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jksander · 06-28-2023, 10:47 PM

JUNE 29, 1953 . . . Willie Mays opened the game with a solo homer in the top of the first to put us up 1-0, his 23rd of the year, and Ernie Banks followed immediately with one of his own over the right field wall to make it 2-0! And then Hank Sauer made it back to back to back solo homers, hitting it over the left wall to make it 3-0, all of the homers coming with two outs! McCullough hit an RBI single that drove in Randy Jackson before Bob Ramazzotti was tagged out at first to end the inning. St. Louis got on the board with a run scoring double and a run scoring single in the bottom of the third, but Bob Ramazzotti got into the homer race with a two-run blast over the right field wall, his first of the year, to make our lead 6-2 midway through the fourth. They got a third run on us in the bottom of the sixth, but Hank Sauer hit another two-run homer over the right field wall in the top of the seventh, giving us an 8-3 lead and him his 12th homer, our fifth of the night -- and the home-run derby didn’t stop either! In the top of the eighth, Willie Mays came up and hit his second of the game, a towering 440 footer that almost left the park, scoring three more runs, and St. Louis entered the bottom of the eighth trailing by eight. We added a 12th run in the top of the ninth, and we held them scoreless in the final frame to win this one in a blowout 12-3 for our fourth straight victory, outhitting the Cardinals just 15-14 but destroying them with SIX HOME RUNS. Perfection!

Johnny Klippstein, in his eighth start and 20th appearance of the year, went 5.1 innings on 94 pitches, giving up eight hits and three earned runs while throwing three strikeouts and one walk, improving to 4-2 on the year with a 5.60 ERA. The real surprise was that Don Newcombe came out of the bullpen and threw 3.2 innings of seven-hit ball, with two strikeouts and no runs scored, bringing his ERA down to 4.38! It’s insane to say, but the only batter all day who didn’t get a hit was Fondy in the lead-off, and that includes both of our pitchers ... Willie Mays led the way with two homers being his only hits of the game, scoring twice and driving in four runs, bringing his homer total to 24! Hank Sauer was also incredible, hitting three times with two homers, scoring three and batting in three. McCullough and Ramazzotti each added two RBIs, and of course there was Ernie Banks’ first-inning solo homer as well. What a night!

JUNE 30, 1953 . . . Hank Sauer hit a run scoring single in the top of the first, scoring Ernie Banks all the way from second to get things going, and in the top of the second we opened with a Toby Atwell double and then Eddie Miksis hit a run-scoring double of his own to put us up 2-0 with no outs, though we weren’t able to do any more damage in the inning. And we added more in the top of the third, when Toby Atwell, up for the second time, singled through the gap to drive Ernie Banks in from third, and then Eddie Miksis drove in another to give us a 4-0 lead after three! Paul Minner was lights-out through the first four innings, though he gave up a run in the bottom of the fifth to let St. Louis on the board and spoil the shutout, and a second run scored in the bottom of the sixth. Joe Hatten came in for the seventh when Minner got two guys into scoring position with no outs, and he had the best inning of his career here in Chicago, striking out two and facilitating a quick throw to home preventing a third run from scoring, maktaining our 4-2 lead heading into the top of the eighth! Bob Kelly came in to get the save with two outs and a man on in the eighth inning and he did his job, until the bottom of the ninth when, with two outs and a man on first, Solly Hemus hit a homer to tie the score 4-4. He got the final out, however, and we were heading for extras!

Randy Jackson came up with one out in the top of the 10th and hit a spectacular triple to deep right, and Miksis hit a deep fly-out sacrifice to center that drove Jackson home for the go-ahead run. That brought Kelly back out for the bottom of the inning, and he secured our 5-4 victory with a flyout and two strikeouts to keep our streak going at five wins! This ties our longest winning streak of the year and showcased our team handling adversity in a whole new way, leaving the St. Louis fans completely gutted.

