[jksander]

July 26, 1955: Art Ditmar (4-3, 2 SV, 3.10 ERA, 66.2 IP, 25 K’s, 1.47 WHIP) started today against Washington, facing Chuck Stubbs (7-11, 4.75 ERA, 113.2 IP, 54 K’s, 1.49 WHIP). Andy Pafko hit an RBI triple in the top of the first to get us on the board, but Washington got a hit into the right field corner in the bottom of the second, Jose Valdivielso hitting a triple that pushed them into the lead 2-1. Valdivielso scored off a groundout by Bruce Edwards, and we came up to hit in the top of the third trailing 3-1. They added on in the bottom of the third with a two-run single by Carlos Paula, and though we loaded the bases in the top of the fourth, Ditmar ended the rally with a pop-out to center. We loaded the bases again in the top of the fifth, and this time Finigan walked in a run with one out. Pete Suder came out to replace DeMaestri and take over at shortstop, hitting a bouncing ball into left field to drive in two more runs, but a fly-out to left ended the inning with us still trailing by a run, down 5-4. Ditmar got us through the fifth, and Sonny Dixon came in to pitch in the bottom of the sixth still trailing by a run. He got two quick outs, then allowed back to back singles and the Senators loaded the bases thanks to an E6 error that put Jim Busby on base ... but we got out of the inning without conceding a run. Al Gettel came out to pitch in the bottom of the seventh, and with runners on first and second with two outs, Tom Gorman came out in the bottom of the eighth, getting us out of the jam to still have a chance heading into the top of the ninth. Vic Power led off with a single, and with two outs Finigan walked, putting him in scoring position. But Joe Astroth popped out to right and we lost our eighth in a row, this time by a slim 5-4 margin.

Ditmar fell to 4-4 with a 3.52 ERA, allowing six hits, four walks and five earned runs with just one strikeout in his five innings of work. The lowly Senators outhit us 10-6 ... the top four guys in our lineup each scored runs on the ground, but only Vic Power managed to do so while hitting twice and walking once. Pafko hit once, walked once, scored a run and batted in another, and Finigan had a hit, two walks and an RBI. But we continue to get runners on and then strand them, and at this point in the season it’s almost an impossible problem to correct. We’re nine games under .500 but if you believe in our pythagorean record, we’ve been incredibly lucky for too long ... we should be nearly 20 games under. The Yankees, meanwhile, are riding an 11-game winning streak and they’re now up a dozen games on the White Sox -- a subway series in New York is now looking all but preordained.

July 27, 1955: Alex Kellner (13-9, 3.26 ERA, 162.2 IP, 54 K’s, 1.44 WHIP) pitched against Mickey McDermott (5-7, 4.50 ERA, 122.0 IP, 52 K’s, 1.76 WHIP). In the top of the second we had runners on second and third with two outs, Kellner at the plate, and Joe DeMaestri managed a spectacular steal of home to put us into the lead -- that was a heads-up play! Rocky Bridges took third on the play, but Kellner struck out swinging so we had to settle for the single run. With one out in the top of the fifth, Kellner successfully bunted for a hit and Henry Walker walked him into scoring position. Vic Power walked to load the bases, and Hector Lopez hit a sac-fly to center that drove in an insurance run. With the bases loaded and one out in the top of the seventh, Hector Lopez hit another sac-fly that drove in our third run of the day! Bobby Shantz came out in the bottom of the ninth with a three-run lead to protect, and he shut them down quietly as we beat the Senators 3-0, snapping the losing streak at eight.

Alex Kellner improved to 13-9 with a 3.11 ERA, allowing just three hits, a walk and four strikeouts through eight innings. Shantz then came in for his 22nd save, getting his ERA back under 2.00 by a point. This was his first save in two and a half weeks, since before the All Star break. We outhit Washington 6-3, led by Lopez who batted in a pair despite only making on base once (with a walk). Joe Astroth hit twice but couldn’t get anywhere.
 
