14, but it’s safe to say DeMaestri is out of his slump ... he hit FOUR TIMES and walked once, but we couldn’t get him in to score. Astroth hit three times and walked twice, scoring a run, and Finigan hit once and walked once in eight at-bats, scoring a run and batting in two while striking out three times. Without Bill Wilson, however, we’d have lost the game way sooner ... his two outfield assists were the key plays in the game, and he batted in a run while walking once (though he was hitless through eight at-bats, dropping his average to .224).

We’ll head into Boston with a severely depleted bullpen. Frank Torre is fully rested, and Masterson would be available as well, though our best high leverage arms got used too much today to go back-to-back. We’ll have to hope our starters can go deep the next day or two to help rest us up. I’m going to call up Bill Harrington from AAA -- the 27-year-old has a 2-0 record and a 1.65 ERA through 16.1 innings with nine strikeouts and a 1.04 WHIP ... which means sending Joe Taylor, our backup right fielder, down to AAA for the time being. He has only played one game at the major league level, back in 1953 when we were in Philly ... in two innings he allowed five hits and three earned runs, so we’re hoping he’s more ready for the opportunity this time around.

May 12, 1955: Nothing like your first time coming to Fenway! The Red Sox are 12-18 while we’re still holding tough at .500 with a 12-12 record, so we’d really like to find a way to build some momentum. Arnie Portocarrero (1-3, 4.91 ERA, 36.2 IP, 15 K’s, 1.20 WHIP) pitched against Boston’s Willard Nixon (1-5, 2.90 ERA, 40.1 IP, 21 K’s, 1.54 WHIP). Portocarrero got out to a rough start and Boston capitalized on it, a Dick Gernert triple driving in two runs in the bottom of the first, though at least we kept Gernert stranded. Bill Renna hit one off the Green Monster in the top of the fifth, coming out of it with an RBI triple that cut the Red Sox lead in half, and Portocarrero singled up the gap to tie it up with a two-out single! Finigan walked, and Rocky Bridges singled into right, allowing a third run to score ... just like that we had the lead, and the sparse Boston crowd was letting their manager hear about their disappointment. They got the run back in the bottom of the inning thanks to an RBI single by Willard Nixon, and they took the lead back on an RBI double by Jackie Jenson that turned into a three-base deal when we missed the cutoff man, and at that point Portocarrero melted down completely -- he let them load the bags and then Jim Piersall doubled two more runs in to dig our hole back to three runs down. I wanted to let him get out of his own goddamned mess, but two more runs scored off a single by Sammy White, and I had to start warming up bullpen arms. He finally got out of the inning but we’d blown the lead and any real chance of getting back in this one, trailing the Red Sox 9-3 as their fans pretty much laughed us off the field. Frank Torre came out to pitch in the sixth inning, Rocky Bridges hit an RBI single to cut their lead to five in the top of the seventh, but that was all we had in us. The Red Sox won it easily, 9-4.

Portocarrero fell to 1-4 with a 6.26 ERA thanks to an abysmal start -- seven hits and nine earned runs with five walks and four strikeouts in five innings. Frank Torre pitched three innings with two hits and two strikeouts, improving his ERA to 5.87, but we were outhit in the end 9-6. Bridges hit two times for two RBIs, and Bill Renna had a hit, a walk, a run and an RBI.

Portocarrero has now lost his last four starts, and we’ve decided to send him back down to AAA to find his control again. We’re calling up 28-year-old right-handed starter Johnny Grey, who has gone 4-0 with a 3.60 ERA and 15 K’s through 45 innings’ work in the minors this year. He hasn’t been up to the majors since 1954, when he went 3-12 for us in Philly, and it’s about time to see if he can figure things out at this level.

May 13, 1955: Alex Kellner (5-2, 2.42 ERA, 48.1 IP, 15 K’s, 1.08 WHIP) pitched against Boston’s Hal Brown (0-3, 6.86 ERA, 24.1 IP, 11 K’s, 1.68 WHIP) on a cloudy cold and windy evening ... winds are blowing out to right at nearly 20 miles per hour, so this one could get interesting quickly. The wind wasn’t a factor early, as the game turned into a duel between the pitchers. Kellner gave up his first hit of the game in the bottom of the fourth and it rolled into the left corner, turning into a double for Ted Williams, who then scored on a triple by Gernert ... boom, two hits, and they got the lead 1-0. But we didn’t let them have more out of the inning -- we just needed to get a hit or two and we could be right back in it. Instead the Red Sox added on in the bottom of the fifth, two runs scoring off an RBI single by Williams, and suddenly this night seemed to be going all sideways. Kellner got us through the eighth inning, still trailing by three, and we had one last shot at coming back in this one ... but they completely shut us down and we lost this one 3-0, never really making our presence felt.

Kellner fell to 5-3 with a 2.56 ERA, allowing just six hits, but he walked four batters, struck out only one, and allowed three runs. That might have won another game on another night, but tonight Hal Brown was on fire ... he pitched a four-hit complete game shutout, walking five and striking out two. Vic Power hit twice to “lead” our offense ... so much for the wind doing anything for balls hit hard, most of the action tonight was on infield hits and the occasional bouncer into left.

May 14, 1955: Bob Spicer (3-0, 2.27 ERA, 31.2 IP, 11 K’s, 1.14 WHIP) pitched against Tom Brewer (2-3, 7.09 ERA, 33.0 IP, 11 K’s, 1.55 WHIP) in our last game in Boston during this road trip. Boston got on the board in the bottom of the second with an RBI single by Eddie Joost, and they added on in the third with an RBI single by Ted Williams. Bridges reached first on an error as our leadoff bat in the top of the fourth, and Chuck Tanner walked behind him to give us our first runner in scoring position. Bridges made it to third on a fielder’s choice where they picked Tanner off at second, and then Bill Wilson shocked everyone -- he’s been slumping HARD -- by hitting a solid line drive into left driving in two to tie it up! Frank Torre came out to pitch with one out and men on the corners in the bottom of the sixth, the score still tied at 2-2, and immediately Eddie Joost stuck a dagger in our hearts with a three-run homer over the center field wall to make it a 5-2 Red Sox lead. Vic Power doubled off the Monster in the top of the seventh, but he got stranded at third when Astroth grounded into a double play. Torre gave up two homers in the bottom of the inning for three runs as we tried to warm up someone to replace him, and with a runner on second and no outs, Ditmar came in to fill in, the game already well out of reach. We refused to quit, however -- with one out in the top of the eighth Chuck Tanner loaded the bases with a single into right, a run scoring when Hector Lopez hit into a fielder’s choice, but Vic Power ended the rally when he popped out to shallow left. Ted Williams singled in another run in the bottom of the eighth, Jackie Jensen scoring all the way from first thanks to an E7 error at third. Three quick outs ended it, as we lost to the Red Sox 9-3, our fourth loss in a row as we head into New York to face the Yankees.

Bob Spicer took his first loss of the year, allowing six hits with four walks, two strikeouts and four runs (three earned) off 102 pitches in 5.1 innings. Torre made it through two outs with three hits, two walks and four earned runs, his worst outing of the season, and then Art Ditmar came out and got through the last two innings, allowing two hits and a single (unearned) run as he improved his ERA to 2.45. Boston outhit us 11-8, Bill Wilson leading our offense with his hit and two RBIs, while Chuck Tanner added two hits to nowhere.

The loss, and the series sweep, jumps Boston into fourth, a three way tie with them, the 13-16 Tigers and our 12-15 A’s all 8.5 games behind the league-leading Chicago White Sox (21-7) thanks to the unbalanced schedule. We play a doubleheader tomorrow against the 19-8 Yankees, who are a game and a half out of first with their power lineup. This is our longest losing streak of the season and our third time losing three or more in a stretch.

May 15, 1955: Johnny Gray, at 28, is making his first start of the season and only the 17th major league start of his career this afternoon as we take on the Yankees and their excellent starter Vinegar Bend Mizell (1-1, 4.19 ERA, 19.1 IP, 19 K’s, 1.55 WHIP) in the first of two games. The Yankees got on the board in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI single by Phil Rizzuto, and Walt Masterson came out to pitch in the fifth with the Yankees going into their third time through the order. With two outs, he intentionally walked Mantle, drawing a ton of boos, but it was the smart move -- Berra grounded out to first and we stayed within a run. In the top of the seventh, Jim Finigan walked, breaking up Mizell’s perfect game, and Rocky Bridges hit into a fielder’s choice, preserving the no-no for now as Finigan was taken out at second. Hector Lopez walked Bridges into scoring position, and Chuck Tanner hit into a fielder’s choice that drove Bridges over to third. But Vic Power popped out to left and the inning was over, the Yankees going into the stretch still leading 1-0. Masterson walked Mantle again in the bottom of the eighth, though unintentionally, and he got caught stealing second ... sorry Mickey! Berra singled, but we left him stranded again, bringing us into the top of the ninth, down by a run, with Vinegar Bend Mizell still yet to give up a hit! Walt Craddock, our fastest baserunner, came in to pitch for Masterson, with Shantz warming in the bullpen just in case we could pull off a miracle ... but Craddock struck out swinging, bringing up Jim Finigan, who drew another walk. With the count 3-2 against Bridges, Finigan pulled off the run and hit, stealing second, advancing to third when Bridges grounded out to first ... 90 feet away, still a no-hitter, but we’ve got a chance! Hector Lopez came up with two outs, and he swung for the fences, but it turned into a groundout to first and we lost this one 1-0 ... as Vinegar Bend Mizell completed the no hitter. Unbelievable!

That’s a tough loss to swallow, but we did everything we could to try and manufacture a win out of whole cloth. Johnny Gray took the loss though he gave us four solid innings with five hits, three walks and an earned run through four innings to start out with a 2.25 ERA. Walt Masterson pitched four innings in relief, allowing just two hits and walking a pair, improving his ERA to 2.84 through 6.1 innings. The Yankees outhit us 7-0, but we can take it as a moral victory that we held them to the single run, as well as Mizell was pitching ... he held on for the no-hitter while walking three, striking out four and throwing 145 pitches.

And then we came back out for another game! Walt Craddock (1-1, 4.45 ERA, 30.1 IP, 14 K’s, 1.65 WHIP) pitched against Johnny Kucks (1-0, 2.08 ERA, 8.2 IP, 6 K’s, 1.27 WHIP). It was another super-tight contest, with hits and walks again at a premium. Craddock got into a jam in the bottom of the fifth, but Hank Bauer hit into a fielder’s choic e where we successfully stopped Rizzuto from trying to slide home, and then Gil McDougald hit into a fielder’s choice with the out at second keeping Elston Howard stranded at third ... the score remained 0-0 heading into the top of the sixth! Our entire lineup remains incapable of producing runs, however, and this one remained tense from there. In the bottom of the seventh the Yankees broke through the dam, Hank Bauer hitting an RBI single with two outs against them, to put New York ahead 1-0, but McDougald struck out swinging ... we still had a chance! Joe Astroth came in to pinch hit for Billy Shantz and take over as catcher, and he walked to lead us off in the top of the eighth. DeMaestri then came in and got a clutch hit into left field, pushing Astroth into scoring position, though Craddock f---ed up the sac-bunt and we lost Astroth at third ... though we still had DeMaestri in scoring position. Unfortunately, as has been our usual, we can’t come through in a tough situation. Finigan hit into a double play to squelch the rally. Craddock stayed in to try and will us back into it, and he did get us into the ninth inning without further scoring on the part of the Yankees. With one out in the top of the ninth, Chuck Tanner singled into left, but he got caught trying to steal second, Hector Lopez then singling to get us a baserunner with a pair of outs against us. And Vic Power got a great hit, but the wind blew it in, just enough that Mantle was able to rob us of the potential homer as we lost again 1-0.

Craddock did everything but beg the rest of our team to step the hell up, and he still got stuck with the loss, falling to 1-2 with a 3.76 ERA ... Yankees batters got just three hits off him, though they walked four times and struck out five times, taking the one earned run. It’s galling, because we hit six times to their three and still couldn’t make it happen. These Yankees may fight their way to another World Series, but we’ll remember we had two chances to steal wins from them and we failed. Lopez hit twice, while Finigan, Tanner, Power and DeMaestri hit once each. Wilson and Astroth walked once each, but nobody but Lopez made it on base twice.

We’re off tomorrow as we travel to Washington (11-22) for a pair against the Senators. We’re then off again Thursday, before a four-game series in Chicago against the dominant White Sox (22-8) including another Sunday doubleheader. We’ve fallen to 12-17 thanks to our six-game skid, and we desperately need to find some wins this week if we want to have any fans in the seats at all when we get back to Kansas City.

jksander · 08-13-2024, 04:16 PM

May 17, 1955: Alex Kellner (5-3, 2.56 ERA, 56.1 IP, 16 K’s, 1.10 WHIP) pitched against Chuck Stubbs (2-3, 3.00 ERA, 30.0 IP, 15 K’s, 1.53 WHIP) in our first game in Washington, in front of barely 6,000 fans at Griffith Stadium. Chuck Stubbs reached first on an E4 error that drove in a run for the Senators in the bottom of the second. We took the lead, however, in the top of the fourth thanks to a two-run homer by Joe Astroth (his first of the year). DeMaestri hit a triple into the right field corner, and Finigan doubled off the wall in left to drive in another run. Rocky Bridges ground out to first but drove in a fourth run, and we went into the bottom of the inning leading 4-1. Bobby Shantz came in to pitch in the bottom of the ninth to protect our three-run lead, and he didn’t blink, shutting them down as we won 4-1.

Alex Kellner improved to 6-3 with a 2.24 ERA, allowing six hits, three walks and one unearned run in his eight innings. Shantz then came in and saved his sixth game of the year, striking out one batter and allowing no hits as he improved his ERA to 0.42 through 21.1 innings. If there’s a better lock-down reliever in the game right now I’d like to meet him. We outhit the Senators 11-6, led by Astroth, who had two hits with a run and two RBIs, and by Kellner, who hit twice, walked once and scored a run!

May 18, 1955: Bob Spicer (3-1, 2.68 ERA, 37.0 IP, 13 K’s, 1.24 WHIP) pitched our second game against the Senators, facing Mickey McDermott (0-2, 4.81 ERA, 43.0 IP, 19 K’s, 1.72 WHIP). This game was marked by solid defense on both sides, so it stayed scoreless deep into the game. But with two outs and a man on third, Washington managed to finally strike in the bottom of the sixth, an RBI single by Eddie Yost putting them on the board. We got them back in the top of the seventh with a solo homer by Bill Wilson (his fifth of the year after a bit of a drought), tying the score heading into the stretch, with Tom Gorman coming in to pitch. Finigan came up for the fourth time to lead off in the top of the eighth, and he hit a triple off the wall in left, and with two outs Chuck Tanner hit one into right field to drive him home, giving us a 2-1 lead! Vic Power batted Tanner over to third with a single, and Astroth hit a line drive just past Eddie Yost’s ear, driving in another run. Bobby Shantz came in to pitch in the bottom of the eighth, and Hector Lopez singled in a run with two outs in the top of the ninth to add to our lead. Shantz was impeccable with his control and we silenced them completely down the stretch as we pulled out the 4-1 win to complete a two-game sweep!

Spicer was solid with six innings and eight hits, two walks, two strikeouts and an earned run, but Gorman picked up the win, improving to 2-2 with a perfect seventh inning. Bobby Shantz then came in for his seventh save, allowing one hit with two strikeouts in his two innings, improving his already stellar ERA to 0.39! We outhit the Senators 11-9, led by Hector Lopez who hit twice, walked once and batted in a run, and by Bobby Wilson, whose homer off a hit and a walk tonight got his average back above .200 for the season.

May 19, 1955: We’ve made a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals to bring fan-favorite right fielder Harry Walker to Kansas City. Walker is a solid contact hitter with great eye and ability to avoid strikeouts, as well as being able to competently field at 1B, LF and RF at age 38. In return the Cardinals will get minor league closer Marshall Bridges, 23, and 26-year-old left fielder Spider Wilhelm. Frank Torre is stepping down to AAA for the time being to make room for Walker in the lineup, where he will take over as our leadoff hitter, allowing Finigan, who has hit .256 with six doubles, three triples and four homers, to move into the fifth spot and give us a real gap power boost in the heart of the order.

Our next four games this weekend will be against the 22-10 Chicago White Sox, who are now a game and a half behind the surging Yankees (23-8).We’re tied for fourth in the AL with the Detroit Tigers, nine games out of first.

May 20, 1955: The extra day of rest gave us a chance to start Alex Kellner (6-3, 2.24 ERA, 64.1 IP, 16 K’s, 1.10 WHIP) against Chicago’s Billy Pierce (4-3, 3.38 ERA, 56.0 IP, 30 K’s, 1.29 WHIP). Kellner worked his ass off out there, consistently getting out of jams to keep the White Sox scoreless, but he was throwing a lot of pitches to do it and we weren’t hitting much of anything ourselves ... the Sox outhit us 6-2 in the first five scoreless innings. But we caught a break in the top of the sixth when Pierce walked Walker and Bridges to get us started, though Vic Power hit into a double play and then Hector Lopez popped out to center ... rally officially squelched. Chicago got on the board with a sac-fly by Pierce allowing a run to score from third to put them ahead 1-0 with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, and though the run was unearned (he’d reached base on an error), Kellner was still frustrated by our absolute inability to make anything happen on offense. Finigan led off with a walk in the top of the seventh, and with one out Astroth walked to join him on base, giving us our second runner in scoring position of the entire night. Joe DeMaestri had a perfect shot up the middle that was stolen by Chico Carrasquel with a diving catch for out number two, and we brought Ross Sullivan in to pinch hit for Kellner, only to watch him strike out swinging. Tom Gorman came out to pitch but did not have a great night -- a run scored off a sac-fly by George Kell after a single by Jim Rivera and a double by Minnie Minoso, and we brought out Art Ditmar with just one out and Minoso standing on third. Ditmar got us two quick outs, but we had two runs to make up instead of one, with time running out. Walker led off with a single and Pierce walked Rocky Bridges ... that brought Vic Power up with our third runner in scoring position out of the last three innings standing on second. But Power struck out and Lopez popped out to center, and Finigan completed our frustrating inning with a groundout to first. So many stranded runners! The White Sox got an RBI single off of Nellie Fox to increase their margin to three, bringing us up with one last chance. It didn’t matter, and the White Sox easily got out of there with a 3-0 win.

We had three hits and seven walks, but left everybody stranded ... that’s the kind of thing that keeps a manager up at night. Kellner fell to 6-4 despite only allowing seven hits with three walks, two strikeouts and a single earned run, and our bullpen guys didn’t fare any better due to the total lack of run support. Astroth hit twice, Bridges walked twice and Walker had a hit and a walk in the leadoff spot.

May 21, 1955: Bob Spicer (3-1, 2.51 ERA, 43.0 IP, 15 K’s, 1.30 WHIP) pitched against Virgil Trucks (2-2, 3.12 ERA, 40.1 IP, 25 K’s, 1.39 WHIP) in front of nearly 20,000 fans this afternoon at Comiskey Park, and this time the White Sox didn’t mess around -- Chico Carrasquel hit a solo homer in the bottom of the second to give them a 1-0 lead, and the way we’ve been hitting, that might be all they need. It wasn’t all they’d get though ... Walt Dropo hit a solo homer out of left in the bottom of the fifth to make it 2-0 White Sox, and an RBI single by Jim Rivera added on. We never recovered, despite a complete game thrown by Spicer, losing our second consecutive 3-0 ballgame.

Bob Spicer allowed nine hits with one walk and three earned runs in his eight inning effort, falling to 4-3 with a 2.65 ERA. We mustered eight hits and three walks, 11 chances to have scored at least one run, and we couldn’t do it -- that’s eighteen innings in a row without a run scoring. Vic Power got on base three times, with two hits and a walk, and Astroth hit three times. Walker had a hit and a walk, and Finigan hit twice. Unfortunately Bridges, Wilson, Demaestri and Spicer were essentially a massive rally-killer with their inability to make anything happen when we had runners in scoring postiion.

Tomorrow’s doubleheader is going to be critical ... we’ve got to show at least some kind of spark out there before we return to Kansas City.

May 22, 1955: Johnny Gray (0-1, 2.25 ERA, 4.0 IP, 0 K’s, 2.00 WHIP) made just his second start of the year, facing Chicago’s Connie Johnson (4-3, 5.34 ERA, 57.1 IP, 31 K’s, 1.47 WHIP) in the first game of today’s doubleheader. Chicago got going with an RBI single by George Kell with two outs in the bottom of the first, and with the bases loaded in the botom of the second they walked in a run to extend the lead. I’ll spare you the details ... it’s sufficient to say it got ugly from there. We trailed by four at the end of two innings, and we brought Sonny Dixon out to throw in the bottom of the third with the bases loaded, down by five. By the time he got us the two outs it was an 8-0 shutout lead for the White Sox, and our dugout was completely demoralized. Bill Wilson at least managed to end our scoreless streak at 22 innings, hitting his sixth homer of the year in the top of the fifth to get us on the board trailing 8-1. Walt Masterson came out to pitch in the bottom of the fifth, and in the top of the eighth we got another run back with an RBI double by Harry Walker, putting two in scoring position only to have the heart of our order go one, two, three to end the inning off popouts. Masterson got us through the eighth to preserve our bullpen for the second game, and we quietly lost this one 8-2.

Johnny Gray took a beating, allowing eight hits, two walks and eight earned runs in 2.1 innings of work, falling to 0-2 with a 12.79 ERA. Dixon lasted 1.2 innings with three hits and a walk, improving his ERA to 2.92 despite giving up all of Gray’s baserunners, and then Masterson pitched four innings (52 pitches) with just one hit one walk and two strikeouts. Chicago outhit us 12-5, with Wilson’s homer plus two hits, a walk and an RBI from Walker in the leadoff spot as our only offense.

Walt Craddock (1-2, 3.76 ERA, 38.1 IP, 19 K’s, 1.49 WHIP) pitched our second game, facing Chicago’s Dick Donovan (2-0, 5.27 ERA, 27.1 IP, 13 K’s, 1.61 WHIP) and you could sense from our players that all anyone really wanted was to get this game finished so we could take the train back to Kansas City. Craddock pitched around loaded bases in the bottom of the third to keep the Sox scoreless, but the wind was working against anything hit out into the outfield, and we weren’t able to get any infield hits to bear fruit. And then, in the top of the sixth, everything fell into place ... with two outs, Jim Finigan singled, Vic Power hit one into center that drove Finigan to third (trailing him to second), and then Hector Lopez hit a solid shot through the middle to drive in a pair and give us a 2-0 lead! It was too good to be true though. The White Sox immediately hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning -- thanks, Minnie Minoso -- though Craddock got us out of the inning without giving them a lead. But Bill Wilson got a hit up the middle to lead off in the top of the seventh, and Pete Suder got his first hit of the season in just his fifth at-bat, driving him into scoring position. Craddock bunted them both over a base, putting Wilson at third, and they walked Walker to load the bases. But Finigan popped out to center and ended our chances to move ahead. Bobby Shantz came in to pitch in the bottom of the eighth, the score still tied 2-2, and in the top of the ninth he took a walk with one out, moving over to third thanks to a line drive double by Harry Walker! Vic Power then got a weak hit into left, deep enough for us to score Shantz and Walker and take a two-run lead! Hector Lopez batted in another run, and Joe DeMaestri singled to drive in a sixth! Suder picked up his second hit of the game to drive in yet another as this time we did the piling on. Bobby’s brother Billy ended it with a popout to the catcher as we batted around, and with a five-run lead, Bobby Shantz held tough to finish the job as we shocked the White Sox 7-2.

Craddock gave us seven innings with six hits, three walks, a strikeout and two runs (one earned) to keep his ERA at 3.88, but Shantz improved to 2-0 with an absolutely insane 0.38 ERA, allowing just three hits with a walk and a strikeout as he brough this total to 25.1 innings pitched with only one earned run, scored on him way back on April 26! He has gone 16 innings since then without a run scoring, earned or otherwise, through parts of nine appearances. We managed to outhit the White Sox 13-9, mostly on the strength of our huge five-run ninth inning, and everybody got hits except Billy and Bobby Shantz. Vic Power had two hits, two runs and two RBIs, Hector Lopez added two hits, a walk, a run and three RBIs, and Pete Suder had a great night with two hits and his first RBI of the season.

We’re off tomorrow as we return to Kansas City with a 15-20 record, having gone 5-12 during this road trip. We’ll play three games against Detroit (17-19) and three against Cleveland (18-18) and then will have a one day trip to play Detroit on the 30th for a Monday doubleheader, followed by 15 home games during a 12-day stretch to start the month of June. This is going to be an absolutely brutal stretch ... 23 games in 19 days without a rest day, though 21 of them are at home and we’re going to need to find a way to push ourselves to be the best team we can. With six doubleheaders in our next five weeks, including back to back ones on the 30th and then June 1st, there’s going to be nowhere to hide.

In that regard, Walt Masterson will be moving into our starting five as a fifth starter during this stretch, though we’ll continue to pitch our highest rested starters to allow Kellner and Spicer to pitch the most regularly. Art Ditmar is going to be our backup sixth starter when we have the need during doubleheaders, and will be a long reliever otherwise. We’ll be sending Bill Renna and Daryl Spencer down to AAA so we can call up a pair of extra relievers -- 33-year-old Moe Burtschy (0-0, 0.69 ERA, 13.0 IP, 9 K’s, 0.92 WHIP) and 28-year-old Lou Sleater (3-1, 2.35 ERA, 15.1 IP, 12 K’s, 1.43 WHIP) getting their shots as middle relievers.

jksander · 08-13-2024, 06:16 PM

OOC: I saved a game mid-way through so I could fix dinner for the wife, and now it won't let me either resume and play out the game or quick sim the rest of the day to get past the game. I'm in the bottom of the eighth, trailing by a run, and I'm gonna have to figure out how to submit it as a crash / bug because I'm now at a dead end. I hadn't created a backup of the game because I have "dynamic save" turned on and hadn't thought about it. Sigh ... was really liking this one.

EDIT: Bug Report submitted ... fingers crossed

jksander · 08-14-2024, 10:18 AM

May 24, 1955: Alex Kellner (6-4, 2.05 ERA, 70.1 IP, 18 K’s, 1.15 WHIP) pitched today against Steve Gromek (2-2, 6.14 ERA, 36.2 IP, 12 K’s, 1.85 WHIP) as the Tigers came to Kansas City. We had a healthy crowd of 6,900 fans here for a Tuesday evening game under mixed clouds with the wind blowing in. That wind stole a homer from Al Kaline that would have given the Tigers three runs in the top of the third, but instead the game remained a scoreless one. But the Tigers did score first, an RBI single by Red Wilson with two outs in the top of the fourth putting them ahead 1-0. They picked up a second run in the top of the sixth, Wilson hitting an RBI double to make it 2-0. Tom Gorman came out to pitch, one out, man on second, getting two quick outs to keep us from letting this one completely out of our control. Joe Finigan got us back into the game, his two-run blast out of right in the bottom of the seventh tying the score, but we weren’t able to muster a lead change. Chuck Tanner pinch hit for Gorman in the bottom of the eighth, reaching first on an E5 error, and they walked Walker, but we weren’t able to score the runners. Sonny Dixon came out to pitch in the top of the ninth, score still tied at two, and he pitched around a pair of runners to get us into the bottom of the inning with a chance to win. Vic Power came in to pinch-hit for Kryhoski, and he made it count, hitting a triple that rolled to the center field wall, but the rest of our weak lineup stranded him there and this one headed for extra innings, with Power staying in to cover first base.

Art Ditmar came in to pitch in the top of the 10th, getting three quick outs, and Pete Suder came in to pinch hit for him in the bottom of the inning, getting a hit that bounced off the wall in right, landing him a double! Harry Walker grounded out to first but pushed Suder over to third, and they walked Rocky Bridges to put runners on the corners. Unfortunately Lopez hit one to short, and they got the out at home plate. With Finigan at the plate, a wild pitch advanced Bridges and Lopez, putting Bridges within 90 feet of winning it for us ... but Finigan struck out swinging. Bobby Shantz came in to pitch in the top of the 11th, and though he put two runners on base, he got us out of there when Ferris Fain hit into a 6-4 double play to bring us back up to hit. He got three more outs for us in the 12th, and in the bottom of the inning, with two outs, Bridges got a hit and then Lopez and Finigan each walked, loading the bases! Vic Power took a first pitch ball ... AND IT WENT WILD! Runner from third scores, and we pulled off the 3-2 win in the 12th inning, an absolutely incredible result!

Shantz took the win, improving to 3-0 with an 0.33 ERA, allowing three hits and nothing else in his two innings of work. Incredibly we were outhit by Detroit 14-6, but we pulled it out with pure grit as we came back from a two-run deficit to score three unanswered. Hector Lopez had two hits and a walk, scoring a run, and Finigan hit once, walked once, scored a run and drove in two thanks to his homer.

May 25, 1955: Bob Spicer (3-2, 2.65 ERA, 51.0 IP, 15 K’s, 1.29 WHIP) pitched against Billy Hoeft (5-3, 3.12 ERA, 60.2 IP, 30 K’s, 1.37 WHIP) in tonight’s game against the Tigers. Hoeft got himself into trouble early, walking three batters to load the bases for us with two outs in the bottom of the first, though we weren’t able to get any of them around to score. They were luckier ... in the top of the second, Ray Boone hit a solo homer out of left to put them ahead, and then an error at third base allowed Jim Delsing to score all the way from first off a single by Bill Tuttle. Bridges committed a second error at third in the top of the third inning, but we were able to keep them from adding on, and Spicer hit an RBI single to get us on the board in the bottom of the fourth. We brought Bill Harrington out to pitch in the top of the eighth and he got the outs we needed to stay within a run, but what we REALLY needed was somebody who could pull off some run production ...

OOC: The developers were able to get my game to sim from here, but the box score and game-log were not saved, so I am unable to continue the game recap from here. We went on to lose in the13th inning, dropping the game 6-3. Unfortunately it would appear Bobby Shantz got used in the game by the AI and ruined his perfectly awesome season lol .. go figure. He pitched 1.1 innings and allowed five hits, a walk and four earned runs and it appears he got credited with the loss, so he’s now 3-1 with a 1.57 ERA. It’s a shame to have his streak end that way, but at least this sim can go on!

jksander · 08-15-2024, 03:07 PM

May 26, 1955: Last night’s game was something of a blur, but Walt Craddock (1-2, 3.38 ERA, 45.1 IP, 20 K’s, 1.46 WHIP) is ready to go against Jim Bunning (1-1, 4.46 ERA, 34.1 IP, 22 K’s, 1.51 WHIP) in the rubber match against Detroit after back-to-back extra innings battles, with Sleater, Dixon, Burtschy and Ditmar still good to go out of the pen. Detroit got on the board first when Al Kaline hit into a double play but scored Harvey Kuenn from third in the top of the first, but Harry Walker hit his first homer as an Athletic (and of the season as a whole) to leadoff in the bottom of theinning, tying us back up. But that was a flurry of activity compared to the next stretch of the game, as both pitchers locked in hoping they could save their bullpens after the pair of extra innings slogs. With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Bridges and Power hit singles back to back, and Hector Lopez loaded the bases on balls, giving Finigan the perfect opening -- he hit a pop single into right field and scored two! Craddock was still going strong -- just 63 pitches thrown in his first six frames -- but with one out in the top of the seventh he gave up a solo homer to Kaline, who was the team’s only player with any oomph tonight. Unfortunately, Craddock then loaded the bases, walking in a run to tie it up, but he got the final out to avoid giving them a lead. Bunning struck out our side in the bottom of the seventh, and we brought Art Ditmar out in the eighth, Finigan got us the lead in the bottom of the eighth with an RBI line drive in to right field, giving us a one-run advantage ... but Vic Power had to leave the game, having aggrivated his intercostal strain. Sonny Dixon came in to pitch, with Kryhoski and Suder coming in as defensive subs. We desperately needed to get through this without any runs scoring, and he did a great job, striking out two around a double by Fred Hatfield. But Frank House reached first on a dropped throw at first which put Hatfield on third ... damn it, Kryhoski! And Harvey Kuenn walked, loading the bases for Ferris Fain. Thank God, Fain hit one that rolled right to Kryhoski, and he didn’t have to catch anything ... he walked over and made the tag and we pulled out the 4-3 win.

