"Ain't Gonna Work As Topping's Farm No More" -- A's Baseball in a Reimagined Fifties - Page 2

jksander · 08-21-2024, 10:07 PM

June 24, 1955: Walt Craddock (1-5, 5.12 ERA, 77.1 IP, 33 K’s, 1.60 WHIP) pitched in game one against Baltimore’s Saul Rogovin (5-4, 4.10 ERA, 105.1 IP, 46 K’s, 1.49 WHIP). We took the lead in the top of the first with a passed ball allowing Finigan to score from third base. Craddock had his strikeout to end the bottom of the second, but a passed ball allowed the runner to safely reach base ... moments later we loaded the bags and an RBI double drove in THREE RUNS, none of them earned! Craddock just can’t catch a break. We got a run back quickly in the top of the third with an RBI single by Hector Lopez with one out. Vic Power hit an RBI single to tie it up, and we retook the lead with an RBI single by Astroth. Rocky Bridges hit a single that drove in another run, and a sac-fly by DeMaestri drove in yet another in what was turning into a nightmare scenario for Rogovin, who was now at 101 pitches. He got the final out, but we went into the bottom of the third leading 6-3. They went to the bullpen in the top of the fourth, and Craddock got us through the fifth with the lead unchanged. Pete Suder pinch hit for him in the top of the sixth, leading off with a single, taking second moments later off another wild pitch. They walked Walker, and Finigan batted Suder around to score another run, giving him his 25th RBI of the season. Art Ditmar came out to protect the four-run lead in the bottom of the sixth, and he pitched around two baserunners to keep it that way. Sonny Dixon came out with two outs and a man on third in the bottom of the seventh, getting Gene Woodling to ground out and get us into the eighth still up by four runs. Dixon then went and hit a solo homer out of left in the top of the eighth, stunning everyone ... he’s been hitting just .125 and that’s his first homer of the year! Tanner added an RBI double which gave us a six-run lead heading into the bottom of the eighth. Baltimore got a run back in the bottom of the inning off a triple by Fred Marsh, but Dixon didn’t give an inch from there and we won this one in blowout fashion, 9-4!

Will Craddock overcame a rough start to win this one, improving to 2-5 with a 4.81 ERA ... he allowed just three hits, three walks and struck out a pair, all three of his runs being unearned. Ditmar held on for 1.2 innings with two hits and a walk, and Dixon held down the fort for the remaining 2.1 innings, allowing a hit, a walk and an earned run as his ERA improved to 3.90 through 27.2 innings. More shocking is the fact that we outhit the Orioles 17-6, led by the scaldingly hot Finigan, who hit five times for three runs and an RBI. Chuck Tanner and Joe Astroth each added three hits a run and an RBI as well, and eight total players wound up with hits, including Dixon with his surprise homer as we piled on late.

June 25, 1955: Walt Masterson (0-2, 5.14 ERA, 28.0 IP, 17 K’s, 1.57 WHIP) pitched today against Baltimore’s Ray Moore (4-7, 4.07 ERA, 55.1 IP, 33 K’s, 1.63 WHIP). Masterson got into real trouble in the bottom of the second, loading the bases and walking in a run, then allowing Ray Moore to hit a two-run single into left to really open things up. Neither starter was going to go deep into this one, but we started to see real chinks in Moore’s armor in the top of the fourth when he walked Tanner, Lopez and Power in quick succession, loading the bases! Astroth then hit a sac-fly that ALMOST blew over the wall for a grand slam ... instead, Tanner at least did manage to score to get us on the board. Moore then walked Bridges, reloading the bases, and DeMaestri hit a sac-fly into center, driving in another run! Bill Wilson came out to pinch hit for Masterson, but he hit another one into left that should have been a homer but wasn’t ... the wind blew it in, the left fielder made the catch, and Lou Sleater came out to pitch in the bottom of the fourth with the lead 3-2 Orioles. They got a run back, a sac-fly by Moore driving in a run, and with two outs Gene Woodling hit an RBI single to make it a three-run lead again. From there it got ugly quickly ... Triandos hit a three-run blast out of left and just like that we were down by six and fading fast. Art Ditmar came out and got the final strikeout, but we were gonna need a miracle to come back now.

They helped us some by keeping Ray Moore out there so he could qualify for the win ... he walked Walker and Finigan quickly, but Tanner hit into a double play, sending Walker to third, and pushing Moore out of the game for Lou Kretlow ... another potential good stroke of luck for us, since he threw 65 pitches yesterday... but we couldn’t get the runner at third to score. In the top of the seventh they kept Kretlow out way too long and we took advantage, Finigan hitting an RBI triple that drove in a pair to cut the lead to four. Tanner walked, and they pulled Kretlow for Jim McDonald. With two outs, Vic Power was up to bat when a wild pitch drove another run in, and we went into the stretch trailing 8-5 but somehow still in this one. Wear ‘em down, that’s our plan, then find a way to win again! Ditmar got us through the seventh without incident, but we were hitless in the eighth, so Ditmar stayed out and was phenomenal, shutting them down completely as we came up one last time with hope still taunting us. With two outs against us, Finigan walked, but Tanner grounded harmlessly out to first as we lost in the end 8-5.

Masterson took the loss, falling to 0-3 with a 5.52 ERA ... he allowed three hits, walking four and striking one while allowing three earned runs in his three innings. Sleater didn’t help any, getting two outs but allowing five hits and five earned runs, but Ditmar came out and went 4.1 innings and threw just 46 pitches, allowing two hits and striking out a pair as he improved his ERA to 2.78 through 55 innings. They outhit us 10-3, Finigan leading the way for us with a hit, two walks, a run and two RBIs. Tomorrow’s doubleheader wil have to decide it all ... with the exception of Ditmar, the bulk of our bullpen is fully rested, while Baltimore’s is in shambles ... Kretlow, having thrown 120 pitches in two days, is exhausted, as is Jim McDonald who has thrown 115 over three of the last four nights. That will leave them Erv Palica and Don Johnson, neither of whom is a particularly high leverage option. If we can wear their starters down, I like our chances.

June 26, 1955: Alex Kellner (10-6, 2.64 ERA, 119.1 IP, 41 K’s, 1.37 WHIP) started the first game of the day, facing Baltimore’s Duane Pillette (1-8, 6.44 ERA, 79.2 IP, 27 K’s, 1.85 WHIP). Wind is blowing out HARD here in the early afternoon, and I’m told there’s a good chance for rain. So we really need to get a lead early in case of any weather delays. Walker and Finigan led off with back to back singles, and with one out Hector Lopez loaded the bases with a single of his own. Rocky Bridges walked in a run, and just like that we had our lead! Bill Renna batted in two more with a single into left, and DeMaestri hit a three-run homer to clear the bases and extend our lead to 6-0! Even Billy Shantz got in on the hit parade, singling into center to bring his sparking average up to .083 ... we batted around, Walker reaching on an E3 error to push Shantz into scoring position, and Finigan batted in another run with a single. Vic Power finally popped out to center for the final out, but we led 7-0 before Kellner even had to throw! Hector Lopez hit a solo bomb out of right to lead off in the top of the second, Don Johnson already out there pitching from the bullpen. The Orioles did get on the board, Gus Triandos hitting an RBI double in the bottom of the fifth to cut our lead to seven, and then with two outs Gene Woodling hit an RBI single to make it 8-2. Jim Finigan hit a two-run homer in the top of the eighth to extend our lead back to eight, Rocky Bridges hit an RBI double that added on, and we went into the bottom of the eighth leading by nine. Fred Marsh hit into a fielder’s choice but drove in a run for the Orioles in the bottom of the inning, but Kellner was quick to close the door on them from there. With Kellner at 138 pitches, we brought Lou Sleater out to pitch in the bottom of the ninth to finish this one out as an 11-3 victory ... the rain held off, and there’s another game scheduled!

Alex Kellner’s been on a roll ... four wins in his last four starts, and he’s 5-1 so far in the month of June! Tonight he went eight innings with 10 hits, three walks and three runs (one earned) as he improved his record to 11-6 with a 2.54 ERA. Sleater then came out and allowed just one hit as he finished the game off, improving his ERA to 9.24 through 12.2 innings. We outhit them 14-11, led by Finigan who hit three times and walked once, scoring two and driving in three ... he’s hitting .295 for the year and seems to have come back from his injury better than ever. Lopez added two hits and a walk with three runs and an RBI, and Rocky Bridges got his average back over .200 with two hits, a walk, a run and two RBIs.

Bob Spicer (4-6, 4.29 ERA, 92.1 IP, 20 K’s, 1.47 WHIP) pitched in our final game against the Orioles, facing Jim Wilson (5-6, 3.19 ERA, 104.1 IP, 57 K’s, 1.28 WHIP), who Baltimore desperately needed to see have a quality start. Rain has cleared the area, and all signs point to us being able to get a full game in. Baltimore took the lead in the bottom of the second, a two-out single by Jim Wilson getting them on the board. Chuck Diering then hit an RBI triple to make it a 2-0 lead before Spicer finally got the out we needed. But we tied it up quickly, a two-run blast by Harry Walker getting us back in quickly. We loaded the bases, but weren’t able to get the lead from them, however, and Spicer gave up a two-run homer off Bob Kennedy’s bat ... was this one gonna have to be a shootout? Billy Shantz led off with a base hit in the top of the fourth, beating out an infield squib ... moments later we had the bases loaded again, and Chuck Tanner walked in a run to cut their lead to one. Vic Power popped out to left but the runner on third scored, tying the game with two outs! Rocky Bridges walked the bases loaded and a quickly tiring Jim Wilson walked in Bill Wilson (no relation) to put us in the lead 5-4. We brought Bill Harrington out to pitch in the bottom of the sixth, and with the lead still 5-4 but with runners on first and second and just one out in the bottom of the inning, the Orioles went to the pen to bring out Lou Kretlow who was able to get them out of there with the bases loaded, no one scoring. Harry Walker hit an RBI double that drove in a pair in the top of the ninth, and we got two quick outs in the bottom of the ninth ... the second one, however, leading to Harry Walker making a bad slide as he grabbed the ball. He had to come out, but it doesn’t look to be a long-term injury. They left two runners stranded as Harrington completed the final four innings as we won this one 7-4.

Bob Spicer improved to 5-6 with a 4.44 ERA, allowing nine hits and four earned runs with two walks and two strikeouts in his five innings. No one expected Harrington to hold the lead the remainder of the way, but he threw 48 pitches through four innings to pick up the save, allowing just four hits and a pair of walks. That was his first save of the year, and he now has a 3.77 ERA through 14.1 innings. Baltimore actually outhit us 13-11, but Walker dominated them with three hits, a walk, two runs and four batted in. Once we had the lead in the top of the fourth there was no way we were giving it up against their brutalized bullpen. If their GM doesn’t call someone up to give them support he doesn’t deserve to have a job in this league.

Against all odds we’ve won 10 of our 14 games thus far on this road trip, and after a day off tomorrow to rest, we’ll play two in Cleveland (35-37) before finishing out the week with three against Detroit (36-34) back in Kansas City ... and we’re really hoping the fans will come out to support, now that we’re showing real potential to be able to get back to .500! At 34-38, we’re only half a game behind Cleveland and three games behind Detroit.

jksander · 08-22-2024, 02:10 AM

June 28, 1955: Arnie Portocarrero (3-4, 5.05 ERA, 73.0 IP, 24 K’s, 1.41 WHIP) started this afternoon against Herb Score (6-7, 4.09 ERA, 127.2 IP, 121 K’s, 1.43 WHIP) under clear Cleveland skies. We set the tone when, with the count full, Harry Walker hit a solo homer out of left to give him his third of the year! Score then loaded the bases for us, and DeMaestri hit one through the gap to drive in a pair with a single. This road trip has given us the confidence to trust that we’re the most patient team in the league, and we just have to keep sticking to the plan. Cleveland got on the board in the bottom of the third, Larry Doby hitting an RBI single, but we got it back with an RBI single by Hector Lopez in the top of the fourth. Portocarrero got into a real heater of a jam in the bottom of the sixth, loading the bases without an out, but he got three in a row to stifle the Guardians and hold on to our lead. Tom Gorman came out to pitch in the bottom of the seventh, and with two outs Larry Doby hit a solo homer out of right ... so far he’s their only player who has been able to score off us. But Hector Lopez got us the run back with an RBI single in the top of the eighth. Gorman got us through the bottom of the eighth just fine, and Bobby Shantz came out to close it, pitching around a hit by Al Smith as we held tough to win 5-2.

Portocarrero has been solid since coming back up from AAA ... he’s now 4-4 with a 4.78 ERA, allowing eight hits with two walks and a strikeout, leading to one earned run through six innings. He’s 3-0 in the six games since coming back up, and his ERA has improved from a low of 6.26. Gorman picked up his sixth hold of the year, and Shantz saved his 18th game, improving his ERA to 2.20 through 45 innings over 30 appearances. Cleveland, as has been a regular thing, outhit us 11-8, but they were never really in the game. Hector Lopez hit three times and walked once, scoring a run and batting in two, and Walker had a hit (his homer), a pair of walks and scored twice with an RBI.

The win moves us up into a tie for fourth place with the Guardians, though we remain 17 games out of the pennant race (with the Yankees well in the lead at 52-21). Our farm system is doing well too -- our AAA Columbus Jets are now 37-36 and five games back in fifth place in the International League, while our single-A Savannah A’s are 44-32 and five games back in third place in the South Atlantic League. The Welsh / Marion Miners in the Appalachian League are 48-35, tied for first in the standings, and the Lancaster Red Roses are 55-21 in the Piedmont League, 10 games back but in second place. Considering our farm system is ranked dead last in the majors based purely off of prospect rankings, I feel we’re working to build a solid system from the ground up.

June 29, 1955: Walt Craddock (2-5, 4.81 ERA, 82.1 IP, 35 K’s, 1.58 WHIP) pitched our second of two games in Cleveland, facing Early Wynn (8-6, 3.10 ERA, 116.0 IP, 59 K’s, 1.29 WHIP). This one turned into a real pitcher’s duel early, nobody getting a real foothold ... still knotted up at zero, we brought Art Ditmar out to pitch in the bottom of the sixth, and he kept us in the hunt with three quick outs. In the top of the seventh with one out, Vic Power reached first on an E5 error, and Astroth singled into left, driving him into scoring position, but we weren’t able to get them around to score. Sonny Dixon came in with two outs and a man on first in the bottom of the inning, getting Dave Philley to ground out to first to keep the game scoreless. Wynn was nearly unstoppable, getting us out quickly in the top of the ninth to keep it scoreless, having thrown 160 pitches to do it. But we still had a chance to keep the game alive, and Dixon did what we needed him to do -- he pitched around runners on first and second to get the three outs we needed, and this 0-0 ballgame went into extra innings as the Guardians finally went to the pen.

In the top of the 10th, Joe Astroth led off with a single, and with two outs Bill Wight walked Sonny Dixon to put Astroth in scoring position with the top of our lineup coming up! Harry Walker walked the bases loaded, but with the count full against him Finigan popped out harmlessly to right. Bobby Shantz came out to pitch in the bottom of the inning, and he pitched around two baserunners to stump the Guardians yet again! With two outs in the top of the 11th, an E2 error allowed Astroth to take second and pushed Vic Power over to third, and finally we got something going ... Rocky Bridges hit a hard line drive into right field, and just like that we held a two-run lead! Shantz stayed out and got the first out, but we brought Tom Gorman out with a runner on first, getting the two quick outs we needed to win this one 2-0 in 11 innings!

Walt Craddock, Art Ditmar and Sonny Dixon combined for nine innings pitched with five hits, three walks and nine strikeouts between them. But it wasn’t enough. It took Bobby Shantz’s 1.1 innings with two hits and three strikeouts, which got him the win (he’s now 5-2 with a 2.14 ERA), and then Tom Gorman’s critical pair of 11th inning outs (he’s now got two saves with a 4.00 ERA through 36 innings) to get us the win. Cleveland outhit us 7-4, but they walked us six times which made the difference. Bridges led the way with his hit and two RBIs, while Astroth hit twice for a run and Vic Power had a hit and a run as well.

We’re off tomorrow and then we make our triumphant return to Kansas City, where I’m hoping we can draw a good crowd against Detroit ... we’re now in fourth place, a game up on Cleveland and 1.5 games up on Boston, and we’re only a game and a half back of the 37-36 Tigers. We finished the month of June with a 17-14 record, going 12-4 on the road trip that was supposed to break us.

July 1, 1955: Just over 9,100 fans showed up under clear skies to watch Walt Masterson (0-3, 5.52 ERA, 31.0 IP, 18 K’s, 1.65 WHIP) pitch against Detroit’s Steve Gromek (7-2, 4.16 ERA, 97.1 IP, 39 K’s, 1.40 WHIP). Detroit got on the board quickly, an RBI single by Ray Boone batting lead-off man Harvey Kuenn in from third in the top of the first. Red Wilson hit an RBI double to add a run on in the top of the second, but Hector Lopez hit a three-run powerbomb out of center to put us up 3-2 in the bottom of the third! Unfortunately for Masterson, he loaded the bases in the top of the fourth and was only able to get two outs before a Jim Delsing single batted them back into the lead with a pair of runs. Al Ditmar came in with runners on first and second, getting the final out to send us into the bottom of the inning trailing 4-3. Detroit added a run in the top of the sixth, and we brought Lou Sleater out to pitch in the top of the seventh. Mel Hoderlein hit a solo blast out of left to make it 6-3, and Ray Boone tripled in the top of the seventh, though he injured himself on the slide into third -- no word as to how severe, but he was pulled for a pinch-runner who scored moments later off a sac-fly to make it a four-run lead. But we didn’t quit ... in the bottom of the eighth we loaded the bases with just one out, scoring a run when pinch-hitter Bill Renna hit into a fielder’s choice. Sonny Dixon got us through the top of the ninth with still a sliver of a chance, and we figured we’d give their pitchers a run for their money ... why not? Nothing to lose! Jim Finigan walked to lead off the bottom of the ninth, advancing to second off a groundout by Tanner. But this time there was no miracle, and we lost 7-4, having been thoroughly dominated by the Tigers.

Masterson fell to 0-4 with a 5.97 ERA, allowing eight hits and four earned runs with four walks and four strikeouts in just 3.2 innings. The Tigers outhit us 14-4 and though we did walk nine times, we didn’t do anything with the baserunners we got. We can’t win every game off pure hustle, but any games we do win will depend on it. Hector Lopez hustled his ass off, hitting twice for a run and three RBIs, thanks to his 10th homer this year. But that was the bulk of our spark all in one play. The Tigers’ Ray Boone has knee tendinitis and is day to day for at least the next three weeks, though I have no way to know if they’ll risk playing him or choose to put him on the IL.

We’ve put Masterson on waivers, calling Johnny Gray back up from AAA -- Gray has gone 5-1 with a 3.73 ERA through 82 innings with the Columbus Jets, and though he struggled in four early starts for us at this level, I think the 28-year-old is ready for another chance.

July 2, 1955: Alex Kellner (11-6, 2.54 ERA, 127.1 IP, 41 K’s, 1.38 WHIP) pitched against Jim Bunning (2-5, 5.00 ERA, 86.1 IP, 58 K’s, 1.46 WHIP) in the second of three games against Detroit. They got a quick early lead again, when Al Kaline hit an RBI single with one out in the top of the first. Kellner held them back as best he could, but we continued to lack any ability to score, and Detroit broke through with an RBI single by Ray Boone in the top of the sixth to add a run, giving them a 2-0 lead. A Bill Tuttle sac-fly made it a three-run lead for the Tigers as we went into the bottom of the sixth. Bill Tuttle made a great catch for our first out in the bottom of the inning, but he started screaming ... they pulled him from the game and it looks like a thumb ligament tear that will cost him at least the month of July ... not that it mattered for our bats, which stayed silent. Art Ditmar came out to pitch in the top of the seventh, immediately giving up a solo homer to their pitcher, Bunning, to make it a 4-0 lead, and his night got worse ... three more hits, capped with a three-run homer by Al Kaline, and, trailing now by seven we brought in Lou Sleater to try and get a single goddamned out -- he got three, but we went into the stretch trailing 7-0. Astroth led off with a triple, a sac-fly by Bridges at least getting us on the board. Then they brought Ben Flowers out of the pen to replace Bunning, and all bets were suddenly off ... he walked Walker, Finigan and Tanner in quick succession, a run scoring when Hector Lopez hit into a fielder’s choice. Vic Power reached on an E5 fielding error that allowed another run in to score, and a passed ball and ANOTHER error, this one E3, allowed Astroth to load the bases! But Rocky Bridges hit into a 4-6 double play to end the inning with us still down by four. Sonny Dixon came out to pitch in the top of the ninth and got the outs we needed, and DeMaestri led off with a single in the bottom of the inning, and Bill Renna, pinch-hitting for Dixon, walked him into scoring position. A Finigan single with one out loaded the bases for the second inning in a row, but yet again we couldn’t buy a hit ... Hector Lopez popped weakly to right and we lost this one 7-3 despite having had several good chances to win it.

Kellner fell to 11-7 with a 2.63 ERA, allowing just five hits with three walks and two strikeouts to go with his three earned runs through six innings. Unfortunately, Ditmar allowed four earned runs off four hits without getting a single out ... without that disaster in the seventh, we wound have been in a stronger position for sure. But Detroit out hit us 10-7 ... our team batting average is so consistently low, everyone knows how to beat us, and yet we still had chances. Vic Power led the day, hitting twice with an RBI, while Walker hit once, walked twice and scored a run.

July 3, 1955: We’re tied for fourth now with Cleveland, and though Detroit has now pulled significantly away, we could still use this win to rebuild some momentum as we head toward the All Star break. Bob Spicer (5-6, 4.44 ERA, 97.1 IP, 22 K’s, 1.51 WHIP) pitched against Ned Garver (4-1, 4.19 ERA, 68.2 IP, 25 K’s, 1.31 WHIP). But his night did not start smoothly ... three quick hits off 18 pitches and just like that the bags were loaded. With a doubleheader tomorrow he’s gotta tough it out. Ray Boone hit into a fielder’s choice and drove in a run, but Spicer held his own and we came up to bat trailing just by the one run. Vic Power woke everyone up in the bottom of the inning, with a three-run blast out of right off two outs, shooting us into the lead with his seventh homer of the year! Joe Astroth hit an RBI single in the bottom of the third that drove in two more runs, and Bridges batted in another as the floodgates opened! We led 6-1 heading into the top of the fourth, and Finigan hit a solo homer, his seventh of the year, to make it a six run lead in the bottom of the inning. Finigan hit another homer, this one a two-run blast out of right, in the bottom of the eighth, extending our lead to eight runs with his second of the game. Spicer stayed out to complete the game, and we won easily 9-1!

