[jksander]

APRIL 30, 1954 . . . I thought the fans were going to flat-out murder the umpire when the Giants took a 1-0 lead on us via a bases loaded balk called against Johnny Klippstein in the top of the first, but Klippstein got out of the inning without further incident. Al Kaline got a hit in his first at-bat in the leadoff position, but the rest of the lineup left him completely stranded. In his second at-bat in the bottom of the third, Kaline got on base with a double and this time Cavarretta drove him home with an RBI single, tying the score 1-1 and putting some life into the crowd. But Willie Mays hit into a fielder’s choice and then Ernie Banks flew out to center, ending any chance at an extended offensive blast. Hank Sauer hit a solo homer in the bottom of the fourth to put us up 2-1, and Kaline got a third hit in the bottom of the fifth, though for the second time he was stranded. But Klippstein was on fire defending the lead with two strikeouts and a flyout in the top of the sixth, knowing that with our offensive struggles he was going to have to win this one himself. We had an opportunity to score when Banks came up in the bottom of the seventh with men on the corners and two outs, but he struck out again to extend his slump and the score remained 2-1 Cubs heading into the eighth inning. The score was unchanged heading into the top of the ninth, and Klippstein stayed in to close out the game himself, and he held on to the lead despite giving up a hit and a walk via hit-by-pitch, striking out a batter and then getting two flyouts as we beat the Giants 2-1!

Klippstein threw 122 pitches in the complete game win, improving to 3-0 with a 1.50 ERA by giving up only three hits with nine strikeouts and only two walks. We outhit them 11-3, led by Al Kaline in the leadoff position with three hits and a run scored. Cavarretta and Sauer each had a pair of hits, with Sauer batting in one and scoring another, and Cavarretta batting in Kaline’s run early in the game. Ernie Banks went hitless again -- he has had three consecutive hitless games, but Mays broke out of his slump with a single hit.

MAY 1, 1954 . . . Rogovin came out to pitch today and on the second pitch of the afternoon he gave up a triple. A sacrifice out at first scored the first run, but he was effective from there at shutting them down. Al Kaline hit a blistering line drive that almost went over the wall, bouncing off the top and back into the park instead for a run scoring triple in the bottom of the third to tie the game, and Kaline scored a run on a wild pitch to make it 2-1. Mays took a walk, and then Banks broke out of his slump with a two-run blast to center, making it 4-1 with his fourth home run of the season! Elston Howard added a solo homer in the bottom of the sixth to make it 5-1, and in the bottom of the seventh Cavarretta drove Rogovin home from third to score a sixth run. Ernie Banks batted in another moments later, and Gene Baker joined the party to make it 8-1 before Elston Howard finally struck out to end the inning.

Karl Drews came in for the top of the eighth with the game well in hand, and as has been typical with our bullpen he threw up all over himself, loading the bases with a single out and then giving up a grand slam. Vince Lombardi came in with a man on and just one out, with Consuegra already warming in the bullpen to protect the game if it continued to be out of hand. Lombard got a strikeout, but then gave up a two-run homer to make it 8-7 ... I can’t believe this! Consuegra came in and got the final out, but this was a whole different ballgame heading into the bottom of the eighth than it was twenty minutes prior. Al Kaline came out and hit his first homer as a Cub, his sixth of the year thus far overall, to make it a 9-7 game, giving Consuegra a bit more room to breathe as he came in for the save in the top of the ninth. And though we had some drama, with a man reaching second on a fielding error involving a bad throw from third to first, Consuegra got out of the inning with no damage and we held on to win 9-7.

Saul Rogovin improved to 2-0 on the year with a 1.29 GPA, giving up just five hits and one earned run with five strikeouts and a walk. Drews and Lombardi came in and only managed two outs with six runs (three earned) between them, but Consuegra came out for 1.1 innings and improved his ERA to 4.66 thanks to a near-perfect effort, earning his second save of the season. Al Kaline has definitely sparked our offense, getting three hits again today with three runs scored and two batted in, while Ernie Banks finally had a solid night with two hits with a run scored and three batted in. Willie Mays had four hits and scored two runs, and Gene Baker added a pair of hits and an RBI as well.