Craddock gave us seven innings with four hits, three walks, three strikeouts and three earned runs, but Ditmar took the win, improving to 1-1 with a 2.45 ERA ... he allowed just two hits and nothing else in his inning. Dixon then saved his fourth game of the year and dropped his ERA to 2.51, with a hit, a walk and two strikeouts as we survived on a razor’s edge to take the series win. The Tigers outhit us 7-6, but Finigan was clutch all night, hitting twice with three runs batted in.

May 27, 1955: Time for a three-game set against Cleveland as we try to fight our way back toward .500 ... Johnny Gray (0-2, 12.79 ERA, 6.1 IP, 0 K’s, 2.84 WHIP) looks to have his first solid go of things after a rough pair of starts, facing Cleveland’s Early Wynn (5-2, 2.63 ERA, 61.2 IP, 33 K’s, 1.18 WHIP). With Vic Power out of the lineup for an undetermined amount of time, we’re definitely at an offensive disadvantage heading into this one -- if he’s going to be out of the picture and on the disabled list, we’ll have to find a good option for the near future. But in the moment, we have to work with what we have. And though we were doing well heading into the fourth inning, the game still scoreless after one out, we lost Bill Wilson to an injury on a sliding catch in the top of the inning as he made our second out ... he too strained his intercostal muscle, and will miss at least two weeks according to our trainer. That’s a huge loss ... we had to move Hector Lopez over to center, and Chuck Tanner came in to play left field. In the bottom of the fifth inning we finally broke through, an RBI single by Bridges with men on second and third driving in a pair to put us up 2-0! Art Ditmar came in to pitch with two outs and a man on first in the top of the sixth, getting Al Rosen to ground out in a fielder’s choice to bring us back up to bat. But we got into trouble in the bottom of the inning -- Vic Wertz reached first on an E1 error, moved to third off a double by Harry Simpson, and then came in to score as Jim Hegan beat out an infield bouncer to take first. They tied it up as Early Wynn ground out to first, but Ditmar got us out of there without any further damage. Jim Finigan hit an RBI double with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to get us back into the lead, and Bill Harrington took over on the mound heading into the top of the eighth. With runners on first and second and just one out, he got Sam Dente to hit into a 4-6-3 double play to preserve our lead, but we weren’t able to add on any insurance in the bottom of the frame. Bobby Shantz came out to pitch in the top of the ninth, getting three quick outs to seal the 3-2 win. That’s how you bounce back, Bobby!

Johnny Gray had a good start, lasting 5.2 innings with four hits, two walks, two strikeouts and no earned runs, improving his ERA to 6.75 while throwing 77 pitches, the most he’s thrown since coming up from the minors. Ditmar wound up blowing his second save, but he pitched 1.1 innings and only allowed three hits and two runs (one earned) with one strikeout, and he earned the win, improving to 2-1 with a 2.75 ERA through 19.2 innings. Harrington got his first hold with a hit, a walk and a strikeout in the eighth, and Shantz saved his eighth game without a hit, improving his ERA to 1.52 after his four earned run blip in his last appearance. Shantz has already thrown nearly 30 innings out of the pen this season in 17 appearances and is pitching like an early candidate for reliever of the year. We outhit the Guardians 9-8, led by Rocky Bridges with two hits and two RBIs. Astroth had a pair of hits and a pair of walks, and Walker had a hit, a walk and two runs scored out of the leadoff spot.

Bill Wilson and Vic Power have been added to our 15-man disabled list, which leaves us at a real disadvantage, as we don’t have a center fielder of Wilson’s caliber to come up in his place. Don Bollweg is coming back up from AAA as a backup 1B, and Bill Renna will come back up as a backup outfielder. Hector Lopez will be our starting center fielder for the time being, with Chuck Tanner starting in left and Harry Walker in right (and occasionally at 1B with Renna covering right field).

May 28, 1955: We have a chance to move up in the standings if we can keep winning ... we come into today’s game against the 19-21 Guardians with an 18-21 record ourselves, just half a game out of a third place tie that includes Cleveland, Detroit and Boston as the White Sox (27-13) and the Yankees (29-10) remain heads and tails above everyone else. Walt Masterson (0-0, 1.74 ERA, 10.1 IP, 3 K’s, 0.87 WHIP) pitched for us against Cleveland’s Ray Narleski (1-1, 4.26 ERA, 12.2 IP, 8 K’s, 1.50 WHIP). The word’s starting to spread about this hard-scrapping A’s team, and nearly 10,000 fans came out tonight to watch us play. Cleveland got going quickly, an RBI double by Rosen putting them up 1-0 in the top of the second. Rosen scored on an infield hit by Hank Foiles, sending us into the bottom of the inning trailing 2-0. Rocky Bridges got us on the board in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI single, but Masterson gave it back in the top of the fifth with an RBI single by Ralph Kiner with the bases loaded, and with the lead 3-1 Guardians, we brought Moe Burtschy in to pitch, one out and men on first and second. He got Vic Wertz to hit into a 3-6-1 double play, and kept the game from getting out of control early. Joe DeMaestri then hit a solo homer to lead off in the bottom of the inning, his first long-ball of the season, keeping us within a run in a tightly contested ballgame. Lou Sleater came out to pitch in the top of the seventh, getting three quick outs to keep us within a run, and DeMaestri led off with a single in the bottom of the inning, his second hit of the game! Sleater bunted him into scoring position with a sacrifice play, and Harry Walker singled him in as the tying run with a nice hit into right. Tom Gorman came out to pitch with one out and a man on first in the top of the eighth, getting two quick outs to preserve the tie, and Rocky Bridges hit an RBI double in the bottom of the eighth with two outs, putting us into the lead! With a one run lead, Bobby Shantz came out to pitch in the top of the ninth, pitching around a leadoff single by Jim Hegan to finish the Guardians off with a pair of K’s as we won 4-3!

That was another truly clutch win for our Athletics, a game that was won by our bullpen! Masterson only lasted 4.1 innings with seven hits, three walks, four strikeouts and three earned runs forcing us to go early to the pen. Moe Burtschy debuted with 1.2 innings and just a walk, while Sleater, in just his second appearance out of the pen, allowed just one hit in his 1.1 innings of work. Tom Gorman came in and got the win, improving to 3-2 with a 4.67 ERA as he got two critical outs on just eight pitches, and then Shantz came in and did what he does best -- one hit and a pair of strikeouts in the ninth as he saved his ninth game and improved his ERA to 1.47 to get us back to back one run wins. This time Cleveland outhit us 9-6, but they walked us five times and we made those baserunners count. Bridges hit twice and drove in two runs, and DeMaestri had a great night with two hits, two runs and an RBI ... he’s now hitting .217 despite his long early slump this season.

In early All-Star voting, Joe Astroth is currently in third place among votegetters at catcher, while fans are recognizing the work of our bullpen as well -- Bobby Shantz already has 14,133 votes, only trailing Bob Grim of the Yankees, which is good company to be in. Sonny Dixon is currently in fifth place in the bullpen voting. We have one game left against Cleveland here tomorrow night, then a quick trip to Detroit for a Monday doubleheader, and then a Tuesday doubleheader against the Yankees here in Kansas City. No rest for the weary, that’s for damned sure, but we’re on a surprising three-game winning streak, and we’ve won five of our last six.

May 29, 1955: Alex Kellner (6-4, 2.14 ERA, 75.2 IP, 19 K’s, 1.22 WHIP) pitched in today’s final game against Cleveland, facing their ace Don Mossi (4-1, 1.76 ERA, 66.1 IP, 32 K’s, 1.07 WHIP). Cleveland took the lead in the top of the second with an RBI double by Vic Wertz on two outs. Bobby Avila hit a solo homer out of right in the top of the fifth to make it a 2-0 Guardians lead, and they hit another in the top of the sixth (this time it was Vic Wertz with another powerful hit) and a great start by Kellner fell apart .... with the bullpen warming up arms, Al Smith hit an RBI single and then an RBI double by Rosen scored three, and the inning only ended because Rosen got greedy and tried to take third. Just like that we were in a 7-0 hole and, with our hitting deficiencies, the game was essentially over. Rather than risk blowing up our bullpen with two doubleheaders in a row coming up, Ditmar came in to pitch in the seventh knowing he was in for the duration, and it didn’t start well -- Ralph Kiner hit a solo bomb out of left on just his second pitch, and Larry Doby followed with one out of center on his sixth pitch! Jesus ... but he stuck with the plan and got us through the top of the ninth without any more scoring. We went down quietly, and this one ended as a 9-0 shutout loss.

Kellner fell to 6-5, allowing nine hits, walking four, striking out seven and allowing seven earned runs ... his ERA sits at 2.76, but after a hot 4-1 start, he’s lost four of his last seven starts, all but one of those games ending in a decision. He tied his season high for strikeouts, but also tied his season high for walks, giving up more runs in a game than he has all year. So it was a Dickensian performance (“the best of times, the worst of times”). Ditmar managed to finish it out with three innings and five hits, walking one and allowing just the two homers. But we were never in this one -- the Guardians outhit us 14-3, and we only had six baserunners all game. Lopez had a hit and a walk, and Finigan walked twice.

We head into the double double-headers with a 19-22 record ... we’ll play two tomorrow against Detroit (20-22) before a day off for travel (I misseed that when I was going through the schedule) and then a three-game set over two days against the Yankees (31-10) here in Kansas City. We’ll then play four games against the Red Sox (23-23) here at home over the three-day weekend -- yep, that’s nine games in seven days, including three doubleheaders, which still makes this an impossibly brutal stretch for our A’s.

jksander · 08-17-2024, 02:41 PM

May 30, 1955: Bob Spicer (3-2, 2.64 ERA, 58.0 IP, 16 K’s, 1.34 WHIP) started the first game of today’s doubleheader in Detroit, facing Billy Hoeft (5-3, 3.02 ERA, 65.2 IP, 36 K’s, 1.40 WHIP). And Detroit wasted no time, using back to back doubles to take a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Ray Boone batted in a second run with a one-out single, but Spicer was able to keep it from getting worse thanks to a quick double play to bring us back up for the top of the second trailing 2-0. Dick Kryhoski led off with a solo homer out of left, his first of the year, and with one out, Renna tied it up with one of his own to almost the exact same spot for his first! But Fred Hatfield blew it open for the Tigers, hitting a grand slam home run in the bottom of the fourth, and suddenly Spicer couldn’t find an out if he tried. We trailed the Tigers 7-2 by the time he got us out of the inning, but he hit an RBI single in the top of the fifth to get us a run back, and a Finigan double bought us two more! A Kryhoski single, his second hit of the game, drove in another to cut our deficit to a single run, and with the bases loaded Bill Renna walked in the tying run! DeMaestri popped out to right to end the inning, but we’d picked up five runs in the inning to negate theirs from the fourth, and this game was neck and neck! Spicer wound up getting us through the fifth, and Lou Sleater came out to relieve him him the bottom of the sixth with the score still tied. But with two outs, Al Kaline batted in a run with a single to put the Tigers back on top, bringing Sonny Dixon out with two outs and men on second and third, getting us out of the inning without letting the Tigers have too much. They added on another in the bottom of the eighth off an RBI double by Ray Boone, but we loaded the bases in the top of the ninth with just one out, and Harry Walker came in to pinch hit for Dixon -- unfortunately he popped out to second, but Rocky Bridges walked in a run to put us within one run! Finigan hit one to short for an easy throw out at first, however, and we lost this one 9-8.

Lou Sleater took the loss, allowing one hit, two walks and an earned run in the sixth inning, giving him an 0-1 record and a 3.38 ERA. Spicer had a rough start to set him up, allowing 11 hits in five innings with a walk and seven earned runs, and in a game like this it’s a matter of who makes the fewest mistakes to set up a good result. Dixon was solid in his 2.1 innings, just three hits, a walk and an earned run against him, and he now has a 2.70 ERA through 16.2 innings over 10 appearances. Detroit outhit us 15-12, but we had good perfnances from our bats today; Finigan led the way with three hits, a run and two RBIs, while Kryhoski hit twice with a run and two RBIs ... totally unexpected, considering he’s hit only .121 all year. Bill Renna has been solid as well, hitting three times with a walk, scoring twice and batting in two, giving him a .300 average through his first 20 at-bats.

Walt Craddock (1-2, 3.44 ERA, 52.1 IP, 23 K’s, 1.39 WHIP) pitched against Neil Garver (1-1, 4.78 ERA, 26.1 IP, 8 K’s, 1.56 WHIP) in game two, Detroit scored first, an RBI single by Bill Tuttle putting them ahead 1-0 in the bottom of the fourth, immediately followed by a three-run blast out of right by Fred Hatfield that made it a 4-0 lead out of nowhere. They turned it into a rout in the fifth, Fain hitting an RBI single and then Kaline adding on with a two-run homer as we tried to get someone warmed up in the pen. Moe Burtschy came out with one out and men on first and second, getting a double play to end the inning with us down 7-0. But they piled on, adding two more off a homer by Frank House in the sixth, Burtsch tried to stay out in the seventh but gave up ANOTHER three-run blast to Tuttle, so Tom Gorman came out trailing by a dozen to try and end this one as quickly as possible. Kryhoski hit a homer out of right in the top of the eighth to deny Garver a shutout, and DeMaestri hit a two run blast out of right in the top of the ninth, but the game was never close -- we lost badly 12-3.

Craddock fell to 1-3 with a 10 hit 4.1 inning effort, allowing seven earned runs with a walk and two strikeouts, and Burtschy allowed four hits with five runs (four earned) in his 1.2 innings to ensure there’d be no way we came back. We were outhit 16-9 by the Tigers, led by DeMaestri (two hits, a run and two RBIs) and Kryhoski (two hits, a run and an RBI).

June 1, 1955: About 7,000 fans showed up for the first of our two games against the Yankees today, with Alex Kellner (6-5, 2.76 ERA, 81.2 IP, 29 K’s, 1.29 WHIP) set to go against “Bullet Bob” Turley (3-0, 3.00 ERA, 24.0 IP, 18 K’s, 1.17 WHIP). And Keller again had a rough start, loading the bases in the top of the first and then, with two outs, hitting Phil Rizzuto with a pitch, handing the Yankees a run to put them in the lead. A second run scored in the top of the second off a wild pitch, but Kellner redeemed himself by reaching first on an E6 error and allowing Chuck Tanner to score a run from third to get us on the board in the bottom of the second. Finigan hit an RBI single to tie it up with the bases loaded, but Rocky Bridges tried to come home to add the go-ahead run and he was tagged out at the plate off a great throw by Mantle from center field to end the inning. Joe Astroth put us into the lead in the bottom of the third with an RBI double, scoring Lopez from second base, and Kellner settled in from his early jitters and seemed to find his groove in the third and fourth, getting six quick outs to give us the chance to take control. Unfortunately he loaded the bases again in the top of the fifth, though we got out of it with the lead safe, making it less likely he was going to make it deep into this game. Chuck Tanner bought us some insurance with an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth, as did Astroth, who hit an RBI single to extend the lead to three runs. Rocky Bridges hit a sac-fly to add our third run of the inning, and we went into the top of the sixth leading 6-2. With one out and men on first and second, Sonny Dixon came out to pitch, a sac-fly by Mantle scoring a run for the Yankees, but we still led by three when we came up again to hit. Bill Renna came in to pinch hit for Dixon, taking first off being hit in the shoulder. Finigan walked with one out, and Kryhoski hit an RBI single to drive in another run! Bobby Shantz came in to pitch in the seventh, and with two outs the Yankees got a run back off an RBI single by Eddie Robinson. A second scored thanks to an error by DeMaestri at shorstop, but we were able to get out of there without letting things melt down completely, still leading 7-5 heading into the seventh inning stretch. Art Ditmar came out with one out and a man on first in the top of the eighth, getting two quick outs to maintain our lead, and having thrown just seven pitches, he stayed out to get us through the top of the ninth still leading by a pair. Three quick outs and we’d won the first game of the day, beating the Yankees 7-5, getting us our 20th win of the season while handing them just their 12th loss.

Kellner snapped out of his funk with a big win, improving to 7-5 with a 2.90 ERA, allowing just eight hits with three walks, a strikeout and three earned runs. Dixon came out of it with a hold, and though Shantz gave up two runs (one earned), he only allowed four hits in 1.1 innings and his ERA remains 1.69 through 19 appearances and 32 innings. Ditmar picked up his second save of the year without a hit or a walk, improving his ERA to 2.96 through 24.1 innings. The Yankees outhit us 12-11, but Astroth led the way with two hits and two RBIs, and Kryhoski stayed hot with two hits, a run and an RBI ... he’s now hitting .190 as he’s started to overcome his brutally slow start (he’d been hitting just .071 as of four days ago!)

Walt Masterson (0-0, 3.07 ERA, 14.2 IP, 7 K’s, 1.30 WHIP) pitched the second half of the doubleheader, facing the mighty Whitey Ford (6-1, 1.56 ERA, 81.0 IP, 42 K’s, 1.20 WHIP). Ford walked Harry Walker to start the bottom of the first inning, and Finigan singled him over to third, trailing him to second to give us two in scoring position without an out! Chuck Tanner reached first on an E4 error, allowing an unearned run to score and give us an early lead. Finigan scored off a groundout to first by Lopez, and the fans who were here were quick to cheer our plucky squad as we looked to keep the Yankees on the defensive. Ford, flustered from his team allowing two unearned runs to score in the first, walked DeMaestri to start the second inning, and Masterson batted him into scoring position with two outs, but Walker couldn’t get him in to score. Alas, it only took one bad fastball to negate the lead -- with two outs in the top of the third, Masterson allowed a double off the bat of Joe Collins and just like that we were tied up 2-2. Chuck Tanner hit a one-out triple in the bottom of the inning, Hector Lopez hitting an RBI single to push him home and give us back a 3-2 lead. Ford hit DeMaestri to load the bases, and Rocky Bridges hit into a fielder’s choic to drive in another ... but Masterson blew it AGAIN, this time with a two-run homer off Irv Noren’s bat to tie it up 4-4, and moments later as we started warming up arms in the pen, Elston Hoard hit one out of right to give the Yankees a 5-4 lead. Damn it! Ford popped out to first, and then we brought out Art Ditmar, one out, no one on, getting Bauer and McDougald out quickly on their third time up to the plate. Finigan hit a two-out triple in the bottom of the fourth, but Tanner wasn’t able to score him from there. Moe Burtschy came out to pitch in the sixth, getting us through the seventh still trailing just by the single run. Ford walked Finigan to start the bottom of the seventh, his fourth walked batter of the game, but Chuck Tanner hit into a fielder’s choice, taking first while Finigan was taken out at second, and Lopez and Kryhoski popped out to end the inning still trailing. Tom Gorman came out to pitch with two outs and no one on in the top of the eighth, striking out pinch-hitter Bob Cerv out looking, and they brought Bob Grim out to replace Ford in the bottom of the inning. Sonny Dixon came out with one out and men on first and second in the top of the ninth, getting two quick outs to keep the Yankees from adding on ... but we needed to make something happen in the bottom of the inning or it was to be all in vain. Harry Walker hit a one-out single, but Finigan hit into a double play as we lost this one in a 5-4 heartbreaker.

Masterson didn’t set us up well at all, blowing two leads and taking the loss as he fell to 0-1 with a 5.00 ERA, allowing six hits and five earned runs with two walks and four strikeouts in 3.1 innings. Our bullpen then combined to throw 6.2 innings with five hits, one walk and five strikeouts, but by that point we’d wasted one of our better offensive starts. The Yankees outhit us down the stretch 11-7, Finigan leading the way with two hits, a walk and a run scored. Walker added a hit a walk and a run, while Lopez hit once for a run and two RBIs. But we couldn’t make anything happen once we lost the lead for good in the fourth inning. We’ll get one more crack at them tomorrow before the four-game set against Boston.

June 2, 1955: About 8,400 fans came out today for the last chance in a while to see us play the Yankees, and Bob Spicer (3-2, 3.43 ERA, 63.0 IP, 16 K’s, 1.43 WHIP) pitched against New York’s Don Larsen (5-1, 1.44 ERA, 68.2 IP, 24 K’s, 0.95 WHIP). Mickey Mantle hit his 10th homer of the season to put the Yankees on top in the top of the first, and Yogi Berra hit a solo blast himself moments later to put them up 2-0. They added another pair with a homer by Joe Collins in the top of the fourth, and an RBI triple by Mantle and an RBI single by Berra made it a 6-0 lead midway through the fifth. Art Ditmar came out to pitch in the sixth, and in the bottom of that inning Hector Lopez hit his fifth homer of the season, getting us on the board with a run. Lou Sleater took over in the eighth inning, but though he didn’t give up any runs, we’d already given them all they needed as the Yankees stumped us again 6-1.

Spicer fell to 3-3 with a 3.97 ERA, allowing nine hits in five innings with six earned runs and two strikeouts. Ditmar and Sleater combined for just two hits, two walks and three strikeouts in the remaining four innings, but we were outhit 11-5. Finigan had two hits and a walk and Astroth walked twice, but our only offense was Lopez’s homer. The loss drops us to 20-26 heading into a four game set in the next three days against the Red Sox (25-25) as we hope to snap this skid -- we’re 1-5 in our last six games. With our next three four-game series against teams at or below .500 -- including Washington (15-33) and Baltimore (19-30), all here at home, we still have a good chance to right the ship ... but we’ll have to do it in a stretch where we’ll play 12 games in 10 days.

June 3, 1955: Just shy of 10,000 fans came out to see the first of four games against Boston, as Johnny Gray (0-2, 6.75 ERA, 12.0 IP, 2 K’s, 2.00 WHIP) pitched against Hal Brown (3-4, 3.28 ERA, 57.2 IP, 29 K’s, 1.28 WHIP). Gray quickly loaded the bases in the top of the first and Grady Hatton hit an RBI single, Eddie Joost walked in a run, and Sammy White hit an RBI single as the Red Sox ran it up early. Don Bollweg hit a solo homer out of right in the bottom of the second, his first of the year, but Gray gave up a two-run blast to Jackie Jenson in the top of the fourth and it got ugly from there. Grady Hatton hit an RBI single and then we went into the bottom of the inning already in a 6-1 hole.

But we kept fighting ... Joe Astroth hit a two-run single to get us back within three in the bottom of the fourth, and Rocky Bridges hit an RBI double to put two in scoring position as we cut their lead to two. They intentionally walked DeMaestri to load the bases, and Bill Renna came in to pinch hit for Gray, who had thrown 100 pitches in four innings. Renna took the count full, and then slammed one into the left field gap, two runs scoring to tie it up! Unbelievable! Harry Walker hit one into center, driving in the go-ahead run, Finigan hit a line drive into right, scoring two more ... and then he had to be pulled, having strained his oblique while sliding into second. Pete Suder came in to pinch run and take over in the infield at second base, and Lopez hit a line drive into center to add to the carnage ... we’d scored nine unanswered runs and led 10-6 when we went into the top of the fifth with Art Ditmar coming out to pitch. Tom Gorman came out with two outs and men on first and second in the top of the eighth, and he successfully kept the Red Sox from rallying, shutting them down in the ninth as well, completing the 10-6 victory!

Gray struggled again in his four inning start, allowing nine hits and six earned runs with three walks and three strikeouts in his four innings. But Ditmar came in after the nine-run rally and held them off for 3.2 innings, throwing 50 pitches with four hits and a strikeout, earning the win as he improved to 3-1 with a 2.27 ERA. Gorman then came in for his first save of the year, walking one and striking out another but never letting anyone into scoring position who wasn’t already there when he took the mound. Boston outhit us 13-9 but we had 14 players bat in the bottom of the fourth and that broke their spirit. Alas, we lost Finigan for at least the next two weeks, which takes a lot of the fun out of the win. He hit once in the game, scoring a run and batting in two before his injury, and Bollweg hit twice and scored two with a run batted in. In total, eight players on our team had a hit and/or a walk.

Finigan is now on the IL for the next two weeks at the least, and we’ve had to call up Spook Jacobs, age 29, as a backup option at second base. Pete Suder will take over as our starter as we wait for Finigan to recover.

June 4, 1955: We’ve decided to send Johnny Gray back down to AAA, calling Arnie Portocarrero back up ... he’s gone 2-1 with a 1.70 ERA, 19 K’s and a 1.14 WHIP in his four starts since being demoted. This afternoon Alex Kellner (7-5, 2.90 ERA, 87.0 IP, 27 K’s, 1.33 WHIP) started against Boston’s Frank Sullivan (7-2, 2.44 ERA, 96.0 IP, 45 K’s, 1.21 WHIP). Boston got on the board first in the top of the fourth with a two-run homer by Sammy White. Sonny Dixon came out to pitch with two outs and men on first and second in the top of the sixth, successfully stranding both runners to keep us within striking distance. Hector Lopez hit an RBI triple with two outs in the bottom of the sixth to get us on the board, but Dixon allowed a two-run homer by Jensen to dig our hole back to three runs in the top of the seventh. Lou Sleater came in to pitch in the top of the eighth, and in the bottom of the inning we loaded the bases with just one out, but we left them all stranded. Sleater loaded the bases himself and then walked in a run to pretty much seal the deal against us in the top of the ninth, and an RBI single by Sammy White drove in two to make it official. Trailing by six, we came up in the bottom of the ninth and went down quietly, losing this one 7-1.

Alex Kellner fell to 7-6 with a 2.91 ERA, allowing seven hits, two walks, two strikeouts and two earned runs in 5.2 innings, and the bullpen combined to give up five hits and five earned runs with five walks and just one strikeout in the remaining 3.1 innings. The Red Sox outhit us 12-5, Bridges batting in a run with two hits while Lopez added a hit and an RBI.

June 5, 1955: Time for another doubleheader day, our second of five we’ll face this month. Walt Craddock (1-3, 4.29 ERA, 56.2 IP, 25 K’s, 1.48 WHIP) could really use a solid start, going up against Boston’s Willard Nixon (4-5, 3.09 ERA, 75.2 IP, 37 K’s, 1.43 WHIP). We took the lead in the bottom of the second thanks to an RBI single by Pete Suder with one out, and a second run scored when Rocky Bridges reached first on an E5 error, sending us into the top of the third leading 2-0. But Boston tied it up in the top of the third with a two-run slam by Ted Williams, which didn’t seem to catch many of our fans by surprise. That hit came off two outs, and Craddock floundered from there, allowing a hit and two walks to load the bases, and a hit into right gave the Red Sox the lead. We finally got out when Milt Bolling struck out swinging, but that inning was a mess in every sense of the word, and at 88 pitches through three, Craddock’s night was over -- no way we could trust him to keep it together any further. Then suddenly Pete Suder bought us new life, a three-run homer on two outs shooting us into the lead 5-3, and we decided to give Craddock a short leash in the fourth. He got two outs and then allowed a homer off Jenson’s bat, so we brought out Al Ditmar to get the final out -- but Ted Williams singled, followed by a two-run blast by Dick Gennert and we were back in a 6-5 hole. Ditmar threw 26 pitches and loaded the bases ... all he needed was one goddamned out! Finally he got it and we went into the bottom of the fourth again trailing by one run, and it was clear this was going to be a very long day.

Harry Walker took a leadoff walk in the bottom of the fourth, and Bridges doubled to send him over to third. With two outs, Bill Renna walked the bases loaded, but DeMaestri struck out swinging to keep us down. Moe Burtschy came out with a man on first and one out in the top of the fifth, and with two outs he gave up another three-run homer, this time to Gennert (his second of the game) and this was turning into another rout. If Burtschy could have just gotten the third out, we’d have still been okay, but he loaded the bases and the runner on third made it home to score off a Sammy White single, and it was starting to look like this game was gonna wind up blowing our entire bullpen before all was said and done. We went into the bottom of the fifth trailing 10-5, and Gorman came out with two outs and a man on first in the top of the sixth, getting his final out easily enough to keep the score that way. He wasn’t so lucky in the seventh ... Sammy White hit a two-run homer with no outs, and by the time he got out of there and into the stretch he’d thrown 25 pitches and we trailed 13-5. He stayed out and took one for the team, keeping it from getting any worse in the eighth with an eight pitch inning ... so we let him ride it out in the ninth as well. He got us through without any further damage, but it didn’t matter. We lost this one 13-5 and still have to get up and play another nine innings this afternoon.

Boston outhit us 20-9, and none of our pitchers came out unscathed. At least Gorman managed to give us 3.1 innings with just six hits, two walks and three earned runs on 46 pitches. Hell, Craddock started the game and he only managed 3.2 innings, throwing 101 pitches and allowing four runs off five hits and five walks, with three strikeouts. Pete Suder was a bright spot in our lineup, hitting twice with a run and four batted in, but he was the only player to look good in this one. Bobby Shantz and Bill Harrington are our only bullpen guys with rested arms for our second game, though Dixon threw 24 pitches yesterday and could be used in this game if it becomes necessary. Sleater, who threw 61 pitches yesterday, is out, as are Gorman, Burtschy and Ditmar.

So it’s really important that we get a good game from Arnie Portocarrero (1-4, 6.26 ERA, 41.2 IP, 19 K’s, 1.44 WHIP), who is making his first MLB start in about three weeks, facing Ike Delock (3-5, 3.27 ERA, 66.0 IP, 41 K’s, 1.26 WHIP). Whatever happens, Portocarrero’s going to have plenty of rope before we’d consider a hook, so hopefully he’s ready. Hector Lopez made an amazing leaping catch at the wall in center to steal a homer from Ted Williams that would have gotten this game going in a different direction in the top of the first. We, meanwhile, managed to load the bases in the bottom of the first with an infield hit by Bridges, a line drive single by DeMaestri, and an E4 error that placed Kryhoski, no outs! Bridges scored off a sac-fly by Lopez, and Tanner walked to reload the bases. They then hit Bill Renna with a pitch, driving in a run as he took his base, glaring at Delock but resisting the urge to say anything incendiary. Billy Shantz, who has barely been able to hit anything all season, was patient at the plate and he took himself a walk to push in another run, and Delock (at 31 pitches) was looking vulnerable. Portocarrero came up and should have been an easy out to end the inning, but an E6 error allowed him to reach safely, and he took second to push in two more runs ... so it was Rocky Bridges, batting for the second time in the inning, who popped out harmlessly and sent us into the top of the second leading 5-0! Pete Daley drove in a run for Boston with a sac-fly in the top of the fifth inning, but Portocarrero was able to get through the top two batters in their lineup with quick outs.

