[jksander]

JUNE 17, 1955 . . . It’s Friday, and time for the first of four games this weekend at Wrigley between the Cubs and the Phillies! It’s a playoff atmosphere, with just shy of 29,000 screaming Cubs fans packing this place on a partly cloudy 70 degree June afternoon. Hy Cohen (12-4, 1.47 ERA, 135.0 IP, 114 K’s, 0.68 WHIP) is up in the rotation after five days’ rest, so he should be particularly sharp against Philly’s red-hot Don Newcombe (12-2, 2.12 ERA, 119.0 IP, 77 K’s, 0.82 WHIP) who has completed his last EIGHT GAMES IN A ROW for wins, giving up just three runs combined in his last five games. Both pitchers have been putting up Cy Young level performances all summer, so you can betcha we’re expecting a pitching jubilee here in Wrigleyville, with every baserunner being as good as gold.

Hy Cohen had an unusually bad second inning, giving up two hits and two walks, loading the bases and then allowing Willie Jones to bat in two runs with a single to left. We got out of the inning trailing just 2-0, but in a game like this, giving up 43 pitches and two runs in two innings could mean the ballgame if we couldn’t get our bats to crack Newcombe’s stoic façade. Ernie Banks got on base in the bottom of the inning, stealing second with the count 2-2 against Bob Purkey, who was playing first base for us this afternoon. Purkey reached first safely on a throwing error that allowed Banks to reach third, and Cohen got soft contact that bounced the ball into center, scoring a run! Kaline hit a triple that bounced off the Ivy and allowed him to leg out an RBI triple, that put us up 3-2, and this game was back on track, though that pitchers’ duel was not in fact materializing -- there were eight combined hits in the first two innings.

Robinson came up with his eighth triple of the year with one out in the bottom of the third, and Ernie Banks blasted one into the right field corner to leg out a double and drive in another run! Maris hit his second triple of the afternoon in the bottom of the fourth, driving in another run to make it 5-2 Cubs, and the game was suddenly going completely our way. After giving up the two runs in the second, Cohen settled in nicely, and with the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth Willie Mays drove in a sixth run. Visibly frustrated by the end, Newcombe stayed in to complete the game but his batters weren’t able to shake Cohen’s confidence outside that one blink in the second inning. Cohen stayed in to complete the game, which ended as a 6-2 beatdown.

Improving to 13-4 with a 1.50 ERA, Cohen threw a season high 136 pitches to complete the game, giving up just seven hits with nine strikeouts and two walks, the two earned runs his only blemish. We out-hit them 12-7 in this one, led by Ernie Banks’ three hits for a run and an RBI. Kaline and Maris also had two hits apiece, as did Cohen, who scored three runs and batted in another himself, doing more than most pitchers can to put his team back in the win column. Philly has made great strides in the pitching department, but their bats are leaving them a good deal to be desired -- our +193 Run Differential is more than double theirs, and they’ve struggled on the road. Will that be the difference-maker in this pennant race?

JUNE 18, 1955 . . . We’re pushing 30,000 fans at today’s contest, cloudy, windy and still right around 70 degrees, with plenty of Old Style Beer on tap! Camilo Pascual (8-3, 2.71 ERA, 79.2 IP, 81 K’s, 1.08 WHIP) took the mound against Philly’s Curt Simmons (5-3, 2.95 ERA, 88.1 IP, 28 K’s, 1.20 WHIP). Philly got on board quickly today, scoring on an RBI double by Del Ennis to take a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. We finally got going in the bottom of the fourth, thanks to a Willie Mays solo blast to left, his 13th of the season, to tie us all up at 1-1. And this one turned into the kind of pitched pitcher battle we’d expected yesterday, with Pascual and Simmons holding batters at bay fairly equally through the first five innings. The Phillies loaded the bases in the top of the sixth thanks to a couple hits and an error by Ernie Banks, but we made a great pickoff play at home to prevent a score, almost getting a double play with a throw to first, and Pascual got the strikeout to get us out safely still knotted and with Pascual nearing 100 pitches. Kaline got on base with a one-out single, and then Maris got his base thanks to a Phillies throwing error, and Kaline advanced to third thanks to a flyout to deep left by Mays. But Robinson batted out to left, ending the inning and we had to bring in Harry Dorish to pitch in the top of the seventh.