Bob Spicer improved to 6-6 with a 4.15 ERA, allowing just four hits in his complete game victory! He walked three, struck out three and allowed just the single earned run. We outhit the Tigers today 11-4, led by Finigan, with two homers for three RBIs, and by Vic Power, who hit three times (including a homer) for two runs and three RBIs. The Chicago White Sox (48-28, 7.5 GB) will come to town tomorrow for a doubleheader against our 37-40 Athletics. We’ll then have a three-game set against Cleveland (36-41) before heading to Detroit for four games against the Tigers before the All Star break.

jksander · 08-22-2024, 07:50 AM

July 4, 1955: Happy Independence Day, America! Let’s play a pair against the White Sox! Arnie Portocarrero (4-4, 4.78 ERA, 79.0 IP, 25 K’s, 1.43 WHIP) pitched in game one against Virgil Trucks (9-3, 2.45 ERA, 106.1 IP, 56 K’s, 1.15 WHIP). Chicago took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first with a groundout by Minnie Minoso, but we got the run back in the bottom of the second off a squeeze play, Hector Lopez scoring the tying run with Vic Power advancing to second. But Portocarrero loaded the bases in the top of the third, a run scoring off a single by George Kell, and he hit Sherm Lollar on the shoulder to drive in a third run. That seemed to open the floodgates, as we struggled to get that final out, sending us into the bottom of the third trailing 5-1. They added on a run in the top of the fifth, and Lou Sleater came out to pitch in the top of the sixth. The hits kept coming ... for Chicago, with Sherm Lollar hitting an RBI single that made it 7-1 Sox heading into the stretch. Johnny Groth batted in another in the top of the eighth, with Sonny Dixon coming in to pitch with one out and a man on first. They added another run before we were able to shut them down, and it was clear they’re playing well out of our league at this point in the season. Lollar hit a solo homer in the ninth, and the White Sox crushed us in the end by a 10-1 margin.

Portocarrero fell to 4-6 with a 5.14 ERA, allowing seven hits and six earned runs with two walks and four strikeouts in his five innings. We were outhit 13-6, completely wasting a four-hit game for Vic Power, who is now hitting .302 with 41 RBIs.

Walt Craddock (2-5, 4.53 ERA, 87.1 IP, 38 K’s, 1.53 WHIP) pitched against Billy Pierce (8-8, 2.86 ERA, 138.2 IP, 82 K’s, 1.28 WHIP) in game two of the afternoon, in front of the 7,000 or so fans who stuck around for the food and fireworks. In the bottom of the sixth, after a long stalemate, Vic Power hit a solo homer over the center field wall to make it a 1-0 lead for our Athletics! Craddock, without any further run support, stayed out and protected his own lead until, with two outs in the top of the ninth, pinch-hitter Bob Nieman hit a solo shot of his own out of center to tie it up. Craddock got us out of the inning, but he deserved for the team to step the hell up to back him. Hector Lopez took a leadoff walk, but nobody could get him to move from there and we went into extra innings. Art Ditmar came out to pitch in the top of the 10th, and with runners on second and third without an out, we had to pull him for Bobby Shantz, who got three quick outs to frustrate the White Sox as we came up hoping to get this one to a quick end. With two outs, Harry Walker took first on balls, and Finigan said to hell with it and slammed a shot into deep center ... Walker walked it off, winning this one for us 2-1!

Shantz wound up with the win, throwing nine pitches for three quick outs under extreme pressure -- he improved to 6-2 with a 2.09 ERA. Craddock, who had nine innings with just five hits, four walks, four strikeouts and the one earned run, was grateful to come out of it and still chaclk the game up as a win. Chicago outhit us 6-4, but once again our patience at the plate allowed us to get runs in when we needed them. Finigan had a pair of hits and an RBI, and Vic Power’s eighth homer of the year kept his average over .300.

July 5, 1955: Johnny Gray (0-2, 8.44 ERA, 16.0 IP, 5 K’s, 2.25 WHIP) pitched the first of three games against the Guardians here in Kansas City, facing off against Don Mossi (9-3, 2.24 ERA, 132.1 IP, 62 K’s, 1.16 WHIP). Cleveland scored first with a two-run homer by Al Rosen in the top of the second, and Ralph Kiner hit a two-run blast of his own in the top of the third to make it 4-0 Guardians. Gray fell apart completely in the top of the fourth, allowing two more runs to score with the bases loaded, and with two outs and the bags still loaded we brought Ditmar out to salvage what was left of this game. One run was walked in, and then we finally, mercifully, got the out to get into the bottom of the fourth trailing 7-0. Bill Harrington came out to pitch in the top of the sixth, but the game from there was a comedy of errors. Cleveland picked up two more runs in the sixth, and we FINALLY got on the board in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single by DeMaestri .... at which point we suddenly woke up! With the bases loaded, pinch-hitter Bill Wilson stunned everyone with a grand slam homer out of right field, his eighth homer of the year but his first as a pinch-hittter, and we went into the top of the seventh just trailing 9-5. Sonny Dixon came out to pitch, but with two outs Larry Doby hit an RBI triple that drove in two more runs, giving him 40 RBIs on the year and us an 11-5 deficit. A wild pitch scored a 12th run for the Guardians, and we went into the stretch trailing again by seven runs. Tom Gorman came out to pitch in the top of the eighth, and he got us through without any further damage, but we were completely out of gas and the Guardians whipped us 12-5.

Gray took the loss, falling to 0-3 with a 10.07 ERA. He’s looking like strict bullpen material, giving up seven earned runs off six hits, with six walks and three strikeouts in 3.2 innings.They only outhit us 12-11, which makes the beatdown all the more frustrating. Bridges hit three times with a run scored, while DeMaestri added two hits, a walk, a run and and RBI. Vic Power hit twice as well, scoring a run and pushing his average up to .305 for the season.

July 6, 1955: Alex Kellner (11-7, 2.63 ERA, 133.1 IP, 43 K’s, 1.38 WHIP) pitched against Herb Score (6-9, 4.04 ERA, 142.2 IP, 138 K’s, 1.44 WHIP) in this afternoon’s game against Cleveland. We continue to struggle against the longball in our home ball park, with Cleveland quickly scoring thanks to a solo blast by Bobby Avila in the top of the first. Facing a 3-1 count with one out in the bottom of the third, Vic Power swung hard, getting us the run back with a shot into the left field corner, an RBI double that put two in scoring position ... but we couldn’t get the go-ahead run across, and we were punished again in the top of the fourth, this time by a two-run homer by Vic Wertz to put Cleveland back up 3-1. Hector Lopez hit a line drive into right in the bottom of the fifth to load the bases, no outs, and they walked Vic Power to put us within a run, but DeMaestri hit into a double play to stop the rally before it started. In the bottom of the sixth, Bill Wilson walked and Alex Kellner successfully bunted for a hit, driving him over to second to bring up the top of our lineup without an out. Rocky Bridges hit a blistering drive down the left field line that tied us up with a double, and they walked Finigan to load the bases. Hector Lopez hit a sac-fly to drive in the go-ahead run with our second out, and thanks to an E8 throwing error, a Vic Power single into center drove in another! They intentionally walked Astroth, and DeMaestri made himself a hometown hero with a grand salami -- just like that we’re up 9-3 heading into the seventh inning! Lou Sleater came out to pitch with one out and a runner on second in the top of the seventh, walking a batter but getting the outs we needed to maintain our advantage. He then led off with a solo homer out of left in the bottom of the inning, Chuck Tanner added a two-run blast out of right, and we led by nine heading into the eighth! Sonny Dixon came out with no outs, men on the corners, giving up two of Sleater’s runs but getting out of the inning still leading by seven, and he got three quick outs in the ninth as we won this one 12-5! With our teams trading blowout wins, it’s all going to come down to tomorrow’s rubber match.

Alex Kellner improved to 12-7 with a 2.64 ERA, allowing just five hits, a walk, two strikeouts and three runs (two earned) in 6.1 innings. Sleater and Dixon held them off from there, and we actually outhit them 9-7! We were led by Vic Power with two hits, a run and three RBIs, and by DeMaestri, who surprised everybody with the massive grand slam that put us ahead for good.

We’ve made a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals at the bequest of our owner, who was insistent that we bring in a “hometown player” to help boost our team. We sent the Cardinals 24-year-old minor league starter Carl Willey, 23-year-old minor league closer Fred Bourbeau and 25-year-old starter Ray Herbert, who got shellacked in the majors and then continued to struggle at the AAA level. In return, we’ve picked up Liberty, Missouri native Joe Frazier, a 32-year-old right fielder who has hit .205 with four doubles and three homers off the bench for St. Louis. He’s an above average fielder in both left and right, and can reasonably defend center as well. For the moment we’re going to send Lou Sleater (0-1, 9.15 ERA) back down to the minors to make room for him.

July 7, 1955: Art Ditmar (4-3, 3.28 ERA, 60.1 IP, 24 K’s, 1.49 WHIP) pitched just his second start of the season, facing off against Cleveland’s Mike Garcia (7-5, 2.50 ERA, 126.0 IP, 52 K’s, 1.37 WHIP). Cleveland took a 1-0 lead off a groundout for their second out by Jim Hegan that drove in a runner from third in the top of the second. They added on with an RBI double by Mike Garcia in the top of the fourth, the pitcher helping his team to a 2-0 lead. But Dick Kryhoski hit a three-run blast out of right in the bottom of the fourth to put us into the lead off just our second hit of the day. Ditmar got through the top of the fifth without incident, and with one out and a man on first in the top of the sixth we brought out Sonny Dixon to protect the one run lead. He did it with a double play off just his second pitch, and with Garcia staying out to pitch in the bottom of the inning, we were ready to knock him off the mound, hard. Vic Power reached on error, and Astroth walked him into scoring position. With two outs, Sonny Dixon walked the bases loaded and that was it for Garcia -- they pulled him for Bill Wight, who immediately walked in a run via Harry Walker! Jim Finigan popped out to left, but we held a 4-2 lead going into the top of the seventh.

Dixon stayed out long enough for us to warm up his replacement, allowing Jim Hegan to hit a single into right -- with a man on and no outs, Tom Gorman came out to pitch. With the bases loaded, Dale Mitchell pinch hit and hit a sac-fly into center, driving in a run for the Guardians. Larry Doby did the same, but this time we hit the cutoff man and the runners held. But Gorman’s luck did not ... Ralph Kiner hit a three-run homer to clear the bases and put Cleveland back up 6-4 heading into the stretch. In the bottom of the seventh, Vic Power batted in a run with a single, cutting their lead back to one, and Bobby Shantz came out to pitch in the top of the eighth, getting three outs off 10 pitches to keep us in the hunt, doing the same in the top of the ninth. But this time there wasn’t enough power behind our bats and we fell just short, losing this one 6-5.

Gorman wound up losing the game after his third blown save, falling to 4-3 with a 4.38 ERA, allowing four hits and three earned runs. It’s a shame, because Ditmar gave us 5.1 great innings, throwing 91 pitches and allowing just four hits, walking three, striking out one and giving up just two runs (one earned). But Cleveland outhit us 10-4, so it’s amazing we were even still in this one at all once they took the lead back. Kryhoski led the way with his three-run homer, while Power picked up two hits, two runs and an RBI. He’s now hitting .311/.386/.465 with seven doubles and eight homers, good for 2.3 WAR through 61 games.

All that remains between us and the All Star break is a four-game stretch including a Sunday doubleheader against the Detroit Tigers on the road. We’re 39-43 heading into the series against the 41-39 Tigers, who lead us by three games, while we hold a half game lead on the Boston Red Sox and a full game lead over the Guardians.

July 8, 1955: Walt Craddock (2-5, 4.20 ERA, 96.1 IP, 42 K’s, 1.48 WHIP) pitched in game one against the Tigers, facing Ned Garver (4-2, 4.79 ERA, 71.1 IP, 26 K’s, 1.37 WHIP). The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first thanks to an unearned run ... Jim Delsing reached first on an E4 error, allowing Ferris Fain to score, but we got the third out to leave loaded bases. He wasn’t as lucky the second time he loaded the bases ... Red Wilson walked in a run to make it a two-run Tiger lead, and a Ned Garver single into center left drove in two more. That third out remained elusive; Harvey Kuenn hit an RBI single, and by the time we got that out we were in a 5-0 hole heading into the top of the fourth. Craddock made stuff happen in the top of the fifth, taking first on a fielder’s choice, and with two outs managing to steal both second AND third, but Harry Walker couldn’t bat him home. Detroit added a run in the bottom of the sixth, and Sonny Dixon came out to pitch with two outs and a man on first, giving up a double to Fred Hatfield that drove in another run before we finally got out of the inning. A Finigan triple and a sac-fly by DeMaestri finally got us on the board -- there would be no shutout! But the Tigers got the run back in the bottom of the seventh and we were completely overmatched. Bill Harrington came out to pitch in the bottom of the eighth, loading the bases and this one became a bloodbath ... he couldn’t even get a single out! Six runs scored, no outs, and a seventh scored as Jim Delsing hit into a double play. Finally he got the last out after a 46-pitch inning, and they absolutely DESTROYED us by a 15-1 margin.

Craddock gave us 5.2 innings with eight hits, six walks, a strikeout and six earned runs. They outhit us 17-3. We only had seven baserunners the entire game, and only Finigan (two hits, a walk and a run) came out looking like he gave a damn. Enough said, move on to the next one.

July 9, 1955: Arnie Portocarrero (4-5, 5.14 ERA, 84.0 IP, 29 K’s, 1.45 WHIP) pitched in this afternoon’s game against the Tigers, facing Billy Hoeft (7-7, 3.54 ERA, 122.0 IP, 72 K’s, 1.30 WHIP). We loaded the bases in the top of the fourth as Rocky Bridges walked, Hector Lopez reached via an E6 error, and then Billy Shantz walked ... two outs, Bill Wilson coming to the plate, and though we’d placed four baserunners, Hoeft had yet to surrender a single run. Wilson took the count full and then took his base on balls, walking in a run to put us up 1-0 without a hit! Pete Suder hit into a fielder’s choice and they botched the throw to second ... a second unearned run scored, and the bases stayed loaded! Portocarrero popped out to end the inning, but we went into the bottom of the fourth leading 2-0 as all the Tigers fans looked absolutely stunned. Jim Delsing hit an RBI single to put Detroit on the board in the bottom of the fourth, and they tied it up when WE botched a fielder’s choice at second ... turnabout is fair play, but we didn’t give them the lead. We busted up Hoeft’s “no hitter” with a single by Joe Frazier to push Lopez into scoring position, and they were quick to give him the hook, bringing out Paul Foytack with the score still tied 2-2, no outs in the top of the sixth. He got the three outs they needed to keep it knotted up, and with two outs and men on first and second in the bottom of the inning,

Tom Gorman came out and got us into the top of the seventh still fighting hard and tied up at two runs each. He walked to lead off in the seventh, and Harry Walker hit a two-run blast out of left to put us back in the lead, up by a pair! Detroit got a run back with a lead-off homer by pinch-hitter Wayne Belardi in the bottom of the seventh, but Gorman got three quick outs to maintain our slim lead. Billy Shantz took a walk to start the top of the eighth, and Bill Wilson walked him into scoring position as we hunted for some insurance. With one out, Gorman sac-bunted them both into position, and Harry Walker got a hit into left, coming out of it with a two-run double! Bridges doubled to drive in another run, and we went into the bottom of the eighth leading by four runs, but a two-run blast out of left by Fred Hatfield kept the Tigers ready to pounce ... with Shantz warming in the pen, Gorman got Frank House to pop out to center, and pinch-hitter Jack Phillips struck out swinging to keep our lead at two heading into the ninth. With one out, Billy Shantz drew his third walk of the game, Bill Wilson following with another of his own to give us a runner in scoring position, but we weren’t able to get any additional runs to score. Bobby Shantz came out to pitch in the bottom of the inning, getting us out of there with a 4-6-3 double play as we beat Detroit 7-5. With the doubleheader tomorrow, anything’s possible!

Portocarrero had a great night, 5.2 innings with four hits, four walks, three strikeouts and two runs (one earned), but Gorman was the one to hold on for the win ... 2.1 innings with just three hits, a walk, a strikeout and three earned runs improved his record to 5-3 with a 4.79 ERA. Shantz then came out for his 19th save, walking one batter as he brought his ERA down to 1.97 through 50.1 innings. Detroit outhit us 7-5, but their four pitchers combined for 11 walks while we only handed out six free passes. Harry Walker led off with two hits, two runs and four RBIs, while Billy Shantz and Bill Wilson combined for six walks, two runs and an RBI.

Bobby Shantz is officially an All Star! Through his first 34 appearances of the season he’s put up some gaudy stats ... a 6-2 record, 19 saves and a 1.97 ERA, with 25 strikeouts against 13 walks, giving him a 1.31 WHIP and 1.4 WAR.

In other news, we’ve placed a claim on reliever Al “Two Gun” Gettel, of the St. Louis Cardinals ... the 37-year-old has a 3-0 record and a 3.30 ERA through 30 innings of work, and would be a solid addition to our bullpen for the season’s backstretch. He still has one day left on waivers, but if all goes well we should get him on Monday as we head into the break to regroup.

July 10, 1955: One last doubleheader before we take some much needed time to reset for the season’s second half. Alex Kellner (12-7, 2.64 ERA, 139.2 IP, 45 K’s, 1.36 WHIP) pitched the first game, facing Detroit’s Frank “Mule” Lary (8-5, 3.73 ERA, 132.2 IP, 68 K’s, 1.41 WHIP). Vic Power hit a two-out triple in the top of the first, and Hector Lopez grounded one to the shortstop who didn’t have time to throw, allowing the run to score! Jim Finigan walked Lopez into scoring position, but Astroth grounded out to first, sending us into the bottom half of the inning leading 1-0, Lary already having thrown 40 pitches. Kellner got two quick outs, but a run scored off a sac-fly by Al Kaline to tie things up. Detroit took the lead in the bottom of the second, Hatfield tripling and then coming around to score off a sac-fly by Frank House. Lary was wild all night, but had incredible luck because of the great fielding behind him -- meanwhile, Kellner had to keep pitching on a razor’s edge despite having pitched with good control, because he has absolutely putrid run support. But he got us into the sixth still within the one run, and the Tigers kept Levy out there on 125 pitches to start the top of the sixth. Finigan took advantage, walking on four pitches ... but the ump called him out for leading, a completely bulls--- call that only led to Astroth taking the same base on balls himself. Bridges walked him into scoring position as the home crowd grew restless, and the manager pulled the pitcher for Bob Miller out of the pen. Alex Kellner damned near bought us some runs himself on two outs, but his flyball to right was just inches inside the park and they made the grab. Another HUGE missed opportunity.

Kellner pitched around a triple by Jim Delsing to get out of the bottom of the sixth still trailing 2-1. Finally, in the top of the seventh, Hector Lopez hit an RBI single that drove in the tying run, and the go-ahead scored off a wild pitch! Finigan drove in another with an RBI double, giving us a sudden 4-2 lead going into the seventh inning stretch. Kellner stayed out to start the bottom of the seventh but got sloppy, loading the bases without an out. Art Ditmar came out for the high leverage situation, and though a runner did get in via a walk, Ray Boone hit into a 6-2-3 double play to keep our lead at 4-3 as we came up in the top of the eighth. Harry Walker hit into a double play in the top of the eighth that drove DeMaestri over to third with a chance to buy some insurance. Chuck Tanner walked to put runners on the corners, and Vic Power, on a full count, hit a blistering drive to third ... the throw was off, runner scored from third, and Power wound up getting second thanks to the E5! Bill Harrington came out to pitch in the bottom of the inning, up by two runs, getting two more outs in the bottom of the ninth but with a double by Kaline putting runners on the corners. Bobby Shantz came out and, after glancing at the Tigers’ manager standing in the dugout, struck Ray Boone out swinging. We’d won this one 5-3 and took a two-to-one lead in the series!

Alex Kellner improved to 13-7 with a 2.72 ERA, allowing 10 hits with a walk and a strikeout, with three earned runs in his six innings. Ditmar picked up his second hold, Harrington got his third, and Shantz came through with the clutch strikeout to earn his 20th save of the season. Detroit, as has been their wont, outhit us 12-7, but we kept our eyes on the win and pulled it out of the fire. Hector Lopez hit twice and walked once, scoring a run and driving in two, while Vic Power hit once and scored twice on the ground.

Bob Spicer (6-6, 4.15 ERA, 106.1 IP, 25 K’s, 1.45 WHIP) started the second half of the doubleheader, facing off against Jim Bunning (3-5, 4.40 ERA, 100.1 IP, 69 K’s, 1.45 WHIP). Detroit drew first blood in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI double by Fred Hatfield, but Spicer held his own, and this duel suddenly flipped in our favor when, on two outs in the top of the eighth, Hector Lopez hit a two-run blast out of left to put us up 2-1! Spicer stayed out and got us through the bottom of the eighth, but we weren’t able to add any insurance. Bobby Shantz came out in the bottom of the inning with Shantz wearing down at 115 pitches, getting two quick outs before Bubba Phillips singled, setting up pinch-hitter Jack Phillips, who popped it out in the infield to win this for us 2-1 ... absolutely incredible! Shantz saved both ends of the doubleheader, and we’ll go into the All Star break just two games under .500.

Bob Spicer may be a rookie, but don’t tell HIM that ... he came out tonight and pitched like a veteran, allowing seven hits with two walks and just one earned run as he improved to 7-6 with a 3.94 ERA. And though he was tired, having thrown 15 pitches yesterday while also saving the first game in this doubleheader, Shantz came out and threw 20 more pitches, allowing a hit but saving his 21st game of the year to put his ERA at 1.92. He’s pitched 51.2 innings in 36 appearances, but he’s earned a positive decision in 27 of those games so he’s clearly been our most valuable player. Detroit again outhit us 8-5 and we still outlasted them, led by Lopez who hit once for a run and two RBIs for our entire offensive output.

Our waiver claim was executed successfully, and we’ve moved Johnny Gray back down to AAA to make room for Gettel to join the 25-man roster. Walt Masterson has refused to be demoted to AAA, so we’ve released the 35-year-old at a cost of $1,490 against our budget. Gettel will move into a stopper role for us out of the pen, and for now -- unless I can find a way to convince our skinflint owner to help us find a better permanent option, Art Ditmar will step in as our permanent fifth starter for the forseeable future.

We’ll return to action on Thursday the 14th of July after a well-earned break, for a 11-day stretch of home games: two against Baltimore (34-52), three against Washington (31-56), three against Boston (40-47) and then four against the Yankees (60-24) including a Sunday doubleheader on July 24. We’ll then finish the month with three on the road at Washington and four against the Yankees in New York including another Sunday doubleheader on the 31st. With 11 of those 19 games against teams with worse records than we have, we have a real chance to come out of the break and do some real damage!

jksander · 08-22-2024, 03:32 PM

July 12, 1955: Nearly 80,000 fans showed up to watch the NL vs. AL All Star game, which took place in Cleveland! The AL started Cleveland’s Don “The Sphinx” Mossi (10-3, 2.35 ERA, 145.2 IP, 70 K’s, 1.19 WHIP) against the Giants’ Johnny Antonelli (9-7, 3.57 ERA, 156.1 IP, 79 K’s, 1.30 WHIP). Jackie Robinson started things off with a bang, a lead-off homer for the NL squad putting them up 1-0 as the fans went wild. Bobby Avila hit a two-run blast out of center to put the AL team up 2-1 in the bottom of the third, so Hank Aaron answered with a dinger of his own in the top of the fifth, tying the score 2-2! Gil Hodges hit a solo homer out of left just minutes later to make it a 3-2 lead for the NL squad, and the fans were getting their money’s worth. Randy Jackson hit an RBI single that drove in two more as the NL team started to run away with this one, but Jim Rivera made the defensive play of the game for the AL, stealing a potential grand slam from Duke Snyder, climbing for a catch at the wall in right so we’d still have a chance. Jim Finigan, a last minute addition to the team for the AL, pinch-hit in the bottom of the fifth but didn’t get on base. Bobby Shantz came out to pitch in the top of the seventh, pitching around a single by Randy Jackson to keep the NL to a 5-2 lead heading into the stretch. The NL made it official in the top of the eighth with a grand slam by Frank Thomas ... or so they thought, since we got back in with a grand slam of our own (thanks, Al Kaline!) to cut their lead back to three runs in the bottom of the eighth. Al Rosen hit a solo homer out of left to cut the NL’s lead to two. The NL got another homer off two outs in the top of the ninth, Gil Hodges extending their lead to 10-7, and that’s where this home run derby ended, with more bragging rights for the National League.

Gil Hodges was named All Star MVP, hitting twice and walking twice for three runs and two RBIs, with Frank Thomas and Al Kaline, who each hit grand slams, were also exceptional. Boston’s Jackie Jenson hit three times for the AL side, the most of any player on either team. The true MVP was the wind, blowing out to right at 12 miles per hour, which turned this into a fan’s dream.

jksander · 08-22-2024, 09:21 PM

July 14, 1955: With our entire team fully rested and ready to go challenge in the back half of the season, Alex Kellner (13-7, 2.72 ERA, 145.2 IP, 46 K’s, 1.38 WHIP) pitched against Baltimore’s ace Bob Kuzava (6-3, 4.20 ERA, 98.2 IP, 49 K’s, 1.68 WHIP). Baltimore took the lead with an RBI single by Fred Marsh in the top of the second, a second run scoring off an RBI single by Gus Triandos as we missed the cutoff man with two outs. But DeMaestri walked the bases loaded for us in the bottom of the inning, and Kellner laid down a perfect squeeze bunt to drive a run in while keeping them loaded on one out! Unfortunately, Walker grounded into a double play to end the inning, but we were right there in it. Baltimore got a run back in the top of the fifth thanks to an RBI double by Hal Smith, and another scored off a wild pitch, Kellner starting to fall apart as we tried to get the third out. We came to the plate in the bottom of the inning trailing 5-1, but their pitcher was tiring too -- he walked Walker, Tanner and Power to load the bases, and they went to the pen, bringing out Lou Kretlow who walked Lopez to drive in a run! Astroth hit a sac-fly to center that drove in a third run, and we went into the top of the sixth still trailing by a pair. Al Gettel, acquired earlier this week off waivers, came out to pitch in the top of the sixth, getting three quick outs off nine pitches, and he handled the seventh inning as well with aplomb. Sonny Dixon came out to pitch in the top of the eighth, still trailing by a pair, and he got through the eighth and ninth with the lead unchanged. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Joe Astroth singled into right to give us a baserunner, taking second off a passed ball! DeMaestri singled through the gap to push him over to third, but Rocky Bridges grounded out to first and we lost this one 5-3.

Kellner took the loss, falling to 13-8 with a 2.81 ERA, allowing seven hits, a walk, a strikeout and five runs (three earned) in his five innings of work. Gettel went two innings with a hit and two strikeouts, and Dixon added two innings with only a strikeout, no baserunners. But we were outhit 8-4, which continues to be our achilles heel ... no consistent ability to hit, so we’re dependent on manufacturing runs out of walks and errors. Joe Astroth hit once, walked twice and drove in a run, and Walker hit once, walked three times and scored a run. The loss snapped Kellner’s streak of eight games with at least a quality start.

July 15, 1955: Bob Spicer (7-6, 3.94 ERA, 114.1 IP, 25 K’s, 1.43 WHIP) started our second of two games against the Orioles, facing Duane Pillette (2-9, 6.44 ERA, 93.2 IP, 33 K’s, 1.87 WHIP). Baltimore led off with a solo homer from Triandos to get them going quickly, but we got up to the plate without any further immediate damage. Joe Frazier hit a three-run blast out of right in the bottom of the second to shoot us into the lead, but they tied it up in the top of the third with a two-run blast out of right by Gene Woodling, and the Orioles took the lead (still with one goddamned out) off an RBI single by Bob Kennedy. Hoot Evers hit a sac fly that made it 5-3 Orioles and then FINALLY we got out of there -- middle of the third, but trailing by a pair. Joe Astroth walked the bases loaded for us with one out in the bottom of the third, and Joe Frazier drove in another RBI with a sac-fly to center, but Bill Renna popped out to center and ended the rally attempt. Spicer was a f---ing mess, loading the bases, AGAIN, and giving up two more runs off a double by Hal Smith, and with one out and men on second and third we had to go to Sonny Dixon ... who got one out and then allowed two more runs through. Why are we playing so atrociously at home when we’ve done so well all year on the road?

When you trail 9-4 when coming up to bat in the bottom of the fourth, essentially all bets are off, nothing to lose but your pride. And by the end of this game we had none of that left ... Chuck Diering hit a three-run homer in the top of the fifth, and Bill Harrington came out to pitch with one out, a man on second and the bottom-feeding Orioles whipping our asses 13-4. They tacked on another run before we finally got into the bottom of the inning, We loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth and drove in a run with an RBI single by Lopez, Finigan walked in a run, and a sac-fly by Astroth drove in another. But three runs only got us back within seven, trailing 14-7 heading into the seventh inning. Al Getel came out to pitch in the top of the eighth, and he kept it from getting any worse. But we had nothing left in the tank and this one went down as a 14-7 blowout.

Spicer had an absolutely terrible start, going 3.2 innings with eight hits, three walks, two strikeouts and nine runs, eight of them earned, and Dixon followed with four hits, five earned runs and three walks in one inning. Harrington gave us four innings with two hits, two walks and a strikeout, and Gettel had one hit one walk and one strikeout in his two innings, but the damage was done. We were outhit 15-8, led by Lopez with two hits, two walks, two runs and an RBI, while Bridges led off with two hits, a walk and a run.

July 16, 1955: Arnie Portocarrero (4-5, 4.92 ERA, 89.2 IP, 32 K’s, 1.45 WHIP) pitched today against the Senators’ Chuck Stubbs (7-9, 4.30 ERA, 106.2 IP, 51 K’s, 1.43 WHIP). Harry Walker hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the third to put us into the lead, another run scoring off an RBI single by Jim Finigan! Chuck Tanner hit an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth that drove in another pair, giving us a five run lead heading into the top of the fifth. Washington got on the board in the top of the fifth with an RBI double by Jim Busby, and a groundout by Pete Runnels added another. Ray Sievers hit an RBI single as we fought to get our third out, cutting the lead to two runs as we finally escaped into the bottom of the inning. We got a run back thanks to an RBI single by DeMaestri, and in the bottom of the sixth Vic Power hit an RBI double that drove in two more! Leading by five after the stretch, we never let them back in ... with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth, Astroth walked in a run, and we went into the top of the ninth leading by six. Portocarrero stayed out to complete the game and we won easily 9-3.

Arnie Portocarrero is now 5-5 with a 4.56 ERA, thanks to a six hit three walk three strikeout game with three runs, one earned. We outhit the Senators 11-6, led by Vic Power with three hits, a walk, a run and two RBIs, while Walker added two hits, a walk, three runs and two RBIs.

July 17, 1955: Walt Craddock (2-6, 4.50 ERA, 102.0 IP, 43 K’s, 1.54 WHIP) started today against Washington’s Mickey McDermott (5-5, 4.14 ERA, 111.0 IP, 50 K’s, 1.75 WHIP). Vic Power hit into a fielder’s choice in the bottom of the third, allowing Walt Craddock to score and put us into the lead. Craddock got an infield hit to bat in a run in the bottom of the fourth, expanding our lead to two, and Chuck Tanner walked in a run to add on. A Vic Power flyball into left field drove in two more, and they had to go to the bullpen. Hector Lopez hit a line drive single into right to add two more, and we went into the top of the fifth leading in dominating fashion, 7-0! Chuck Tanner walked in another run in the bottom of the fifth and Vic Power batted in another with a single, expanding our lead to nine, and Craddock held court from there and kept them from getting anywhere as we shut the Senators out 9-0!

Craddock is now 3-6 with a 4.14 ERA thanks to his eight hit two walk three strikeout complete game shutout, and we narrowly outhit Washington 9-8! Vic Power hit three times with a run and four RBIs, and Tanner and Lopez each batted in two runs. This win pushes us into third place, our 44-46 record trailing Chicago by 13.5 games and the Yankees by 20.5, putting us half a game up on Detroit and a full game ahead of Cleveland.

July 18, 1955: Alex Kellner (13-8, 2.81 ERA, 150.2 IP, 48 K’s, 1.39 WHIP) pitched against Johnny Schmitz (3-6, 5.16 ERA, 83.2 IP, 24 K’s, 1.69 WHIP) in our final game against Washington on this homestand. Alex Kellner got us on the board with a two-run homer in the bottom of the second, just his first longball of the year! Washington got on the board thanks to an RBI single by Ed Fitz Gerald in the top of the fourth, and they took the lead moments later with a double by Johnny Schmitz that put them up 3-2. Kellner had a rough inning trying to get that third out, and by the time we came up to hit in the bottom of the fourth we trailed by three. Sonny Dixon came out to pitch in the top of the seventh with one out and a man on first, getting us out of there without any runs scoring. Hector Lopez hit an RBI single that got us back within two in the bottom of the eighth, and with one out Finigan walked the bases loaded. DeMaestri then hammered a line drive down the right field line and just like that it was all tied up! Dixon shut them down quietly in the top of the ninth to bring up the top of our lineup in the bottom of the inning. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the inning, we won it on a squeeze play .... Finigan laid it down perfectly, Harry Walker scoring from third to win it 6-5!

Kellner lasted 6.1 innings despite his poor fourth inning, allowing nine hits and three walks, striking out three and giving up five earned runs. But Sonny Dixon won the game with his 2.2 innings of brilliant play, improving to 2-1 with a 4.47 ERA while merely walking one and striking out another. They outhit us 9-6, but we came back and stunned them thanks to Lopez, who had a hit, three walks, a run and an RBI, and to Kellner who hit the two-run homer that got everything started early on.

We’d really like to add another contact / power pitcher to the lineup, but the sellers don’t seem to be willing to sell without getting ridiculous returns. With two weeks left in the trading season, it’s looking less and less likely we’ll be able to make any more significant moves. But I’ll be continuing to man the phones as we hope for a miracle deal to slide in. Meanwhile, our focus is on the 41-51 Red Sox, who are coming to town for three games as we fight to see if we can get back to .500 for the first time since May 11 when we were 12-12.

jksander · 08-25-2024, 03:35 PM

July 19, 1955: Bob Spicer (7-7, 4.44 ERA, 117.2 IP, 27 K’s, 1.48 WHIP) pitched against Ike Delock (5-8, 3.51 ERA, 112.2 IP, 67 K’s, 1.34 WHIP) in our first of three home games against the swooning Red Sox, who come into this game sitting ten games under .500, good for sixth place in the AL. Spicer struggled to find his groove early on, and Ted Williams hit an RBI single to put the Sox in the lead, but three quick outs left him stranded on base as we only trailed by one at the inning’s midpoint. With a runner on first in the top of the second, Sammy White sac-bunted his way into a double play as Spicer started to find his groove. The Sox got another run though, an RBI single by Grady Hatton extending their lead to 2-0 in the top of the fourth. In the bottom of the fourth with two outs, Bridges got a hit into left, and Astroth tried to come around to score from third ... he was ALMOST out at the plate, but the throw to the catcher was off, the error scored as an E7, and the run counted as an RBI single for Astroth, who took second. They walked DeMaestri, and then caught him trying to steal second as part of a double steal ... but we were on the board, trailing just 2-1 heading into the top of the fifth. With two outs and a man on third, Spicer gave up an RBI single to Grady Hatton, but got us out of the inning without further incident. Trailing by two at the start of the bottom of the sixth, Al Gettel came out to pitch, and in the top of the seventh with one out and runners on the corners, DeMaestri scored a run off a wild pitch to get us back within one. Chuck Tanner walked, as did Vic Power, loading the bases for Hector Lopez, who struck out swinging .... Finigan then grounded out to first to end the inning with three stranded. Gettel was dominant though, getting six outs through two innings on just 12 pitches, but he struggled in the top of the ninth, walking three in a row without an out, bringing Gorman out in a super high-leverage situation. It didn’t go well -- a run scored off a sac-fly to deep right, and another scored with two outs on an infield hit without a good play for an out. But we went into the bottom of the inning with a sliver of a prayer, trailing by three but with the top of our lineup a batter away. Pete Suder pinch-hit for Gorman, singling off closer Hersh Freeman to take first. Tanner walked with one out, putting Suder into scoring position, but Vic Power popped out to the catcher for our second out, and Hector Lopez struck out swinging for the third as we lost this one 5-2.

Spicer took the loss, falling to 7-8 with his ERA untouched, allowing three earned runs off six hits and four walks, notching only one strikeout. Gettel finished with three walks and two earned runs in two innings, giving him a 3.00 ERA since arriving here off waivers, and Gorman finished with a pair of hits and a strikeout. Each team had eight hits, ours led by Astroth who hit twice and scored a run. Bridges batted in a run with his hit, but Walker wasn’t able to make anything happen despite two hits and a walk.

BLOCKBUSTER TRADE ALERT!!! After more than three weeks of negotiations, we’ve managed to get Andy Pafko from the Milwaukee Braves ... the 34-year-old veteran outfielder can hit for contact and power (he’s averaging .315 this season with a .481 slug while playing off the bench for the Braves, and can play all three outfielder positions competently, so he’ll START for us. He’s also well known nationally and popular with our fan base. But we had to give up a lot ... we’re sending 23-year-old reliever Frank Torre, 18-year-old SS Clete Boyer, 28-year-old scrub RP Russell Swingle and ... this was the tough one to agree on ... 26-year-old CF Bill Wilson, to get the deal done. But Pafko, at 34, is a vastly superior fielder and hitter to Wilson, and his bat’s been severely underused in Milwaukee, and Wilson’s been stuck on OUR bench as Hector Lopez has usurped his role as a CF starter. Chuck Tanner will move to the bench with Pafko taking over in left field, Tanner playing backup at LF / RF while also taking over as one of our best pinch-hitting options.

July 20, 1955: Alex Portocarrero (5-5, 4.56 ERA, 98.2 IP, 35 K’s, 1.41 WHIP) pitched against Boston’s Willard Nixon (6-11, 4.37 ERA, 123.2 IP, 66 K’s, 1.61 WHIP), with 8,000 A’s fans getting their first look at our new lineup, with “Handy Andy” Pafko batting cleanup between Lopez and Finigan. Boston scored first, taking the lead in the top of the second off an RBI double by Billy Goodman. Portocarrero was hit by a pitch to lead off in the bottom of the third, and they walked Walker to put him in scoring position. Power then hit into a double play to shoot Portocarrero over to third. Lopez walked, and Pafco took the count full before hitting one straight to the shortstop who made the out to get Boston out of it. Portocarrero walked the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth, two outs against us, but Harry Walker grounded out to first ... our third time getting runners in scoring position and leaving them there ... maddening! Portocarrero did what he could, but a two-run blast off the bat of Dick Gennert made it a three-run lead for Boston, and he was becoming visably frustrated with our inability to give him any run support.

Boston made their fourth double play of the game in the bottom of the fifth to empty the bases and squelch another scoring opportunity. Al Gettel came in with one out and a man on first in the top of the sixth, getting us out of there with our second double play of the night as we remained three runs in the hole. Gettel, who had only thrown two pitches in the sixth, stayed out for the seventh but put two runners into scoring position immediately, so Bill Harrington came out to pitch ... a run came in off a sac-fly to center, giving the Red Sox a commanding four-run lead heading into the stretch. With a runner on first in the bottom of the inning, Chuck Tanner came in to pinch hit for Harrington, taking the count full before hitting into our FIFTH DOUBLE PLAY ... damn it! Walker singled up the middle, Power took a base on balls, and so did Lopez ... two outs, three on, and here comes Andy Pafko for the fourth time tonight ... he’d gone three and out so far, and this time he hit into a fielder’s choice, out at second. We just can’t buy any offense tonight and our chances won’t come any better gift wrapped than that. Sonny Dixon came out in the eighth and the Red Sox added on, an RBI triple by Sam Mele driving in two as we were pretty much out of this one. They made it official with an RBI double by Ted Williams, trailing by seven as we came up to hit in the bottom of the eighth. We didn’t put up any fight, losing in the end 7-0.

Portocarrero took the loss and fell to 5-6 with a 4.33 ERA, allowing four hits and four walks that led to three (unearned) runs. Dixon took one for the team in the end, with his two innings to close the game out, allowing four hits, two walks and three earned runs with a strikeout. We were outhit 9-6 but had so many scoring opportunities fizzle out I lost count. Vic Power hit twice and walked twice, Walker and DeMaestri each hit once and walked twice, and Lopez and Astroth each walked twice. But nobody could find home plate.

July 21, 1955: We need this win, with four against New York upcoming, or this season has the potential to completely slip away. We picked up Lino Dinoso (4-9, 6.80 ERA, 95.1 IP, 47 K’s, 1.62 WHIP) off waivers from Pittsburgh over in the NL, sending Darryl Spencer down to AAA to make room for him ... we’re bringing him into our bullpen as a long relief option, keeping Ditmar as our fifth starter. Tonight we started Walt Craddock (3-6, 4.14 ERA, 111.0 IP, 46 K’s, 1.50 WHIP) against Hal Brown (6-8, 4.92 ERA, 108.0 IP, 53 K’s, 1.35 WHIP). We took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Andy Pafko hit one up through the gap for an RBI single, but Boston got it back with a solo homer by Eddie Joost in the top of the third, and with two outs Ted bloody Williams hit a two run bomb out of right and we were in a two-run hole. Vic Power reached first on an error and was able to take second in the process, giving us a runner in scoring position with one out in the bottom of the third. DeMaestri singled him home with a shot into center, and we went into the fourth inning trailing by a run. A sac-fly by Joost drove in a fourth run for the Red Sox, but in the bottom of the fifth, with runners in scoring position and two outs, a passed ball allowed Joe Frazier to score and put us back within a run! They walked Lopez to bring up Andy Pafko, who grounded out to first to end the rally. The trading of runs continued ... Jim Piersall hit a homer in the top of the sixth to make it 5-3 Red Sox, though Craddock did get us through the inning.Lino Donoso came out with one out in the top of the seventh, a runner on first,and the run wound up quickly scoring ... and then a three-run blast by Genert turned this into a 9-3 rout. Jackie Jenson got them into double digits with a two-run bomb in the eighth, and though Bill Harrington got through the ninth without it getting worse, we went out with a whimper, losing 11-3 in a clean sweep for the Red Sox. With New York upcoming for eight of our next 11 games, most sportswriters in Kansas City are now saying any real chance of us fighting back to .500 are a pipe dream.

Craddock took the loss and fell to 3-7 with a 4.37 ERA, allowing six earned runs off five hits in 6.1 innings, but we might have had a chance if Donoso hadn’t then given up five more in his 1.2 innings of work. But we again couldn’t hit, and this time we could hardly find ways to walk either. They outhit us 9-3 and outwalked us 6-4. Pafko hit once and had an RBI, but he’s hitting .111 in his two games since the trade, and DeMaestri had a hit and an RBI, while Power scored two with a walk out of the leadoff spot.

At least the first four Yankees games are here at home ...

July 22, 1955: Alex Kellner (13-8, 2.98 ERA, 157.0 IP, 51 K’s, 1.41 WHIP) pitched against Don Larsen (9-3, 1.90 ERA, 132.2 IP, 46 K’s, 1.09 WHIP) in our first game against the Yankees. New York took a 1-0 lead with a double by Larsen in the top of the second, and they added on quickly with five more in the third as Kellner completely fell apart. We loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the fourth, and Pete Suder hit an RBI single that drove in a pair to get us on the board, sending Bill Renna over to third ... but Kellner popped out to center to keep us from closing the gap. Sonny Dixon came out with two outs and a man on in the top of the sixth, but Boston managed to add on with an RBI single by Mantle thanks to an error on a throw to home by Lopez. A single into right by Yogi Berra added to the rout, sending us up to bat in the bottom of the sixth trailing 8-2. Pafko batted in a run with a squeeze bunt in the bottom of the seventh, though he didn’t make it in to first safely so we wound up with our second out and would go into the top of the eighth trailing still by five runs. Lino Donoso came out to pitch with one out and no one on, but an unearned run scored due to an RBI single by Andy Caray, getting the Yankees’ lead back up to six as they continued to humiliate us. Al Gettel came out to pitch in the ninth, just needing to get us three outs so we could lick our wounds and get out of here, and he pitched around a pair of baserunners to do just that, as we lost our fourth in a row by a 9-3 margin.

Kellner allowed 12 hits with a walk, three strikeouts and seven earned runs against him in 5.2 innings, giving him a 3.26 ERA. It was not ever in doubt, as the Yankees whallopped us for 20 hits to our six, walking six times to our three. Andy Pafko hit twice for a run and an RBI, and Pete Suder added a hit and two batted in.

July 23, 1955: Bob Spicer (7-8, 4.44 ERA, 123.2 IP, 28 K’s, 1.49 WHIP) started against Bob Turley (5-3, 3.86 ERA, 81.2 IP, 66 K’s, 1.60 WHIP), and we’re hoping to snap out of our four-game skid. Elston Howard hit a solo homer out of right in the top of the second to put New York up 1-0, but we walked the bases loaded in the bottom of the inning, and Billy Shantz walked in a run to tie it up. Spicer pulled off a squeeze bunt to put us up 2-1, and a Harry Walker sac-fly scored another! Vic Power doubled down the left field line to drive in two more, and we went into the top of the third leading 5-1! In the bottom of the fourth, Andy Pafko came up with the bases loaded, but grounded into a double play to end the inning without any runs scoring. New York came roaring back with a three-run homer by Bill Skowron in the top of the seventh that pulled them back to within a run and which drove Spicer out of the game. Bill Harrington came in to get the final out, and he failed miserably ... Mantle singled, Irv Noren reached on an E4 groundball error, and then Enos Slaughter took the count full and hit a line drive single that Mantle used to tie the game, at which point we finally got out of the inning after completely blowing any advantage we’d had.

Hector Lopez doubled to lead off in the bottom of the seventh, and we got two men into scoring position but Chuck Tanner, taking over in left for Renna as a pinch-hitter, couldn’t get a run in. Al Gettel came in to pitch in the top of the ninth, getting quick outs from Bauer and Skowron, intentionally walking Mantle to bring up Irv Noren, who hit into a fielder’s choice and kept the game tied up ... but it stayed that way and we went into extra innings when the top of our lineup completely failed to do anything in a must-win situation. Tom Gorman came out with men on first and second, two outs, top of the 10th, and he got McDougald, their leadoff man to ground out harmlessly. In the bottom of the inning Finigan walked to lead things off, and with one out Tanner walked to send him over to second. Joe DeMaestri came in to pinch hit for Billy Shantz, taking the count full and then walking to load the bases for Joe Frazier, who came in to hit for Gorman. But a squeeze bunt failed, and then Frazier grounded out to first, and we yet again failed to get the run we needed.

Bobby Shantz came out to pitch in the top of the 11th, with Joe Astroth coming in as our catcher. But Shantz had one of his bad outings against their best hitters, Bauer singling and then Skowron doubling him into third. That brought up the Mick, who grounded out to first and kept the runners in place ... but Shantz couldn’t build on it. Noren singled to drive in a run, and though we got out of it with the Yankees holding a one run advantage, we’d been scoreless since the second inning. Walker popped out harmlessly to Elston Howard, Vic Power hit a hard one straight to Mantle in center, and then Hector Lopez hit one that should have made it into the outfield, but Skowron reached out and snagged it ... out number three, and we lost the game 6-5 in 11 innings.

Shantz took the loss tonight, three hits, a strikeout and an earned run dropping him to 6-3 with a 2.05 ERA. Spicer had a solid start, with seven hits in 6.2 innings, but his four walks against three strikeouts led to four earned runs. But it was Harrington who blew the save and finished the squandering of our five-run lead. Jim Finigan had a rare night, five plate appearances without an official at-bat ... walking FIVE TIMES and getting nowhere each time. We were outhit 14-4, so we can’t afford to blow leads like that when we have one. Vic Power hit once, walked once and drove in a pair, but that was about it for our offense that didn’t come from our baserunning and our eye at the plate.

Tomorrow’s a doubleheader, and we need something ... anything ... to snap us out of this funk and find a way to win, or I don’t think we’ll recover.

July 24, 1955: Arnie Portocarrero (5-6, 4.33 ERA, 104.0 IP, 35 K’s, 1.41 WHIP) started our first game of the day, facing Billy O’Dell (6-2, 2.65 ERA, 95.0 IP, 54 K’s, 1.27 WHIP). Andy Pafko hit a single in the bottom of the first that, thanks to an E8 error, allowed Rocky Bridges to score a run and put us into the lead. With two outs, Joe Astroth hit a single into left that scored two more, and we went into the top of the second leading 3-0. Mantle scored off an RBI single by Andy Carey in the top of the second, but we held onto our lead early on, though we were seemingly incapable of adding any runs to the slim two-run advantage. Skowron hit a solo bomb out of left to cut the lead to a single run in the top of the sixth, and Sonny Dixon came out to pitch with one out, walking Mantle before giving up a single to Berra to put the tying run in scoring position. We were, however, able to escape the inning with the lead intact. Vic Power came in pinch-hit and take over for Kryhoski at first but failed to lead off with a hit or walk, and that set the tone ... we’d go into the seventh leading 3-2 but continuing to show no ability to fight to extend things and build momentum against the Yankees. Dixon got us through the seventh, and after the stretch the top of our lineup came up to the plate ... against Bob Grim, our top three hitters went down with a whimper. Tom Gorman came out to pitch in the top of the eighth, Andy Pafko hit a single into right to lead off in the bottom of the eighth, but Finigan hit into a double play and Astroth grounded out to first, so we went to Bill Harrington to pitch in the top of the ninth while Bobby Shantz warmed up. Harrington got an out but allowed Al Pilarcik and Elston Howard to take second and first respectively, and Shantz came out to try and finish the Yankees off. Gil McDougald singled to load the bases, and though Ernie Slaughter hit a sac-fly to deep center, the runners held, thanks to a killer throw to the cutoff man by Andy Pafko! But Shantz allowed Skowron to hit one up the middle and into center, scoring two runs for the Yanks as we lost our lead. Another hit, and then Yogi Berra reached first on an error, adding a run to the damage, and we just collapsed from there. By the time Shantz got the final out we were in a three-run hole and looking like they’d just mugged us on the streetcorner. We lost this one 6-3, and look completely lost as a team.

Portocarrero had 5.1 innings with three hits, two walks, two strikeouts and two earned runs, and then Dixon and Gorman held the lead, but Harrington (0-2, 5.55 ERA) took the loss, allowing a hit and two unearned runs off 13 pitches. Bobby Shantz blew his fourth save of the year, allowing four hits and two more (unearned) runs ... it’s the story of our lives, really at this point. New York outhit us 10-8, our offense led by Andy Pafko with two hits, a walk, a run and an RBI, and by Bridges who also hit twice, scoring a run.

We’ve now lost six in a row heading into the second game of the doubleheader, our worst losing streak of the season, and as a result we’re now seven games under .500 again. Walt Craddock (3-7, 4.37 ERA, 117.1 IP, 46 K’s, 1.48 WHIP) faced off against Vinegar Bend Mizell (10-2, 3.01 ERA, 131.2 IP, 107 K’s, 1.23 WHIP) and, with our bullpen significantly dinged up from game one, not many of the 8,500 A’s fans in the crowd seemed to think we stood much of a chance against the 70-25 Yankees. But the first step is to find a way to win a game here, and then build back some momentum, our team certainly wasn’t looking to throw in the towel. DeMaestri hit an RBI double in the bottom of the second to put us into the lead 1-0, but after a 20-minute rain delay with one out in the top of the third, Hank Bauer batted in a run with a sac-fly to tie it back up, and an RBI single by Skowron gave the Yankees the lead. We couldn’t pull Craddock, with the bullpen how it is right now, but we shouldn’t have NEEDED to ... but Andy Carey hit a two-run blast out of right to make it 4-1, and since the rain delay ended that’s two walks, a sac-fly, a single, a double and a triple he’s allowed. I had to start warming up the pen though when Irv Noren batted in another run with a single. Craddock finally got us out of the inning trailing 5-1, but just like that we were back in full-on crisis mode. We brought Lino Donoso out to pitch in the top of the fourth, and in the top of the fifth the Yanks added on with a solo homer by Mantle, his 20th of the season, and Noren hit a two-run blast, his sixth of the year, to make it an 8-1 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth. Al Gettel came out to pitch for us in the top of the eighth and he got us through the top of the ninth. In the bottom of the final inning, Dick Kryhoski hit a three-run homer with two outs, cutting their lead to four, but it was too little, too late. New York beat us 8-4 as we lost our seventh consecutive game.

Craddock fell to 3-8, lasting three innings with five hits, three walks, a strikeout and five earned runs. Maybe we should have pulled him as soon as we came out of the rain delay, but if you’re going to start in this league you should be able to stay warmed up through a 20-minute delay. Donoso lasted four innings with four hits, a walk, a strikeout and three earned runs off a pair of homers, and his ERA now sits at 11.37 in his 6.1 innings since we picked him up off waivers. Gettel then got us through the final two innings with just a strikeout. What stinks is we actually hit pretty well today, but couldn’t do anything ... they only outhit us 9-8. Kryhoski’s homer netted him a game-best three RBIs, and Jim Finigan hit twice with two runs scored.

We have an off day tomorrow and then will play three at Washington (34-65) and then four more against the Yankees, including another Sunday doubleheader, our record now sitting at 45-53, tied for fifth with Boston.

jksander · 08-26-2024, 07:57 PM

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

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

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

Alex Kellner improved to 13-9 with a 3.11 ERA, allowing just three hits, a walk and four strikeouts through eight innings. Shantz then came in for his 22nd save, getting his ERA back under 2.00 by a point. This was his first save in two and a half weeks, since before the All Star break. We outhit Washington 6-3, led by Lopez who batted in a pair despite only making on base once (with a walk). Joe Astroth hit twice but couldn’t get anywhere.

July 28, 1955: Bob Spicer (7-8, 4.49 ERA, 130.1 IP, 31 K’s, 1.49 WHIP) pitched against Camilo Pascual (3-18, 4.80 ERA, 161.1 IP, 117 K’s, 1.74 WHIP) in our final game of the series against Washington. Jim Finigan got his 40th RBI of the season when he batted Bridges in with a single in the top of the first, giving us a quick 1-0 lead. But the Senators got it back with a two-run homer by Valdivielso with one out in the bottom of the second that went over the wall in right, putting them into a 2-1 lead. The Senators loaded the bases in the botom of the fourth and walked in a run via Pete Runnels to add to their lead. We brought Sonny Dixon out to pitch in the bottom of the sixth, and he got us through without more runs allowed. In the top of the seventh Pascual walked Astroth and Frazier with two outs, then hit DeMaestri with a pitch to load the bases. Harry Walker came in to pinch hit for Dixon, and he singled into right field to drive in a pair ... we’re all tied up heading into the stretch! Al Gettel came out to pitch in the bottom of the seventh, pitching around a single by Roy Sievers to keep us tied heading into the eighth, and then did the same in the eighth to get us into the top of the ninth still knotted up! With two outs, DeMaestri hit a single into center, driving Frazier to third and then trailing him to second, so we brought Chuck Tanner in to pinch-hit for Gettel, and they intentionally walked him. Rocky Bridges then hit one into center through the gap on a full count, and just like that we held a 5-3 lead! Vic Power hit one into center, scoring Tanner, but Bridges was tagged out after a rundown as he tried to take third, and we went into the bottom of the inning leading by three with Shantz coming in again to pitch. He got us the outs we needed to win this 6-3!

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tomorrow we play two and work through the final day of trade negotiations before the deadline. At this point our owner has asked that I be on the lookout for potential overlooked leaders and strong personalities who could help us keep the clubhouse morale up as we fight our way through these last two months of games ... at 29 games back we’re not getting back into this pennant chase, and at nine under .500, we’re not getting back in that race either. It’s a matter of not embarrassing ourselves and then making improvements in the offseason.

July 31, 1955: Alex Kellner (14-9, 3.11 ERA, 170.2 IP, 58 K’s, 1.39 WHIP) started game one of the afternoon, going up against Whitey Ford (14-2, 2.80 ERA, 177.0 IP, 90 K’s, 1.34 WHIP). Mickey Mantle hit a triple to lead off the bottom of the fourth, and a groundout to first let him come around to score the run that gave New York a 1-0 lead. Kellner got stuck on two outs, Rizzuto hitting an RBI single to put the Yanks up 2-0 before we were able to end the inning. Mantle hit an RBI double in the bottom of the fifth to add on, making it a 3-0 Yankees lead heading into the sixth, where we got DeMaestri on base via an error and then Rocky Bridges hit a single to bust up Ford’s no-hitter attempt. Renna hit into a double play, and Chuck Tanner, pinch-hitting for Kellner, popped out harmlessly to short. Bill Harrington came in to pitch in the bottom of the sixth, still trailing by three, and the Yankees were quick to add on -- with just one out, pinch-hitter Joe Collins knocked in two with a triple, and with two outs Hank Bauer added another with a single, Skowron hit a two-run homer out of left, and we trailed 8-0 heading into the top of the seventh. Tom Gorman came out with an out and a man on first in the bottom of the seventh, and with two outs and the bases loaded, Billy Martin hit an RBI single that drove in two. Gorman got through the eighth without further incident, and our bats did nothing in the ninth as we lost 10-0.

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

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

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

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

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

jksander · 08-26-2024, 08:00 PM

OOC: I'm committed to staying in "Challenge Mode" through the remainder of the regular season. But this challenge is pointless if I risk getting fired by my owner. If it starts to look like I'm going to lose my job after what has been a better-than-expected run considering where Kansas City started out, I will remove the Challenge Mode setting before the playoffs to avoid that result and make myself non-fireable.

jksander · 08-27-2024, 09:39 PM

August 2, 1955: Arnie Portocarrero (5-7, 4.21 ERA, 115.1 IP, 40 K’s, 1.38 WHIP) started our first game against Baltimore, facing Bob Kuzava (6-5, 4.25 ERA, 118.2 IP, 58 K’s, 1.69 WHIP). Baltimore took a 1-0 lead off a wild pitch in the bottom of the third, and our inability to score any of our baserunners remains miserable bordering on pathological. But finally in the top of the fifth Jim Finigan managed to hit an RBI single with multiple runners in scoring position, and Joe DeMaestri was able to come around and tie it up. With two outs and the bases loaded, Dick Kryhoski came up to the plate and he had a hit that should have gone out into center, but their second baseman made a spectacular catch ... go figure ... and we had to settle for the tie headed into the bottom of the fifth. We finally got some real momentum in the top of the sixth when, with one out, Joe DeMaestri batted in a run with a single, putting us into the lead. Portocarrero batted him over to second with a sac-bunt, but Harry Walker popped out to deep center to keep us from adding on, and Baltimore rallied back with a bases-loaded RBI single to retake the lead 3-2 ... Portocarrero was only at 57 pitches, but had a look on his face I’ve seen before this year -- shell shock. Another run scored on a sac-fly by Hoot Evers, and we brought Sonny Dixon in with two outs and men on first and second to get the final out on a grounder to third, and we would go into the seventh inning stretch trailing still by two runs. Dixon got us through the eighth without anything else happening,but our bats remained gunshy ... would we be able to come up with anything in the top of the ninth to end this funk we’ve been in? With one out, Harry Walker took first via balls, but was caught trying to steal second ... woosh, there’s two outs. Jim Finigan walked, as did Hector Lopez ... but Pafko grounded out to first and we lost this one 4-2, our fifth loss in a row.

Portocarrero took the loss, falling to 5-6, lasting 5.2 innings but allowing four runs (three earned) with just six hits and a walk. Dixon lasted 2.1 innings with two hits, a walk and a strikeout, but we were unable to do anything after having the wind knocked out of us with the brutal sixth inning. They only outhit us 8-7, and they walked us nine times but we stranded so many runners it was absolutely maddening. Jim Finigan had a hit, two walks and an RBI, and DeMaestri hit once, walked once and scored a run along with an RBI.

The loss knocked us back into sixth place, four games up on the Orioles and half a game behind Boston.

August 3, 1955: Bob Spicer (7-8, 4.52 ERA, 135.1 IP, 34 K’s, 1.50 WHIP) started today against Baltimore’s Harry Byrd (1-0, 2.00 ERA, 9.0 IP, 2 K’s, 0.67 WHIP). It was rainy, windy and all-arund nasty, temperatures in the sixties in early August, which says about everything you need to know. Baltimore took the lead in the bottom of the first via their leadoff man Triandos, hitting a solo homer out of left. The crazy thing is, Spicer got three outs quickly after that and only threw NINE pitches in the inning, but that’s been our (poor) luck lately. If there’s a break to catch, we miss the bus. Vic Power hit a shot to pretty much the same place, same power, same everything, and the wind blew that one back in for an easy out, so we wound up leaving two runners stranded heading into the bottom of the second. But we got an RBI single from Pafko with two outs in the top of the third, tying the score and putting runners on the corners ... and then they picked off Pafko on the most bogus call I’ve ever seen to keep Kryhoski from getting the chance to put us into the lead. And in the bottom of the inning Frank Marsh solo-homered (again out of left) to put them back up 2-1. Kryhoski, back up to hit to start the fourth inning, took a leadoff walk, and with two outs, DeMaestri hit a line drive into right that pushed Kryhoski over to third. They walked Spicer to load the bases, and then Harry Walker walked as well, tying it back up again. But Finigan popped out to short and again kept us from taking a lead in a game we very much need to win. Spicer got two outs, and then Bob Kennedy singled and Hoot Ever pushed him into scoring position thanks to an E6 error. That’s when Vern Stephens hit a three-run homer out of center and we found ourselves in a familiar 5-2 hole. Rain started to fall in the top of the sixth, and we did our best to rally ... Astroth grounded out to lead off the inning, but DeMaestri walked and an E4 error allowed Bob Spicer to reach first and push him into scoring position. Harry Walker singled into right to drive in a run, and Jim Finigan hit one that rolled into the left field corner ... two runners scored and we were all tied up, so at least they couldn’t call the game and take the win by umpire fiat! With two outs and Finigan on second, Hector Lopez struck out swinging and we went into the top the bottom of the inning knotted up again 5-5.

Spicer held them off in the bottom of the inning, pitching around a single baserunner to get us into the top of the seventh with a chance. With two outs, Vic Power reached first on another E4 error, Baltimore’s third error of the game as the conditions continued to stay sloppy. Joe Astroth singled up the middle to drive Power over to third, and George Wilson came in to pinch-hit and take over for DeMaestri at shortstop, walking to load the bases! Chuck Tanner came in to pinch hit for Spicer, and he drove a blistering drive into left field that would allow both Power and Astroth to score, pushing us into the lead 7-5! Walker walked the bases loaded, Finigan walked in another insurance run, and when Finigan popped out to center to end the inning we had a stunning three-run lead over the Orioles heading into the stretch. Tom Gorman came out to pitch, Gus Triandos singled, and then they called a 20-minute rain delay, which completely screwed Gorman ... we went ahead and brought Al Gettel in with the runner on first, no outs, getting two quick outs before Charlie Maxwell was able to single pinch-runner Gene Woodling over to second. Bob Hale then hit a hard flying ball into left that bounced out of the corner and allowed a pair to score ... this is maddening! But Gettel held firm and got the final out, sending us into the top of the eighth still leading by a run. Pafko led off with a single, but Kryhoski hit into a fielder’s choice, taking first while they picked off Pafko at second. He advanced on a wild pitch with two outs and they walked Astroth, bringing up George Wilson again ... but he popped out to deep right, the ball BARELY saying fair, and we went into the bottom of the inning still up only by one. Gettel stayed out and got two outs via flyball pop-outs, and Bobby Shantz came out to protect the lead, striking out pinch-hitter Charley Lau to get us into the ninth. With one out they walked Walker again, and again our next batter, Finigan, hit into a fielder’s choice where they took the runner out before he could reach scoring position. But Lopez beat out an infield single that rolled around in the muck surrounding the pitcher’s mound, and Andy Pafko hit one into deep center, legging out a triple to drive in a pair and give us a real chance to outlast the Orioles! Kryhoski singled in another run to make it a four-run lead, and Shantz came back out to finish the job. But he got one out and then Fred Marsh singled, Gene Woodling hitting a double to put both in socring position ... Charlie Maxwell popped one up straight to Vic Power at third, however, and then Harry Walker made a diving catch into the mud in right and came up with the ball to end the game as an 11-7 victory!

Bob Spicer lasted six innings with eight hits, five runs (two earned) and two strikeouts, but he lasted long enough to get the win ... he improved to 8-8 with a 4.46 ERA, and then Gettel (1.2 innings and one earned run) held it for him, Shantz then coming in for his 24th save, lasting 1.1 innings with just two hits and a strikeout as his ERA improved to 1.91. We outhit them 14-13, dominated by Andy Pafko who hit four times for a run and three batted in, while Finigan added two hits, a walk, two runs and three RBIs. Harry Walker walked three times, hit once and had two runs with two batted in as well, continuing to be a great fit for the leadoff role.

August 4, 1955: First we got the losing streak off our backs, and then, when we saw the opportunity, our owner Richard Doyle authorized me to put a claim on Brooklyn’s Carl “Oisk” Erskine, the Dodgers’ 28-year-old reliever who got muscled out of their bullpen as they make their final drive to secure the NL pennant. Their loss ... Erskine only has 27 innings this year, with a 2-2 record, three saves and a 3.67 ERA, but he has great endurance and a curveball / changeup combination that really impress me. Erskine has gone 91-51 with 14 saves for the Dodgers over the last eight seasons, and he’s fully capable of starting games. We’ve demoted Bill Renna back to AAA to move him into our starting rotation, putting Dick Marlowe in the bullpen as a middle relief option. Erskine is immediately our highest paid player, but he’s likely to get a lowered contract via arbitration next year, so we’re willing to pay out the remainder of his $75,000 deal this year and hope he does well in our rotation.

Walt Craddock (3-9, 4.74 ERA, 125.1 IP, 50 K’s, 1.52 WHIP) pitched against Jim McDonald (3-4, 5 SV, 3.46 ERA, 78.0 IP, 31 K’s, 1.51 WHIP) in our final game against Baltimore, the skies having cleared and the field no longer looking like a mud pit. Baltimore took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first with an RBI single by Vern Stephens, and in the bottom of the third Hal Smith hit his 10th homer of the year to make it 2-0 Orioles. Dick Kryhoski hit a sac-fly that drove in a run in the top of the fourth to get us on the board, but though he got two outs in the inning, Craddock gave up an RBI single to Gus Triandos that got the Orioles back up by two, and Art Ditmar came in to pitch with runners on the corners, getting us safely out of the inning. Hector Lopez scored a run off a wild pitch in the top of the fifth, pulling us back within a run. Al Gettel came out to pitch in the bottom of the seventh, still trailing 3-2, getting two quick outs and then Gene Woodling batted in another run to re-extend the lead to two runs for Baltimore. We left a pair stranded in scoring position in the top of the eighth, but Gettel got us through the bottom of the inning. In the top of the ninth, Vic Power led off with a single into left, and with one out DeMaestri walked him into scoring position. With Shantz warming in the bullpen, Chuck Tanner came in to pinch hit for Gettel, but he popped out to second and Harry Walker hit one straight to the third baseman who made an easy throw out at first. We took the loss, a 4-2 disappointment, as we continue to flounder.

Craddock remains ice cold, giving up seven hits in 3.2 innings with two walks, putting us quickly in a hole with three earned runs. Ditmar and Gettel combined for 4.1 innings with just four hits and an earned run between them, but Baltimore outhit us 11-6 which kept us from mounting any kind of serious comeback. Lopez led the way with two hits, a walk and a run, and Finigan walked twice to score a run. The loss dropped us to 48-60 as we head to Fenway to play three against the Red Sox (48-61) who have lost two in a row to bump us back to half a game up in fifth place in the AL.

August 5, 1955: Alex Kellner (14-10, 3.18 ERA, 175.2 IP, 59 K’s, 1.41 WHIP) started game one against Red Sox pitcher Frank Sullivan (10-9, 3.34 ERA, 186.0 IP, 97 K’s, 1.41 WHIP). With the bases loaded in the top of the second, Billy Shantz walked in a run to put us into the lead, and Alex Kellner did the same, quickly giving us a 2-0 lead while keeping the bases loaded for the top of our lineup, though Walker and Finigan popped out quietly to waste the opportunity to build a real gut-punch advantage. Billy Goodman hit an RBI double for the Red Sox in the bottom of the fifth, Frank Sullivan scoring all the way from first thanks to an inexplicably bad throw by Andy Pafko that missed the cutoff man completely. Jackie Jenson reached first on an E4 error, but we managed to escape with the lead still 2-1 Kansas City. Kellner then completely screwed the pooch in the sixth inning, and a three-run homer by Sammy White flipped the Red Sox into the lead 4-2, and with one out and no one on we had to bring in Tom Gorman who, with two outs, gave up a run-scoring triple to Billy Goodman to make it a three-run deficit. DeMaestri batted in a run with a single in the top of the seventh, and Art Ditmar came out to pitch in the bottom of the seventh, hoping to keep us in the game. They got a run back with a groundout by Norm Zauchin allowing a run to score, and we came up to hit in the top of the eighth trailing 6-3 and looking for any opening. We were unable to do anything in the eighth, so Ditmar got three quick outs to push us into the final frame still trailing by three. With two outs, DeMaestri got a single into left, and Joe Astroth, pinch-hitting for Billy Shantz, walked to push DeMaestri into scoring position! Chuck Tanner came in to pinch-hit for Ditmar, but he struck out looking and we lost yet another game 6-3.

Kellner no longer looks particularly “ace”-worthy, falling to 14-11 with eight hits, a walk, a strikeout and four earned runs against him, three of them coming in the sixth inning when he had been flying high all game. You need clutch innings from someone leading the rotation, and he hhas now lost four of his last five starts. Our lack of offense doesn’t help, obviously ... we again were outhit 11-6, Vic Power leading the team with two hits and two runs, while DeMaestri tried to manufacture runs, hitting twice and walking once but ending up with just his one RBI.

August 6, 1955: Carl Erskine (2-2, 3 SV, 3.67 ERA, 27.0 IP, 19 K’s, 1.15 WHIP) got his first start of the year in his debut with our Athletics, facing Mel “Dusty” Parnell (3-2, 1 SV, 5.79 ERA, 73.0 IP, 46 K’s, 1.74 WHIP). Erskine was phenomenal early, but our bats weren’t helping any ... that is, until the top of the fifth when, with two outs, Vic Power managed to beat out an infield hit and took first while Hector Lopez scored! Parnell hit Astroth with a pitch, seemingly out of frustration, to load the bases for us ... but exhausted or not, he managed to get DeMaestri to pop out and we went into the bottom of the inning leading by a slim 1-0 margin. Erskine put them down three in a row to bring us back up with a chance to add on, but the game remained a hard-fought pitcher’s duel even as the Red Sox went to their bullpen. In the bottom of the sixth Norm Zauchin tied it up with a solo homer, his ninth of the year, and Erskine tried to stay out in the seventh with the score still knotted up, but he gave up back to back hits to Dick Gennert and Billy Goodman, so Al Gettel came in to pitch, managing incredibly to get us out of the jam without a single run scoring despite loading the bases! In the top of the eighth, Jim Finigan hit an RBI single to get us back in the lead, and they hit Lopez in the shoulder to load the bases for Andy Pafko, who hit one into left and drove in another pair. A Dick Kryhoski sac-fly to right made it a 5-1 lead as we headed into the bottom of the inning with serious momentum. Tom Gorman came in to pitch, getting three quick outs, and he got two quick outs in the ninth before surrendering hits to Goodman and Jenson. Bobby Shantz came out of the pen with two outs and two men on, with the legend Ted Williams coming up to hit ... but Williams hit it straight to Lopez in center, and we got out of there with a 5-1 win!

Carl Erskine gave us a great start, going six innings with seven hits, three walks, three strikeouts and just the one earned run. Gettel took the win, improving to 2-0 with a 3.13 ERA, thanks to a one hit inning, and after 1.2 innings with a hit, a walk and two strikeouts by Gorman, Shantz threw four pitches to get the most critical out of them all and he earned his 25th save, his ERA now 1.89 through 57 innings. Each team had nine hits, ours led by Vic Power with two hits, two walks and an RBI, while Kryhoski added two hits, a walk and an RBI and Hector Lopez added a hit, a walk and two runs scored.

August 7, 1955: Arnie Portocarrero (5-8, 4.24 ERA, 121.0 IP, 40 K’s, 1.37 WHIP) and Tim Brewer (8-7, 4.45 ERA, 129.1 IP, 47 K’s, 1.51 WHIP) faced off in our final game of the series in Boston. Brewer wound up throwing six balls in a row, walking Walker and letting Jim Finigan hit a double on a 2-2 count to give us two in scoring position just four minutes into the game. He walked Lopez to load the bases, and Andy Pafko hit into a fielder’s choice that drove in the go-ahead run! Finigan scored a second run with two outs, as Kryhoski reached on an E4 error, giving us a solid 2-0 lead heading into the bottom of the inning. Hector Walker hit an RBI double in the top of the second that scored Portocarrero all the way from first, and Finigan hit an RBI single that drove him in, increasing our lead to 4-0. A run scored on a balk call against Portocarrero in the bottom of the sixth to get the Red Sox on the board, and we brought in Dick Marlowe to pitch with no outs and a runner on second. We got two outs, the second a groundout to first by Norm Zauchin that allowed Jackie Jenson to score, and then Marlowe struggled to get the third out. With runners on the corners, he pitched to Sammy White and got the popout to Lopez in center, getting us out of the inning with a two run lead still under our control. Bobby Shantz came out to relieve Marlowe with one out and a man on second in the bottom of the eighth, still leading the Red Sox by a pair of runs. But Jim Piersall hit an RBI single to cut into that lead, and we went into the top of the ninth clinging to a one-run lead. Shantz stayed out in the ninth and the Sox immediately got a pinch-hit home run from Don Lenhardt and this one was knotted up. Shantz got the outs we needed, but this one was headed for extra innings.

Sonny Dixon came out to pitch in the bottom of the 10th with the score still tied at four, keeping it that way as he shut down three batters in a row to get ours another chance. George Wilson came in to pinch hit and take over at short for DeMaestri with one out in the top of the 11th, but he went nowhere and Dixon popped out to deep center to end the frame, but Dixon stayed out and pitched around a single baserunner to keep the game, and our chances, alive. Andy Pafko hit an RBI single in the top of the 12th to give us a one-run lead, and Kryhoski hit a deep flyball to the left fielder but drove in another run with his sacrifice. Dixon stayed out to finish what he started, but with one out and men on the corners, Al Gettel came out to protect the lead. Ted Lepicio hit one hard at Vic Power, who didn’t have a catch to make ... and a run scored, cutting the lead to one, giving us one out, men on first and second. But Sammy White hit into a 5-4-3 double play and we got out of this with a 6-5 win after 12 innings.

Shantz’s fifth blown save of the year could have sunk us, but Sonny Dixon went 2.1 innings with three hits and a single earned run, taking the win as he improved to 3-1 with a 4.45 ERA, Al Gettel earning his first save with a hit and just four pitches thrown. Arnie Portocarrero gave us five innings with three hits, two walks and two runs (one earned) ... we may have erred in pulling him too soon, but he’s been cold lately and looked to be in real trouble in the sixth, so we prioritized protection of the lead at all costs. Boston outhit us 12-8, but we walked seven times. Finigan led the way with two hits, a walk, two runs and an RBI, while Walker hit once, walked once, scored two runs and batted another in.

The win gives us 50 victories this year against 61 losses, and we have a game and a half lead on Boston as we sit in fifth place. We’re off tomorrow as we travel back to Kansas City, where this week we’ll face the White Sox (66-44) and Guardians (58-53) in three-game sets. The Washington Senators, 38-74, have been eliminated from the pennant chase, though at 45 games back that was just a matter of inevitability, as it was for Pittsburgh (39-78, 47.5 GB), the first NL team to be officially eliminated. The New York teams are dominating their leagues, with the Yankees up 16 games on Chicago and the Dodgers up 25 games on the New York Giants -- so there are unlikely to be any surprises in either pennant “race.”

Pelican · 08-27-2024, 10:22 PM

Enjoying this. I started a sim the year before, in 1954, with the A's still in Philly. In this alternative universe, the deal to keep the team in Philly will come together (as it almost did IRL), and the new owners will inject some funds and talent to replace the aging Mack dynasty. I'm also acting as GM of the Orioles, formerly the Browns, to avoid them completely sucking as IRL. Fun stuff.

jksander · 08-27-2024, 11:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pelican

Enjoying this. I started a sim the year before, in 1954, with the A's still in Philly. In this alternative universe, the deal to keep the team in Philly will come together (as it almost did IRL), and the new owners will inject some funds and talent to replace the aging Mack dynasty. I'm also acting as GM of the Orioles, formerly the Browns, to avoid them completely sucking as IRL. Fun stuff.

It has been absolutely brutal, but I'm loving it ... which has made it easier to resist turning off "Challenge" mode. My wife has finally stopped asking me how my team is doing lol

Are you posting that online anywhere? I'd like to follow that one.

jksander · 08-28-2024, 06:09 PM

August 9, 1955: Bob Spicer (8-8, 4.46 ERA, 141.1 IP, 36 K’s, 1.49 WHIP) started against Connie Johnson (10-9, 4.60 ERA, 176.0 IP, 110 K’s, 1.52 WHIP) in our first of three against the White Sox back at home in Kansas City. Andy Pafko hit a sac-fly for our second out in the bottom of the first, driving in a run and putting us ahead 1-0 without a single hit -- Henry Walker had walked to lead off, moved to second when Hector Lopez reached on an E5 error, and then made it to third as he and Lopez pulled off a double steal! But Chicago proved that turnabout is fair play, scoring the tying run off a passed ball in the top of the second, neither team having an earned run in the game to that point. Chicago got an RBI off Walt Dropo, who singled in the go-ahead run in the top of the fourth, while we couldn’t get anything off Johnson. In the bottom of the fifth we finally got our first hit, as Harry Walker singled Spicer, who had walked, into scoring position. Andy Pafko, with two outs, managed to get a hit into right field and drove in the tying run, sending us into the top of the sixth knotted up 2-2. Spicer held his ground in the top of the inning, and when our bats gave him nothing to work with he did it again in the seventh, keeping it tied into the stretch. Chuck Tanner came in to pinch-hit for him to lead off in the bottom of the seventh, taking a full count and then popping one safely down into right field for a single against an exhausted Connie Johnson. But we hit into a double play, Jim Finigan singled to take first, and they went to the pen ... bringing out Harry Dorish, who gave Hector Lopez a big fat fastball to slam out of the park for his 12th homer of the year. Just like that we were up 4-2! Tom Gorman came out to pitch in the top of the eighth, shutting them down three in a row, and when we weren’t able to add any runs in the bottom of the inning we brought Shantz out to close things out. But with one out, he let Walt Dropo hit a two-run homer out of left field, his second blown save in three days, and we went into the bottom of the inning knotted up. George Wilson came in to pinch-hit for Shantz, getting nothing, but Harry Walker hit a single into center field to get on base. Finigan walked him into scoring position, but Hector Lopez hit into a double play and for the second game in a row we were headed for extra innings.

Al Geitel came out to pitch in the top of the 10th, and with one out he let Larry Doby hit a solo bomb out of right to put the White Sox up a run. With one out in the bottom of the inning, Dick Kryhoski walked and Vic Power singled him into scoring position. Pete Suder came in to pinch-hit for Astroth, and he hit into a fielder’s choice, driving Kryhoski over to third. Joe Frazier came in to hit for Joe DeMaestri, and he grounded out to first, ending the game as a disappointing 5-4 loss.

Spicer did his best, going seven innings with seven hits, a walk and two runs (one earned) but not getting the decision. Gorman picked up his eighth hold of the season, but Shantz blew his sixth save, Gettel having to settle for the loss as he fell to 2-1 with a 3.28 ERA (one hit, one earned run against him). They outhit us 11-8, Pafko leading our team with two hits and two RBIs while Walker hit twice, walked once and scored a run.

August 10, 1955: Alex Kellner (14-11, 3.28 ERA, 181.0 IP, 60 K’s, 1.41 WHIP) pitched in game two against Chicago’s Jack Harshman (9-7, 4.29 ERA, 157.1 IP, 80 K’s, 1.49 WHIP). An unearned run put Chicago in the lead in the top of the first, Nellie Fox scoring as Sherm Lollar reached first on an E5 error. But we quickly loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning, thanks to a pair of walks and a single by Jim Finigan, and Andy Pafko got hit ... HARD ... in the shoulder to walk in a run, tying it up. Clearly rattled, Harshman walked Kryhoski to push us into the lead, and a Vic Power sac-fly into left drove in another. Joe Astroth walked the bases back to fully loaded, and a DeMaestri groundout to first allowed another run to score. Kellner grounded out to end the inning, but we’d batted around and taken a 4-1 lead on the stunned White Sox. Chicago got a run back in the top of the third off a sac-fly to center by George Kell, and the next batter, Sherm Lollar, hit a solo homer to cut our lead down to one run ... so Kellner got revenge in the bottom of the inning, hitting a two-run blast out of right, just his second all year, to make it 6-3! Hershman walked Walker and then they pulled him with just two outs, bringing in long reliever Morrie Martin, who allowed a double by Finigan but then got Lopez to bat out to second, ending the inning with us leading by three. Astroth hit a sac-fly in the bottom of the fourth to add another run, and Kellner got us through the top of the sixth with that lead unchanged. With the bases loaded, Joe DeMaestri walked in a run in the bottom of the sixth to make it an 8-3 lead, and we brought Bill Harrington out to pitch in the top of the seventh. In the top of the eighth he got into some trouble, Bob Boyd hitting an RBI single that cut the lead down to four while putting runners on the corners ... no outs. Luis Aparacio hit into a double play and another run scored, but Harrington was able to get the strikeout we needed to get into the bottom of the inning still leading by three. In the top of the ninth, Sonny Dixon came out to pitch, getting three quick outs as we held tough to win 8-5.

Alex Kellner had a quality start, lasting six innings with nine hits, three runs (two earned), a walk and two strikeouts, improving his record to 15-11 with a 3.27 ERA. Harrington went two innings with three hits, a walk, a strikeout and two earned runs, but Dixon came out and got the save, his sixth of the year, allowing no baserunners as he improved his ERA to 4.38 through 61.2 innings. They actually outhit us 12-6, but walked us 13 TIMES ... that’s what we can do to teams if they don’t stay sharp! Walker walked four times and scored a run ... Vic Power led the way with a hit, two walks, a run and an RBI, while Andy Pafko hit once, walked once and scored two runs, batting in another.

August 11, 1955: Carl Erskine (2-2, 3 SV, 3.27 ERA, 33.0 IP, 22 K’s, 1.24 WHIP) started for our final game against the White Sox, facing Dick Donovan (7-5, 4.10 ERA, 131.1 IP, 58 K’s, 1.40 WHIP) with the chance to snag a series win against the second-best team in the AL. Sherm Lollar hit a two-run bomb out of center in the top of the second to put Chicago up 2-0, and they rang us up again with a two-run blast by Walt Dropo ... Erskine had surrendered three hits for four runs (three earned) in a matter of minutes. The White Sox added on in the top of the fourth with an RBI single by Dick Donovan, and Lollar hit his second homer of the game out of center to make it 6-0 ... we were just not in this one at all. Walt Craddock came out of the pen in the top of the sixth, and he pitched around a triple by Walt Dropo to keep them from adding on. He wasn’t as lucky in the seventh, when Nellie Fox hit a bomb out of center to make it a seven-run lead. Craddock hit an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth to get us on the board, and he stayed out to pitch in the ninth, keeping them from adding on, but it didn’t matter -- we lost badly 7-1.

Erskine’s record with us as a starter fell to 0-1, pitching five innings with seven hits, two walks, a strikeout and six runs against, five of them earned. It wasn’t a great effort, but there was a lot of bad luck involved, particularly with the longball. Craddock came out as a long reliever and pitched four innings with three hits, a walk, three strikeouts and the one earned run, improving his ERA to 4.74. The Sox outhit us 10-3, Craddock himself batting in our only run, which was scored by Joe Astroth.

No time to rest ... we’ve got three games upcoming against the 60-54 Guardians of Cleveland, and then a road trip next week to face both Chicago and Cleveland again. So we can’t let ourselves get bogged down, we’ve got to find ways to win games however we can.

August 12, 1955: Arnie Portocarrero (5-8, 4.14 ERA, 126.0 IP, 40 K’s, 1.36 WHIP) pitched against Early Wynn (12-9, 2.72 ERA, 185.0 IP, 97 K’s, 1.14 WHIP). And it was a ****show from the start -- Al Smith reached on an error, and an Avila single and then two walks in a row led to the Guardians taking a 1-0 lead, no outs, with Portocarrero struggling to maintain his composure. Stan Lopata hit into a fielder’s choice for their second out, but a second unearned run scored at the same time, and George Crowe singled in another, a THIRD unearned run for the starter, who clearly wanted to be anywhere but here. He did finally secure the third out but we went into the bottom of the inning trailing 3-0 and he’d thrown 33 pitches. We finally got on the board in the bottom of the third with an RBI single by Jim Finigan with two outs against us, but went into the fourth still trailing by two, and the Guardians got the run back in the top of the fourth with an RBI triple by Bobby Avila for the FOURTH UNEARNED RUN against Portocarrero today. Al Rosen batted Avila in for the first earned run of our night, and we trailed 5-1 as we came up to hit in the bottom of the inning -- Portocarrero’s night was going to be over if we couldn’t find a way to score some runs. Astroth loaded the bases after a Vic Power double that pushed Pafko into scoring position ... one out, and DeMaestri hit into a fielder’s choice that let Pafko score a run, sending us into the top of the fifth trailing 5-2. We kept Portocarrero out while we warmed up bullpen arms, but an error and a single by George Strickland didn’t put us in good shape. Early Wynn hit an RBI single, a seventh run scored off a sac-fly by Al Smith, and finally Dick Marlowe was ready to pitch, getting us out of there with a pair of highly necessary outs to trail by five midway through the sixth.

Joe Astroth hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning, his second of the year, to put us back within three runs. DeMaestri reached first on an error, and Chuck Tanner pinch-hit for Marlowe, but he hit weakly into what turned into a double play that cleared the bases, and Walker popped out to the catcher, ending our rally attempt. Sonny Dixon came out in the top of the seventh, and Al Rosen kicked us in the balls with a three-run homer to put the game back out of reach. They added on three more in the top of the ninth just because they could, including a two-run homer by Stan Lopata, and we didn’t add anything to the conversation in the bottom of the inning, losing this one in epically bad fashion, 13-4.

Portocarrero fell to 5-9 with a 4.07 ERA, allowing eight hits, four walks and two strikeouts while giving up seven runs, only one of which was earned. Marlowe did well in his 1.1 innings, but Dixon took one for the team and stayed out the final three innings in a mop-up role, allowing seven hits and six earned runs with a single strikeout. We were outhit 16-8, wasting a great game by Vic Power (three hits, one run) while Finigan hit twice, walked twice and batted in a run.

August 13, 1955: Bob Spicer (8-8, 4.31 ERA, 148.1 IP, 36 K’s, 1.48 WHIP) pitched against Bob Lemon (7-8, 2 SV, 3.05 ERA, 100.1 IP, 34 K’s, 1.25 WHIP). Cleveland took a 2-0 lead off a homer by Ralph Kiner in the top of the first, and they hit another two-run blast, this one off the bat of catcher Jim Hegan, to make it a 4-0 deficit in the top of the second. George Crowe hit a solo bomb in the top of the fourth to add on, Dick Kryhoski hit an RBI single in the bottom of the inning to put us on the board, but Cleveland got it back in the top of the fifth with an RBI single by Al Rosen and a two-run homer by Ralph Kiner just added to our misery. Art Ditmar came out to pitch in the top of the seventh, trailing by seven runs, and in the top of the eighth Cleveland added on a pair of runs. Bill Harrington came out in the top of the ninth, trailing by nine, and he held his own for three outs, but it was all for nothing ... we lost again 10-1, and our entire lineup seems to be slumping.

Bob Spicer’s solid rookie campaign has stalled out, and he’s now 8-9 with a 4.61 ERA after six innings with nine hits, three strikeouts and eight earned runs. Ditmar went two innings with three hits and two earned runs, while Harrington had a solid ninth and got his ERA down slightly to 7.22 through 28.2 innings. We were again outhit 12-5, and worse, we only walked once as Cleveland completely shut us down. Kryhoski batted in a run and Pafko hit once, walked once and scored a run ... but that was pretty much it for us today.

August 14, 1955: Alex Kellner (15-11, 3.27 ERA, 187.0 IP, 62 K’s, 1.42 WHIP) pitched against Herb Score (10-12, 3.61 ERA, 201.2 IP, 194 K’s, 1.43 WHIP) in our final game of the series against Cleveland. Andy Pafko hit a slow roller into center field that drove in a run, giving us a 1-0 lead with one out in the bottom of the first, with Lopez still in scoring position at second. Kryhoski walked the bases loaded, and it was Cleveland’s turn to squirm as Vic Power hit a flyball into right that drove in three more with a double, giving us a 4-0 lead heading into the top of the second. Kellner immediately gave back a run in the top of the inning, a solo bomb out of center by Lopata, though he didn’t let that throw off his rhythm, getting three outs to get us back up to the plate. In the top of the fourth, Kellner pitched around back to back errors that put a runner in scoring position, leaving Rosen stranded at second as we held on to our three-run lead. Tom Gorman came out with two outs and a man on first in the top of the seventh, stranding him there as George Strickland struck out swinging, and he got us through the eighth inning as well with the three-run lead still safe. Bobby Shantz came out to pitch in the top of the ninth, his first appearance since throwing 21 pitches five days ago, and immediately he gave up a solo homer to Lopata, his 11th this year, cutting our lead down to two runs. But three quick outs followed as we held on to win this one 4-2 ... there would be no sweep!

Alex Kellner improved to 16-11 with a 3.21 ERA, allowing just four hits, striking out two while allowing a single earned run. Gorman held his ninth game of the season, with 1.1 innings, a hit and a strikeout improving his ERA to 4.30, and Shantz came in for his 26th save of the season, allowing the homer but nothing else as his ERA slipped to 2.37 through 60.2 innings in 45 appearances. We actually outhit Cleveland 7-6, led by Vic Power who had a hit, a walk and three earned runs.

Next week will be almost a mirror image of this week, just all on the road. We’re off tomorrow for a travel day, then will play Tuesday in Chicago ... an off day Wednesday will lead into a doubleheader on Thursday, followed by three games over the weekend in Cleveland.

jksander · 08-29-2024, 05:37 PM

August 16, 1955: Carl Erskine (2-3, 4.03 ERA, 38.0 IP, 23 K’s, 1.32 WHIP) started today against Jack Harshman (9-8, 4.56 ERA, 160.0 IP, 83 K’s, 1.53 WHIP). And we got started in a big way, loading the bases thanks to a single by Walker and then back to back walks for Finigan and Lopez! Andy Pafko hit into a fielder’s choice that drove in a run, but that was all we’d get ... their infield defense is just too good to let anything good out into the outfield. Finigan stayed hot, hitting a two-run blast into left field to extend our lead in the top of the fifth, his 10th homer of the season, and Erskine was in firm control from the mound as we worked to keep the lead. Erskine walked to load the bases in the top of the sixth, Harshman’s eighth walk against five strikeouts to that point, but they kept him out there and we hoped to take advantage. With two outs and loaded bases, Harry Walker took the count full and then swung for the fences ... but it was an easy pop-up for their second baseman, who ended the inning with us leading still by three. Chicago got on the board with a solo homer by Chico Carrasquel in the bottom of the eighth, but Erskine held firm and we got into the top of the ninth still leading by two. George Wilson pinch-hit for him to lead off in the ninth, but he came up empty. With two outs, Jim Finigan singled into left field, but Lopez grounded out to first and we brought Shantz out to protect our lead. He pitched around a single by Jim Rivera to get the outs we needed as we shocked the White Sox 3-1 on their field!

Carl Erskine only allowed four hits, a walk and a single earned run, striking out a pair as he improved his record to 3-3 with a 3.52 ERA, winning his first start of the season. Shantz saved the game, his 27th of the season, with just the one hit, keeping his ERA at 2.34. Each team hit five times in today’s pitching duel, with Finigan leading the way for us -- he hit three times and walked twice, scoring a run and batting in two more.

August 18, 1955: We’ve got a doubleheader today, and Alex Kellner (16-11, 3.21 ERA, 193.2 IP, 64 K’s, 1.39 WHIP) started the first game, facing Chicago’s Billy Pierce (13-11, 3.30 ERA, 207.1 IP, 129 K’s, 1.33 WHIP). Chicago drew first blood in the bottom of the second, an RBI double by Carrasquel putting them up 1-0, but we tied it up in the top of the fourth with an RBI single by Jim DeMaestri. But Chicago flat-out hits better than us, and a two-run blast in the bottom of the fourth for Sherm Lollar (#12) put them back up 3-1, and we were going to need every bit of luck we could find to stay in this one. It helped that Pierce was not having a great game. He helped us load the bases in the top of the fifth with two outs, having walked seven against three strikeouts, but he got number four to shut Power down as we failed to capitalize on it. That was all the room Chicago needed, and they added on in the bottom of the inning, a Nellie Fox RBI single driving a run in to put them up 4-1 heading into the sixth. Still trailing by the three runs in the top of the eighth, Dick Marlowe came out to pitch, getting three quick outs, but it didn’t matter. We did nothing in the top of the ninth and lost this one 4-1.

Kellner had a solid game, all things considered, but he wound up with 10 hits, a walk and four earned runs against him, along with three strikeouts. Marlowe had a solid inning and got his ERA down to 1.80 through five innings for us, this being just his third relief appearance for us since being traded from Detroit ... though including his Detroit innings his record remains 0-1 with a 6.15 ERA. They outhit us 10-5, DeMaestri providing our only offense with a hit and an RBI, with Vic Power (two walks, one run) scoring the only run for us.

Walt Craddock (3-10, 4.74 ERA, 133.0 IP, 53 K’s, 1.53 WHIP) made a spot start for us out of the bullpen, facing Chicago’s Virgil Trucks (11-8, 3.26 ERA, 154.2 IP, 88 K’s, 1.30 WHIP). Andy Pafko gave us a 1-0 lead thanks to an RBI single and Vic Power hit a three-run blast out of left (#10!) to put us up 4-0 in the top of the first! Craddock immediately gave up a solo homer to Jim Rivera to get Chicago on the board, and a solo blast by Larry Doby with just one out had us seriously questioning his ability to not blow this game ... but he got us out of the first at least with a two run lead intact. Crandall settled down from there, but in the top of the sixth with two outs, Walt Dropo hit an RBI double to get the White Sox to within a run. Tom Gorman came out to pitch with the lead 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh, and he was in firm control from the mound, shutting them down to keep the lead in our hands. With Vic Power at the plate and runners on first and secondwith one out, a wild pitch advanced both runners, and they walked Power to load the bases. DeMaestri hit a sac-fly to deep left, allowing a run to score which expanded our lead to two runs. Al Gettel came in to pitch in the bottom of the eighth, but Bobby Shantz had to come in with loaded bases and two outs, gettng Johnny Groth to hit one straight to Vic Power, who tagged the runner out when he reached third. Harry Walker injured his hand trying to take second, leaving Finigan on first with two outs. Hector Lopez struck out swinging, and we went into the bottom of the ninth with Shantz protecting a two run lead, Joe Frazier coming in to take over at right field for Walker. Shantz got the first out quickly, then back to back singles put Nieman on second and Rivera on first, with Nellie Fox coming up to hit. Fox hit a bouncer into right, loading the bags, and Shantz let the game slip out of his hands as Larry Doby hit a walk-off double that scored three runs and won it for the White Sox 6-5. That’s just absolutely brutal.

Shantz blew his seventh save of the year and took the loss, falling to 6-4 with a 2.74 ERA after allowing three hits, a walk and three-earned runs while only securing two outs spanning the eighth and ninth innings. That erased a solid start for Craddock, who lasted six innings with seven hits, three earned runs and a strikeout, while Gorman held his 10th game and Gettel his second. The White Sox outhit us 13-8, but we were right with them until the final inning, when it all slipped out of our reach. Finigan had another great game, hitting three times and scoring a run, while Vic Power batted in three with his homer.

That one really stings, we could have ridden the bus into Cleveland on a real high if we’d pulled this win out. Instead we take our 53-67 record into Cleveland to face the 64-56 Guardians and we’re not far from being mathematically eliminated from the pennant chase ... a mere formality at this point, but still. Baltimore (50-71, 37.5 GB) has officially been knocked out, as have the Chicago Cubs (57-69, 34 GB) over in the National League.

August 19, 1955: Carl Erskine (3-3, 3 SV, 3.52 ERA, 46.0 IP, 25 K’s, 1.20 WHIP) started today in Cleveland against Herb Score (10-13, 3.68 ERA, 208.0 IP, 203 K’s, 1.45 WHIP). Cleveland took the lead with an RBI single by Stan Lopata in the bottom of the first, and a second run scored off a groundout by Harry Simpson. But we loaded the bases in the top of the second, and got on the board ourselves when Joe Frazier walked in a run! Erskine tied it up with a successful squeeze bunt, scoring Vic Power and keeping the bases loaded with just one out. That’s when, with two outs, Finigan hit a grand slam out of right field to give us a four-run lead thanks to his 11th longball of the season! Cleveland got two runs back with an RBI triple by Al Smith, and Smith scored on a groundout to first by Bobby Avila that cut our lead down to one -- through four innings they’d outhit us 8-1, but we still held an improbable 6-5 advantage since that one hit drove in four runs. They tied it up with an RBI single by George Strickland with no outs in the bottom of the sixth, and a Les Moss solo homer put them ahead 7-6 with one out in the bottom of the seventh, Tom Gorman coming in to pitch. In the top of the ninth, Chuck Tanner pinch-hit for Gorman, getting a line drive into right for a single, but that was all we had in us, losing this one 7-6 by slowly and painfully pissing away our lead.

Carl Erskine went 6.1 innings but allowed 10 hits and seven runs (six earned) while walking one and striking out three. Gorman then gave us 1.2 innings without a baserunner, but we were outhit 10-3 and needed to be able to hold on after the grand slam put us in the lead ... which isn’t really in our DNA. Finigan batted in four runs, and Frazier had a walk, scoring a run and batting in another. But we got all our runs in the second inning and then couldn’t buy any insurance.

This loss officially eliminated us from contention, not that anyone is shocked by that. The Yankees (87-34) still lead the AL by 14.5 games over Chicago, and their magic number to clinch is 20. Over in the NL, the Dodgers (88-33) lead the New York Giants by 23 games, and their magic number to clinch is just 10 ... they’ll easily have it locked up well before Labor Day.

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OOC: Now that we have been officially eliminated from the pennant chase, I will continue to manage our games, but will be more likely to push through the games more quickly, and I will only be handling substitutions myself, handing the bulk of decisions off on my coaches.

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August 20, 1955: Arnie Portocarrero (5-9, 4.07 ERA, 130.1 IP, 42 K’s, 1.40 WHIP) pitched against Bob Lemon (8-8, 2 SV, 2.90 ERA, 108.2 IP, 35 K’s, 1.21 WHIP). Cleveland got on the board with an RBI single by Bob Lemon that scored a pair, but Joe Frazier got us on the board in the top of the fifth with a solo homer that at least kept things interesting. But they answered back with a solo bomb by Al Smith in the bottom of the inning, and Stan Lopata batted in a run with a triple, putting us into a 4-1 hole as we headed into the sixth. We brought Sonny Dixon in for the bottom of the sixth, and in the top of the seventh we got a run back thanks to a DeMaestri single, and with two outs Sonny Dixon batted in another with a single, sending us into the stretch trailing 4-3. Harry Simpson got one of those runs back for Cleveland in the bottom of the inning, an RBI single driving in Al Rosen to score their fifth run. Tom Gorman came out to pitch in the bottom of the eighth, getting us through it without any further damage, and Dick Kryhoski led off with a solo homer in the top of the ninth that cut the deficit to a single run! But we weren’t able to get any more offense going, and we lost this one 5-4.

Portocarrero fell to 5-10 with a 4.19 ERA, allowing four runs off five hits, walking six and striking out a pair. Sonny Dixon gave us two innings with three hits and an earned run, striking out one, and Gorman got through his inning with just a single hit ... we even outhit the Guardians 11-9! It just wasn’t enough. Kryhoski led the offense with two hits, two runs and an RBI, while Frazier nearly matched him, hitting twice for a run and an RBI.

August 21, 1955: Bob Spicer (8-9, 4.61 ERA, 154.1 IP, 39 K’s, 1.48 WHIP) got the start against Cleveland’s Don Mossi (15-4, 2.41 ERA, 197.2 IP, 95 K’s, 1.16 WHIP) in our final game of this road trip. We took a two run lead in the top of the second thanks to a blast out of left field by Frazier, his sixth homer of the year and his second in two days! We loaded the bags in the top of the fourth and Finigan walked in a run to extend the lead, but the Guardians got a run in the bottom of the fourth thanks to an RBI single by George Strickland. Vic Power hit a two-run homer out of left to make it a 5-1 lead in the top of the fifth, Al Gettel came in for the bottom of the seventh inning, still leading by four runs, and he stayed out and got the first two outs of the eighth as well, but Cleveland got an RBI single from Harry Simpson that cut our lead to three, and we brought out Bobby Shantz to get the out we needed. He got two strikeouts in a row in the bottom of the ninth, then let Stan Lopata take first off a single into left. Al Smith singled him to second with the ball rolling just past the glove of DeMaestri at short, but Bobby Avila popped out harmlessly and we got out of here with a 5-2 win!

Bob Spicer improved to 9-9 with a 4.49 ERA, getting through six innings with two hits, three walks, three strikeouts and a single earned run. Gettle got through 1.2 innings with two hits, two walks, a strikeout and two runs (one earned) and Shantz finished things off with two hits and two strikeouts in 1.1 innings, saving his 28th game of the season. We outhit the Guardians 8-6, led by Vic Power with two hits, two runs and two RBIs, while Frazier’s homer gave him a run and two RBIs as well.

We’re off tomorrow and will be traveling back to Kansas City, where over the next two weeks we will play a pair against Washington (43-80), three against Baltimore (51-73), a pair each against Boston (57-67) and the Yankees (89-34), and then three against Detroit (60-63), before a Labor Day doubleheader against Cleveland (66-57) on the road. After the Detroit series, 16 of our last 19 games in September will be on the road ... so this home stretch is going to really do a lot to determine how close we can stay to .500 for the season.

The bad news is that we finally got a diagnosis on the Harry Walker injury that took place during our August 18 loss to the White Sox ... he’s suffered a broken hand, and his season is over. Since being traded to us this year on May 19, the 38-year-old played in 83 games for us, hitting .208/.407/.291 with nine doubles, five homers and 25 RBIs ... he walked 96 times and only struck out 39 times, making him the quintessential leadoff man. We’ve gone ahead and offered him a non-guaranteed one year extension worth $33,750 to play for us again next year. We’ve called up 29-year-old RF Joe Taylor from AAA to fill a spot on the bench while Joe Frazier will continue to start in Walker’s place for the remainder of the season.

jksander · 08-29-2024, 08:50 PM

August 23, 1955: Alex Kellner (16-12, 3.27 ERA, 200.2 IP, 67 K’s, 1.40 WHIP) pitched against Willie McDermott (6-10, 4.19 ERA, 154.2 IP, 70 K’s, 1.72 WHIP) in our first of two games in two days against the Senators. It didn’t take long for the Senators to score, taking a top-of-the-first lead with a Jim Busby RBI double, but Pafko hit a sac-fly that allowed us to tie it up in the bottom of the inning. They got the lead back in the top of the second when Pete Runnels hit into a sac-fly, allowing a run to score from third, and that’s when the wheels fell off. Kellner got completely shelled and we gave up five runs before finally bringing in Walt Craddock with two outs and no one on, trailing 6-1, to get us out of the inning. Craddock gave up four more runs in the top of the fifth, bringing in Ditmar ... Joe Frazier got us a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth off an RBI single, and we picked up four runs in the bottom of the seventh, Vic Power hitting an RBI single, Joe Frazier an RBI double, Finigan driving in a third with a groundout to first, and Astroth batting in another with a sac-fly to left. We brought Bill Harrington out to pitch in the top of the eighth, still trailing by three at that point, and he got us through two scoreless innings. But we didn’t have any more gas left in our tank, losing this one 10-7 in a game that could have been much worse.

Kellner took the loss, falling to 16-13 after 1.2 innings with five hits, six runs (one earned), two walks and a strikeout. Craddock had three innings with five hits, two walks, two strikeouts and four more earned runs, but Ditmar and Harrington went 4.1 innings with just a hit, four walks and a stikeout between them to give us a chance at coming back. They outhit us 11-8, our team led by Frazier who hit twice and walked once, scoring once and batting in three more.

August 24, 1955: Carl Erskine (3-4, 3 SV, 4.13 ERA, 52.1 IP, 28 K’s, 1.26 WHIP) started against Washington’s Chuck Stubbs (10-12, 4.73 ERA, 144.2 IP, 68 K’s, 1.52 WHIP). We took the lead in the bottom of the third, Vic Power hitting a sac-fly that scored the go-ahead run. The Senators took the lead back in the top of the fifth, Bruce Edwards hitting a two-run homer with one out, and it stayed a 2-1 Senators lead, with Gorman coming out to pitch in the top of the seventh. In the bottom of the inning, Hector Lopez hit an RBI double to tie it up 2-2, and in the bottom of the eighth we took the lead back with an RBI double by Frazier that put us in the lead 3-2! With the bases loaded and two outs, Hector Lopez hit a hard one into center, the ball bouncing off the wall, three runs scoring in the chaos as he legged out a triple to put us up by four! Al Gettel came out in the top of the ninth and got us out of there quickly with a 6-2 win.

Gorman picked up the win, improving to 6-3 with a 3.88 ERA, pitching two innings without a baserunner, following Erskine’s six innings with three hits, two walks, two strikeouts and two earned runs. Gettel pitched around a base hit to get his three outs, as we outhit the Senators 12-4 in our comeback. Frazier’s been red hot, hitting three times with a run and an RBI ... he’s now hitting .270 as an Oakland A, and his season average including his time in St. Louis has him hitting .226 and slugging .435, with six doubles, six homers and 20 RBIs.

August 25, 1955: Arnie Portocarrero (5-10, 4.19 ERA, 135.1 IP, 44 K’s, 1.43 WHIP) started against Baltimore’s Jim McDonald (5-5, 5 SV, 3.17 ERA, 99.1 IP, 38 K’s, 1.52 WHIP). The Orioles got the lead in the top of the second ,when Vern Stephens singled, Hoot Evers scoring thanks to an E7 throwing error. We got the run back in the bottom of the inning off an RBI single by DeMaestri, but they took control in the top of the sixth with an RBI single by Hal Smith and a two-run homer by Bob Kennedy, putting them up 4-1 in the middle of the sixth. The seventh inning was a complete disaster, with Portocarrero giving up six runs including three off a second homer by Kennedy, and Marlowe came in to mop up the rest of the game. We scored a pair of meaningless runs in the bottom of the eighth but lost this one in the end 10-3.

Portocarrero’s seventh inning was a disaster, and he finished with nine hits, four walks and 10 EARNED RUNS in his 6.2 innings of work ... that drops his record to 5-11 with a 4.63 ERA. The 24-year-old came into our system with a lot of promise, but he’s not looking like he’s got the control to make a career out of this game. Marlowe did his job and got through 2.1 innings with one hit, improving his ERA to 1.23 since the Detroit trade nearly a month ago. We were outhit 10-4, Kryhoski leading the offense with two hits, a walk and a run, while Frazier hit once, walked twice but couldn’t get anywhere.

Harry Walker has agreed to the terms of his new contract for next year, which he says may be his last in the majors.

August 26, 1955: Bob Spicer (9-9, 4.49 ERA, 160.1 IP, 42 K’s, 1.45 WHIP) pitched today against Ruben Gomez (11-6, 3.49 ERA, 170.0 IP, 72 K’s, 1.30 WHIP), a 28-year-old starter the Orioles picked up off waivers from the Giants on August 4. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the second, Joe Astroth hit an RBI single to give us the lead, and with two outs Hector Lopez hit one into right field to drive in two more! But the Orioles tied it up again in the top of the third, thanks to a three-run double by Gene Woodling. In the bottom of the inning Astroth hit into a fielder’s choice and allowed us to retake the lead 4-3, but Spicer got shellacked in the top of the fifth, giving up five runs before Ditmar came in with a runner on first and two outs, getting us out of there trailing by four. DeMaestri grounded out to first but allowed a run to score, cutting their lead to three, and Ditmar then hit a two-run blast out of left, getting us right back in the game, trailing 8-7 as we went into the sixth inning. Tom Gorman came out to pitch in the top of the eighth, getting three quick outs to keep us within striking distance, doing the same in the ninth when we hadn’t found a way to score. In the bottom of the ninth, Vic Power tied us up 8-8 with a solo homer out of left in the leadoff spot, and this one was headed for extra innings!

Gorman stayed out and got two quick strikeouts, Lenny Green then hitting a single to bring up Hoot Evers, who walked him into scoring position. Bobby Shantz came out, striking out Jim Dyck swinging, and we came back up in the bottom of the 10th hoping to put this one away. Lopez took a leadoff walk and Finigan sac-bunted him over to second. With two outs, Pafko walked to give us two on, but Vic Power popped out to end the inning. With two outs and runners on first and third in the top of the 12th, Sonny Dixon came out, getting Hoot Evers to pop out to right field, keeping this game going. With two outs in the bottom of the 12th, Dick Kryhoski hit a double into center, Pafko walked, and then Power popped out to second -- another missed opportunity. Dixon loaded the bases in the top of the 13th but came out of it unblemished, giving us another shot to take this one. We loaded the bases, and with one out Hector Lopez hit a sac-fly to center that drove in the winning run -- it took 13 innings but we beat the Orioles 9-8 after trailing at one point by as many as four runs!

Sonny Dixon took the win, improving to 4-1 with a 4.90 ERA, walking two and striking out one without giving up a hit. Shantz pitched two innings with two hits and a pair of strikeouts, this being his first game since July 12 not to end in a decision. We outhit the Orioles 12-10, led by Vic Power who hit three times for three runs and an RBI. Dick Kryhoski added three hits, a walk and a run, while Hector Lopez won the game for us, hitting twice, walking twice and batting in three runs.

August 27, 1955: Alex Kellner (16-13, 3.29 ERA, 202.1 IP, 68 K’s, 1.42 WHIP) pitched today, facing Lou Kretlow (3-4, 3 SV, 5.26 ERA, 89.0 IP, 40 K’s, 1.74 WHIP). Hoot Evers got the Orioles a lead in the top of the second with an RBI single, but Joe DeMaestri tied it up in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single. Gene Woodling hit a solo homer in the top of the fourth to put Baltimore back on top, and by the end of the frame we trailed 5-1. Walt Craddock took over with runners on first and second, no outs, in the top of the fifth, getting out of the inning without any of them scoring. Craddock did well to get us through without embarrassing ourselves, but when Bill Harrington came out to pitch in the top of the ninth we trailed the Orioles 6-1. We’d pick up a meaningless run in the bottom of the ninth thanks to a DeMaestri double, but Baltimore won this one easily 6-2 after the Kellner collapse in the fifth.

Alex Kellner fell to 16-14 with a 3.40 ERA, allowing eight hits and five runs (four earned) while walking three and striking out a pair through four innings. Craddock went four innings with three hits, a walk, two strikeouts and an earned run, improving his ERA to 4.81, and Harrington got through the ninth with a strikeout and nothing else. Baltimore outhit us 11-10, Power leading the way with three hits, two runs and an RBI.

Our record stands at 56-72 heading into a four game stretch with the Red Sox and Yankees coming to play a pair each.

August 28, 1955: Carl Erskine (3-4, 3 SV, 4.01 ERA, 58.1 IP, 30 K’s, 1.22 WHIP) pitched against Boston’s Ike Delock (7-12, 4.84 ERA, 145.0 IP, 84 K’s, 1.52 WHIP). Ted Williams batted in a run in the top of the first to get them the lead, and though we loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning we got nothing for it. But in the bottom of the second, Jim Finigan hit an RBI triple that drove in two runs, shooting us into the lead. Jackie Jenson tied it up with a solo homer in the top of the third, but a Pafko solo homer in the bottom of the fifth got us the lead back. Tom Gorman came out to pitch with a 3-2 lead as we started the top of the seventh, and with a runner on second and one out in the top of the eighth, Bobby Shantz came out and kept the lead safe. Shantz struck out Zauchin in the top of the ninth, Piersall grounded out to first for their second out, and then Ted Lepicio hit a single into left field, Don Buddin walking him into scoring position. But a pop-fly to center by Pete Daley ended this one as a 3-2 victory!

Carl Erskine picked up his second win in Kansas City and his ERA since the waiver pickup is now 4.10 ... he went six innings with five hits, a walk, three strikeouts and two earned runs. Gorman picked up his 11th hold of the season without a hit, his only baserunner being Billy Goodman in the eighth, who reached on an error. Shantz pitched 1.2 innings for his 29th save of the year, with a hit, a walk and a strikeout as his ERA improved to 2.54 through 67.1 innings. We outhit them 8-6, led by Finigan, who had three hits and two RBIs.

August 29, 1955: Arnie Portocarrero (5-11, 4.63 ERA, 142.0 IP, 44 K’s, 1.46 WHIP) pitched today against Boston’s Willard Nixon (9-15, 4.38 ERA, 170.2 IP, 86 K’s, 1.66 WHIP). We took the lead in the bottom of the first thanks to an RBI single by Vic Power, but Portocarrero gave up three runs in the top of the second to swing it back in Boston’s direction. Vic Power hit into a fielder’s choice in the bottom of the third to get us a run back, but Boston scored off an RBI single by Ted Williams in the top of the fifth to make it 4-2 Red Sox heading into the bottom of the inning. Al Gettel came out to pitch for us for the top of the sixth, and in the bottom of the inning Kryhoski hit an RBI single to cut the lead back to one. Vic Power led off with a triple in the bottom of the seventh, and Frazier hit a single that drove him home to tie us up at 4-4. DeMaestri hit a sac-fly that drove in the go-ahead run with one out, and we went into the top of the eighth leading by a run! Gettel got us through the top of the eighth safely, and we brought Tom Gorman out to pitch in the top of the ninth ... all it took was two strikeouts and a pop-up to first and we’d beaten the Red Sox again, this time 5-4!

Portocarrero struggled, giving up four earned runs off six hits and three walks, with four strikeouts through five innings. But Gettel came in and was phenomenal, pitching three innings for the win, improving to 3-1 with a one hit, one walk, four strikeout night! Gorman then came in for the save, his third of the year, and we outhit the Red Sox 13-7. Vic Power hit twice with a run and two RBIs, Kryhoski added three hits for a run and an RBI, and DeMaestri hit twice including an RBI.

August 30, 1955: The Yankees are in town, and today we had Bob Spicer (9-9, 4.42 ERA, 165.0 IP, 42 K’s, 1.47 WHIP) going up against Hal Brown (12-8, 4.39 ERA, 162.0 IP, 73 K’s, 1.30 WHIP), who has gone 5-0 for the Yankees since getting traded by Boston for a hill of beans ... or, I mean, minor league left fielder Johnny Blanchard. New York opened with a solo homer by Gil McDougald to give them the lead in the top of the first, and Mickey Mantle hit a solo homer moments later to make it 2-0, giving the 23-year-old slugger his 27th of the year which ties his career high set just last year. Joe Frazier hit a homer of his own out of left in the bottom of the second, getting us on the board, but Bill Skowron hit one in the top of the third to keep the Yankees up 3-1. Andy Carey hit one in the top of the fourth, the fifth homer of the game and fourth for the Yankees, but we answered with a two-run blast out of left by DeMaestri in the bottom of the fifth to get back within a run. Al Ditmar came in to pitch with Mantle coming up to the plate in the top of the sixth, walking the Mick ... who would up scoring off an RBI single by Phil Rizzuto. Ditmar got us out of the inning but we were back in a 6-3 hole by the time he did. Dick Marlowe came out in the seventh, and then stayed out in the eighth and got CREAMED ... Sonny Dixon came in with two outs and the score 10-3 Yankees thanks to a three-run homer by Hal Brown. We picked up a couple in the eighth but it was never close again ... we lost badly 10-5.

Bob Spicer fell to 9-10 with a 4.50 ERA< allowing four runs off five hits with a walk and a strikeout in his five innings. Ditmar lasted one inning with two hits, two walks and two runs, while Marlowe got rung up with four runs off four hits and a walk in his 1.2 innings. The Yankees outhit us 10-5 and had six homers, McDougald hitting two of them. Frazier did his best for us with two hits, two walks, two runs and an RBI, but the Yankees just had our number tonight.

August 31, 1955: Alex Kellner (16-14, 3.40 ERA, 206.1 IP, 70 K’s, 1.45 WHIP) started his 34th game of the season tonight, going up against Whitey Ford (17-5, 3.34 ERA, 215.2 IP, 117 K’s, 1.45 WHIP). The Yankees took the lead in the top of the third, thanks to RBI singles by Hank Bauer and Mickey Mantle, but Pafko answered with a solo homer in the bottom of the fourth to get us on the board. Kellner grounded into a fielder’s choice in the bottom of the fifth, but it was enough for us to score the tying run, but we weren’t able to get out of there with a lead. Walt Craddock came out to pitch to start the sixth inning, and he promptly got shelled ... Dick Marlowe came in with one out and men on first and second, with the lead now 6-2 Yankees. He got out of the inning without anyone else scoring, but the whole experience left us feeling demoralized. Bill Harrington came out to pitch with one out, men on first and second in the top of the eighth, the Yankees scoring another run, and that was pretty much it. Suder hit an RBI double in the bottom of the ninth, but we still lost 7-3.

Kellner had a good start, five innings with three hits, three walks, seven strikeouts and two earned runs. But Craddock blew it, falling to 3-11 while just getting ONE OUT ... he gave up four hits, a walk, struck out a batter and allowed four runs (three earned). They outhit us 13-7, Suder leading the way with two hits, a run and an RBI thanks to his garbage time double.

We’re off tomorrow before the three game homestand against Detroit (63-69), with rosters expanding for the month of September. We’ve decided to call up left fielder Bill Renna, shortstop Daryl Spencer, first baseman Don Bollweg and right-handed reliever Dutch Romberger from AAA, as well as starter Bob Trice from single-A Savannah. We’re going to run a six-man rotation in September, moving Ditmar and Craddock into the fifth and sixth spots. Bob Trice will handle long relief options for us, and Dutch Romberger will be available for mop-up situations.

jksander · 08-30-2024, 02:34 PM

September 2, 1955: Carl Erskine (4-4, 3 SV, 3.92 ERA, 64.1 IP, 33 K’s, 1.20 WHIP) pitched today against Jim Bunning (6-7, 3.76 ERA, 193.2 IP, 129 K’s, 1.30 WHIP). Detroit took a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first and we never recovered. Kryhoski drove in a run in the bottom of the sixth to get us on the board, but we were already down by five when he did it. Bob Trice came in to pitch for the final two innings, and we wound up losing this one badly, 8-3. Erskine lasted seven innings but allowed 11 hits and five runs (four earned) with two walks and four strikeouts. We were outhit 15-7, led by Lopez with three hits and a run, and by Pafko with two hits, a walk and a run.

September 3, 1955: Arnie Portocarrero (5-11, 4.71 ERA, 147.0 IP, 48 K’s, 1.47 WHIP) got the start against Detroit’s Frank Lary (11-10, 3.94 ERA, 205.2 IP, 110 K’s, 1.43 WHIP). Detroit again took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, thanks this time to a two-run homer by Ray Boone, but we picked up three in the bottom of the inning, thanks to an RBI single by Pafko and a two-run double by Joe Frazier. A Harvey Kuenn solo homer in the top of the third tied it up, but Vic Power hit a two-run double with a line drive into left that gave us a 5-3 lead at the end of three. Finigan hit an RBI double to add a run in the bottom of the fourth, but the Tigers got a pair back in the top of the fifth and Al Gettel came in to replace Portocarrero. Detroit tied it up in the top of the seventh with an RBI single by Fred Hatfield, and Tom Gorman came in to pitch with two runners on base and two outs, walking Don Blasingame and then giving up a three-run single to Harvey Kuenn to put us in an 8-6 hole. We were down by four heading into the stretch, and though Dutch Bomberger had a solid two inning appearance, we lost this one 10-7. Gettel took the loss, falling to 3-2, and we were outhit 16-14. Pafko had a great game, with four hits, three runs and a pair of RBIs, while Lopez, Power and Astroth each hit twice.

September 4, 1955: Bob Spicer (9-10, 4.50 ERA, 170.0 IP, 43 K’s, 1.46 WHIP) pitched against Detroit’s Steve Gromek (13-4, 3.90 ERA, 173.0 IP, 84 K’s, 1.38 WHIP) in the last of our three games against them here in Kansas City. Spicer gave up two runs in the first, the third time we’ve done that this series, but we tied it up in the bottom of the fourth with a two-run double by Vic Power. Jim Delsing got the Tigers back on top with a solo homer in the top of the sixth, and we went into the bottom of the ninth trailing by three runs. Joe Frazier tried to will us back into it with a two-run homer, but that was all we could muster, the Tigers completing the sweep by beating us 5-4. Spicer took the loss and fell to 9-11, and we were outhit 13-7. Power and Frazier each hit twice with a run and two RBIs thanks to their home runs.

September 5, 1955: In game one of our doubleheader on the road in Cleveland, Art Ditmar (4-5, 2 SV, 4.43 ERA, 85.1 IP, 32 K’s, 1.52 WHIP) pitched against Don Mossi (17-5, 2.47 ERA, 218.1 IP, 110 K’s, 1.16 WHIP). Stan Lopata got them the lead in the bottom of the first with an RBI line-drive double, but Finigan scored off an E6 error in the top of the second that allowed Ditmar to score from third. Ditmar got us through the fifth still knotted up at one run each, and Tom Gorman came out to pitch with one out and men on first and second in the bottom of the sixth, getting Lopata to hit into a double play to keep it that way. But Cleveland took the lead off a Ralph Kiner solo homer in the bottom of the seventh, and our bats couldn’t make up the run -- we’d lose the game 2-1, a real heartbreaker. Gorman took the loss, falling to 6-4 with a 3.76 ERA. We outhit Cleveland 6-4, led by Finigan who hit once and scored our one (unearned) run.

Walt Craddock (3-11, 4.98 ERA, 146.1 IP, 59 K’s, 1.55 WHIP) pitched in game two, facing Herb Score (13-14, 3.87 ERA, 239.1 IP, 242 K’s, 1.48 WHIP). Cleveland scored twice in the bottom of the second to take the lead. Despite solid pitching from our bullpen, that wound up being all they’d need as they held on to beat us 2-0 in the end, adding yet another loss to our current streak. Craddock lasted 4.2 innings and fell to 3-12, but Bill Harrington and Dutch Romberger combined for 3.1 hitless innings. But our bats were silent, getting outhit 7-2 ... shockingly, Billy Shantz picked up both hits, giving our backup catcher a .117 average.

September 7, 1955: Alex Kellner (16-14, 3.41 ERA, 211.1 IP, 77 K’s, 1.44 WHIP) pitched against the Yankees’ Vinegar Bend Mizell (16-4, 3.00 ERA, 207.1 IP, 156 K’s, 1.21 WHIP). We took the lead in the top of the second thanks to a two-run single by Joe Taylor, and Vic Power hit an RBI single in the top of the third to add on. But an Enos Slaughter RBI single and a Bill Skowron triple in the bottom of the third tied it up, so Taylor had to hit another RBI single to drive us back into the lead in the top of the fourth. New York tied it up again in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI double by Gil McDougald. Kellner stayed out for the bottom of the sixth, and got two outs before a half hour rain delay ended his night. Gorman came out for the last out of the inning, and with an out and a man on first in the bottom of the eighth we brought out Sonny Dixon with the score still tied up at 4-4. This one wound up continuing into extra innings! Hector Lopez put us up by a run with a solo homer to lead off in the top of the 10th, and Bobby Shantz came out in the bottom of the inning to protect the lead. He pitched around a single by Enos Slaughter, getting out of the inning with a double play as we beat the Yankees 5-4! Dixon took the win, improving to 5-1 with a 4.75 ERA, while Shantz saved his 30th game, his ERA sitting at 2.50 now through 68.1 innings over 51 appearances. The Yankees outhit us 11-8, but Joe Taylor, who has only played in 12 games so far this year, hit twice and batted in three RBIs, giving him nine RBIs for the season.

September 8, 1955: Carl Erskine (4-5, 3 SV, 4.04 ERA, 37 K’s, 1.26 WHIP) started against Billy O’Dell (12-5, 3.01 ERA, 170.2 IP, 93 K’s, 1.21 WHIP). Vic Power grounded into a 5-4-3 double play in the top of the first, but Hector Lopez scored to give us an early lead. In the top of the fourth Frazier hit a two-run homer that extended our lead to three, but Yogi Berra batted in a run with a single in the bottom of the inning to get New York on the board. Erskine was having a great game and stayed in for the sixth, but that’s when the Yankees shelled us ... with the lead 5-3 Yankees, a runner on second and just one out, Al Gettel came in to put out the fire. Vic Power hit a two-run single to tie it up in the top of the seventh, but Gettel loaded the bases without an out, and Marlowe had to come in to try and prevent a complete collapse. He walked in a run, and then back to back hits gave up four runs as this game became a rout. Marlowe got the outs eventually, but we went into the top of the eighth trailing by five. From there it was just a matter of finishing things out, and we lost badly 11-5. Gettel took the loss, falling to 3-3 with a 4.15 ERA, and New York outhit us 12-10. Frazier hit once, walked once, scored a run and drove in two, while DeMaestri hit twice and scored a run.

jksander · 08-30-2024, 03:31 PM

September 9, 1955: Arnie Portocarrero (5-11, 4.87 ERA, 151.2 IP, 51 K’s, 1.51 WHIP) pitched against Washington’s Larry Jansen (6-10, 4.44 ERA, 135.2 IP, 59 K’s, 1.30 WHIP) in our first of two against the Senators. This one was deadlocked until the bottom of the fifth, when Washington got three runs off a walk and a pair of RBI singles. They added a pair in the sixth, but Joe Frazier then hit a three-run homer in the top of the seventh to try and will us back into the game. It wasn’t happening though. They scored six unanswered runs in the seventh and eighth, destroying us in the end by an 11-3 margin. The loss went to Portocarrero, who allowed four walks and seven hits in five innings, earning three runs against him. Joe Frazier’s three RBIs led the team, with Pafko and Astroth contributing the other two runs scored by his homer.

September 10, 1955: Bob Spicer (9-11, 4.50 ERA, 176.0 IP, 45 K’s, 1.47 WHIP) pitched against Camilo Pascual (5-22, 4.79 ERA, 225.2 IP, 151 K’s, 1.65 WHIP), and this turned into an unexpected pitcher’s duel, with no runs getting in for anyone. Tom Gorman came out to pitch in the bottom of the eighth with the score still tied at 0-0, and he got six outs in a row -- not even allowing a baserunner! -- to get us into extra innings with double-goose-eggs ... each team hit five times in regulation and nobody could score. Pete Suder led off with a single in the top of the 10th, pinch-hitting successfully for Gorman, but Lopez hit into a double play, and we weren’t able to make it happen. Sonny Dixon came out to pitch, and in the top of the 11th we got a triple off Vic Power with just one out, but we weren’t able to score him. Al Gettel came out with one out in the bottom of the inning, a man on first, and he got us through again without Washington finding a way to walk it off. We saw our chance in the top of the 13th, and Joe Frazier took advantage, singling into right with a line drive to drive in the go-ahead run to give us a 1-0 lead! With the bases loaded, DeMaestri hit one into right, driving in a pair, and Hector Lopez drove in another with a single to make it a four-run lead! Gettel stayed out to close things out and we won an absolutely crazy game by a 4-0 margin after 13 innings! Spicer had just five hits through seven innings, and we only allowed two more through the remaining six frames, Gettel taking the win to improve to 4-3 with a 3.86 ERA after throwing 29 pitches through 2.2 innings. We wound up outhitting them 14-7, led by Hector Lopez with two hits, a walk and and RBI and by DeMaestri with a hit, two walks and two RBIs.

This was our 60th win of the season.

September 11, 1955: Art Ditmar (4-5, 2 SV, 4.27 ERA, 90.2 IP, 35 K’s, 1.50 WHIP) pitched in our first game of a double header against the Orioles, facing Bob Kuzawa (8-9, 4.44 ERA, 162.1 IP, 79 K’s, 1.71 WHIP). And it was a pretty uneventful game after the first few innings. Baltimore took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second, and though Billy Shantz led off with a triple in the third, coming around to score thanks to a single from Hector Lopez, that was all the offense we were able to muster. Our pitching was impeccable from there, but we still lost 3-1. Ditmar lasted seven innings with seven hits, two walks, two strikeouts and three earned runs, giving him the loss. They outhit us 7-4, Lopez and Shantz providing our only offense.

Walt Craddock (3-12, 4.95 ERA, 151.0 IP, 66 K’s, 1.58 WHIP) pitched against Jim McDonald (7-7, 5 SV, 3.10 ERA, 122.0 IP, 48 K’s, 1.47 WHIP in the second game of the afternoon. Trailing 3-1 after five innings, Andy Pafko hit a two-run homer for us in the top of the sixth to tie things up, but Craddock couldn’t hold it. Fred Marsh hit a single that batted in a pair in the bottom of the inning, putting them back into the lead. Dutch Romberger got us through, and in the top of the seventh Hector Lopez hit a single that drove in two to re-tie it up, but Romberger couldn’t handle it in the bottom of the inning, loading the bases and giving up a pair of runs before Sonny Dixon could get warmed up and come in without any outs. He escaped with just one of Romberger’s runs scoring, but we were out of comebacks, losing this one 8-5. Romberger took the loss, falling to 0-1 with a 9.64 ERA through 4.2 innings since getting his September 1st call-up. We were outhit 11-5, led by Lopez who hit three times with a run and two more batted in, giving him 70 RBIs this year.

September 13, 1955: Alex Kellner (16-14, 3.48 ERA, 217.0 IP, 78 K’s, 1.44 WHIP) pitched against Boston’s Frank Sullivan (15-12, 3.31 ERA, 242.0 IP, 115 K’s, 1.42 WHIP) at Fenway, and this time Kellner didn’t even get out of the fifth inning ... with the score 3-0 Boston, Dick Marlowe came in to pitch in the bottom of the fifth, but he handled himself well and in the top of the seventh we got a run thanks to an Astroth walk. But we weren’t able to muster any further offense, losing this one in the end 4-1. Kellner took the loss, falling to 16-15, and Marlowe put in four solid innings ... three hits, three walks, two strikeouts and the one earned run, while throwing 56 pitches. Boston outhit us 7-3, with Dick Kryhoski leading the way with two hits and a run scored.

September 14, 1955: Carl Erskine (4-5, 3 SV, 4.34 ERA, 76.2 IP, 39 K’s, 1.29 WHIP) pitched against Tom Brewer (11-8, 3.89 ERA, 183.0 IP, 64 K’s, 1.42 WHIP) in our last game of the year in Boston. And though Erskine had a great game, pitching all eight innings, Boston took the lead in the bottom of the second with a Sonny White solo homer to take a 2-1 lead, and Ted Williams batted in a run with a sac-fly in the bottom of the third to add all the insurance they’d need. The Red Sox beat us 3-1 for our fourth loss in a row. And with just nine games left in the season (six against the White Sox and three against Detroit), winnable games are at a premium from here on out. We actually outhit the Sox 6-5 today, DeMaestri leading the way with a hit, a run and an RBI.

jksander · 08-30-2024, 06:52 PM

September 16, 1955: Arnie Portocarrero (5-12, 4.88 ERA, 156.2 IP, 55 K’s, 1.53 WHIP) pitched against the White Sox’s Billy Pierce (19-11, 2.95 ERA, 262.2 IP, 171 K’s, 1.27 WHIP) in front of around 8,000 A’s stalwarts as we started our final home series of the season. Chicago got out to a 3-0 lead quickly in the top of the second, Portocarrero batting in a run with a single in the bottom of the inning to get us on the board. Trailing by three runs in the bottom of the sixth, Andy Pafko hit an RBI single and Finigan smacked a solo homer out of left, pulling us back into the game trailing by a run. Portocarrero kept us in the game, trailing 4-3 as we came up to hit in the bottom of the seventh, and with a runner on second and one out in the top of the eighth we brought out Al Gettel to try and keep us in this one. Gettel did well, getting us into the bottom of the ninth still trailing by just the one run, but we couldn’t muster a comeback, losing this one 4-3. Portocarrero had a great game (7.1 innings, four hits, two walks, four runs of which three were earned) but had to take the loss, with Gettel going hitless through his 1.2 innings. We outhit the White Sox 7-4 but came up short, led by Finigan with a hit, a run and an RBI, and by Portocarrero who had a hit and an RBI.

September 17, 1955: Bob Spicer (9-11, 4.33 ERA, 183.0 IP, 48 K’s, 1.45 WHIP) pitched against Virgil Trucks (14-10, 3.42 ERA, 197.1 IP, 109 K’s, 1.33 WHIP). Kryhoski hit an RBI single to give us a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third, but in the top of the sixth the White Sox took the lead with an RBI single by Sherm Lollar and a sac-fly by Jim Rivera. They added on six runs in the seventh and eighth, and though we got a couple runs in the bottom of the ninth it was too little, too late -- Chicago beat us 8-3 for their 90th win of the season. Spicer took the loss, falling to 9-12, allowing 13 hits and eight earned runs with four walks. They outhit us 13-5, with Kryhoski leading our offense with three hits and an RBI.

REALLY bad news ... Alex Kellner, who left after the fourth inning in his last start, has been diagnosed with a ruptured disc in his back ... The 31-year-old is now out until at least May of next season, and that’s only if his rehabilitation goes well. That makes our pitching woes exceptionally severe heading into an offseason that is going to be very difficult for us to maneuver.

September 18, 1955: Art Ditmar (4-6, 2 SV, 4.24 ERA, 97.2 IP, 37 K’s, 1.48 WHIP) started today against Connie Johnson in our final home game of the season. He promptly spotted them a three-run lead in the top of the first, and they crushed us in the later innings, shutting us out 9-0 in the end. It was ugly, and the fans who were there, while not exactly expecting perfection from us, certainly deserved better than this. Ditmar fell to 4-7 with a 4.30 ERA, and we were outhit 11-5. Our offense was non-existent, with nobody but Pafko (a hit and a walk) making it on base more than once.

September 19, 1955: We’ve lost seven in a row and head into our final six game stretch on the road, first facing the 74-74 Detroit Tigers, who would love to finish their season with an above-.500 record for the first time since 1950. Walt Craddock (3-12, 5.07 ERA, 156.1 IP, 70 K’s, 1.60 WHIP) pitched against Steve Gromek (16-4, 3.55 ERA, 198.0 IP, 93 K’s, 1.33 WHIP), and they took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first, holding us off through the middle innings with no trouble. Trailing 5-2 heading into the top of the eighth inning, Finigan led off with a double, advancing to third off a wild pitch and scoring a run thanks to a Kryhoski sac-fly to center. But Dutch Romberger loaded the bases and let pinch-hitter Cal Abrams hit a grand slam to gut him on the mound with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, and we didn’t even bother with any protest in the top of the ninth, throwing up our hands as we lost 9-3. Craddock took the loss, falling to 3-13, and though we outhit them 11-7, there was no overcoming the way the eighth inning ended. Finigan led the way with two hits and two RBIs, while Power, Frazier and Astroth each hit twice as well.

September 20, 1955: Bob Trice (0-0, 8.10 ERA, 3.1 IP, 1 K, 2.10 WHIP) started out of the bullpen today, facing Ned Garver (8-6, 4.63 ERA, 153.2 IP, 62 K’s, 1.33 WHIP). Detroit took the lead in the bottom of the second with an RBI single by Red Wilson, and we brought Marlowe out for the third inning and beyond. Billy Shantz hit an RBI single to tie it up in the top of the fourth, and Dick Marlowe hit an RBI single to push us into the lead, and Marlowe did well enough to hold it through the fifth inning! Tom Gorman came out to pitch in the bottom of the sixth, still leading the Tigers 2-1, but the Tigers got an RBI double from Jim Delsing to tie it up in the bottom of the inning. Sonny Dixon came out to pitch after the stretch, and he got us through to the end, but it was Detroit coming out of the game with the walk-off win, Kaline hitting an RBI single to win the game for them 3-2. Dixon took the loss, falling to 5-2 with a 5.01 ERA, but he did what he could -- we just got outhit, this time by a 10-7 margin. Pafko led the team with two hits and a run, while Billy Shantz (two hits and an RBI) continues to hit well in the latter part of the season, though he still only has a .143 average and four RBIs.

September 21, 1955: Carl Erskine (4-6, 3 SV, 4.25 ERA, 84.2 IP, 44 K’s, 1.24 WHIP) started our final game of the year against Detroit, facing Billy Hoeft (12-13, 3.92 ERA, 216.0 IP, 128 K’s, 1.40 WHIP). Pafko hit a two-run homer to put us up 2-0 in the first inning, and when our bats weren’t able to find any insurance, Erskine held the lead, pitching his best game since coming to Kansas City. Joe Frazier finally bought us a bit of insurance in the top of the ninth with a two-out solo homer to make ours a three-run lead, and Bobby Shantz came out for the save opportunity in the bottom of the inning ... he got three quick outs and we won a stunner on the road, 3-0! Erskine went eight innings with just three hits, four walks and five strikeouts, and Shantz saved his 31st game and brought his ERA down to 2.47, making his first appearance out of the bullpen in two weeks. We outhit Detroit 8-3, led by Pafko who hit twice with a run and two RBIs.

September 23, 1955: It’s been a long season, but it’s almost over ... just three games left between our 61-90 A’s and the Chicago White Sox, who come into the final series with a 91-60 record. Arnie Portocarrero (5-13, 4.83 ERA, 164.0 IP, 55 K’s, 1.50 WHIP) got the start, facing Connie Johnson (13-12, 4.36 ERA, 239.1 IP, 147 K’s, 1.46 WHIP). They took a 2-0 lead in the first, added a run in the second, and then never looked back ... a brutal four-run start to the bottom of the sixth ballooned their lead to 7-2, and Al Gettel gave up an extra run trying to dig out of the hole he replaced Portocarrero in. They’d go on to beat us soundly 10-2. Portocarrero allowed 10 hits with three walks to produce eight runs, six of them were earned, as he fell to 5-14 to finish his season with a 5.01 ERA. They outhit us 15-7, our team led by Finigan with a hit, two walks and an RBI ... Pafko also hit three times, but went nowhere.

September 24, 1955: Bob Spicer (9-12, 4.53 ERA, 190.2 IP, 49 K’s, 1.48 WHIP) pitched against Virgil Trucks (15-10, 3.40 ERA, 206.1 IP, 110 K’s, 1.32 WHIP). We came out fighting, Andy Pafko hitting a two-run triple to put us into the lead, with Frazier adding a two-run homer to give us a 4-0 lead after half an inning. But over the next five innings Spicer slowly gave the lead back, Larry Doby hitting a solo homer in the bottom of the fifth that tied it up 4-4. Sonny Dixon came in to start the sixth inning, and in the top of the seventh Finigan got us back into the lead with a two-run single, giving us a 6-4 lead as Dixon stayed out to pitch in the bottom of the seventh. Tom Gorman came out with two outs and men on first and second, and the White Sox got a run back with an RBI single by Chico Carrasquel on just his first pitch. He wound up loading the bases and walking in a run via Bob Nieman to tie things back up. Al Gettel came out with loaded bases, getting us into the top of the eighth without giving them a lead, but we were running on fumes. Gettel got us through the bottom of the eighth, where, with two outs, Pafko hit an RBI single to give us back the lead! A second run scored when Vin Power reached first on an E6 error, and we went into the bottom of the inning leading by two with Shantz coming out to pitch. He got three quick outs and we got out of there with an 8-6 win! Though Gorman blew his fifth save, Gettel was able to get the win, improving to 5-3 with a 3.32 ERA, and Shantz saved his 32nd game, giving him a 2.43 ERA through 70.1 innings. They outhit us 14-11 but we got the last laugh, led by Finigan who hit three times with two runs and two RBIs, and by Frazier who had three hits, a walk, two hits and two RBIs.

September 25, 1955: We went with Carl Erskine (5-6, 3 SV, 3.88 ERA, 92.2 IP, 49 K’s, 1.21 WHIP) in the final game, facing Jack Harshman (12-11, 4.41 ERA, 206.1 IP, 108 K’s, 1.52 WHIP). Erskine had two great innings and then got reamed in the third, giving up four runs to the White Sox. The game was called in the seventh inning due to an incoming storm coming off the lake, and we took the loss by the same 4-0 margin, but Erskine didn’t flinch after his rough inning, pitching three perfect innings after that and looking like he could have gone the distance if the game hadn’t ended. He allowed eight hits, a walk and four earned runs, almost all of which came in the third inning. They outhit us 8-1, Vic Power getting our only hit and he went nowhere, while Finigan, Astroth and Taylor each walked once. Our season comes to an end with a 62-92 record, but our win yesterday was enough to get us ahead of Baltimore -- we’ll finish sixth in the American League.

jksander · 08-30-2024, 08:39 PM

1955 World Series

September 28, 1955: Both the Yankees and Dodgers have been dominant this season, but the 112-42 Dodgers came into this series as the heavy favorites to win this year’s Subway Series despite the Yankees winning home field advantage. Sandy Koufax (21-5, 3.16 ERA, 251.0 IP, 228 K’s, 1.29 WHIP) pitched in game one for Brooklyn against the Yankees’ Billy O’Dell (14-6, 3.19 ERA, 200.0 IP, 107 K’s, 1.24 WHIP), and the Yankees blew up Koufax early in the bottom of the first with five runs, three of them off one homer by Bill Skowron ... so much for the early betting faves, right? Koufax stayed in and pitched very well, but the Dodgers’ bats were quiet. They brought Saul Rogovin out of the bullpen in the bottom of the eighth, still trailing by five, and he didn’t make it any worse, but Brooklyn failed to score a run and lost game one 5-0, getting outhit 7-3. Koufax finished with six hits, three walks and seven strikeouts with five earned runs in seven innings, while O’Dell pitched a three-hitter through 7.2 innings, earning player of the game status. Mantle hit three times for a run, and Skowron’s three RBIs were the early deciding factor.

September 29, 1955: Brooklyn brought out Don Drysdale (19-9, 3.27 ERA, 278.1 IP, 197 K’s, 1.17 WHIP) to pitch in a must-win game two situation, facing the Yankees’ Vinegar Bend Mizell (17-6, 3.10 ERA, 241.0 IP, 181 K’s, 1.23 WHIP). And Brooklyn failed miserably, the Yankees taking a 2-0 lead in the first thanks to a Skowron RBI triple and a groundout by Mantle, and then adding to it with an RBI single by Yogi Berra in the bottom of the fifth. Brooklyn didn’t score once, so after two games they trail the Bronx Bombers 2-0 in the series and 8-0 in runs scored, prompting the baseball media to wonder if the National League is just completely overrated. Drysdale pitched a complete game, allowing eight hits with three walks and five strikeouts, only two of his three runs being earned. Mizell, however, pitched a complete game two-hitter, striking out 13, setting a Yankees playoff record for K’s, which ties the American League record. Berra hit three times with the RBI, and McDougald hit twice and scored two.

October 1, 1955: For game three in Brooklyn, the Yankees started Whitey Ford (20-6, 3.48 ERA, 253.2 IP, 134 K’s, 1.45 WHIP) against the Dodgers’ Karl Spooner (24-5, 2.68 ERA, 275.2 IP, 228 K’s, 1.18 WHIP). The Yankees took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second thanks to an Irv Noren RBI single that scored Mantle and Andy Carey, and they added two more in the top of the third before a solo homer by Sandy Amoros scored the Dodgers’ first run of the series. But they came roaring back in the bottom of the fifth ... Jim Gilliam reached first on an error, scoring Carl Furillo from third, Pee Wee Reese singled in Amoros for another run, and Duke Snider walked in a run to tie it up though Brooklyn would leave the bases loaded. The Yankees got the lead back with an RBI single by McDougald in the top of the eighth, but Johnny Roseboro hit a sac-fly to left and the tying run scored via Don Hoak from third, and this one was headed for extra innings! The Yankees took the lead with an RBI single by Yogi Berra in the top of the 13th, giving them a 6-5 advantage, and they held onto it to win and take a 3-0 series lead, gutting the Dodgers faithful who still clung to the idea that they could come back. The final run was unearned, so the Brooklyn bullpen put together six innings with three hits, three walks, three strikeouts and two unearned runs in the loss. Bob Grim won it for the Yankees with four innings, just four hits and three walks with a pair of K’s ... and Mantle led the offense with three hits, a walk, a run and an RBI.

October 2, 1955: The Yankees started Hal Brown (7-2, 2 SV, 5.13 ERA, 79.0 IP, 28 K’s, 1.41 WHIP) against Brooklyn’s Don Newcombe (12-5, 4.02 ERA, 176.2 IP, 113 K’s, 1.21 WHIP) in game four. Brooklyn took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the third, runs scoring off a solo homer by Sandy Amoros, a groundout by Pee Wee Reese and a single by Duke Snyder. The Yankees got as close as two, trailing 5-3 in the middle of the eighth, but Amoros batted in a sixth run with a groundball single in the bottom of the inning and they held tough to win 6-3 as they got their first postseason victory. Newcombe took the win, pitching 6.1 innings with six hits, six strikeouts and one earned run, with Amoros their driving force on offense -- he hit three times with two runs and two RBIs including his second homer of the series. Mickey Mantle hit three times and scored two runs fro the Yankees, but Brown got crushed early and only lasted 3.2 innings ... starting him definitely got the New York press going, suggesting it was hubris for the Yankees to essentially pitch a bullpen game when they could have had a sweep. Regardless, there will now at least be a game five in Brooklyn tomorrow afternoon.

October 3, 1955: Koufax and O’Dell faced off in game five, a rematch of game one, but this time Koufax was on his home mound in front of his team’s fans. Brooklyn took the lead in the bottom of the first thanks to a solo homer by Duke Snyder, but Irv Noren batted in a run with a double to tie it up in the top of the second, the Yankees taking the lead an inning later with a two-run Skowron homer to make it 3-1 Yankees. Brooklyn came roaring back with an RBI single by Koufax and a sac-fly by Jim Gilliam in the bottom of the fifth, tying the score at 3-3, and they took the lead with a Ray Campanella two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth! Gil McDougald scored from third off a Yogi Berra single in the top of the eighth to cut the Dodgers’ lead to one, but Gil Hodges hit a solo blast out of left and Don Hoak hit an RBI single, the Dodgers leading by three heading into the ninth inning. The Yankees didn’t let them rest easy ... Enos Slaughter hit an RBI triple which Skowron followed up by singling, getting Slaughter in to cut the lead again to one. But that was all they’d get -- Brooklyn held on to win 7-6, and the series will go back to the house that Ruth built with the Yankees leading three games to two. Koufax went eight innings with three hits, but he walked eight against six strikeouts, his wildness contributing to four earned runs. But the Dodgers outhit the Yankees 9-7, led by Campanella (two hits, two runs, two RBIs) and Snider (two hits, two runs, one RBI). Skowron hit twice for the Yankees and batted in three, but Mantle hit only once, walked three times and never was in danger of scoring. He’s hit .556 so far through five games, and the Yankees are going to need him if they’re going to avoid letting this series slip away.

October 5, 1955: Heading into game six, the Dodgers had literally nothing to lose, while the Yankees came in having let their crosstown nemesis stick a foot in the crack of the door, putting them on the verge of an unheard of World Series comeback. Don Drysdale and Vinegar Bend Mizell faced off in a rematch of game two, and this one was a duel from the first pitch. Brooklyn drew first blood in the top of the fourth, thanks to a Duke Snyder solo homer, a 488-footer that left the park and drew gasps even from the Yankee fans present. They then bought some insurance in the top of the seventh with an RBI single by Don Hoak, giving them a 2-0 lead heading into the stretch with Drysdale still going strong. But the Yankees struck back like a cobra in the bottom of the inning, Mantle walking and then scoring from first off a Berra double, Andy Carey hit a sac-fly that drove in another, and then Mizell himself hit an RBI double that drove in the go-ahead run as this place exploded with Yankee excitement! That took the heart right out of the Dodgers, and they limped to the finish from there, losing this one, and the series, by a 3-2 margin. Mizell pitched his second complete game of the series with five hits, two walks and 10 K’s ... Berra hit once, walked twice and scored a run, while Mantle (who hit .550 in the series) hit once, walked twice and scored once. But Mizell’s two RBIs won the game ... I suspect this won’t be his last heroic moment pitching for the Yankees, his $154,000 free agent signing this April being worth every penny. And while 19-year-old Don Drysdale has to be feeling disappointed by his 0-2 record and 2.81 ERA during his two starts, he’s a rookie who has nowhere to go but up in his career.

The New York Yankees are your 1955 World Series champions, outlasting the Dodgers of Brooklyn 4-2.

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October 16, 1955: I’m still waiting for my meeting with owner Richard Doyle to officially extend my contract, but all signs I’ve heard from him suggest that, while he’s not happy how far we fell out of contention from being a .500 team, we’ve made progress and he’s not looking to find a new GM / Manager for the team yet. The draft pool has been released and we’re now busy scouting players, knowing the future of the team depends on how well we can capitalize on our high draft position.

October 31, 1955: I still haven’t had an official meeting with Richard Doyle, but I did get a new contract, earning $5,000 to remain at the helm of the team both in the front office and as the team’s manager through the 1956 season. The draft pool is looking quite deep this year, and I’m hopeful we’ll be able to bring in a really solid crop of young players to add to our system during the 25-round draft that takes place on November 15!

November 7, 1955: Richard Doyle and I finally got to sit down and go over things in detail. He was happy with the work I did to improve our fan support; the folks over in public relations say that fan interest is up eight percent from when I took over the team, and Doyle is happy that we finished the season with nearly $1 million in revenue, with $140,000 in cash on hand. But he wants our attendance to rise this year, which is going to require me to both draft well and find ways to maximize a limited free agent market to find new players, while getting the most out of our veterans who will return to play another year. He still wants to see us playing near .500 in the coming season, with a long term goal of getting to a World Series by the end of the decade. Most important, however, is the attendance goal, as well as his insistence that we need to build a top three farm system over the next three seasons -- and with us being dead last right now, that’s a HUGE ask. He is willing to put money into our payroll expenses, however ... right now our budget is $980,000 for the upcoming season, which leaves us room to put $900,000 into player salaries. Right now we’re paying $755,000 to pay our existing contracts, so that leaves me room to go after more expensive players in the trade market and free agency.

jksander · 08-30-2024, 10:20 PM

November 8, 1955: Here are our top players from the previous season based on WAR:

CF Hector Lopez -- .249/.377/.354, 12 doubles, 13 homers, 70 RBIs, +12.2 ZR, 5.3 WAR
2B Jim Finigan -- .266/.392/.423, 27 doubles, 12 homers, 66 RBIs, +6.6 ZR, 5.3 WAR
SP Alex Kellner -- 16-15, 3.54 ERA, 221.0 IP, 78 K’s, 1.44 WHIP, 3.6 WAR
1B Vic Power -- .287/.361/.447, 18 doubles, 16 homers, 82 RBIs, +4.2 ZR, 3.3 WAR
C Joe Astroth -- .209/.353/.257, 8 doubles, 39 RBIs, +1.4 ZR, 1.8 WAR
RF Harry Walker -- .205/.402/.285, 9 doubles, 5 homers, 25 RBIs, 1.6 WAR (played 83 games for us and 16 games for St. Louis)
RP Bobby Shantz -- 6-4, 32 SV, 2.43 ERA, 70.1 IP, 34 K’s, 1.42 WHIP, 1.5 WAR
SP Arnie Portocarrero -- 5-14, 5.01 ERA, 169.0 IP, 57 K’s, 1.53 WHIP, 1.3 WAR
RF Joe Frazier -- .231/.322/.434, 12 homers, 35 RBIs, +2.8 ZR, 1.2 WAR (played 40 games for us and 24 games for St. Louis)
LF Andy Pafko -- .271/.330/.396, 6 doubles, 8 homers, 39 RBIs, 1.1 WAR (played 61 games for us and 30 games for Milwaukee)

Lopez, our top player, has been a clubhouse issue due to his perceived lack of motivation, as has Tom Gorman, who was frustrated last year to wind up in a mostly setup role behind Bobby Shantz. We have a good core of leaders (Walt Craddock, George Wilson, