A Fledgling “Free Agency” Movement in the Post-War World - Page 2

jksander · 11-09-2025, 05:11 PM

May 4, 1947: I’ve decided to drop Stan Ferens to AAA to make room for Amos Watson, who in seven games at the AAA level since we poached him from the NeL has picked up four saves in nine innings, with six hits and three walks against him for two earned runs. We’ve got a doubleheader today against Boston, Dutch Leonard (2-2, 2.31 ERA, 35.0 IP, 11 K, 0.94 WHIP) getting his normal start on four-days’ rest, against Boston’s Mickey Harris (0-2, 2.95 ERA, 21.1 IP, 19 K, 1.41 WHIP) in the day’s first game. We were quick to strike, Dillinger and Walker scoring off a one-out triple that followed one by leadoff man Dillinger earlier in the first inning. Arky Vaughn singled in a third run and we were off to the races. Vaughn singled in another run in the bottom of the fifth to extend our lead to four, and Dutch Leonard stayed out there to complete the 4-0 shutout as Boston’s slide continued. Leonard allowed six hits and three walks, striking out four as he held his ground, and we had nine hits ourselves, led by Vaughn who had three hits and two runs batted in.

Fred Sanford would have been up in the rotation, but he’s on three days rest, so we’re going with a bullpen start from Jack Kramer (1-1, 5.40 ERA, 15.0 IP, 7 K, 1.40 WHIP) who threw 22 pitches three days ago without getting an out ... so he definitely wanted to show a better side of his skills today. He did very well early, blanking Boston for four straight, and in the bottom of the fourth inning our offense struck gold, scoring off an RBI double from Judnich and RBI singles from Moses, Moss and Kramer to put us up 4-0 quite quickly. Boston got on the board in the top of the sixth with an RBI single by Ted Williams, but we got it back in the bottom of the inning off another RBI single by our pitcher to keep us in the lead by four. We went to the bullpen in the top of the seventh, bringing out the rookie Amos Watson, who stranded a pair as we went into the stretch leading 5-1. My original plan had been to bring out Zoldak in the eighth, but in the bottom of the seventh we got an RBI double from Stephens, an RBI single from Judnich and an RBI double from Vaughn to blow our lead up to seven runs ... so we let Watson stay out and keep working. Boston got a garbage-time run back in the ninth with two outs, but Watson struck out Johnny Hopp looking as we won this one 8-2. Kramer improved to 2-1 with a 4.29 ERA, lasting six innings with four hits, three walks, five strikeouts and an earned run, and Watson finished his first bullpen apperance with four hits, a walk, two strikeouts and an earned run in three innings, picking up a save in the process as he threw 47 pitches and earned a 3.00 ERA. We outhit Boston 13-8, led by Kramer, who in addition to his six solid innings on the mound finished with three hits and two runs batted in, while Wally Judnich added two hits, two runs and two RBIs.

May 6, 1947: Fred Sanford (0-1, 3.80 ERA, 21.1 IP, 9 K, 1.22 WHIP) got his start in game three against the Red Sox after our day to rest, challenging Red Sox starter Dave Ferriss (0-2, 7.45 ERA, 19.1 IP, 9 K, 2.22 WHIP) as Boston tries to find a way, ANY way, to eke out a win. They drew first blood in the top of the first with an RBI single from Frank McCormick, but this game was a rout pretty much from the moment they started pitching ... Jackie Robinson led off with a solo homer, Wally Judnich hit a three-run triple and then scored off a groundout by Vaughn, and with the bases loaded Harry Walker hit an RBI single that scored two more to give us a huge 7-1 lead after just one inning. Ferriss stayed out for a couple clean innings, but we added on with an RBI single from Judnich in the fourth, Boston not scoring again until Dom Dimaggio hit a sac-fly in the top of the sixth to cut our lead back to six. Robinson hit a sac-fly to get that run back in the bottom of the seventh, Sam Zoldak taking the ball in the eighth and easing us through the finish of a 9-3 victory. Sanford improved to 1-1 with a 3.49 ERA, allowing just six hits and three walks with a three strikeouts and two earned runs, and we outhit Boston just 11-9, though we had a double, a triple and a homer that helped create quick separation. Wally Judnich led the way with three hits, a run and four RBIs, and he’s now batting .400 through his first 50 at-bats!

We’re going to host the Philadelphia Athletics (12-9) for a pair of games over the next two days, and they trail us by two games with New York (12-10) sitting two and a half back while Cleveland (10-9) and Washington (11-10) are three out. This will be our first time facing the A’s, who are coming off a three-game losing streak against the White Sox, who are now a game up on the Red Sox who have lost seven straight. Our +37 run differential leads both leagues by a wide margin, but Philly has the best record in one-run games outside ours in the American League,so we’re expecting to get plenty of fight from them.

May 7, 1947: Tom Seats (4-0, 2.17 ERA, 29.0 IP, 10 K, 1.34 WHIP) has been surprisingly strong all year from the #4 spot in our rotation, the 36-year-old proving to have great control over his pitches. Today he took on Ted Alexander (2-1, 3.00 ERA, 27.0 IP, 8 K, 1.52 WHIP), and we gave him a lead from the bottom of the first when a Vern Stephens RBI double gave us a 1-0 advantage. But Philly got it back quickly thanks to a Buddy Rosar RBI single in the top of the second, and they hit Seats hard in the third, when George Kell hit a three-run homer to put Philly ahead 4-1. Our bats took the night off from there, and we trailed 5-1 when Amos Watson took the ball in the top of the seventh, and Jack Kramer took over in the ninth with nothing changed. But we showed signs of life in the bottom of the inning, loading the bases with one out, and with two outs Kramer himself walked in a run to get us back within three, with Robinson coming up with his power bat. They were having none of that, however, walking him on five pitches to get us within two ... but Harry Walker struck out swinging and we fell to the A’s by a 5-3 margin. Seats took his first loss, falling to 4-1 with a 3.09 ERA, lasting six innings with eight hits and a strikeout, but he gave up all five of our runs doing it. Philly outhit us 9-4, and though we had six walks while our pitching gave up no such free passes, it wasn’t enough to get us the win. Vern Stephens led the way with a hit, a walk, a run and an RBI.

May 8, 1947: Diomedes Olivo (2-2, 3.28 ERA, 35.2 IP, 17 K, 1.12 WHIP) started against Murry Dickson (1-1, 3.92 ERA, 20.2 IP, 7 K, 1.60 WHIP) in the second game of the two-game set, and while he’s pitched three complete games and had four quality starts, Olivo comes into this one after his extreme letdown against Washington, so we wanted to see him get control on the mound quickly. Unfortunately, the A’s got the lead quickly in the top of the second off a pair of groundouts by Pete Suder and Buddy Rosar, but Olivo kept grinding inning after inning, until we finally got on the board ourselves, Wally Judnich scoring off a passed ball in the bottom of the seventh to get within a run. In the bottom of the ninth, on one out, Vern Stephens picked up just the fifth hit of the game for us and got on base, and Wally Judnich walked him into scoring position just moments later, bringing our fans to their feet. But we got our second out when Vern Stephens was caught stealing third on a run and hit, Arky Vaughn swinging and missing hard, and Vaughn popped up hard to center moments later to end our chances as we lost another tough one 2-1. Olivo fell to 2-3 despite a complete game four-hitter, with a walk, two strikeouts and the two earned runs against him. We outhit the A’s 5-4, out-walking them 3-1, but it wasn’t enough as we stranded too many of our runners (the caught stealing by Stephens proved quite costly). Robinson led the way with two hits, but got nowhere.

We dropped into second, tied with the A’s now at 14-9, with three games left in this homestand as Cleveland (10-11, 3 GB) comes into town sitting in fifth place. We really need a good stretch of games from this series, because we’ll be on the road for the remainder of the month, including two games in New York, three against Boston, three in Philly, one against Washington, three against Cleveland, two against the White Sox and a doubleheader on the 31st against Detroit. And none of them are going to give us easy turns on their fields.

jksander · 11-17-2025, 04:50 PM

May 9, 1947: Dutch Leonard (3-2, 1.84 ERA, 44.0 IP, 15 K, 0.95 WHIP) has been red hot in his first five starts, pitching four complete games since the eight inning loss he took when we pulled him for a bullpen arm against Detroit back on April 16th. He’s on five days’ rest heading into this one after throwing 135 pitches in his last game, and he was ready to go against Cleveland’s Bob Feller (2-2, 3.08 ERA, 38.0 IP, 30 K, 1.26 WHIP), a matchup that had pitching duel written all over it, Feller’s stuff against Leonard’s control and impeccable ball movement. We took the lead in the bottom of the second with an RBI single by Wally Moses, and in the bottom of the seventh we bought a ton of insurance for Leonard, thanks to an RBI single for Robinson and a two-run single for Cavarretta as we blew the lead up to four runs. That was more than enough for Leonard, who would have won it with the one run in the second ... we beat them 4-0 in a complete-game shutout for the 38-year-old legend, who allowed just seven hits with four walks and three strikeouts in a dominating performance. We outhit them 9-7, led by Cavarretta with a hit, a walk and two RBIs.

May 10, 1947: Fred Sanford (1-1, 3.49 ERA, 28.1 IP, 12 K, 1.24 WHIP) pitched against Mort Cooper (1-2, 5.22 ERA, 29.1 IP, 11 K, 1.43 WHIP) in game two against the Guardians. We traded runs in the first three innings, but in the bottom of the fourth an error allowed Cavarretta to tie the score on a missed pickoff play, and Wally Moses followed that with an RBI double to give us a 3-2 lead, our first of the game. Emboldened, we added on with a two-run double by Stephens in the fifth, and Amos Watson took over in the top of the eighth still leading 5-2. He stranded four runners across the final two innings, nobody scoring, and was able to hold tough to the 5-2 win! Sanford improved to 2-1 with a seven inning 10 hit game, walking two and striking out three with two earned runs. Watson then earned his second multi-inning save, with no hits and a strikeout, but he walked four batters to keep himself in a precarious position ... his ERA is now 1.29 through seven innings, and if he can keep his walks down he’s going to be a strong bullpen arm for us all year. Cleveland outhit us 10-7, but we prevailed thanks in no small part to Vern Stephens, who hit three times with two runs and three more batted in, giving him a .320 average and 25 RBIs through his first 25 starts of the year.

May 11, 1947: Tom Seats (4-1, 3.09 ERA, 35.0 IP, 11 K, 1.34 WHIP) started our final game against Cleveland as we looked for the sweep against Bob Lemon (3-0, 2.49 ERA, 25.1 IP, 4 K, 1.03 WHIP) who has won all three of his starts this season. The Guardians got out to a quick start with a pair of runs in the top of the first, both coming off an RBI double by Ken Keltner, and the game went back and forth until we got completely reamed in the top of the sixth. We went into the inning trailing 3-2, but the Guardians quickly turned a one-run game into a 7-2 beatdown with two outs and two men on. Jack Kramer pitched 3.1 innings for us in a lost cause, as we got stomped back to earth in this one 8-2. Seats took his second loss in a row, falling to 4-2 with a 4.20 ERA after allowing 11 hits and seven earned runs with four walks and two strikeouts in his 5.2 innings. Cleveland outhit us 13-10, our team led by Phil Cavarretta who hit three times to nowhere, while Wally Judnich added two hits, a walk and an RBI.

May 13, 1947: It’s time to hit the road ... where the Yankees (15-12) will be our next opponent for a pair at Yankee Stadium. We’ll play our next sixteen games on the road, visiting all seven fellow AL teams at least once, so though we lead the league at the moment by half a game over the 16-11 Athletics, if we’re not as good as we think we are it’s soon going to be exposed.

Diomedes Olivo (2-3, 3.02 ERA, 44.2 IP, 19 K, 1.01 WHIP) pitched for us in the first game against the Yankees, facing Joe “Fireman” Page (3-1, 3.60 ERA, 30.0 IP, 19 K, 1.33 WHIP), But Olivo got roughed up quickly, giving up four runs in the bottom of the first, including a two-run double by Yogi Berra ... Berra scored moments later off a fielder’s choice grounder by Nick Etten, and Etten scored when Page hit a line drive single into left, completing their order. It was a lot of bad luck, as Olivo proceeded to pitch five more innings without a run scoring, but our bats were completely impotent. Nick Garver took over in the bottom of the seventh still trailing by the four runs, and it stayed that way ... he pitched well, keeping the game itself quite dull as we wound up losing 4-0, nothing much happening after inning number one. Garver pitched two innings without a hit, walk or run, but didn’t add any K’s either ... Olivo, meanwhile, took the loss with eight hits and four earned runs with a walk and four K’s in his six innings, dropping his record to 2-4 and his ERA to 3.38. But despite his losing record, he’s got a 1.07 WHIP and has nearly a game in WAR, he just never seems to get any run support in his big games.

May 14, 1947: Dutch Leonard (4-2, 1.53 ERA, 53.0 IP, 18 K, 1.00 WHIP) pitched game two against the Yankees, going up against Dizzy Trout (2-2, 3.50 ERA, 36.0 IP, 16 K’s, 1.56 WHIP). We got two on the board in the top of the first with a bases-loaded walk by Vern Stephens and an RBI single from Arky Vaughn. But New York scored the next four runs, one coming in the bottom of the third off a Yogi Berra fielder’s choice grounder, the go-ahead runs scoring off a two-run double by Dizzy Trout in the bottom of the fourth (Johnny Lindell was the add-on run, with an RBI single that made it 4-2 Yankees). Things looked bleak when Nick Etten hit a solo homer in the bottom of the seventh to make it a three run New York lead, but in the top of the eighth Wally Moses hit a three-run triple to tie the score and silence the Yankees fans in an instant. Sam Zoldak took the ball in the bottom of the inning, and despite loaded bases with two outs in the ninth he got us into extra innings when Joe Gordon popped out to left, stranding all three. Amos Watson took over in the bottom of the 10th, and he had a great inning, but in the bottom of the 11th the wheels fell off due to poor defensive plays ... Johnny Lindell pushed Joe Collins into scoring position when, on a sac-bunt, our third baseman failed to get the out at second, and Collins scored off a single by Berra to walk this one off as a 6-5 loss for us. What a tough way to lose a hard-fought game. Watson took the loss, getting credit for just three outs with three hits and a run against, but Leonard’s otherwise solid eight-hit seven-inning start was marred by five earned runs, so he was lucky not to get tagged with the “L” today. New York outhit us by a wide margin, 14-6, and we committed two errors in the game. Only Cavarretta, with two hits, three walks and a run scored, came out unblemished.

The two losses against the Yankees dropped us to third place, at 16-12, sitting half a game behind New York (17-12) and a game and a half behind Philly (18-11). We’ll now head down to Boston to face the Red Sox (11-17) for three in a row, before playing three in Philly including a Sunday doubleheader.

jksander · 11-17-2025, 04:55 PM

May 15, 1947: Fred Sanford (2-1, 3.31 ERA, 35.1 IP, 15 K, 1.33 WHIP) pitched against Mickey Harris (0-4, 5.83 ERA, 29.1 IP, 22 K, 1.84 WHIP) in game one against the struggling Red Sox, but at Fenway, we all know anything can happen when the Monster gets involved. We took the lead in the top of the second off a Bob Dillinger RBI double, but Boston answered with a Hal Wagner RBI triple in the fourth to tie us up. Joe Schultz hit an RBI single in the top of the sixth to get us back into the lead 2-1, but Dom Dimaggio hit a solo homer leading off in the bottom of the inning to tie it again ... in the top of the seventh we again managed to retake the lead, this time off a Phil Cavarretta RBI single, and Ned Garver took the ball after the seventh inning stretch with a 3-2 lead to protect. He was great in the seventh but got absolutely destroyed in the eighth -- Catfish Metkovich hit a two-run double to give Boston back the lead, Metkovich scored off a Bobby Doerr bases-loaded walk, and a wild pitch let Johnny Pesky score. With the Boston lead at 6-3, runners on second and third, Jack Kramer took over to get us our final out, but the damage was done. We put up no fight in the ninth and lost this one 6-3, dropping our fourth straight as we’re getting a rude awakening on the road so far this stretch. Garver blew the save and took the loss, pitching 1.2 innings with four hits and three walks, but three of the four runs were unearned. More frustrating was the fact that we outhit them 11-7 and still came up on the short end. Dillinger led with three hits and an RBI, while Cavarretta had two hits, a walk and an RBI.

May 16, 1947: Tom Seats (4-2, 4.20 ERA, 40.2 IP, 13 K, 1.52 WHIP) pitched against Clem Dreisewerd (1-0, 2.63 ERA, 13.2 IP, 1 K, 1.17 WHIP) as we tried to dig out of this recent slump. They scored first off a groundout by Bobby Doerr in the bottom of the first, but we had an answer in the top of the third when Harry Walker singled in Dillinger to tie the score. They responded with an RBI single by Jim Tabor in the bottom of the fifth that, coupled with an E8 error, drove home Dom Dimaggio to put them back on top 2-1. But again we found an answer, tying the score in the top of the seventh off another single by Walker, before Boston unleashed again in the bottom of the seventh with a three-run volley to put us away. We wound up losing this one 5-3 as our slump deepens ... we desperately need a win in game three to salvage at least a tiny amount of momentum. Tom Seats took the loss, falling to 4-3 with a 4.53 ERA after allowing six hits and five runs with six walks and three strikeouts through seven innings, an uncharacteristically wild pitching night for him. And once again we outhit them 12-7 but came up on the short end ... that just cannot keep happening! Dillinger was dominant ... hitting five times in five tries with two runs scored off his five singles, bringing his average up to .439 through 13 games as a utility player, but beyond him and Walker (who hit three times with two RBIs) everyone else took a nap out there.

May 17, 1947: Diomedes Olivo (2-4, 3.38 ERA, 50.2 IP, 23 K, 1.07 WHIP) pitched against Nick Strincevich (3-1, 5.40 ERA, 33.1 IP, 8 K, 1.60 WHIP) in game three against the Red Sox, and Boston took the lead first in the bottom of the third with an RBI single by Johnny Pesky. We answered with an RBI single by Harry Walker that scored Olivo in the top of the fifth, but Boston pounded us for three runs in the bottom of the inning and it looked like much of the same as we’d seen the last two days. Olivo loaded the bags in the sixth and got one out, Zoldak taking the ball from him as soon as he could get warmed up for the high leverage situation ... butit didn’t matter, as Pesky immediately hit a three-run double to clear the bases and turn this into a rout I’d rather forget. We couldn’t buy an out, Pesky scoring off a single by Doerr, and loaded bases led to two more runs scoring before we could escape the inning trailing 10-1. Kramer again mopped it up with two clean innings, but the damage was already complete. We got two runs back in the top of the ninth off a Robinson sac-fly and a Harry Walker line drive single, but we lost badly 10-3 and have now lost six straight. This team’s holes are now showing, big time, and our pitching is taking the brunt of it. Olivo is now 2-5 with a 4.18 ERA, having surrendered SEVEN RUNS on eight hits, with three walks and three strikeouts through 5.1 innings. Kramer, meanwhile, has been a solid mop-up guy, pitching in our last three games for a combined 3.1 innings with just two hits and a strikeout, no earned runs. This time the Red Sox did outhit us 14-11, Walker leading the way for our offense with three hits and two RBIs.

We have a doubleheader tomorrow against the Athletics (19-13) who now trail the Yankees (20-12) by a game. Despite our five straight losses dropping us to 16-15, we’re only 3.5 games out of first while sitting in fourth place, two games up on Boston who are now leading the bottom half of the league. The American League looks to be chaotic this season, and with 121 games yet to play for us, anything can happen if we can find a way to snap this downward slide.

May 18, 1947: Dutch Leonard (4-2, 2.10 ERA, 60.0 IP, 23 K, 1.08 WHIP) pitched against Murry Dickson (3-1, 2.45 ERA, 36.2 IP, 9 K, 1.34 WHIP) in a battle of two pitchers who have been red hot lately. We scored with a homer by Judnich in the second to go up by a run, and Joe Schultz hit one in the third to make it a 2-0 lead before the Athletics answered back with an RBI groundout by George Kell and an RBI single from Al Smith to tie the score 2-2 after three. They took the lead in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI double by Dickson, and though we traded runs from there, we went into the top of the ninth down 4-3 and needing a miracle. They walked Schultz to bring up Leonard, and we decided to sub him out for pinch-hitter Bob Dillinger ... who has been red hot lately, but he popped out to short for our first out. They walked Robinson, pushing Schultz into scoring position with just the one out, and with the count 3-0 we gave Walker the red light ... but he popped out to first, though the runners both advanced. Cavarretta got a full count but grounded harmlessly out to first ... the streak of losing continues as we fell 4-3 in the day’s first game. Leonard pitched eight innings with seven hits but he walked six more with only three strikeouts, contributing to all four earned runs. We matched them both hits AND walks, so the game was incredibly evenly matched. Judnich led the way with his homer and two walks, but we just couldn’t get over that hump against a Philly team that is looking better every day.

Amos Watson (0-1, 2 SV, 2.25 ERA, 8.0 IP, 4 K, 1.62 WHIP) got the start in game two, to keep our starters on their usual four-day rotation schedule. He faced A’s pitcher Spoon Carter (3-1, 2.89 ERA, 56.0 IP, 9 K, 1.45 WHIP) who has been still spry as ever at age 44. We took the lead in the top of the first off a sac-fly by Walker that scored Robinson who had led off with a triple. We added another run in the second with a sac-fly by Watson, who allowed Wally Moses to score, putting us up 2-0. Watson, meanwhile, got us through the fourth inning without a hit or a baserunner, and Cavarretta hit an RBI single in the top of the fifth to extend our lead to three runs. Incredibly, Watson’s streak continued through the fifth, though at 72 pitches he was starting to show signs of tiring ... though on a heater like that you don’t change horses! Though nobody mentioned it, the entire team was focused on keeping the lead big to let him have plenty of rope -- Harry Walker scored off a single by Judnich to extend our lead to 4-0 heading into the stretch. But in the bottom of the inning, perfection slipped away with a hit into center right by George Kell, the double spoiling the no hitter and perfect game in one brutally tough swing of the bat. Ned Garver took the ball from Watson, the 21-year-old getting a rousing curtain call by the ROAD TEAM after what all agreed had been a stellar performance. Garver got us out of the inning with the shutout still intact, and in the top of the ninth Harry Walker hit a homer, his second of the year, to pile on. Garver finished the game from there and we won solidly 5-0! Watson finished with one hit and three strikeouts through six innings (failing to get an out in the seventh), throwing 81 pitches in the process as he improved to 1-1 with a 1.29 ERA through his first 14 major league innings. Garver earned the three-inning save with a hit and two walks as he protected the shutout, his ERA now at 2.04 through 17.2 innings. We picked up 11 hits against their two, led by Harry Walker who had two hits, two runs and two RBIs.

We’re off tomorrow and then will play our third game against the A’s with a chance to win the series.

May 20, 1947: Fred Sanford (2-1, 3.27 ERA, 41.1 IP, 15 K, 1.33 WHIP) got the ball in the rubber match against the A’s, facing Russ Christopher (2-4, 2.53 ERA, 53.1 IP, 27 K, 1.24 WHIP). We took the lead in the first off a Cavarretta double, re-took it in the second with a single from Joe Schultz, and then added runs in the third and fourth to lead 5-2 after four innings’ work. We managed to expand that lead to four runs in the top of the sixth with a solo homer by Robinson (his fourth of the season), but Philly came roaring back in the bottom of the inning, scoring off a line drive single by Hal Peck and then getting two more runs off a single by George Kell to cut the lead to 6-5 heading into the top of the seventh inning. Sam Zoldak took over in the bottom of the seventh with the lead unchanged, and he got through the seventh and eighth without incident -- but in the bottom of the ninth Al Smith hit a solo homer out of right to tie the score at 6-6, forcing us to bring out Ned Garver to try and get us into extras. Willard Brown took a walk to first, advancing to third on a double by Ferris Fain, and with the game on the line Russ Derry came to the plate ... with one out, he popped out to shallow left, close enough for us to hold the runners, bringing up Hal Peck, who walked the bases loaded. Buddy Rosar then hit one right up the line in right field and this one ended as a 7-6 loss. What a crushing way to go, having blown a 6-2 lead to get there. Zoldak blew his second save and Garver took the loss, falling to 1-2 with a 2.50 ERA, allowing two hits, two walks and a run. Sanford had done all he could, pitching six innings with eight hits, but he walked four and gave up five runs in the process, throwing 113 pitches. We outhit them 12-11, led by Robinson, with three hits two runs and an RBI, and by Schultz, who added three hits and two runs batted in.

We have a single game against Washington (20-16) tomorrow, then after a day off will play Cleveland (15-17) for a game, followed by another day off and a Sunday doubleheader. With five days off over the next 11 days, our pitching rotation and our bullpen will get some much needed rest, which we’ll need if we’re going to get our currently 17-17 team back above .500 by any significant margin. We remain within 3.5 games of the Athletics (21-14) and Yankees (21-14) in first, but every team in our league is within 7.5 games, and nobody has gained much separation.

jksander · 11-17-2025, 05:05 PM

May 21, 1947: A blockbuster trade just happened between the Cleveland Guardians and the St. Louis Cardinals, news that broke last night in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and that is sure to be front page news around the country today ... the 19-16 Cardinals made a big bet on their future by acquiring Sporting News #5 prospect righthanded pitcher Mike Garcia, #9 prospect 23-year-old second baseman Ray Boone and 32-year-old shortstop Buster Clarkson along with cash considerations. In turn, they are sending Cleveland, who clearly are in a “we want to get back into this race NOW!” mode, two proven players: 31-year-old lefty hurler Max Lanier (currently 7-2 with a 2.42 ERA through 70.2 innings, with 2.7 wins above replacement) and 29-year-old third baseman Whitey Kurowski (who is currently hitting .296/.373/.467 with 19 runs batted in and a game worth of WAR). Kurowski and Lanier give the Guardians a much needed leadership core, and Lanier’s curve and changeup are scary as hell ... he has a 93-61 record with 12 saves through 1,300+ innings with St. Louis over the last ten seasons and immediately gives the Guardians the ace they didn’t have before. But they gave up a lot in this move ... though St. Louis gave up a great deal now to gain future ammunition. Boone and Garcia have extreme development risk attached to them.

We’re definitely gonna have to watch out for the Guardians now, who clearly have a shrewd GM at the helm -- this deal looks like a clear winner for the city of Cleveland. And the crazy thing is, while the Cards now have the #2 farm in baseball, the trade only drops Cleveland’s down to fifth overall. So they’ve still got plenty of young talent in the hopper, only now they have their ace.

After perusing the news, we had a game to play today, with Tom Seats (4-3, 4.53 ERA, 47.2 IP, 16 K, 1.55 WHIP) going up against Washington’s Leon Day (2-4, 4.03 ERA, 51.1 IP, 18 K, 1.69 WHIP). Seats has been ice cold of late, losing his last three in a row after a blistering 4-0 start to his season. So he came in this evening really looking to regain his composure against the surging Senators. We took the lead in the top of the third with an RBI single by Cavarretta, but they fired back quickly with a two-run single by Leon Day in the bottom of the fourth to give Washington a lead. Vern Stephens batted in a run with a double in the top of the sixth to tie the score, but Seats unravelled in the seventh, giving up an RBI double to Bobby Lewis, loading the bases, and letting Stan Spence walk one home to put them up 4-2 as Jack Kramer came out -- bases loaded, one out -- to try and clean up the mess. A sac-fly by Jerry Priddy let one of Seats’ runs score, but Kramer got us out of the inning with a three-run deficit when it could have been a lot worse. And this time our bats delievered in the top of the eighth ... Harry Walker scored off a wild pitch, Wally Judnich then hit a sac-fly to cut their lead to one, and Arky Vaughn tied the score with a single through the gap that scored Vern Stephens! With two outs, Joe Schultz then hit a line drive single that drove in Vaughn, giving us back a 6-5 lead! Kramer held it through the eighth, and with the one run lead in the bottom of the ninth we brought out Amos Watson to finish the job. He pitched around runners on the corners, getting Henry Kimbro to pop out harmlessly to left as we won the game 6-5! Kramer (3-1, 3.26 ERA) bailed out Seats with 1.2 innings with just two hits, while the starter had gone 6.1 innings but allowed 12 hits, three walks and five runs (three earned) while striking out one through 125 pitches. Watson earned his third save with a hit and a walk, improving his ERA to 1.20 as the rookie continues to impress. They outhit us 15-10, but Cavarretta hit three times for two runs and an RBI, while Vern Stephens added two hits, a run and an RBI.

May 23, 1947: Cleveland dropped two games over the last two days, coming into our series with a 15-19 record. We’re 18-17, leading them by 2.5 games, but both of our teams are going to benefit from chances to rest our players, with just one game today and then a day off before our Sunday doubleheader (one game of which is almost certain to feature their newly acquired ace. Today we had Diomedes Olivo (2-5, 4.18 ERA, 56.0 IP, 26 K, 1.16 WHIP) against Jim Bennett (1-4, 5.86 ERA, 46.1 IP, 12 K, 1.51 WHIP), and once again Olivo got absolutely no run support. Of course it didn’t particularly matter, since Cleveland scored a run in the second and then two more each in the fourth and seventh, but when your pitcher allows only seven hits all game you tend to hope the bats can at least put up a fight. Ours did not ... we only notched seven hits of our own, and none of our nine baserunners were able to do anything but stand there and wonder how this 5-0 beatdown happened in the first place. Olivo may be the unluckiest pitcher we’ve got ... he’s now 2-6 with a 4.36 ERA but he’s only allowed four homers all year and he has 28 K’s against 19 walks ... our defense just lets all his groundball hits sneak through. Even Cavarretta, with three hits, couldn’t do anything today, though he gave it the old college try.

May 25, 1947: Today in game one Dutch Leonard (4-3, 2.38 ERA, 68.0 IP, 26 K, 1.15 WHIP) went up against Max Lanier (7-2, 2.42 ERA, 70.2 IP, 57 K, 1.19 WHIP), in what was widely expected to be an epic pitching duel. So it was a bit unexpected that we traded runs in the first ... Vern Stephens batted in a run with a single in the top of the inning, while Ken Keltner hit an RBI double to tie it in the bottom of the inning. Sherm Lollar got them the lead with an RBI single in the bottom of the second, but we answered with an RBI groundout in the top of the third by Stephens, followed by an Arky Vaughn solo homer in the fourth that gave us a 3-2 lead. That’s when the duel began, and the game was scoreless the rest of the way as Dutch Leonard locked in ... he pitched around a runner on first in the bottom of the ninth to keep the one run lead as we won 3-2! Cleveland outhit us 7-5, but Leonard got the win to improve to 5-3 with a 2.34 ERA, walking two and striking out one with two earned runs, while Lanier pitched a complete game five hitter with two walks, four strikeouts and three earned runs in his Cleveland debut. Vern Stephens led the team with a hit, a walk, a run and two RBIs.

With all our days off in the coming week, we had no need to use a bullpen arm for game two, letting Fred Sanford (2-1, 3.80 ERA, 47.1 IP, 17 K, 1.42 WHIP) pitch on five days’ rest. Cleveland pitcher Steve Gromek (3-2, 2.47 ERA, 47.1 IP, 9 K, 1.25 WHIP) came in similarly well rested, and both teams remained scoreless until Cleveland took the lead in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI single by Dale Mitchell and a bases loaded walk for Babe Young that scored Hank Edwards. We got a run back in the fifth off a single by Les Moss, and Sanford kept us in this game the rest of the way, though we still needed a miracle in the ninth trailing by the one run. Les Moss took a one-out walk, and we kept Sanford in the game and were rewarded when he too drew a walk, pushing Moss into scoring position! That’s when Robinson hit one through the gap in right ... Moss got greedy and tried for home and was out on a 9-3-2 play, but Sanford reached third and Robinson turned his single into a trip to second as the trailing runner. That brought up Harry Walker, who took the count to 2-2 and then swung ... grounding out harmlessly to first as we lost 2-1. Sanford fell to 2-2 with a 3.58 ERA, but had an excellent game, pitching eight innings with five hits and two runs, striking out one. Had he not walked six batters his night would have gone completely differently. We outhit them 7-5, but we only had eight baserunners all game. And though Cavarretta had three hits and a walk, he got nowhere, as backup catcher Les Moss was our only truly potent offensive force -- he hit twice, walked once and batted in our only run.

So far we are 3-9 on this road trip, with just four games remaining: after a day off tomorrow, we’ve got two against the White Sox (15-26) on the 27th and 28th, and two against the Tigers (20-20) on the 30th to finish the month. Only Chicago seems far out of contention -- every other team in the league is within six games of first place, and the difference between third and seventh is just two games.

May 27, 1947: Tom Seats (4-3, 4.50 ERA, 54.0 IP, 17 K, 1.65 WHIP) pitched against Johnny Rigney (3-5, 4.57 ERA, 61.0 IP, 24 K, 1.44 WHIP) in our first game on the Southside, and the duel was intense early; we only got the upper hand in the top of the sixth when Harry Walker singled in Robinson to put us up 1-0 in a game where each team had put up just four hits apiece. Seats pitched a remarkably consistent and efficient game, looking more like the player who had won four in a row to start his season, and in the top of the ninth we bought him plenty of insurance with a two-run homer by Vern Stephens which gave us a three run lead going into the bottom half. Seats finished the job, and we got out of there with a 3-0 shutout win! He improved to 5-3, allowing six hits and a walk with two strikeouts in the complete game, throwing 105 pitches as his ERA improved to 3.86. Meanwhile, we picked up seven hits ourselves, led by Stephens’ two-run homer and a hit, a walk and an RBI by Walker.

May 28, 1947: Diomedes Olivo (2-6, 4.36 ERA, 64.0 IP, 28 K, 1.14 WHIP) has been ice cold and giving off plenty of runs over his last five starts, all of which have resulted in losses. So he wanted a bounceback game in this one against Chicago’s Ray Prim (2-5, 3.13 ERA, 54.2 IP, 13 K, 1.34 WHIP), hopefully balanced by tons of run support from our bats. And in the top of the third he got his wish ... he scored our go-ahead run with a single by Vern Stephens, Jackie Robinson then hit a three-run homer, and Joe Schultz doubled home Arky Vaughn to put us up 5-0 midway through. By the time the White Sox got on the board with a run in the bottom of the sixth we already had a seven run lead, and Olivo gave us our second compete game in a row with a 9-1 victory! He allowed just five hits, with three walks, five K’s and the one earned run as he improved to 3-6 with a 3.95 ERA. We outhit them by a staggering 18-5 margin, led by Stephens with three hits, two runs and two RBIs, while Walker added three hits and two runs and Robinson had two hits, a run and three RBIs. The White Sox are in freefall, so it’s hard to take much from these two wins beyond that we got bounceback games for two pitchers who greatly needed one.

Next up we finish the month out, and this long road trip, with a doubleheader against the 21-22 Detroit Tigers. We’re now in a tie for third with the 23-21 Senators, two games behind New York (25-19) and three back of Philly (26-18).

jksander · 11-24-2025, 04:37 PM

May 30, 1947: In game one of our Detroit doubleheader, Dutch Leonard (5-3, 2.34 ERA, 77.0 IP, 27 K’s, 1.13 WHIP) pitched against Virgil Trucks, (3-3, 4.61 ERA, 52.2 IP, 32 K, 1.42 WHIP), and for four innings he was doing great ... Jackie Robinson singled in the second, stole second AND third, and came around to score when Phil Cavarretta hit into a 4-6 fielder’s choice, giving us a lead we held until the bottom of the fifth when Hank Greenberg hit a grand slam to put the Tigers ahead 4-1. Leonard pitched a complete game as he attempted to clean up his own mess, but this one got ugly and the Tigers capitalized by whipping us in the end 8-4, outhitting us 13-8. Leonard gave up four walks in addition to all the hits, including eight runs, all of them earned, as he fell to 5-4 with a 2.96 ERA. Vern Stephens and Lee Moss each had two hits, a run and an RBI, but the Tigers were unstoppable late in the game. We were just outplayed all around.

Fred Sanford (2-2, 3.59 ERA, 55.1 IP, 26 K, 1.41 WHIP) started game two against Art Houtteman (2-2, 1 SV, 3.66 ERA, 39.1 IP, 18 K, 1.70 WHIP), and we took the lead in the top of the first off an RBI single by Vern Stephens. But Detroit answered with a sac-fly by Eddie Lake to tie it up in the third, retaking the lead in the fourth off an Eddie Mayo RBI single that scored Hoot Evers. And though Sanford pitched well, he stayed out too long -- in the bottom of the seventh he gave up five runs including a three-run homer by Evers that completely broke him. Sam Zoldak came out to pitch from there, but the damage was done as the Tigers destroyed us 7-1. This time they outhit us 10-6, with Stephens’ RBI single being our only real offense. Sanford took his third loss in a 6.2-inning 10 hit three walk effort, allowing seven runs against just one strikeout off 134 pitches ... his ERA crashed to 4.21 after the effort, which brings our May to an end with a 21-21 record.

We can revive our season with some good luck at home, since this trip will end after five wins and 11 losses. We’ll open June with 12 games at home over the next week and a half, including a doubleheader tomorrow against Philly (26-20) as part of a three-game series, two games against Boston (21-23), four games against the Yankees (27-20) that include another Sunday doubleheader, and three agaainst the Senators (24-23). We’ll then spend three more weeks on the road, playing 15 games in a 17-day stretch. So unless we somehow can manage to find real consistency, it’s looking like this season could start feeling pretty bleak if we let all that early momentum continue to fade.

Jackie Robinson was named the AL’s Rookie of the Month, hitting .261 with 29 hits, four homers, 16 runs scored and 13 RBIs. But it was a down month for him, contact-wise, lowering his average to .286 as the season enters its hotter months.

Here’s a standings update for both leagues as of the start of our third month of the season:

American League
New York Yankees (27-20)
Philadelphia Athletics (26-20, 0.5 GB)
Detroit Tigers (24-22, 2.5 GB)
Washington Senators (24-23, 3 GB)
St. Louis Browns (21-21, 3.5 GB)
Cleveland Guardians (21-22, 4 GB)
Boston Red Sox (21-23, 4.5 GB)
Chicago White Sox (16-29, 10 GB)

National League
New York Giants (26-10)
Brooklyn Dodgers (26-19, 0.5 GB)
Pittsburgh Pirates (25-20, 1.5 GB)
St. Louis Cardinals (24-21, 2.5 GB)
Philadelphia Phillies (23-25, 5 GB)
Cincinnati Reds (22-25, 5.5 GB)
Boston Braves (21-25, 6 GB)
Chicago Cubs (16-30, 11 GB)

It’s a great year for fans in New York, and a poor year for those stuck in Boston or Chicago. We’re fighting to keep our heads above .500, but it’s important to remember that, until the war seasons of 1942-45, we were a bottom dweller consistently, and last year we lost 94 games. So being 21-21 at this point in the season is something to be pleased with. If we can work our way into the top half of the standings and stay there, we’ll have plenty of room to build toward a World Series trip before the end of the decade if ownership is willing to continue to spend. This year’s AL has seven teams who could legitimately contend if a hot streak strikes, with the White Sox fading fast in eighth place. So the stretch run toward the All Star break is going to be critical when it comes to creating separation.

We’re in the top tier for runs allowed, hits allowed, opponent BAPIP and walks allowed, with the second best defensive efficiency in the American League. We’re making good contact (.272, good for 2nd) which has our slugging ranked third ... but we’re not scoring off those like we should; we’re ranked 6th in runs scored, sixth in extra base hits and sixth in walks, and we’re dead last in baserunning. So at this point our pitching and defense have been keeping us in contention, we need to give them more offense to work with. Right now our run differential is +18, but our pythagorean record is 23-19, so we’ve been having a bit of bad luck, including a 6-6 record in one run games and a 1-1 record in extra innings.

Richie Ashburn has done well at AAA Toledo -- through 44 games and 170 at-bats, he’s hit .288/.398/.400 with eight doubles, three homers, 18 RBI and 1.2 wins above replacement. He’s fielding incredibly well at center, with a +7.9 zone rating and just one error against 125 putouts and 9 assists. We have decided to call him up to the majors just two and a half months past his 20th birthday, sending Tommy Glaviano back down to the minors to make room for him. He’ll be splitting center field starts with Harry Walker and will be available as a defensive sub in games he doesn’t start. Right now he’s our best defensive center fielder, but he’s going to have an adjustment period learning to hit against big league pitching. But he is ready right now to get his shot.

jksander · 11-24-2025, 05:21 PM

June 1, 1947: Today we have a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Athletics, and though we had a doubleheader yesterday as well, all our pitchers are rested (and Dutch Leonard says he’s ready to pitch on three days’ rest tomorrow, so we went into the game not necessarily needing to pitch a bullpen start in either game. Tom Seats (5-3, 3.86 ERA, 63.0 IP, 19 K, 1.52 WHIP) pitched the early game against Ted Alexander (3-3, 4.10 ERA, 59.1 IP, 23 K, 1.52 WHIP), and we went in knowing we had a fully rested bullpen as well, so we had all our options open early. And that’s great because this one turned into a pitching duel almost immediately, a duel we drew first blood in when a Phil Cavarretta sac-fly put us up 1-0 after six innings. Unfortunately Seats was wild in the top of the seventh ... after getting the first out, Buddy Rosar singled, Ted Alexander drove him to third with a single of his own, and Al Smith was hit by an errant pitch, loading the bags. I’d seen enough, and brought Amos Watson in out of the bullpen ... he got George Kell, who has been red hot lately, to pop out to Cavarretta in shallow left, preventing the runner from making a move from third, and Elmer Valo grounded out on a 4-3 play to get us into the stretch still with the one run lead. He got three more quick outs for us in the eighth, and we added on in the bottom of the inning with RBI singles by Cavarretta and Vern Stephens to extend our lead to three heading into the top of the ninth. Our man on the mound handled it perfectly, getting three more quick ones in the ninth as we held tough to win 3-0 in game one! Seats (6-3, 3.50 ERA) got the win with just five hits and two walks against him, striking out one and not allowing a single run, and Watson completed the shutout with 2.2 innings and just one walk, earning his fourth save as he brought his ERA down to 1.02 through 17.2 innings. We outhit them 7-5, led by Stephens with two hits, a walk and an RBI and by Seats himself, who hit twice and scored the winning run in the sixth.

Diomedes Olivo (3-6, 3.95 ERA, 73.0 IP, 33 K, 1.11 WHIP) pitched against Russ Christopher (3-5, 3.21 ERA, 73.0 IP, 34 K, 1.27 WHIP) in the late afternoon game, and the A’s took the lead in the top of the first with am RBI single by Willard Brown, assuring we’d get no shutout this time around. But we led off in the bottom of the inning with a solo homer out of right by Harry Walker, and we quickly added on with an RBI single by Les Moss that extended the lead by driving in Robinson, giving us a 2-1 lead heading into the top of the second. In the bottom of the fourth Richie Ashburn, who was playing right field for us in his MLB debut, hit into a U5 fielder’s choice with the bases loaded, driving home Moss for our third run while taking first. Olivo walked the bases loaded, and Harry Walker hit into a 3-6 fielder’s choice to drive in Witte, giving us a 4-1 advantage heading into the top of the fifth. Moss scored off an RBI single by Ashburn in the bottom of the fifth, his first official major league hit, and Jack Kramer took over on the mound going forward, owning a four-run advantage. Ned Garver took over in the eighth with no outs and a man on first, still leading by the same margin, and he got us the rest of the way as we won 5-1, sweeping the doubleheader. Tomorrow we’ll play one more against the A’s, but we’ve proven we’re still capable of going toe to toe with one of the league’s best teams. Olivo improved to 4-6 with a five inning four-hit game, walking one, striking out three and allowing just the one earned run as his ERA improved to 3.81. Kramer and Garver then combined for three hits and two strikeouts -- no free passes! -- and we outhit the Athletics 8-7 in a hard-fought victory. Ashburn had a great debut, going 2-4 with two hits and two RBIs, and Arky Vaughn kept several key drives going with his four walks, a St. Louis Browns record!

June 2, 1947: Dutch Leonard (5-4, 2.96 ERA, 85.0 IP, 30 K, 1.22 WHIP) threw 153 pitches three days ago in an eight-inning loss, but he and our pitching coach agree he’s ready to go on short rest so we’re going to keep the rotation going in order. He pitched today against Philly’s Max “Dr. Cyclops” Manning (3-0, 1.15 ERA, 31.1 IP, 17 K, 1.09 WHIP), who is starting for just the fifth time all year. Leonard pitched four brilliant innings of shutout baseball, and then our offense caught a spark in the bottom of the fourth -- Wally Moses reached on an E3 error to lead off, took second on an error on a pickoff play, and Vern Stephens walked the bases loaded, setting up Wally Judnich -- who has been ice cold lately -- to hit a powerful grand slam home run out of left field to put us up 4-0! Philly got on the board in the top of the fifth with an RBI single by Willard Brown, and Buddy Rosar batted one in for them in the sixth to cut our lead to two runs. But Vern Stephens hit a solo homer in the bottom of the sixth and we were able to bring in Sam Zoldak in the top of the seventh leading 5-2. But that’s when the wheels fell off ... Zoldak didn’t even manage to get a single out before Willard Brown, a giant thorn in our side, hit a three-run homer himself to tie things at 5-5. Ned Garver took over from there, getting three quick outs to send us into the stretch, but suddenly we were locked in a fist-fight and the A’s had all the momentum. Garver pitched around a double by George Kell in the eighth to keep it tied up, and Amos Watson took over in the top of the ninth with one out and a runner on first, quickly getting the two outs we needed. In the bottom of the inning, with two outs, Joe Schultz hit a double into deep center, bringing up Richie Ashburn, who they walked to avoid the risk of him doubling in the winning run. We then made a tough choice to keep Watson in the game, and he rewarded us with his solid eye, walking the bases loaded to bring up the top of our lineup. Bases loaded, two outs, Jackie Robinson came up to the plate ... and he popped out harmlessly to right and sent this one into extra innings. Jack Kramer took over in the top of the 12th inning, and managed to pitch his way out of a bases loaded jam without any runs scoring. They hit him with a pitch in the bottom of the inning as our leadoff hitter, but we weren’t able to get him anywhere and we had no arms available to relieve him, so he had to stay out in the 13th and that’s when the levee broke. By the time he got us out of the inning the A’s had piled on four runs, and we went down quietly from there as we lost 9-5 in the 13th inning. Kramer (3-2, 3.67 ERA) took the loss, allowing six hits, two walks and four runs (three earned) in his two innings, striking out one. But he threw 44 pitches yesterday and 51 today, so he had no business having to work so hard today ... he deserves credit for even giving us a chance. Philly outhit us 19-8, and without that grand slam in the fourth we were completely outmatched but kept fighting for nearly five hours. Judnich led the way with two hits, a run and his four RBIs, while Vern Stephens added a hit, a walk and two runs scored.

June 3, 1947: Today we hosted Boston for the first of two games on our field, and our pitching is suddenly in a rough spot, with nobody in our minors looking ready to come up for more than bloodbath support ... so while we look for a temporary stopgap on the free agency market, we’ll be counting on the pitchers we have to continue to hold the line -- we knew this was going to be a year where we’d be punching above our weight, and I knew coming in that our farm, while stocked with plenty of ‘players,’ is mostly full of guys who other clubs wouldn’t touch. That’s just how it is starting from rock bottom.

Fred Sanford (2-3, 4.21 ERA, 62.0 IP, 19 K, 1.47 WHIP) came in fully rested, going up against Boston’s Tex Hughson (3-9, 5.49 ERA, 95.0 IP, 49 K, 1.71 WHIP) knowing he was going to need to pitch deep into this game to avoid us further taxing our exhausted bullpen. Wally Judnich hit a solo blast out of center in the bottom of the second, continuing to come out of his slump as he pushed us to a 1-0 lead, but Bobby Doerr answered with one of his own in the top of the fourth to tie us up. Sanford was a real workhorse, powering himself through exhaustion in the seventh to get us into the stretch still tied 1-1. Ned Garner, who threw 40 pitches yesterday and 22 two days ago, came out to pitch in the eighth, getting two outs before giving up a two-run triple to Frank McCormick ... but he got us out of the inning. Sam Zoldak came out in the ninth to just get us out of the game, but he proved why I didn’t want him out there in the eighth even if it meant Garner pitching for the third day in a row ... he loaded the bases and gave up two runs in the inning, and we lost this one 5-1 after fighting the Red Sox hard for seven innings in a dead heat. Sanford pitched seven innings with four hits, two walks, two strikeouts and an earned run, but was gassed at 116 pitches, so Garner wound up with the loss, fallign to 1-3 with a two hit two walk two run effort. We were outhit 9-5, led by Judnich for the second day in a row with his solo homer.

June 4, 1947: Tom Seats (6-3, 3.50 ERA, 69.1 IP, 20 K, 1.49 WHIP) has been really hot this season through 10 starts, the 36-year-old having his best season at age 36 after spending most of his career toiling away in the minors. Today he pitched on three days’ rest against Boston’s Nick Strincevich (5-2, 4.56 ERA, 53.1 IP, 14 K, 1.46 WHIP), an evenly matched battle on paper for two veterans with vastly different major league trajectories, who both rely heavily on their control over raw stuff. Boston took a two-run lead in the top of the third thanks to a two-run double by Frank McCormick, and they added on in the fourth with an RBI single from Johnny Hopp to go ahead 3-0. His night did not improve from there, and though he got us through the sixth inning, Nick Strincevich added to Boston’s run tally in that inning with an RBI single. Jack Kramer took over in the top of the seventh trailing by four in the shutout, and the game became a full-on rout from there, as Kramer gave up two more runs before getting us mercifully into the stretch trailing 6-0. We finally got on the board with a run in the bottom of the eighth, Vern Stephens grounding into a 5-4-3 double play that scored Wally Moses. Kramer took one for the team and stayed out to finish the rest, throwing 62 pitches in the process, but it didn’t matter, as we still lost this one by a brutal 6-1 margin, the Red Sox outhitting us 16-7. Seats allowed 10 hits, a walk and four earned runs in his six innings, falling to 6-4 with a 3.70 ERA. Kramer then pitched three innings with six hits, a walk, a strikeout and two earned runs, giving him a 3.86 ERA through 37.1 innings over three starts and 10 bullpen appearances. Cavarretta and Stephens combined for four of our hits, and neither got anywhere.

June 5, 1947: We’ve signed Al "Beartracks" Javery, a 29-year-old right-handed starter, to a minor league deal, and we’re making room for him on the major league roster by dropping shortstop Ellis Clary back to the minors. He doesn’t have great command of his pitches, but he mixes a changeup that has great movement and a sinker that can be solid when he gets in a groove. But he hasn’t pitched more than 100 innings in a major league season since 1944 -- after being dropped by the Boston Braves in July of ’46, he signed with the Cardinals in August and never made it back to the bigs ... they released him three weeks ago after putting up a 9-5 record and 2.29 ERA with three saves in 78.2 innings with single-A Omaha, Deluth and Columbus.

Though he has good stamina, he lacks the pitch mix I would want to see from a starter in this league, so we still see him as an emergency starter or long reliever for bullpen depth. We’re off today, so tomorrow we should be able to get our rotation back to a healthy start with Olivo at the helm, but for now we’ll keep five arms in the pen instead of four. With four games in three days this weekend against the 30-23 Yankees, it’s safe to say he’s going to get plenty of action right out of the gate. Whether he’s able to handle it will be the question.

jksander · 11-25-2025, 03:22 PM

June 6, 1947: Diomedes Olivo (4-6, 3.81 ERA, 78.0 IP, 36 K, 1.10 WHIP) got the start in game one against the Yankees, facing off against Bill Bevens (3-2, 5 SV, 2.25 ERA, 56.0 IP, 24 K, 1.16 WHIP). New York struck first in the top of the second with a Joe Gordon RBI double, but we tied it in the bottom of the inning off an RBI double by Wally Moses, taking the lead moments later off an RBI single by Richie Ashburn, who started today in left field (if he’s going to get the starts to improve as a hitter, he’ll have to learn left and right field and become a true utility defender). New York tied us again in the top of the fifth with a homer by Hank Majeski, and we left the bases loaded in the bottom of the inning, failing to retake the advantage. This one turned into a real duel, both starters locking in for the good of their teams, but Olivo got blasted in the top of the eighth when Johnny Lindell hit a two-run homer over the center field wall on two outs, giving them a sudden advantage. Al Javery took over in the top of the ninth, trailing still by two, and with two outs and the bases loaded he walked right fielder Charlie Keller to add on. We showed signs of life in the bottom of the inning, scoring off an RBI single from Vern Stephens with two outs against us, bringing up Wally Judnich with runners on the corners trailing by two runs. But he grounded out harmlessly and we lost 5-3. Olivo took another tough loss, allowing just five hits and a walk with four strikeouts ... but he gave up four runs, and that was far too many. Al Javery’s first appearance was an inauspicious one -- a hit, three walks and a run against him -- and though we outhit the Yankees 9-6, we didn’t capitalize on it. Vern Stephens led the way with two hits and an RBI, on what was another ho-hum outing for our hitters.

June 7, 1947: Dutch Leonard (5-4, 2.97 ERA, 91.0 IP, 31 K, 1.25 WHIP) pitched against Joe Page (7-2, 2.90 ERA, 62.0 IP, 34 K, 1.21 WHIP) in today’s game, with Leonard putting his pinpoint control up against the 29-year-old Page’s incredible stuff. The Yankees hit first, scoring off a groundout by DiMaggio and an RBI single from Nick Etten in the first inning. Vern Stephens batted in a run with a single in the bottom of the inning, and though the Yankees got two more runs in the fifth (Berra singled in a pair of runs thanks to an E7 error) we stayed in the game with an RBI single by Ashburn and a sac-fly by Bob Dillinger that kept us within a run. The Yankees extended their lead to 5-3 with a solo homer by Charlie Keller in the top of the sixth, but we loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning on two outs, and Ashburn walked to bring in another run and cut it back to one. Harry Walker came in to pinch hit for Leonard, but he popped out to left as the wind kept the ball in the park, the Yankees holding on to their slim 5-4 margin as Amos Watson came out to the mound for the seventh inning. He got two outs, but DiMaggio hit himself a two-run homer out of left to pile back on, two steps forward and one step back for us all afternoon. The wind blew a final hole in our hopes in the bottom of the ninth when a potential two-run homer by Vern Stephens turned into our final out of the game in left field as we lost 7-4. With two more games against these Yankees tomorrow, we’re not feeling a lot of hope in this clubhouse right now as we look for a spark ... any spark ... to salvage things before this season turns fully southward. Dutch Leonard fell to 5-5 with a 3.15 ERA, allowing just five hits in his six innings, but four walks helped contribute to five runs, four of which were earned ... another great start that “could have been” but wasn’t. Watson was stellar though -- three innings with three hits, a walk, a strikeout and a pair of unearned runs has his ERA now at 0.77 thorugh 23.1 innings as a rookie. We even outhit them again 10-8, but these Yankees have a lot more power behind them, and Joltin’ Joe batted in three of their runs to seal it. Joe Schultz hit four times for us with one run scored, and Richie Ashburn had a hit and two runs batted in.

June 8, 1947: We started Al Javery in game one of today’s doubleheader, hoping to use a bullpen start to give our starters a bit of a chance to catch back up. He went up against Dizzy Trout (3-5, 4.01 ERA, 74.0 IP, 28 K, 1.49 WHIP), and it didn’t start smoothly. He gave up five hits and a walk in the top of the first, and considering he loaded the bases, he was lucky to get out of the inning with just three runs against him. He gave up a fourth run in the top of the second on two outs, Charlie Keller continuing to be the bane of our existance, but we did finally get on the board with a sac-fly by Javery in the bottom of the third that scored Ashburn, who had tripled moments earlier. Javery stayed out there and seemed to settle in, getting us through the fifth without any additional disasters striking. Ned Garver took over for him in the top of the sixth, still trailing 4-1, and though he struck out three across the sixth and seventh innings, he gave up another pair of runs in the top of the seventh to make coming back from this seem next to impossible. Ashburn batted in another run in the bottom of the seventh with a single, and Garver got three quick outs in the eighth so we still had hope. In the bottom of the inning Phil Cavarretta hit an RBI single and he later scored off a single by Arky Vaughn to cut our deficit back to two runs. Unfortunately, with two outs in the top of the ninth, a wild pitch by Garver let another run in, and that was all she wrote. We lost this one 7-4, continuing to struggle as we try to find our way ... we’re not a team that can keep giving up this many runs and expect our offense to carry us. Javery pitched five innings with six hits, four walks, a strikeout and four runs (three earned), managing to imrpove his ERA to 6.00 through his first six innings ... but his WHIP is a miserable 2.33, his lack of control a major hinderance. AGAIN we managed to out hit them 10-9 and still lose big. Ashburn hit twice and walked once, scoring and batting in a run each as he improved his average to .318.

Fred Sanford (2-3, 3.91 ERA, 69.0 IP, 21 K, 1.41 WHIP) started game two of the day, facing Spud Chandler (4-7, 3.04 ERA, 94.2 IP, 25 K, 1.23 WHIP). He spotted them four runs across the first and second innings, and this one was looking as bleak as the rest of our games have this past week or so. He gave up a two-run homer to Charlie Keller in the fourth to make it a 6-0 deficit, and he proved incapable of even getting out of that inning. Sam Zoldak took the ball from him with two outs and a man on third -- that man being Joe Gordon, who had just tripled in a run a moment before to make it a seven run beatdown. Gordon scored off a wild pitch, and we went into the top of the fifth trailing 8-0. The rest of the game is a blur in my mind, as we got abjectly humiliated by the Yankees on our own field 11-0, and fans streamed out of the place making it clear they see us as the “same old Browns, just more expensive.” Sanford fell to 2-4, giving up nine hits, five walks and eight earned runs in 3.2 innings without a strikeout. Zoldak pitched 4.1 innings with two hits, two walks and three runs (two earned) and Al Javery got us through the ninth with just a hit ... but we were outhit 12-7 including five runs off two homers. Nobody on our offense came off looking good, and we’re heading into our final series of this home stretch (against the 27-28 Senators of Washington) in total free-fall ... we’re now 23-28 and eight games out of first, only the absolute mediocrity of the Chicago White Sox (20-35) keeping us out of last place. We’ve lost seven games in a row and are in danger of this season getting completely away from us.

Our owner, Kelly Nau, insists we’re in “win now!” mode, but the way we’re playing right now that kind of strategy could hurt us in the long term -- we’ve got improved players but no depth to our system, and an injury or two will have us in the cellar quickly.

jksander · 11-25-2025, 04:36 PM

June 9, 1947: Tom Seats (6-4, 3.70 ERA, 75.1 IP, 21 K, 1.51 WHIP) got the start in game one against the Senators, facing Ken Heintzelman (1-2, 1 SV, 7.16 ERA, 44.0 IP, 12 K, 1.84 WHIP). The start of this one was our usual struggle, as Washington took the lead with a two-run homer by Jerry Priddy in the top of the third. Priddy scored another for them in the top of the sixth off a single by Eddie Yost, before Richie Ashburn finally got us on the board in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single. In the bottom of the seventh we got another run back, thanks to Vern Stephens, whose sac-fly scored Harry Walker to put us within a run, down 3-2 as we went into the eighth inning. Seats got us through that frame without much fuss, and Ashburn got his hero moment in the bottom of the inning when, with one out and men on the corners, he hit an RBI double that scored two runs, pushing us into the lead 4-3! Amos Watson took the ball in the top of the ninth as we aimed to protect our newfound lead. He pitched around a leadoff walk from Eddie Yost to get us out of here with a 4-3 win, snapping our losing streak at seven! Seats earned that win the hard way, pitching eight innings with nine hits, two walks, five strikeouts and three runs (two earned), while Watson earned his fifth save with a 16-pitch gem. Seats is now 7-4 with a 3.67 ERA, and is nearing two wins above replacement. They outhit us 9-7, but Ashburn broke out with two hits, a walk and three RBIs as he continues to impress in the early days of what we hope will be a long and fruitful career.

June 10, 1947: Diomedes Olivo (4-7, 3.87 ERA, 86.0 IP, 40 K, 1.07 WHIP) pitched against Leon Day (4-5, 3.50 ERA, 86.2 IP, 42 K, 1.42 WHIP) in game two against the Senators, and we took the lead in the bottom of the second with an RBI single by Wally Moses that scored Vern Stephens from second. Arky Vaughan tripled Vern Stephens home in the bottom of the fourth to add on, and we got some real insurance in the sixth when Moses and Joe Schultz hit back to back RBI singles to extend our lead to 4-0. Olivo had a rough inning in the eighth, loading the bases and giving up a run when Buddy Lewis hit an RBI single, but he got out of the inning with a strikeout and Amos Watson came out in the ninth with a three-run lead to protect. He hit Artie Wilson with a pitch in the leadoff spot, but struck out Henry Kimbro swinging and caught Wilson stealing second ... two quick outs! Eddie Yost popped out harmlessly to center and that was the ballgame as we won 4-1! Olivo improved to 5-7 with a stellar eight inning effort, allowing six hits, five walks and striking out five with just the one earned run. Watson meanwhile earned his sixth save on 15 pitches, improving his ERA to 0.71 through 25.1 innings, having now gone seven appearances and 17.1 consecutive innings without an earned run! We outhit Washington 10-6, led by Vern Stephens with three hits and three runs, while Wally Moses added two hits, two walks and an RBI.

June 11, 1947: Dutch Leonard (5-5, 3.15 ERA, 97.0 IP, 33 K, 1.27 WHIP) has been the definition of consistency this year, with a quality start in all 12 of his appearances this season, with nine of those lasting eight or nine innings. We’re definitely hoping he can keep this up, as we have him on contract through 1951 when he’ll be 42, and he has a no trade clause, so he’s here as long as he wants to be basically. Today he pitched against Claude Passeau (6-4, 3.09 ERA, 96.0 IP, 27 K, 1.26 WHIP) in a battle of high-control pitching legends, and the duel was in effect from the first moments. But we took the lead in the bottom of the fourth off an RBI triple by Richie Ashburn, and we added on in the fifth with an RBI single from Wally Judnich. In the sixth, Les Moss hit a solo homer, his second of the year, to put us up 3-0, before Washington finally got on the board when Eddie Yost scored off a wild pitch in the top of the seventh. Not ready to let this one become a close fight, we put them to bed in the bottom of the seventh with an RBI single by Judnich, and a two-run single by Ashburn which was aided by an E8 error, giving us a 6-1 advantage heading into the eighth. Jeff Heath hit a two-run homer for Washington in the top of the eighth, his fifth of the year, but it just delayed the inevitable as Leonard shut them down to win 6-3 in yet another complete game victory. He improved to 6-5 with a 3.14 ERA, allowing just four hits and three walks with three strikeouts and three earned runs. We had 11 hits ourselves, ;ed by Judnich (two hits, two walks, a run and two RBIs) and Ashburn (two hits, a walk, a run and two RBIs). Ashburn has hit .393 with a double and two triples in his first eight games, and is rapidly improving at left and right field defensively as he proves his utility value.

We’re off tomorrow and then will hit the road for the next three weeks, with the following games scheduled:

6/13-15: at New York (36-23)
6/17-18: at Boston (26-28, 7.5 GB)
6/20-22: at Washington (27-31, 8.5 GB) -- includes Sunday doubleheader
6/24-25: at Philadelphia (30-28, 5.5 GB)
6/27-29: at Detroit (31-25, 3.5 GB) -- includes Sunday doubleheader

We’ll then spend the last day of June and the first three weeks of July (including the All Star break) playing on our own field. This will be a make-or-break stretch for us, because if we can’t improve our performances on the road in these 16 games, it’s going to be very difficult for us to avoid sliding into the AL basement. But if we can outperform expectations, we’ll be in a strong position for those 20 consecutive home games in July to push us right into the pennant chase. Right now we’re tied with Boston at 26-28, one game up on the Senators, with Chicago (20-37) sitting alone at the bottom, 15 full games out of the conversation well before the season’s midpoint.

jksander · 11-27-2025, 10:44 AM

June 13, 1947: Fred Sanford (2-4, 4.71 ERA, 72.2 IP, 21 K, 1.53 WHIP) got the start in our first game against the Yankees on their field this weekend, facing Joe Page (8-2, 3.06 ERA, 67.2 IP, 37 K, 1.24 WHIP). We’ve been snakebit against the Yankees, having only beaten them once in eight tries, so we went into this one looking to exorcise some demons. But the Yankees took the lead in the bottom of the second with an RBI single by Phil Rizzuto, and our batters continued to look completely overmatched early. We fought hard in the third and fourth innings, however, and in the fifth it finally paid off with a sac-fly by Vern Stephens getting Fred Sanford in to score from third, having been walked in the leadoff spot! With two outs, Jackie Robinson hit one into center to drive Stephens to third, and he took second in the process, giving us two in scoring position! New York then walked Arky Vaughn, and just like that we had ourselves a real chance to do damage. But Joe Schultz popped out to shallow center and we had to settle for the 1-1 tie midway through the inning. And that didn’t last ... Sanford gave up a double to Joe Gordon, a triple to Hank Majeski, and (after a pop-out to right) a double to their pitcher, Page, and just like that we were down two runs and fading fast. Sanford still appeared fresh, just a victim of bad luck, but after he led off in the sixth by letting Yogi Berra homer and then gave Joe DiMaggio a single, we had to bring out Ned Garver. Garver got us thorugh the inning on four pitches, with a pop-out and a 6-4-3 double play, and we loaded the bases in the top of the seventh, getting a run back when Joe Schultz walked one in ... but we couldn’t pile on, going into the stretch still trailing 4-2, and that’s how it stayed in another tough loss. Sanford took the loss, falling to 2-5 with a 4.87 ERA after eight hits, a walk, two strikeouts and four earned runs in his five innings. Garver was solid though with three innings and just a hit, a walk and a strikeout, improving his ERA to 2.97 through 30.1 innings. The Yankees outhit us 9-6, Jackie Robinson leading with two hits and nothing else.

June 14, 1947: Tom Seats (7-4, 3.67 ERA, 83.1 IP, 26 K, 1.50 WHIP) pitched in today’s game, battling Red Munger (7-3, 3.52 ERA, 94.2 IP, 47 K, 1.28 WHIP). In the top of the third, Vern Stephens hit one that nearly left the park over the short porch, but instead caromed off the wall and led to an RBI double! With him on second and Cavarretta on third, they walked Wally Judnich, bringing up Arky Vaughan, who promptly hit one deep into right for a two-RBI single ... now we’re talking! Richie Ashburn hit into a double play to squelch what could have turned this into a rout, but we’d made them notice us. In the top of the seventh Harry Walker hit a solo homer to add on, and Seats completed the shutout as we won this one 4-0! Each team had six hits, ours led by Arky Vaughan who hit three times with two runs batted in. Seats improved to 8-4 with a 3.31 ERA, allowing six hits and a walk with two strikeouts, nobody scoring on him. This was his second six hit, one walk, two strikeout game this season, following our May 27th win against the White Sox!

June 15, 1947: Diomedes Olivo (5-7, 3.64 ERA, 94.0 IP, 45 K, 1.10 WHIP) pitched against Randy Gumpert (5-2, 6 SV, 1.23 ERA, 73.0 IP, 23 K, 0.95 WHIP) in our third game against the Yankees, and it would be really great to steal the series win on our way out the door. We scored first, off a Vern Stephens sac-fly, to go up 1-0 in the top of the first, and Wally Judnich hit an RBI single moments later to add on. We then unleashed on them in the top of the third -- Robinson scored off a groundout by Cavarretta, Harry Walker scored off a wild pitch, and Wally Judnich hit a two-run slam out of left to make it a 6-0 lead! The rout was on ... three more runs scored in the top of the fifth, and Olivo would have had a complete game shutout had it not been for a garbage-time homer by Allie Clark in the botom of the ninth to spoil it. Still, a 9-0 win on the road is a win indeed, and we’ll take it as we hit the road for Boston ahead of tomorrow’s off day. Olivo allowed just five hits, no walks, with five strikeouts and the one earned run as he improved to 6-7 with a 3.41 ERA. Meanwhile, we outslugged them 13-5, led by Judnich, who hit three times for two runs with three more batted in ... he’s now hitting .280 with four doubles, two triples and seven homers, coming alive after a bit of a cold spell in May.

June 17, 1947: Dutch Leonard (6-5, 3.14 ERA, 106.0 IP, 36 K, 1.23 WHIP) got the start in Boston this afternoon, facing Mickey Harris (3-5, 5.80 ERA, 68.1 IP, 37 K, 1.80 WHIP). We dueled it out for four innings, and in the top of the fifth we struck, scoring off a Dutch Leonard RBI single to take the 1-0 lead. Vern Stephens hit a solo homer in the sixth to add on, but Leonard got shelled in the bottom of the eighth, and it happened fast -- Johnny hopp scored off a single by Ted Williams, and then Frank McCormick hit a two-out, three-run homer to put them up 4-2. With two outs in the ninth, runners on first and third, Richie Ashburn came up to the plate and struck out swinging ... there would be no miracle comeback tonight, as we lost the heartbreaker by that same 4-2 margin. Leonard fell to 6-6 with a 3.24 ERA, allowing just seven hits and two walks in his eight inning complete game. But he only struck out two, and that three-run homer killed him. We outhit them 9-7, led by Leonard himself with two hits and an RBI, but sometimes luck plays as much a role in this game as anything else.

June 18, 1947: We moved Amos Watson (1-1, 6 SV, 0.71 ERA, 25.1 IP, 12 K, 0.91 WHIP) into the number three starter spot for today’s game, moving Fred Sanford (2-5, 4.87 ERA) into the bullpen to handle long relief. Watson faced Tex Hughson (4-10, 5.04 ERA, 119.2 IP, 69 K, 1.65 WHIP), and in a hell of a performance, Watson lasted five innings and gave us everything he had while holding on to a scoreless tie. Fred Sanford relieved him in the bottom of the sixth, and he blew the shutout, letting Boston take the lead on a bases loaded walk by their pitcher Hughson. But he got us out of the inning trailing by just the one run, though it took him 34 pitches to do it and he walked every one of his baserunners ... his night was over. But he wouldn’t get the loss! Wally Judnich hit a towering slam over the Green Monster, tying the score with his eighth homer of the year leading off in the seventh, and just like that we had a ballgame. Jack Kramer took the ball in the bottom of the seventh, and with two outs we surrendered the lead when Frank McCormick hit a screaming double into center and Harry Walker made a rare miss when throwing to the cutoff man, letting Ted Williams score all the way from first base. But again we answered, when Vern Stephens hit a clutch bouncing drive into right field with runners on first and second, driving in the tying run with a single ... advancing along with Cavarretta into scoring position when Robinson made the choice to slide in safe at home. In the top of the ninth, with two outs and Vaughan on second, Les Moss pinch-hit for Kramer, but on a full count he popped up to center and kept the score knotted up. So Ned Garver took over needing to get the outs to let our bats have another chance. He lived dangerously, walking Johnny Hopp and Bobby Doerr back to back, but Hank Thompson grounded into a 6-4-3 double play, keeping our hopes alive ... with first baseman Frank McCormick stepping up to the plate with Doerr on third just a few short feet away from breaking our hearts. But he struck out swinging, and this one went on to extras! Alas, that was our last real chance ... our bats stayed quiet in the top of the 10th, and with two outs in the bottom of the inning Mark Christman singled and then Leon Culbertson hit a double off the monster that allowed Christman to score, beating us 3-2 in the process.

That was a tough loss ... Amos Watson pitched brilliantly for five innings, allowing four hits with a strikeout, no runs or walks, improving his ERA to 0.59 through 30.1 innings. Garver wound up with the loss, pitching 1.2 innings with two hits, two walks, a strikeout and the one earned run that mattered. They outhit us just 7-6, in a true ten inning duel, and Jackie Robinson, with three hits and a run scored, was the man who kept our offense firing. It just wasn’t enough.

jksander · 12-12-2025, 06:11 PM

June 20, 1947: Our latest stop is Washington, D.C. to face the Senators, who currently are 29-35, a game and a half behind us at 28-31. Tom Seats (8-4, 3.31 ERA, 92.1 IP, 28 K, 1.43 WHIP) pitched against Leon Day (4-6, 3.50 ERA, 100.1 IP, 58 K, 1.48 WHIP), and though Washington took the lead in the bottom of the second off an Eddie Yost RBI double, we tied it in the top of the third with an RBI triple by Harry Walker, taking the lead moments later off a Cavarretta sac-fly. Wally Judnich hit a homer in the top of the fourth, his ninth of the year, to extend our lead to 3-1 midway through the fourth, but Washington kept it close with an RBI double by Buddy Lewis in the bottom of the fifth to keep our lead at 3-2. Arky Vaughan scored off a single by Ashburn in the top of the eighth to give us a little more breathing room, and Seats held it through the eighth inning though by the end of the frame he was running on fumes after 146 pitches. When our bats couldn’t buy any more insurance, we brought out Amos Watson with a two run lead to protect, and he shut them down one, two, three to complete the game as a 4-2 victory! Seats was phenomenal through eight innings, allowing seven hits with five walks, two rusn and a strikeout. Watson came out of the pen for just 10 pitches to get the outs we needed, earning his seventh save of the year, and we outhit the Senators 11-7, led by Phil Cavarretta with three hits and an RBI.

June 21, 1947: Diomedes Olivo (6-7, 3.41 ERA, 103.0 IP, 50 K, 1.05 WHIP) started our second game against the Senators, facing Ken Heintzelman (1-2, 1 SV, 6.48 ERA, 50.0 IP, 15 K, 1.82 WHIP) on a rainy afternoon. The Senators hit us hard in the bottom of the third, scoring off a Buddy Lewis RBI single and getting two more off a double by Jeff Heath. Olivo couldn’t get a drop of run support, but he was saved from having to finish this one when the game was called in the eighth inning due to water pooling in the outfield from heavy rain ... we lost 4-0, putting up pretty much no fight offensively at all. Olivo took the loss, pitching seven innings with eight hits, two walks, five strikeouts and four earned runs, and they outhit us 8-2, only Cavarretta (with a walk and a hit) looking like he gave much of a damn at all.

So far we’re 3-4 on this road trip, and we’ve got two more games against the Senators tomorrow if the weather will permit. Hopefully we put up more fight than we did today, or we might as well pack it up and head back to St. Louis.

June 22, 1947: We have two days off this week on Monday and Thursday, so we’re sticking with our rotation for this doubleheader day. In game one, Dutch Leonard (6-6, 3.24 ERA, 114.0 IP, 38 K, 1.22 WHIP) pitched against Washington’s Claude Passeau (7-5, 3.15 ERA, 111.1 IP, 31 K, 1.28 WHIP), and we took the lead just minutes in, when Vern Stephens hit a two-run homer out of left! We then blew it open, scoring five more runs in the top of the third including a bases-clearing three-run triple for Richie Ashburn, to hold a 7-0 lead midway through the inning. By the time Washington scored a run in the bottom of the fifth we’d already racked up nine, and Leonard pitched the rest of the way as we vetoed the Senators 13-2! Leonard allowed five hits and two walks with two strikeouts in the game, handing them just two runs (one earned) as he got his ERA to 3.07. We outhit them just 10-5, which made our outright dominance all the more satisfying ... six runs came off of three homers, with Stephens leading the way with two of them -- he led our offense with three hits, a walk, three runs scored and four batted in. But Ashburn made his presence felt as well, with his four runs batted in off a hit and a walk, giving him 18 RBIs so far this year after just 18 major league appearances.

Amos Watson (1-1, 7 SV, 0.57 ERA, 31.1 IP, 13 K, 0.86 WHIP) has been red hot this year, and he got his third start of the season today, facing Leon Day (4-7, 3.59 ERA, 107.2 IP, 65 K, 1.49 WHIP) in the second game of the afternoon. We took the lead in the top of the fourth with a two-run double by Les Moss, but they got on the board with an RBI triple in the bottom of the fifth and Watson was gassed ... it was only his first hit of the game after surrendering two walks in the innings prior. So Fred Sanford took over, no outs, man on third, and Watson would get credit just for four (very solid) innings. With runners on the corners and one out, Sanford gave up the tying run when Mickey Vernon hit into a fielder’s choice and we failed to get the out at home ... and then the Senators took control, Stan Spence hitting a two-run flyball double to put them up 4-2. Sanford struggled to get the last two outs, but eventually got us into the fifth trailing 5-2. Ned Garver took over in the bottom of the fifth and did well for two innings, but he got rocked in the eighth as five more runs were surrendered -- Zoldak came out to get the last out, and then insanity reigned. We were down 10-2 heading into what was expected to be a one-two-three ninth, but our bats had other plans. Robinson took a leadoff walk, and after Harry Walker struck out swinging, Phil Cavarretta singled Robinson to second. Vern Stephens hit an RBI double to score Robinson, Wally Judnich walked, and Arky Vaughan hit an RBI single that scored Cavarretta, driving Stephens and Judnich into scoring position. Stephens scored off a single by Les Moss, cutting their lead to five! Ashburn struck out looking for our second out, but Sam Zoldak singled in Judnich, Jackie Robinson singled in Vaughan, and Harry Walker singled in Moss as the Senators’ lead was down to TWO RUNS! Alas, Cavarretta -- in his second at-bat of the inning -- popped out on a line drive to left and the game ended as a 10-8 loss. Fred Sanford (2-6, 5.08 ERA) was credited with the loss, allowing two hits, two walks and three earned runs in his inning. Watson had a great start through four innings, with just one hit, three walks, three strikeouts and two earned runs, “exploding” his ERA to 1.02. What’s frustrating is we outhit them 17-7 ... but seven of those came in our ninth inning rally. Cavarretta led us with four hits and a run, and Moss added two hits, a walk, a run and three batted in. Too bad Cavarretta didn’t have a fifth hit in him, he had two in scoring position, and a well-placed double could have sent this insane game into extras.

We’re off tomorrow and then will take our 30-33 record to Philly to face the Athletics, who are 36-34 after splitting a doubleheader today with the White Sox. We’ll have two games against them, and then will finish this road trip with four games against Detroit (37-31) including a Sunday doubleheader.

jksander · 12-12-2025, 06:16 PM

June 24, 1947: Tom Seats (9-4, 3.23 ERA, 100.1 IP, 29 K, 1.44 WHIP) pitched against Philly’s Thornton Lee (3-1, 2.83 ERA, 35.0 IP, 15 K, 1.40 WHIP) in our first of two road games, and though Philly started fast, scoring off a groundout by Frankie Crosetti to take the lead in the bottom of the first, we struck back in the fourth -- Richie Ashburn doubled in a run to tie it, Harry Walker hit an RBI single to push us into the lead, and two more runs scored off a Cavarretta double to put us ahead 4-1 midway through the inning. Philly answered quickly with back to back RBI singles from Buddy Rosar and Thornton Lee in the bottom of the inning, but we got a little insurance in the top of the sixth thanks to an RBI double by Jackie Robinson that gave us a two-run cushion. Unfortunately tkey just kept on slugging ... in the bottom of the inning Ferris Fein scored off a bases-loaded walk by Willard Brown, Frankie Crosetti tied it with another walk, and Pete Suder reached on an E6 error, all of these happening with two outs, giving the Athletics a 6-5 lead again. Jack Kramer took over in the bottom of the seventh, still trailing by a run, but our bats were silent the rest of the way and the Athletics beat us by that same 6-5 margin. Seats fell to 9-5 with a 3.47 ERA, allowing just seven hits, but he walked seven players as well, taking full blame for his meltdown in the sixth. We outhit them 9-8, but we’re not a team that can give up six runs and win, and we’re DEFINITELY not a team that can score five runs and then blow the lead. Cavarretta led the offense with three hits, a run and two RBIs.

June 25, 1947: Diomedes Olivo (6-8, 3.52 ERA, 110.0 IP, 55 K, 1.07 WHIP) started today against Philly’s Ted Alexander (5-5, 3.36 ERA, 96.1 IP, 37 K, 1.37 WHIP). It looked early on like yet another game where Olivo would pitch reasonably well and yet lack any run support at all ... Pete Suder put the Athletics on the board with a two-run homer in the bottom of the second, and he batted in a third run in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI double. But in the top of the sixth we got them back, scoring off an RBI double by Wally Judnich, an RBI single by Arky Vaughan and an RBI single from Joe Schultz to tie the score at 3-3. Olivo got us through the bottom of the inning, and then we just SLAMMED them -- we took the lead with an RBI single by Cavarretta, added on with a sac-fly by Wally Judnich, Arky Vaughan scored on a failed fielder’s choice and then Joe Schultz hit a three-run homer to pound a nail in! That gave us a 9-3 lead heading into the stretch, and we piled on three more in the eighth and another in the ninth! Olivo stayed out with his 10-run lead in the bottom of the inning, and we held tough to win 13-3 ... what a win! He threw 135 pitches and allowed just seven hits and five walks, striking out four and letting them have the three runs. Meanwhile, we outhit them 17-7, led by Cavarretta with four hits, three runs and an RBI and by Wally Judnich, who had two hits for two runs and five RBIs including his 10th homer of the season!

Cleveland has now overtaken the Yankees for the AL lead, with a 41-29 record! Since the huge trade for Max Lanier on May 21st, just a little over a month ago, Lanier has gone 6-1 with a 1.33 ERA, putting up nearly two games of WAR for the Guardians, and they’ve gone 26-11 as a TEAM during that stretch ... the Cardinals made their bet on the farm, and are still 35-35, but in the short term Cleveland is dominating because of that shrewd move. If the Cardinals manage to win multiple titles with their deep farm they may end up being able to get folks to reassess early harsh judgments (and if Lanier doesn’t pitch at this level for years, Cleveland may take a hit), but right now the press here in St. Louis has been vicious in their critiques of a team that they see as having sold their chance at championships now by trading Lanier at age 31.

June 27, 1947: Dutch Leonard (7-6, 3.07 ERA, 123.0 IP, 40 K, 1.19 WHIP) pitched against Detroit tonight in front of around 20,000 fans, facing Fred Hutchinson (6-7, 3.23 ERA, 114.1 IP, 60 K, 1.34 WHIP). We didn’t start out great, spotting them a 2-0 lead after the first inning when Hank Greenburg batted in a pair with a flyball double into left. But Wally Judnich hit a homer in the second to get us on the board, and in the top of the third we really came to life -- Wally Moses scored the tying run off a single by Harry Walker, Phil Cavarretta hit a two-run single to put us ahead, and he would go on to score off a single by Judnich to give us a 5-2 lead midway through the inning. We tacked on two more in the top of the ninth when Cavarretta hit an RBI single to score Robinson and Walker, and Leonard shut them down from there as we won easily 7-2! He allowed just five hits with two walks, two strikeouts and two earned runs, and we outhit the Tigers 9-5, led by Cavarretta’s two hits, a walk, a run and four batted in.

June 28, 1947: Tom Seats (9-5, 3.47 ERA, 106.1 IP, 31 K, 1.49 WHIP) challenged Preacher Roe (7-4, 2.84 ERA, 104.2 IP, 44 K, 1.18 WHIP) in game two of the four-game series, and we were dominant from the start. Vern Stephens hit an RBI double that scored our first run of the game in the top of the first inning, an Arky Vaughan sac-fly scored another, this one by Cavarretta, and we had Seats set up pretty well after just ten minutes of action. But it’s never that easy ... they got on the board in the bottom of the inning with a sac-fly by Hank Greenberg, and Billy Johnson tied it with an RBI single. We retook the lead in the top of the fourth with a solo homer by Richie Ashburn, his first as a big leaguer, and Jackie Robinson doubled to start the sixth inning, and he stole third to get into quick position to score, his second stolen base of the game! He would go on to score off a Wally Moses sac-fly to extend our lead to two, but Detroit fought back, scoring with a leadoff homer by Eddie Lake and tying the score when Billy Johnson reached safely on an E5 error that allowed Roy Cullenbine to score from third. Jack Kramer took the ball to start the bottom of the seventh still knotted 4-4, and in the eighth inning Robinson was again aggressive ... he hit a double to lead off and again managed to baffle their defense by stealing third ... he’s got LEGS! ... and Arky Vaughan drove him in to score with a sac-fly to left that put us back into the lead. We brought out Amos Watson to “close” in the ninth, still up by just the one run, and he shut them down nicely as we held on to the 5-4 win! Tomorrow’s a doubleheader, so that one really feels good. Kramer pitched two innings with just one hit, earning the win as he improved to 4-2 with a 3.53 ERA, while Watson saved his eighth game of the year and got his ERA back under 1.00 through 36.1 innings. They outhit us 10-7, but we won this one with strong baserunning by Robinson, who led the team with three hits and two runs scored off his three stolen bases ... which gives him 10 on the season, which ties him for first in the majors with Cincinnati’s Earl Torgeson! Robinson has the speed to destroy teams on the bases, but has yet to show killer instincts until tonight. Here’s hoping this is a sign he’s gaining confidence!

June 29, 1947: Though the Yankees (44-31) and Guardians (43-29) have dominated the league so far, teams in the middle of the standings have yet to break away from the pack, so we’re currently one of four teams that are currently within 2.5 games of third place. We’re also on a three-game winning streak, and if we can keep it up today, we’re heading into a sweet stretch with ten games in a row at home heading into the All Star break. Of course, including today, that stretch contains FOUR doubleheaders in an eight day span, so we know our pitching’s going to get a workout, and if we’re going to get back above .500 and fight for a spot in the pennant chase, we’re going to need skill and a ton of luck to fall on our side.

For the week we’re switching to a five-man rotation, and since Watson pitched last night, we’re starting Fred Sanford (2-6, 5.08 ERA, 79.2 IP, 23 K, 1.59 WHIP) in his place for game one, and he’s facing Virgil Trucks (8-3, 3.40 ERA, 100.2 IP, 53 K, 1.26 WHIP). We got on the board in the top of the fourth when Vern Stephens hit a two-out solo homer to put us up 1-0! But Sanford struggled in the fifth, a problem he’s had all season, giving up a single to Billy Johnson and then an RBI double to Eddie Mayo to tie the score without an out. But he got us out of the inning without any more fireworks. But he was denied the lead when we stranded runners on the corners in the sixth, and he had to give the ball to Ned Garver as we came up in the bottom of the frame. Jackie Robinson played the hero again in the eighth, hitting a one-out solo homer over the wall in left to put us back up a run, and then Detroit played a dangerous game, loading the bases on two outs to give us a chance to really break this one open. But they escaped with our lead just at one run when Vaughan popped out harmlessly to right. We brought out Amos Watson in the bottom of the inning and he was dominant through the last two innings as we again held tough to a one-run win, this time 2-1. After a solid start by Sanford, five innings with five hits, a strikeout and the one earned run, our bullpen combined for four innings of hitless baseball ... Garver got the win with two innings and one strikeout, improving to 2-4 with a 3.93 ERA, and Watson saved his ninth game with two innings and two strikeouts, walking one. We outhit the Tigers 6-5 in a real duel, Jackie Robinson’s back-breaking homer leading the way.

And to think, we had to follow that with another game ... fans on both sides getting the win in that one. Diomedes Olivo (7-8, 3.48 ERA, 119.0 IP, 59 K, 1.09 WHIP) pitched in the game, facing Art Houtteman (4-3, 1 SV, 3.65 ERA, 69.0 IP, 33 K, 1.54 WHIP) as we attempted the four-game series sweep. We loaded the bases in the top of the second, and Olivo bought himself the lead when he walked in the game’s first run, though Robinson struck out swinging to keep us from blowing it open. We added on in the fifth when Robinson doubled and then came home off a double by Harry Walker, who stole third but was stranded there as we went into the bottom of the inning leading 2-0. Olivo lost his no-hitter in the bottom of the fifth off a single by Eddie Mayo, and we lost the shutout a few moments later when, with two outs, Eddie Lake hit a single into right that drove in Birdie Tebbetts for a score. And that’s when our luck crumbled, as Roy Cullenbine slammed a three-run rock out of center to give the Tigers a 4-2 lead. Jack Kramer took over for a shellshocked Olivo to start the bottom of the sixth inning, and Sam Zoldak got the ball in the eighth, still trailing by a pair. In the top of the ninth, with one out, pinch-hitter Bob Dillinger got on base with a walk, but we had no rally left in us as we lost this one 4-2, snapping our winning streak and dropping back to just shy of .500, at 34-35. Olivo took the loss and fell to 7-9, allowing four hits, three walks and four runs with three strikeouts, but it was yet another duel ... they only outhit us 6-5, and it was the three-run homer by Cullenbine that left us wounded. Robinson and Walker each had a stolen base, and Ashburn led the way with two hits and a walk, Robinson and Vaughan scoring our only runs.

We’ll return home to play Cleveland (44-30) for two games, and we won’t hit the road again until the 22nd of July, two weeks after the All Star game. But Cleveland is tied with the Yankees for the lead in the AL so they’ll be no easy team to beat -- though at least we won’t face Lanier, who is on pace to win 25 games this year, as he threw 139 pitches today in a 4-2 win over the White Sox.

Our upcoming schedule:

6/30-7/1: Cleveland Guardians (44-30)
7/2, 7/4: Chicago White Sox (27-49) -- both are doubleheaders due to a rain rescheduling
7/5-6: Detroit Tigers (39-35) -- includes a Sunday doubleheader
7/8: MLB All Star Game
7/10-12: New York Yankees (45-31)
7/13: Washington Senators (32-42) -- a Sunday doubleheader
7/15-17: Philadelphia Athletics (38-39)
7/18-20: Boston Red Sox (38-36) -- includes a Sunday doubleheader

jksander · 12-12-2025, 06:38 PM

To anyone reading these writeups, I salute you This one has been slower to develop than previous ones, because I'm working full time now, but I'm really enjoying it.

jksander · 12-18-2025, 08:46 AM

June 30, 1947: We arrived in St. Louis to find it raining off and on, but with so many doubleheaders upcoming, it was decided that the game should go on. Dutch Leonard (8-6, 3.00 ERA, 132.0 IP, 42 K, 1.16 WHIP) was unfazed as he took on Steve Gromek (8-3, 2.16 ERA, 104.1 IP, 28 K, 1.18 WHIP) as we got going late in the evening, but it was Cleveland who took the first lead of the game when, in the top of the second, Sherm Lollar hit a sac-fly to drive home Hank Edwards. They added on moments later with an RBI single by Piper Davis, so we went into the bottom of the inning trailing by the early pair. They added a run in the seventh, going into the stretch leading 3-0 thanks to an RBI single by Whitey Kurowski, and our offense never really did much worth talking about. They went on to add another in the top of the ninth and shut us out 4-0 ... and with four games in the next two days (and six over the next four) we’ve got to find some offensive momentum or we risk this homestand starting out incredibly poorly. Leonard took the loss but pitched a complete game, allowing 10 hits and striking out three with four earned runs. But we were outhit 10-6, and none of our baserunners accomplished anything ... most notably, Jackie Robinson only got on base once, stole two bases to get into scoring position when he did, and then we left him there to rot. That’s not a recipe for winning games.

Diomedes Olivo won Rookie of the Month for June, making seven starts with a 3.18 ERA, putting up a 4-3 record while allowing teams to hit just .213 against him. So far this year he’s put up 2.1 wins above replacement in the season’s first three months, throwing 124 innings with a 3.63 ERA and a 7-9 overall record.

July 1, 1947: Tom Seats (9-5, 3.53 ERA, 112.1 IP, 33 K, 1.50 WHIP) pitched for us today, facing Jim Bennett (4-7, 5.38 ERA, 98.2 IP, 28 K, 1.57 WHIP). We took the lead quickly over Cleveland in the bottom of the first inning, thanks to back to back homers from Vern Stephens (scoring two runs) and Wally Judnich to give us a quick 3-0 advantage. Cleveland got on the board in the top of the second with a homer by Babe Young, but we hammered them in the bottom of the inning, loading the bases and scoring off a fielder’s choice, a wild pitch, and a two RBI double by Judnich to extend our lead to 7-1. We traded runs from there, but held our ground nicely as Seats pitched himself a complete game seven-hitter, our boys beating them soundly 9-3. Seats gave up three earned runs and only struck out one batter, but we outhit them 14-7 and he easily won his 10th game of the season. Vern Stephens was four for four with a walk, two runs and four more batted in as he led the way offensively, with Jackie Robinson adding three hits and three runs and Judnich hit twice with a run and three batted in as well.

Chicago (28-50) comes into town next for doubleheaders tomorrow and on the fourth, and then we’ll face three games in two days over the weekend against Detroit (40-36) before getting a reset for the All Star festivities. With seven games in five days, everybody’s going to get a workout, and we’re going to see what this staff is truly made of.

July 2, 1947: Amos Watson (1-1, 9 SV, 0.94 ERA, 38.1 IP, 18 K, 0.83 WHIP) pitched game one for us against the White Sox, and we again took the lead in the bottom of the first, Robinson scoring off a Vern Stephens RBI single. Chicago answered quickly with an RBI single by Tommy Butts in the top of the second, and they took the lead in the top of the fourth off a groundout by Taffy Wright. Sam Zoldak took the ball from Watson in the top of the sixth with the lead unchanged. In the bottom of the seventh, with two outs and Arky Vaughan on first, Richie Ashburn hit a line drive double into deep center that drove Vaughan around to score the tying run! Zoldak got us through the eighth safely, and when our bats didn’t buy a lead in the bottom of the inning, he got us through the ninth as well in a stirring display of bullpen dominance. Judnich walked to start the bottom of the inning, reaching second on a wild pitch that game two outs later as Richie Ashburn tried to will us to another win. He wound up walking, and Sam Zoldak pulled off the hit and run, both runners advancing as he took first to load the bases! That brought up Jackie Robinson with two outs, bases loaded, and a chance to walk it off. Unfortunately he popped out to right and this one went into extra innings. Jack Kramer took the ball from Zoldak, immediately letting pinch hitter Wally Platt take a double into deep center ... Zoldak’s gonna wish we let him stay in for a fifth inning, because after a walk, Luis Olmo hit a two-run double and just like that our game was in complete disarray. Kramer was an absolute mess out there, to the point where Ned Garver had to take over with two outs, men on first and second, and the score 5-2 in Chicago’s favor. Garver got the strikeout we needed, but only after giving up one of Kramer’s runs ... we went into the bottom of the 10th trailing by four, but we rallied and loaded the bases on one out in the bottom of the inning, and pinch hitter Dick Whitman hit a sac-fly to drive in a run that cut our deficit to three runs. Les Moss walked the bases loaded again, but there was no miracle for Richie Ashburn this afternoon as he popped out harmlessly and we lost 6-3. Kramer (4-3, 4.11 ERA) took the loss with two outs against four hits, a walk and four earned runs, and Chicago outhit us 9-8. Phil Cavarretta had two hits, while Ashburn hit once, walked twice, and drove in one of our three runs.

We still had a second game to play, and Fred Sanford (2-6, 4.89 ERA, 84.2 IP, 24 K, 1.56 WHIP) was the man of the hour, going up against Ray Prim (3-9, 3.45 ERA, 109.2 IP, 32 K, 1.35 WHIP). And he was on fire early, pitching five innings with just two hits against him, our guys getting the lead in the bottom of the fifth off an RBI single for Bob Dillinger! We added a run in the sixth off a Joe Schultz RBI double, and Ned Garver took the ball in the eighth with a two-run lead. He was great in the eighth but melted down in the ninth, giving up a solo bomb to Dave Philley, letting them tie us off a single by Fred Lombardi, and then walking George McQuinn to give them the damned lead, and we had nothing left in the tank, losing this one 3-2. What a brutal doubleheader. Garver blew his second save of the year and lost with three hits, three walks and three runs in his two innings, and though we outhit them 8-7, none came when it counted. Vern Stephens was our only offensive force, with three hits and a run scored.

July 4, 1947: Our home stand has not started as we’d hoped, with a 1-3 run so far against Cleveland and the White Sox. But we remain in contention, at 35-38, 9.5 games out of first with four teams in the middle of the pack who are within three games or so of each other. We just need to play with confidence, and build on the big improvements we’ve already made over last year’s mess of a season. I’d still love to put together a blockbuster trade that turns us into instant World Series hopefuls, but the smart move is to bide our time and just keep building our young team’s confidence.

Diomedes Olivo (7-9, 3.60 ERA, 124.0 IP, 62 K, 1.10 WHIP) has done well for us this year, coming in to the league in his late 20s with loads of expections riding on his status as a second round pick. Today he pitched game one against Chicago’s Ed Lopat (4-7, 3.81 ERA, 101.2 IP, 42 K, 1.24 WHIP) and our first three batters of the game hit safely, including Vern Stephens, whose RBI single put us into the lead with no outs in the bottom of the first. Jackie Robinson hit an RBI single to drive in another, he and Stephens pulled off a double steal, and Arky Vaughan laid down a perfect drive down the left field line, driving them both home ... happy birthday, America! Joe Schultz hit one into right to drive in our fifth run, before Chicago finally got its act together and got three quick outs off a double play and a grounder to go into the second inning trailing us 5-0. The game, from there, became a series of offensive showcases as we traded runs through the fourth inning, building an 8-3 advantage. Chicago kept it close in the fifth with a two-run Minnie Minoso homer, but Jackie Robinson hit an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth inning (his third hit of the game) and Al Javery took over in the top of the seventh with a 9-5 advantage. He hadn’t pitched since early June, but he acquitted himself nicely in the seventh, with three quick outs, and he did it again in the eighth. With the lead still at four runs and a second game still to be played, we kept him in for the ninth ... with two outs and a man on third Minoso hit a two-run homer to cut our lead to two, and Ernie Lombardi hit a single to force our hand; Sam Zoldak came out and got the groundout we needed to seal the deal on the victory, 9-7 -- lovers of offense rejoiced, but I hoped dearly that we’d be able to get through the second game with fewer fireworks from our opponent. Olivo got the win with six innings and six hits, walking four with three strikeouts and five earned runs. Zoldak got his second save of the year off just six pitches, but I was definitely impressed with Javery’s poise during his 2.2 innings -- three hits, one walk and two runs against him. We asked too much from him by keeping him out in the ninth, save situation or not. Thankfully our bats helped us outhit Chicago 13-9, with Robinson (three hits, a run and three RBIs) and Stephens (three hits, a walk, two runs and two RBIs) keeping us ahead of them all the way.

Dutch Leonard (8-7, 3.06 ERA, 141.0 IP, 45 K, 1.16 WHIP) pitched game two for us agianst Frank Papish (0-4, 5.66 ERA, 35.0 IP, 13 K, 1.74 WHIP), and we found ourselves mired in a real pitching duel early on, neither team’s offense able to get any foothold after the early game’s fireworks. But when we broke through in the bottom of the fifth it was in a big way ... Les Moss scored off an RBI single by Leonard to give us the lead, Vern Stephens hit a sac-fly that scored Richie Ashburn from third, and then Jackie Robinson hit a two-run double down the right field line to put us ahead 4-0! Leonard pitched around a leadoff triple by Eddie Joost in the sixth, stranding him as we held the shutout, and we bought insurance in the eighth with an RBI double by Arky Vaughan and an RBI single by Les Moss to lead by six heading into the final frame. Leonard finished what he started and we held firm to the 6-0 shutout victory. We only outhit them 9-8, but Robinson was solid as ever, with three hits, a run and two RBIs, helping set the table as Leonard won his ninth game of the year, a complete game eight-hitter with two strikeouts and no free passes.

July 5, 1947: Tom Seats (10-5, 3.49 ERA, 121.1 IP, 34 K, 1.44 WHIP) got the start in our first game against the Tigers, going up against Hal Newhouser (10-4, 3.19 ERA, 155.1 IP, 113 K, 1.31 WHIP), their 26-year-old firebombing ace. We took the lead in the bottom of the second with an RBI single off Richie Ashburn’s bat, but they got the run back in the top of the sixth when Eddie Lake had a single that was aided by an E9 error, allowing their pitcher to come around and score. We didn’t flinch, however, as Ashburn got the lead back for us with an RBI single, which Bob Dillinger followed with a single of his own that brought home two more runs to give us a 4-1 lead heading into the seventh inning! They led off with a solo homer from Hoot Evers in the top of the seventh, cutting our lead to two, and they got another when Newhouser hit a sac-fly that scored Billy Johnson. But Seats got us out of the inning with the lead still safe at 4-3. Ned Garver took the ball with one out and Ray Cullenbine on second in the top of the eighth, and he immediately gave up the tying run to Hank Greenberg with a single into left. With two outs the wheels fell off when Eddie Mayo tripled in two more to put them firmly into the lead, giving us real work to do on offense if we were going to salvage the game. With two outs in the bottom of the eighth Harry Walker came in as a pinch hitter, hitting a bloop single into right and then, with Bob Dillinger at the plate, stole second off a called strike and third off another ... but Dillinger hit one to short and ended the rally attempt. Jack Kramer came out to pitch in the ninth, letting them add on another run before getting the final out, and our bats had no answer as we dropped this one 7-4. Seats was phenomenal as usual, pitching 7.1 innings with seven hits, a walk and two strikeouts, but earned runs (four of them) doomed him, even accounting for the one that was surrendered by Garver. Each team hit 11 times, Ashburn leading our team with two hits a run and two RBIs ... we just couldn’t capitalize on the chance we had in the eighth to turn the tide.

All Star team announcements came out late this evening, and we had our share of winners. Dutch Leonard and Amos Watson will represent us, both as starters (I was surprised to see Watson not as a reliever ... I guess he’s convinced voters he can handle the spotlight! Wally Judnich won the fan vote and will represent us at first base, and Jackie Robinson made the cut at second base. Vern Stephens rounded out the bunch and will play third base during the annual showcase. Considering we’re in sixth place in the league, getting five players on the All Star rosters is a really good sign that people are noticing what our players have been accomplishing for a team that in the past has been a league doormat.

Richie Ashburn remains the #8 prospect in all of baseball according to the Sporting News, and though he’s put up more than a game of WAR since debuting 28 games ago, he’s still relatively unknown to the voters at large. I suspect he’ll be a perennial All Star before long at all, once he adjusts to the rigors of playing center field in the big leagues.

July 6, 1947: The All Star game’s just two days away, but today our focus is on the doubleheader we face against the Tigers as we hope to go into the break with some momentum on our side. Amos Watson (1-1, 9 SV, 1.25 ERA, 43.1 IP, 19 K, 0.85 WHIP) started against Preacher Roe (7-5, 3.19 ERA, 118.2 IP, 53 K, 1.26 WHIP) in game one, and we took the lead in the bottom of the first off a sac-fly by Vern Stephens. Jackie Robinson added an RBI triple in the third to score Cavarretta, and Richie Ashburn grounded out to score Joe Schultz in the fourth to add on. Hank Greenberg got Detroit on the board in the fifth with a solo homer, and Sam Zoldak took over for us in the top of the sixth, leading 3-1. Detroit got another run back with a double by Greenberg in the top of the seventh, and a two-run homer immediately after by Hoot Evers put them back into the lead 4-3. But we came out of the stretch ready to fight ... Ashburn walked, took second on a sac-bunt by Zoldak, and then Phil Cavarretta hit a towering two-runner out of left to put us back up 5-4! But Zoldak blew it again in the bottom of the inning, Ray Cullenbine hitting an RBI double to tie it up again, putting pressure on our bats once again to deliver. Jack Kramer took the mound in the ninth, still tied at five-all, and they took the lead off a sac-fly by Dick Wakefield. We went down one, two, three in the bottom of the inning, losing this one 6-5. Zoldak blew his fourth save and Kramer took his fourth loss despite our outhitting them 12-10. Cavarretta hit three times with two runs and two RBIs, but our bullpen kept giving up runs and we don’t have the power to sustain repeated comebacks ... it just wasn’t in the cards, especially with a second game yet to be played.

Fred Sanford (2-6, 4.52 ERA, 91.2 IP, 31 K, 1.51 WHIP) pitched game two against Virgil Trucks (8-4, 3.60 ERA, 115.0 IP, 63 K, 1.29 WHIP), and we got him a lead in the bottom of the first with a two-run homer by Vern Stephens. Incredibly, we blew them out in the second, adding a two-run single by Harry Walker, an RBI double for Phil Cavarretta, an RBI single by Stephens, and an RBI single by Arky Vaughan, sending us into the third inning leading 7-0! It didn’t stay a shutout for long ... they scored two each in the third and fourth, adding a run in the fifth after we’d gotten two of those back, so this one quickly turned into a shootout on both sides. But we held our lead, and by the time Al Javery came out to pitch in the eighth inning we still were ahead 9-5 and looking solid. But he quickly got into trouble -- Vic Wertz hit a sac-fly to get one run back, and Barney McCosky hit an RBI single to gain back another, both coming on two outs. With runners on first and second we went to Ned Garver, who advanced both runners off a wild pitch but then got the out we needed to avert the crisis. Les Moss hit an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth to get us into double figures scoring, and Garver got us the rest of the way as we held tough to win a slugfest 10-7. Sanford got the win, pitching seven innings with six hits, three walks, three strikeouts and five runs, three of them earned. We outhit them 11-10, and Garver held firm with his second save of the season, getting through the last four outs with just one hit. Vern Stephens was unflappable, hitting three times with three runs and three RBIs, and Wally Judnich scored a run thanks to FOUR WALKS ... he never hit in the game but he made things happen regardless.

We’ll go into the All Star break with a 38-40 record, 9.5 games out of first as we sit in sixth place -- half a game behind Philly, 5.5 games up on Washington. The Yankees lead the division at 49-32, 2.5 games up on Cleveland and 5.5 up on Detroit ... we still have room to make waves in the league, and if we can get our heads on right as we come back from the break, a top half finish isn’t out of the question. But getting to .500 and above is not assured if we can’t find a way to become more consistent.

Pelican · 02-19-2026, 09:44 PM

Really enjoying this. I have a sim in progress using the 1946 Season as the moment the color line broke plus more free agency and the PCL becoming a third major league. Many of the same stars.

11-09-2025, 05:11 PM	#21
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,816	May 4, 1947: I’ve decided to drop Stan Ferens to AAA to make room for Amos Watson, who in seven games at the AAA level since we poached him from the NeL has picked up four saves in nine innings, with six hits and three walks against him for two earned runs. We’ve got a doubleheader today against Boston, Dutch Leonard (2-2, 2.31 ERA, 35.0 IP, 11 K, 0.94 WHIP) getting his normal start on four-days’ rest, against Boston’s Mickey Harris (0-2, 2.95 ERA, 21.1 IP, 19 K, 1.41 WHIP) in the day’s first game. We were quick to strike, Dillinger and Walker scoring off a one-out triple that followed one by leadoff man Dillinger earlier in the first inning. Arky Vaughn singled in a third run and we were off to the races. Vaughn singled in another run in the bottom of the fifth to extend our lead to four, and Dutch Leonard stayed out there to complete the 4-0 shutout as Boston’s slide continued. Leonard allowed six hits and three walks, striking out four as he held his ground, and we had nine hits ourselves, led by Vaughn who had three hits and two runs batted in. Fred Sanford would have been up in the rotation, but he’s on three days rest, so we’re going with a bullpen start from Jack Kramer (1-1, 5.40 ERA, 15.0 IP, 7 K, 1.40 WHIP) who threw 22 pitches three days ago without getting an out ... so he definitely wanted to show a better side of his skills today. He did very well early, blanking Boston for four straight, and in the bottom of the fourth inning our offense struck gold, scoring off an RBI double from Judnich and RBI singles from Moses, Moss and Kramer to put us up 4-0 quite quickly. Boston got on the board in the top of the sixth with an RBI single by Ted Williams, but we got it back in the bottom of the inning off another RBI single by our pitcher to keep us in the lead by four. We went to the bullpen in the top of the seventh, bringing out the rookie Amos Watson, who stranded a pair as we went into the stretch leading 5-1. My original plan had been to bring out Zoldak in the eighth, but in the bottom of the seventh we got an RBI double from Stephens, an RBI single from Judnich and an RBI double from Vaughn to blow our lead up to seven runs ... so we let Watson stay out and keep working. Boston got a garbage-time run back in the ninth with two outs, but Watson struck out Johnny Hopp looking as we won this one 8-2. Kramer improved to 2-1 with a 4.29 ERA, lasting six innings with four hits, three walks, five strikeouts and an earned run, and Watson finished his first bullpen apperance with four hits, a walk, two strikeouts and an earned run in three innings, picking up a save in the process as he threw 47 pitches and earned a 3.00 ERA. We outhit Boston 13-8, led by Kramer, who in addition to his six solid innings on the mound finished with three hits and two runs batted in, while Wally Judnich added two hits, two runs and two RBIs. May 6, 1947: Fred Sanford (0-1, 3.80 ERA, 21.1 IP, 9 K, 1.22 WHIP) got his start in game three against the Red Sox after our day to rest, challenging Red Sox starter Dave Ferriss (0-2, 7.45 ERA, 19.1 IP, 9 K, 2.22 WHIP) as Boston tries to find a way, ANY way, to eke out a win. They drew first blood in the top of the first with an RBI single from Frank McCormick, but this game was a rout pretty much from the moment they started pitching ... Jackie Robinson led off with a solo homer, Wally Judnich hit a three-run triple and then scored off a groundout by Vaughn, and with the bases loaded Harry Walker hit an RBI single that scored two more to give us a huge 7-1 lead after just one inning. Ferriss stayed out for a couple clean innings, but we added on with an RBI single from Judnich in the fourth, Boston not scoring again until Dom Dimaggio hit a sac-fly in the top of the sixth to cut our lead back to six. Robinson hit a sac-fly to get that run back in the bottom of the seventh, Sam Zoldak taking the ball in the eighth and easing us through the finish of a 9-3 victory. Sanford improved to 1-1 with a 3.49 ERA, allowing just six hits and three walks with a three strikeouts and two earned runs, and we outhit Boston just 11-9, though we had a double, a triple and a homer that helped create quick separation. Wally Judnich led the way with three hits, a run and four RBIs, and he’s now batting .400 through his first 50 at-bats! We’re going to host the Philadelphia Athletics (12-9) for a pair of games over the next two days, and they trail us by two games with New York (12-10) sitting two and a half back while Cleveland (10-9) and Washington (11-10) are three out. This will be our first time facing the A’s, who are coming off a three-game losing streak against the White Sox, who are now a game up on the Red Sox who have lost seven straight. Our +37 run differential leads both leagues by a wide margin, but Philly has the best record in one-run games outside ours in the American League,so we’re expecting to get plenty of fight from them. May 7, 1947: Tom Seats (4-0, 2.17 ERA, 29.0 IP, 10 K, 1.34 WHIP) has been surprisingly strong all year from the #4 spot in our rotation, the 36-year-old proving to have great control over his pitches. Today he took on Ted Alexander (2-1, 3.00 ERA, 27.0 IP, 8 K, 1.52 WHIP), and we gave him a lead from the bottom of the first when a Vern Stephens RBI double gave us a 1-0 advantage. But Philly got it back quickly thanks to a Buddy Rosar RBI single in the top of the second, and they hit Seats hard in the third, when George Kell hit a three-run homer to put Philly ahead 4-1. Our bats took the night off from there, and we trailed 5-1 when Amos Watson took the ball in the top of the seventh, and Jack Kramer took over in the ninth with nothing changed. But we showed signs of life in the bottom of the inning, loading the bases with one out, and with two outs Kramer himself walked in a run to get us back within three, with Robinson coming up with his power bat. They were having none of that, however, walking him on five pitches to get us within two ... but Harry Walker struck out swinging and we fell to the A’s by a 5-3 margin. Seats took his first loss, falling to 4-1 with a 3.09 ERA, lasting six innings with eight hits and a strikeout, but he gave up all five of our runs doing it. Philly outhit us 9-4, and though we had six walks while our pitching gave up no such free passes, it wasn’t enough to get us the win. Vern Stephens led the way with a hit, a walk, a run and an RBI. May 8, 1947: Diomedes Olivo (2-2, 3.28 ERA, 35.2 IP, 17 K, 1.12 WHIP) started against Murry Dickson (1-1, 3.92 ERA, 20.2 IP, 7 K, 1.60 WHIP) in the second game of the two-game set, and while he’s pitched three complete games and had four quality starts, Olivo comes into this one after his extreme letdown against Washington, so we wanted to see him get control on the mound quickly. Unfortunately, the A’s got the lead quickly in the top of the second off a pair of groundouts by Pete Suder and Buddy Rosar, but Olivo kept grinding inning after inning, until we finally got on the board ourselves, Wally Judnich scoring off a passed ball in the bottom of the seventh to get within a run. In the bottom of the ninth, on one out, Vern Stephens picked up just the fifth hit of the game for us and got on base, and Wally Judnich walked him into scoring position just moments later, bringing our fans to their feet. But we got our second out when Vern Stephens was caught stealing third on a run and hit, Arky Vaughn swinging and missing hard, and Vaughn popped up hard to center moments later to end our chances as we lost another tough one 2-1. Olivo fell to 2-3 despite a complete game four-hitter, with a walk, two strikeouts and the two earned runs against him. We outhit the A’s 5-4, out-walking them 3-1, but it wasn’t enough as we stranded too many of our runners (the caught stealing by Stephens proved quite costly). Robinson led the way with two hits, but got nowhere. We dropped into second, tied with the A’s now at 14-9, with three games left in this homestand as Cleveland (10-11, 3 GB) comes into town sitting in fifth place. We really need a good stretch of games from this series, because we’ll be on the road for the remainder of the month, including two games in New York, three against Boston, three in Philly, one against Washington, three against Cleveland, two against the White Sox and a doubleheader on the 31st against Detroit. And none of them are going to give us easy turns on their fields. __________________ "Goodbye To 'The Mack'": The 1916 A's In Peril -- An OOTP 27 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

11-17-2025, 04:50 PM	#22
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,816	May 9, 1947: Dutch Leonard (3-2, 1.84 ERA, 44.0 IP, 15 K, 0.95 WHIP) has been red hot in his first five starts, pitching four complete games since the eight inning loss he took when we pulled him for a bullpen arm against Detroit back on April 16th. He’s on five days’ rest heading into this one after throwing 135 pitches in his last game, and he was ready to go against Cleveland’s Bob Feller (2-2, 3.08 ERA, 38.0 IP, 30 K, 1.26 WHIP), a matchup that had pitching duel written all over it, Feller’s stuff against Leonard’s control and impeccable ball movement. We took the lead in the bottom of the second with an RBI single by Wally Moses, and in the bottom of the seventh we bought a ton of insurance for Leonard, thanks to an RBI single for Robinson and a two-run single for Cavarretta as we blew the lead up to four runs. That was more than enough for Leonard, who would have won it with the one run in the second ... we beat them 4-0 in a complete-game shutout for the 38-year-old legend, who allowed just seven hits with four walks and three strikeouts in a dominating performance. We outhit them 9-7, led by Cavarretta with a hit, a walk and two RBIs. May 10, 1947: Fred Sanford (1-1, 3.49 ERA, 28.1 IP, 12 K, 1.24 WHIP) pitched against Mort Cooper (1-2, 5.22 ERA, 29.1 IP, 11 K, 1.43 WHIP) in game two against the Guardians. We traded runs in the first three innings, but in the bottom of the fourth an error allowed Cavarretta to tie the score on a missed pickoff play, and Wally Moses followed that with an RBI double to give us a 3-2 lead, our first of the game. Emboldened, we added on with a two-run double by Stephens in the fifth, and Amos Watson took over in the top of the eighth still leading 5-2. He stranded four runners across the final two innings, nobody scoring, and was able to hold tough to the 5-2 win! Sanford improved to 2-1 with a seven inning 10 hit game, walking two and striking out three with two earned runs. Watson then earned his second multi-inning save, with no hits and a strikeout, but he walked four batters to keep himself in a precarious position ... his ERA is now 1.29 through seven innings, and if he can keep his walks down he’s going to be a strong bullpen arm for us all year. Cleveland outhit us 10-7, but we prevailed thanks in no small part to Vern Stephens, who hit three times with two runs and three more batted in, giving him a .320 average and 25 RBIs through his first 25 starts of the year. May 11, 1947: Tom Seats (4-1, 3.09 ERA, 35.0 IP, 11 K, 1.34 WHIP) started our final game against Cleveland as we looked for the sweep against Bob Lemon (3-0, 2.49 ERA, 25.1 IP, 4 K, 1.03 WHIP) who has won all three of his starts this season. The Guardians got out to a quick start with a pair of runs in the top of the first, both coming off an RBI double by Ken Keltner, and the game went back and forth until we got completely reamed in the top of the sixth. We went into the inning trailing 3-2, but the Guardians quickly turned a one-run game into a 7-2 beatdown with two outs and two men on. Jack Kramer pitched 3.1 innings for us in a lost cause, as we got stomped back to earth in this one 8-2. Seats took his second loss in a row, falling to 4-2 with a 4.20 ERA after allowing 11 hits and seven earned runs with four walks and two strikeouts in his 5.2 innings. Cleveland outhit us 13-10, our team led by Phil Cavarretta who hit three times to nowhere, while Wally Judnich added two hits, a walk and an RBI. May 13, 1947: It’s time to hit the road ... where the Yankees (15-12) will be our next opponent for a pair at Yankee Stadium. We’ll play our next sixteen games on the road, visiting all seven fellow AL teams at least once, so though we lead the league at the moment by half a game over the 16-11 Athletics, if we’re not as good as we think we are it’s soon going to be exposed. Diomedes Olivo (2-3, 3.02 ERA, 44.2 IP, 19 K, 1.01 WHIP) pitched for us in the first game against the Yankees, facing Joe “Fireman” Page (3-1, 3.60 ERA, 30.0 IP, 19 K, 1.33 WHIP), But Olivo got roughed up quickly, giving up four runs in the bottom of the first, including a two-run double by Yogi Berra ... Berra scored moments later off a fielder’s choice grounder by Nick Etten, and Etten scored when Page hit a line drive single into left, completing their order. It was a lot of bad luck, as Olivo proceeded to pitch five more innings without a run scoring, but our bats were completely impotent. Nick Garver took over in the bottom of the seventh still trailing by the four runs, and it stayed that way ... he pitched well, keeping the game itself quite dull as we wound up losing 4-0, nothing much happening after inning number one. Garver pitched two innings without a hit, walk or run, but didn’t add any K’s either ... Olivo, meanwhile, took the loss with eight hits and four earned runs with a walk and four K’s in his six innings, dropping his record to 2-4 and his ERA to 3.38. But despite his losing record, he’s got a 1.07 WHIP and has nearly a game in WAR, he just never seems to get any run support in his big games. May 14, 1947: Dutch Leonard (4-2, 1.53 ERA, 53.0 IP, 18 K, 1.00 WHIP) pitched game two against the Yankees, going up against Dizzy Trout (2-2, 3.50 ERA, 36.0 IP, 16 K’s, 1.56 WHIP). We got two on the board in the top of the first with a bases-loaded walk by Vern Stephens and an RBI single from Arky Vaughn. But New York scored the next four runs, one coming in the bottom of the third off a Yogi Berra fielder’s choice grounder, the go-ahead runs scoring off a two-run double by Dizzy Trout in the bottom of the fourth (Johnny Lindell was the add-on run, with an RBI single that made it 4-2 Yankees). Things looked bleak when Nick Etten hit a solo homer in the bottom of the seventh to make it a three run New York lead, but in the top of the eighth Wally Moses hit a three-run triple to tie the score and silence the Yankees fans in an instant. Sam Zoldak took the ball in the bottom of the inning, and despite loaded bases with two outs in the ninth he got us into extra innings when Joe Gordon popped out to left, stranding all three. Amos Watson took over in the bottom of the 10th, and he had a great inning, but in the bottom of the 11th the wheels fell off due to poor defensive plays ... Johnny Lindell pushed Joe Collins into scoring position when, on a sac-bunt, our third baseman failed to get the out at second, and Collins scored off a single by Berra to walk this one off as a 6-5 loss for us. What a tough way to lose a hard-fought game. Watson took the loss, getting credit for just three outs with three hits and a run against, but Leonard’s otherwise solid eight-hit seven-inning start was marred by five earned runs, so he was lucky not to get tagged with the “L” today. New York outhit us by a wide margin, 14-6, and we committed two errors in the game. Only Cavarretta, with two hits, three walks and a run scored, came out unblemished. The two losses against the Yankees dropped us to third place, at 16-12, sitting half a game behind New York (17-12) and a game and a half behind Philly (18-11). We’ll now head down to Boston to face the Red Sox (11-17) for three in a row, before playing three in Philly including a Sunday doubleheader. __________________ "Goodbye To 'The Mack'": The 1916 A's In Peril -- An OOTP 27 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

11-17-2025, 04:55 PM	#23
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,816	May 15, 1947: Fred Sanford (2-1, 3.31 ERA, 35.1 IP, 15 K, 1.33 WHIP) pitched against Mickey Harris (0-4, 5.83 ERA, 29.1 IP, 22 K, 1.84 WHIP) in game one against the struggling Red Sox, but at Fenway, we all know anything can happen when the Monster gets involved. We took the lead in the top of the second off a Bob Dillinger RBI double, but Boston answered with a Hal Wagner RBI triple in the fourth to tie us up. Joe Schultz hit an RBI single in the top of the sixth to get us back into the lead 2-1, but Dom Dimaggio hit a solo homer leading off in the bottom of the inning to tie it again ... in the top of the seventh we again managed to retake the lead, this time off a Phil Cavarretta RBI single, and Ned Garver took the ball after the seventh inning stretch with a 3-2 lead to protect. He was great in the seventh but got absolutely destroyed in the eighth -- Catfish Metkovich hit a two-run double to give Boston back the lead, Metkovich scored off a Bobby Doerr bases-loaded walk, and a wild pitch let Johnny Pesky score. With the Boston lead at 6-3, runners on second and third, Jack Kramer took over to get us our final out, but the damage was done. We put up no fight in the ninth and lost this one 6-3, dropping our fourth straight as we’re getting a rude awakening on the road so far this stretch. Garver blew the save and took the loss, pitching 1.2 innings with four hits and three walks, but three of the four runs were unearned. More frustrating was the fact that we outhit them 11-7 and still came up on the short end. Dillinger led with three hits and an RBI, while Cavarretta had two hits, a walk and an RBI. May 16, 1947: Tom Seats (4-2, 4.20 ERA, 40.2 IP, 13 K, 1.52 WHIP) pitched against Clem Dreisewerd (1-0, 2.63 ERA, 13.2 IP, 1 K, 1.17 WHIP) as we tried to dig out of this recent slump. They scored first off a groundout by Bobby Doerr in the bottom of the first, but we had an answer in the top of the third when Harry Walker singled in Dillinger to tie the score. They responded with an RBI single by Jim Tabor in the bottom of the fifth that, coupled with an E8 error, drove home Dom Dimaggio to put them back on top 2-1. But again we found an answer, tying the score in the top of the seventh off another single by Walker, before Boston unleashed again in the bottom of the seventh with a three-run volley to put us away. We wound up losing this one 5-3 as our slump deepens ... we desperately need a win in game three to salvage at least a tiny amount of momentum. Tom Seats took the loss, falling to 4-3 with a 4.53 ERA after allowing six hits and five runs with six walks and three strikeouts through seven innings, an uncharacteristically wild pitching night for him. And once again we outhit them 12-7 but came up on the short end ... that just cannot keep happening! Dillinger was dominant ... hitting five times in five tries with two runs scored off his five singles, bringing his average up to .439 through 13 games as a utility player, but beyond him and Walker (who hit three times with two RBIs) everyone else took a nap out there. May 17, 1947: Diomedes Olivo (2-4, 3.38 ERA, 50.2 IP, 23 K, 1.07 WHIP) pitched against Nick Strincevich (3-1, 5.40 ERA, 33.1 IP, 8 K, 1.60 WHIP) in game three against the Red Sox, and Boston took the lead first in the bottom of the third with an RBI single by Johnny Pesky. We answered with an RBI single by Harry Walker that scored Olivo in the top of the fifth, but Boston pounded us for three runs in the bottom of the inning and it looked like much of the same as we’d seen the last two days. Olivo loaded the bags in the sixth and got one out, Zoldak taking the ball from him as soon as he could get warmed up for the high leverage situation ... butit didn’t matter, as Pesky immediately hit a three-run double to clear the bases and turn this into a rout I’d rather forget. We couldn’t buy an out, Pesky scoring off a single by Doerr, and loaded bases led to two more runs scoring before we could escape the inning trailing 10-1. Kramer again mopped it up with two clean innings, but the damage was already complete. We got two runs back in the top of the ninth off a Robinson sac-fly and a Harry Walker line drive single, but we lost badly 10-3 and have now lost six straight. This team’s holes are now showing, big time, and our pitching is taking the brunt of it. Olivo is now 2-5 with a 4.18 ERA, having surrendered SEVEN RUNS on eight hits, with three walks and three strikeouts through 5.1 innings. Kramer, meanwhile, has been a solid mop-up guy, pitching in our last three games for a combined 3.1 innings with just two hits and a strikeout, no earned runs. This time the Red Sox did outhit us 14-11, Walker leading the way for our offense with three hits and two RBIs. We have a doubleheader tomorrow against the Athletics (19-13) who now trail the Yankees (20-12) by a game. Despite our five straight losses dropping us to 16-15, we’re only 3.5 games out of first while sitting in fourth place, two games up on Boston who are now leading the bottom half of the league. The American League looks to be chaotic this season, and with 121 games yet to play for us, anything can happen if we can find a way to snap this downward slide. May 18, 1947: Dutch Leonard (4-2, 2.10 ERA, 60.0 IP, 23 K, 1.08 WHIP) pitched against Murry Dickson (3-1, 2.45 ERA, 36.2 IP, 9 K, 1.34 WHIP) in a battle of two pitchers who have been red hot lately. We scored with a homer by Judnich in the second to go up by a run, and Joe Schultz hit one in the third to make it a 2-0 lead before the Athletics answered back with an RBI groundout by George Kell and an RBI single from Al Smith to tie the score 2-2 after three. They took the lead in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI double by Dickson, and though we traded runs from there, we went into the top of the ninth down 4-3 and needing a miracle. They walked Schultz to bring up Leonard, and we decided to sub him out for pinch-hitter Bob Dillinger ... who has been red hot lately, but he popped out to short for our first out. They walked Robinson, pushing Schultz into scoring position with just the one out, and with the count 3-0 we gave Walker the red light ... but he popped out to first, though the runners both advanced. Cavarretta got a full count but grounded harmlessly out to first ... the streak of losing continues as we fell 4-3 in the day’s first game. Leonard pitched eight innings with seven hits but he walked six more with only three strikeouts, contributing to all four earned runs. We matched them both hits AND walks, so the game was incredibly evenly matched. Judnich led the way with his homer and two walks, but we just couldn’t get over that hump against a Philly team that is looking better every day. Amos Watson (0-1, 2 SV, 2.25 ERA, 8.0 IP, 4 K, 1.62 WHIP) got the start in game two, to keep our starters on their usual four-day rotation schedule. He faced A’s pitcher Spoon Carter (3-1, 2.89 ERA, 56.0 IP, 9 K, 1.45 WHIP) who has been still spry as ever at age 44. We took the lead in the top of the first off a sac-fly by Walker that scored Robinson who had led off with a triple. We added another run in the second with a sac-fly by Watson, who allowed Wally Moses to score, putting us up 2-0. Watson, meanwhile, got us through the fourth inning without a hit or a baserunner, and Cavarretta hit an RBI single in the top of the fifth to extend our lead to three runs. Incredibly, Watson’s streak continued through the fifth, though at 72 pitches he was starting to show signs of tiring ... though on a heater like that you don’t change horses! Though nobody mentioned it, the entire team was focused on keeping the lead big to let him have plenty of rope -- Harry Walker scored off a single by Judnich to extend our lead to 4-0 heading into the stretch. But in the bottom of the inning, perfection slipped away with a hit into center right by George Kell, the double spoiling the no hitter and perfect game in one brutally tough swing of the bat. Ned Garver took the ball from Watson, the 21-year-old getting a rousing curtain call by the ROAD TEAM after what all agreed had been a stellar performance. Garver got us out of the inning with the shutout still intact, and in the top of the ninth Harry Walker hit a homer, his second of the year, to pile on. Garver finished the game from there and we won solidly 5-0! Watson finished with one hit and three strikeouts through six innings (failing to get an out in the seventh), throwing 81 pitches in the process as he improved to 1-1 with a 1.29 ERA through his first 14 major league innings. Garver earned the three-inning save with a hit and two walks as he protected the shutout, his ERA now at 2.04 through 17.2 innings. We picked up 11 hits against their two, led by Harry Walker who had two hits, two runs and two RBIs. We’re off tomorrow and then will play our third game against the A’s with a chance to win the series. May 20, 1947: Fred Sanford (2-1, 3.27 ERA, 41.1 IP, 15 K, 1.33 WHIP) got the ball in the rubber match against the A’s, facing Russ Christopher (2-4, 2.53 ERA, 53.1 IP, 27 K, 1.24 WHIP). We took the lead in the first off a Cavarretta double, re-took it in the second with a single from Joe Schultz, and then added runs in the third and fourth to lead 5-2 after four innings’ work. We managed to expand that lead to four runs in the top of the sixth with a solo homer by Robinson (his fourth of the season), but Philly came roaring back in the bottom of the inning, scoring off a line drive single by Hal Peck and then getting two more runs off a single by George Kell to cut the lead to 6-5 heading into the top of the seventh inning. Sam Zoldak took over in the bottom of the seventh with the lead unchanged, and he got through the seventh and eighth without incident -- but in the bottom of the ninth Al Smith hit a solo homer out of right to tie the score at 6-6, forcing us to bring out Ned Garver to try and get us into extras. Willard Brown took a walk to first, advancing to third on a double by Ferris Fain, and with the game on the line Russ Derry came to the plate ... with one out, he popped out to shallow left, close enough for us to hold the runners, bringing up Hal Peck, who walked the bases loaded. Buddy Rosar then hit one right up the line in right field and this one ended as a 7-6 loss. What a crushing way to go, having blown a 6-2 lead to get there. Zoldak blew his second save and Garver took the loss, falling to 1-2 with a 2.50 ERA, allowing two hits, two walks and a run. Sanford had done all he could, pitching six innings with eight hits, but he walked four and gave up five runs in the process, throwing 113 pitches. We outhit them 12-11, led by Robinson, with three hits two runs and an RBI, and by Schultz, who added three hits and two runs batted in. We have a single game against Washington (20-16) tomorrow, then after a day off will play Cleveland (15-17) for a game, followed by another day off and a Sunday doubleheader. With five days off over the next 11 days, our pitching rotation and our bullpen will get some much needed rest, which we’ll need if we’re going to get our currently 17-17 team back above .500 by any significant margin. We remain within 3.5 games of the Athletics (21-14) and Yankees (21-14) in first, but every team in our league is within 7.5 games, and nobody has gained much separation. __________________ "Goodbye To 'The Mack'": The 1916 A's In Peril -- An OOTP 27 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds) Last edited by jksander; 11-17-2025 at 04:56 PM.

