[jksander]

August 30, 1957: Milt Pappas (14-6, 2.76 ERA, 205.1 IP, 107 K’s, 1.26 WHIP) pitched against Bob Rush (6-12, 4.62 ERA, 169.1 IP, 96 K’s, 1.53 WHIP) in the first of our three games against Chicago. And this one was a nailbiter from the start ... Pappas threw 103 pitches through seven innings and only allowed six baserunners, but Chicago was just as miserly with their pitching, and we went into the top of the eighth knotted at zero-all. Tom Gorman took over at that point, and he got through the inning with THREE PITCHES ... getting Aparicio, Fox and Minoso to ground out 4-3, 6-3, 6-3 ... and in the bottom of the eighth we took the lead off an RBI single by Danny O’Connell! With two outs in the top of the ninth, Bob Boyd got on base with a single, but Gorman shut them down by getting Jim Rivera to ground out and we won this one 1-0! Each team had four hits tonight, ours led by Darryl Spencer who hit twice and scored a run. Pappas lasted seven innings with three hits, three walks and six strikeouts, and Gorman took the win, improving to 4-4 with just one hit in two innings, throwing just 14 pitches to do it.

August 31, 1957: Carl Erskine (10-10, 3.42 ERA, 189.2 IP, 90 K’s, 1.18 WHIP) pitched against Jack Kralick (4-6, 4.29 ERA, 71.1 IP, 31 K’s, 1.37 WHIP). Nellie Fox hit a solo homer to put Chicago on the board in the top of the second, but in the bottom of the fourth we went absolutely buck wild offensively, starting with a Chuck Diering homer that tied the score. Ernie Banks got us the lead on an error that put Daryl Spencer on base, Crandall hit an RBI single, Paddock hit an RBI double, O’Connell hit an RBI single, and Diering, having already homered in the inning, batted in two more with a single that was assisted by an E8 error. We put the icing on the cake with a sac-fly by Banks that scored O’Connell from third, and just like that we went into the fifth inning leading 8-1! Arnie Portocarrero took over in the top of the eighth still leading by six, and though he gave up three runs in the eighth, he got us through the remainder of the game and we held on to win 8-5. Erskine improved to 11-10 with a 3.39 ERA, getting through seven innings with five hits, a walk, five strikeouts and two earned runs, while Portocarrero pitched two innings with two hits, five walks and three earned runs. We outhit Chicago 10-7, led by Diering who had two hits, a walk, a run and three RBIs.

We’ll head into the month of August with a 66-62 record, a game and a half up on the Tigers and now in fourth place in the AL. Our winning streak still stands at eight games, by far our best streak of the season, and we were 21-6 in the month of August, putting it all together too late to be a pennant contender but showing the signs of hope for the future that we’d only hinted at earlier in the season. Tomorrow we’ll finish the series with Chicago (52-76), and then we play a doubleheader on Monday against the Guardians (77-53). We then get three days off to rest, before playing three at Chicago, three at Baltimore (39-88), three at Washington (47-80), a doubleheader against the Yankees (90-39) in New York, and a pair against Boston (77-51) at Fenway. We then return to KC for our last three home series, against Detroit (65-64), Chicago and Cleveland, followed by a final road series in Detroit.

Milt Pappas was named Rookie of the Month for the second month in a row, going 4-0 through seven starts with 31 K’s against 18 walks and a 1.67 ERA through 54 innings. He’s put up a 14-6 record and 2.67 ERA through 212.1 innings, striking out 113 with a 1.24 WHIP and 4.7 WAR, and we’re hopeful he’ll be the lynchpin of our rotation for years to come. Ownership is satisfied with how the season has gone thus far ... we’re above .500, and had only expected to stay as close to that mark as possible, and our attendance is averaging 11,231 per game, beating our goal of 11,000 that we’d hoped to meet next season. His hopes for a top three farm are bat**** crazy, and reaching the World Series by 1959 may still be a pipe dream. But I’ve done everything in my power to keep him happy and give us the chance to keep building this program.

September 1, 1957: Bill Wight (7-7, 4.11 ERA, 144.2 IP, 66 K’s, 1.43 WHIP) pitched against Billy Pierce (10-14, 3.33 ERA, 227.1 IP, 144 K’s, 1.38 WHIP) in the final game against the White Sox this series, and while it was close early, we took the lead with RBI singles by Pafko and Crandall to go up 2-0 heading into the top of the sixth. Art Ditmar took over in the eighth inning and Earl Battey hit a solo homer that inning to cut our lead to one. In the top of the ninth, Dick Bessent came out to close things out, and he held his ground on the mound as we beat the White Sox 3-0 to complete the sweep! We’ll go into the road series with a nine-game winning streak in hand. Bill Wight is now 3-1 with a 3.26 ERA since coming to Kansas City, lasting seven innings with one hit, two walks and four strikeouts, while Ditmar earned his fourth hold and Bessent his 16th save of the season. We outhit them 6-3, led by O’Connell with a hit and a run and by Sievers who had two walks and scored a run.