We intentionally walked Ted Williams in the top of the sixth, and he wound up coming around to score with one out thanks to a single by Grady Hatton. Bobby Shantz came in to pitch with one out and men on first and second, and his second pitch of the goddamned night gave up a three-run homer to Don Buddin, tying this game up at 5-5 ... I can’t f---ing believe it. Shantz got the two outs we needed, but just like that we’d blown a four-run advantage to end up back in the kind of close-game situation that has dogged us all year. Shantz botched a squeeze bunt try with Suder on third, popping it up to the pitcher who made the out-throw at third for a 1-5 double play to end the bottom of the sixth, and a leadoff E6 error got us off on the wrong foot in the seventh, as Shantz wound up loading the bases and then walking in the go-ahead run ... I’m starting to think we may be cursed. By the time we got out of the inning and into the stretch we were in a familiar hole, down 8-3, and Harrington was going to have to get us through the rest of the game as Shantz had thrown 45 pitches in 1.2 innings. Harrington did what was required, getting his six outs over the next two innings without digging our hole any deeper, but we came up in the bottom of the ninth still trailing by three ... Joe Astroth took a leadoff walk, and with one out Harry Walker pinch-hit for Harrington, singling Astroth into scoring position. But that was our last gasp ... two quick outs and the Red Sox got out of here with another win, this time 8-5.

Bobby Shantz blew his second save of the year, taking the loss as he fell to 3-2 with a 1.87 ERA ... he allowed three hits, walked three and struck out two, four runs scoring on him though only one was earned. Portocarrero had five good innings and a third of a piss-poor one ... he only allowed five hits with two walks, but four runs scored off him, his ERA remaining at 6.32. The biggest problem is that Boston continued to outhit us, beating us 11-6 in that metric. Only Bridges (two hits and a run), DeMaestri (a hit and a run) and Tanner (a hit and a run) came out looking solid tonight ... a great first inning of run production out of nothing was squandered in the end.

Our days of being able to fight and stay near .500 may be over ... we’ll know once we see how we do against Washington and Baltimore this week, the only two teams in the AL with worse records than us. We’ve lost five of our seven games to start the month of June, and after this coming week we’ve got nothing but road games until the start of July.

jksander · 08-17-2024, 07:44 PM

June 6, 1955: Washington has given us four wins this year, having yet to defeat us. So we were definitely hoping to keep that up today as we took on the Senators (16-36) for our first of four games. Walt Masterson (0-1, 5.00 ERA, 18.0 IP, 11 K’s, 1.50 WHIP) got the start against Mickey McDermott (2-3, 3.76 ERA, 69.1 IP, 33 K’s, 1.56 WHIP). In the bottom of the second we got a trio of back-to-back walks from Russ Sullivan, Bill Renna and Billy Shantz to load the bases, a Suder groundout to first giving us the lead 1-0. Masterson walked the bases loaded again, and Spook Jacobs (in his first at-bat of the season!) hit an RBI infield single to add to our lead! DeMaestri hit into a fielder’s choice for an out at second, but we picked up a third run in the process, and Dick Kryhoski walked to reload the bases yet again, but Tanner popped out to end the inning to keep it from becoming a total rout. Their pitcher, McDermott, hit a solo homer in the top of the third to put them on the board, but he walked his seventh batter of the game as Sullivan took his base to start the bottom of the inning. Suder walked with two outs, making it eight free-passes for McDermott, but Masterson saved him with a popout to left, ending the inning, and he helped them more in the top of the fourth when, with no outs, Eddie Yost singled in another run, giving them runners on the corners. A sac-fly by Jose Valdivielso tied it up as we came up to hit in the bottom of the inning. Spook Jacobs reached first on an error to lead off, though he got picked off when DeMaestri hit into a fielder’s choice, and the wind blowing in fiercely kept any hard hit balls from getting anywhere. Worse, Jacobs, our goddamned BACKUP second baseman, strained HIS hamstring during the inning while being tagged out at second, and he’s out at least three weeks ... do we need a new trainer? Rocky Bridges had to come in to replace him as we headed into the top of the fifth.

With two outs in the top of the fifth, Masterson allowed a three-run homer off the bat of Mickey Vernon, giving the worst team in the AL a 6-3 lead. But we stayed in it because they kept McDermott out there ... he walked the bases loaded when Pete Suder took his base in the bottom of the inning, giving him 10 walks against just two hits, but we remained incapable of actually capitalizing on the situation ... one of the worst pitching performances from an opposing pitcher all season, and we left everybody stranded. Bill Harrington came out to pitch in the top of the seventh, and Pete Suder hit an RBI double to drive in a run in the bottom of the inning, cutting the deficit to a pair of runs. Harrington tried gamely to get us through the rest of the way, but in the top of the ninth he loaded the bases and we brought out Dixon to get us through. It did not got well ... Washington got two runs off an RBI double by Mickey Vernon, and then with one out they added another off an RBI single by Eddie Yost. We got out of there trailing by five heading into the bottom of the ninth, and we limped our way to the finish, losing 9-4.

As it stands, this lineup cannot survive the remainder of the season ... though we were outhit 14-4, Washington walked us 13 TIMES against five by our pitchers, and we STILL couldn’t produce. Masterson fell to 0-2 with a 6.00 ERA, allowing nine hits and six earned runs with three walks and a pair of strikeouts. Pete Suder hit once and walked twice, driving in a pair of runs, while Russ Sullivan hit once, walked three times and scored a run. Vic Power is healthy but has five more days before we’re allowed to bring him off the IL ... with Spook Jacobs on the list for the next three weeks, Finnigan for the next two weeks and Bill Wilson for at least the next six days, we’re running out of stopgap options, and our infield is a mess. Daryl Spencer is coming back up to the majors ... though he’s something of a defensive liability, he can at least respectably cover second, third and short for the short term ... and though he’s yet to get a major league hit this season, he was hitting .353 with two doubles, a triple and three homers down at AAA, so maybe he can find a spark this time up.

June 7, 1955: Bob Spicer (3-3, 3.97 ERA, 68.0 IP, 18 K’s, 1.46 WHIP) pitched against Johnny Schmitz (1-3, 5.57 ERA, 42.0 IP, 12 K’s, 1.52 WHIP). Spicer got two quick outs and then Roy Sievers hit his eighth homer of the year, a solo shot out of left that put the Senators on top 1-0. Spicer hit a sac-fly in the bottom of the second that helped tie it up 1-1, but he continued to have trouble with two outs, loading the bases before Darryl Spencer made a great catch at short to end the top of the third. Mickey Vernon hit a two-out solo homer in the top of the fifth to put them back up 2-1, and Art Ditmar came out to pitch in the top of the sixth, and we brought lefty Lou Sleater out in the top of the eighth to face a righty-heavy portion of their lineup, getting three quick outs to stay within a run ... but we couldn’t get anyone around to score, Max Burtschy coming out to pitch in the top of the ninth. He got the outs we needed, but would we be able to make it count in the bottom of the frame? Lopez and Astroth went down via strikeout and popout, but Kryhoski got a groundball up the middle to reach first on two outs. Chuck Tanner came out to pinch hit for Daryl Spencer, but he popped out easy as we lost this one 2-1.

Spicer took the loss, falling to 3-4, his ERA at 3.95 after a four hit four walk game that led to two earned runs, the bullpen doing what it could but unable to spark a rally from the offense. We were outhit 7-6, Kryhoski leading the way with two hits and a run while Suder added a pair of hits and nothing else. We’ve now lost five games in a row, failing to distinguish ourselves from the team with the worst record in the league as we slide toward that position ourselves.

June 8, 1955: Alex Kellner (7-6, 2.91 ERA, 92.2 IP, 29 K’s, 1.35 WHIP) pitched today against Camilo Pascual (1-11, 4.59 ERA, 84.1 IP, 63 K’s, 1.81 WHIP). Hector Lopez got us on the board with a solo homer in the bottom of the first, his sixth homer of the year, but Kellner gave up a double and a single to quickly get Washington momentum in the top of the second. Pascual hit a one-out single to bat in a run that tied it up, but we at least got out of the inning with a double play to prevent further damage. Then Pete Suder hit a three-run blast out of left in the bottom of the inning, his second homer of the year, putting us up by three heading into the top of the third. But Kellner collapsed in the sixth inning, loading the bases and letting Tom Umphlett hit a double that drove in two runs ... he finally got the out that ended the inning and we still led 4-3, but we’d squandered most of our cushion. Tom Gorman came out to pitch in the top of the seventh, and he got two quick outs and then allowed a homer off the bat of Mickey Vernon as they tied it up 4-4. Sonny Dixon came out and got the final out, and he kept it tied through the top of the eighth. In the bottom of the inning, Rocky Bridges -- who had been hitless all night -- got a single into right that drove Walker to third, one out, and Hector Lopez walked the bases loaded. And Pascual, who had thrown 120 pitches, allowed a hit off the 121st, giving Chuck Tanner the chance to drive in a pair with his single! They went to the pen and Dean Stone got two outs to end the frame, but we’d taken a two-run lead! Bobby Shantz came in to close the game out, getting a quick out but then allowing pinch hitter Jim Lemon to hit a triple, bringing up the top of their lineup. With runners on the corners, Pete Runnels hit a sac-fly that scored Lemon, bringing up Vernon ... who hit a single that drove Jim Busby over to third. But Shantz had icewater in his veins, pitching to contact against Ed Fitz Gerald and gettinghim to pop harmlessly out to left field for the final out ... we snapped the streak and won this one 6-5!

Alex Kellner gave us six innings with eight hits, walking three and striking out six while allowing three earned runs. He had a chance to win, but Gorman blew his second save of the year, so the win went to Dixon -- in 1.1 innings, he allowed just one hit through 19 pitches and improves to 1-1 with a 2.91 ERA through 21.2 innings. Shantz allowed two hits and a walk, an earned run putting his ERA back over 2.00, but he notched his 10th save of the year so that’s really all that matters. We were outhit 12-6 in a game we should have lost, but we hit for a lot of power tonight ... Suder had a homer and three RBIs, Lopez homered, and Tanner had a hit and two runs batted in thanks to his game-winning single.

June 9, 1955: Walt Craddock (1-3, 4.62 ERA, 60.1 IP, 28 K’s, 1.56 WHIP) pitched against Chuck Stubbs (3-7, 5.12 ERA, 58.0 IP, 26 K’s, 1.62 WHIP), both pitchers currently on cold streaks. Washington immediately took a 2-0 lead thanks to a two-run blast by Ray Sievers in the top of the first, and we committed two early errors that eroded our already razor-thin confidence. In the top of the third with two outs, Chuck Tanner missed the cutoff man on a throw from left and a third run scored, giving Washington all the momentum. It feels like our entire lineup, pitching or otherwise, is ice cold. Washington added a run on in the top of the fourth, and then a triple by Eddie Yost made it a blowout, driving in two more to give the Senators a 6-0 lead. Art Ditmar came in to pitch in the fifth inning, and he pitched fire for four innings, keeping Washington from adding on. In the bottom of the eighth, Chuck Tanner got us on the board with an RBI double. Ditmar stayed out and finished the game, allowing a pair of runs in the top of the ninth and we lost this one 8-1 ... a game we were really never in at all.

Craddock took the loss, falling to 1-4 with a 5.18 ERA, allowing seven hits with two walks and a strikeout to give up six earned runs through four innings. Ditmar pitched the final five innings, allowing just four hits, two walks, three strikeouts and two earned runs, giving him a 2.97 ERA through 39.1 innings. We were outhit 11-7, and though Tanner hit four times and batted in a run, pretty much everyone else was sleepwalking as the Senators took the series three games to one. We’re now 22-32 on the season, just two and a half games up on Baltimore (21-36) as they come to town. Washington improved to 19-37, in last place now by just two games behind the Orioles. A small bit of good news ... we should be able to bring Vic Power back into the lineup in time for the second of four games against Baltimore, and Bill Wilson should return in time for Sunday’s doubleheader.

The Yankees, at 39-15, are starting to run away with the AL, sitting 6.5 games up on Chicago (32-21) and 9.5 games up on Detroit (29-24), though Boston, having won seven of their last ten, are back in the race as well at 30-27 (10.5 GB) and even Cleveland (27-27) has a +43 run differential and has just had insanely bad luck ... their pythag average has them five games worse than they should be. So outside of us, the Orioles and the Senators, the AL is wide open. Over in the National League, the Brooklyn Dodgers (41-14) have the best record in baseball and a +121 run differential that’s even got the Yankees beat. They’re nine games up on the New York Giants (34-25) and 15 up on the Cubs (27-30), Cincinnati (25-28) and Milwaukee (25-28). The St. Louis Cardinals are in sixth place with a 24-29 record, followed by the Phillies (26-32) and the Pirates (21-37).

jksander · 08-20-2024, 03:33 PM

June 10, 1955: Arnie Portocarrero (1-4, 6.32 ERA, 47.0 IP, 19 K’s, 1.43 WHIP) pitched in game one against the Orioles, facing Duane “Dee” Pillette (1-7, 6.68 ERA, 60.2 IP, 21 K’s, 1.90 WHIP). Thanks to an error at first base that led to a pair of runners in scoring position, the Orioles got on board first when Gene Woodling batted in an unearned run in the top of the third. But Hal Smith batted in a second one, so Portocarrero wasn’t without blame as we went into the bottom of the inning trailing 2-0. Walker took a leadoff walk in the bottom of the third, and Bridges hit a double into the right field corner that gave us two in scoring position. Kryhoski walked to load the bases, his second walk of the game, and with two outs against us DeMaestri hit a bouncer into center field to drive in a pair and tie it up. DeMaestri walked with one out in the bottom of the sixth, Pillette’s sixth walked batter of the game, but he stayed out and continued pitching ... Pete Suder hit a line drive that rolled down the left field line, evading the outfielder as he eked out an RBI double to give us a 3-2 lead! Portocarrero singled into right to add another with a single, and that was enough to drive Pillette out of the game. Harry Walker popped out to left to end the inning, and we took a two-run lead into the top of the seventh. Kryhoski walked for the third time today in the bottom of the seventh with one out, but Hector Lopez hit into a double play to end the inning without any insurance. Sonny Dixon came out to pitch with runners on first and second and one out in the top of the eighth, but an E1 groundball error allowed Hal Smith to load the bases. Vern Stephens struck out swinging, however, and Dixon was able to get us out with the lead intact thanks to Jim McDonald grounding into a fielder’s choice for an out at at second. Chuck Tanner led off with a single in the bottom of the inning, but DeMaestri grounded into a double play, and we went into the top of the ninth still holding onto a two run lead. Bobby Shantz came in with one out and men on first and second, Gus Triandos loading the bases with a weak hit into shallow left. Charlie Maxwell walked in a run, but Gene Woodling grounded one into a fielder’s choice, getting the out at home ... two outs, loaded bags, one-run lead, and it’s Hal Smith coming to the plate. Shantz got him to hit one up, up, up ... falling straight into the hands of his brother Billy as we held tough to win this one 4-3!

Arnie Portocarrero had a great night, improving to 2-4 with a 5.63 ERA, thanks to 7.1 innings with six hits, two walks, two strikeouts and two runs, only one of which was earned. Sonny Dixon picked up his second hold of the year, allowing two hits and an earned run in an inning of work, and then Shantz came in for his 11th save, a hit and a walk allowing one of Dixon’s runs but keeping his ERA at a solid 2.04 as he avoided giving up a tying run. Once again we were outhit 9-5 by Baltimore, but we manufactured enough runs when it counted ... DeMaestri hit once, walked once and batted in two runs, while Suder had a hit for a run and an RBI. Dick Kryhoski couldn’t get a hit or score at all, but he made it on base three times with his solid ability to avoid striking out at all costs.

June 11, 1955: Dan Bollweg dropped back down to AAA to make room in the lineup for Vic Power, who is back from his stint on the IL ... he’d been hitting .297 with two doubles, a triple and four homers, batting in 20 runs before straining his hip flexor (May 1) and his intercostal (May 26), so we’re glad as hell to have him back in the lineup. Bob Spicer (3-4, 3.95 ERA, 73.0 IP, 18 K’s, 1.47 WHIP) pitched against Baltimore’s Bob “Sarge” Kuzava (3-3, 4.98 ERA, 65.0 IP, 27 K’s, 1.86 WHIP). His day didn’t start as he’d hoped ... Gus Triandos took the fourth pitch of the afternoon and blew it out of the park to put the Orioles up 1-0, and their next batter doubled into center and came home off a run-scoring triple by Gene Woodling. All that off the first 11 pitches of a game that suddenly looked to be a very long one. A sac-fly scored a third run, and Spicer’s confidence was clearly shot to hell as he loaded the bases. Another sac-fly drove in a fourth run, and then finally we came up to bat though trailing 4-0 after just half an inning. Spicer allowed another run to score in the top of the third off his ninth hit of the game, but we got on the board with an RBI single by Walker in the bottom of the third. Spicer gave the run back in the top of the fourth, and we brought out Moe Burtschy in the top of the fifth as we trailed 6-1. Burtschy allowed a pair of runs in the top of the sixth but got through the inning, but we woke up in a big way in the bottom of the inning with a three-run homer by Hector Lopez to get us back within four! Lou Sleater came out to pitch for us in the top of the seventh, but he loaded the bases almost immediately ... every step we take forward we go at least two steps back, it seems. But he did well under pressure and got the three outs we needed to not let them add to the lead.

We got another run back with an RBI single by Rocky Bridges in the bottom of the seventh, bringing Tom Gorman out to pitch in the top of the eighth, getting three quick outs to stay in this one. Without run support, Gorman came back out in the ninth and he kept us within three runs heading into our final frame. Chuck Tanner came out to pinch hit for DeMaestri, leading off with a single into right, and with a wild pitch and the count 3-0 against Suder, he advanced to second. Suder wound up popping out to deep center, and Tanner should have taken third but he held his spot at second ... but Russ Sullivan pinch hit for Gorman and batted in a run with a double, bringing up the top of our order! Harry Walker popped out to left and Rocky Bridges grounded out to first, however, and we wound up losing this one 8-6.

Baltimore outhit us 16-7, so we had no reasonable reason to think we should be in the game at the end, especially with us walking six of their batters while Orioles pitchers only walked four of ours. But goddamned if we didn’t fight as hard as we could to scrape runs out of the ether, so though Spicer took the loss (falling to 3-5 with a 4.44 ERA) I can’t fault our team for lack of effort. Bridges hit twice and had a run and an RBI, and Lopez hit once, walked twice and scored a run with three RBIs thanks to his homer.

Tomorrow’s doubleheader gives us two shots to get back in the win column before our three week road trip. We’re getting center fielder Bill Wilson back from the IL, and though he’s not a huge hitting part of our lineup, he definitely gives us back some power (four doubles and six homers despite hitting .185) and he’s a solid defender too which should hopefully help us in close games. Russ Sullivan will go back down to AAA, and Wilson will take his place on our bench behind Lopez in the depth chart, but as a utility player (he can also handle left field and first base) he should get plenty of in-game action.

June 12, 1955: Doubleheader day! In game one Alex Kellner (7-6, 3.01 ERA, 98.2 IP, 35 K’s, 1.38 WHIP) got the start, facing Baltimore’s Ray Moore (3-6, 4.47 ERA, 44.1 IP, 25 K’s, 1.69 WHIP). In the bottom of the first, Hector Lopez hit a two-run homer out of left to put us up quickly, But Kellner hit a rough patch in the top of the third, loading the bases and walking in a run off two outs -- though we at least did manage to maintain our lead. We got runners into scoring position in the bottom of the fourth but came up empty, a real missed chance to add some insurance runs. In the bottom of the seventh, Henry Walker hit an RBI single to add to our lead, and Tom Gorman came out to pitch in the eighth, pitching around a lead-off double to protect our lead with three quick outs. Joe DeMaestri hit into a double play to squelch our attempt to add more damage in the bottom of the inning, and Bobby Shantz came out as our closer in the top of the ninth. Fred Marsh walked to take first on one out for the Orioles, and with two outs Chuck Diering singled him into scoring position. But Cal Abrams popped out to center and we held on to a 3-1 win.

Alex Kellner got us through seven innings, allowing six hits with a walk, two strikeouts and a single earned run, improving to 8-6 with a 2.90 ERA. All of his hits came in the first four innings, and his ability to hold on and get us deep into the game helped to conserve our bullpen for the second game. Baltimore outhit us 8-7, but they walked us four times, our team led by Lopez who hit twice for a run and two RBIs. Vic Power hit twice and scored a run, and Joe DeMaestri hit once, walked once and scored a run. Bobby Shantz, our only player getting any all-star consideration this year, saved his 12th game of the season and brought his ERA back under 2.00. He now leads both leagues in saves, one up on Boston’s Ellis Kinder. Considering he’s saved half the games we’ve won all year, that’s an incredible statistic for the 29-year-old reliever.

We decided to give Art Ditmar (3-2, 2.97 ERA, 39.1 IP, 15 K’s, 1.37 WHIP) his first start of the year to face Baltimore’s Jim Wilson (4-5, 2.90 ERA, 83.2 IP, 47 K’s, 1.27 WHIP). Baltimore took the lead off a solo homer by Bob Kennedy in the top of the second, but Vic Power hit one in the bottom of the inning to even the score, and with two outs Ditmar himself hit an RBI single that scored two more. But Baltimore tied it up in the top of the fourth thanks to an RBI double by Fred Marsh that scored a pair ... the second only making it because of a no-throw by Chuck Tanner, a costly mistake. Lou Sleater came out to pitch with two outs and Marsh at second, loading the bases and then giving up the go-ahead thanks to an RBI single by Les Moss, but we got out of the inning without the Orioles managing to run the score up. Sleater got an out in the fifth and then gave up a solo homer off Eddie Waitkus’ bat, and we brought Sonny Dixon out with no one on to try and keep the Orioles from adding any further runs. Unfortunately, with two outs, Cal Abrams hit a triple that scored another pair and this one was quickly getting out of control, much like our season. We trailed 8-3 heading into the bottom of the fifth, and Moe Burtschy came out to pitch in the sixth. They added a solo homer from Les Moss in the top of the eighth, Al Harrington taking over with one out to get us into the bottom now trailing by six. Bill Wilson hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth with two outs, but they got a run back in the top of the ninth off an RBI single by Gus Triandos ... DeMaestri made the inexplicable choice to concede the run with an out at first rather than making an out attempt at home plate to give us a remote chance of a comeback. It didn’t matter ... Baltimore shut us down completely in the ninth, and we lost this one 10-6.

Ditmar fell to 3-3 with a 3.56 ERA, allowing seven hits in 3.2 innings with three walks, striking out one and giving up four earned runs. The rest of our bullpen then allowed eight hits and six earned runs through the remaining 5.1 innings, so we were never in this one. They outhit us by a ridiculous 15-4 margin, our bats remaining impotent ... Wilson batted in three with his homer, and Ditmar managed a hit and two RBIs, but beyond that we put up little resistance.

Our record is now 24-34 as we sit mired in sixth place in the AL, but our owner seems to be understanding of the situation he’s given us in our first year in Kansas City. He’s disappointed that we’re not looking like a .500 team, but our fan interest continues to slowly climb, and Vic Power has pleased him as an improvement at first base. We’re off tomorrow and then start a two-and-a-half-week road trip that will take us through Boston, Washington, New York, Baltimore and Cleveland -- 16 games in 16 days including a pair of doubleheaders. We’ll then open July with eight home games and a four-game trip to Detroit before the All Star break ... my goal is for us to not lose any further ground during this 28-game stretch.

jksander · 08-20-2024, 08:29 PM

June 14, 1955: It’s back to Fenway Park for our downtrodden team, where we’ve yet to pick up a win (or even lose by fewer than three runs). In fact, they’ve beaten us seven times out of the nine times we’ve faced them. Walt Craddock (1-4, 5.18 ERA, 64.1 IP, 29 K’s, 1.60 WHIP) pitched against Frank Sullivan (8-3, 2.39 ERA, 109.0 IP, 47 K’s, 1.20 WHIP) in game one against the 31-29 Red Sox. We saw our best shot to do some damage in the top of the third, when on two outs we got back to back hits from Bridges and Tanner, and then a visably frustrated Frank Sullivan beaned Hector Lopez hard, loading the bases. Vic Power went into the box, stoic and patient, and he walked in our go-ahead run! Joe Astroth then hit a line drive into right field, batting in two more with a single! But Craddock, who had been having an incredible start to his game, allowed a three-run homer over the Monster to tie it up in the bottom of the fourth ... just Norm Zauchin’s third homer of the year. But we fought hard and got Sullivan to load the bases again in the top of the fifth ... we just couldn’t get a run across, this team is just brutal!

With two outs in the top of the sixth they pulled Sullivan for Hersh “Buster” Freeman, who kept us from getting a baserunner on as the game remained knotted at three-all. Craddock got us through the sixth, and Rocky Bridges made it to first in the leadoff spot thanks to an E6 error off a groundball hit ... but Tanner hit into a double play, and Lopez grounded out. Craddock lasted through the seventh with the score still tied, and Vic Power led off with a single in the top of the eighth ... DeMaestri walked him into scoring position with one out, but with two outs Bill Wilson pinch hit for Craddock and popped out to right. Another missed chance! Tom Gorman came out to pitch in the bottom of the eighth, getting three quick outs to keep us in the game, Ellis Kinder coming out for his second inning to face the top of our lineup. He set us down one, two, three, and Gorman did the same, so this one was headed into extra innings.

Kinder stayed out for the 10th inning, and we burned him with a lead-off double by Hector Lopez. He intentionallywalked Vic Power, striking out Astroth and DeMaestri before unintentionally walking Pete Suder to load the bases. Bill Renna came out to pinch hit for Gorman, and with the count 2-2, he got a great line drive through the gap into center, driving in two runs to give us the lead! Walker took his base on balls to reload the bases, and we added another run off a wild pitch! Rocky Bridges ground out to first to end our half of the inning, but we’d built a three-run lead with Bobby Shantz coming out to protect it and he did it marvelously ... we held our ground and got three quick outs to win this one 6-3 in 10 innings’ work.

Craddock, who had been on a cold streak coming into this game, lasted seven innings with six hits, three walks, a strikeout and three earned runs, improving his ERA to 5.05. Gorman then came out for two innings without a single baserunner allowed, improving to 4-2 with a 3.86 ERA through 30.1 innings. Shantz then earned his 13th save of the year with a hit and a strikeout as he improved his ERA to 1.93. Somehow we managed to out hit the Red Sox 8-7, led by Bridges (two hits and a walk for a run scored) and Tanner (two hits and a run scored), while Astroth added a hit, a walk and two RBIs.Bill Renna’s pinch hit for two RBIs won the game for us, bringing his average up to .244 through 41 at-bats.

June 15, 1955: He only threw 85 pitches in his seven innings three days ago, so Alex Kellner (8-6, 2.90 ERA, 105.2 IP, 37 K’s, 1.35 WHIP) was good to go against Boston’s Willard Nixon (4-6, 3.57 ERA, 85.2 IP, 43 K’s, 1.55 WHIP). Vic Power hit an RBI single in the top of the first with two outs, giving us a quick 1-0 lead as we got Nixon to throw 34 pitches in the frame. Astroth knocked in another run with a single in the top of the third, and though Kellner got into a jam with runners on the corners and no outs in the bottom of the fourth, he got a shallow pop-out and a double play to hold our shutout lead. Kellner got us through the sixth, another quality start, and Boston’s reliever Frank Baumann walked Bridges and Tanner with one out, though we weren’t able to capitalize on it. Bobby Shantz came out to pitch with two outs and men on first and second in the top of the seventh, getting the out we needed on just his second pitch to keep the lead at 2-0. He only took seven more pitches to get us through the eighth inning. We weren’t able to add any insurance, but Shantz came back out in the bottom of the ninth and he made it look easy ... a double play and an infield pop-out won it for us as we shut the Red Sox out 2-0!

Alex Kellner improved to 9-6 with a 2.72 ERA, allowing nine hits in 6.2 innings with one walk and three strikeouts, but no one scored. Shantz then came in to complete the shared shutout, going 2.1 innings with just two hits, saving his 14th game and continuing to improve his ERA (it’s now 1.82 through 39.2 innings!) We had four double plays in the game, two of them DeMaestri-Suder-Power and two of them Bridges-Suder-Power), and though Boston outhit us 11-6, we held tough to that early lead. Harry Walker hit twice and walked once, scoring once, and Power and Astroth each hit, walked and batted in a run.

These were our first back to back wins since a three-game win streak in late May, and it’s our first pair of back to back wins on the road since beating Washington twice May 17-18.

June 16, 1955: Arnie Portocarrero (2-4, 5.60 ERA, 54.1 IP, 21 K’s, 1.38 WHIP) started in our third game against the Red Sox, facing Ike Delock (3-6, 3.29 ERA, 76.2 IP, 47 K’s, 1.32 WHIP). Walker didn’t set the stage well ... he had a clean double and stupidly tried to take third in his very first at-bat ... bonehead move, turning a solid potential scoring opportunity into an obvious out to snuff out our own momentum. Nobody on our team had any luck first time through the order, but Vic Power walked the bases loaded in the top of the fourth inning ... but we couldn’t get a run in via Astroth, who grounded out harmlessly to first. Bill Wilson came in to pinch hit for Portocarrero with runners on first and second, two outs in the top of the seventh, and he hit a line drive into left, batting in the go-ahead run with a single! Harry Walker redeemed himself with an RBI single that added to our lead, and Rocky Bridges drove in another pair with a hit into right! Art Ditmar came out to pitch with an unexpected 4-0 lead after the seventh inning stretch, and Sonny Dixon came out in the bottom of the ninth with the shutout lead still intact. He set them down quietly and we won back to back shutouts, this time 4-0, completing the most unexpected sweep!

Arnie Portocarrero improved to 3-4 with a 5.07 ERA, allowing just two hits in six innings with four walks and a pair of strikeouts. Ditmar then lasted two innings with one hit, three walks and a pair of strikeouts, and Dixon held on with a hit and a strikeout in his inning. We outhit the Red Sox again 8-4, easily led by Walker, who overcame his first-inning mistake by hitting four times with a run and an RBI at a critical juncture. The sweep here in Boston couldn’t have come at a better time ... we’re now heading for Washington, where we’ll play four in three days against the last-place Senators, who have a 20-43 record. Can we keep the streak alive? This was our first sweep of a series longer than two games all season.

