[jksander]

Originally Posted by Pelican

As GM I’m a big fan of long-term deals, assuming they owner will part with the money. It’s security for the player. It’s a known quantity on the team’s books. No hassles over annual negotiations. And with high-quality players, results are highly likely to exceed expectations. Meaning those contracts are a good value. Of course, they come to an end in mid-career when value is highest.

OOC: I totally agree, Pelican

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MAY 23, 1954 . . . In the first game of the afternoon, Saul Rogovin (4-0, 0.81 ERA, 44.1 IP, 29 K’s, 0.95 WHIP) faced off against Milwaukee’s Don Liddle (3-2, 3.38 ERA, 45.1 IP, 20 K’s, 1.37 WHIP). Hank Sauer hit a ball deep into center to drive in Al Kaline for our first run of the game in the bottom of the first, and moments later Elston Howard drove in another, and a Gene Baker single to right made it 3-0 before Milwaukee could get the final out. Rogovin gave up a solo homer in the top of the second, only his fifth earned run of the year, and he gave up a run-scoring triple with no outs in the top of the third, followed by a game-tying single with one out. So we came up in the bottom of the third knotted 3-3. Both pitchers settled in from there, until Rogovin walked two batters in the sixth and then allowed a run-scoring double to give Milwaukee the lead. Harry Dorish came in with one out in the top of the second, ending the inning with a double play to keep Milwaukee from expanding their lead, and then Al Rosen came up to the plate with two men on and slammed a three-run homer to left, putting us back up 6-4, Rosen’s 5th homer of the season! Dorish got another double play in the eighth inning, and he stayed in for the ninth inning to close things out. His work was done quickly and efficiently as we closed out the 6-4 win in game one, taking a 2-1 lead on the series!

Dorish took home the win, improving to 1-0 with an 0.93 ERA through 9.2 innings thanks to a 2.2 inning one-hit outing. Saul Rogovin was thankful that Dorish was able to come in and complete the game on 20 pitches, after Rogovin’s rough outing -- 6.1 innings, with nine hits, four earned runs and five strikeouts against a pair of walks over 106 pitches. His ERA slipped to a still very respectable 1.42 on the season. We out-hit the Braves 12-10, led by Al Rosen with two hits for two runs scored with three batted in. Gene Baker had three hits and an RBI, Kaline scored a run off two hits, and Mays did the same.

Robert Diehl (2-3, 4.11 ERA, 35.0 IP, 15 K’s, 1.11 WHIP) started for us in game two, up against Milwaukee’s Art Fowler (2-0, 4.26 ERA, 31.2 IP, 10 K’s, 1.29 WHIP). We loaded the bases in the third but couldn’t get a run through. But Gene Baker hit a towering blast to left in the bottom of the fourth to put us on the board, up 2-0 on the Braves. And Clyde McCullough added a three-run homer over center in the bottom of the sixth to make it a 5-0 lead! Diehl stayed in the full game to handle things and successfully protected his shutout as we beat the Braves 5-0 to win the series 3-1.

Diehl only gave up six hits all afternoon, with seven strikeouts against three walks over 133 pitches, improving to 3-3 with a 3.27 ERA! We outhit Milwaukee 8-6 but successfully kept them from getting anywhere with their hits. Clyde McCullough had three hits and scored a run with three RBIs, while five other Cubs notched hits as well. Gene Baker had two RBIs thanks to his homer as well. The three run blast was McCullough’s first of the year.

We have a four game road trip to St. Louis this week, and then we’ll return to Werigley for 19 home games in a row followed by an end-of-June 15-game road trip that will set us up for the fourth of July homestand. We are currently 25-12, four games up on both Philadelphia and St. Louis, so these four road games are going to count a lot with regards to momentum.