July 28, 1955: Bob Spicer (7-8, 4.49 ERA, 130.1 IP, 31 K’s, 1.49 WHIP) pitched against Camilo Pascual (3-18, 4.80 ERA, 161.1 IP, 117 K’s, 1.74 WHIP) in our final game of the series against Washington. Jim Finigan got his 40th RBI of the season when he batted Bridges in with a single in the top of the first, giving us a quick 1-0 lead. But the Senators got it back with a two-run homer by Valdivielso with one out in the bottom of the second that went over the wall in right, putting them into a 2-1 lead. The Senators loaded the bases in the botom of the fourth and walked in a run via Pete Runnels to add to their lead. We brought Sonny Dixon out to pitch in the bottom of the sixth, and he got us through without more runs allowed. In the top of the seventh Pascual walked Astroth and Frazier with two outs, then hit DeMaestri with a pitch to load the bases. Harry Walker came in to pinch hit for Dixon, and he singled into right field to drive in a pair ... we’re all tied up heading into the stretch! Al Gettel came out to pitch in the bottom of the seventh, pitching around a single by Roy Sievers to keep us tied heading into the eighth, and then did the same in the eighth to get us into the top of the ninth still knotted up! With two outs, DeMaestri hit a single into center, driving Frazier to third and then trailing him to second, so we brought Chuck Tanner in to pinch-hit for Gettel, and they intentionally walked him. Rocky Bridges then hit one into center through the gap on a full count, and just like that we held a 5-3 lead! Vic Power hit one into center, scoring Tanner, but Bridges was tagged out after a rundown as he tried to take third, and we went into the bottom of the inning leading by three with Shantz coming in again to pitch. He got us the outs we needed to win this 6-3!

Bob Spicer had a solid night, with five innings and just six hits, with three walks, three strikeouts and three earned runs. Dixon kept the game close with his inning (one walk in 19 pitches), which set up Gettel nicely for his win ... he made it two innings with two hits, improving to 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA since we claimed him off waivers two and a half weeks ago, already having put in 15 innings in nine appearances! Shantz then saved his second game in two days, his 23rd of the year, allowing a hit and a walk and improving his ERA to 1.95 through 55.1 innings. They outhit us 9-5, but we got strong performances from Bridges (a hit, a walk, a run and two RBIs) and Walker (a pinch-hit for two RBIs) as we fought back to take the series two games to one.

We now get to go to New York and play four more against the 73-26 Yankees, who at least did snap their winning streak with a 3-1 loss to the White Sox, though they’re coming off a 3-1 win in the game that came right after it. Three days remain before the trading deadline.

July 29, 1955: Arnie Portocarrero (5-6, 4.28 ERA, 109.1 IP, 37 K’s, 1.39 WHIP) went up against Vinegar Bend Mizell (11-2, 3.07 ERA, 140.2 IP, 114 K’s, 1.24 WHIP) in our first of four games in Yankee Stadium this weekend. Mickey Mantle hit a home run in the bottom of the second, his 21st of the year, to put the Yankees up 1-0. The Yankees added on in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI single by Bill Skowron, and we still trailed by two runs when Al Gettel came out to pitch to start the bottom of the seventh inning. Yogi Berra hit a solo homer to extend their lead to three runs in the bottom of the eighth, and they shut us down quietly as we lost 3-0.

Arnie Portocarrero fell to 5-7 with a 4.21 ERA, allowing five hits with two earned runs, walking two and striking out three in his six innings. Gettel then gave us two innings with a hit, a walk, a strikeout and an earned run, our team being outhit 6-3. Astroth and Lopez walked five times between them but got nowhere, and Walker, Power and Finigan were our only players with hits, neither making it on base more than the one time.