June 17, 1955: Bob Spicer (3-5, 4.44 ERA, 77.0 IP, 18 K’s, 1.56 WHIP) pitched against Camilo Pascual (1-13, 4.79 ERA, 97.2 IP, 75 K’s, 1.80 WHIP). Chuck Tanner hit an RBI single in the top of the third to give us a 1-0 lead, and Spicer locked in from there to maintain that lead even as we struggled to find ways to add to it. Spicer and Walker led off with walks in the top of the seventh, Spicer reaching third despite Bridges hitting into a double play. But Chuck Tanner hit one that the wind barely kept in the park, and Carlos Paula hauled it in at the right field wall to keep the lead at a single run into the seventh inning stretch. We had runners in scoring position in the top of the eighth as well, but just couldn’t get the right hit down to drive them home. Bobby Shantz came in to pitch with one out and men on the corners in the bottom of the eighth, getting their lead-off man Jim Busby to hit into a fielder’s choice where we got the out at home plate. Pete Runnels then quietly grounded out to first as we held tight to our one run lead! Hector Lopez bought us some insurance in the top of the ninth with an RBI single into right field, pushing in our second run of the game, and Shantz didn’t blink -- he shut them down efficiently as we won 2-0, our third shutout in a row!

Bob Spicer improved to 4-5 with a 4.06 ERA, thanks to 7.1 innings with five hits, two walks and two strikeouts. Shantz then came in for 1.2 innings and saved his 15th game, allowing one hit as his ERA improved to 1.74 through 41.1 innings in 26 appearances! Washington outhit us 6-5, but they walked us ten times ... our plate discipline is really starting to pay off. Hector Lopez led the way with three hits and an RBI, while Chuck Tanner added two hits and an RBI -- meanwhile, Bridges walked twice and scored a run, while Spicer walked once and scored the other.

Our team has gone 33 INNINGS without allowing a single run! The last time anyone scored on us was in game one against Boston when they hit the three-run homer in the bottom of the fourth. This is also now our longest winning streak of the year as we improved to 28-34.

June 18, 1955: Walt Craddock (1-4, 5.05 ERA, 71.1 IP, 30 K’s, 1.57 WHIP) pitched this afternoon against Johnny Schmitz (2-4, 5.80 ERA, 52.0 IP, 16 K’s, 1.81 WHIP). Hector Lopez got us the lead in the top of the fourth with a two-out RBI single, giving us a 1-0 lead heading into the bottom of the inning, but the Senators scored a run in the bottom of the fourth off an RBI double by Jose Valdivielso that snapped our streak at 37 scoreless innings in a row. Washington got the lead in the bottom of the seventh with a solo blast to left by Valdivielso, and Tom Gorman came out to pitch with no outs and men on first and second. Mickey Vernon hit an RBI single to make it a 3-1 lead for the Senators, and Gorman hit Eddie Yost with a pitch to walk in a run and make it a three-run lead. Lou Sleater came in to try for the final out, but a hit into right by Ed Fitz Gerald added to the sudden, out of nowhere rout. Trailing 5-1 as we started the top of the eighth, the momentum was completely in the Senators’ corner, and yet we managed to load the bases on two outs! Bill Renna walked in a run, but DeMaestri struck out swinging to end the rally. We went down quietly, losing this one 5-2.

Craddock did what he could, but in six innings of work he allowed nine hits and four earned runs, walking three and striking out three ... he’s now 1-5 with a 5.12 ERA. Gorman struggled, allowing a hit, a walk and a run of his own, but Sleater got us through the remainder, 1.1 innings with a hit and a strikeout. Washington outhit us 11-3, and though Lopez and Renna each hit, walked and batted in a run, our offense remained in off-mode tonight. Tomorrow we’ll play them twice with an off day to follow, and then we face New York at Yankee Stadium. So we could really use the wins so we can stay in our positive mindset heading into a tough series.

June 19, 1955: Good news! Second baseman Jim Finigan is back off his recent IL stint, and Moe Burtschy will go back down to AAA to make room for him on the 25-man roster. For the first time in close to two months our team is back to full health. Walt Masterson (0-2, 6.00 ERA, 24.0 IP, 13 K’s, 1.62 WHIP) started against Chuck Stobbs (4-8, 4.79 ERA, 73.1 IP, 34 K’s, 1.55 WHIP) in game one of the day. Vic Power hit an RBI double that put us up 1-0 in the top of the fourth, and Joe Astroth hit an RBI single to drive him in to make it a two-run lead! And though Masterson got himself into a real pickle with the bases loaded and two outs, he got the final out without a run scoring, keeping us ahead 2-0 heading into the top of the fifth. Bill Wilson pinch hit for him to start the fifth inning, hitting a flyball double into left field. They walked Walker, and Finigan hit into a fielder’s choice where they chose to take out Walker. Chuck Tanner hit an RBI single to add to our lead, Art Ditmar then coming into pitch in the bottom of the fifth. Tom Gorman came out in the seventh with the lead still 3-0, and he got us through the seventh without much trouble. Bobby Shantz came in to pitch in the bottom of the eighth, and he got into trouble almost immediately. Mickey Vernon batted in a run with a single, an E9 error helping him push Roy Sievers over to third, no outs. Carlos Paula hit a single into right that drove in another, and with one out, Valdivielso grounded out to first but allowed the tying run to score. A pop-out ended the inning as just a blown save, but it was a real gut-punch ... Shantz had saved six games in a row since his last blown save on June 5th against the Red Sox. We got the lead back in the top of the ninth thanks to an RBI single by Vic Power, giving us a one run lead as Sonny Dixon came out for a fresh save opportunity. He got three quick outs as we held on to win 4-3!

Masterson gave us four innings in a spot start, allowing three hits with two walks and four strikeouts, Ditmar getting through two more innings with just a hit to keep us in a winning position. Tom Gorman got his fourth hold of the year, allowing just one hit, and though Shantz blew his third save, he took home the win, improving to 4-2 with a 2.34 ERA, his four hit, three earned run game a rare blip on the radar. Dixon saved his fifth game of the year and didn’t allow a baserunner, bringing his ERA down to 3.91 through 25.1 innings. We outhit the Senators 10-9, led by Vic Power with two hits, a run and two RBIs. Astroth added two hits and an RBI, and Chuck Tanner hit once for a run and an RBI.

Arnie Portocarrero (3-4, 5.07 ERA, 60.1 IP, 23 K’s, 1.34 WHIP) pitched the second game of the doubleheader, going up against Mickey McDermott (4-3, 4.01 ERA, 85.1 IP, 39 K’s, 1.68 WHIP). We loaded the bases without an out in the top of the first, and Hector Lopez walked in a run to put us quickly into the lead. Vic Power walked in a second one, and suddenly their starter was already looking to be in grave shape ... but they got out of it without any more damage, giving us a 2-0 lead before Portocarrero even threw a pitch. Washington got back at us in the bottom of the inning, Pete Runnels hitting a solo homer (just his second of the year) over the wall in right to get on the board, but we held the lead. Portocarrero hit an RBI single in the top of the fourth, another run scoring off a wild pitch, giving us a 4-1 lead at the inning’s midpoint. Vic Power hit an RBI triple in the top of the fifth. With one out we loaded the bases again, Portocarrero walking in another run to give us a five-run advantage. The Senators got a run back with an RBI single by McDermott in the bottom of the fifth with one out, but that’s all they could handle before folding. An E3 error on a fielder’s choice allowed the Senators to get another run back in the bottom of the seventh, and Tom Gorman came out to pitch with loaded bases and two outs, getting the groundout by Roy Sievers that we needed to keep our three-run lead. We loaded the bases again in the top of the eighth, Kryhoski walking in a run to put us back up by four. But Jose Valdivielso hit an RBI triple in the bottom of the eighth to get a run back, continuing to give the Senators hope they might find a way to steal this one. Lou Sleater came out to pitch in the bottom of the ninth, and he gave up back to back doubles to get the Senators back within just two runs. With one out and runners on the corners, Bill Harrington came out to try and prevent a collapse. Mickey Vernon popped out to center for their second out, but a run scored when Carlos Paula singled into right, bringing up Eddie Yost with the potential tying run on third and the potential walk-off run on second. And we blew this one, letting Yost hit a goddamned three-run homer to walk this off as a 9-7 loss. We had it in our hands, and instead split the series, going into the New York series on a low note.

Harrington blew his first save and took the loss, falling to 0-1 with a 6.00 ERA through nine innings this season, only managing to get one out. Portocarrero had set everyone up well, seven hits three walks and three runs (two earned) through 6.2 innings, and Gorman (#5) and Sleater (#1) each picked up holds, though Sleater allowed three hits and three earned runs in an appearance that would hardly be called a glowing one. Washington outhit us 14-7 ... we just kept letting them stick their foot in the crack of the door to hold it open. Lopez hit three times with a walk, scoring a run and batting one in, and Finigan hit twice and scored a run.

It says everything about this team that in the same week that we swept the Red Sox at Fenway, we split a four game set against the worst team in either league immediately thereafter. We’ll go into the series against the Yankees (47-18) as about as big an underdog as you can be, though we’ve beaten the Yankees twice ... just never at Yankee Stadium. They’re eight games up in the lead for the pennant over Chicago (38-25) and we’re 18 games back with a 29-36 record. Over in the National League, Brooklyn (47-18) holds a similar nine game lead over the Giants (40-29), with Milwaukee (32-34, 15.5 GB) in a far distant third place.

jksander · 08-21-2024, 05:39 PM

June 21, 1955: Alex Kellner (9-6, 2.72 ERA, 112.1 IP, 40 K’s, 1.36 WHIP) started against Bob Turley (3-2, 4.53 ERA, 47.2 IP, 35 K’s, 1.66 WHIP). We loaded the bases in the top of the third, and with one out Hector Lopez hit an RBI single into left to keep them that way and put us into the lead ... but Vic Power hit into a double play to end the frame. But the Yankees tied it up with an RBI single by Gil McDougald in the bottom of the fifth, though Mickey Mantle struck out swinging to keep them from getting the lead. They had to wait for the bottom of the sixth to do that, when Irv Noren hit an RBI single that gave the Bronx Bombers a 2-1 lead. But Vic Power hit a three-run homer out of left field, a massive 420-footer that put us up 4-2 off just our second hit of the game! Kellner tried to stay out in the eighth but gave up two hits in a row and we brought out Bill Harrington with Berra in scoring position ... with one out, Irv Noren loaded the bases with a single, but we got out of the inning when Joe Collins hit into a 3-2-3 groundball double play! Bobby Shantz came out with one out and Al Pilarcik on second base in the bottom of the ninth, and he got the two outs we needed, the Yankees losing when Mantle batted out to center, easy peasy ... nothing like a 4-2 victory in Yankee Stadium to liven things up!

Alex Keller’s been red hot lately, and tonight he went seven full innings with eight hits, two walks, a strikeout and two runs (one earned). Harrington picked up a hold with two hits in 1.1 innings’ work, and Bobby Shantz saved his 16th game with two critical outs off just four pitches! The Yankees outhit us 10-3, but “Bullet Bob” Turley must have loaded the wrong gun ... he walked us 10 times against five strikeouts, so our ability to be patient at the plate continues to work in our favor. Chuck Tanner walked three times and scored a run, Hector Lopez hit once, walked twice, scored a run and batted one in, and then Vic Power’s three-run blast, his sixth this year, gave us the win.

June 22, 1955: Bob Spicer (4-5, 4.06 ERA, 84.1 IP, 20 K’s, 1.51 WHIP) pitched against Vinegar Bend Mizell (6-1, 2.99 ERA, 87.1 IP, 62 K’s, 1.09 WHIP), who pitched a no-hitter last time we faced him here in the house that Ruth built. He has 62 K’s against just 40 walks, so this is an incredibly tough matchup based on our particular strengths. Crazy thing was, Walker led off with a single into right in the top of the first, so at least we weren’t going to be dealing with a no-no this time. Then Turner walked with one out, and Hector Lopez was hit by a pitch to load the bases ... early scoring opportunity! Vic Power singled up the middle and just like that we were up 2-0 as the boo-birds came out in full force. A third run scored when Astroth hit a sac-fly to deep center, giving us a solid 3-0 cushion just halfway through the first. But Yogi Berra hit a three-run power bomb over the wall in right, tying us up with just one out in the bottom, so this wasn’t going to be a cakewalk. But what have we got to lose? The key was to stick with our gameplan and make Mizell throw as many pitches as quickly as possible. With two outs in the top of the fifth, Chuck Tanner walked Bob Spicer into scoring position, and a tiring Mizell walked Lopez on five pitches to load the bases ... but Vic Power grounded to the third baseman and we were out of there without a run scored. But Spicer kept us in the game with three quick outs in the bottom of the inning, still knotted at 3-3, and the Yankees kept Mizell on the mound despite having thrown 125 pitches, walking six against four strikeouts. No matter -- he struck out three in a row to keep us knotted up, though I couldn’t imagine the Yankees manager keeping him out longer. The Yankees hit hard in the bottom of the sixth, Yogi Berra hitting his second homer of the afternoon, a two-run blast that put them up 5-3 -- he now has nine this year.

Mizell struck out Spicer to give the Yankees time to warm up Rip Coleman out of the bullpen, but Coleman promptly came out and walked Walker, though he got us out easily enough from there. Lopez walked to start the top of the eighth and Power singled him into scoring position ... but with one out, DeMaestri hit into a double play. Spicer got roughed up by the long ball today ... McDougald hit a solo bomb out of left off just Bob’s 70th pitch of the night in the bottom of the eighth, but he efficiently got three outs off the next six pitches to get us into the top of the ninth trailing by three. Pinch-hitter Bill Wilson walked with one out, but Harry Walker struck out swinging and Bob Grim came out with two outs to face down Finigan, who grounded out harmlessly to short. Yankees take this one 6-3.

Bob Spicer had a hell of a game and a ton of bad luck. In eight innings of work, he only allowed six hits, but three of them were for homers. He walked three, struck out nobody and allowed six earned runs while throwing just 76 pitches as he fell to 4-6 with a 4.29 ERA. He wasn’t counting on Berra’s two hits netting five RBIs, which on its own was more than enough to beat us. We were only outhit 6-4, and the Yankees walked nine of our batters, so we had a chance. There was just no overcoming the Bombers’ raw power today. Vic Power led the way for us with his two hits and two RBIs, while Walker led off with two walks and a hit, scoring a run.

June 23, 1955: Arnie Portocarrero (3-4, 4.84 ERA, 67.0 IP, 23 K’s, 1.36 WHIP) pitched against Billy O’Dell (3-1, 3.12 ERA, 52.0 IP, 23 K’s, 1.17 WHIP) in our third game in New York. Hector Lopez pulled off a perfect squeeze bunt in the top of the first with runners in scoring position and just one out, giving us the lead with runners on the corners ... Vic Power hit a sac-fly that Mantle made a diving catch for, so we had plenty of time for a second runner to score. With two outs, DeMaestri hit a bullet over the head of left fielder Irv Noren, and as it rolled to the wall two more runners scored. Bridges took a walk, giving us two on and two outs as Portocarrero came up to the plate ... we’d batted around, but he struck out swinging and we went into the bottom of the first leading 4-0 .... take that, Evil Empire! With two outs, Mantle hit a solo homer out of right, his 15th of the season, to put the Yankees on the board, and O’Dell settled in in the second, not giving us anything. They hammered us in the bottom of the third with a three-run homer by Mantle to tie it up at 4-4 ... this place is gonna give me nightmares! In the top of the fifth, Portocarrero reached first on an error with one out, and O’Dell walked Walker and Finigan to load the bases. Tanner hit into a fielder’s choice for our second out, but a run scored to put us back in the lead. The Yankees brought out Johnny Kucks to pitch in the sixth, and with one out Portocarrero took first for the second time, this time by beating out a weak infield hit! Walker hit into a fielder’s choice and took first, and Kucks was able to get them out of the inning still trailing just by the one run ... and the Yankees tied it up in the bottom of the sixth, a sac-fly by Kucks allowing a run to score. But Chuck Tanner hit an INSIDE THE PARK HOMER that went between the outfielders, rolled to the wall and basically flummoxed every Yankee out there, giving us a 6-5 lead and damned near sparking a riot in the stands. Art Ditmar came out to pitch in the bottom of the seventh, but with two outs and the bases loaded they batted in two runs to steal the lead, thanks to an RBI single by Joe Collins. Ditmar stayed out and got three outs in the eighth off just eight pitches, and Walker took a leadoff walk in the top of the ninth as we tried to claw our way back in. Finigan walked to push him into scoring position, and Johnny Kucks suddenly looked a hell of a lot less confident than he had coming in. Hector Lopez hit into a fielder’s choice to put runners on the corners with two outs, and then Vic Power hit one over Mantle’s head in center .... it’s to the wall, and Power’s driven in a pair with a flyball double! Kucks stayed out there and walked Astroth, and DeMaestri hit a roller down the left field line to drive in two more runs ... and that did it for Kucks. They brought out Tom Sturdivant to try and get the final out, and he did the job. But as Bobby Shantz came out to pitch in the bottom of the inning we had a three-run lead thanks to the four runs we’d just picked up, and we had all the momentum. Shantz set them down one, two, three, and we got out of there with a stunning 10-7 win, winning the series!

Ditmar blew his third save, but came out of this one with the win as he improved to 4-3 with a 3.12 ERA, backing up Portocarrero who had eight hits, four walks, a strikeout and five earned runs in his six innings. Shantz threw eight pitches for his three outs, notching his 17th save as his ERA improved to 2.25 ... he now has won four games and saved 17, which makes him at least partially responsible for more than 67 percent of our wins this season! New York outhit us 11-9, but walked us seven times which evened things up. Mantle had a three hit, three run four RBI game but we prevailed thanks to a team effort -- seven of our players got hits, led by Vic Power who hit twice for a run and three RBIs. Chuck Tanner had a hit, a run and two RBIs including his inside the park homer that gives him six home runs this season. Meanwhile, Walker hit once, walked twice and scored two runs ... he’s hitting just .223,but his 39 walks against 14 strikeouts has him getting on base at a .416 clip!

We’ll take our 31-37 record into Baltimore (29-41) where we’ll play four games including a Sunday doubleheader. We’ve been surprisingly red hot on this road trip, having won seven of our last 10 games, but so have the Orioles, so this should be a good test of how legitimate our improvement is. The Red Sox (34-36) and the Tigers (34-32) are on 3-7 skids, and Cleveland’s been playing for average in their last ten, giving them a 34-34 record ... so we’re just one good hot streak away from leapfrogging our way into the upper half of the standings. Our last six games are against Baltimore and Cleveland, so teams at .500 or under, and then, of the games remaining before the All Star break, five are against the barely-above-.500 Tigers, three are against the .500 Guardians, and only one doubleheader features the 41-25 White Sox. So we hold a lot of our momentum and destiny in our own hands.

08-10-2024, 07:24 PM	#2
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,908	April 3, 1955: Fans are already questioning Athletics leadership, as the team has made a trade to send their best player away for prospects and cash. The team sent Milwaukee 34-year-old veteran LF Elmer Valo, 31-year-old LF Gus Zernial and a no-name 19-year-old rookie named Paul Petrosky. In exchange they’ve received 23-year-old left hander Frank Torre, 23-year-old left-handed closer Marshall Bridges, 23-year-old right-handed starter Carl Willey and 25-year-old LF Chuck Tanner, along with $25,000 cash. Tanner, who hit .323 with 35 doubles, 12 triples and 20 homers for AA Atlanta, is going to make his debut as the left fielder for the A’s this spring. Willey, Bridgers and Torre, meanwhile, are all top-150 prospects, and the team now has just shy of $40,000 in cash flexibility as GM / Manager Eli Gordon builds his team ... clearly the rumors of his preference for youth were not exaggerated, but only time will tell if the move was a wise one. April 11, 1955: The Athletics have announced their opening day roster ahead of tomorrow afternoon’s debut against the Tigers here at Memorial Stadium: Lineup C - Joe Astroth 1B - Vic Poster 2B - Jim Finigan 3B - Hector Lopez SS - Joe DeMaestri LF - Chuck Tanner CF - Bill Wilson RF - Joe Taylor Bench C - Billy Shantz 1B - Don Bollweg 1B - Dick Kryhoski 2B/3B/SS - Pete Slider LF/RF - Bill Renna LF - Russ Sullivan CF - Jerry Scala Starters 1 - Alex Kellner 2 - Arnie Portocarrero 3 - Bob Spicer 4 - Ray Herbert 5 - Walt Craddock Bullpen Stopper - Bobby Shantz Setup - Tom Gorman Middle - Art Ditmer, Sonny Dixon Long - Charlie Bishop Shantz and Gorman are expected to take on the lions share of early relief innings along with their middle relievers. All eyes will be on the team’s AAA bullpen, where Bill Harrington, Marion Fricano and Frank Torre will be pitching; either of the three could be expected to come up and fill the closer role if the need arises. The team is also rumored to be in the running to sign free-agent shortstop Darryl Spencer, 26, who hasn’t played, majors or otherwise, since being drafted into the Army. If he’s signed, he could send Demaestri over to second base, but with the St. Louis Cardinals apparently bidding for his power from the plate, it’s considered highly unlikely that the A’s wind up winning his services. - - - - - Edited because apparently when playing out games, there's no proper way during that era for the two-way player to actually hit and then transition to pitching. So I may call up an additional reliever in the future, but our CF will end up just playing CF. __________________ "Campus Chronicles" -- The Indiana Hoosiers in a New College World (An OOTP 27 Dynasty) Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds) Last edited by jksander; 08-10-2024 at 08:00 PM.

08-10-2024, 08:47 PM	#3
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,908	April 12, 1955: About 12,500 fans showed up for opening day here in Kansas City as Alex Kellner faced off against the Tigers’ ace Billy Hoeft, the 22-year-old face of their pitching staff. And the fans who showed up got a hell of a show -- in the bottom of the first, Finigan, Power and Lopez got quick hits to load the bases, and with one out Joe Taylor hit a grand slam home run, putting us up 4-0! Joe DeMaestri hit an RBI single in the bottom of the third to extend the lead, and Kellner was phenomenal from the mound, allowing just three baserunners through the first six innings --- two off walks and one via hit-by-pitch. Joe Asteroth hit a shot into right that drove in another run in the bottom of the sixth to give us a six run advantage, and though Kellner did finally allow a hit in the top of the seventh, a single off the bat of Jim Delsing, he didn’t blink. In the end Kellner got us through eight innings in his debut, and with the lead unchanged we brought Tom Gorman in to pitch the final frame, getting the outs we needed to close out the 6-0 shutout win! Kellner pitched eight innings with one hit, two walks and four strikeouts, throwing 122 pitches in a really solid debut. With his arm tiring, Gorman came in and put in the final three outs, striking out one without a hit. We outhit them 10-1 this afternoon, led by Joe Taylor with three hits, a run and the four RBIs all from his grand slam. Vic Power added two hits and two runs, while Hector Lopez added a hit, a walk and two runs. April 13, 1955: It’s definitely going to take time to get the fans to see this team as a “must see” experience -- only about 7,500 were in the seats to see game two against the Tigers despite yesterday’s blowout win, to see 23-year-old Arnie Portocarrero pitch against Detroit’s Steve Gromek. The Tigers took the lead in the top of the second with a one-out RBI single that drove in a pair, but Joe DeMaestri hit an RBI double to get us on the board with one out in the bottom of the inning, and Jim Finigan hit an RBI single to tie the score and load the bases! We took the lead on a wild pitch, and Chuck Tanner drove in two more with a single to give us a 5-2 lead heading into the top of the third. But Portocarrero gave up a two-run homer to Ray Boone in the top of the third, struggling to find any real rhythm. Bill Tuttle tied it up with a homer of his own, and this game was just getting started. We loaded the bases in the bottom of the fourth, and Vic Power batted in two runs with a shot into right field, giving us back the lead! Portocarrero settled down enough to get us through the fifth inning, but he gave up two hits back to back in the top of the sixth and we brought in Bobby Shantz from the pen -- Dick Marlowe flew out to left, but Harvey Kuenn singled to load the bases. Harris Fain then grounded into a fielder’s choice, Astroth making a great catch and hustling to home plate for the tag on the fielder’s choice. Al Kaline then flew out to short and we were able to get out of the jam without allowing any of Portocarrero’s runs to score -- Shantz had gotten three outs off just six pitches. Frank House got the Tigers a run back in the top of the eighth with an RBI single, and with two outs Shantz gave up an RBI double to Ferris Fain, tying the score again at seven runs apiece. Tom Gorman came in and kept the runner on second from scoring and we went into the bottom of the eighth all tied up. Hector Lopez hit a run-scoring triple to put us back up by a run, and Gorman stayed out to finish things off, pitching around a single to get us the 8-7 win! Arnie Portocarrero lasted five innings but allowed seven hits for five runs (four earned) with two walks and two strikeouts, giving him a miserable 7.20 ERA to start out on the year. But he didn’t get the loss -- Shantz lasted 2.2 innings with three hits, a strikeout and two unearned runs so he gets a blown save, but Tom Gorman picked up the wn to improve to 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA through 2.1 innings -- he allowed a hit and nothing else. We won this slugfest with 12 hits to their 11, with leadoff man Jim Finigan hitting four times for two runs and an RBI ... he hit .556 against the Tigers in this two game set! It’s nice to get a 2-0 start at home, but we’re about to get our first real test of the season ... a game against the White Sox tomorrow in Chicago, followed by two against Cleveland on the road this weekend. We’ll then return to Kansas City where we’ll play two against Cleveland (4/18-19), three against the White Sox (4/22-25), and then two each against Boston (4/26-27), the Yankees (4/28-29), Washington (5/1-2) and Baltimore (5/3-4) before spending most of the month of May on the road. __________________ "Campus Chronicles" -- The Indiana Hoosiers in a New College World (An OOTP 27 Dynasty) Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds) Last edited by jksander; 08-10-2024 at 08:51 PM.

08-10-2024, 10:16 PM	#4
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,908	Definitely interested in any feedback on this one ... I got the idea while reading "Roger Maris: Baseball's Reluctant Hero" by Tom Clavin and Danny Peary. __________________ "Campus Chronicles" -- The Indiana Hoosiers in a New College World (An OOTP 27 Dynasty) Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