Bob Kelly blew his save opportunity but came away with the win, improving to 2-5 with a 5.74 ERA while throwing 2.1 innings of two-hit ball with four strikeouts. Paul Minner made it through six innings with nine hits and two earned runs, throwing a strikeout and walking two batters. Ernie Banks is red hot right now, hitting three times tonight with a run scored, and Eddie Miksis hit twice to bat three runs in, playing a critical role in our ability to stay in this one.

Our GM has brought Fred Baczewski back up from the minors, sending Joe Hatten back down.

JULY 1, 1953 . . . Bob Rush came out to pitch for us this evening in the bottom of the first with no score, and he promptly loaded the bases with no outs, an inauspicious beginning. He then walked a runner home, leaving the fans of St. Louis completely delirious. By the time we came up to bat in the top of the second we trailed the Cardinals 2-0 and had work to do if we wanted to keep our streak going. Thankfully they opened the inning by walking Banks. Jackson singled to right, and Cavarretta loaded the bases, putting us in the driver’s seat. And Sauer opened things up by hitting a three-run scoring double to put us ahead 3-2 just like that! Dee Fondy added a run with a single, and Willie Mays added more by singling up the gap to center, driving in two more runs before the inning came to an end with us ahead 6-2! We added a seventh run in the top of the fourth, but we committed two errors in the bottom of the fourth, though Rush was able to get himself out of a jam with only one run scored, making it 7-3 Cubs at the end of four.

Unfortunately Rush gave up a two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth, and we brought Don Newcombe out to secure the final out of the inning and protect the lead. The Cardinals got a run back in the bottom of the sixth, but we were able to add two more in the top of the seventh to keep the lead at 9-6 heading into the stretch. Newcombe had a sore arm, so we brought Bob Kelly in to attempt the long save attempt ... and it was too soon. He gave up three runs before finally getting out of his jam, tying the score at 9-9 heading into the eighth inning and severely testing our luck. We brought Baczewski in out of the bullpen to pitch with the game still knotted in the bottom the eighth, and he got us out without any damage, but we weren’t able to score in the top of the ninth. Baczewski was game for the challenge, however, and he got us safely out of the ninth as well, sending us to our second night of extra innings in a row!

We had the top of our order up to bat for the 10th inning, and Fondy quickly got things going with a double to deep left, and Ernie Banks doubled up the gap right out of the reach of the second baseman’s glove, scoring Fondy and putting us up 10-9! So with a one run lead and Dutch Leonard ready in the bullpen, Baczewski came out to try and seal the victory. And he got them out one, two, three to end the game with our 10-9 win, and six game streak, intact. Welcome back from AAA, Fred!

In an unexpected bullpen-heavy night, Baczewski took the win and improved to 1-1 on the year with a 4.79 ERA, throwing three innings of two-hit ball. Bob Rush only lasted 4.2 innings, giving up nine hits and five runs (four earned) though he also had five strikeouts against three walks. Newcombe had 1.1 innings of one hit ball, but I didn’t want to risk an injury. Still the less said about Kelly and the more said about Baczewski tonight, the better. Willie Mays hit three times and walked twice, scoring a run and batting in three. Hank Sauer, meanwhile, hit once and walked once, scoring once and driving in three more. We’ve had to put up a lot of runs in the last six wins -- beating teams 51-34 through this streak -- but the bats have been up to it so far. How long we can maintain that pace remains to be seen.

Mickey Mantle of the Yankees has the lead in the home run race right now with 27 deep bombs, and Gil Hodges with Brooklyn has 25. But Willie Mays is right there in the conversation with 24 and he leads the majors with 72 RBIs and his .368 batting average. We’re heading back to the friendly confines of Wrigley, so with the weather warming in Chicago and the winds blowing out, it’s hard not to see those totals going up.

We’re heading into a five game stretch in three days here in Chicago with our record standing at 39-37, in 4th place in the NL, four games out of third. Those five games will be against St. Louis (now 32-43) and the Cincinnati Reds (now 33-48). We’ll have four more on the road against Cincy next weekend, and a mid-week two game series at Milwaukee, so continuing this win streak can help us make some moves upward in the rankings while also distancing us further from .500 in the process heading up to the All Star break.

06-28-2023, 10:47 PM	#47
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,587	JUNE 29, 1953 . . . Willie Mays opened the game with a solo homer in the top of the first to put us up 1-0, his 23rd of the year, and Ernie Banks followed immediately with one of his own over the right field wall to make it 2-0! And then Hank Sauer made it back to back to back solo homers, hitting it over the left wall to make it 3-0, all of the homers coming with two outs! McCullough hit an RBI single that drove in Randy Jackson before Bob Ramazzotti was tagged out at first to end the inning. St. Louis got on the board with a run scoring double and a run scoring single in the bottom of the third, but Bob Ramazzotti got into the homer race with a two-run blast over the right field wall, his first of the year, to make our lead 6-2 midway through the fourth. They got a third run on us in the bottom of the sixth, but Hank Sauer hit another two-run homer over the right field wall in the top of the seventh, giving us an 8-3 lead and him his 12th homer, our fifth of the night -- and the home-run derby didn’t stop either! In the top of the eighth, Willie Mays came up and hit his second of the game, a towering 440 footer that almost left the park, scoring three more runs, and St. Louis entered the bottom of the eighth trailing by eight. We added a 12th run in the top of the ninth, and we held them scoreless in the final frame to win this one in a blowout 12-3 for our fourth straight victory, outhitting the Cardinals just 15-14 but destroying them with SIX HOME RUNS. Perfection! Johnny Klippstein, in his eighth start and 20th appearance of the year, went 5.1 innings on 94 pitches, giving up eight hits and three earned runs while throwing three strikeouts and one walk, improving to 4-2 on the year with a 5.60 ERA. The real surprise was that Don Newcombe came out of the bullpen and threw 3.2 innings of seven-hit ball, with two strikeouts and no runs scored, bringing his ERA down to 4.38! It’s insane to say, but the only batter all day who didn’t get a hit was Fondy in the lead-off, and that includes both of our pitchers ... Willie Mays led the way with two homers being his only hits of the game, scoring twice and driving in four runs, bringing his homer total to 24! Hank Sauer was also incredible, hitting three times with two homers, scoring three and batting in three. McCullough and Ramazzotti each added two RBIs, and of course there was Ernie Banks’ first-inning solo homer as well. What a night! JUNE 30, 1953 . . . Hank Sauer hit a run scoring single in the top of the first, scoring Ernie Banks all the way from second to get things going, and in the top of the second we opened with a Toby Atwell double and then Eddie Miksis hit a run-scoring double of his own to put us up 2-0 with no outs, though we weren’t able to do any more damage in the inning. And we added more in the top of the third, when Toby Atwell, up for the second time, singled through the gap to drive Ernie Banks in from third, and then Eddie Miksis drove in another to give us a 4-0 lead after three! Paul Minner was lights-out through the first four innings, though he gave up a run in the bottom of the fifth to let St. Louis on the board and spoil the shutout, and a second run scored in the bottom of the sixth. Joe Hatten came in for the seventh when Minner got two guys into scoring position with no outs, and he had the best inning of his career here in Chicago, striking out two and facilitating a quick throw to home preventing a third run from scoring, maktaining our 4-2 lead heading into the top of the eighth! Bob Kelly came in to get the save with two outs and a man on in the eighth inning and he did his job, until the bottom of the ninth when, with two outs and a man on first, Solly Hemus hit a homer to tie the score 4-4. He got the final out, however, and we were heading for extras! Randy Jackson came up with one out in the top of the 10th and hit a spectacular triple to deep right, and Miksis hit a deep fly-out sacrifice to center that drove Jackson home for the go-ahead run. That brought Kelly back out for the bottom of the inning, and he secured our 5-4 victory with a flyout and two strikeouts to keep our streak going at five wins! This ties our longest winning streak of the year and showcased our team handling adversity in a whole new way, leaving the St. Louis fans completely gutted. Bob Kelly blew his save opportunity but came away with the win, improving to 2-5 with a 5.74 ERA while throwing 2.1 innings of two-hit ball with four strikeouts. Paul Minner made it through six innings with nine hits and two earned runs, throwing a strikeout and walking two batters. Ernie Banks is red hot right now, hitting three times tonight with a run scored, and Eddie Miksis hit twice to bat three runs in, playing a critical role in our ability to stay in this one. Our GM has brought Fred Baczewski back up from the minors, sending Joe Hatten back down. JULY 1, 1953 . . . Bob Rush came out to pitch for us this evening in the bottom of the first with no score, and he promptly loaded the bases with no outs, an inauspicious beginning. He then walked a runner home, leaving the fans of St. Louis completely delirious. By the time we came up to bat in the top of the second we trailed the Cardinals 2-0 and had work to do if we wanted to keep our streak going. Thankfully they opened the inning by walking Banks. Jackson singled to right, and Cavarretta loaded the bases, putting us in the driver’s seat. And Sauer opened things up by hitting a three-run scoring double to put us ahead 3-2 just like that! Dee Fondy added a run with a single, and Willie Mays added more by singling up the gap to center, driving in two more runs before the inning came to an end with us ahead 6-2! We added a seventh run in the top of the fourth, but we committed two errors in the bottom of the fourth, though Rush was able to get himself out of a jam with only one run scored, making it 7-3 Cubs at the end of four. Unfortunately Rush gave up a two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth, and we brought Don Newcombe out to secure the final out of the inning and protect the lead. The Cardinals got a run back in the bottom of the sixth, but we were able to add two more in the top of the seventh to keep the lead at 9-6 heading into the stretch. Newcombe had a sore arm, so we brought Bob Kelly in to attempt the long save attempt ... and it was too soon. He gave up three runs before finally getting out of his jam, tying the score at 9-9 heading into the eighth inning and severely testing our luck. We brought Baczewski in out of the bullpen to pitch with the game still knotted in the bottom the eighth, and he got us out without any damage, but we weren’t able to score in the top of the ninth. Baczewski was game for the challenge, however, and he got us safely out of the ninth as well, sending us to our second night of extra innings in a row! We had the top of our order up to bat for the 10th inning, and Fondy quickly got things going with a double to deep left, and Ernie Banks doubled up the gap right out of the reach of the second baseman’s glove, scoring Fondy and putting us up 10-9! So with a one run lead and Dutch Leonard ready in the bullpen, Baczewski came out to try and seal the victory. And he got them out one, two, three to end the game with our 10-9 win, and six game streak, intact. Welcome back from AAA, Fred! In an unexpected bullpen-heavy night, Baczewski took the win and improved to 1-1 on the year with a 4.79 ERA, throwing three innings of two-hit ball. Bob Rush only lasted 4.2 innings, giving up nine hits and five runs (four earned) though he also had five strikeouts against three walks. Newcombe had 1.1 innings of one hit ball, but I didn’t want to risk an injury. Still the less said about Kelly and the more said about Baczewski tonight, the better. Willie Mays hit three times and walked twice, scoring a run and batting in three. Hank Sauer, meanwhile, hit once and walked once, scoring once and driving in three more. We’ve had to put up a lot of runs in the last six wins -- beating teams 51-34 through this streak -- but the bats have been up to it so far. How long we can maintain that pace remains to be seen. Mickey Mantle of the Yankees has the lead in the home run race right now with 27 deep bombs, and Gil Hodges with Brooklyn has 25. But Willie Mays is right there in the conversation with 24 and he leads the majors with 72 RBIs and his .368 batting average. We’re heading back to the friendly confines of Wrigley, so with the weather warming in Chicago and the winds blowing out, it’s hard not to see those totals going up. We’re heading into a five game stretch in three days here in Chicago with our record standing at 39-37, in 4th place in the NL, four games out of third. Those five games will be against St. Louis (now 32-43) and the Cincinnati Reds (now 33-48). We’ll have four more on the road against Cincy next weekend, and a mid-week two game series at Milwaukee, so continuing this win streak can help us make some moves upward in the rankings while also distancing us further from .500 in the process heading up to the All Star break. __________________ A Fledgling “Free Agency” Movement in the Post-War World -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Daily Double Baseball (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)