July 30, 1955: Walt Craddock (3-8, 4.64 ERA, 120.1 IP, 47 K’s, 1.51 WHIP) pitched against New York’s Hal Brown (7-8, 4.62 ERA, 117.0 IP, 56 K’s, 1.32 WHIP). With Harry Walker on second, we pulled off the run and hit, with Andy Pafko pulling one over the short porch in right field for a two-run top-of-the-first homer to put us up 2-0! But the Yankees quickly loaded the bases against us in the bottom of the inning with one out, and with two outs they got a hit into right field off Niren’s bat, an RBI single that put the Yankees on the board, and Phil Rizzuto hit an RBI single that drove in two more ... it was nice having a lead for half an inning. Craddock’s woes continued, and another run scored before he could get that third out, giving New York a 4-2 lead as we came up to hit in the second. Craddock loaded the bases again in the bottom of the second and Noren hit them a grand slam to extend the Yankees’ lead to 8-2 while effectively kicking us repeatedly in the balls. We have a doubleheader tomorrow, so Craddock needed to at least get us through a few more innings before we’d go to the pen, or we might as well concede the remainder of the weekend. He calmed down in the third and got through it alright, and Rocky Bridges hit an RBI triple in the top of the fourth to get us a run and cutting the New York lead to five runs. Craddock wound up getting us through five innings, and in the top of the sixth, Finigan hit a one-out triple and Astroth batted him in with a single. With two outs and men on first and second, Chuck Tanner came in to pinch-hit for Craddock, but he popped up to the catcher to end the rally, the Yankees still leading 8-4 as Sonny Dixon came in to pitch. The Yankees got a run back in the bottom of the seventh, thanks to a Rizzuto RBI single, and with the five run hole we were in, we brought Lino Donoso in for the botom of the eighth to just get us out of it with as little damage as possible. He walked a pair, got a pair of outs and then Mickey Mantle hit an RBI single to make it a six-run Yankees lead. We had nothing left in the tank and lost this one 10-4.

Walt Craddock is now 3-9 with a 4.74 ERA, allowing seven hits, two walks and three strikeouts, giving up eight runs (four earned) all in the first two innings. He lasted five, which meant we only had to burn through two bullpen arms ... Dixon had two innings with four hits and an earned run, while Donoso went one inning with a hit, two walks, a strikeout and an earned run, giving him an 11.05 ERA since we picked him up. We actually hit better than usual, only getting outslugged 12-9 by the Yanks, and if it wasn’t for that grand slam that took out our hearts in the second inning, I think we could have made a game of it.

Tomorrow we play two and work through the final day of trade negotiations before the deadline. At this point our owner has asked that I be on the lookout for potential overlooked leaders and strong personalities who could help us keep the clubhouse morale up as we fight our way through these last two months of games ... at 29 games back we’re not getting back into this pennant chase, and at nine under .500, we’re not getting back in that race either. It’s a matter of not embarrassing ourselves and then making improvements in the offseason.
 
July 31, 1955: Alex Kellner (14-9, 3.11 ERA, 170.2 IP, 58 K’s, 1.39 WHIP) started game one of the afternoon, going up against Whitey Ford (14-2, 2.80 ERA, 177.0 IP, 90 K’s, 1.34 WHIP). Mickey Mantle hit a triple to lead off the bottom of the fourth, and a groundout to first let him come around to score the run that gave New York a 1-0 lead. Kellner got stuck on two outs, Rizzuto hitting an RBI single to put the Yanks up 2-0 before we were able to end the inning. Mantle hit an RBI double in the bottom of the fifth to add on, making it a 3-0 Yankees lead heading into the sixth, where we got DeMaestri on base via an error and then Rocky Bridges hit a single to bust up Ford’s no-hitter attempt. Renna hit into a double play, and Chuck Tanner, pinch-hitting for Kellner, popped out harmlessly to short. Bill Harrington came in to pitch in the bottom of the sixth, still trailing by three, and the Yankees were quick to add on -- with just one out, pinch-hitter Joe Collins knocked in two with a triple, and with two outs Hank Bauer added another with a single, Skowron hit a two-run homer out of left, and we trailed 8-0 heading into the top of the seventh. Tom Gorman came out with an out and a man on first in the bottom of the seventh, and with two outs and the bases loaded, Billy Martin hit an RBI single that drove in two. Gorman got through the eighth without further incident, and our bats did nothing in the ninth as we lost 10-0.