08-11-2024, 04:30 PM	#6
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,908	April 18, 1955: It was clear and cold this evening, but 8,100 fans braved the 44-degree temps and strong winds to see us play Cleveland here at Memorial Stadium for an 8:05 p.m. first pitch. Arnie Portocarrero (0-0, 7.20 ERA, 5.0 IP, 2 K’s, 1.80 WHIP) pitched against Cleveland’s Don “The Sphinx” Mossi (0-0, 1.29 ERA, 7.0 IP, 4 K’s, 0.71 WHIP). Cleveland scored first, a solo homer out of right that barely stayed fair in the top of the fourth by Dave Philley putting them up 1-0. With runners on the corners in the bottom of the inning and two outs against us, Joe Astroth hit an RBI single into left that scored Joe Maestri from third, advancing Vic Power to third as we tied it up. Bill Renna walked the bases loaded, but we weren’t able to get the go-ahead to score when Bill Wilson hit a blisteringly sharp flyball to center only to have Larry Doby catch it while in a spectacular slide. Mossi clearly was starting to tire, and we led off with a Portocarrero walk in the bottom of the fifth, Finigan hitting a line drive single to left that advanced Portocarrero to third, Finigan trailing him to second. But yet again we left runners in scoring position and failed to take the lead, sending us into the sixth inning knotted up 1-1. Bobby Shantz came out of the bullpen with two outs and a man on first in the top of the sixth, striking out catcher Hank Foiles to bring us back up to hit. Mossi walked Joe Taylor, and Bill Renna singled him over to second base with one out, giving us a runner in scoring position and driving Mossi out of the game for Bill “Lefty” Wight out of their bullpen. Bobby Shantz walked the bases loaded, but Finigan struck out swinging and the game remained tied. In the bottom of the seventh, Joe DeMaestri led off with a single into left, and Vic Power batted him over to third with a single into center -- and this time we finally made it count, as Hector Lopez hit a three-run blast out of right to put us up 4-1, his first homer and the fourth player on our team to have one. We brought Art Ditmer out to protect the lead in the top of the eighth and he pitched around a single by Al Rosen to keep us up by three heading into the bottom of the eighth. He stayed out for the final inning and shut them down convincingly as we won this one 4-1 to remain undefeated at home! Portocarrero gave us 5.2 innings with just three hits, three walks, two strikeouts and a single earned run, improving his ERA to 4.22, but he still hasn’t earned a decision. Instead it was Shantz who picked up the win, improving to 1-0 with a still-perfect 0.00 ERA, walking one and striking out a pair in his 1.1 innings of solid work. Ditmar then came in for the save, his first, allowing a hit and striking out one as his ERA improved to 4.50 through 4.0 innings this season. We outhit the Guardians 9-4 but it all came down to Lopez’s homer -- he led the way with two hits, a run and three RBIs, giving him four RBIs despite a slow start hitting just .167 so far through six games. Vic Power also had two hits, scoring a run and keeping his average at .360 so far. April 19, 1955: In today’s afternoon game, Ray Herbert (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.1 IP, 0 K’s, 3.00 WHIP) pitched his first start of the year after closing out a losing effort out of the bullpen last week, facing Cleveland’s Mike “The Big Bear” Garcia (1-0, 4.50 ERA, 8.0 IP, 0 K’s, 1.62 WHIP). Our bullpen is mostly rested, with Ditmer and Shantz available as well at about 80-percent strength if needed thanks to the two off days we have coming up. Herbert did not have a great start early by any stretch, giving up three hits in a row including an RBI single by Larry Doby that put the Guardians ahead 1-0 in the top of the first, no outs. With the bases loaded he walked in a run by advancing Al Rosen, and then Vic Wertz hit an RBI single to drive in two more -- just like that we’re down 4-0 and he still hasn’t gotten an out. With Frank Torre warming up, George Strickland hit a triple that scored two more, and with two outs Al Smith doubled in a seventh run. That was enough for me -- Torre came in to pitch, getting us out of the inning without any further damage, but this game was officially done before it started ... Herbert had five hits and three walks for seven earned runs, and he’s absolute toast with a 63.00 ERA through a single inning through his first two appearances. Vic Power got us on the board in the bottom of the second with an RBI single, and in the top of the top of the fourth we brought out Sonny Dixon for his season debut out of the pen, still trailing 7-1. Chuck Tanner led off with a triple in the bottom of the fourth, and Hector Lopez singled him home, cuting the deficit to five runs. In the bottom of the fifth, Hector Lopez walked the bases loaded, and Bill Wilson singled up the middle and through the gap, driving in a pair! We came up to hit in the bottom of the sixth just trailing by three runs, and Garcia walked Joe Astroth and Joe Maestri to start the inning ... but we weren’t able to score, Finigan hitting into a 4-6 double play off a line drive to end the inning. Sonny Dixon was incredible, staying out there to finish the seventh inning without anyone scoring, but in the top of the eighth an RBI single by Bobby Avila drove in the eighth run of the game for Cleveland, and we brought out Art Ditmer with loaded bases and one out to finish the game. He got out of the inning with two additional runs scoring as the Guardians increased their lead back to six runs. That’s where the game would stay, as the Guardians shut us down hard in a 10-4 blowout loss, but our bullpen did the best it could under the circumstances. This was our first truly “bad” loss of the year, and I’m sure it won’t be the last or the worst. Frank Torre got us through 2.1 innings with one hit, three walks and four strikeouts -- he’ll be a great long reliever option once he gets better control of his arsenal. Sonny Dixon got blown up in the eighth, distorting things somewhat, but he threw 56 pitches through 4.1 innings of work, allowing three hits, two walks and three earned runs, also striking out four -- his 6.23 ERA is only representative of the fact that we kept him out for an inning too long in a blowout game. Ditmer then did what was needed to get us out of the game, pitching 1.2 innings with a hit and two walks to improve his ERA to 3.18. Cleveland outhit us 10-7, but Lopez hit twice with two walks, a run and an RBI, and Vic Power hit twice with an RBI. If there was ever a good time for a bullpen game, this was it ... we have two days to rest, and we should be back at full strength when the White Sox come to town for a three-game set this weekend. April 22, 1955: With the two days of extra rest, we’re able to go back to the top of our pitching rotation, which is good because our 3-4 Athletics are hosting the 6-1 White Sox for three games, with Chicago locked in a tie with the 7-2 Yankees for first in the AL. Alex Kellner (1-1, 1.93 ERA, 14.0 IP, 5 K’s, 1.00 WHIP) pitched against White Sox ace Connie Johnson (2-0, 4.32 ERA, 16.2 IP, 12 K’s, 1.14 WHIP) on another windy, ice cold night in Kansas City that was expected to favor the pitchers. But the White Sox wasted no time, loading the bases with one out in the top of the first, Kellner walking in a run to put them in the lead. They added a second when DeMaestri took too long on a throw to first, allowing Chico Carrasquel to eke out an RBI single, but with the bases still loaded Kellner got a pair of outs and got us out of the inning without it becoming a complete disaster. Finigan hit a single down the left field line that rolled into the corner, and he turned that into an RBI triple that scored a pair, tying things in the bottom of the third -- an RBI single by Joe Taylor then put us in the lead. A few minutes later Bill Wilson hit his second homer of the season, a three-run blast out of right that increased our lead to four runs, sending us into the top of the fourth leading 6-2. The Sox got two of those runs back in the top of the fifth with a homer by Minnie Minoso, but Kellner got us through without any further scoring. Kellner got into a jam in the top of the seventh, putting runners on the corners without an out, but he got out of it with three quick outs to maintain our lead into the stretch! Bobby Shantz came out to pitch in the top of the eighth, our boys still leading by a pair of runs, and in the bottom of the inning we loaded the bases, Bill Wilson walking in an insurance run, Joe Astroth singling in two more to pile on. Shantz made it official with a quick finish in the top of the ninth as we stunned the White Sox with a 9-4 blowout win! Alex Kellner overcame a rough first inning, giving us seven innings in the end with eight hits, three walks and four earned runs ... he didn’t strike anyone out, but he made great use of soft contact into the swirling winds, improving to 2-1 with a 3.00 ERA. Bobby Shantz picked up his first save, pitching two frames with no hits and two strikeouts, keeping his ERA unblemished through eight innings over four appearances. Chicago actually outhit us 8-7, but we were led by Bobby Wilson with a hit, a walk, two runs and four RBIs. Finigan led off with a hit, a run and two RBIs, and Joe Taylor added two hits, two runs and an RBI. It was a great team effort, with that six-run third inning proving to be the real clincher. April 23, 1955: Arnie Portocarrero (0-0, 4.22 ERA, 10.2 IP, 4 K’s, 1.41 WHIP) pitched against Virgil “Fire” Trucks (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 7.1 IP, 9 K’s, 0.95 WHIP) on a warmer clear afternoon ... temps nearly 60 degrees with win blowing out to left at 10 miles per hour, perfect hitting weather. Finigan led off with a triple in the bottom of the first, and with one out Chuck Tanner drove him home with an RBI single to give us an early lead. Bill Wilson reached first on an E5 error, driving in a second run and we went into the top of the second leading 2-0. We loaded the bases in the bottom of the third but left all our runners stranded when Chico Carrasquel made a great reaching catch to prevent the ball from going into center field ... that would have easily scored two if he’d missed. DiMaestri doubled to lead off the bottom of the fourth but we weren’t able to advance him, keeping the lead at 2-0 heading into the top of the fifth. Bill Wilson hit his third homer of the season in the bottom of the fifth to buy us some insurance, but in the top of the eighth Portocarrero got into trouble, giving up three hits including an RBI single by Bob Nieman, cutting our lead to two and bringing out Tom Gorman from the bullpen. Nellie Fox hit into a fielder’s choice for the first out, but drove in a run to cut our lead to two, but with runners on the corners Dixie Howell hit into a fielder’s choice and we got the out at first to end the inning still ahead. Bobby Shantz came out in the top of the ninth with the one run lead, and despite beaning a batter to start the inning, he got three quick outs to end this as a 3-2 victory! Arnie Portocarrero improved to 1-0 with a 3.57 ERA, allowing eight hits and two earned runs with one strikeout and no walks in a seven inning effort. Gorman came out for his second hold of the season, allowing one hit and improving his ERA to 6.75, while Shantz continues to be unstoppable -- he closed the game out without a hit, earning his second save and giving him a perfect ERA through a full game of pitching. Chicago outhit us again 9-7, but six batters hit in the game for us, led by DiMaestri with two hits and Bill Wilson with a hit, a run and two RBIs. With a double and three homers, he leads the team with a .594 slugging percentage and more than half a game worth of WAR through his first nine games and 32 at-bats. April 24, 1955: It’s our final game against the White Sox here in Kansas City, and the wind’s blowing in from left with clear skies again, drawing more than 8,500 fans out to see Bob Spicer (0-0, 1.23 ERA, 7.1 IP, 2 K’s, 1.09 WHIP) pitch against Dick Donovan, who is making his debut for the White Sox this afternoon. Spicer led off with a single in the bottom of the third, and he came around to score when Jim Finigan hit his first homer of the season to put us in the lead 2-0! The White Sox got on the board in the top of the fourth with an RBI double by Walt Dropo, but their next two batters struck out swinging and we got out of the inning with the lead intact. Finigan hit his second homer of the game in the bottom of the first to expand our lead to 3-1, and we brought Sonny Dixon out with one out and men on first and second in the top of the sixth -- Dick Donovan hit an RBI double to cut the lead in half, and a flustered Dixon hit Nellie Fox with a curveball to load the bases. But Jim Rivera hit one straight to Lopez at third for an out that held all the runners. The tying run came in with an RBI single by Minnie Minoso, but we got the final out on a fielder’s choice throw to second and went into the bottom of the inning tied at 3-3. Once again Spicer won’t get a decision, though Dixon blew his first save of the year. Frank Torre came in to pitch in the top of the seventh, and he was still killing it in the top of the ninth when, with one out, Sherm Lollar hit a two-run blast out of left that left our fans stunned to silence. Torre got us out of the inning trailing by two, but in the bottom of the inning we needed some serious runs if we wanted to get out of this with the sweep. It wasn’t in the cards tonight, we went three up, three down in the bottom frame and lost this one 5-3. But we took the series two wins to one, and head into our next series with a 5-5 record. Bob Spicer lasted 5.1 innings but allowed eight hits with a walk, six strikeouts and three earned runs, giving him a 2.84 ERA through his first two starts. Sonny Dixon got us two outs but blew the save opportunity, allowing two hits but no runs, improving his ERA to 5.40, while Torre then went three innings with three hits, a walk, three strikeouts and two earned runs. He’s now 0-1 with a 3.38 ERA after 5.1 innings in two appearances out of the bullpen. But we had this coming, with Chicago outhitting us for the third day in a row by a 13-8 margin ... Finigan led the way with three hits, two runs and three RBIs thanks to his two homer night, but it was our grit alone that allowed us to win this series when Chicago clearly outplayed us all weekend. We’re off tomorrow and then will play two games against Boston (7-7) and two against the Yankees, who currently lead the AL by a full game with their 9-3 record. April 25, 1955: The Athletics have made a move to add a defensive utility infielder to the mix, sending 24-year-old catcher prospect Hal Bevan, 22-year-old LF prospect Bill Kern and 21-year-old pitching prospect Ken Johnson to the Cincinnati Redlegs in exchange for 27-year-old Rocky Bridges, who is rated as a top shortstop, third baseman and second baseman which will make him a solid addition to the roster. He makes decent contact with a great ability to avoid striking out, though he’ll never be considered much of a power hitter. But Bridges is earning just $16,000 this year, and his ability to defend at multiple positions makes him a better player than he’s even been given credit for while playing backup on better teams. We’ve waived and DFA’d 39-year-old second baseman Pete Suder to make room on the active roster, and Bridges will step into the starting lineup immediately at third base, with Lopez moving to right field where he’s a stronger defender. __________________ "Campus Chronicles" -- The Indiana Hoosiers in a New College World (An OOTP 27 Dynasty) Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

08-11-2024, 08:43 PM	#7
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,908	April 26, 1955: We’ve signed 34-year-old Walt Masterson to a minor league deal with a major league option, sending the veteran right-handed starter to AAA Columbus for a few games to get the feel back ... he hasn’t pitched in the majors since 1953 when he went 10-12 with a 3.63 ERA for the Washington Senators. He’s a solid option to have if we end up having to send Ray Herbert down, though he’ll get at least another start or two to see if he can improve from his ridiculously poor start this season. Masterson still has a solid fastball, changeup and sinker combo and is a flyball pitcher with what our scout deems to be solid ability as a back-end starter. Tonight we faced the Boston Red Sox for the first time here at Municipal Stadium, and it’s the coldest night yet for us here -- 39 degrees, wind blowing out of left at 11 miles per hour, which kept the crowd smaller than I was expecting, at just shy of 7,500 fans. Walt Craddock (0-0, 1.50 ERA, 6.0 IP, 1 K, 1.67 WHIP) got the start against Boston’s Tom Brewer (1-1, 1.62 ERA, 16.2 IP, 7 K’s, 1.14 WHIP). Jim Finigan got us our first hit and baserunner of the game to lead off in the bottom of the fourth, and Rocky Bridges batted him over to second with a single of his own, giving us a runner in scoring posititon! With one out, Hector Lopez dropped a flyball into left field to load the bases, and Vic Power singled into center to drive in a pair. Bill Wilson then hit a two-out, three-run homer -- his fourth of the year! -- to make it a 5-0 lead. Boston came roaring back in the top of the sixth with a three-run blast out of right by Ted Williams, the man, the living legend, but Craddock got through the inning safely with us still up by a pair. Craddock hit a two-out double in the bottom of the inning, and Finigan homered out of right to build our lead back to four runs, the third homer he’s hit in less than a week’s time. With two outs and a man on third in the top of the seventh, Bobby Shantz came in to face their leadoff man Billy Goodman, and he wound up giving up his first runs of the season with a two-run homer by Goodman that pulled the Red Sox back to within two though he got us out of the inning after a Ted Williams single as we picked off Jackie Jenson trying to advance to third. Shantz got us through the eighth inning, and in the top of the ninth Billy Shantz pinch-hit for his brother, hitting a line drive single into right field with just one out. Bridges singled him into scoring position, but Chuck Tanner popped out to the first baseman to end the inning without insurance runs. Tom Gorman came out to pitch in the top of the ninth ... Sam Mele reached first on an E5 error, Billy Goodman singled him into scoring position, and then with one out, Ted Williams gutted us with his second homer of the game, a three-run blast that put Boston up 8-7. Tom Gorman added an RBI double and the game went to hell from there. After an RBI single by Milt Bolling that put us in a three-run hole, we brought in Art Ditmar who got the final out on a fielder’s choice. In the bottom of the ninth, Hector Lopez led off with a walk, but Vic Power hit into a double play. With two outs, Astroth walked and Bill Wilson singled him into scoring postion with a line drive up the middle. DeMaestri then singled into right field, driving in a run and pushing Wilson over to third ... the crowd was on their feet! Joe Taylor came in to pinch-hit for Ditmar, and he singled up the middle to drive in another run -- DeMaestri advanced to third and Taylor trailed him to second. That brought Finigan up to the plate with two outs, two in scoring position, and a chance to tie this up or walk it off ... they intentionally walked him to bring up Bridges, who took the count full but struck out swinging. We lost this one 10-9, but fought for every last minute of it ... it’s hard to ask for more than that, though a win would have been nice. Craddock and Shantz combined for eight innings with 10 hits, five walks and a strikeout and had us in a position to win this one, but Gorman blew the save and took the loss, falling to 1-2 with an 11.57 ERA. He allowed six hits and five runs (three earned) in a disappointing appearance for the 30-year-old who no longer looks like he has what it takes to be a closer. Ditmar got us the final out on four pitches and kept his ERA at 3.00 through six innings of work. This was a real slugfest, with Boston outhitting us 16-14, led by Ted Williams who had three hits, two runs and six RBIs ... he’s a legend for a reason. Rocky Bridges had a great introduction here at home, hitting three times and scoring a run, while Finigan added two hits, a walk, two runs and two RBIs. Bill Wilson had a great night as well with two hits, two runs and three RBIs. April 27, 1955: We’ve moved Ray Herbert into the bullpen as a spot starter, and will roll with a four-man staff for the moment. Alex Kellner (2-1, 3.00 ERA, 21.0 IP, 5 K’s, 1.19 WHIP) pitched in our second game against the Red Sox, facing Willard Nixon (1-2, 2.86 ERA, 22.0 IP, 7 K’s, 1.23 WHIP). Hector Lopez hit an RBI double in the bottom of the first, scoring Vic Power all the way from first base to give us the lead. Bill Wilson led off by reaching first on an error in the bottom of the second, making it to third thanks to a double by Bill Renna that put both in scoring position without an out. Kellner drove in a pair with an RBI single, and we went into the top of the third leading 3-0. Hector Lopez hit an RBI single to add a run for us in the bottom of the fifth, and Astroth hit an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth. Bill Wilson loaded the bases with a walk, and Kellner singled in another run to make it a six-run lead! He stayed out to finish the job, winning the game as Ted Williams popped out to left field as we won 6-0! Alex Kellner became our first pitcher to go all the way this year, pitching a complete game three-hit shutout with a walk and seven strikeouts, taking just 108 pitches to get there! He now holds a 3-1 record and a 2.10 ERA, and he hit two times with three RBIs, improving his average to .182 as well. We outhit Boston 10-3, a dominating performance led by Kellner, and by Lopez who hit three times with two RBIs. We’ve moved into a tie for third with the Red Sox, our record at 6-6 heading into a two game set against the 10-4 Yankees who are coming off a 3-2 loss against the White Sox in Chicago that went 10 innings. Hank Bauer (.385, 3 HR, 5 RBIs) and Mickey Mantle (.340, 2 HR, 12 RBIs) are going to be their toughest outs, and they have a +29 run differential, the best in the AL and second only to Brooklyn (11-3, +44) over in the NL. April 28, 1955: Just shy of 7,400 fans showed up under clear 43-degree skies to see us play the Yankees for the first time this year. The wind was blowing out at 12 miles per hour, which could make it a tough night for the pitchers as Arnie Portocarrero (1-0, 3.57 ERA, 17.2 IP, 5 K’s, 1.30 WHIP) took on the amazing Johnny Sain (2-0, 1.04 ERA, 17.1 IP, 3 K’s, 0.87 WHIP) who is still going strong at age 37. The Yankees got on the board quickly with an RBI double by Mantle that put them ahead 1-0 in the top of the first, and it got ugly fast when Andy Carey hit a three-run blast out of right to make it a four-run lead. Gil McDougald added an RBI in the top of the second, and Mantle batted in another with a single as this one quickly got completely out of control. They added another two in the top of the fourth off another single by Mantle, and Portocarrero stayed out through the fifth inning only to keep our bullpen from having to blow too many arms. Frank Torre came out to pitch in the top of the sixth, still trailing by eight runs, and with two outs Yogi Berra hit a run scoring single to make it 9-0. Finigan lead off with a single in the bottom of the sixth, just our second hit of the night, and that at least seemed to finally get our blood pumping -- Turner singled Finigan into scoring position, and Lopez drove him in with a single to score our first run, denying Sain the shutout. But the Yankees got the last laugh with a three-run blast out of center by Hank Bauer, with Torre finally getting us out of the inning with a double play as we trailed 12-1 heading into the stretch. Ray Herbert came out with the game completely out of reach in the top of the eighth, and he’s clearly got to do SOMETHING to calm his damned nerves, because three batters came up and all three made it on base. I kept him out there ... there’s literally nothing to lose this late in a blowout situation ... and he got the three back-to-back outs to escape the inning without anyone scoring. Herbert stayed out in the ninth and got the three outs he needed, but the game was out of our hands at that point and we lost in the end 12-1. Portocarrero allowed nine hits with two walks, two strikeouts and eight earned runs as we got shellacked tonight ... he’s now 1-1 with a 5.96 ERA through his fourth start of the year. Torre did what he could in two innings work, but he allowed four more hits and four earned runs with three walks and a strikeout, blowing his ERA up to 7.36. Herbert benefitted from his two innings being left to his own devices, allowing two hits with two walks but surviving without any runs scoring ... so he’s now got a 21.00 ERA through his first three innings of work. The Yankees creamed us on hits, 15-7, and only Bill Wilson came out unscathed. He hit three times, but went nowhere. Meanwhile, Mickey Mantle hit four times and walked once, scoring a run and driving in four, bringing his average up to .392; that kid can really hit! April 29, 1955: We’ve gone ahead and sent Ray Herbert down to AAA for a spell, bringing up Walt Masterson, who will be available in long relief and as a spot starter. Bob Spicer (0-0, 2.84 ERA, 12.2 IP, 8 K’s, 1.34 WHIP) got the start against New York’s newest pitcher, Vinegar Bend Mizell, who just signed a one year contract worth $154,000 out of free agency. He has absolutely insane stuff, but not necessarily a ton of control, and he hasn’t pitched at the major league level since 1953 when he went 13-11 with a 3.49 ERA for the St. Louis Cardinals. So maybe we can ring him up a bit early ... that may be our only hope. With two outs in the bottom of the second we loaded the bases, Mizell having walked three batters in the inning when he sent DeMaestri to his base. But Spicer grounded out to first to keep us scoreless, though we’d gotten Mizell to throw 52 pitches in two innings. Rocky Bridges led off with a single in the bottom of the third, and Hector Lopez got a line drive into center field to push him into scoring position. Chuck Turner then got our fans to their feet with a flyball double that drove in a run to give us a 1-0 lead! We struck while the iron was hot, Vic Power driving in two more runs with a single, only one out against us, but Astroth hit into a double play to end the inning with us ahead 3-0. Shantz was locked in and we took that same lead into the seventh inning stretch, with New York finally pulling Mizell for reliever Rip Coleman, who has only had two bullpen appearances this year, though through two innings of work he’s only allowed a single hit and four walks ... no runs. He shut us down in the seventh, Astroth hit a line drive double into center with one out in the bottom of the eighth, but we weren’t able to add any insurance so Bobby Shantz came out in the ninth to protect our lead. Yogi Berra doubled to lead off, and eventually made it over to third, but Shantz stranded him there as we shut the Yanks down to win 3-0! Spicer finally got his first win, improving to 1-0 with a 1.74 ERA with just six hits, a walk and a strikeout in his eight innings. Shantz then came in and got his third save of the year, allowing a pair of hits but striking out a batter and staying scoreless, improving his ERA to 0.79 through seven bullpen appearances. Each team had eight hits, but Mantle only had one and he didn’t get anywhere so we’ll take that as a huge win. Rocky Bridges has been a valuable addition to the team, hitting twice today for a run, while six others got hits to keep us moving. Bridges has hit .294 since coming to Kansas City, bringing his average up to .241 with four walks and three RBIs this season as a whole. The 27-year-old hasn’t been a starter since batting .227 with 13 doubles and 21 RBIs for Cincinnati back in 1953, and he seems to be loving the opportunity to show off now that he’s here. You show ‘em, Rocko! We’re off tomorrow night, and then take our 7-7 record up against the Washington Senators (6-13) for two games, followed by a pair against Baltimore (6-12). Those will be our last home games for three weeks, as we’ll then hit the road to play a total of 17 road games in a row against Cleveland (8-7), Baltimore, Boston (8-11), New York (11-5), Washington and Chicago (11-4). By the time we get back to Kansas City on May 24th we’ll have a really good idea if we have any chance of being competitive this season. Bob Spicer has been named Rookie of the Month! He’s got nine K’s, a 1.74 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP through 21 innings, and though the 30-year-0ld isn’t known for killer stuff, he’s been dominating with his pinpoint control. It’ll be interesting to see if he can keep it up through a long season, but it’s good to see veteran players stepping up and giving the fans comething to cheer 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 (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

08-10-2024, 06:13 PM	#1
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,908	"Ain't Gonna Work As Topping's Farm No More" -- A's Baseball in a Reimagined Fifties “Ain’t Gonna Work As Topping’s Farm No More” What if, when the Athletics moved from Philly to Kansas City in ’55, the team didn’t become the unofficial AAAA farm team for the New York Yankees and Yankees’ president Dan Topping? No more collusion and sending all the best Athletics players to New York in exchange for the Yankees’ table scraps. Would the A’s have become a success in Kansas City before the eventual move to Oakland? I’m setting the game up in career mode, so players can get injured, sign with different teams, develop differently from the historical record, and I’ll be running the sim in challenge mode, with real minors using talent ratings and the OOTP development engine. An amateur draft will be held each year, with expansion / relocation held as it was in real life (same with financial settings). Scouting will be set for “Normal,” using a 1-100 ratings scale along with star ratings. Trading will be set as an 8 out of 10 on the “Normal to Hard” scale with my preference set to prefer prospects. - - - - - March 30, 1955: Baseball fans are excited here in Kansas City, as the (formerly Philadelphia) Athletics are getting set to start their first season playing American League ball here in Missouri. Municipal Stadium will open its gates for the first time on April 12-13 with a pair of games against the Detroit Tigers, and while expectations are far from high -- the team’s best player looks to be Elmer Valo, a left-fielder who hasn’t hit above .250 since 1952 -- but the team does have some solid young players in their minor league system, and locals are happy to have an option to compete with the National League’s St. Louis Cardinals right here in our own backyard. Team owner Richard Doyle recently announced the hiring of unproven 26-year-old GM / Manager Eli Gordon, who will be taking the helm of the team in its first season. Doyle, who is known to have a preference for young talent, spent the last four years as a scout with the Athletics’ minor league teams while they were in Philly, so he’ll be watched closely to see how he handles building this team from the ground up. It’s expected he’ll try to move aging players for prospects, but with the team already rumored to be nearly $70,000 in the red, his job is already a tough one if fans see the product on the field and decide it’s not worth their money. *OOC*: Just noticed I originally mistitled the thread with Topper vs. Topping lol but at least you get the right joke when you click on the thread lol ... __________________ "Campus Chronicles" -- The Indiana Hoosiers in a New College World (An OOTP 27 Dynasty) Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds) Last edited by jksander; 08-10-2024 at 10:38 PM.

08-10-2024, 11:36 PM	#5
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,908	April 14, 1955: Veteran pitcher Bob Spicer, who went 13-16 with a 3.08 ERA for us last year in Philly, took on Chicago’s Billy Pierce in our first game of the year in the Windy City. It was definitely an adjustment, with nearly 30,000 fans packed into Comiskey Park and making a lot more noise than we’ve had in either of our home starts. Both pitchers were locked in, and in the bottom of the fifth Spicer got out of his first real jam with runners on first and second, keeping the game scoreless with a pop-out to left as we came up to hit in the top of the sixth. DeMaestri led off with a single and they walked Spicer, giving us our first scoring chance as Finigan came up to the plate. They walked him too, loading the bases, and Tanner hit into a fielder’s choice that got DeMaestri out at home plate. Vic Power popped out to left, holding the runners, and Hector Lopez popped out to right ... three runners on, nobody scored. Astroth hit a triple with one out in the top of the seventh, and this time we made something happen -- Bill Wilson doubled in the run, and we took a 1-0 lead on the road. Vic Power hit a solo homer in the top of the eighth to add some insurance, but with Spicer in trouble in the bottom of the inning, we brought Gorman back out with one out and two in scoring position. A run scored on a pop-out to center by catcher Sherm Lollar, but we held our lead when shortstop Jim Brideweser popped out to right. Bill Wilson hit a towering homer out of left in the top of the ninth to extend our lead back to two runs, but Gorman struggled in the ninth. He gave up a run thanks to three consecutive hits and we had to bring out Ray Herbert from the bullpen for his first appearance ... no outs, men on first and second, and just a one-run lead. Nellie Fox sac-bunted the runners into scoring position, and then Jim Rivera batted in two runs with a walk-off single as we took our first loss of the year, 4-3. Bob Spicer gave us 7.1 innings with six hits, two walks, two strikeouts and an earned run, and Gorman got us through the eighth and we should have taken that. Instead he gave up three hits and three earned runs thanks to his performance in the ninth, falling to 1-1 and dropping his ERA to 9.00. Herbert got us one out but gave up the hit that blew the save on just his second pitch of the night. Chicago outhit us 10-6, our team’s offense supported by Bill Wilson with two hits, a run and two RBIs, while our catcher Joe Astroth hit twice and scored a run. Early losses like this one are hard to take, especially on the road, but if we can consider them learning experiences we’ll come out ahead in the end (or so you tend to hope). We’ll have a day off while we take the train to Detroit, where we have a pair of games this weekend through which to recover. April 16, 1955: It was a cold grey afternoon in Detroit this afternoon when Walt Craddock faced off against the Tigers’ veteran pitcher Ned Garver in front of about 12,000 fans. The Tigers come into the game with a 1-3 record, still looking for their first win against us. Detroit scored first, thanks to an RBI single with two outs by Ned Garver in the bottom of the second, and it wasn’t until Vic Power hit an RBI single in the top of the seventh that we were able to even things up, though we were quick to capitalize on it ... Astroth hit an RBI single to give us a one-run lead, up 2-1 as we went into the stretch. Art Ditmar came out to pitch in the bottom of the seventh, getting two outs, but Al Kaline hit a two-run homer out of right that pushed home Harvey Kuenn (who had reached on a dropped throw earlier in the inning) and put the Tigers back up 3-2. Ditmar allowed another pair of runs to score with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, thanks to a double by Ned Garver, digging us a hole we were unlikely to get out of. We went down quietly in the ninth and lost this one 5-2. Walt Craddock worked hard to keep the lead, lasting six innings with four hits, but he walked six against one strikeout and the one earned run, so he wasn’t able to go the distance. He’ll settle for a 1.50 ERA in his first start, while Ditmar pitched two innings with three hits, four runs (two earned) and a walk, blowing the save and starting out 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA after his first appearance. April 17, 1955: Alex Kellner (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 8.0 IP, 4 K’s, 0.38 WHIP) started this afternoon in game two against the Tigers, facing Billy Hoeft (0-1, 9.00 ERA, 5.0 IP, 1 K, 2.60 WHIP). We committed two errors in the bottom of the first but avoided giving the Tigers a lead. We had a chance to score in the top of the third, but with runners on the corners, Al Kaline made a diving catch to snag a flyball from Chuck Tanner to end our inning scoreless. At that point Kellner started to struggle, giving up three hits in a row including an RBI single by Ray Boone that put the Tigers up a run, but he got through without further incident, keeping us at least theoretically in this game. But we’d need to get some hits ... and that didn’t seem to be in the cards. But we got something going in the sixth, Finigan singling and then Tanner driving him to third with a single of his own ... no outs! But we popped out harmlessly three times and were unable to score Finigan from third. What a waste. Jim Delsing hit a solo homer off Kellner in the bottom of the sixth to add insurance for Detroit, and a third run scored off a single by Hoeft when we should have been out of the inning (Wilson committed our third error moments prior with a poor catch at second on a fielder’s choice). Kellner got us out of the inning but trailing 3-0, and he was clearly done for the afternoon. Bobby Shantz came in to pitch for the seventh onward, and he pitched well, but we lost this one 3-0 thanks to a complete absense of offensive power, coupled with our three errors on defense. Kellner fell to 1-1 with a 1.93 ERA, allowing nine hits with two walks, a strikeout and three earned runs. Shantz gave us two innings with just a pair of strikeouts, staying perfect through his first 4.2 innings of work out of the bullpen. We were only outhit 9-8, so this game was winnable if we hadn’t shot ourselves in the foot so often defensively. Finigan hit three times in the leadoff position and Astroth hit twice but we weren’t able to score anyone. We head back to Kansas City with a 2-3 record, perfect still at home but winless on the road. - - - - - The Kansas City Athletics have surprised most experts in the American League by coming out on top in the bidding for infielder Daryl Spencer and his power bat. The 26-year-old signed a one year contract worth $26,500 to play for the A’s. The team has also sent Don Bollweg down to AAA and called up Frank Torre as an extra arm out of the bullpen and as a pinch-hitting option. Spencer will be a utility infielder off the bench, as well as one of our best options as a pinch hitter and runner, but his ability as a defender is questionable (though if he is needed on defense it’ll be at second rather than at shortstop). The team will host Cleveland (2-4) tomorrow and Tuesday, followed by a pair of off days before a three-game set this weekend against Chicago (4-1). Boston (3-4) and the Yankees (4-2) will follow the week after. __________________ "Campus Chronicles" -- The Indiana Hoosiers in a New College World (An OOTP 27 Dynasty) Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds) Last edited by jksander; 08-10-2024 at 11:38 PM.