Tomorrow will be a challenge -- two games against Pittsburgh here at home, with a chance to distance ourselves from .500 ... Diehl will pitch for us in the first game, with Hy Cohen coming up from AA to get his first start as a Cub in the second game.
 
MAY 2, 1954 . . . It was a cool dreary day at Wrigley with the wind blowing in slightly, making for a rare pitcher-friendly atmosphere in what is normally a hitter’s park. We loaded the bases in the second inning with a single out, and pitcher Robert Diehl hit a line drive past the first baseman for a deep double to right, scoring three runs! A passed ball advanced Diehl to third, and Al Kaline grounded it up the gap to score our fourth run. Willie Mays walked the bases loaded again, but that was all the damage we could do. Still, by 12:43 in the afternoon we held a 4-0 lead on the visiting Pirates and the fans were loving every minute of it. Diehl gave up a run in the third inning, but also added a pair of strikeouts to his tally as he kept the Pirates from clawing back. But he wasn’t so lucky in the fourth inning, stringing together a series of hits for the Pirates that wound up completely erasing the lead -- by the time we came up to bat in the bottom of the fourth the Pirates held a 5-4 lead and I had Bob Alexander ready to come out and pitch for the fifth.

Alexander pitched well into the top of the seventh, but then gave up a solo homer to add to our deficit. Karl Drews came in with one out and got a strikeout and a groundout to keep the score 6-4 Pirates heading into the bottom of the seventh. Kenneth Chapman came in to pinch hit for Gene Baker in the bottom of the eighth but he struck out, while Howard and Smith both flew out, but Drews kept us in the game by getting us quickly through the top of the ninth with no damage. Frank Baumholtz came in to pinch hit for Drews to open the bottom of the ninth, but he was a quick out at first. Kaline flew out to left for our second out, but Cavarretta laid down a fly ball to right that the fielder couldn’t catch, getting himself on base with Willie Mays at the plate and Ernie Banks waiting in the wings. But Mays’ solid hit was blown inward by the wind and became an easy catch for the center fielder as we dropped game one 6-4 after having blown a 4-0 lead.

Robert Diehl took the loss, giving up eight hits in four innnings with five earned runs, blowing his ERA all the way up to 5.91 for the year thus far. Bob Alexander lasted 2.1 innings with three hits and a run, and Karl Drews was impressive in 2.2 innings, just giving up a single hit with two strikeouts and a walk, improving his ERA to 8.44 overall after just 5.1 innings pitched. Both teams notched a dozen hits; Kaline, Cavarretta and Banks each had two for us, with pitcher Robert Diehl’s one hit for a run and three batted in was also impressive. Here’s hoping we can get a few hits in the second game and come out with a split.

We won a bidding war in free agency for Hy Cohen, and in the second game of the day it was time to see what he was made of! Willie Mays helped him out with a run-scoring triple in the bottom of the first, and Hank Sauer had a sac-fly to right that scored a second run. Cavarretta then added a three-run homer in the bottom of the second to break the game open, his second homer of the year thanks to it blowing inches inside fair territory. Meanwhile, Cohen was unhittable early on, completely dominating the Pirates and pitching like he’d been born on the mound! It started to feel historic when we entered the ninth inning with Cohen still on the mound, up 5-0 and having to that point pitched a perfect game ... Flyout to right? Check! Batter thrown out at first? Check! When he got the final out and this place erupted, it was the wildest thing I’ve ever seen in this ballpark ... we shut the Pirates out 5-0 in Hy Cohen’s Cubs debut and he pitched a perfect game!

Cohen threw nine innings and just 94 pitches to attain perfection, striking out six batters and doing something he’ll almost certainly never match in his career. I’m still stunned, and I watched it happen! He also notched a hit and scored a run early in the game. Cavarretta’s homer notched him a run scored and three batted in, and Ernie Banks added three hits though he never scored.