11-17-2025, 05:05 PM	#24
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,816	May 21, 1947: A blockbuster trade just happened between the Cleveland Guardians and the St. Louis Cardinals, news that broke last night in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and that is sure to be front page news around the country today ... the 19-16 Cardinals made a big bet on their future by acquiring Sporting News #5 prospect righthanded pitcher Mike Garcia, #9 prospect 23-year-old second baseman Ray Boone and 32-year-old shortstop Buster Clarkson along with cash considerations. In turn, they are sending Cleveland, who clearly are in a “we want to get back into this race NOW!” mode, two proven players: 31-year-old lefty hurler Max Lanier (currently 7-2 with a 2.42 ERA through 70.2 innings, with 2.7 wins above replacement) and 29-year-old third baseman Whitey Kurowski (who is currently hitting .296/.373/.467 with 19 runs batted in and a game worth of WAR). Kurowski and Lanier give the Guardians a much needed leadership core, and Lanier’s curve and changeup are scary as hell ... he has a 93-61 record with 12 saves through 1,300+ innings with St. Louis over the last ten seasons and immediately gives the Guardians the ace they didn’t have before. But they gave up a lot in this move ... though St. Louis gave up a great deal now to gain future ammunition. Boone and Garcia have extreme development risk attached to them. We’re definitely gonna have to watch out for the Guardians now, who clearly have a shrewd GM at the helm -- this deal looks like a clear winner for the city of Cleveland. And the crazy thing is, while the Cards now have the #2 farm in baseball, the trade only drops Cleveland’s down to fifth overall. So they’ve still got plenty of young talent in the hopper, only now they have their ace. After perusing the news, we had a game to play today, with Tom Seats (4-3, 4.53 ERA, 47.2 IP, 16 K, 1.55 WHIP) going up against Washington’s Leon Day (2-4, 4.03 ERA, 51.1 IP, 18 K, 1.69 WHIP). Seats has been ice cold of late, losing his last three in a row after a blistering 4-0 start to his season. So he came in this evening really looking to regain his composure against the surging Senators. We took the lead in the top of the third with an RBI single by Cavarretta, but they fired back quickly with a two-run single by Leon Day in the bottom of the fourth to give Washington a lead. Vern Stephens batted in a run with a double in the top of the sixth to tie the score, but Seats unravelled in the seventh, giving up an RBI double to Bobby Lewis, loading the bases, and letting Stan Spence walk one home to put them up 4-2 as Jack Kramer came out -- bases loaded, one out -- to try and clean up the mess. A sac-fly by Jerry Priddy let one of Seats’ runs score, but Kramer got us out of the inning with a three-run deficit when it could have been a lot worse. And this time our bats delievered in the top of the eighth ... Harry Walker scored off a wild pitch, Wally Judnich then hit a sac-fly to cut their lead to one, and Arky Vaughn tied the score with a single through the gap that scored Vern Stephens! With two outs, Joe Schultz then hit a line drive single that drove in Vaughn, giving us back a 6-5 lead! Kramer held it through the eighth, and with the one run lead in the bottom of the ninth we brought out Amos Watson to finish the job. He pitched around runners on the corners, getting Henry Kimbro to pop out harmlessly to left as we won the game 6-5! Kramer (3-1, 3.26 ERA) bailed out Seats with 1.2 innings with just two hits, while the starter had gone 6.1 innings but allowed 12 hits, three walks and five runs (three earned) while striking out one through 125 pitches. Watson earned his third save with a hit and a walk, improving his ERA to 1.20 as the rookie continues to impress. They outhit us 15-10, but Cavarretta hit three times for two runs and an RBI, while Vern Stephens added two hits, a run and an RBI. May 23, 1947: Cleveland dropped two games over the last two days, coming into our series with a 15-19 record. We’re 18-17, leading them by 2.5 games, but both of our teams are going to benefit from chances to rest our players, with just one game today and then a day off before our Sunday doubleheader (one game of which is almost certain to feature their newly acquired ace. Today we had Diomedes Olivo (2-5, 4.18 ERA, 56.0 IP, 26 K, 1.16 WHIP) against Jim Bennett (1-4, 5.86 ERA, 46.1 IP, 12 K, 1.51 WHIP), and once again Olivo got absolutely no run support. Of course it didn’t particularly matter, since Cleveland scored a run in the second and then two more each in the fourth and seventh, but when your pitcher allows only seven hits all game you tend to hope the bats can at least put up a fight. Ours did not ... we only notched seven hits of our own, and none of our nine baserunners were able to do anything but stand there and wonder how this 5-0 beatdown happened in the first place. Olivo may be the unluckiest pitcher we’ve got ... he’s now 2-6 with a 4.36 ERA but he’s only allowed four homers all year and he has 28 K’s against 19 walks ... our defense just lets all his groundball hits sneak through. Even Cavarretta, with three hits, couldn’t do anything today, though he gave it the old college try. May 25, 1947: Today in game one Dutch Leonard (4-3, 2.38 ERA, 68.0 IP, 26 K, 1.15 WHIP) went up against Max Lanier (7-2, 2.42 ERA, 70.2 IP, 57 K, 1.19 WHIP), in what was widely expected to be an epic pitching duel. So it was a bit unexpected that we traded runs in the first ... Vern Stephens batted in a run with a single in the top of the inning, while Ken Keltner hit an RBI double to tie it in the bottom of the inning. Sherm Lollar got them the lead with an RBI single in the bottom of the second, but we answered with an RBI groundout in the top of the third by Stephens, followed by an Arky Vaughn solo homer in the fourth that gave us a 3-2 lead. That’s when the duel began, and the game was scoreless the rest of the way as Dutch Leonard locked in ... he pitched around a runner on first in the bottom of the ninth to keep the one run lead as we won 3-2! Cleveland outhit us 7-5, but Leonard got the win to improve to 5-3 with a 2.34 ERA, walking two and striking out one with two earned runs, while Lanier pitched a complete game five hitter with two walks, four strikeouts and three earned runs in his Cleveland debut. Vern Stephens led the team with a hit, a walk, a run and two RBIs. With all our days off in the coming week, we had no need to use a bullpen arm for game two, letting Fred Sanford (2-1, 3.80 ERA, 47.1 IP, 17 K, 1.42 WHIP) pitch on five days’ rest. Cleveland pitcher Steve Gromek (3-2, 2.47 ERA, 47.1 IP, 9 K, 1.25 WHIP) came in similarly well rested, and both teams remained scoreless until Cleveland took the lead in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI single by Dale Mitchell and a bases loaded walk for Babe Young that scored Hank Edwards. We got a run back in the fifth off a single by Les Moss, and Sanford kept us in this game the rest of the way, though we still needed a miracle in the ninth trailing by the one run. Les Moss took a one-out walk, and we kept Sanford in the game and were rewarded when he too drew a walk, pushing Moss into scoring position! That’s when Robinson hit one through the gap in right ... Moss got greedy and tried for home and was out on a 9-3-2 play, but Sanford reached third and Robinson turned his single into a trip to second as the trailing runner. That brought up Harry Walker, who took the count to 2-2 and then swung ... grounding out harmlessly to first as we lost 2-1. Sanford fell to 2-2 with a 3.58 ERA, but had an excellent game, pitching eight innings with five hits and two runs, striking out one. Had he not walked six batters his night would have gone completely differently. We outhit them 7-5, but we only had eight baserunners all game. And though Cavarretta had three hits and a walk, he got nowhere, as backup catcher Les Moss was our only truly potent offensive force -- he hit twice, walked once and batted in our only run. So far we are 3-9 on this road trip, with just four games remaining: after a day off tomorrow, we’ve got two against the White Sox (15-26) on the 27th and 28th, and two against the Tigers (20-20) on the 30th to finish the month. Only Chicago seems far out of contention -- every other team in the league is within six games of first place, and the difference between third and seventh is just two games. May 27, 1947: Tom Seats (4-3, 4.50 ERA, 54.0 IP, 17 K, 1.65 WHIP) pitched against Johnny Rigney (3-5, 4.57 ERA, 61.0 IP, 24 K, 1.44 WHIP) in our first game on the Southside, and the duel was intense early; we only got the upper hand in the top of the sixth when Harry Walker singled in Robinson to put us up 1-0 in a game where each team had put up just four hits apiece. Seats pitched a remarkably consistent and efficient game, looking more like the player who had won four in a row to start his season, and in the top of the ninth we bought him plenty of insurance with a two-run homer by Vern Stephens which gave us a three run lead going into the bottom half. Seats finished the job, and we got out of there with a 3-0 shutout win! He improved to 5-3, allowing six hits and a walk with two strikeouts in the complete game, throwing 105 pitches as his ERA improved to 3.86. Meanwhile, we picked up seven hits ourselves, led by Stephens’ two-run homer and a hit, a walk and an RBI by Walker. May 28, 1947: Diomedes Olivo (2-6, 4.36 ERA, 64.0 IP, 28 K, 1.14 WHIP) has been ice cold and giving off plenty of runs over his last five starts, all of which have resulted in losses. So he wanted a bounceback game in this one against Chicago’s Ray Prim (2-5, 3.13 ERA, 54.2 IP, 13 K, 1.34 WHIP), hopefully balanced by tons of run support from our bats. And in the top of the third he got his wish ... he scored our go-ahead run with a single by Vern Stephens, Jackie Robinson then hit a three-run homer, and Joe Schultz doubled home Arky Vaughn to put us up 5-0 midway through. By the time the White Sox got on the board with a run in the bottom of the sixth we already had a seven run lead, and Olivo gave us our second compete game in a row with a 9-1 victory! He allowed just five hits, with three walks, five K’s and the one earned run as he improved to 3-6 with a 3.95 ERA. We outhit them by a staggering 18-5 margin, led by Stephens with three hits, two runs and two RBIs, while Walker added three hits and two runs and Robinson had two hits, a run and three RBIs. The White Sox are in freefall, so it’s hard to take much from these two wins beyond that we got bounceback games for two pitchers who greatly needed one. Next up we finish the month out, and this long road trip, with a doubleheader against the 21-22 Detroit Tigers. We’re now in a tie for third with the 23-21 Senators, two games behind New York (25-19) and three back of Philly (26-18). __________________ "Goodbye To 'The Mack'": The 1916 A's In Peril -- An OOTP 27 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

11-24-2025, 04:37 PM	#25
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,816	May 30, 1947: In game one of our Detroit doubleheader, Dutch Leonard (5-3, 2.34 ERA, 77.0 IP, 27 K’s, 1.13 WHIP) pitched against Virgil Trucks, (3-3, 4.61 ERA, 52.2 IP, 32 K, 1.42 WHIP), and for four innings he was doing great ... Jackie Robinson singled in the second, stole second AND third, and came around to score when Phil Cavarretta hit into a 4-6 fielder’s choice, giving us a lead we held until the bottom of the fifth when Hank Greenberg hit a grand slam to put the Tigers ahead 4-1. Leonard pitched a complete game as he attempted to clean up his own mess, but this one got ugly and the Tigers capitalized by whipping us in the end 8-4, outhitting us 13-8. Leonard gave up four walks in addition to all the hits, including eight runs, all of them earned, as he fell to 5-4 with a 2.96 ERA. Vern Stephens and Lee Moss each had two hits, a run and an RBI, but the Tigers were unstoppable late in the game. We were just outplayed all around. Fred Sanford (2-2, 3.59 ERA, 55.1 IP, 26 K, 1.41 WHIP) started game two against Art Houtteman (2-2, 1 SV, 3.66 ERA, 39.1 IP, 18 K, 1.70 WHIP), and we took the lead in the top of the first off an RBI single by Vern Stephens. But Detroit answered with a sac-fly by Eddie Lake to tie it up in the third, retaking the lead in the fourth off an Eddie Mayo RBI single that scored Hoot Evers. And though Sanford pitched well, he stayed out too long -- in the bottom of the seventh he gave up five runs including a three-run homer by Evers that completely broke him. Sam Zoldak came out to pitch from there, but the damage was done as the Tigers destroyed us 7-1. This time they outhit us 10-6, with Stephens’ RBI single being our only real offense. Sanford took his third loss in a 6.2-inning 10 hit three walk effort, allowing seven runs against just one strikeout off 134 pitches ... his ERA crashed to 4.21 after the effort, which brings our May to an end with a 21-21 record. We can revive our season with some good luck at home, since this trip will end after five wins and 11 losses. We’ll open June with 12 games at home over the next week and a half, including a doubleheader tomorrow against Philly (26-20) as part of a three-game series, two games against Boston (21-23), four games against the Yankees (27-20) that include another Sunday doubleheader, and three agaainst the Senators (24-23). We’ll then spend three more weeks on the road, playing 15 games in a 17-day stretch. So unless we somehow can manage to find real consistency, it’s looking like this season could start feeling pretty bleak if we let all that early momentum continue to fade. Jackie Robinson was named the AL’s Rookie of the Month, hitting .261 with 29 hits, four homers, 16 runs scored and 13 RBIs. But it was a down month for him, contact-wise, lowering his average to .286 as the season enters its hotter months. Here’s a standings update for both leagues as of the start of our third month of the season: *American League* New York Yankees (27-20) Philadelphia Athletics (26-20, 0.5 GB) Detroit Tigers (24-22, 2.5 GB) Washington Senators (24-23, 3 GB) St. Louis Browns (21-21, 3.5 GB) Cleveland Guardians (21-22, 4 GB) Boston Red Sox (21-23, 4.5 GB) Chicago White Sox (16-29, 10 GB) *National League* New York Giants (26-10) Brooklyn Dodgers (26-19, 0.5 GB) Pittsburgh Pirates (25-20, 1.5 GB) St. Louis Cardinals (24-21, 2.5 GB) Philadelphia Phillies (23-25, 5 GB) Cincinnati Reds (22-25, 5.5 GB) Boston Braves (21-25, 6 GB) Chicago Cubs (16-30, 11 GB) It’s a great year for fans in New York, and a poor year for those stuck in Boston or Chicago. We’re fighting to keep our heads above .500, but it’s important to remember that, until the war seasons of 1942-45, we were a bottom dweller consistently, and last year we lost 94 games. So being 21-21 at this point in the season is something to be pleased with. If we can work our way into the top half of the standings and stay there, we’ll have plenty of room to build toward a World Series trip before the end of the decade if ownership is willing to continue to spend. This year’s AL has seven teams who could legitimately contend if a hot streak strikes, with the White Sox fading fast in eighth place. So the stretch run toward the All Star break is going to be critical when it comes to creating separation. We’re in the top tier for runs allowed, hits allowed, opponent BAPIP and walks allowed, with the second best defensive efficiency in the American League. We’re making good contact (.272, good for 2nd) which has our slugging ranked third ... but we’re not scoring off those like we should; we’re ranked 6th in runs scored, sixth in extra base hits and sixth in walks, and we’re dead last in baserunning. So at this point our pitching and defense have been keeping us in contention, we need to give them more offense to work with. Right now our run differential is +18, but our pythagorean record is 23-19, so we’ve been having a bit of bad luck, including a 6-6 record in one run games and a 1-1 record in extra innings. Richie Ashburn has done well at AAA Toledo -- through 44 games and 170 at-bats, he’s hit .288/.398/.400 with eight doubles, three homers, 18 RBI and 1.2 wins above replacement. He’s fielding incredibly well at center, with a +7.9 zone rating and just one error against 125 putouts and 9 assists. We have decided to call him up to the majors just two and a half months past his 20th birthday, sending Tommy Glaviano back down to the minors to make room for him. He’ll be splitting center field starts with Harry Walker and will be available as a defensive sub in games he doesn’t start. Right now he’s our best defensive center fielder, but he’s going to have an adjustment period learning to hit against big league pitching. But he is ready right now to get his shot. __________________ "Goodbye To 'The Mack'": The 1916 A's In Peril -- An OOTP 27 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

11-24-2025, 05:21 PM	#26
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,816	June 1, 1947: Today we have a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Athletics, and though we had a doubleheader yesterday as well, all our pitchers are rested (and Dutch Leonard says he’s ready to pitch on three days’ rest tomorrow, so we went into the game not necessarily needing to pitch a bullpen start in either game. Tom Seats (5-3, 3.86 ERA, 63.0 IP, 19 K, 1.52 WHIP) pitched the early game against Ted Alexander (3-3, 4.10 ERA, 59.1 IP, 23 K, 1.52 WHIP), and we went in knowing we had a fully rested bullpen as well, so we had all our options open early. And that’s great because this one turned into a pitching duel almost immediately, a duel we drew first blood in when a Phil Cavarretta sac-fly put us up 1-0 after six innings. Unfortunately Seats was wild in the top of the seventh ... after getting the first out, Buddy Rosar singled, Ted Alexander drove him to third with a single of his own, and Al Smith was hit by an errant pitch, loading the bags. I’d seen enough, and brought Amos Watson in out of the bullpen ... he got George Kell, who has been red hot lately, to pop out to Cavarretta in shallow left, preventing the runner from making a move from third, and Elmer Valo grounded out on a 4-3 play to get us into the stretch still with the one run lead. He got three more quick outs for us in the eighth, and we added on in the bottom of the inning with RBI singles by Cavarretta and Vern Stephens to extend our lead to three heading into the top of the ninth. Our man on the mound handled it perfectly, getting three more quick ones in the ninth as we held tough to win 3-0 in game one! Seats (6-3, 3.50 ERA) got the win with just five hits and two walks against him, striking out one and not allowing a single run, and Watson completed the shutout with 2.2 innings and just one walk, earning his fourth save as he brought his ERA down to 1.02 through 17.2 innings. We outhit them 7-5, led by Stephens with two hits, a walk and an RBI and by Seats himself, who hit twice and scored the winning run in the sixth. Diomedes Olivo (3-6, 3.95 ERA, 73.0 IP, 33 K, 1.11 WHIP) pitched against Russ Christopher (3-5, 3.21 ERA, 73.0 IP, 34 K, 1.27 WHIP) in the late afternoon game, and the A’s took the lead in the top of the first with am RBI single by Willard Brown, assuring we’d get no shutout this time around. But we led off in the bottom of the inning with a solo homer out of right by Harry Walker, and we quickly added on with an RBI single by Les Moss that extended the lead by driving in Robinson, giving us a 2-1 lead heading into the top of the second. In the bottom of the fourth Richie Ashburn, who was playing right field for us in his MLB debut, hit into a U5 fielder’s choice with the bases loaded, driving home Moss for our third run while taking first. Olivo walked the bases loaded, and Harry Walker hit into a 3-6 fielder’s choice to drive in Witte, giving us a 4-1 advantage heading into the top of the fifth. Moss scored off an RBI single by Ashburn in the bottom of the fifth, his first official major league hit, and Jack Kramer took over on the mound going forward, owning a four-run advantage. Ned Garver took over in the eighth with no outs and a man on first, still leading by the same margin, and he got us the rest of the way as we won 5-1, sweeping the doubleheader. Tomorrow we’ll play one more against the A’s, but we’ve proven we’re still capable of going toe to toe with one of the league’s best teams. Olivo improved to 4-6 with a five inning four-hit game, walking one, striking out three and allowing just the one earned run as his ERA improved to 3.81. Kramer and Garver then combined for three hits and two strikeouts -- no free passes! -- and we outhit the Athletics 8-7 in a hard-fought victory. Ashburn had a great debut, going 2-4 with two hits and two RBIs, and Arky Vaughn kept several key drives going with his four walks, a St. Louis Browns record! June 2, 1947: Dutch Leonard (5-4, 2.96 ERA, 85.0 IP, 30 K, 1.22 WHIP) threw 153 pitches three days ago in an eight-inning loss, but he and our pitching coach agree he’s ready to go on short rest so we’re going to keep the rotation going in order. He pitched today against Philly’s Max “Dr. Cyclops” Manning (3-0, 1.15 ERA, 31.1 IP, 17 K, 1.09 WHIP), who is starting for just the fifth time all year. Leonard pitched four brilliant innings of shutout baseball, and then our offense caught a spark in the bottom of the fourth -- Wally Moses reached on an E3 error to lead off, took second on an error on a pickoff play, and Vern Stephens walked the bases loaded, setting up Wally Judnich -- who has been ice cold lately -- to hit a powerful grand slam home run out of left field to put us up 4-0! Philly got on the board in the top of the fifth with an RBI single by Willard Brown, and Buddy Rosar batted one in for them in the sixth to cut our lead to two runs. But Vern Stephens hit a solo homer in the bottom of the sixth and we were able to bring in Sam Zoldak in the top of the seventh leading 5-2. But that’s when the wheels fell off ... Zoldak didn’t even manage to get a single out before Willard Brown, a giant thorn in our side, hit a three-run homer himself to tie things at 5-5. Ned Garver took over from there, getting three quick outs to send us into the stretch, but suddenly we were locked in a fist-fight and the A’s had all the momentum. Garver pitched around a double by George Kell in the eighth to keep it tied up, and Amos Watson took over in the top of the ninth with one out and a runner on first, quickly getting the two outs we needed. In the bottom of the inning, with two outs, Joe Schultz hit a double into deep center, bringing up Richie Ashburn, who they walked to avoid the risk of him doubling in the winning run. We then made a tough choice to keep Watson in the game, and he rewarded us with his solid eye, walking the bases loaded to bring up the top of our lineup. Bases loaded, two outs, Jackie Robinson came up to the plate ... and he popped out harmlessly to right and sent this one into extra innings. Jack Kramer took over in the top of the 12th inning, and managed to pitch his way out of a bases loaded jam without any runs scoring. They hit him with a pitch in the bottom of the inning as our leadoff hitter, but we weren’t able to get him anywhere and we had no arms available to relieve him, so he had to stay out in the 13th and that’s when the levee broke. By the time he got us out of the inning the A’s had piled on four runs, and we went down quietly from there as we lost 9-5 in the 13th inning. Kramer (3-2, 3.67 ERA) took the loss, allowing six hits, two walks and four runs (three earned) in his two innings, striking out one. But he threw 44 pitches yesterday and 51 today, so he had no business having to work so hard today ... he deserves credit for even giving us a chance. Philly outhit us 19-8, and without that grand slam in the fourth we were completely outmatched but kept fighting for nearly five hours. Judnich led the way with two hits, a run and his four RBIs, while Vern Stephens added a hit, a walk and two runs scored. June 3, 1947: Today we hosted Boston for the first of two games on our field, and our pitching is suddenly in a rough spot, with nobody in our minors looking ready to come up for more than bloodbath support ... so while we look for a temporary stopgap on the free agency market, we’ll be counting on the pitchers we have to continue to hold the line -- we knew this was going to be a year where we’d be punching above our weight, and I knew coming in that our farm, while stocked with plenty of ‘players,’ is mostly full of guys who other clubs wouldn’t touch. That’s just how it is starting from rock bottom. Fred Sanford (2-3, 4.21 ERA, 62.0 IP, 19 K, 1.47 WHIP) came in fully rested, going up against Boston’s Tex Hughson (3-9, 5.49 ERA, 95.0 IP, 49 K, 1.71 WHIP) knowing he was going to need to pitch deep into this game to avoid us further taxing our exhausted bullpen. Wally Judnich hit a solo blast out of center in the bottom of the second, continuing to come out of his slump as he pushed us to a 1-0 lead, but Bobby Doerr answered with one of his own in the top of the fourth to tie us up. Sanford was a real workhorse, powering himself through exhaustion in the seventh to get us into the stretch still tied 1-1. Ned Garner, who threw 40 pitches yesterday and 22 two days ago, came out to pitch in the eighth, getting two outs before giving up a two-run triple to Frank McCormick ... but he got us out of the inning. Sam Zoldak came out in the ninth to just get us out of the game, but he proved why I didn’t want him out there in the eighth even if it meant Garner pitching for the third day in a row ... he loaded the bases and gave up two runs in the inning, and we lost this one 5-1 after fighting the Red Sox hard for seven innings in a dead heat. Sanford pitched seven innings with four hits, two walks, two strikeouts and an earned run, but was gassed at 116 pitches, so Garner wound up with the loss, fallign to 1-3 with a two hit two walk two run effort. We were outhit 9-5, led by Judnich for the second day in a row with his solo homer. June 4, 1947: Tom Seats (6-3, 3.50 ERA, 69.1 IP, 20 K, 1.49 WHIP) has been really hot this season through 10 starts, the 36-year-old having his best season at age 36 after spending most of his career toiling away in the minors. Today he pitched on three days’ rest against Boston’s Nick Strincevich (5-2, 4.56 ERA, 53.1 IP, 14 K, 1.46 WHIP), an evenly matched battle on paper for two veterans with vastly different major league trajectories, who both rely heavily on their control over raw stuff. Boston took a two-run lead in the top of the third thanks to a two-run double by Frank McCormick, and they added on in the fourth with an RBI single from Johnny Hopp to go ahead 3-0. His night did not improve from there, and though he got us through the sixth inning, Nick Strincevich added to Boston’s run tally in that inning with an RBI single. Jack Kramer took over in the top of the seventh trailing by four in the shutout, and the game became a full-on rout from there, as Kramer gave up two more runs before getting us mercifully into the stretch trailing 6-0. We finally got on the board with a run in the bottom of the eighth, Vern Stephens grounding into a 5-4-3 double play that scored Wally Moses. Kramer took one for the team and stayed out to finish the rest, throwing 62 pitches in the process, but it didn’t matter, as we still lost this one by a brutal 6-1 margin, the Red Sox outhitting us 16-7. Seats allowed 10 hits, a walk and four earned runs in his six innings, falling to 6-4 with a 3.70 ERA. Kramer then pitched three innings with six hits, a walk, a strikeout and two earned runs, giving him a 3.86 ERA through 37.1 innings over three starts and 10 bullpen appearances. Cavarretta and Stephens combined for four of our hits, and neither got anywhere. June 5, 1947: We’ve signed Al "Beartracks" Javery, a 29-year-old right-handed starter, to a minor league deal, and we’re making room for him on the major league roster by dropping shortstop Ellis Clary back to the minors. He doesn’t have great command of his pitches, but he mixes a changeup that has great movement and a sinker that can be solid when he gets in a groove. But he hasn’t pitched more than 100 innings in a major league season since 1944 -- after being dropped by the Boston Braves in July of ’46, he signed with the Cardinals in August and never made it back to the bigs ... they released him three weeks ago after putting up a 9-5 record and 2.29 ERA with three saves in 78.2 innings with single-A Omaha, Deluth and Columbus. Though he has good stamina, he lacks the pitch mix I would want to see from a starter in this league, so we still see him as an emergency starter or long reliever for bullpen depth. We’re off today, so tomorrow we should be able to get our rotation back to a healthy start with Olivo at the helm, but for now we’ll keep five arms in the pen instead of four. With four games in three days this weekend against the 30-23 Yankees, it’s safe to say he’s going to get plenty of action right out of the gate. Whether he’s able to handle it will be the question. __________________ "Goodbye To 'The Mack'": The 1916 A's In Peril -- An OOTP 27 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

11-25-2025, 03:22 PM	#27
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,816	June 6, 1947: Diomedes Olivo (4-6, 3.81 ERA, 78.0 IP, 36 K, 1.10 WHIP) got the start in game one against the Yankees, facing off against Bill Bevens (3-2, 5 SV, 2.25 ERA, 56.0 IP, 24 K, 1.16 WHIP). New York struck first in the top of the second with a Joe Gordon RBI double, but we tied it in the bottom of the inning off an RBI double by Wally Moses, taking the lead moments later off an RBI single by Richie Ashburn, who started today in left field (if he’s going to get the starts to improve as a hitter, he’ll have to learn left and right field and become a true utility defender). New York tied us again in the top of the fifth with a homer by Hank Majeski, and we left the bases loaded in the bottom of the inning, failing to retake the advantage. This one turned into a real duel, both starters locking in for the good of their teams, but Olivo got blasted in the top of the eighth when Johnny Lindell hit a two-run homer over the center field wall on two outs, giving them a sudden advantage. Al Javery took over in the top of the ninth, trailing still by two, and with two outs and the bases loaded he walked right fielder Charlie Keller to add on. We showed signs of life in the bottom of the inning, scoring off an RBI single from Vern Stephens with two outs against us, bringing up Wally Judnich with runners on the corners trailing by two runs. But he grounded out harmlessly and we lost 5-3. Olivo took another tough loss, allowing just five hits and a walk with four strikeouts ... but he gave up four runs, and that was far too many. Al Javery’s first appearance was an inauspicious one -- a hit, three walks and a run against him -- and though we outhit the Yankees 9-6, we didn’t capitalize on it. Vern Stephens led the way with two hits and an RBI, on what was another ho-hum outing for our hitters. June 7, 1947: Dutch Leonard (5-4, 2.97 ERA, 91.0 IP, 31 K, 1.25 WHIP) pitched against Joe Page (7-2, 2.90 ERA, 62.0 IP, 34 K, 1.21 WHIP) in today’s game, with Leonard putting his pinpoint control up against the 29-year-old Page’s incredible stuff. The Yankees hit first, scoring off a groundout by DiMaggio and an RBI single from Nick Etten in the first inning. Vern Stephens batted in a run with a single in the bottom of the inning, and though the Yankees got two more runs in the fifth (Berra singled in a pair of runs thanks to an E7 error) we stayed in the game with an RBI single by Ashburn and a sac-fly by Bob Dillinger that kept us within a run. The Yankees extended their lead to 5-3 with a solo homer by Charlie Keller in the top of the sixth, but we loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning on two outs, and Ashburn walked to bring in another run and cut it back to one. Harry Walker came in to pinch hit for Leonard, but he popped out to left as the wind kept the ball in the park, the Yankees holding on to their slim 5-4 margin as Amos Watson came out to the mound for the seventh inning. He got two outs, but DiMaggio hit himself a two-run homer out of left to pile back on, two steps forward and one step back for us all afternoon. The wind blew a final hole in our hopes in the bottom of the ninth when a potential two-run homer by Vern Stephens turned into our final out of the game in left field as we lost 7-4. With two more games against these Yankees tomorrow, we’re not feeling a lot of hope in this clubhouse right now as we look for a spark ... any spark ... to salvage things before this season turns fully southward. Dutch Leonard fell to 5-5 with a 3.15 ERA, allowing just five hits in his six innings, but four walks helped contribute to five runs, four of which were earned ... another great start that “could have been” but wasn’t. Watson was stellar though -- three innings with three hits, a walk, a strikeout and a pair of unearned runs has his ERA now at 0.77 thorugh 23.1 innings as a rookie. We even outhit them again 10-8, but these Yankees have a lot more power behind them, and Joltin’ Joe batted in three of their runs to seal it. Joe Schultz hit four times for us with one run scored, and Richie Ashburn had a hit and two runs batted in. June 8, 1947: We started Al Javery in game one of today’s doubleheader, hoping to use a bullpen start to give our starters a bit of a chance to catch back up. He went up against Dizzy Trout (3-5, 4.01 ERA, 74.0 IP, 28 K, 1.49 WHIP), and it didn’t start smoothly. He gave up five hits and a walk in the top of the first, and considering he loaded the bases, he was lucky to get out of the inning with just three runs against him. He gave up a fourth run in the top of the second on two outs, Charlie Keller continuing to be the bane of our existance, but we did finally get on the board with a sac-fly by Javery in the bottom of the third that scored Ashburn, who had tripled moments earlier. Javery stayed out there and seemed to settle in, getting us through the fifth without any additional disasters striking. Ned Garver took over for him in the top of the sixth, still trailing 4-1, and though he struck out three across the sixth and seventh innings, he gave up another pair of runs in the top of the seventh to make coming back from this seem next to impossible. Ashburn batted in another run in the bottom of the seventh with a single, and Garver got three quick outs in the eighth so we still had hope. In the bottom of the inning Phil Cavarretta hit an RBI single and he later scored off a single by Arky Vaughn to cut our deficit back to two runs. Unfortunately, with two outs in the top of the ninth, a wild pitch by Garver let another run in, and that was all she wrote. We lost this one 7-4, continuing to struggle as we try to find our way ... we’re not a team that can keep giving up this many runs and expect our offense to carry us. Javery pitched five innings with six hits, four walks, a strikeout and four runs (three earned), managing to imrpove his ERA to 6.00 through his first six innings ... but his WHIP is a miserable 2.33, his lack of control a major hinderance. AGAIN we managed to out hit them 10-9 and still lose big. Ashburn hit twice and walked once, scoring and batting in a run each as he improved his average to .318. Fred Sanford (2-3, 3.91 ERA, 69.0 IP, 21 K, 1.41 WHIP) started game two of the day, facing Spud Chandler (4-7, 3.04 ERA, 94.2 IP, 25 K, 1.23 WHIP). He spotted them four runs across the first and second innings, and this one was looking as bleak as the rest of our games have this past week or so. He gave up a two-run homer to Charlie Keller in the fourth to make it a 6-0 deficit, and he proved incapable of even getting out of that inning. Sam Zoldak took the ball from him with two outs and a man on third -- that man being Joe Gordon, who had just tripled in a run a moment before to make it a seven run beatdown. Gordon scored off a wild pitch, and we went into the top of the fifth trailing 8-0. The rest of the game is a blur in my mind, as we got abjectly humiliated by the Yankees on our own field 11-0, and fans streamed out of the place making it clear they see us as the “same old Browns, just more expensive.” Sanford fell to 2-4, giving up nine hits, five walks and eight earned runs in 3.2 innings without a strikeout. Zoldak pitched 4.1 innings with two hits, two walks and three runs (two earned) and Al Javery got us through the ninth with just a hit ... but we were outhit 12-7 including five runs off two homers. Nobody on our offense came off looking good, and we’re heading into our final series of this home stretch (against the 27-28 Senators of Washington) in total free-fall ... we’re now 23-28 and eight games out of first, only the absolute mediocrity of the Chicago White Sox (20-35) keeping us out of last place. We’ve lost seven games in a row and are in danger of this season getting completely away from us. Our owner, Kelly Nau, insists we’re in “win now!” mode, but the way we’re playing right now that kind of strategy could hurt us in the long term -- we’ve got improved players but no depth to our system, and an injury or two will have us in the cellar quickly. __________________ "Goodbye To 'The Mack'": The 1916 A's In Peril -- An OOTP 27 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

11-25-2025, 04:36 PM	#28
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,816	June 9, 1947: Tom Seats (6-4, 3.70 ERA, 75.1 IP, 21 K, 1.51 WHIP) got the start in game one against the Senators, facing Ken Heintzelman (1-2, 1 SV, 7.16 ERA, 44.0 IP, 12 K, 1.84 WHIP). The start of this one was our usual struggle, as Washington took the lead with a two-run homer by Jerry Priddy in the top of the third. Priddy scored another for them in the top of the sixth off a single by Eddie Yost, before Richie Ashburn finally got us on the board in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single. In the bottom of the seventh we got another run back, thanks to Vern Stephens, whose sac-fly scored Harry Walker to put us within a run, down 3-2 as we went into the eighth inning. Seats got us through that frame without much fuss, and Ashburn got his hero moment in the bottom of the inning when, with one out and men on the corners, he hit an RBI double that scored two runs, pushing us into the lead 4-3! Amos Watson took the ball in the top of the ninth as we aimed to protect our newfound lead. He pitched around a leadoff walk from Eddie Yost to get us out of here with a 4-3 win, snapping our losing streak at seven! Seats earned that win the hard way, pitching eight innings with nine hits, two walks, five strikeouts and three runs (two earned), while Watson earned his fifth save with a 16-pitch gem. Seats is now 7-4 with a 3.67 ERA, and is nearing two wins above replacement. They outhit us 9-7, but Ashburn broke out with two hits, a walk and three RBIs as he continues to impress in the early days of what we hope will be a long and fruitful career. June 10, 1947: Diomedes Olivo (4-7, 3.87 ERA, 86.0 IP, 40 K, 1.07 WHIP) pitched against Leon Day (4-5, 3.50 ERA, 86.2 IP, 42 K, 1.42 WHIP) in game two against the Senators, and we took the lead in the bottom of the second with an RBI single by Wally Moses that scored Vern Stephens from second. Arky Vaughan tripled Vern Stephens home in the bottom of the fourth to add on, and we got some real insurance in the sixth when Moses and Joe Schultz hit back to back RBI singles to extend our lead to 4-0. Olivo had a rough inning in the eighth, loading the bases and giving up a run when Buddy Lewis hit an RBI single, but he got out of the inning with a strikeout and Amos Watson came out in the ninth with a three-run lead to protect. He hit Artie Wilson with a pitch in the leadoff spot, but struck out Henry Kimbro swinging and caught Wilson stealing second ... two quick outs! Eddie Yost popped out harmlessly to center and that was the ballgame as we won 4-1! Olivo improved to 5-7 with a stellar eight inning effort, allowing six hits, five walks and striking out five with just the one earned run. Watson meanwhile earned his sixth save on 15 pitches, improving his ERA to 0.71 through 25.1 innings, having now gone seven appearances and 17.1 consecutive innings without an earned run! We outhit Washington 10-6, led by Vern Stephens with three hits and three runs, while Wally Moses added two hits, two walks and an RBI. June 11, 1947: Dutch Leonard (5-5, 3.15 ERA, 97.0 IP, 33 K, 1.27 WHIP) has been the definition of consistency this year, with a quality start in all 12 of his appearances this season, with nine of those lasting eight or nine innings. We’re definitely hoping he can keep this up, as we have him on contract through 1951 when he’ll be 42, and he has a no trade clause, so he’s here as long as he wants to be basically. Today he pitched against Claude Passeau (6-4, 3.09 ERA, 96.0 IP, 27 K, 1.26 WHIP) in a battle of high-control pitching legends, and the duel was in effect from the first moments. But we took the lead in the bottom of the fourth off an RBI triple by Richie Ashburn, and we added on in the fifth with an RBI single from Wally Judnich. In the sixth, Les Moss hit a solo homer, his second of the year, to put us up 3-0, before Washington finally got on the board when Eddie Yost scored off a wild pitch in the top of the seventh. Not ready to let this one become a close fight, we put them to bed in the bottom of the seventh with an RBI single by Judnich, and a two-run single by Ashburn which was aided by an E8 error, giving us a 6-1 advantage heading into the eighth. Jeff Heath hit a two-run homer for Washington in the top of the eighth, his fifth of the year, but it just delayed the inevitable as Leonard shut them down to win 6-3 in yet another complete game victory. He improved to 6-5 with a 3.14 ERA, allowing just four hits and three walks with three strikeouts and three earned runs. We had 11 hits ourselves, ;ed by Judnich (two hits, two walks, a run and two RBIs) and Ashburn (two hits, a walk, a run and two RBIs). Ashburn has hit .393 with a double and two triples in his first eight games, and is rapidly improving at left and right field defensively as he proves his utility value. We’re off tomorrow and then will hit the road for the next three weeks, with the following games scheduled: 6/13-15: at New York (36-23) *6/17-18: at Boston (26-28, 7.5 GB) 6/20-22: at Washington (27-31, 8.5 GB) -- includes Sunday doubleheader* *6/24-25: at Philadelphia (30-28, 5.5 GB) 6/27-29: at Detroit (31-25, 3.5 GB) -- includes Sunday doubleheader* We’ll then spend the last day of June and the first three weeks of July (including the All Star break) playing on our own field. This will be a make-or-break stretch for us, because if we can’t improve our performances on the road in these 16 games, it’s going to be very difficult for us to avoid sliding into the AL basement. But if we can outperform expectations, we’ll be in a strong position for those 20 consecutive home games in July to push us right into the pennant chase. Right now we’re tied with Boston at 26-28, one game up on the Senators, with Chicago (20-37) sitting alone at the bottom, 15 full games out of the conversation well before the season’s midpoint. __________________ "Goodbye To 'The Mack'": The 1916 A's In Peril -- An OOTP 27 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

11-27-2025, 10:44 AM	#29
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,816	June 13, 1947: Fred Sanford (2-4, 4.71 ERA, 72.2 IP, 21 K, 1.53 WHIP) got the start in our first game against the Yankees on their field this weekend, facing Joe Page (8-2, 3.06 ERA, 67.2 IP, 37 K, 1.24 WHIP). We’ve been snakebit against the Yankees, having only beaten them once in eight tries, so we went into this one looking to exorcise some demons. But the Yankees took the lead in the bottom of the second with an RBI single by Phil Rizzuto, and our batters continued to look completely overmatched early. We fought hard in the third and fourth innings, however, and in the fifth it finally paid off with a sac-fly by Vern Stephens getting Fred Sanford in to score from third, having been walked in the leadoff spot! With two outs, Jackie Robinson hit one into center to drive Stephens to third, and he took second in the process, giving us two in scoring position! New York then walked Arky Vaughn, and just like that we had ourselves a real chance to do damage. But Joe Schultz popped out to shallow center and we had to settle for the 1-1 tie midway through the inning. And that didn’t last ... Sanford gave up a double to Joe Gordon, a triple to Hank Majeski, and (after a pop-out to right) a double to their pitcher, Page, and just like that we were down two runs and fading fast. Sanford still appeared fresh, just a victim of bad luck, but after he led off in the sixth by letting Yogi Berra homer and then gave Joe DiMaggio a single, we had to bring out Ned Garver. Garver got us thorugh the inning on four pitches, with a pop-out and a 6-4-3 double play, and we loaded the bases in the top of the seventh, getting a run back when Joe Schultz walked one in ... but we couldn’t pile on, going into the stretch still trailing 4-2, and that’s how it stayed in another tough loss. Sanford took the loss, falling to 2-5 with a 4.87 ERA after eight hits, a walk, two strikeouts and four earned runs in his five innings. Garver was solid though with three innings and just a hit, a walk and a strikeout, improving his ERA to 2.97 through 30.1 innings. The Yankees outhit us 9-6, Jackie Robinson leading with two hits and nothing else. June 14, 1947: Tom Seats (7-4, 3.67 ERA, 83.1 IP, 26 K, 1.50 WHIP) pitched in today’s game, battling Red Munger (7-3, 3.52 ERA, 94.2 IP, 47 K, 1.28 WHIP). In the top of the third, Vern Stephens hit one that nearly left the park over the short porch, but instead caromed off the wall and led to an RBI double! With him on second and Cavarretta on third, they walked Wally Judnich, bringing up Arky Vaughan, who promptly hit one deep into right for a two-RBI single ... now we’re talking! Richie Ashburn hit into a double play to squelch what could have turned this into a rout, but we’d made them notice us. In the top of the seventh Harry Walker hit a solo homer to add on, and Seats completed the shutout as we won this one 4-0! Each team had six hits, ours led by Arky Vaughan who hit three times with two runs batted in. Seats improved to 8-4 with a 3.31 ERA, allowing six hits and a walk with two strikeouts, nobody scoring on him. This was his second six hit, one walk, two strikeout game this season, following our May 27th win against the White Sox! June 15, 1947: Diomedes Olivo (5-7, 3.64 ERA, 94.0 IP, 45 K, 1.10 WHIP) pitched against Randy Gumpert (5-2, 6 SV, 1.23 ERA, 73.0 IP, 23 K, 0.95 WHIP) in our third game against the Yankees, and it would be really great to steal the series win on our way out the door. We scored first, off a Vern Stephens sac-fly, to go up 1-0 in the top of the first, and Wally Judnich hit an RBI single moments later to add on. We then unleashed on them in the top of the third -- Robinson scored off a groundout by Cavarretta, Harry Walker scored off a wild pitch, and Wally Judnich hit a two-run slam out of left to make it a 6-0 lead! The rout was on ... three more runs scored in the top of the fifth, and Olivo would have had a complete game shutout had it not been for a garbage-time homer by Allie Clark in the botom of the ninth to spoil it. Still, a 9-0 win on the road is a win indeed, and we’ll take it as we hit the road for Boston ahead of tomorrow’s off day. Olivo allowed just five hits, no walks, with five strikeouts and the one earned run as he improved to 6-7 with a 3.41 ERA. Meanwhile, we outslugged them 13-5, led by Judnich, who hit three times for two runs with three more batted in ... he’s now hitting .280 with four doubles, two triples and seven homers, coming alive after a bit of a cold spell in May. June 17, 1947: Dutch Leonard (6-5, 3.14 ERA, 106.0 IP, 36 K, 1.23 WHIP) got the start in Boston this afternoon, facing Mickey Harris (3-5, 5.80 ERA, 68.1 IP, 37 K, 1.80 WHIP). We dueled it out for four innings, and in the top of the fifth we struck, scoring off a Dutch Leonard RBI single to take the 1-0 lead. Vern Stephens hit a solo homer in the sixth to add on, but Leonard got shelled in the bottom of the eighth, and it happened fast -- Johnny hopp scored off a single by Ted Williams, and then Frank McCormick hit a two-out, three-run homer to put them up 4-2. With two outs in the ninth, runners on first and third, Richie Ashburn came up to the plate and struck out swinging ... there would be no miracle comeback tonight, as we lost the heartbreaker by that same 4-2 margin. Leonard fell to 6-6 with a 3.24 ERA, allowing just seven hits and two walks in his eight inning complete game. But he only struck out two, and that three-run homer killed him. We outhit them 9-7, led by Leonard himself with two hits and an RBI, but sometimes luck plays as much a role in this game as anything else. June 18, 1947: We moved Amos Watson (1-1, 6 SV, 0.71 ERA, 25.1 IP, 12 K, 0.91 WHIP) into the number three starter spot for today’s game, moving Fred Sanford (2-5, 4.87 ERA) into the bullpen to handle long relief. Watson faced Tex Hughson (4-10, 5.04 ERA, 119.2 IP, 69 K, 1.65 WHIP), and in a hell of a performance, Watson lasted five innings and gave us everything he had while holding on to a scoreless tie. Fred Sanford relieved him in the bottom of the sixth, and he blew the shutout, letting Boston take the lead on a bases loaded walk by their pitcher Hughson. But he got us out of the inning trailing by just the one run, though it took him 34 pitches to do it and he walked every one of his baserunners ... his night was over. But he wouldn’t get the loss! Wally Judnich hit a towering slam over the Green Monster, tying the score with his eighth homer of the year leading off in the seventh, and just like that we had a ballgame. Jack Kramer took the ball in the bottom of the seventh, and with two outs we surrendered the lead when Frank McCormick hit a screaming double into center and Harry Walker made a rare miss when throwing to the cutoff man, letting Ted Williams score all the way from first base. But again we answered, when Vern Stephens hit a clutch bouncing drive into right field with runners on first and second, driving in the tying run with a single ... advancing along with Cavarretta into scoring position when Robinson made the choice to slide in safe at home. In the top of the ninth, with two outs and Vaughan on second, Les Moss pinch-hit for Kramer, but on a full count he popped up to center and kept the score knotted up. So Ned Garver took over needing to get the outs to let our bats have another chance. He lived dangerously, walking Johnny Hopp and Bobby Doerr back to back, but Hank Thompson grounded into a 6-4-3 double play, keeping our hopes alive ... with first baseman Frank McCormick stepping up to the plate with Doerr on third just a few short feet away from breaking our hearts. But he struck out swinging, and this one went on to extras! Alas, that was our last real chance ... our bats stayed quiet in the top of the 10th, and with two outs in the bottom of the inning Mark Christman singled and then Leon Culbertson hit a double off the monster that allowed Christman to score, beating us 3-2 in the process. That was a tough loss ... Amos Watson pitched brilliantly for five innings, allowing four hits with a strikeout, no runs or walks, improving his ERA to 0.59 through 30.1 innings. Garver wound up with the loss, pitching 1.2 innings with two hits, two walks, a strikeout and the one earned run that mattered. They outhit us just 7-6, in a true ten inning duel, and Jackie Robinson, with three hits and a run scored, was the man who kept our offense firing. It just wasn’t enough. __________________ "Goodbye To 'The Mack'": The 1916 A's In Peril -- An OOTP 27 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

12-12-2025, 06:11 PM	#30
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,816	June 20, 1947: Our latest stop is Washington, D.C. to face the Senators, who currently are 29-35, a game and a half behind us at 28-31. Tom Seats (8-4, 3.31 ERA, 92.1 IP, 28 K, 1.43 WHIP) pitched against Leon Day (4-6, 3.50 ERA, 100.1 IP, 58 K, 1.48 WHIP), and though Washington took the lead in the bottom of the second off an Eddie Yost RBI double, we tied it in the top of the third with an RBI triple by Harry Walker, taking the lead moments later off a Cavarretta sac-fly. Wally Judnich hit a homer in the top of the fourth, his ninth of the year, to extend our lead to 3-1 midway through the fourth, but Washington kept it close with an RBI double by Buddy Lewis in the bottom of the fifth to keep our lead at 3-2. Arky Vaughan scored off a single by Ashburn in the top of the eighth to give us a little more breathing room, and Seats held it through the eighth inning though by the end of the frame he was running on fumes after 146 pitches. When our bats couldn’t buy any more insurance, we brought out Amos Watson with a two run lead to protect, and he shut them down one, two, three to complete the game as a 4-2 victory! Seats was phenomenal through eight innings, allowing seven hits with five walks, two rusn and a strikeout. Watson came out of the pen for just 10 pitches to get the outs we needed, earning his seventh save of the year, and we outhit the Senators 11-7, led by Phil Cavarretta with three hits and an RBI. June 21, 1947: Diomedes Olivo (6-7, 3.41 ERA, 103.0 IP, 50 K, 1.05 WHIP) started our second game against the Senators, facing Ken Heintzelman (1-2, 1 SV, 6.48 ERA, 50.0 IP, 15 K, 1.82 WHIP) on a rainy afternoon. The Senators hit us hard in the bottom of the third, scoring off a Buddy Lewis RBI single and getting two more off a double by Jeff Heath. Olivo couldn’t get a drop of run support, but he was saved from having to finish this one when the game was called in the eighth inning due to water pooling in the outfield from heavy rain ... we lost 4-0, putting up pretty much no fight offensively at all. Olivo took the loss, pitching seven innings with eight hits, two walks, five strikeouts and four earned runs, and they outhit us 8-2, only Cavarretta (with a walk and a hit) looking like he gave much of a damn at all. So far we’re 3-4 on this road trip, and we’ve got two more games against the Senators tomorrow if the weather will permit. Hopefully we put up more fight than we did today, or we might as well pack it up and head back to St. Louis. June 22, 1947: We have two days off this week on Monday and Thursday, so we’re sticking with our rotation for this doubleheader day. In game one, Dutch Leonard (6-6, 3.24 ERA, 114.0 IP, 38 K, 1.22 WHIP) pitched against Washington’s Claude Passeau (7-5, 3.15 ERA, 111.1 IP, 31 K, 1.28 WHIP), and we took the lead just minutes in, when Vern Stephens hit a two-run homer out of left! We then blew it open, scoring five more runs in the top of the third including a bases-clearing three-run triple for Richie Ashburn, to hold a 7-0 lead midway through the inning. By the time Washington scored a run in the bottom of the fifth we’d already racked up nine, and Leonard pitched the rest of the way as we vetoed the Senators 13-2! Leonard allowed five hits and two walks with two strikeouts in the game, handing them just two runs (one earned) as he got his ERA to 3.07. We outhit them just 10-5, which made our outright dominance all the more satisfying ... six runs came off of three homers, with Stephens leading the way with two of them -- he led our offense with three hits, a walk, three runs scored and four batted in. But Ashburn made his presence felt as well, with his four runs batted in off a hit and a walk, giving him 18 RBIs so far this year after just 18 major league appearances. Amos Watson (1-1, 7 SV, 0.57 ERA, 31.1 IP, 13 K, 0.86 WHIP) has been red hot this year, and he got his third start of the season today, facing Leon Day (4-7, 3.59 ERA, 107.2 IP, 65 K, 1.49 WHIP) in the second game of the afternoon. We took the lead in the top of the fourth with a two-run double by Les Moss, but they got on the board with an RBI triple in the bottom of the fifth and Watson was gassed ... it was only his first hit of the game after surrendering two walks in the innings prior. So Fred Sanford took over, no outs, man on third, and Watson would get credit just for four (very solid) innings. With runners on the corners and one out, Sanford gave up the tying run when Mickey Vernon hit into a fielder’s choice and we failed to get the out at home ... and then the Senators took control, Stan Spence hitting a two-run flyball double to put them up 4-2. Sanford struggled to get the last two outs, but eventually got us into the fifth trailing 5-2. Ned Garver took over in the bottom of the fifth and did well for two innings, but he got rocked in the eighth as five more runs were surrendered -- Zoldak came out to get the last out, and then insanity reigned. We were down 10-2 heading into what was expected to be a one-two-three ninth, but our bats had other plans. Robinson took a leadoff walk, and after Harry Walker struck out swinging, Phil Cavarretta singled Robinson to second. Vern Stephens hit an RBI double to score Robinson, Wally Judnich walked, and Arky Vaughan hit an RBI single that scored Cavarretta, driving Stephens and Judnich into scoring position. Stephens scored off a single by Les Moss, cutting their lead to five! Ashburn struck out looking for our second out, but Sam Zoldak singled in Judnich, Jackie Robinson singled in Vaughan, and Harry Walker singled in Moss as the Senators’ lead was down to TWO RUNS! Alas, Cavarretta -- in his second at-bat of the inning -- popped out on a line drive to left and the game ended as a 10-8 loss. Fred Sanford (2-6, 5.08 ERA) was credited with the loss, allowing two hits, two walks and three earned runs in his inning. Watson had a great start through four innings, with just one hit, three walks, three strikeouts and two earned runs, “exploding” his ERA to 1.02. What’s frustrating is we outhit them 17-7 ... but seven of those came in our ninth inning rally. Cavarretta led us with four hits and a run, and Moss added two hits, a walk, a run and three batted in. Too bad Cavarretta didn’t have a fifth hit in him, he had two in scoring position, and a well-placed double could have sent this insane game into extras. We’re off tomorrow and then will take our 30-33 record to Philly to face the Athletics, who are 36-34 after splitting a doubleheader today with the White Sox. We’ll have two games against them, and then will finish this road trip with four games against Detroit (37-31) including a Sunday doubleheader. __________________ "Goodbye To 'The Mack'": The 1916 A's In Peril -- An OOTP 27 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

12-12-2025, 06:16 PM	#31
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,816	June 24, 1947: Tom Seats (9-4, 3.23 ERA, 100.1 IP, 29 K, 1.44 WHIP) pitched against Philly’s Thornton Lee (3-1, 2.83 ERA, 35.0 IP, 15 K, 1.40 WHIP) in our first of two road games, and though Philly started fast, scoring off a groundout by Frankie Crosetti to take the lead in the bottom of the first, we struck back in the fourth -- Richie Ashburn doubled in a run to tie it, Harry Walker hit an RBI single to push us into the lead, and two more runs scored off a Cavarretta double to put us ahead 4-1 midway through the inning. Philly answered quickly with back to back RBI singles from Buddy Rosar and Thornton Lee in the bottom of the inning, but we got a little insurance in the top of the sixth thanks to an RBI double by Jackie Robinson that gave us a two-run cushion. Unfortunately tkey just kept on slugging ... in the bottom of the inning Ferris Fein scored off a bases-loaded walk by Willard Brown, Frankie Crosetti tied it with another walk, and Pete Suder reached on an E6 error, all of these happening with two outs, giving the Athletics a 6-5 lead again. Jack Kramer took over in the bottom of the seventh, still trailing by a run, but our bats were silent the rest of the way and the Athletics beat us by that same 6-5 margin. Seats fell to 9-5 with a 3.47 ERA, allowing just seven hits, but he walked seven players as well, taking full blame for his meltdown in the sixth. We outhit them 9-8, but we’re not a team that can give up six runs and win, and we’re DEFINITELY not a team that can score five runs and then blow the lead. Cavarretta led the offense with three hits, a run and two RBIs. June 25, 1947: Diomedes Olivo (6-8, 3.52 ERA, 110.0 IP, 55 K, 1.07 WHIP) started today against Philly’s Ted Alexander (5-5, 3.36 ERA, 96.1 IP, 37 K, 1.37 WHIP). It looked early on like yet another game where Olivo would pitch reasonably well and yet lack any run support at all ... Pete Suder put the Athletics on the board with a two-run homer in the bottom of the second, and he batted in a third run in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI double. But in the top of the sixth we got them back, scoring off an RBI double by Wally Judnich, an RBI single by Arky Vaughan and an RBI single from Joe Schultz to tie the score at 3-3. Olivo got us through the bottom of the inning, and then we just SLAMMED them -- we took the lead with an RBI single by Cavarretta, added on with a sac-fly by Wally Judnich, Arky Vaughan scored on a failed fielder’s choice and then Joe Schultz hit a three-run homer to pound a nail in! That gave us a 9-3 lead heading into the stretch, and we piled on three more in the eighth and another in the ninth! Olivo stayed out with his 10-run lead in the bottom of the inning, and we held tough to win 13-3 ... what a win! He threw 135 pitches and allowed just seven hits and five walks, striking out four and letting them have the three runs. Meanwhile, we outhit them 17-7, led by Cavarretta with four hits, three runs and an RBI and by Wally Judnich, who had two hits for two runs and five RBIs including his 10th homer of the season! Cleveland has now overtaken the Yankees for the AL lead, with a 41-29 record! Since the huge trade for Max Lanier on May 21st, just a little over a month ago, Lanier has gone 6-1 with a 1.33 ERA, putting up nearly two games of WAR for the Guardians, and they’ve gone 26-11 as a TEAM during that stretch ... the Cardinals made their bet on the farm, and are still 35-35, but in the short term Cleveland is dominating because of that shrewd move. If the Cardinals manage to win multiple titles with their deep farm they may end up being able to get folks to reassess early harsh judgments (and if Lanier doesn’t pitch at this level for years, Cleveland may take a hit), but right now the press here in St. Louis has been vicious in their critiques of a team that they see as having sold their chance at championships now by trading Lanier at age 31. June 27, 1947: Dutch Leonard (7-6, 3.07 ERA, 123.0 IP, 40 K, 1.19 WHIP) pitched against Detroit tonight in front of around 20,000 fans, facing Fred Hutchinson (6-7, 3.23 ERA, 114.1 IP, 60 K, 1.34 WHIP). We didn’t start out great, spotting them a 2-0 lead after the first inning when Hank Greenburg batted in a pair with a flyball double into left. But Wally Judnich hit a homer in the second to get us on the board, and in the top of the third we really came to life -- Wally Moses scored the tying run off a single by Harry Walker, Phil Cavarretta hit a two-run single to put us ahead, and he would go on to score off a single by Judnich to give us a 5-2 lead midway through the inning. We tacked on two more in the top of the ninth when Cavarretta hit an RBI single to score Robinson and Walker, and Leonard shut them down from there as we won easily 7-2! He allowed just five hits with two walks, two strikeouts and two earned runs, and we outhit the Tigers 9-5, led by Cavarretta’s two hits, a walk, a run and four batted in. June 28, 1947: Tom Seats (9-5, 3.47 ERA, 106.1 IP, 31 K, 1.49 WHIP) challenged Preacher Roe (7-4, 2.84 ERA, 104.2 IP, 44 K, 1.18 WHIP) in game two of the four-game series, and we were dominant from the start. Vern Stephens hit an RBI double that scored our first run of the game in the top of the first inning, an Arky Vaughan sac-fly scored another, this one by Cavarretta, and we had Seats set up pretty well after just ten minutes of action. But it’s never that easy ... they got on the board in the bottom of the inning with a sac-fly by Hank Greenberg, and Billy Johnson tied it with an RBI single. We retook the lead in the top of the fourth with a solo homer by Richie Ashburn, his first as a big leaguer, and Jackie Robinson doubled to start the sixth inning, and he stole third to get into quick position to score, his second stolen base of the game! He would go on to score off a Wally Moses sac-fly to extend our lead to two, but Detroit fought back, scoring with a leadoff homer by Eddie Lake and tying the score when Billy Johnson reached safely on an E5 error that allowed Roy Cullenbine to score from third. Jack Kramer took the ball to start the bottom of the seventh still knotted 4-4, and in the eighth inning Robinson was again aggressive ... he hit a double to lead off and again managed to baffle their defense by stealing third ... he’s got LEGS! ... and Arky Vaughan drove him in to score with a sac-fly to left that put us back into the lead. We brought out Amos Watson to “close” in the ninth, still up by just the one run, and he shut them down nicely as we held on to the 5-4 win! Tomorrow’s a doubleheader, so that one really feels good. Kramer pitched two innings with just one hit, earning the win as he improved to 4-2 with a 3.53 ERA, while Watson saved his eighth game of the year and got his ERA back under 1.00 through 36.1 innings. They outhit us 10-7, but we won this one with strong baserunning by Robinson, who led the team with three hits and two runs scored off his three stolen bases ... which gives him 10 on the season, which ties him for first in the majors with Cincinnati’s Earl Torgeson! Robinson has the speed to destroy teams on the bases, but has yet to show killer instincts until tonight. Here’s hoping this is a sign he’s gaining confidence! June 29, 1947: Though the Yankees (44-31) and Guardians (43-29) have dominated the league so far, teams in the middle of the standings have yet to break away from the pack, so we’re currently one of four teams that are currently within 2.5 games of third place. We’re also on a three-game winning streak, and if we can keep it up today, we’re heading into a sweet stretch with ten games in a row at home heading into the All Star break. Of course, including today, that stretch contains FOUR doubleheaders in an eight day span, so we know our pitching’s going to get a workout, and if we’re going to get back above .500 and fight for a spot in the pennant chase, we’re going to need skill and a ton of luck to fall on our side. For the week we’re switching to a five-man rotation, and since Watson pitched last night, we’re starting Fred Sanford (2-6, 5.08 ERA, 79.2 IP, 23 K, 1.59 WHIP) in his place for game one, and he’s facing Virgil Trucks (8-3, 3.40 ERA, 100.2 IP, 53 K, 1.26 WHIP). We got on the board in the top of the fourth when Vern Stephens hit a two-out solo homer to put us up 1-0! But Sanford struggled in the fifth, a problem he’s had all season, giving up a single to Billy Johnson and then an RBI double to Eddie Mayo to tie the score without an out. But he got us out of the inning without any more fireworks. But he was denied the lead when we stranded runners on the corners in the sixth, and he had to give the ball to Ned Garver as we came up in the bottom of the frame. Jackie Robinson played the hero again in the eighth, hitting a one-out solo homer over the wall in left to put us back up a run, and then Detroit played a dangerous game, loading the bases on two outs to give us a chance to really break this one open. But they escaped with our lead just at one run when Vaughan popped out harmlessly to right. We brought out Amos Watson in the bottom of the inning and he was dominant through the last two innings as we again held tough to a one-run win, this time 2-1. After a solid start by Sanford, five innings with five hits, a strikeout and the one earned run, our bullpen combined for four innings of hitless baseball ... Garver got the win with two innings and one strikeout, improving to 2-4 with a 3.93 ERA, and Watson saved his ninth game with two innings and two strikeouts, walking one. We outhit the Tigers 6-5 in a real duel, Jackie Robinson’s back-breaking homer leading the way. And to think, we had to follow that with another game ... fans on both sides getting the win in that one. Diomedes Olivo (7-8, 3.48 ERA, 119.0 IP, 59 K, 1.09 WHIP) pitched in the game, facing Art Houtteman (4-3, 1 SV, 3.65 ERA, 69.0 IP, 33 K, 1.54 WHIP) as we attempted the four-game series sweep. We loaded the bases in the top of the second, and Olivo bought himself the lead when he walked in the game’s first run, though Robinson struck out swinging to keep us from blowing it open. We added on in the fifth when Robinson doubled and then came home off a double by Harry Walker, who stole third but was stranded there as we went into the bottom of the inning leading 2-0. Olivo lost his no-hitter in the bottom of the fifth off a single by Eddie Mayo, and we lost the shutout a few moments later when, with two outs, Eddie Lake hit a single into right that drove in Birdie Tebbetts for a score. And that’s when our luck crumbled, as Roy Cullenbine slammed a three-run rock out of center to give the Tigers a 4-2 lead. Jack Kramer took over for a shellshocked Olivo to start the bottom of the sixth inning, and Sam Zoldak got the ball in the eighth, still trailing by a pair. In the top of the ninth, with one out, pinch-hitter Bob Dillinger got on base with a walk, but we had no rally left in us as we lost this one 4-2, snapping our winning streak and dropping back to just shy of .500, at 34-35. Olivo took the loss and fell to 7-9, allowing four hits, three walks and four runs with three strikeouts, but it was yet another duel ... they only outhit us 6-5, and it was the three-run homer by Cullenbine that left us wounded. Robinson and Walker each had a stolen base, and Ashburn led the way with two hits and a walk, Robinson and Vaughan scoring our only runs. We’ll return home to play Cleveland (44-30) for two games, and we won’t hit the road again until the 22nd of July, two weeks after the All Star game. But Cleveland is tied with the Yankees for the lead in the AL so they’ll be no easy team to beat -- though at least we won’t face Lanier, who is on pace to win 25 games this year, as he threw 139 pitches today in a 4-2 win over the White Sox. Our upcoming schedule: 6/30-7/1: Cleveland Guardians (44-30) 7/2, 7/4: Chicago White Sox (27-49) -- both are doubleheaders due to a rain rescheduling 7/5-6: Detroit Tigers (39-35) -- includes a Sunday doubleheader 7/8: *MLB All Star Game* 7/10-12: New York Yankees (45-31) 7/13: Washington Senators (32-42) -- a Sunday doubleheader 7/15-17: Philadelphia Athletics (38-39) 7/18-20: Boston Red Sox (38-36) -- includes a Sunday doubleheader __________________ "Goodbye To 'The Mack'": The 1916 A's In Peril -- An OOTP 27 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

12-12-2025, 06:38 PM	#32
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,816	*To anyone reading these writeups, I salute you This one has been slower to develop than previous ones, because I'm working full time now, but I'm really enjoying it.* __________________ "Goodbye To 'The Mack'": The 1916 A's In Peril -- An OOTP 27 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

12-18-2025, 08:46 AM	#33
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,816	June 30, 1947: We arrived in St. Louis to find it raining off and on, but with so many doubleheaders upcoming, it was decided that the game should go on. Dutch Leonard (8-6, 3.00 ERA, 132.0 IP, 42 K, 1.16 WHIP) was unfazed as he took on Steve Gromek (8-3, 2.16 ERA, 104.1 IP, 28 K, 1.18 WHIP) as we got going late in the evening, but it was Cleveland who took the first lead of the game when, in the top of the second, Sherm Lollar hit a sac-fly to drive home Hank Edwards. They added on moments later with an RBI single by Piper Davis, so we went into the bottom of the inning trailing by the early pair. They added a run in the seventh, going into the stretch leading 3-0 thanks to an RBI single by Whitey Kurowski, and our offense never really did much worth talking about. They went on to add another in the top of the ninth and shut us out 4-0 ... and with four games in the next two days (and six over the next four) we’ve got to find some offensive momentum or we risk this homestand starting out incredibly poorly. Leonard took the loss but pitched a complete game, allowing 10 hits and striking out three with four earned runs. But we were outhit 10-6, and none of our baserunners accomplished anything ... most notably, Jackie Robinson only got on base once, stole two bases to get into scoring position when he did, and then we left him there to rot. That’s not a recipe for winning games. *Diomedes Olivo won Rookie of the Month for June, making seven starts with a 3.18 ERA, putting up a 4-3 record while allowing teams to hit just .213 against him.* So far this year he’s put up 2.1 wins above replacement in the season’s first three months, throwing 124 innings with a 3.63 ERA and a 7-9 overall record. July 1, 1947: Tom Seats (9-5, 3.53 ERA, 112.1 IP, 33 K, 1.50 WHIP) pitched for us today, facing Jim Bennett (4-7, 5.38 ERA, 98.2 IP, 28 K, 1.57 WHIP). We took the lead quickly over Cleveland in the bottom of the first inning, thanks to back to back homers from Vern Stephens (scoring two runs) and Wally Judnich to give us a quick 3-0 advantage. Cleveland got on the board in the top of the second with a homer by Babe Young, but we hammered them in the bottom of the inning, loading the bases and scoring off a fielder’s choice, a wild pitch, and a two RBI double by Judnich to extend our lead to 7-1. We traded runs from there, but held our ground nicely as Seats pitched himself a complete game seven-hitter, our boys beating them soundly 9-3. Seats gave up three earned runs and only struck out one batter, but we outhit them 14-7 and he easily won his 10th game of the season. Vern Stephens was four for four with a walk, two runs and four more batted in as he led the way offensively, with Jackie Robinson adding three hits and three runs and Judnich hit twice with a run and three batted in as well. Chicago (28-50) comes into town next for doubleheaders tomorrow and on the fourth, and then we’ll face three games in two days over the weekend against Detroit (40-36) before getting a reset for the All Star festivities. With seven games in five days, everybody’s going to get a workout, and we’re going to see what this staff is truly made of. July 2, 1947: Amos Watson (1-1, 9 SV, 0.94 ERA, 38.1 IP, 18 K, 0.83 WHIP) pitched game one for us against the White Sox, and we again took the lead in the bottom of the first, Robinson scoring off a Vern Stephens RBI single. Chicago answered quickly with an RBI single by Tommy Butts in the top of the second, and they took the lead in the top of the fourth off a groundout by Taffy Wright. Sam Zoldak took the ball from Watson in the top of the sixth with the lead unchanged. In the bottom of the seventh, with two outs and Arky Vaughan on first, Richie Ashburn hit a line drive double into deep center that drove Vaughan around to score the tying run! Zoldak got us through the eighth safely, and when our bats didn’t buy a lead in the bottom of the inning, he got us through the ninth as well in a stirring display of bullpen dominance. Judnich walked to start the bottom of the inning, reaching second on a wild pitch that game two outs later as Richie Ashburn tried to will us to another win. He wound up walking, and Sam Zoldak pulled off the hit and run, both runners advancing as he took first to load the bases! That brought up Jackie Robinson with two outs, bases loaded, and a chance to walk it off. Unfortunately he popped out to right and this one went into extra innings. Jack Kramer took the ball from Zoldak, immediately letting pinch hitter Wally Platt take a double into deep center ... Zoldak’s gonna wish we let him stay in for a fifth inning, because after a walk, Luis Olmo hit a two-run double and just like that our game was in complete disarray. Kramer was an absolute mess out there, to the point where Ned Garver had to take over with two outs, men on first and second, and the score 5-2 in Chicago’s favor. Garver got the strikeout we needed, but only after giving up one of Kramer’s runs ... we went into the bottom of the 10th trailing by four, but we rallied and loaded the bases on one out in the bottom of the inning, and pinch hitter Dick Whitman hit a sac-fly to drive in a run that cut our deficit to three runs. Les Moss walked the bases loaded again, but there was no miracle for Richie Ashburn this afternoon as he popped out harmlessly and we lost 6-3. Kramer (4-3, 4.11 ERA) took the loss with two outs against four hits, a walk and four earned runs, and Chicago outhit us 9-8. Phil Cavarretta had two hits, while Ashburn hit once, walked twice, and drove in one of our three runs. We still had a second game to play, and Fred Sanford (2-6, 4.89 ERA, 84.2 IP, 24 K, 1.56 WHIP) was the man of the hour, going up against Ray Prim (3-9, 3.45 ERA, 109.2 IP, 32 K, 1.35 WHIP). And he was on fire early, pitching five innings with just two hits against him, our guys getting the lead in the bottom of the fifth off an RBI single for Bob Dillinger! We added a run in the sixth off a Joe Schultz RBI double, and Ned Garver took the ball in the eighth with a two-run lead. He was great in the eighth but melted down in the ninth, giving up a solo bomb to Dave Philley, letting them tie us off a single by Fred Lombardi, and then walking George McQuinn to give them the damned lead, and we had nothing left in the tank, losing this one 3-2. What a brutal doubleheader. Garver blew his second save of the year and lost with three hits, three walks and three runs in his two innings, and though we outhit them 8-7, none came when it counted. Vern Stephens was our only offensive force, with three hits and a run scored. July 4, 1947: Our home stand has not started as we’d hoped, with a 1-3 run so far against Cleveland and the White Sox. But we remain in contention, at 35-38, 9.5 games out of first with four teams in the middle of the pack who are within three games or so of each other. We just need to play with confidence, and build on the big improvements we’ve already made over last year’s mess of a season. I’d still love to put together a blockbuster trade that turns us into instant World Series hopefuls, but the smart move is to bide our time and just keep building our young team’s confidence. Diomedes Olivo (7-9, 3.60 ERA, 124.0 IP, 62 K, 1.10 WHIP) has done well for us this year, coming in to the league in his late 20s with loads of expections riding on his status as a second round pick. Today he pitched game one against Chicago’s Ed Lopat (4-7, 3.81 ERA, 101.2 IP, 42 K, 1.24 WHIP) and our first three batters of the game hit safely, including Vern Stephens, whose RBI single put us into the lead with no outs in the bottom of the first. Jackie Robinson hit an RBI single to drive in another, he and Stephens pulled off a double steal, and Arky Vaughan laid down a perfect drive down the left field line, driving them both home ... happy birthday, America! Joe Schultz hit one into right to drive in our fifth run, before Chicago finally got its act together and got three quick outs off a double play and a grounder to go into the second inning trailing us 5-0. The game, from there, became a series of offensive showcases as we traded runs through the fourth inning, building an 8-3 advantage. Chicago kept it close in the fifth with a two-run Minnie Minoso homer, but Jackie Robinson hit an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth inning (his third hit of the game) and Al Javery took over in the top of the seventh with a 9-5 advantage. He hadn’t pitched since early June, but he acquitted himself nicely in the seventh, with three quick outs, and he did it again in the eighth. With the lead still at four runs and a second game still to be played, we kept him in for the ninth ... with two outs and a man on third Minoso hit a two-run homer to cut our lead to two, and Ernie Lombardi hit a single to force our hand; Sam Zoldak came out and got the groundout we needed to seal the deal on the victory, 9-7 -- lovers of offense rejoiced, but I hoped dearly that we’d be able to get through the second game with fewer fireworks from our opponent. Olivo got the win with six innings and six hits, walking four with three strikeouts and five earned runs. Zoldak got his second save of the year off just six pitches, but I was definitely impressed with Javery’s poise during his 2.2 innings -- three hits, one walk and two runs against him. We asked too much from him by keeping him out in the ninth, save situation or not. Thankfully our bats helped us outhit Chicago 13-9, with Robinson (three hits, a run and three RBIs) and Stephens (three hits, a walk, two runs and two RBIs) keeping us ahead of them all the way. Dutch Leonard (8-7, 3.06 ERA, 141.0 IP, 45 K, 1.16 WHIP) pitched game two for us agianst Frank Papish (0-4, 5.66 ERA, 35.0 IP, 13 K, 1.74 WHIP), and we found ourselves mired in a real pitching duel early on, neither team’s offense able to get any foothold after the early game’s fireworks. But when we broke through in the bottom of the fifth it was in a big way ... Les Moss scored off an RBI single by Leonard to give us the lead, Vern Stephens hit a sac-fly that scored Richie Ashburn from third, and then Jackie Robinson hit a two-run double down the right field line to put us ahead 4-0! Leonard pitched around a leadoff triple by Eddie Joost in the sixth, stranding him as we held the shutout, and we bought insurance in the eighth with an RBI double by Arky Vaughan and an RBI single by Les Moss to lead by six heading into the final frame. Leonard finished what he started and we held firm to the 6-0 shutout victory. We only outhit them 9-8, but Robinson was solid as ever, with three hits, a run and two RBIs, helping set the table as Leonard won his ninth game of the year, a complete game eight-hitter with two strikeouts and no free passes. July 5, 1947: Tom Seats (10-5, 3.49 ERA, 121.1 IP, 34 K, 1.44 WHIP) got the start in our first game against the Tigers, going up against Hal Newhouser (10-4, 3.19 ERA, 155.1 IP, 113 K, 1.31 WHIP), their 26-year-old firebombing ace. We took the lead in the bottom of the second with an RBI single off Richie Ashburn’s bat, but they got the run back in the top of the sixth when Eddie Lake had a single that was aided by an E9 error, allowing their pitcher to come around and score. We didn’t flinch, however, as Ashburn got the lead back for us with an RBI single, which Bob Dillinger followed with a single of his own that brought home two more runs to give us a 4-1 lead heading into the seventh inning! They led off with a solo homer from Hoot Evers in the top of the seventh, cutting our lead to two, and they got another when Newhouser hit a sac-fly that scored Billy Johnson. But Seats got us out of the inning with the lead still safe at 4-3. Ned Garver took the ball with one out and Ray Cullenbine on second in the top of the eighth, and he immediately gave up the tying run to Hank Greenberg with a single into left. With two outs the wheels fell off when Eddie Mayo tripled in two more to put them firmly into the lead, giving us real work to do on offense if we were going to salvage the game. With two outs in the bottom of the eighth Harry Walker came in as a pinch hitter, hitting a bloop single into right and then, with Bob Dillinger at the plate, stole second off a called strike and third off another ... but Dillinger hit one to short and ended the rally attempt. Jack Kramer came out to pitch in the ninth, letting them add on another run before getting the final out, and our bats had no answer as we dropped this one 7-4. Seats was phenomenal as usual, pitching 7.1 innings with seven hits, a walk and two strikeouts, but earned runs (four of them) doomed him, even accounting for the one that was surrendered by Garver. Each team hit 11 times, Ashburn leading our team with two hits a run and two RBIs ... we just couldn’t capitalize on the chance we had in the eighth to turn the tide. *All Star team announcements came out late this evening, and we had our share of winners.* Dutch Leonard and Amos Watson will represent us, both as starters (I was surprised to see Watson not as a reliever ... I guess he’s convinced voters he can handle the spotlight! Wally Judnich won the fan vote and will represent us at first base, and Jackie Robinson made the cut at second base. Vern Stephens rounded out the bunch and will play third base during the annual showcase. Considering we’re in sixth place in the league, getting five players on the All Star rosters is a really good sign that people are noticing what our players have been accomplishing for a team that in the past has been a league doormat. Richie Ashburn remains the #8 prospect in all of baseball according to the Sporting News, and though he’s put up more than a game of WAR since debuting 28 games ago, he’s still relatively unknown to the voters at large. I suspect he’ll be a perennial All Star before long at all, once he adjusts to the rigors of playing center field in the big leagues. July 6, 1947: The All Star game’s just two days away, but today our focus is on the doubleheader we face against the Tigers as we hope to go into the break with some momentum on our side. Amos Watson (1-1, 9 SV, 1.25 ERA, 43.1 IP, 19 K, 0.85 WHIP) started against Preacher Roe (7-5, 3.19 ERA, 118.2 IP, 53 K, 1.26 WHIP) in game one, and we took the lead in the bottom of the first off a sac-fly by Vern Stephens. Jackie Robinson added an RBI triple in the third to score Cavarretta, and Richie Ashburn grounded out to score Joe Schultz in the fourth to add on. Hank Greenberg got Detroit on the board in the fifth with a solo homer, and Sam Zoldak took over for us in the top of the sixth, leading 3-1. Detroit got another run back with a double by Greenberg in the top of the seventh, and a two-run homer immediately after by Hoot Evers put them back into the lead 4-3. But we came out of the stretch ready to fight ... Ashburn walked, took second on a sac-bunt by Zoldak, and then Phil Cavarretta hit a towering two-runner out of left to put us back up 5-4! But Zoldak blew it again in the bottom of the inning, Ray Cullenbine hitting an RBI double to tie it up again, putting pressure on our bats once again to deliver. Jack Kramer took the mound in the ninth, still tied at five-all, and they took the lead off a sac-fly by Dick Wakefield. We went down one, two, three in the bottom of the inning, losing this one 6-5. Zoldak blew his fourth save and Kramer took his fourth loss despite our outhitting them 12-10. Cavarretta hit three times with two runs and two RBIs, but our bullpen kept giving up runs and we don’t have the power to sustain repeated comebacks ... it just wasn’t in the cards, especially with a second game yet to be played. Fred Sanford (2-6, 4.52 ERA, 91.2 IP, 31 K, 1.51 WHIP) pitched game two against Virgil Trucks (8-4, 3.60 ERA, 115.0 IP, 63 K, 1.29 WHIP), and we got him a lead in the bottom of the first with a two-run homer by Vern Stephens. Incredibly, we blew them out in the second, adding a two-run single by Harry Walker, an RBI double for Phil Cavarretta, an RBI single by Stephens, and an RBI single by Arky Vaughan, sending us into the third inning leading 7-0! It didn’t stay a shutout for long ... they scored two each in the third and fourth, adding a run in the fifth after we’d gotten two of those back, so this one quickly turned into a shootout on both sides. But we held our lead, and by the time Al Javery came out to pitch in the eighth inning we still were ahead 9-5 and looking solid. But he quickly got into trouble -- Vic Wertz hit a sac-fly to get one run back, and Barney McCosky hit an RBI single to gain back another, both coming on two outs. With runners on first and second we went to Ned Garver, who advanced both runners off a wild pitch but then got the out we needed to avert the crisis. Les Moss hit an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth to get us into double figures scoring, and Garver got us the rest of the way as we held tough to win a slugfest 10-7. Sanford got the win, pitching seven innings with six hits, three walks, three strikeouts and five runs, three of them earned. We outhit them 11-10, and Garver held firm with his second save of the season, getting through the last four outs with just one hit. Vern Stephens was unflappable, hitting three times with three runs and three RBIs, and Wally Judnich scored a run thanks to FOUR WALKS ... he never hit in the game but he made things happen regardless. We’ll go into the All Star break with a 38-40 record, 9.5 games out of first as we sit in sixth place -- half a game behind Philly, 5.5 games up on Washington. The Yankees lead the division at 49-32, 2.5 games up on Cleveland and 5.5 up on Detroit ... we still have room to make waves in the league, and if we can get our heads on right as we come back from the break, a top half finish isn’t out of the question. But getting to .500 and above is not assured if we can’t find a way to become more consistent. Attached Images __________________ "Goodbye To 'The Mack'": The 1916 A's In Peril -- An OOTP 27 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

02-19-2026, 09:44 PM	#34
Pelican Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2021 Location: Wilmington, Delaware Posts: 3,161	Really enjoying this. I have a sim in progress using the 1946 Season as the moment the color line broke plus more free agency and the PCL becoming a third major league. Many of the same stars. __________________ Pelican OOTP 2020-? ”Hard to believe, Harry.”