08-11-2024, 11:00 PM	#8
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,908	May 1, 1955: Walt Craddock (0-0, 3.55 ERA, 12.2 IP, 2 K’s, 1.58 WHIP) started our first game against the Senators’ Camilo Pascual (0-4, 4.39 ERA, 26.2 IP, 24 K’s, 1.91 WHIP) ... Pascual has 22 walks to go with his gaudy strikeout totals, and has put up nearly half a game of WAR despite losing all four of his starts in the 21-year-old’s second season in the majors. We quickly took the lead in the bottom of the first with a sac-fly by Lopez with loaded bags, and Vic Power drove in another with an RBI single. Astroth hit into a fielder’s choice for our second out and Bill Wilson struck out swinging, but we held a 2-0 lead just twenty minutes into the game. Washington scored in the top of the second off a sac-fly by Pascual, but he got stranded there as we held on to our lead. Vic Power was injured trying to slide into third in the bottom of the third inning, straining his hip ... he was safe on the slide but may miss two weeks of action as a result. Frank Torre stepped in to take his place today, both on base and in the field at first base and we went into the top of the fourth still leading 2-1. They tied it up in the top of the fourth with a groundout by Ed Fitz Gerald, and they took the lead in the top of the fifth with an RBI single by Mickey Vernon. Pascual walked Finigan to load the bases in the bottom of the sixth with two outs, and despite the fact that it was his sixth walk and he’d thrown 127 pitches, they kept him in. Big mistake, as Rocky Bridges hit a shot up the middle to drive in a pair and give us back the lead, crushing Pascual’s hope of getting a win out of this one -- his night was over, as Ted Abernathy (1-0, 5.91 ERA, 10.2 IP, 7 K’s, 1.88 WHIP) took over for him to get the final out with us up 4-3 heading into the top of the seventh. Sonny Dixon came out to pitch in the top of the eighth with a one run lead, and he quietly and efficiently shut them down through the final two innings as we held tough to win the game 4-3. Craddock got us the win, improving to 1-0 with a 3.66 ERA, allowing five hits with three walks, five strikeouts and three earned runs. Dixon then held it for him, saving his first game this season with one hit, one strikeout and no runs scored during two innings of work, bringing his ERA down to 3.86 through his first three appearances. Each team had six hits, with Bridges again leading the way for us with two hits, a walk, a run and two RBIs. May 2, 1955: It’s not even 50 degrees, with wind blowing out hard from left, and this has to be the coldest start to the season ever for us ... normally we’d have had some nice sunny 70-degree days by now. That’s kept a lot of fans away despite our solid 8-7 start. Dick Kryhoski filled in tonight for the injured Vic Power, just his second appearance this year, and Alex Kellner (3-1, 2.10 ERA, 30.0 IP, 12 K’s, 0.97 WHIP) pitched against Mickey McDermott (0-1, 5.04 ERA, 25.0 IP, 13 K’s, 1.56 WHIP). Hector Lopez hit a solo homer in the bottom of the fourth to put us into the lead, his second longball of the season! Jim Finigan hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth, his fourth of the season, extending our lead to 3-0 heading into the top of the sixth. The Senators got on the board with an RBI triple by Eddie Yost in the top of the seventh, and Bobby Shantz came in to relieve Kellner with one out and the runner on third. He got a quick out then allowed a run to score off a wild pitch, cutting our lead to one and causing Kellner to yell loud enough for the radio broadcast to pick him up from the bullpen: “Now I could have done that, Shantz!” But we got out of the inning with the lead still at one run, and we got the run back in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single by Hector Lopez. Sonny Dixon came in to pitch in the top of the ninth with the two run lead, getting two quick pop-outs before Eddie Yost hit a double to keep their hopes alive ... but Ed Fitz Gerald hit a pop-fly to left for an easy out and we won this one 4-2, improving to 9-7 on the season. Alex Kellner wasn’t happy to get pulled after 6.1 innings with five hits, a walk, three strikeouts and two runs (one earned) but he took the win, inproving to 4-1 with a 1.98 ERA. Shantz held his first game this season, going 1.2 innings with a hit and a strikeout, dropping his ERA to 0.69, while Dixon saved his second game with just one hit, improving his ERA to 3.38. We outhit the Senators 9-7, led by Hector Lopez with three hits, a run and two RBIs, while Finigan added two hits, a walk, two runs and two RBIs. He’s now slashing .355/.444/.645 in the leadoff position, with four doubles, a triple, four homers and 10 RBIs, good for 1.5 WAR already this season! May 3, 1955: Baltimore comes into town with an 8-12 record, and we’re on a three-game winning streak, our best of the year! It’s another clear, cold, windy day in May, and Arnie Portocarrero (1-1, 5.96 ERA, 22.2 IP, 7 K’s, 1.50 WHIP) got the start against Duane “Dee” Pillettte (0-2, 7.88 ERA, 16.0 IP, 6 K’s, 2.56 WHIP). We took the lead in the bottom of the second when Vic Power scored from third on a sac-fly by DeMaestri ... our trainer said he could play as long as his hip isn’t straining him, and we’ll have him on a short leash tonight. The Senators got us back in the top of the fourth, Bobby Young hitting a two-run double to give them the lead, and an RBI single by Vern Stephens added to the damage. In the bottom of the seventh, still trailing by a pair, Wilson hit a double into right and then DeMaestri walked to give us two on base and no outs. Portocarrero tried to sac-bunt but instead popped out to third for an easy out. With two outs and the count 2-2 against Rocky Bridges, both runners advanced thanks to a wild pitch, but Bridges popped out to short, another missed opportunity. Tom Gorman came out to pitch in the eighth inning, pitching two excellent innings as he kept us within two runs as we came up in the bottom of the ninth. Their closer, Ray Moore, walked Astroth to lead off, and Wilson took the count full but popped out to the catcher for our first out. Darryl Spencer came in to pinch-hit for DeMaestri who is mired in a cold stretch .... but Spencer struck out swinging, Billy Shantz coming in to pinch-hit for Gorman as our final gambit. It was a failure, as he struck out swinging -- Baltimore pulled out the win as the Orioles snapped our winning streak. Portocarrero fell to 1-2 with a 5.46 ERA, allowing six hits and three earned runs with three walks and five strikeouts in his seven innings. Gorman did what he could, walking one, striking out another, and not surrendering a single hit through 27 pitches and two innings, his ERA improving to 8.10, but he wasn’t able to get the team to rally. The Orioles outdueled us 6-4 on hits, Vic Power scoring our only run with his hit early in the game, a run batted in by DeMaestri, who walked later in the game though he’s only hitting .194 and has gone hitless three games running. May 4, 1955: This is our final home game for close to three weeks, and only 6,200 fans showed up despite clear skies and temps nearing 60 degrees, wind blowing out to right at a brisk 12 miles per hour. Bob Spicer (1-0, 1.74 ERA, 20.2 IP, 9 K’s, 1.16 WHIP) started against Baltimore’s Mel Held, who is making his season debut this afternoon. Vic Power got us on the board in the bottom of the third with a three-run homer out of left, his second of the season! Hector Lopez followed it with a solo bomb, his third of the year, sending us into the top of the fourth with a sudden 4-0 advantage. The Orioles got on the board with a solo homer by Gus Triandos in the top of the fourth, and they got Spicer into real trouble in the top of the sixth -- he loaded the bases and walked in a run as we frantically worked to warm up the bullpen. Art Ditmar came in with no outs, bases loaded, and a run scored on a sac-fly by Cal Abrams, but a fielder’s choice and a groundout to first got us out of the frame still leading 4-3. We brought Bobby Shantz out in the seventh with two outs and men on the corners, and he got Gene Woodling to hit it straight to DeMaestro who was able to make the tag out at second to keep us on top. Vic Power bought us some insurance with his second homer of the night in the bottom of the eighth, and Shantz stayed out to finish the game as we held on to win 5-3. We’ll go into our road trip with a 10-8 record, which is better than just about anyone expected, even with us playing 15 of our first 18 games here in Kansas City. Bob Spicer improved to 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA, allowing three hits and three earned runs with three walks and a strikeout in five innings. Art Ditmar pitched 1.2 innings for his first hold of the year, just one hit and one walk against him as he improved his ERA to 2.35. Shantz then came out for a 2.1 inning save, his fourth of the season, with just two hits and a walk as he improved his improbably solid ERA to 0.59 through 15.1 innings.They outhit us 6-5 and out-walked us 5-3, but we got a great game out of Vic Power who hit twice (both homers) with two runs and four RBIs, giving him a .323 average, 14 RBIs and a .484 slugging average through his first 16 games. Heading into our four-game weekend series against the Cleveland Guardians on the road (including a Sunday doubleheader) we’re alone in fourth place in the American League, just 2.5 games out of first. The Guardians (12-8, 1.5 GB) have started the month of May out on a 4-1 tear, and they’ve won nine of their last ten, so this is going to be a tough test. We went 1-1 against them earlier in April. They’re an all around good team with solid bats and pitching, so we’re going to have to be on our “A”-game if we want to come out of there with some wins. Attached Images __________________ "Campus Chronicles" -- The Indiana Hoosiers in a New College World (An OOTP 27 Dynasty) Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

08-12-2024, 04:35 PM	#9
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,908	May 6, 1955: Alex Kellner (4-1, 1.98 ERA, 36.1 IP, 15 K’s, 0.96 WHIP) pitched in game one against Cleveland, facing Early Wynn (3-0, 3.00 ERA, 27.0 IP, 17 K’s, 1.48 WHIP). Wynn has walked 16 batters, so we’re going to be encouraging all our batters to stay patient at the plate and see if we can bait him to lose his control early. Cleveland got going quickly with a solo homer by Al Rosen (his fifth of the year) in the bottom of the first. He hit another one in the bottom of the third, scoring three more runs, and Larry Doby hit a solo blast out of left to make it a 5-0 Cleveland lead. Frank Torre came out to pitch in the bottom of the fifth, still trailing by five, and in the top of the sixth we got on the board with a solo homer by Hector Lopez, his fourth of the year. The Guardians added three runs in the bottom of the sixth, and Art Ditmar came in to pitch in the bottom of the seventh trailing by seven runs. Ditmar took a beating in the bottom of the eighth, loading the bases and allowing two more runs to score, but he stayed out there to save our bullpen arms for the rest of the series. We never stood a chance, losing this one 10-1. Kellner was bound to have a bad start eventually, and tonight it hit him hard ... five hits, two walks and five runs (three earned) in four innings as he fell to 4-2 with a 2.45 ERA. Torre lasted two innings with six hits, allowing three runs (two earned), while Ditmar gave us two innings with just two hits ... but his two walks against two strikeouts led to a pair of earned runs as his ERA grew to 3.72. They outhit us 13-3, Lopez’s homer being our only offense of the night. May 7, 1955: Walt Craddock (1-0, 3.66 ERA, 19.2 IP, 7 K’s, 1.42 WHIP) pitched in our Saturday game against Herb Score (2-3, 5.45 ERA, 36.1 IP, 37 K’s, 1.62 WHIP) so we can save Portocarrero and Spicer for tomorrow’s doubleheader. Craddock got in trouble almost immediately, loading the bases and allowing a run to score when Larry Doby hit into a fielder’s choice with the out made at second. Another run scored when George Strickland hit an RBI infield single, digging us a nice two-run hole to start the game. And from there it seemed like we could do nothing right -- this Cleveland team is really good, but watching another run score off an RBI double by Bobby Avila, and then two more off a single by Al Rosen, was frustrating as hell. Craddock had to fight through it, however, because we can’t pitch another bullpen game with a doubleheader tomorrow ... he’s going to have to find a way to stay in a few more innings while we try to catch up. Too little too late, Craddock struck out the side in the bottom of the fourth, but we couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn and they picked up another run in the bottom of the fifth. With Craddock at 115 pitches, Frank Torre came back out for the second day in a row, getting two outs before Avila hit a solo bomb out of left to increase their margin to seven runs. Hank Majeski hit a solo homer in the bottom of the seventh as they piled on. Russ Sullivan stunned everyone with a three-run homer in the top of the ninth, his first of the year, and we picked up back to back walks for Wilson and Torre as the Cleveland fans started to sweat ... everyone wondering why they refused to pull an obviously gassed Herb Score (145 pitches!) But Jim Finigan hit into a fielder’s choice and we lost this one badly, 8-3, despite any desperation runs in the final frame. Walt Craddock basically blew the game for us in the first two innings, though he’d last five and finish with five hits, six walks, four strikeouts and six runs (five earned) as he fell to 1-1 with a 4.74 ERA. Frank Torre helped mop up the damage with three solid innings -- four hits, a strikeout and a pair of earned runs -- and his ERA stands at 7.30 through 12.1 innings over five appearances. He took one for the team, working back to back days, in hopes that our two starters tomorrow will do better and our higher leverage relievers will get a chance to help us win. Cleveland outhit us 9-5, with Sullivan’s three-run homer giving us our only offense yet again (though Finigan did get two hits and a walk, trying desperately to help us get back in it. Twenty games into our season we’re now 10-10 and heading into our first doubleheader. We’re 0-5 on the road. May 8, 1955: Not a huge fan of doubleheaders, but they’re a fact of life. Hopefully we can come up with some solid play to turn around our fortunes. Alex Kellner is fully rested, after only throwing 74 pitches two nights ago, but we’re sticking with the plan of using Portocarrero and Spicer today. Kellner will get an extra rest day tomorrow and we can then reset the rotation. In game one today, Arnie Portocarrero (1-2, 5.46 ERA, 29.2 IP, 12 K’s, 1.45 WHIP) pitched against Cleveland’s Don “The Sphinx” Mossi (2-1, 2.94 ERA, 33.2 IP, 17 K’s, 1.25 WHIP). The Guardians got a run in the bottom of the first off a groundout by Rosen, and our hitting woes continued. That and two early errors made life tougher for our pitcher, but he kept us in the game. In the top of the fourth, Chuck Tanner struck out swinging, but the catcher bobbled the ball and he made it to first safely on two outs ... just our second baserunner of the game! Too bad Vic Power popped up harmlessly to third and we went down with nothing. The game turned into a pitching duel, but the Guardians hit twice against Portocarrero in the sixth inning, taking a 2-0 lead when Dave Philley hit a double that drove in Vic Wertz from first on just Cleveland’s third hit of the game. They added on with an RBI single by Bobby Avila in the bottom of the seventh, and we couldn’t buy a hit to save our lives. Tom Gorman came in to pitch in the eighth, and they got a two-run homer off of Dave Philley to add to our humiliation. They shut us down one, two, three in the ninth and we lost this one 5-0. Portocarrero took the loss, falling to 1-3 with a 4.91 ERA, allowing just four hits with a walk, three strikeouts and three runs (two earned) in seven innings’ work. Gorman then allowed a hit, a walk and two earned runs with just one strikeout, his ERA now at a miserable 9.39. They outhit us 5-1, didn’t walk us once, and only Astroth (with a hit) and Power (with the accidental base) even had a chance ... nobody got into scoring position. Cleveland’s now tied for second with the Yankees, two games back of the White Sox, so we knew we weren’t going to see them slacking off in the second game. Bob Spicer (2-0, 2.45 ERA, 25.2 IP, 10 K’s, 1.17 WHIP), who has been red hot for us, took the mound against Bob Lemon (0-2, 1.20 ERA, 15.0 IP, 4 K’s, 1.13 WHIP) for the late afternoon start as the Guardians worked to defend their six-game winning streak. We had an opportunity in the top of the first, when Rocky Bridges walked and then Chuck Tanner doubled him over to third, giving us two runners in scoring position with one out! With two outs, Vic Power singled into right and we took our first lead of the entire series when both runners scored, going up 2-0! DeMaestri committed an error at shortstop right away in the bottom of the inning, but Spicer handled his business and stranded the Guardians’ lone baserunner. George Strickland hit an RBI single in the bottom of the second to get Cleveland on the board, and we missed a chance to add some insurance runs with the bases loaded in the top of the third, when Bill Wilson popped out to the catcher for our final out. DeMaestri reached first on an error to lead off in the top of the fourth, and a Finigan single into right drove him over to third with two outs. Bridges walked to again load the bases, and this time Chuck Tanner got a hit through the gap and we drove in two runs with the single! Vic Power added a solo bomb out of center in the top of the fifth, making him our fourth player to have four homers so far this year, giving us a 5-1 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth. We loaded the bases again in the top of the seventh, this time with one out, DeMaestri driving in a run with a sac-fly ... he’s still in a maddening slump, but this time he helped us add on. Darryl Spencer pinch hit for Spicer, walking in another run, and we went into the stretch leading by six with Bobby Shantz coming out to pitch. Shantz stayed out the remainder of the game and won this one 7-1! Bob Spicer, our surprising 30-year-old rookie, had a six inning game with four hits, two walks, a strikeout and an earned run -- he’s now 3-0 with a 2.27 ERA, one of the biggest surprises of the young season. Bobby Shantz then came in for the three-inning save, his fifth save of the season, allowing just one hit with a walk and two strikeouts to improve his ERA to 0.49 through 18.1 innings ... unbelievable! We turned it around and outhit the Guardians 10-5 in our fourth game of the series, led by Vic Power who hit twice, walked twice, scored two runs and drove in three. He’s hitting .324 with 17 RBIs and a .500 slugging average. Hector Lopez hit three times and scored a run, and Chuck Tanner added two hits a run and two RBIs, so the middle of our order really kept us going today. The win gets us back to .500, currently 11-11 heading into the off day and then a tough week, where we’ll face Baltimore (11-14) for two, Boston (11-17) for three and the Yankees (15-8) in a Sunday doubleheader. __________________ "Campus Chronicles" -- The Indiana Hoosiers in a New College World (An OOTP 27 Dynasty) Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

08-12-2024, 04:37 PM	#10
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,908	OOC: Spicer's been interesting .. I looked him up, and he played for KC in 1955 and 1956 but saw a total of five innings of work. OOTP must have given him decent ratings based on his minor league stats, but with us using development instead of recalc, it'll be interesting to see if this 30-year-old surprise success can keep it going. Attached Images __________________ "Campus Chronicles" -- The Indiana Hoosiers in a New College World (An OOTP 27 Dynasty) Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

08-13-2024, 04:16 PM	#12
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,908	May 17, 1955: Alex Kellner (5-3, 2.56 ERA, 56.1 IP, 16 K’s, 1.10 WHIP) pitched against Chuck Stubbs (2-3, 3.00 ERA, 30.0 IP, 15 K’s, 1.53 WHIP) in our first game in Washington, in front of barely 6,000 fans at Griffith Stadium. Chuck Stubbs reached first on an E4 error that drove in a run for the Senators in the bottom of the second. We took the lead, however, in the top of the fourth thanks to a two-run homer by Joe Astroth (his first of the year). DeMaestri hit a triple into the right field corner, and Finigan doubled off the wall in left to drive in another run. Rocky Bridges ground out to first but drove in a fourth run, and we went into the bottom of the inning leading 4-1. Bobby Shantz came in to pitch in the bottom of the ninth to protect our three-run lead, and he didn’t blink, shutting them down as we won 4-1. Alex Kellner improved to 6-3 with a 2.24 ERA, allowing six hits, three walks and one unearned run in his eight innings. Shantz then came in and saved his sixth game of the year, striking out one batter and allowing no hits as he improved his ERA to 0.42 through 21.1 innings. If there’s a better lock-down reliever in the game right now I’d like to meet him. We outhit the Senators 11-6, led by Astroth, who had two hits with a run and two RBIs, and by Kellner, who hit twice, walked once and scored a run! May 18, 1955: Bob Spicer (3-1, 2.68 ERA, 37.0 IP, 13 K’s, 1.24 WHIP) pitched our second game against the Senators, facing Mickey McDermott (0-2, 4.81 ERA, 43.0 IP, 19 K’s, 1.72 WHIP). This game was marked by solid defense on both sides, so it stayed scoreless deep into the game. But with two outs and a man on third, Washington managed to finally strike in the bottom of the sixth, an RBI single by Eddie Yost putting them on the board. We got them back in the top of the seventh with a solo homer by Bill Wilson (his fifth of the year after a bit of a drought), tying the score heading into the stretch, with Tom Gorman coming in to pitch. Finigan came up for the fourth time to lead off in the top of the eighth, and he hit a triple off the wall in left, and with two outs Chuck Tanner hit one into right field to drive him home, giving us a 2-1 lead! Vic Power batted Tanner over to third with a single, and Astroth hit a line drive just past Eddie Yost’s ear, driving in another run. Bobby Shantz came in to pitch in the bottom of the eighth, and Hector Lopez singled in a run with two outs in the top of the ninth to add to our lead. Shantz was impeccable with his control and we silenced them completely down the stretch as we pulled out the 4-1 win to complete a two-game sweep! Spicer was solid with six innings and eight hits, two walks, two strikeouts and an earned run, but Gorman picked up the win, improving to 2-2 with a perfect seventh inning. Bobby Shantz then came in for his seventh save, allowing one hit with two strikeouts in his two innings, improving his already stellar ERA to 0.39! We outhit the Senators 11-9, led by Hector Lopez who hit twice, walked once and batted in a run, and by Bobby Wilson, whose homer off a hit and a walk tonight got his average back above .200 for the season. May 19, 1955: We’ve made a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals to bring fan-favorite right fielder Harry Walker to Kansas City. Walker is a solid contact hitter with great eye and ability to avoid strikeouts, as well as being able to competently field at 1B, LF and RF at age 38. In return the Cardinals will get minor league closer Marshall Bridges, 23, and 26-year-old left fielder Spider Wilhelm. Frank Torre is stepping down to AAA for the time being to make room for Walker in the lineup, where he will take over as our leadoff hitter, allowing Finigan, who has hit .256 with six doubles, three triples and four homers, to move into the fifth spot and give us a real gap power boost in the heart of the order. Our next four games this weekend will be against the 22-10 Chicago White Sox, who are now a game and a half behind the surging Yankees (23-8).We’re tied for fourth in the AL with the Detroit Tigers, nine games out of first. May 20, 1955: The extra day of rest gave us a chance to start Alex Kellner (6-3, 2.24 ERA, 64.1 IP, 16 K’s, 1.10 WHIP) against Chicago’s Billy Pierce (4-3, 3.38 ERA, 56.0 IP, 30 K’s, 1.29 WHIP). Kellner worked his ass off out there, consistently getting out of jams to keep the White Sox scoreless, but he was throwing a lot of pitches to do it and we weren’t hitting much of anything ourselves ... the Sox outhit us 6-2 in the first five scoreless innings. But we caught a break in the top of the sixth when Pierce walked Walker and Bridges to get us started, though Vic Power hit into a double play and then Hector Lopez popped out to center ... rally officially squelched. Chicago got on the board with a sac-fly by Pierce allowing a run to score from third to put them ahead 1-0 with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, and though the run was unearned (he’d reached base on an error), Kellner was still frustrated by our absolute inability to make anything happen on offense. Finigan led off with a walk in the top of the seventh, and with one out Astroth walked to join him on base, giving us our second runner in scoring position of the entire night. Joe DeMaestri had a perfect shot up the middle that was stolen by Chico Carrasquel with a diving catch for out number two, and we brought Ross Sullivan in to pinch hit for Kellner, only to watch him strike out swinging. Tom Gorman came out to pitch but did not have a great night -- a run scored off a sac-fly by George Kell after a single by Jim Rivera and a double by Minnie Minoso, and we brought out Art Ditmar with just one out and Minoso standing on third. Ditmar got us two quick outs, but we had two runs to make up instead of one, with time running out. Walker led off with a single and Pierce walked Rocky Bridges ... that brought Vic Power up with our third runner in scoring position out of the last three innings standing on second. But Power struck out and Lopez popped out to center, and Finigan completed our frustrating inning with a groundout to first. So many stranded runners! The White Sox got an RBI single off of Nellie Fox to increase their margin to three, bringing us up with one last chance. It didn’t matter, and the White Sox easily got out of there with a 3-0 win. We had three hits and seven walks, but left everybody stranded ... that’s the kind of thing that keeps a manager up at night. Kellner fell to 6-4 despite only allowing seven hits with three walks, two strikeouts and a single earned run, and our bullpen guys didn’t fare any better due to the total lack of run support. Astroth hit twice, Bridges walked twice and Walker had a hit and a walk in the leadoff spot. May 21, 1955: Bob Spicer (3-1, 2.51 ERA, 43.0 IP, 15 K’s, 1.30 WHIP) pitched against Virgil Trucks (2-2, 3.12 ERA, 40.1 IP, 25 K’s, 1.39 WHIP) in front of nearly 20,000 fans this afternoon at Comiskey Park, and this time the White Sox didn’t mess around -- Chico Carrasquel hit a solo homer in the bottom of the second to give them a 1-0 lead, and the way we’ve been hitting, that might be all they need. It wasn’t all they’d get though ... Walt Dropo hit a solo homer out of left in the bottom of the fifth to make it 2-0 White Sox, and an RBI single by Jim Rivera added on. We never recovered, despite a complete game thrown by Spicer, losing our second consecutive 3-0 ballgame. Bob Spicer allowed nine hits with one walk and three earned runs in his eight inning effort, falling to 4-3 with a 2.65 ERA. We mustered eight hits and three walks, 11 chances to have scored at least one run, and we couldn’t do it -- that’s eighteen innings in a row without a run scoring. Vic Power got on base three times, with two hits and a walk, and Astroth hit three times. Walker had a hit and a walk, and Finigan hit twice. Unfortunately Bridges, Wilson, Demaestri and Spicer were essentially a massive rally-killer with their inability to make anything happen when we had runners in scoring postiion. Tomorrow’s doubleheader is going to be critical ... we’ve got to show at least some kind of spark out there before we return to Kansas City. May 22, 1955: Johnny Gray (0-1, 2.25 ERA, 4.0 IP, 0 K’s, 2.00 WHIP) made just his second start of the year, facing Chicago’s Connie Johnson (4-3, 5.34 ERA, 57.1 IP, 31 K’s, 1.47 WHIP) in the first game of today’s doubleheader. Chicago got going with an RBI single by George Kell with two outs in the bottom of the first, and with the bases loaded in the botom of the second they walked in a run to extend the lead. I’ll spare you the details ... it’s sufficient to say it got ugly from there. We trailed by four at the end of two innings, and we brought Sonny Dixon out to throw in the bottom of the third with the bases loaded, down by five. By the time he got us the two outs it was an 8-0 shutout lead for the White Sox, and our dugout was completely demoralized. Bill Wilson at least managed to end our scoreless streak at 22 innings, hitting his sixth homer of the year in the top of the fifth to get us on the board trailing 8-1. Walt Masterson came out to pitch in the bottom of the fifth, and in the top of the eighth we got another run back with an RBI double by Harry Walker, putting two in scoring position only to have the heart of our order go one, two, three to end the inning off popouts. Masterson got us through the eighth to preserve our bullpen for the second game, and we quietly lost this one 8-2. Johnny Gray took a beating, allowing eight hits, two walks and eight earned runs in 2.1 innings of work, falling to 0-2 with a 12.79 ERA. Dixon lasted 1.2 innings with three hits and a walk, improving his ERA to 2.92 despite giving up all of Gray’s baserunners, and then Masterson pitched four innings (52 pitches) with just one hit one walk and two strikeouts. Chicago outhit us 12-5, with Wilson’s homer plus two hits, a walk and an RBI from Walker in the leadoff spot as our only offense. Walt Craddock (1-2, 3.76 ERA, 38.1 IP, 19 K’s, 1.49 WHIP) pitched our second game, facing Chicago’s Dick Donovan (2-0, 5.27 ERA, 27.1 IP, 13 K’s, 1.61 WHIP) and you could sense from our players that all anyone really wanted was to get this game finished so we could take the train back to Kansas City. Craddock pitched around loaded bases in the bottom of the third to keep the Sox scoreless, but the wind was working against anything hit out into the outfield, and we weren’t able to get any infield hits to bear fruit. And then, in the top of the sixth, everything fell into place ... with two outs, Jim Finigan singled, Vic Power hit one into center that drove Finigan to third (trailing him to second), and then Hector Lopez hit a solid shot through the middle to drive in a pair and give us a 2-0 lead! It was too good to be true though. The White Sox immediately hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning -- thanks, Minnie Minoso -- though Craddock got us out of the inning without giving them a lead. But Bill Wilson got a hit up the middle to lead off in the top of the seventh, and Pete Suder got his first hit of the season in just his fifth at-bat, driving him into scoring position. Craddock bunted them both over a base, putting Wilson at third, and they walked Walker to load the bases. But Finigan popped out to center and ended our chances to move ahead. Bobby Shantz came in to pitch in the bottom of the eighth, the score still tied 2-2, and in the top of the ninth he took a walk with one out, moving over to third thanks to a line drive double by Harry Walker! Vic Power then got a weak hit into left, deep enough for us to score Shantz and Walker and take a two-run lead! Hector Lopez batted in another run, and Joe DeMaestri singled to drive in a sixth! Suder picked up his second hit of the game to drive in yet another as this time we did the piling on. Bobby’s brother Billy ended it with a popout to the catcher as we batted around, and with a five-run lead, Bobby Shantz held tough to finish the job as we shocked the White Sox 7-2. Craddock gave us seven innings with six hits, three walks, a strikeout and two runs (one earned) to keep his ERA at 3.88, but Shantz improved to 2-0 with an absolutely insane 0.38 ERA, allowing just three hits with a walk and a strikeout as he brough this total to 25.1 innings pitched with only one earned run, scored on him way back on April 26! He has gone 16 innings since then without a run scoring, earned or otherwise, through parts of nine appearances. We managed to outhit the White Sox 13-9, mostly on the strength of our huge five-run ninth inning, and everybody got hits except Billy and Bobby Shantz. Vic Power had two hits, two runs and two RBIs, Hector Lopez added two hits, a walk, a run and three RBIs, and Pete Suder had a great night with two hits and his first RBI of the season. We’re off tomorrow as we return to Kansas City with a 15-20 record, having gone 5-12 during this road trip. We’ll play three games against Detroit (17-19) and three against Cleveland (18-18) and then will have a one day trip to play Detroit on the 30th for a Monday doubleheader, followed by 15 home games during a 12-day stretch to start the month of June. This is going to be an absolutely brutal stretch ... 23 games in 19 days without a rest day, though 21 of them are at home and we’re going to need to find a way to push ourselves to be the best team we can. With six doubleheaders in our next five weeks, including back to back ones on the 30th and then June 1st, there’s going to be nowhere to hide. In that regard, Walt Masterson will be moving into our starting five as a fifth starter during this stretch, though we’ll continue to pitch our highest rested starters to allow Kellner and Spicer to pitch the most regularly. Art Ditmar is going to be our backup sixth starter when we have the need during doubleheaders, and will be a long reliever otherwise. We’ll be sending Bill Renna and Daryl Spencer down to AAA so we can call up a pair of extra relievers -- 33-year-old Moe Burtschy (0-0, 0.69 ERA, 13.0 IP, 9 K’s, 0.92 WHIP) and 28-year-old Lou Sleater (3-1, 2.35 ERA, 15.1 IP, 12 K’s, 1.43 WHIP) getting their shots as middle relievers. Attached Images __________________ "Campus Chronicles" -- The Indiana Hoosiers in a New College World (An OOTP 27 Dynasty) Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

08-13-2024, 06:16 PM	#13
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,908	OOC: I saved a game mid-way through so I could fix dinner for the wife, and now it won't let me either resume and play out the game or quick sim the rest of the day to get past the game. I'm in the bottom of the eighth, trailing by a run, and I'm gonna have to figure out how to submit it as a crash / bug because I'm now at a dead end. I hadn't created a backup of the game because I have "dynamic save" turned on and hadn't thought about it. Sigh ... was really liking this one. EDIT: Bug Report submitted ... fingers crossed __________________ "Campus Chronicles" -- The Indiana Hoosiers in a New College World (An OOTP 27 Dynasty) Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds) Last edited by jksander; 08-13-2024 at 06:36 PM.