Kellner fell to 14-10 with a 3.18 ERA, allowing seven hits and two walks in five innings, striking out one and letting them score three earned runs. Harrington went 1.1 innings with six hits and six earned runs, Gorman adding three hits, a strikeout and an earned run in his 1.2 innings that got us out of the first game of the day. They outhit us 16-2, in an absolute rout that the less said about, the better.

Art Ditmar (4-4, 2 SV, 3.52 ERA, 71.2 IP, 26 K’s, 1.51 WHIP) pitched against Billy O’Dell (6-3, 2.83 ERA, 108.0 IP, 60 K’s, 1.27 WHIP), and at this point we just wanted to get the hell out of the house that Ruth built and put this whole horrible weekend behind us. New York took the lead on a walk with one out in the bottom of the second, Mantle scoring after having reached base off being hit by a pitch, and Ditmar completely melted down, walking in another run and then letting Gil McDougald hit an RBI single to keep the bases loaded and extend the Yankees’ lead to 3-0. Still stuck on one out, the score 7-0 after a Skowron triple that cleared the bases, we had to start warming up arms in the pen. Mantle grounded out and Skowron held at third, but he came in to score when Andy Carey hit an RBI single into right, and we pulled Ditmar for Sonny Dixon, who immediately let Irv Noren hit a triple that added on even more. By the time Dixon got the final out we’d let the Yankees build a 10-0 lead and faced FIFTEEN BATTERS since that fateful hit-by-pitch against Mantle. The game turned into a nightmare scenario from there ... by the time Vic Power hit a “mercy homer,” a solo shot out of left in the top of the sixth, we trailed 15-1, and the Yankees gleefully piled on from there. Tom Gorman came in with us trailing by sixteen and got us through the seventh and eighth witout any runs against us, and then in the top of the ninth with zero chance of a comeback, Jim Finigan hit a three-run blast out of right to at least cut into the lead. We wound up losing this one 17-4.

Alex Ditmar fell to 4-5 with a 4.54 ERA, allowing five hits, three walks and NINE EARNED RUNS in his 1.2 innings, all of which came in the second inning ... and down 10-0 at that point there was nothing our pitchers were going to be able to do but pitch and pray. New York was merciless, outhitting us 21-5, though we at least got a pair of homers out of them. Finigan batted in three runs with his, hitting once and walking once, while Vic Power hit once and scored twice, driving in a run. We’re now 11 games under .500, a new low in our season, and we were outscored 40-4 in the series, including 27-4 just today in this doubleheader from Hell.

We only made one trade at the deadline, sending 27-year-old 3B Rocky Bridges, 21-year-old minor league reliever LeRoy Schmidt and $5,000 cash to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for 26-year-old right-handed reliever Dick Marlowe. We also claimed shortstop George Wilson off waivers from the New York Giants, releasing Lino Donoso from his remaining two months of his contract to make room on the 25-man roster for Wilson. Art Ditmar is going back into the bullpen as a long reliever, with Dick Marlowe stepping into the role of our fifth starter.

With 49 games remaining on our schedule over the next eight weeks, we have the time for this team to show where it truly stands. We head into August with a 47-58 record, good for fifth in the American League. We have the ability to play our way back into the upper tier of teams, or we can continue our collapse and finish near the bottom of the standings. We were expected to finish with between 60 and 65 wins this season according to early projections by the media, and it would certainly be nice to exceed that and head into the offseason with room to positively spin this season. At the very least, the city of Kansas City has yet to fully warm up to us ... it would be good to give them a couple months of baseball where they can find things to cheer about. This current road trip has us playing Baltimore and Boston for three-game sets after a day off for travel tomorrow. We then get to go back to Kansas City for three against the White Sox and three against Cleveland.