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jksander · 07-04-2023, 12:16 PM

JULY 12, 1953 . . . Dick Brodowski pitched the opening game of our double header, and in the bottom of the first he game up a run on a very weakly hit infield ball that no one seemed ready to go after despite the bases being loaded. And that started a fairly severe beatdown, as Brodowski was rung up for four runs in that frame, all of which came with two outs. Not a particularly auspicious beginning, particularly with the Reds’ Ken Raffensberger coming into this game red hot. Brodowski broke up Raffensberger’s no-hitter in the top of the third, getting a hit out of the infield from the nine-spot, but we made nothing of it and he promptly gave up a fifth run in the bottom of the inning to leave us trailing the Reds 0-5 after three. We started warming up Newcombe in the fourth, bringing him in with two outs and a man on first, the score at that point 0-6. They tried to throw Fondy out at home in the top of the sixth, but a throwing error allowed him to score on a Willie Mays fly-out to center, at least putting us on the board. But we couldn’t make anything else happen offensively, and though our pitchers after Brodowski did not give up any runs, we already had too much ground to make up, losing this one to the Reds by a 6-1 margin.

Brodowski fell to 5-4 with a 3.42 ERA, having given up six earned runs on nine hits in just 3.2 innings with three walks and a strikeout. Newcombe came in and pitched effectively for 3.1 innings, giving up just one hit with a walk and a strikeout, and Bob Kelly had one inning with two strikeouts and no hits. We were out-hit 10-6 in the game, with Cavarretta and Sauer each hitting twice and with Mays putting up a hit and the one RBI of the game. Fondy scored by walking -- he did not get a hit all game.

Klippstein came in to pitch the second game with his 6-2 record and 4.76 ERA over 81.1 innings pitched. In the top of the third inning, Phil Cavarretta hit a run-scoring single to put us on the board, and Klippstein hit a run scoring single in the top of the fourth to make it 2-0, but he gave up a solo homer in the bottom of the inning to keep the margins razor thin. Klippstein threw his 50th strikeout of the year (and fourth of the game) in the top of the 5th, along with two more for good measure, but our offense wasn’t able to add any insurance. Sauer finally did add a run in the top of the seventh, driving Cavarretta home with an RBI single, and Jackson followed it up with an RBI double to make it 4-1. Toby Atwell then walked the bases loaded, but we weren’t able to score again. Still, at least now Klippstein had some room to breathe. Willie Mays hit an RBI single in the top of the eighth, after having been walked twice earlier in the game, and Ernie Banks hit a three-run homer to really blow things open, his 14th homer of the year! Klippstein came into the bottom of the eighth in control of an 8-1 lead, and Bob Kelly came in for the bottom of the ninth to wrap it up, getting three quick outs as we beat the Reds by seven!

Klippstein improved to 7-2 with a 4.43 ERA, giving up just four hits in eight innings with one earned run, striking out seven and walking three. Kelly improved his ERA to 6.41, giving up a hit but then doing his job and getting the quick outs. Phil Cavarretta led the team with three hits, scoring twice and driving in a run as well. Mays, Sauer, Jackson and Miksis each added two hits, Mays in particular doing well by hitting twice, walking twice and scoring twice with an RBI as well.

JULY 13, 1953 . . . In the homerun challenge, Ernie Banks beat Mickey Mantle in the first round 11-1, making everyone wonder if the Mickster had been out doing a bit too much celebrating before taking the field. Willie Mays then beat Ralph Kliner 12-9 in his round, setting up a second round duel between him and Ernie! Ernie Banks had a great second round, beating Mays 12-8, putting him through to battle Eddie Matthews in the Home Run Title Round -- and “Mr. Cub” outlasted Matthews 11-9 to bring home the crown!

JULY 14, 1953 . . . Warren Hacker started in the All Star game for the NL, with Mays (3rd) and Cavarretta (6th) starting at center and right field respectively. Duke Snider put our NL All Stars up 2-0 in the top of the fourth with a single that drove San Musial and Willie Mays home, and Al Dark hit a sac-fly to right, driving in a third. Eddie Matthews hit a solo homer in the top of the 6th to give the NL a 4-0 lead, but Bob Rush came in to pitch for us in the bottom of the sixth and suddenly the AL All Stars had signs of life. Rush got the third out but allowed the AL to score two, making the score 4-2 with three innings to play. Ralph Kliner hit a HUGE solo homer in the top of the seventh add a little NL insurance, and Willie Mays hit a moonshot to score three more! Pee Wee Reese hit another NL homer in the top of the eighth to make it 9-2, and Hoyt Wilhelm closed the game out with two perfect innings as our NL All Stars destroyed the AL All Stars 9-2! Willie Mays was named the All Star Game MVP, with two hits and a walk in four at-bats, scoring two and driving in three!

We’ll enjoy the day off and come back rested and ready to take on the New York Giants on Thursday for a two-game road series at the Polo Grounds with an off-day between them. We then travel to Philly for a double-header on Sunday, followed by three games at Brooklyn and four at Pittsburgh before we get to return to Wrigley on the 28th for three against Brooklyn. We’re currently 45-41 and in fourth place in the NL, 10-1/2 games out of first. We have a good chance to climb back into the heart of the race if we can do well on this road stand and return to Wrigley playing like we did at the start of the month.

Current NL Standings:

1. Milwaukee Braves (57-32)
2. Brooklyn Dodgers (54-32) 1.5 GB
3. Philadelphia Phillies (51-38) 6 GB
4. Chicago Cubs (45-41) 10.5 GB
5. NY Giants (38-49) 18 GB
6. St. Louis Cardinals (36-48) 18.5 GB
7. Cincinnati Reds (37-55) 21.5 GB
8. Pittsburgh Pirates (34-57) 24 GB

Current AL Standings:

1. NY Yankees (58-27)
2. Cleveland Guardians (53-32) 5 GB
3. Boston (45-44) 15 GB
4. St. Louis Browns (41-48) 19 GB
5. Chicago White Sox (40-47) 19 GB
6. Washington Senators (40-48) 19.5 GB
7. Detroit Tigers (36-50) 22.5 GB
8. Philadelphia Athletics (36-53) 24 GB

* OOC: Not sure why the game decided to change Cleveland to the Guardians even when starting in the 1950s, but maybe they’ll have better luck breaking their curse without the Indians name hanging over their heads.

07-04-2023, 12:16 PM	#55
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,587	JULY 12, 1953 . . . Dick Brodowski pitched the opening game of our double header, and in the bottom of the first he game up a run on a very weakly hit infield ball that no one seemed ready to go after despite the bases being loaded. And that started a fairly severe beatdown, as Brodowski was rung up for four runs in that frame, all of which came with two outs. Not a particularly auspicious beginning, particularly with the Reds’ Ken Raffensberger coming into this game red hot. Brodowski broke up Raffensberger’s no-hitter in the top of the third, getting a hit out of the infield from the nine-spot, but we made nothing of it and he promptly gave up a fifth run in the bottom of the inning to leave us trailing the Reds 0-5 after three. We started warming up Newcombe in the fourth, bringing him in with two outs and a man on first, the score at that point 0-6. They tried to throw Fondy out at home in the top of the sixth, but a throwing error allowed him to score on a Willie Mays fly-out to center, at least putting us on the board. But we couldn’t make anything else happen offensively, and though our pitchers after Brodowski did not give up any runs, we already had too much ground to make up, losing this one to the Reds by a 6-1 margin. Brodowski fell to 5-4 with a 3.42 ERA, having given up six earned runs on nine hits in just 3.2 innings with three walks and a strikeout. Newcombe came in and pitched effectively for 3.1 innings, giving up just one hit with a walk and a strikeout, and Bob Kelly had one inning with two strikeouts and no hits. We were out-hit 10-6 in the game, with Cavarretta and Sauer each hitting twice and with Mays putting up a hit and the one RBI of the game. Fondy scored by walking -- he did not get a hit all game. Klippstein came in to pitch the second game with his 6-2 record and 4.76 ERA over 81.1 innings pitched. In the top of the third inning, Phil Cavarretta hit a run-scoring single to put us on the board, and Klippstein hit a run scoring single in the top of the fourth to make it 2-0, but he gave up a solo homer in the bottom of the inning to keep the margins razor thin. Klippstein threw his 50th strikeout of the year (and fourth of the game) in the top of the 5th, along with two more for good measure, but our offense wasn’t able to add any insurance. Sauer finally did add a run in the top of the seventh, driving Cavarretta home with an RBI single, and Jackson followed it up with an RBI double to make it 4-1. Toby Atwell then walked the bases loaded, but we weren’t able to score again. Still, at least now Klippstein had some room to breathe. Willie Mays hit an RBI single in the top of the eighth, after having been walked twice earlier in the game, and Ernie Banks hit a three-run homer to really blow things open, his 14th homer of the year! Klippstein came into the bottom of the eighth in control of an 8-1 lead, and Bob Kelly came in for the bottom of the ninth to wrap it up, getting three quick outs as we beat the Reds by seven! Klippstein improved to 7-2 with a 4.43 ERA, giving up just four hits in eight innings with one earned run, striking out seven and walking three. Kelly improved his ERA to 6.41, giving up a hit but then doing his job and getting the quick outs. Phil Cavarretta led the team with three hits, scoring twice and driving in a run as well. Mays, Sauer, Jackson and Miksis each added two hits, Mays in particular doing well by hitting twice, walking twice and scoring twice with an RBI as well. JULY 13, 1953 . . . In the homerun challenge, Ernie Banks beat Mickey Mantle in the first round 11-1, making everyone wonder if the Mickster had been out doing a bit too much celebrating before taking the field. Willie Mays then beat Ralph Kliner 12-9 in his round, setting up a second round duel between him and Ernie! Ernie Banks had a great second round, beating Mays 12-8, putting him through to battle Eddie Matthews in the Home Run Title Round -- and “Mr. Cub” outlasted Matthews 11-9 to bring home the crown! JULY 14, 1953 . . . Warren Hacker started in the All Star game for the NL, with Mays (3rd) and Cavarretta (6th) starting at center and right field respectively. Duke Snider put our NL All Stars up 2-0 in the top of the fourth with a single that drove San Musial and Willie Mays home, and Al Dark hit a sac-fly to right, driving in a third. Eddie Matthews hit a solo homer in the top of the 6th to give the NL a 4-0 lead, but Bob Rush came in to pitch for us in the bottom of the sixth and suddenly the AL All Stars had signs of life. Rush got the third out but allowed the AL to score two, making the score 4-2 with three innings to play. Ralph Kliner hit a HUGE solo homer in the top of the seventh add a little NL insurance, and Willie Mays hit a moonshot to score three more! Pee Wee Reese hit another NL homer in the top of the eighth to make it 9-2, and Hoyt Wilhelm closed the game out with two perfect innings as our NL All Stars destroyed the AL All Stars 9-2! Willie Mays was named the All Star Game MVP, with two hits and a walk in four at-bats, scoring two and driving in three! We’ll enjoy the day off and come back rested and ready to take on the New York Giants on Thursday for a two-game road series at the Polo Grounds with an off-day between them. We then travel to Philly for a double-header on Sunday, followed by three games at Brooklyn and four at Pittsburgh before we get to return to Wrigley on the 28th for three against Brooklyn. We’re currently 45-41 and in fourth place in the NL, 10-1/2 games out of first. We have a good chance to climb back into the heart of the race if we can do well on this road stand and return to Wrigley playing like we did at the start of the month. Current NL Standings: 1. Milwaukee Braves (57-32) 2. Brooklyn Dodgers (54-32) 1.5 GB 3. Philadelphia Phillies (51-38) 6 GB 4. Chicago Cubs (45-41) 10.5 GB 5. NY Giants (38-49) 18 GB 6. St. Louis Cardinals (36-48) 18.5 GB 7. Cincinnati Reds (37-55) 21.5 GB 8. Pittsburgh Pirates (34-57) 24 GB Current AL Standings: 1. NY Yankees (58-27) 2. Cleveland Guardians (53-32) 5 GB 3. Boston (45-44) 15 GB 4. St. Louis Browns (41-48) 19 GB 5. Chicago White Sox (40-47) 19 GB 6. Washington Senators (40-48) 19.5 GB 7. Detroit Tigers (36-50) 22.5 GB 8. Philadelphia Athletics (36-53) 24 GB * *OOC: Not sure why the game decided to change Cleveland to the Guardians even when starting in the 1950s, but maybe they’ll have better luck breaking their curse without the Indians name hanging over their heads. __________________ 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)