08-14-2024, 10:18 AM	#14
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,908	May 24, 1955: Alex Kellner (6-4, 2.05 ERA, 70.1 IP, 18 K’s, 1.15 WHIP) pitched today against Steve Gromek (2-2, 6.14 ERA, 36.2 IP, 12 K’s, 1.85 WHIP) as the Tigers came to Kansas City. We had a healthy crowd of 6,900 fans here for a Tuesday evening game under mixed clouds with the wind blowing in. That wind stole a homer from Al Kaline that would have given the Tigers three runs in the top of the third, but instead the game remained a scoreless one. But the Tigers did score first, an RBI single by Red Wilson with two outs in the top of the fourth putting them ahead 1-0. They picked up a second run in the top of the sixth, Wilson hitting an RBI double to make it 2-0. Tom Gorman came out to pitch, one out, man on second, getting two quick outs to keep us from letting this one completely out of our control. Joe Finigan got us back into the game, his two-run blast out of right in the bottom of the seventh tying the score, but we weren’t able to muster a lead change. Chuck Tanner pinch hit for Gorman in the bottom of the eighth, reaching first on an E5 error, and they walked Walker, but we weren’t able to score the runners. Sonny Dixon came out to pitch in the top of the ninth, score still tied at two, and he pitched around a pair of runners to get us into the bottom of the inning with a chance to win. Vic Power came in to pinch-hit for Kryhoski, and he made it count, hitting a triple that rolled to the center field wall, but the rest of our weak lineup stranded him there and this one headed for extra innings, with Power staying in to cover first base. Art Ditmar came in to pitch in the top of the 10th, getting three quick outs, and Pete Suder came in to pinch hit for him in the bottom of the inning, getting a hit that bounced off the wall in right, landing him a double! Harry Walker grounded out to first but pushed Suder over to third, and they walked Rocky Bridges to put runners on the corners. Unfortunately Lopez hit one to short, and they got the out at home plate. With Finigan at the plate, a wild pitch advanced Bridges and Lopez, putting Bridges within 90 feet of winning it for us ... but Finigan struck out swinging. Bobby Shantz came in to pitch in the top of the 11th, and though he put two runners on base, he got us out of there when Ferris Fain hit into a 6-4 double play to bring us back up to hit. He got three more outs for us in the 12th, and in the bottom of the inning, with two outs, Bridges got a hit and then Lopez and Finigan each walked, loading the bases! Vic Power took a first pitch ball ... AND IT WENT WILD! Runner from third scores, and we pulled off the 3-2 win in the 12th inning, an absolutely incredible result! Shantz took the win, improving to 3-0 with an 0.33 ERA, allowing three hits and nothing else in his two innings of work. Incredibly we were outhit by Detroit 14-6, but we pulled it out with pure grit as we came back from a two-run deficit to score three unanswered. Hector Lopez had two hits and a walk, scoring a run, and Finigan hit once, walked once, scored a run and drove in two thanks to his homer. May 25, 1955: Bob Spicer (3-2, 2.65 ERA, 51.0 IP, 15 K’s, 1.29 WHIP) pitched against Billy Hoeft (5-3, 3.12 ERA, 60.2 IP, 30 K’s, 1.37 WHIP) in tonight’s game against the Tigers. Hoeft got himself into trouble early, walking three batters to load the bases for us with two outs in the bottom of the first, though we weren’t able to get any of them around to score. They were luckier ... in the top of the second, Ray Boone hit a solo homer out of left to put them ahead, and then an error at third base allowed Jim Delsing to score all the way from first off a single by Bill Tuttle. Bridges committed a second error at third in the top of the third inning, but we were able to keep them from adding on, and Spicer hit an RBI single to get us on the board in the bottom of the fourth. We brought Bill Harrington out to pitch in the top of the eighth and he got the outs we needed to stay within a run, but what we REALLY needed was somebody who could pull off some run production ... OOC: The developers were able to get my game to sim from here, but the box score and game-log were not saved, so I am unable to continue the game recap from here. We went on to lose in the13th inning, dropping the game 6-3. Unfortunately it would appear Bobby Shantz got used in the game by the AI and ruined his perfectly awesome season lol .. go figure. He pitched 1.1 innings and allowed five hits, a walk and four earned runs and it appears he got credited with the loss, so he’s now 3-1 with a 1.57 ERA. It’s a shame to have his streak end that way, but at least this sim can go on! __________________ "Campus Chronicles" -- The Indiana Hoosiers in a New College World (An OOTP 27 Dynasty) Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

08-15-2024, 03:07 PM	#15
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,908	May 26, 1955: Last night’s game was something of a blur, but Walt Craddock (1-2, 3.38 ERA, 45.1 IP, 20 K’s, 1.46 WHIP) is ready to go against Jim Bunning (1-1, 4.46 ERA, 34.1 IP, 22 K’s, 1.51 WHIP) in the rubber match against Detroit after back-to-back extra innings battles, with Sleater, Dixon, Burtschy and Ditmar still good to go out of the pen. Detroit got on the board first when Al Kaline hit into a double play but scored Harvey Kuenn from third in the top of the first, but Harry Walker hit his first homer as an Athletic (and of the season as a whole) to leadoff in the bottom of theinning, tying us back up. But that was a flurry of activity compared to the next stretch of the game, as both pitchers locked in hoping they could save their bullpens after the pair of extra innings slogs. With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Bridges and Power hit singles back to back, and Hector Lopez loaded the bases on balls, giving Finigan the perfect opening -- he hit a pop single into right field and scored two! Craddock was still going strong -- just 63 pitches thrown in his first six frames -- but with one out in the top of the seventh he gave up a solo homer to Kaline, who was the team’s only player with any oomph tonight. Unfortunately, Craddock then loaded the bases, walking in a run to tie it up, but he got the final out to avoid giving them a lead. Bunning struck out our side in the bottom of the seventh, and we brought Art Ditmar out in the eighth, Finigan got us the lead in the bottom of the eighth with an RBI line drive in to right field, giving us a one-run advantage ... but Vic Power had to leave the game, having aggrivated his intercostal strain. Sonny Dixon came in to pitch, with Kryhoski and Suder coming in as defensive subs. We desperately needed to get through this without any runs scoring, and he did a great job, striking out two around a double by Fred Hatfield. But Frank House reached first on a dropped throw at first which put Hatfield on third ... damn it, Kryhoski! And Harvey Kuenn walked, loading the bases for Ferris Fain. Thank God, Fain hit one that rolled right to Kryhoski, and he didn’t have to catch anything ... he walked over and made the tag and we pulled out the 4-3 win. Craddock gave us seven innings with four hits, three walks, three strikeouts and three earned runs, but Ditmar took the win, improving to 1-1 with a 2.45 ERA ... he allowed just two hits and nothing else in his inning. Dixon then saved his fourth game of the year and dropped his ERA to 2.51, with a hit, a walk and two strikeouts as we survived on a razor’s edge to take the series win. The Tigers outhit us 7-6, but Finigan was clutch all night, hitting twice with three runs batted in. May 27, 1955: Time for a three-game set against Cleveland as we try to fight our way back toward .500 ... Johnny Gray (0-2, 12.79 ERA, 6.1 IP, 0 K’s, 2.84 WHIP) looks to have his first solid go of things after a rough pair of starts, facing Cleveland’s Early Wynn (5-2, 2.63 ERA, 61.2 IP, 33 K’s, 1.18 WHIP). With Vic Power out of the lineup for an undetermined amount of time, we’re definitely at an offensive disadvantage heading into this one -- if he’s going to be out of the picture and on the disabled list, we’ll have to find a good option for the near future. But in the moment, we have to work with what we have. And though we were doing well heading into the fourth inning, the game still scoreless after one out, we lost Bill Wilson to an injury on a sliding catch in the top of the inning as he made our second out ... he too strained his intercostal muscle, and will miss at least two weeks according to our trainer. That’s a huge loss ... we had to move Hector Lopez over to center, and Chuck Tanner came in to play left field. In the bottom of the fifth inning we finally broke through, an RBI single by Bridges with men on second and third driving in a pair to put us up 2-0! Art Ditmar came in to pitch with two outs and a man on first in the top of the sixth, getting Al Rosen to ground out in a fielder’s choice to bring us back up to bat. But we got into trouble in the bottom of the inning -- Vic Wertz reached first on an E1 error, moved to third off a double by Harry Simpson, and then came in to score as Jim Hegan beat out an infield bouncer to take first. They tied it up as Early Wynn ground out to first, but Ditmar got us out of there without any further damage. Jim Finigan hit an RBI double with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to get us back into the lead, and Bill Harrington took over on the mound heading into the top of the eighth. With runners on first and second and just one out, he got Sam Dente to hit into a 4-6-3 double play to preserve our lead, but we weren’t able to add on any insurance in the bottom of the frame. Bobby Shantz came out to pitch in the top of the ninth, getting three quick outs to seal the 3-2 win. That’s how you bounce back, Bobby! Johnny Gray had a good start, lasting 5.2 innings with four hits, two walks, two strikeouts and no earned runs, improving his ERA to 6.75 while throwing 77 pitches, the most he’s thrown since coming up from the minors. Ditmar wound up blowing his second save, but he pitched 1.1 innings and only allowed three hits and two runs (one earned) with one strikeout, and he earned the win, improving to 2-1 with a 2.75 ERA through 19.2 innings. Harrington got his first hold with a hit, a walk and a strikeout in the eighth, and Shantz saved his eighth game without a hit, improving his ERA to 1.52 after his four earned run blip in his last appearance. Shantz has already thrown nearly 30 innings out of the pen this season in 17 appearances and is pitching like an early candidate for reliever of the year. We outhit the Guardians 9-8, led by Rocky Bridges with two hits and two RBIs. Astroth had a pair of hits and a pair of walks, and Walker had a hit, a walk and two runs scored out of the leadoff spot. Bill Wilson and Vic Power have been added to our 15-man disabled list, which leaves us at a real disadvantage, as we don’t have a center fielder of Wilson’s caliber to come up in his place. Don Bollweg is coming back up from AAA as a backup 1B, and Bill Renna will come back up as a backup outfielder. Hector Lopez will be our starting center fielder for the time being, with Chuck Tanner starting in left and Harry Walker in right (and occasionally at 1B with Renna covering right field). May 28, 1955: We have a chance to move up in the standings if we can keep winning ... we come into today’s game against the 19-21 Guardians with an 18-21 record ourselves, just half a game out of a third place tie that includes Cleveland, Detroit and Boston as the White Sox (27-13) and the Yankees (29-10) remain heads and tails above everyone else. Walt Masterson (0-0, 1.74 ERA, 10.1 IP, 3 K’s, 0.87 WHIP) pitched for us against Cleveland’s Ray Narleski (1-1, 4.26 ERA, 12.2 IP, 8 K’s, 1.50 WHIP). The word’s starting to spread about this hard-scrapping A’s team, and nearly 10,000 fans came out tonight to watch us play. Cleveland got going quickly, an RBI double by Rosen putting them up 1-0 in the top of the second. Rosen scored on an infield hit by Hank Foiles, sending us into the bottom of the inning trailing 2-0. Rocky Bridges got us on the board in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI single, but Masterson gave it back in the top of the fifth with an RBI single by Ralph Kiner with the bases loaded, and with the lead 3-1 Guardians, we brought Moe Burtschy in to pitch, one out and men on first and second. He got Vic Wertz to hit into a 3-6-1 double play, and kept the game from getting out of control early. Joe DeMaestri then hit a solo homer to lead off in the bottom of the inning, his first long-ball of the season, keeping us within a run in a tightly contested ballgame. Lou Sleater came out to pitch in the top of the seventh, getting three quick outs to keep us within a run, and DeMaestri led off with a single in the bottom of the inning, his second hit of the game! Sleater bunted him into scoring position with a sacrifice play, and Harry Walker singled him in as the tying run with a nice hit into right. Tom Gorman came out to pitch with one out and a man on first in the top of the eighth, getting two quick outs to preserve the tie, and Rocky Bridges hit an RBI double in the bottom of the eighth with two outs, putting us into the lead! With a one run lead, Bobby Shantz came out to pitch in the top of the ninth, pitching around a leadoff single by Jim Hegan to finish the Guardians off with a pair of K’s as we won 4-3! That was another truly clutch win for our Athletics, a game that was won by our bullpen! Masterson only lasted 4.1 innings with seven hits, three walks, four strikeouts and three earned runs forcing us to go early to the pen. Moe Burtschy debuted with 1.2 innings and just a walk, while Sleater, in just his second appearance out of the pen, allowed just one hit in his 1.1 innings of work. Tom Gorman came in and got the win, improving to 3-2 with a 4.67 ERA as he got two critical outs on just eight pitches, and then Shantz came in and did what he does best -- one hit and a pair of strikeouts in the ninth as he saved his ninth game and improved his ERA to 1.47 to get us back to back one run wins. This time Cleveland outhit us 9-6, but they walked us five times and we made those baserunners count. Bridges hit twice and drove in two runs, and DeMaestri had a great night with two hits, two runs and an RBI ... he’s now hitting .217 despite his long early slump this season. In early All-Star voting, Joe Astroth is currently in third place among votegetters at catcher, while fans are recognizing the work of our bullpen as well -- Bobby Shantz already has 14,133 votes, only trailing Bob Grim of the Yankees, which is good company to be in. Sonny Dixon is currently in fifth place in the bullpen voting. We have one game left against Cleveland here tomorrow night, then a quick trip to Detroit for a Monday doubleheader, and then a Tuesday doubleheader against the Yankees here in Kansas City. No rest for the weary, that’s for damned sure, but we’re on a surprising three-game winning streak, and we’ve won five of our last six. May 29, 1955: Alex Kellner (6-4, 2.14 ERA, 75.2 IP, 19 K’s, 1.22 WHIP) pitched in today’s final game against Cleveland, facing their ace Don Mossi (4-1, 1.76 ERA, 66.1 IP, 32 K’s, 1.07 WHIP). Cleveland took the lead in the top of the second with an RBI double by Vic Wertz on two outs. Bobby Avila hit a solo homer out of right in the top of the fifth to make it a 2-0 Guardians lead, and they hit another in the top of the sixth (this time it was Vic Wertz with another powerful hit) and a great start by Kellner fell apart .... with the bullpen warming up arms, Al Smith hit an RBI single and then an RBI double by Rosen scored three, and the inning only ended because Rosen got greedy and tried to take third. Just like that we were in a 7-0 hole and, with our hitting deficiencies, the game was essentially over. Rather than risk blowing up our bullpen with two doubleheaders in a row coming up, Ditmar came in to pitch in the seventh knowing he was in for the duration, and it didn’t start well -- Ralph Kiner hit a solo bomb out of left on just his second pitch, and Larry Doby followed with one out of center on his sixth pitch! Jesus ... but he stuck with the plan and got us through the top of the ninth without any more scoring. We went down quietly, and this one ended as a 9-0 shutout loss. Kellner fell to 6-5, allowing nine hits, walking four, striking out seven and allowing seven earned runs ... his ERA sits at 2.76, but after a hot 4-1 start, he’s lost four of his last seven starts, all but one of those games ending in a decision. He tied his season high for strikeouts, but also tied his season high for walks, giving up more runs in a game than he has all year. So it was a Dickensian performance (“the best of times, the worst of times”). Ditmar managed to finish it out with three innings and five hits, walking one and allowing just the two homers. But we were never in this one -- the Guardians outhit us 14-3, and we only had six baserunners all game. Lopez had a hit and a walk, and Finigan walked twice. We head into the double double-headers with a 19-22 record ... we’ll play two tomorrow against Detroit (20-22) before a day off for travel (I misseed that when I was going through the schedule) and then a three-game set over two days against the Yankees (31-10) here in Kansas City. We’ll then play four games against the Red Sox (23-23) here at home over the three-day weekend -- yep, that’s nine games in seven days, including three doubleheaders, which still makes this an impossibly brutal stretch for our A’s. __________________ "Campus Chronicles" -- The Indiana Hoosiers in a New College World (An OOTP 27 Dynasty) Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

08-17-2024, 07:44 PM	#17
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,908	June 6, 1955: Washington has given us four wins this year, having yet to defeat us. So we were definitely hoping to keep that up today as we took on the Senators (16-36) for our first of four games. Walt Masterson (0-1, 5.00 ERA, 18.0 IP, 11 K’s, 1.50 WHIP) got the start against Mickey McDermott (2-3, 3.76 ERA, 69.1 IP, 33 K’s, 1.56 WHIP). In the bottom of the second we got a trio of back-to-back walks from Russ Sullivan, Bill Renna and Billy Shantz to load the bases, a Suder groundout to first giving us the lead 1-0. Masterson walked the bases loaded again, and Spook Jacobs (in his first at-bat of the season!) hit an RBI infield single to add to our lead! DeMaestri hit into a fielder’s choice for an out at second, but we picked up a third run in the process, and Dick Kryhoski walked to reload the bases yet again, but Tanner popped out to end the inning to keep it from becoming a total rout. Their pitcher, McDermott, hit a solo homer in the top of the third to put them on the board, but he walked his seventh batter of the game as Sullivan took his base to start the bottom of the inning. Suder walked with two outs, making it eight free-passes for McDermott, but Masterson saved him with a popout to left, ending the inning, and he helped them more in the top of the fourth when, with no outs, Eddie Yost singled in another run, giving them runners on the corners. A sac-fly by Jose Valdivielso tied it up as we came up to hit in the bottom of the inning. Spook Jacobs reached first on an error to lead off, though he got picked off when DeMaestri hit into a fielder’s choice, and the wind blowing in fiercely kept any hard hit balls from getting anywhere. Worse, Jacobs, our goddamned BACKUP second baseman, strained HIS hamstring during the inning while being tagged out at second, and he’s out at least three weeks ... do we need a new trainer? Rocky Bridges had to come in to replace him as we headed into the top of the fifth. With two outs in the top of the fifth, Masterson allowed a three-run homer off the bat of Mickey Vernon, giving the worst team in the AL a 6-3 lead. But we stayed in it because they kept McDermott out there ... he walked the bases loaded when Pete Suder took his base in the bottom of the inning, giving him 10 walks against just two hits, but we remained incapable of actually capitalizing on the situation ... one of the worst pitching performances from an opposing pitcher all season, and we left everybody stranded. Bill Harrington came out to pitch in the top of the seventh, and Pete Suder hit an RBI double to drive in a run in the bottom of the inning, cutting the deficit to a pair of runs. Harrington tried gamely to get us through the rest of the way, but in the top of the ninth he loaded the bases and we brought out Dixon to get us through. It did not got well ... Washington got two runs off an RBI double by Mickey Vernon, and then with one out they added another off an RBI single by Eddie Yost. We got out of there trailing by five heading into the bottom of the ninth, and we limped our way to the finish, losing 9-4. As it stands, this lineup cannot survive the remainder of the season ... though we were outhit 14-4, Washington walked us 13 TIMES against five by our pitchers, and we STILL couldn’t produce. Masterson fell to 0-2 with a 6.00 ERA, allowing nine hits and six earned runs with three walks and a pair of strikeouts. Pete Suder hit once and walked twice, driving in a pair of runs, while Russ Sullivan hit once, walked three times and scored a run. Vic Power is healthy but has five more days before we’re allowed to bring him off the IL ... with Spook Jacobs on the list for the next three weeks, Finnigan for the next two weeks and Bill Wilson for at least the next six days, we’re running out of stopgap options, and our infield is a mess. Daryl Spencer is coming back up to the majors ... though he’s something of a defensive liability, he can at least respectably cover second, third and short for the short term ... and though he’s yet to get a major league hit this season, he was hitting .353 with two doubles, a triple and three homers down at AAA, so maybe he can find a spark this time up. June 7, 1955: Bob Spicer (3-3, 3.97 ERA, 68.0 IP, 18 K’s, 1.46 WHIP) pitched against Johnny Schmitz (1-3, 5.57 ERA, 42.0 IP, 12 K’s, 1.52 WHIP). Spicer got two quick outs and then Roy Sievers hit his eighth homer of the year, a solo shot out of left that put the Senators on top 1-0. Spicer hit a sac-fly in the bottom of the second that helped tie it up 1-1, but he continued to have trouble with two outs, loading the bases before Darryl Spencer made a great catch at short to end the top of the third. Mickey Vernon hit a two-out solo homer in the top of the fifth to put them back up 2-1, and Art Ditmar came out to pitch in the top of the sixth, and we brought lefty Lou Sleater out in the top of the eighth to face a righty-heavy portion of their lineup, getting three quick outs to stay within a run ... but we couldn’t get anyone around to score, Max Burtschy coming out to pitch in the top of the ninth. He got the outs we needed, but would we be able to make it count in the bottom of the frame? Lopez and Astroth went down via strikeout and popout, but Kryhoski got a groundball up the middle to reach first on two outs. Chuck Tanner came out to pinch hit for Daryl Spencer, but he popped out easy as we lost this one 2-1. Spicer took the loss, falling to 3-4, his ERA at 3.95 after a four hit four walk game that led to two earned runs, the bullpen doing what it could but unable to spark a rally from the offense. We were outhit 7-6, Kryhoski leading the way with two hits and a run while Suder added a pair of hits and nothing else. We’ve now lost five games in a row, failing to distinguish ourselves from the team with the worst record in the league as we slide toward that position ourselves. June 8, 1955: Alex Kellner (7-6, 2.91 ERA, 92.2 IP, 29 K’s, 1.35 WHIP) pitched today against Camilo Pascual (1-11, 4.59 ERA, 84.1 IP, 63 K’s, 1.81 WHIP). Hector Lopez got us on the board with a solo homer in the bottom of the first, his sixth homer of the year, but Kellner gave up a double and a single to quickly get Washington momentum in the top of the second. Pascual hit a one-out single to bat in a run that tied it up, but we at least got out of the inning with a double play to prevent further damage. Then Pete Suder hit a three-run blast out of left in the bottom of the inning, his second homer of the year, putting us up by three heading into the top of the third. But Kellner collapsed in the sixth inning, loading the bases and letting Tom Umphlett hit a double that drove in two runs ... he finally got the out that ended the inning and we still led 4-3, but we’d squandered most of our cushion. Tom Gorman came out to pitch in the top of the seventh, and he got two quick outs and then allowed a homer off the bat of Mickey Vernon as they tied it up 4-4. Sonny Dixon came out and got the final out, and he kept it tied through the top of the eighth. In the bottom of the inning, Rocky Bridges -- who had been hitless all night -- got a single into right that drove Walker to third, one out, and Hector Lopez walked the bases loaded. And Pascual, who had thrown 120 pitches, allowed a hit off the 121st, giving Chuck Tanner the chance to drive in a pair with his single! They went to the pen and Dean Stone got two outs to end the frame, but we’d taken a two-run lead! Bobby Shantz came in to close the game out, getting a quick out but then allowing pinch hitter Jim Lemon to hit a triple, bringing up the top of their lineup. With runners on the corners, Pete Runnels hit a sac-fly that scored Lemon, bringing up Vernon ... who hit a single that drove Jim Busby over to third. But Shantz had icewater in his veins, pitching to contact against Ed Fitz Gerald and gettinghim to pop harmlessly out to left field for the final out ... we snapped the streak and won this one 6-5! Alex Kellner gave us six innings with eight hits, walking three and striking out six while allowing three earned runs. He had a chance to win, but Gorman blew his second save of the year, so the win went to Dixon -- in 1.1 innings, he allowed just one hit through 19 pitches and improves to 1-1 with a 2.91 ERA through 21.2 innings. Shantz allowed two hits and a walk, an earned run putting his ERA back over 2.00, but he notched his 10th save of the year so that’s really all that matters. We were outhit 12-6 in a game we should have lost, but we hit for a lot of power tonight ... Suder had a homer and three RBIs, Lopez homered, and Tanner had a hit and two runs batted in thanks to his game-winning single. June 9, 1955: Walt Craddock (1-3, 4.62 ERA, 60.1 IP, 28 K’s, 1.56 WHIP) pitched against Chuck Stubbs (3-7, 5.12 ERA, 58.0 IP, 26 K’s, 1.62 WHIP), both pitchers currently on cold streaks. Washington immediately took a 2-0 lead thanks to a two-run blast by Ray Sievers in the top of the first, and we committed two early errors that eroded our already razor-thin confidence. In the top of the third with two outs, Chuck Tanner missed the cutoff man on a throw from left and a third run scored, giving Washington all the momentum. It feels like our entire lineup, pitching or otherwise, is ice cold. Washington added a run on in the top of the fourth, and then a triple by Eddie Yost made it a blowout, driving in two more to give the Senators a 6-0 lead. Art Ditmar came in to pitch in the fifth inning, and he pitched fire for four innings, keeping Washington from adding on. In the bottom of the eighth, Chuck Tanner got us on the board with an RBI double. Ditmar stayed out and finished the game, allowing a pair of runs in the top of the ninth and we lost this one 8-1 ... a game we were really never in at all. Craddock took the loss, falling to 1-4 with a 5.18 ERA, allowing seven hits with two walks and a strikeout to give up six earned runs through four innings. Ditmar pitched the final five innings, allowing just four hits, two walks, three strikeouts and two earned runs, giving him a 2.97 ERA through 39.1 innings. We were outhit 11-7, and though Tanner hit four times and batted in a run, pretty much everyone else was sleepwalking as the Senators took the series three games to one. We’re now 22-32 on the season, just two and a half games up on Baltimore (21-36) as they come to town. Washington improved to 19-37, in last place now by just two games behind the Orioles. A small bit of good news ... we should be able to bring Vic Power back into the lineup in time for the second of four games against Baltimore, and Bill Wilson should return in time for Sunday’s doubleheader. The Yankees, at 39-15, are starting to run away with the AL, sitting 6.5 games up on Chicago (32-21) and 9.5 games up on Detroit (29-24), though Boston, having won seven of their last ten, are back in the race as well at 30-27 (10.5 GB) and even Cleveland (27-27) has a +43 run differential and has just had insanely bad luck ... their pythag average has them five games worse than they should be. So outside of us, the Orioles and the Senators, the AL is wide open. Over in the National League, the Brooklyn Dodgers (41-14) have the best record in baseball and a +121 run differential that’s even got the Yankees beat. They’re nine games up on the New York Giants (34-25) and 15 up on the Cubs (27-30), Cincinnati (25-28) and Milwaukee (25-28). The St. Louis Cardinals are in sixth place with a 24-29 record, followed by the Phillies (26-32) and the Pirates (21-37). __________________ "Campus Chronicles" -- The Indiana Hoosiers in a New College World (An OOTP 27 Dynasty) Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

08-20-2024, 03:33 PM	#18
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,908	June 10, 1955: Arnie Portocarrero (1-4, 6.32 ERA, 47.0 IP, 19 K’s, 1.43 WHIP) pitched in game one against the Orioles, facing Duane “Dee” Pillette (1-7, 6.68 ERA, 60.2 IP, 21 K’s, 1.90 WHIP). Thanks to an error at first base that led to a pair of runners in scoring position, the Orioles got on board first when Gene Woodling batted in an unearned run in the top of the third. But Hal Smith batted in a second one, so Portocarrero wasn’t without blame as we went into the bottom of the inning trailing 2-0. Walker took a leadoff walk in the bottom of the third, and Bridges hit a double into the right field corner that gave us two in scoring position. Kryhoski walked to load the bases, his second walk of the game, and with two outs against us DeMaestri hit a bouncer into center field to drive in a pair and tie it up. DeMaestri walked with one out in the bottom of the sixth, Pillette’s sixth walked batter of the game, but he stayed out and continued pitching ... Pete Suder hit a line drive that rolled down the left field line, evading the outfielder as he eked out an RBI double to give us a 3-2 lead! Portocarrero singled into right to add another with a single, and that was enough to drive Pillette out of the game. Harry Walker popped out to left to end the inning, and we took a two-run lead into the top of the seventh. Kryhoski walked for the third time today in the bottom of the seventh with one out, but Hector Lopez hit into a double play to end the inning without any insurance. Sonny Dixon came out to pitch with runners on first and second and one out in the top of the eighth, but an E1 groundball error allowed Hal Smith to load the bases. Vern Stephens struck out swinging, however, and Dixon was able to get us out with the lead intact thanks to Jim McDonald grounding into a fielder’s choice for an out at at second. Chuck Tanner led off with a single in the bottom of the inning, but DeMaestri grounded into a double play, and we went into the top of the ninth still holding onto a two run lead. Bobby Shantz came in with one out and men on first and second, Gus Triandos loading the bases with a weak hit into shallow left. Charlie Maxwell walked in a run, but Gene Woodling grounded one into a fielder’s choice, getting the out at home ... two outs, loaded bags, one-run lead, and it’s Hal Smith coming to the plate. Shantz got him to hit one up, up, up ... falling straight into the hands of his brother Billy as we held tough to win this one 4-3! Arnie Portocarrero had a great night, improving to 2-4 with a 5.63 ERA, thanks to 7.1 innings with six hits, two walks, two strikeouts and two runs, only one of which was earned. Sonny Dixon picked up his second hold of the year, allowing two hits and an earned run in an inning of work, and then Shantz came in for his 11th save, a hit and a walk allowing one of Dixon’s runs but keeping his ERA at a solid 2.04 as he avoided giving up a tying run. Once again we were outhit 9-5 by Baltimore, but we manufactured enough runs when it counted ... DeMaestri hit once, walked once and batted in two runs, while Suder had a hit for a run and an RBI. Dick Kryhoski couldn’t get a hit or score at all, but he made it on base three times with his solid ability to avoid striking out at all costs. June 11, 1955: Dan Bollweg dropped back down to AAA to make room in the lineup for Vic Power, who is back from his stint on the IL ... he’d been hitting .297 with two doubles, a triple and four homers, batting in 20 runs before straining his hip flexor (May 1) and his intercostal (May 26), so we’re glad as hell to have him back in the lineup. Bob Spicer (3-4, 3.95 ERA, 73.0 IP, 18 K’s, 1.47 WHIP) pitched against Baltimore’s Bob “Sarge” Kuzava (3-3, 4.98 ERA, 65.0 IP, 27 K’s, 1.86 WHIP). His day didn’t start as he’d hoped ... Gus Triandos took the fourth pitch of the afternoon and blew it out of the park to put the Orioles up 1-0, and their next batter doubled into center and came home off a run-scoring triple by Gene Woodling. All that off the first 11 pitches of a game that suddenly looked to be a very long one. A sac-fly scored a third run, and Spicer’s confidence was clearly shot to hell as he loaded the bases. Another sac-fly drove in a fourth run, and then finally we came up to bat though trailing 4-0 after just half an inning. Spicer allowed another run to score in the top of the third off his ninth hit of the game, but we got on the board with an RBI single by Walker in the bottom of the third. Spicer gave the run back in the top of the fourth, and we brought out Moe Burtschy in the top of the fifth as we trailed 6-1. Burtschy allowed a pair of runs in the top of the sixth but got through the inning, but we woke up in a big way in the bottom of the inning with a three-run homer by Hector Lopez to get us back within four! Lou Sleater came out to pitch for us in the top of the seventh, but he loaded the bases almost immediately ... every step we take forward we go at least two steps back, it seems. But he did well under pressure and got the three outs we needed to not let them add to the lead. We got another run back with an RBI single by Rocky Bridges in the bottom of the seventh, bringing Tom Gorman out to pitch in the top of the eighth, getting three quick outs to stay in this one. Without run support, Gorman came back out in the ninth and he kept us within three runs heading into our final frame. Chuck Tanner came out to pinch hit for DeMaestri, leading off with a single into right, and with a wild pitch and the count 3-0 against Suder, he advanced to second. Suder wound up popping out to deep center, and Tanner should have taken third but he held his spot at second ... but Russ Sullivan pinch hit for Gorman and batted in a run with a double, bringing up the top of our order! Harry Walker popped out to left and Rocky Bridges grounded out to first, however, and we wound up losing this one 8-6. Baltimore outhit us 16-7, so we had no reasonable reason to think we should be in the game at the end, especially with us walking six of their batters while Orioles pitchers only walked four of ours. But goddamned if we didn’t fight as hard as we could to scrape runs out of the ether, so though Spicer took the loss (falling to 3-5 with a 4.44 ERA) I can’t fault our team for lack of effort. Bridges hit twice and had a run and an RBI, and Lopez hit once, walked twice and scored a run with three RBIs thanks to his homer. Tomorrow’s doubleheader gives us two shots to get back in the win column before our three week road trip. We’re getting center fielder Bill Wilson back from the IL, and though he’s not a huge hitting part of our lineup, he definitely gives us back some power (four doubles and six homers despite hitting .185) and he’s a solid defender too which should hopefully help us in close games. Russ Sullivan will go back down to AAA, and Wilson will take his place on our bench behind Lopez in the depth chart, but as a utility player (he can also handle left field and first base) he should get plenty of in-game action. June 12, 1955: Doubleheader day! In game one Alex Kellner (7-6, 3.01 ERA, 98.2 IP, 35 K’s, 1.38 WHIP) got the start, facing Baltimore’s Ray Moore (3-6, 4.47 ERA, 44.1 IP, 25 K’s, 1.69 WHIP). In the bottom of the first, Hector Lopez hit a two-run homer out of left to put us up quickly, But Kellner hit a rough patch in the top of the third, loading the bases and walking in a run off two outs -- though we at least did manage to maintain our lead. We got runners into scoring position in the bottom of the fourth but came up empty, a real missed chance to add some insurance runs. In the bottom of the seventh, Henry Walker hit an RBI single to add to our lead, and Tom Gorman came out to pitch in the eighth, pitching around a lead-off double to protect our lead with three quick outs. Joe DeMaestri hit into a double play to squelch our attempt to add more damage in the bottom of the inning, and Bobby Shantz came out as our closer in the top of the ninth. Fred Marsh walked to take first on one out for the Orioles, and with two outs Chuck Diering singled him into scoring position. But Cal Abrams popped out to center and we held on to a 3-1 win. Alex Kellner got us through seven innings, allowing six hits with a walk, two strikeouts and a single earned run, improving to 8-6 with a 2.90 ERA. All of his hits came in the first four innings, and his ability to hold on and get us deep into the game helped to conserve our bullpen for the second game. Baltimore outhit us 8-7, but they walked us four times, our team led by Lopez who hit twice for a run and two RBIs. Vic Power hit twice and scored a run, and Joe DeMaestri hit once, walked once and scored a run. Bobby Shantz, our only player getting any all-star consideration this year, saved his 12th game of the season and brought his ERA back under 2.00. He now leads both leagues in saves, one up on Boston’s Ellis Kinder. Considering he’s saved half the games we’ve won all year, that’s an incredible statistic for the 29-year-old reliever. We decided to give Art Ditmar (3-2, 2.97 ERA, 39.1 IP, 15 K’s, 1.37 WHIP) his first start of the year to face Baltimore’s Jim Wilson (4-5, 2.90 ERA, 83.2 IP, 47 K’s, 1.27 WHIP). Baltimore took the lead off a solo homer by Bob Kennedy in the top of the second, but Vic Power hit one in the bottom of the inning to even the score, and with two outs Ditmar himself hit an RBI single that scored two more. But Baltimore tied it up in the top of the fourth thanks to an RBI double by Fred Marsh that scored a pair ... the second only making it because of a no-throw by Chuck Tanner, a costly mistake. Lou Sleater came out to pitch with two outs and Marsh at second, loading the bases and then giving up the go-ahead thanks to an RBI single by Les Moss, but we got out of the inning without the Orioles managing to run the score up. Sleater got an out in the fifth and then gave up a solo homer off Eddie Waitkus’ bat, and we brought Sonny Dixon out with no one on to try and keep the Orioles from adding any further runs. Unfortunately, with two outs, Cal Abrams hit a triple that scored another pair and this one was quickly getting out of control, much like our season. We trailed 8-3 heading into the bottom of the fifth, and Moe Burtschy came out to pitch in the sixth. They added a solo homer from Les Moss in the top of the eighth, Al Harrington taking over with one out to get us into the bottom now trailing by six. Bill Wilson hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth with two outs, but they got a run back in the top of the ninth off an RBI single by Gus Triandos ... DeMaestri made the inexplicable choice to concede the run with an out at first rather than making an out attempt at home plate to give us a remote chance of a comeback. It didn’t matter ... Baltimore shut us down completely in the ninth, and we lost this one 10-6. Ditmar fell to 3-3 with a 3.56 ERA, allowing seven hits in 3.2 innings with three walks, striking out one and giving up four earned runs. The rest of our bullpen then allowed eight hits and six earned runs through the remaining 5.1 innings, so we were never in this one. They outhit us by a ridiculous 15-4 margin, our bats remaining impotent ... Wilson batted in three with his homer, and Ditmar managed a hit and two RBIs, but beyond that we put up little resistance. Our record is now 24-34 as we sit mired in sixth place in the AL, but our owner seems to be understanding of the situation he’s given us in our first year in Kansas City. He’s disappointed that we’re not looking like a .500 team, but our fan interest continues to slowly climb, and Vic Power has pleased him as an improvement at first base. We’re off tomorrow and then start a two-and-a-half-week road trip that will take us through Boston, Washington, New York, Baltimore and Cleveland -- 16 games in 16 days including a pair of doubleheaders. We’ll then open July with eight home games and a four-game trip to Detroit before the All Star break ... my goal is for us to not lose any further ground during this 28-game 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 (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