This game stayed brutally close from there, with both teams playing solid defense leading to absolutely no scoring. Baker singled and Dorish hit a double to start the bottom of the eighth, and Kaline took a base-on-balls, loading the bases with no outs, our first real shot of the game to do damage. Maris struck out swinging, Mays popped out to first with the runners all holding, and then Robinson .... SURVIVED, thanks to a throwing error at first, which allowed the go ahead to score and keeping the bases loaded! Ernie Banks flew out to right but we’d taken the 2-1 lead heading into the top of the ninth. Consuegra came in to close it out, but Don Newcombe subbed in as a pinch-hitter and got a base hit! Consuegra got the next two outs but brought up the top of the order ... Earl Torgeson got one into deep center, rolling to the warning track, driving in the tying run with a double. Consuegra got the final out, sending us to the bottom of the ninth needing a walk-off miracle. Crandall got a single to start the frame, but Al Rosen hit into a double play. Consuegra, who we needed to still pitch in extras if needed, got a great hit that could have won us the game, but the wind held it in and made for a solid catch at center field. We’re getting extra innings!

Consuegra got us through the top of the 10th unscathed, with Bob Purkey warming up in the bottom of the inning in case this game kept going. And it did, with Kaline, Maris and Mays all batting themselves out to send us into the 11th. Purkey set all three batters down in the top of the 11th, at which point -- with one out -- Willie Mays came up and said let’s end this thing! He hit a towering blast into left field, setting this place on fire with his 13th homer of the year, winning this one for us 3-2! Thanks to the walk-off homer, we’re now 6-0 this year in extra innings games.

Bob Purkey got the win, improving to 3-0 with a no-hit seven pitch effort, improving his ERA to 1.12 through 16 innings since joining us, a vast improvement on his performance while with the Pirates. Pascual lasted six innings with six hits, eight strikeouts and one earned run, keeping his ERA as a solid 2.63, while Dorish and Consuegra each lasted two innings -- Dorish gave up no hits in his, striking out one and walking another, while Consuegra gave up four hits and an earned run through 37 pitches, dropping his ERA to 1.15. We tied them 10 hits for 10, led by Ernie Banks with three hits a run and an RBI, Willie Mays with a hit, a run and an RBI thanks to his game-winning homer, and Gene Baker had two hits and a run scored. Tomorrow we have a doubleheader against the Phillies, but we’re now 8-1 against them through nine games, with just 13 more games against them this season and an eight game lead in the pennant race. Diehl and Koufax will get starts tomorrow, and we’re hoping we can continue our dominant performance through these games as well.
 
JUNE 19, 1955 . . . Robert Diehl (9-2, 1.68 ERA, 112.1 IP, 57 K’s, 0.75 WHIP) came up today against Robin Roberts (11-4, 2.59 ERA, 122.0 IP, 62 K’s, 0.79 WHIP) in game one of today’s doubleheader. Our attendance continues to be high on this current homestand, a great crowd of 30,000 filling the stands again to enjoy a slightly warmer afternoon. Our bullpen got a bit roughed up yesterday with the extra innings, and Consuegra will NOT be available in either of today’s games -- Porterfield and Ferrick are completely rested, while Purkey and Dorish are available though slightly fatigued. We’re hopeful Diehl can give us a complete game, and therefore save the bullpen to back up Koufax, but we all know about the best laid plans of men.

Willie Jones took a bat to our plans early in the game, hitting a solo homer (his first of the year) to put the Phillies up 1-0 in the top of the first, but Diehl controlled the damage and no others reached base. Diehl got a base hit in the bottom of the third, only our second hit of the game to that point, but he was left stranded and our team scoreless. The Phillies struck again in the top of the fourth with an RBI single by catcher Smoky Burgess to make it a 2-0 margin. Robinson got a hit in the bottom of the fourth but was caught stealing moments later, negating the hit and stifling a potential rally. A third run for the Phillies was scored on a sac-fly by Torgeson, putting us in a 3-0 hole, but we had a scoring opportunity in the bottom of the fifth. Joe Collins took first with a walk, and then Robert Diehl struck out but because of a passed ball he was able to race to first, giving us two men on with two outs and Kaline up to bat! Kaline drove one right up the middle into center, batting in a run with a single to make it 3-1, but Maris grounded out to end the inning. The Phillies got the run back in the top of the sixth with an RBI groundout by Burgess, and our bats continued to struggle. Bob Porterfield came in for Diehl in the top of the eighth, and Roger Maris got a solo homer in the bottom of the inning to pull us within two runs, his eighth blast of the season. Jackie Robinson got a homer of his own just five minutes later, his 14th of the year, and suddenly this was a 4-3 ballgame! Porterfield stayed out to get us through the ninth as well, pitching efficiently and getting us the outs without a lot of fuss, giving us a chance in this one. Bottom of the ninth, down a run, but the bottom of our order coming up. And this time we did not have a rally in us, three quick flyouts leading to a 4-3 defeat at the hands of the Phillies.

