[jksander]

June 20, 1965: Huge news! Our General Manager, Jason Gaynor, abruptly stepped down for undisclosed reasons, and our owner Gabby Topper has asked me to take over as manager and GM for the remainder of the season. It’s unclear whether I’ll still have a job at the end of the season, but at the very least I can now start making some moves to try and keep us remotely competitive. We’ve demoted Chuck Harrison and Mike White while waiving / DFA’ing Bob Lillis, which will make room for starting pitcher Dave Giusti, closer Joe Hoerner and center fielder Jim Beauchamp at the major league level. Beauchamp in particular should add some much-needed power, as the 25-year old has hit .312 /.397/.748 with six doubles, four triples and 27 homers. Hoerner will come in as a setup man, and Guisti (who has gone 6-5 with a 2.86 ERA, 62 K’s and a 1.09 WHIP through 88 innings of minor league ball) will be our fifth starter, moving Nottebart back into the bullpen.

I don’t expect to jump into many trade talks while I get myself adjusted to my additional roles as a GM and manager ... but at least now I feel I can help make sure we have the depth to handle the heart of the season and avoid collapsing into last place down the stretch.
 
Ken Johnson (7-4, 3.59 ERA, 110.1 IP, 58 K’s, 1.13 WHIP) started the first of our two games this afternoon, facing Philly’s red-hot Jim Bunning (6-5, 2.19 ERA, 111.0 IP, 75 K’s, 0.93 WHIP). The first game was an offensive snooze-fest early on, scoreless into the sixth inning, but Johnson got himself into a jam in the top of the inning, one out, runners on the corners. Johnny Callison stole second, but we struck Dick Stuart out swinging and Adolfo Phillips went down looking, getting us out of the inning. But we couldn’t find ways to get runners on base consistently and the game was scoreless into the eighth inning -- Claude Raymond came in with two outs, no one on, getting a quick infield pop-fly out to get us into the bottom of the inning, but again we couldn’t get anyone on base. With one out in the top of the ninth, Adolfo Phillips hit a solo homer to put Philly on the board 1-0, and an error on a throw from short to first let Wes Covington take second, our third error of the afternoon. Raymond got us into the bottom of the inning with two strikeouts, but the one run was all they needed -- Philly held tough and shut us out 1-0 in the first game of the afternoon to keep our losing streak alive and well.

Ken Johnson lasted 7.2 innings, allowing just five hits with a walk and six strikeouts, while Raymond went 1.1 innings with one hit, two strikeouts and the one earned run, falling to 0-5 with a 3.31 ERA through 35.1 innings in 21 appearances out of the pen. They outhit us 6-4, Nellie Fox hitting twice to lead the team but never getting past second base. Beauchamp struck out twice without a hit in his MLB debut, but we have high hopes for the kid -- these Phillies are in the pennant fight right now, and Bunning was damned near unhittable today.

Dave Giusti got the start in game two, his major league debut, facing Chris Short (7-1, 2.34 ERA, 98.0 IP, 77 K’s, 1.11 WHIP) in a tough matchup. But he handled himself ably, getting through the first three innings with three strikeouts and three hits, and we just needed our bats to find a way to come to life. Guisti himself came up with a hit into left in the bottom of the third, one out, but Gaines and Aspromonte left him stranded thanks to a strikeout and a flyout, keeping us scoreless heading into the fourth. Guisti was solid as hell all day, but with our bats unable to find a way to drive hits into the outfield, eventually something had to give. Philly got on the board in the top of the sixth, a two-out double by Johnny Callison putting them ahead by a run -- the way we’re hitting, that might be all they need! A triple and a pop-out to left drove in another run in the top of the seventh, but Giusti pitched like he’d been on that mound in the Astrodome all year, completely unfazed. In the bottom of the inning Wynn led off with a double and they walked Dave Roberts, bringing up Beauchamp in a great position ... two on, no outs. He popped out to right, however, and Kasko hit into a double play to pour cold water on our rally. Knowing our bullpen was worn out, Guisti asked to stay out there and he made quick work of the Phillies in the eighth and the ninth, bringing us up in the bottom of the inning trailing by two with the heart of our order up for one last shot. Aspromonte struck out swinging, Wynn struck out looking and Roberts popped out to right, ending this one as a 2-0 shutout loss.

Dave Giusti went the entire game, allowing just seven hits with five strikeouts, no walks and two earned runs ... he threw 105 pitches and looked great doing it, but gets to start his career out 0-1 with a 2.00 ERA. They outhit us 7-4 and we only had five players even get on base, and we haven’t scored a run in 24 innings. It’s like our entire team has decided to slump offensively at the same time.