08-20-2024, 08:29 PM	#19
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,908	June 14, 1955: It’s back to Fenway Park for our downtrodden team, where we’ve yet to pick up a win (or even lose by fewer than three runs). In fact, they’ve beaten us seven times out of the nine times we’ve faced them. Walt Craddock (1-4, 5.18 ERA, 64.1 IP, 29 K’s, 1.60 WHIP) pitched against Frank Sullivan (8-3, 2.39 ERA, 109.0 IP, 47 K’s, 1.20 WHIP) in game one against the 31-29 Red Sox. We saw our best shot to do some damage in the top of the third, when on two outs we got back to back hits from Bridges and Tanner, and then a visably frustrated Frank Sullivan beaned Hector Lopez hard, loading the bases. Vic Power went into the box, stoic and patient, and he walked in our go-ahead run! Joe Astroth then hit a line drive into right field, batting in two more with a single! But Craddock, who had been having an incredible start to his game, allowed a three-run homer over the Monster to tie it up in the bottom of the fourth ... just Norm Zauchin’s third homer of the year. But we fought hard and got Sullivan to load the bases again in the top of the fifth ... we just couldn’t get a run across, this team is just brutal! With two outs in the top of the sixth they pulled Sullivan for Hersh “Buster” Freeman, who kept us from getting a baserunner on as the game remained knotted at three-all. Craddock got us through the sixth, and Rocky Bridges made it to first in the leadoff spot thanks to an E6 error off a groundball hit ... but Tanner hit into a double play, and Lopez grounded out. Craddock lasted through the seventh with the score still tied, and Vic Power led off with a single in the top of the eighth ... DeMaestri walked him into scoring position with one out, but with two outs Bill Wilson pinch hit for Craddock and popped out to right. Another missed chance! Tom Gorman came out to pitch in the bottom of the eighth, getting three quick outs to keep us in the game, Ellis Kinder coming out for his second inning to face the top of our lineup. He set us down one, two, three, and Gorman did the same, so this one was headed into extra innings. Kinder stayed out for the 10th inning, and we burned him with a lead-off double by Hector Lopez. He intentionallywalked Vic Power, striking out Astroth and DeMaestri before unintentionally walking Pete Suder to load the bases. Bill Renna came out to pinch hit for Gorman, and with the count 2-2, he got a great line drive through the gap into center, driving in two runs to give us the lead! Walker took his base on balls to reload the bases, and we added another run off a wild pitch! Rocky Bridges ground out to first to end our half of the inning, but we’d built a three-run lead with Bobby Shantz coming out to protect it and he did it marvelously ... we held our ground and got three quick outs to win this one 6-3 in 10 innings’ work. Craddock, who had been on a cold streak coming into this game, lasted seven innings with six hits, three walks, a strikeout and three earned runs, improving his ERA to 5.05. Gorman then came out for two innings without a single baserunner allowed, improving to 4-2 with a 3.86 ERA through 30.1 innings. Shantz then earned his 13th save of the year with a hit and a strikeout as he improved his ERA to 1.93. Somehow we managed to out hit the Red Sox 8-7, led by Bridges (two hits and a walk for a run scored) and Tanner (two hits and a run scored), while Astroth added a hit, a walk and two RBIs.Bill Renna’s pinch hit for two RBIs won the game for us, bringing his average up to .244 through 41 at-bats. June 15, 1955: He only threw 85 pitches in his seven innings three days ago, so Alex Kellner (8-6, 2.90 ERA, 105.2 IP, 37 K’s, 1.35 WHIP) was good to go against Boston’s Willard Nixon (4-6, 3.57 ERA, 85.2 IP, 43 K’s, 1.55 WHIP). Vic Power hit an RBI single in the top of the first with two outs, giving us a quick 1-0 lead as we got Nixon to throw 34 pitches in the frame. Astroth knocked in another run with a single in the top of the third, and though Kellner got into a jam with runners on the corners and no outs in the bottom of the fourth, he got a shallow pop-out and a double play to hold our shutout lead. Kellner got us through the sixth, another quality start, and Boston’s reliever Frank Baumann walked Bridges and Tanner with one out, though we weren’t able to capitalize on it. Bobby Shantz came out to pitch with two outs and men on first and second in the top of the seventh, getting the out we needed on just his second pitch to keep the lead at 2-0. He only took seven more pitches to get us through the eighth inning. We weren’t able to add any insurance, but Shantz came back out in the bottom of the ninth and he made it look easy ... a double play and an infield pop-out won it for us as we shut the Red Sox out 2-0! Alex Kellner improved to 9-6 with a 2.72 ERA, allowing nine hits in 6.2 innings with one walk and three strikeouts, but no one scored. Shantz then came in to complete the shared shutout, going 2.1 innings with just two hits, saving his 14th game and continuing to improve his ERA (it’s now 1.82 through 39.2 innings!) We had four double plays in the game, two of them DeMaestri-Suder-Power and two of them Bridges-Suder-Power), and though Boston outhit us 11-6, we held tough to that early lead. Harry Walker hit twice and walked once, scoring once, and Power and Astroth each hit, walked and batted in a run. These were our first back to back wins since a three-game win streak in late May, and it’s our first pair of back to back wins on the road since beating Washington twice May 17-18. June 16, 1955: Arnie Portocarrero (2-4, 5.60 ERA, 54.1 IP, 21 K’s, 1.38 WHIP) started in our third game against the Red Sox, facing Ike Delock (3-6, 3.29 ERA, 76.2 IP, 47 K’s, 1.32 WHIP). Walker didn’t set the stage well ... he had a clean double and stupidly tried to take third in his very first at-bat ... bonehead move, turning a solid potential scoring opportunity into an obvious out to snuff out our own momentum. Nobody on our team had any luck first time through the order, but Vic Power walked the bases loaded in the top of the fourth inning ... but we couldn’t get a run in via Astroth, who grounded out harmlessly to first. Bill Wilson came in to pinch hit for Portocarrero with runners on first and second, two outs in the top of the seventh, and he hit a line drive into left, batting in the go-ahead run with a single! Harry Walker redeemed himself with an RBI single that added to our lead, and Rocky Bridges drove in another pair with a hit into right! Art Ditmar came out to pitch with an unexpected 4-0 lead after the seventh inning stretch, and Sonny Dixon came out in the bottom of the ninth with the shutout lead still intact. He set them down quietly and we won back to back shutouts, this time 4-0, completing the most unexpected sweep! Arnie Portocarrero improved to 3-4 with a 5.07 ERA, allowing just two hits in six innings with four walks and a pair of strikeouts. Ditmar then lasted two innings with one hit, three walks and a pair of strikeouts, and Dixon held on with a hit and a strikeout in his inning. We outhit the Red Sox again 8-4, easily led by Walker, who overcame his first-inning mistake by hitting four times with a run and an RBI at a critical juncture. The sweep here in Boston couldn’t have come at a better time ... we’re now heading for Washington, where we’ll play four in three days against the last-place Senators, who have a 20-43 record. Can we keep the streak alive? This was our first sweep of a series longer than two games all season. June 17, 1955: Bob Spicer (3-5, 4.44 ERA, 77.0 IP, 18 K’s, 1.56 WHIP) pitched against Camilo Pascual (1-13, 4.79 ERA, 97.2 IP, 75 K’s, 1.80 WHIP). Chuck Tanner hit an RBI single in the top of the third to give us a 1-0 lead, and Spicer locked in from there to maintain that lead even as we struggled to find ways to add to it. Spicer and Walker led off with walks in the top of the seventh, Spicer reaching third despite Bridges hitting into a double play. But Chuck Tanner hit one that the wind barely kept in the park, and Carlos Paula hauled it in at the right field wall to keep the lead at a single run into the seventh inning stretch. We had runners in scoring position in the top of the eighth as well, but just couldn’t get the right hit down to drive them home. Bobby Shantz came in to pitch with one out and men on the corners in the bottom of the eighth, getting their lead-off man Jim Busby to hit into a fielder’s choice where we got the out at home plate. Pete Runnels then quietly grounded out to first as we held tight to our one run lead! Hector Lopez bought us some insurance in the top of the ninth with an RBI single into right field, pushing in our second run of the game, and Shantz didn’t blink -- he shut them down efficiently as we won 2-0, our third shutout in a row! Bob Spicer improved to 4-5 with a 4.06 ERA, thanks to 7.1 innings with five hits, two walks and two strikeouts. Shantz then came in for 1.2 innings and saved his 15th game, allowing one hit as his ERA improved to 1.74 through 41.1 innings in 26 appearances! Washington outhit us 6-5, but they walked us ten times ... our plate discipline is really starting to pay off. Hector Lopez led the way with three hits and an RBI, while Chuck Tanner added two hits and an RBI -- meanwhile, Bridges walked twice and scored a run, while Spicer walked once and scored the other. *Our team has gone 33 INNINGS without allowing a single run!* The last time anyone scored on us was in game one against Boston when they hit the three-run homer in the bottom of the fourth. This is also now our longest winning streak of the year as we improved to 28-34. June 18, 1955: Walt Craddock (1-4, 5.05 ERA, 71.1 IP, 30 K’s, 1.57 WHIP) pitched this afternoon against Johnny Schmitz (2-4, 5.80 ERA, 52.0 IP, 16 K’s, 1.81 WHIP). Hector Lopez got us the lead in the top of the fourth with a two-out RBI single, giving us a 1-0 lead heading into the bottom of the inning, but the Senators scored a run in the bottom of the fourth off an RBI double by Jose Valdivielso that snapped our streak at 37 scoreless innings in a row. Washington got the lead in the bottom of the seventh with a solo blast to left by Valdivielso, and Tom Gorman came out to pitch with no outs and men on first and second. Mickey Vernon hit an RBI single to make it a 3-1 lead for the Senators, and Gorman hit Eddie Yost with a pitch to walk in a run and make it a three-run lead. Lou Sleater came in to try for the final out, but a hit into right by Ed Fitz Gerald added to the sudden, out of nowhere rout. Trailing 5-1 as we started the top of the eighth, the momentum was completely in the Senators’ corner, and yet we managed to load the bases on two outs! Bill Renna walked in a run, but DeMaestri struck out swinging to end the rally. We went down quietly, losing this one 5-2. Craddock did what he could, but in six innings of work he allowed nine hits and four earned runs, walking three and striking out three ... he’s now 1-5 with a 5.12 ERA. Gorman struggled, allowing a hit, a walk and a run of his own, but Sleater got us through the remainder, 1.1 innings with a hit and a strikeout. Washington outhit us 11-3, and though Lopez and Renna each hit, walked and batted in a run, our offense remained in off-mode tonight. Tomorrow we’ll play them twice with an off day to follow, and then we face New York at Yankee Stadium. So we could really use the wins so we can stay in our positive mindset heading into a tough series. June 19, 1955: Good news! Second baseman Jim Finigan is back off his recent IL stint, and Moe Burtschy will go back down to AAA to make room for him on the 25-man roster. For the first time in close to two months our team is back to full health. Walt Masterson (0-2, 6.00 ERA, 24.0 IP, 13 K’s, 1.62 WHIP) started against Chuck Stobbs (4-8, 4.79 ERA, 73.1 IP, 34 K’s, 1.55 WHIP) in game one of the day. Vic Power hit an RBI double that put us up 1-0 in the top of the fourth, and Joe Astroth hit an RBI single to drive him in to make it a two-run lead! And though Masterson got himself into a real pickle with the bases loaded and two outs, he got the final out without a run scoring, keeping us ahead 2-0 heading into the top of the fifth. Bill Wilson pinch hit for him to start the fifth inning, hitting a flyball double into left field. They walked Walker, and Finigan hit into a fielder’s choice where they chose to take out Walker. Chuck Tanner hit an RBI single to add to our lead, Art Ditmar then coming into pitch in the bottom of the fifth. Tom Gorman came out in the seventh with the lead still 3-0, and he got us through the seventh without much trouble. Bobby Shantz came in to pitch in the bottom of the eighth, and he got into trouble almost immediately. Mickey Vernon batted in a run with a single, an E9 error helping him push Roy Sievers over to third, no outs. Carlos Paula hit a single into right that drove in another, and with one out, Valdivielso grounded out to first but allowed the tying run to score. A pop-out ended the inning as just a blown save, but it was a real gut-punch ... Shantz had saved six games in a row since his last blown save on June 5th against the Red Sox. We got the lead back in the top of the ninth thanks to an RBI single by Vic Power, giving us a one run lead as Sonny Dixon came out for a fresh save opportunity. He got three quick outs as we held on to win 4-3! Masterson gave us four innings in a spot start, allowing three hits with two walks and four strikeouts, Ditmar getting through two more innings with just a hit to keep us in a winning position. Tom Gorman got his fourth hold of the year, allowing just one hit, and though Shantz blew his third save, he took home the win, improving to 4-2 with a 2.34 ERA, his four hit, three earned run game a rare blip on the radar. Dixon saved his fifth game of the year and didn’t allow a baserunner, bringing his ERA down to 3.91 through 25.1 innings. We outhit the Senators 10-9, led by Vic Power with two hits, a run and two RBIs. Astroth added two hits and an RBI, and Chuck Tanner hit once for a run and an RBI. Arnie Portocarrero (3-4, 5.07 ERA, 60.1 IP, 23 K’s, 1.34 WHIP) pitched the second game of the doubleheader, going up against Mickey McDermott (4-3, 4.01 ERA, 85.1 IP, 39 K’s, 1.68 WHIP). We loaded the bases without an out in the top of the first, and Hector Lopez walked in a run to put us quickly into the lead. Vic Power walked in a second one, and suddenly their starter was already looking to be in grave shape ... but they got out of it without any more damage, giving us a 2-0 lead before Portocarrero even threw a pitch. Washington got back at us in the bottom of the inning, Pete Runnels hitting a solo homer (just his second of the year) over the wall in right to get on the board, but we held the lead. Portocarrero hit an RBI single in the top of the fourth, another run scoring off a wild pitch, giving us a 4-1 lead at the inning’s midpoint. Vic Power hit an RBI triple in the top of the fifth. With one out we loaded the bases again, Portocarrero walking in another run to give us a five-run advantage. The Senators got a run back with an RBI single by McDermott in the bottom of the fifth with one out, but that’s all they could handle before folding. An E3 error on a fielder’s choice allowed the Senators to get another run back in the bottom of the seventh, and Tom Gorman came out to pitch with loaded bases and two outs, getting the groundout by Roy Sievers that we needed to keep our three-run lead. We loaded the bases again in the top of the eighth, Kryhoski walking in a run to put us back up by four. But Jose Valdivielso hit an RBI triple in the bottom of the eighth to get a run back, continuing to give the Senators hope they might find a way to steal this one. Lou Sleater came out to pitch in the bottom of the ninth, and he gave up back to back doubles to get the Senators back within just two runs. With one out and runners on the corners, Bill Harrington came out to try and prevent a collapse. Mickey Vernon popped out to center for their second out, but a run scored when Carlos Paula singled into right, bringing up Eddie Yost with the potential tying run on third and the potential walk-off run on second. And we blew this one, letting Yost hit a goddamned three-run homer to walk this off as a 9-7 loss. We had it in our hands, and instead split the series, going into the New York series on a low note. Harrington blew his first save and took the loss, falling to 0-1 with a 6.00 ERA through nine innings this season, only managing to get one out. Portocarrero had set everyone up well, seven hits three walks and three runs (two earned) through 6.2 innings, and Gorman (#5) and Sleater (#1) each picked up holds, though Sleater allowed three hits and three earned runs in an appearance that would hardly be called a glowing one. Washington outhit us 14-7 ... we just kept letting them stick their foot in the crack of the door to hold it open. Lopez hit three times with a walk, scoring a run and batting one in, and Finigan hit twice and scored a run. It says everything about this team that in the same week that we swept the Red Sox at Fenway, we split a four game set against the worst team in either league immediately thereafter. We’ll go into the series against the Yankees (47-18) as about as big an underdog as you can be, though we’ve beaten the Yankees twice ... just never at Yankee Stadium. They’re eight games up in the lead for the pennant over Chicago (38-25) and we’re 18 games back with a 29-36 record. Over in the National League, Brooklyn (47-18) holds a similar nine game lead over the Giants (40-29), with Milwaukee (32-34, 15.5 GB) in a far distant third place. __________________ "Campus Chronicles" -- The Indiana Hoosiers in a New College World (An OOTP 27 Dynasty) Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

08-21-2024, 05:39 PM	#20
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,908	June 21, 1955: Alex Kellner (9-6, 2.72 ERA, 112.1 IP, 40 K’s, 1.36 WHIP) started against Bob Turley (3-2, 4.53 ERA, 47.2 IP, 35 K’s, 1.66 WHIP). We loaded the bases in the top of the third, and with one out Hector Lopez hit an RBI single into left to keep them that way and put us into the lead ... but Vic Power hit into a double play to end the frame. But the Yankees tied it up with an RBI single by Gil McDougald in the bottom of the fifth, though Mickey Mantle struck out swinging to keep them from getting the lead. They had to wait for the bottom of the sixth to do that, when Irv Noren hit an RBI single that gave the Bronx Bombers a 2-1 lead. But Vic Power hit a three-run homer out of left field, a massive 420-footer that put us up 4-2 off just our second hit of the game! Kellner tried to stay out in the eighth but gave up two hits in a row and we brought out Bill Harrington with Berra in scoring position ... with one out, Irv Noren loaded the bases with a single, but we got out of the inning when Joe Collins hit into a 3-2-3 groundball double play! Bobby Shantz came out with one out and Al Pilarcik on second base in the bottom of the ninth, and he got the two outs we needed, the Yankees losing when Mantle batted out to center, easy peasy ... nothing like a 4-2 victory in Yankee Stadium to liven things up! Alex Keller’s been red hot lately, and tonight he went seven full innings with eight hits, two walks, a strikeout and two runs (one earned). Harrington picked up a hold with two hits in 1.1 innings’ work, and Bobby Shantz saved his 16th game with two critical outs off just four pitches! The Yankees outhit us 10-3, but “Bullet Bob” Turley must have loaded the wrong gun ... he walked us 10 times against five strikeouts, so our ability to be patient at the plate continues to work in our favor. Chuck Tanner walked three times and scored a run, Hector Lopez hit once, walked twice, scored a run and batted one in, and then Vic Power’s three-run blast, his sixth this year, gave us the win. June 22, 1955: Bob Spicer (4-5, 4.06 ERA, 84.1 IP, 20 K’s, 1.51 WHIP) pitched against Vinegar Bend Mizell (6-1, 2.99 ERA, 87.1 IP, 62 K’s, 1.09 WHIP), who pitched a no-hitter last time we faced him here in the house that Ruth built. He has 62 K’s against just 40 walks, so this is an incredibly tough matchup based on our particular strengths. Crazy thing was, Walker led off with a single into right in the top of the first, so at least we weren’t going to be dealing with a no-no this time. Then Turner walked with one out, and Hector Lopez was hit by a pitch to load the bases ... early scoring opportunity! Vic Power singled up the middle and just like that we were up 2-0 as the boo-birds came out in full force. A third run scored when Astroth hit a sac-fly to deep center, giving us a solid 3-0 cushion just halfway through the first. But Yogi Berra hit a three-run power bomb over the wall in right, tying us up with just one out in the bottom, so this wasn’t going to be a cakewalk. But what have we got to lose? The key was to stick with our gameplan and make Mizell throw as many pitches as quickly as possible. With two outs in the top of the fifth, Chuck Tanner walked Bob Spicer into scoring position, and a tiring Mizell walked Lopez on five pitches to load the bases ... but Vic Power grounded to the third baseman and we were out of there without a run scored. But Spicer kept us in the game with three quick outs in the bottom of the inning, still knotted at 3-3, and the Yankees kept Mizell on the mound despite having thrown 125 pitches, walking six against four strikeouts. No matter -- he struck out three in a row to keep us knotted up, though I couldn’t imagine the Yankees manager keeping him out longer. The Yankees hit hard in the bottom of the sixth, Yogi Berra hitting his second homer of the afternoon, a two-run blast that put them up 5-3 -- he now has nine this year. Mizell struck out Spicer to give the Yankees time to warm up Rip Coleman out of the bullpen, but Coleman promptly came out and walked Walker, though he got us out easily enough from there. Lopez walked to start the top of the eighth and Power singled him into scoring position ... but with one out, DeMaestri hit into a double play. Spicer got roughed up by the long ball today ... McDougald hit a solo bomb out of left off just Bob’s 70th pitch of the night in the bottom of the eighth, but he efficiently got three outs off the next six pitches to get us into the top of the ninth trailing by three. Pinch-hitter Bill Wilson walked with one out, but Harry Walker struck out swinging and Bob Grim came out with two outs to face down Finigan, who grounded out harmlessly to short. Yankees take this one 6-3. Bob Spicer had a hell of a game and a ton of bad luck. In eight innings of work, he only allowed six hits, but three of them were for homers. He walked three, struck out nobody and allowed six earned runs while throwing just 76 pitches as he fell to 4-6 with a 4.29 ERA. He wasn’t counting on Berra’s two hits netting five RBIs, which on its own was more than enough to beat us. We were only outhit 6-4, and the Yankees walked nine of our batters, so we had a chance. There was just no overcoming the Bombers’ raw power today. Vic Power led the way for us with his two hits and two RBIs, while Walker led off with two walks and a hit, scoring a run. June 23, 1955: Arnie Portocarrero (3-4, 4.84 ERA, 67.0 IP, 23 K’s, 1.36 WHIP) pitched against Billy O’Dell (3-1, 3.12 ERA, 52.0 IP, 23 K’s, 1.17 WHIP) in our third game in New York. Hector Lopez pulled off a perfect squeeze bunt in the top of the first with runners in scoring position and just one out, giving us the lead with runners on the corners ... Vic Power hit a sac-fly that Mantle made a diving catch for, so we had plenty of time for a second runner to score. With two outs, DeMaestri hit a bullet over the head of left fielder Irv Noren, and as it rolled to the wall two more runners scored. Bridges took a walk, giving us two on and two outs as Portocarrero came up to the plate ... we’d batted around, but he struck out swinging and we went into the bottom of the first leading 4-0 .... take that, Evil Empire! With two outs, Mantle hit a solo homer out of right, his 15th of the season, to put the Yankees on the board, and O’Dell settled in in the second, not giving us anything. They hammered us in the bottom of the third with a three-run homer by Mantle to tie it up at 4-4 ... this place is gonna give me nightmares! In the top of the fifth, Portocarrero reached first on an error with one out, and O’Dell walked Walker and Finigan to load the bases. Tanner hit into a fielder’s choice for our second out, but a run scored to put us back in the lead. The Yankees brought out Johnny Kucks to pitch in the sixth, and with one out Portocarrero took first for the second time, this time by beating out a weak infield hit! Walker hit into a fielder’s choice and took first, and Kucks was able to get them out of the inning still trailing just by the one run ... and the Yankees tied it up in the bottom of the sixth, a sac-fly by Kucks allowing a run to score. But Chuck Tanner hit an INSIDE THE PARK HOMER that went between the outfielders, rolled to the wall and basically flummoxed every Yankee out there, giving us a 6-5 lead and damned near sparking a riot in the stands. Art Ditmar came out to pitch in the bottom of the seventh, but with two outs and the bases loaded they batted in two runs to steal the lead, thanks to an RBI single by Joe Collins. Ditmar stayed out and got three outs in the eighth off just eight pitches, and Walker took a leadoff walk in the top of the ninth as we tried to claw our way back in. Finigan walked to push him into scoring position, and Johnny Kucks suddenly looked a hell of a lot less confident than he had coming in. Hector Lopez hit into a fielder’s choice to put runners on the corners with two outs, and then Vic Power hit one over Mantle’s head in center .... it’s to the wall, and Power’s driven in a pair with a flyball double! Kucks stayed out there and walked Astroth, and DeMaestri hit a roller down the left field line to drive in two more runs ... and that did it for Kucks. They brought out Tom Sturdivant to try and get the final out, and he did the job. But as Bobby Shantz came out to pitch in the bottom of the inning we had a three-run lead thanks to the four runs we’d just picked up, and we had all the momentum. Shantz set them down one, two, three, and we got out of there with a stunning 10-7 win, winning the series! Ditmar blew his third save, but came out of this one with the win as he improved to 4-3 with a 3.12 ERA, backing up Portocarrero who had eight hits, four walks, a strikeout and five earned runs in his six innings. Shantz threw eight pitches for his three outs, notching his 17th save as his ERA improved to 2.25 ... he now has won four games and saved 17, which makes him at least partially responsible for more than 67 percent of our wins this season! New York outhit us 11-9, but walked us seven times which evened things up. Mantle had a three hit, three run four RBI game but we prevailed thanks to a team effort -- seven of our players got hits, led by Vic Power who hit twice for a run and three RBIs. Chuck Tanner had a hit, a run and two RBIs including his inside the park homer that gives him six home runs this season. Meanwhile, Walker hit once, walked twice and scored two runs ... he’s hitting just .223,but his 39 walks against 14 strikeouts has him getting on base at a .416 clip! We’ll take our 31-37 record into Baltimore (29-41) where we’ll play four games including a Sunday doubleheader. We’ve been surprisingly red hot on this road trip, having won seven of our last 10 games, but so have the Orioles, so this should be a good test of how legitimate our improvement is. The Red Sox (34-36) and the Tigers (34-32) are on 3-7 skids, and Cleveland’s been playing for average in their last ten, giving them a 34-34 record ... so we’re just one good hot streak away from leapfrogging our way into the upper half of the standings. Our last six games are against Baltimore and Cleveland, so teams at .500 or under, and then, of the games remaining before the All Star break, five are against the barely-above-.500 Tigers, three are against the .500 Guardians, and only one doubleheader features the 41-25 White Sox. So we hold a lot of our momentum and destiny in our own hands. __________________ "Campus Chronicles" -- The Indiana Hoosiers in a New College World (An OOTP 27 Dynasty) Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)