Robert Diehl fell to 9-3 on the year, giving up five hits in seven innings with three strikeouts but accruing four runs (three earned) to drop his ERA to 1.81 on the season. Porterfield did his best, coming in for two innings with us in a deep hole, and he no-hit the Phillies, improving his ERA to 3.26 through 19.1 innings this season. Despite outhitting Philly 8-5, we couldn’t string a rally together, though Jackie Robinson hit three times for a run and an RBI, pitcher Robert Diehl hit twice, and Roger Maris’ homer kept us in the game.

Sandy Koufax (1-1, 2.54 ERA, 39.0 IP, 21 K’s, 1.54 WHIP) pitched in game two this afternoon, facing down Bob Rush (5-3, 2.71 ERA, 79.2 IP, 52 K’s, 1.14 WHIP). And Koufax had a great start, giving up no hits and only one walk through the first four innings, but Bob Rush was equally good -- and though we got two hits, his fielders had him nicely backed up. He gave up his first hit in the top of the sixth, a double by catcher John Turk, and then with two outs Richie Ashburn batted in a run to make it 1-0 Phillies. Koufax got the final out via strikeout, but he knew his night was over -- he’d thrown 96 pitches and was vastly improved, but he knew he didn’t have the energy to go deeper in this one, so we started warming Dorish. Maris got a hit to start the bottom of the sixth, his 10th double of the season, reaching third on a groundout by Baker to first. But we weren’t able to score, going into the seventh trailing 1-0.

Al Rosen got a base hit and then with two outs Joe Collins doubled, giving us two in scoring position in the bottom of the seventh. And Charlie Maxwell pinch-hit for Dorish, but grounded out to first, coming up just short of getting the safe call. Bob Purkey came in for the eighth inning and he kept us within the one run heading into the bottom of the inning. Maris took first on a hard-hit single to right, then took second on a wild pitch, and with Mays at the plate they called a balk on Bob Rush, allowing Maris to take third with just one out! Mays flew out to deep left, and Maris used his quick speed on the basepaths to slide headfirst into home, SAFE! Tie game, 1-1! Purkey got a quick out, then gave up a triple to Richie Ashburn and a hard-hit single to left by Eddie Waitkus that scored the go-ahead run for the Phillies. We went into the bottom of the inning again trailing by one and needing the middle of our order to come through. We didn’t have any miracles in the tank, and the Phillies took another close one, beating us 2-1 to split the series and pull back within six games of our lead.

Bob Purkey took the loss, falling to 3-1 with a 1.50 ERA, giving up two hits and a run with a strikeout through two innings of work. Sandy Koufax did the best he could to set us up for success, lasting six innings for his first quality start -- two hits, six K’s, three walks and just one earned run, bringing his ERA down to 2.40 on the season. And Harry Dorish gave us an inning with no hits and a strikeout -- we took the risk on a pinch hitter trying to score, and it backfired or he would have likely stayed in another inning at least. Again we outhit the Phillies 7-4 but couldn’t manufacture runs when it mattered. Roger Maris was our leadoff man today and had two hits and a run, and Al Rosen had two hits but was unable to score. Willie Mays had a hit and a walk and batted in the run for Maris.

We still lead the weekly power rankings, with Philly in second and the Red Sox (42-24) who lead the AL now by 3.5 games, coming in third. The battle in the AL between the Guardians, Yankees, Senators and Tigers remains fierce for control of second place, all four teams within a game and a half of each other while the White Sox, Athletics and Orioles quietly fade into the night. The only race in the NL is between us and Philly -- Cincy (36-31, 15.5 GB) is the only legitimate long shot, with Pittsburgh and Brooklyn nearing a 20 game deficit. We’re now 52-16 heading into three games against Brooklyn (31-34, 19.5 GB) and a four-game weekend set against Pittsburgh (34-37, 19.5 GB), however, and we need to avoid a letdown by playing solid baseball and getting our groove back after losing two in a row for the first time since early May. We’ve won seven of our first nine against the Dodgers, so there’s a good place to start as they visit Chicago.