September 2, 1957:In the first game of today’s doubleheader in Cleveland, Milt Pappas (14-6, 2.67 ERA, 212.1 IP, 113 K’s, 1.24 WHIP) pitched against Dave Sisler (7-5, 3.51 ERA, 136.0 IP, 66 K’s, 1.12 WHIP). Pappas pitched a complete game, but Cleveland took control with runs in the second, third and seventh inning as they shut us out 3-0 to end the winning streak. Pappas fell to 14-7 with the loss, but he allowed just five hits, a walk, five strikeouts and the three earned runs, keeping his ERA at 2.70. We were outhit 5-4 in the pitching duel, with Diering and Sievers each hitting once and walking once but getting nowhere.

Sam Jones (1-5, 1 SV, 4.41 ERA, 96.0 IP, 53 K’s, 1.66 WHIP) pitched in game two, facing Tom Cheney (13-12, 2.54 ERA, 212.2 IP, 141 K’s, 1.16 WHIP). Andy Pafko hit an RBI single to put us in the lead in the top of the fourth, but they tied it in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI single by George Crowe. Bob Miller came out in the bottom of the seventh and in the top of the ninth we put up three runs, thanks to a two-run single by Spencer and an RBI single by Astroth. Tom Gorman came out to close things out and though Dale Long hit a solo bomb, that’s all they had as we beat them 4-2! Bob Miller (6-5, 4.59 ERA) got the win with two innings and no baserunners, and Gorman saved his seventh game with a hit and an earned run. We were able to outhit them 7-6, led by two hits, a run and an RBI by Pafko. We improved to 68-63 but were officially mathematically eliminated from pennant contention with the loss. But the Yankees have the AL pretty much sewn up at this point anyway, with a 14.5 game leadon Boston. The real race right now is in the NL, where Milwaukee (82-48) has a 6.5 game lead over Pittsburgh (77-56), with the Dodgers (73-59) ten games back but on a six game winning streak. It’d be crazy if they fight their way back and make it to the series in their final year in New York ... the league has approved them moving to Los Angeles in the coming season.
 
September 6, 1957: Milt Pappas (14-7, 2.70 ERA, 220.1 IP, 118 K’s, 1.23 WHIP) is on four days’ rest following the three-day Labor Day break, so he pitched today against Billy Pierce (10-15, 3.29 ERA, 235.1 IP, 148 K’s, 1.38 WHIP) in Chicago. Daryl Spencer hit an RBI triple to put us in the lea in the top of the second, and Pappas batted in a run to add on, giving us a 2-0 lead midway through the inning. But Chicago answered back in the bottom frame, scoring off singles by Jim Rivera and Billy Pierce, to tie it back up. Tom Gorman came out in the top of the eighth with the score still tied up 2-2, and he got us into extra innings. Ernie Banks hit a solo homer in the top of the 10th, his 43rd of the year, and Bob Miller came out to pitch in the bottom of the inning, getting the outs we needed to win 3-2! Pappas went seven innings with just four hits, two walks, four strikeouts and two earned runs, and Gorman came out to get the win, improving to 5-4 with a 3.86 ERA, allowing just a hit and a walk. Miller picked up his fourth save as a rookie, allowing one hit in 12 pitches to get us through. We outhit Chicago 7-6, led by Daryl Spencer who had a hit, a walk, a run and an RBI, and by Banks with his game-winning homer.

September 7, 1957: Carl Erskine (11-10, 3.39 ERA, 196.2 IP, 95 K’s, 1.17 WHIP) pitched against Jack Harshman (8-12, 4.22 ERA, 187.2 IP, 96 K’s, 1.41 WHIP), and he’s about to break past the 200-innings mark for the first time since we snagged him off the waiver wire from Brooklyn! He pitched a complete game, but Chicago led the entire way, scoring in the third, sixth and eighth innings. We rallied a little too late in the top of the ninth, Thomas Paddock hitting an RBI single that scored Banks and George Wilson hitting into a fielder’s choice to score Roy Sievers, and we lost this one 3-2. Erskine only allowed six hits and three runs (two earned) but walked six batters during his eight innings. Chicago outhit us 6-5, led by Erskine with two hits, while Paddock had a hit, a walk and an RBI.

September 8, 1957: Bill Wight (8-7, 3.92 ERA, 151.2 IP, 70 K’s, 1.38 WHIP) pitched against Bob Rush (6-13, 4.32 ERA, 185.1 IP, 109 K’s, 1.46 WHIP), and this game was not a good one in any way. Chicago scored five off us in the third to take a 6-2 lead, and they added two more in the sixth and four in the seventh to clobber us 12-3. Wight took the loss with seven hits and six earned runs in 2.2 innings, and our bullpen wasn’t capable of holding them off enough for a comeback when our bats weren’t making good contact. We were outhit 15-10, led by Banks with two hits, two runs and an RBI, including a third-inning solo homer that gives him 44 on the season, trailing Mantle by a pair and only one up on Brooklyn’s Duke Snider.

September 10, 1957: Sam Jones (1-5, 1 SV, 4.15 ERA, 102.0 IP, 54 K’s, 1.64 WHIP) pitched against Baltimore’s Ruben Gomez (7-16, 3.70 ERA, 214.1 IP, 80 K’s, 1.44 WHIP). Gomez hit a homer for the Orioles in the bottom of the third to put them into the lead and Gus Triandos hit an RBI double in the bottom of the fifth to add on, but in the top of the sixth George Wilson hit a two-run blast to tie the score 2-2. Don Bessent came out to pitch in the sixth, and Del Crandall hit a solo homer to push us into the lead, up 3-2 heading into the stretch. Tom Gorman took over in the bottom of the eighth, and with the lead still at one run, Bob Miller came out in the bottom of the ninth, holding them off as we won 3-2, earning our 70th win of the season! Bessent improved to 9-4 with the win, improving his ERA to 3.16 with a two-inning no-baserunner effort. Gorman got a hold, his 14th, and Miller saved his fifth game as we outhit Baltimore 6-4. Paddock led the way with a hit, two walks and a run, while Wilson’s two run homer got us back in this one.

September 11, 1957: Charlie Rabe (2-3, 4.70 ERA, 38.1 IP, 22 K’s, 1.51 WHIP) started game two against the Orioles, facing Ted Wills (8-7, 3.70 ERA, 136.1 IP, 95 K’s, 1.32 WHIP). He got shelled for four runs in the bottom of the first with just one out, so Larry Jansen took over as a desperation spot starter. He made it into the fourth inning and got two outs, before this became a game of bullpen musical chairs. We wound up getting shut out 6-0, the Orioles outhitting us 7-2. Rabe (obviously) took the loss, getting one out with four hits, two walks and four earned runs while Diering and Sievers got our only hits of the game, George Wilson walking twice.

September 12, 1957: Art Ditmar (4-3, 6 SV, 3.37 ERA, 66.2 IP, 41 K’s, 1.32 WHIP) pitched against Baltimore’s Roger Craig (7-13, 4.66 ERA, 179.2 IP, 91 K’s, 1.37 WHIP). Ernie Banks hit his 45th homer, a two-run blast in the top of the first, and Thomas Paddock hit one in the top of the second to give us a 3-0 lead. Tom Gorman took over in the bottom of the seventh with a 3-1 lead, but got shelled in the eighth as Baltimore roared back with four runs. Don Bessent came out with bases loaded and two outs to get the final strikeout, and we went into the top of the ninth trailing by a pair ... and that’s how it stayed, our team losing 5-3. Gorman blew the save (his sixth) and took the loss (his fifth), and we were outhit 7-5 ... Ditmar had lasted six innings with five hits, three strikeouts and an earned run but we weren’t able to hold on.

September 13, 1957: Today we have a doubleheader in Washington, and our first game is the (formerly home) game where we were deadlocked at zero heading into the fourth inning. This was Charlie Rabe’s start, so he came out today and pitched the fourth and fifth innings, keeping them scoreless as we took the lead with an RBI single by Daryl Spencer in the fourth and an RBI double by Sievers in the fifth. Bill Wight came out to pitch in the sixth, and Bob Lillis batted in a run with a triple to give us a 3-0 lead. Wight held tough and got us through the rest of the game as we beat the Senators 3-1. Rabe got the win, finishing with five innings and two hits with three strikeouts, while Wight earned a four-inning save, allowing three hits, two walks and an earned run with five strikeouts. We outhit them 8-5, led by Lillis with two hits, a walk, a run and an RBI.

Milt Pappas (14-7, 2.69 ERA, 227.1 IP, 122 K’s, 1.21 WHIP) pitched in game two, facing Walt Masterson (5-13, 5.48 ERA, 151.0 IP, 76 K’s, 1.68 WHIP). Crandall hit an RBI single to give us the lead in the top of the second, and Roy Sievers hit a two-run triple in the second to make it a 3-0 lead. Pappas pitched the rest of the game, having had plenty of rest days, and we won easily 3-1! He had seven hits, a walk, four strikeouts and one earned run in the game, giving him a 15-7 record and 2.63 ERA. Both teams had seven hits each, ours led by Sievers with two hits, a run and two RBIs.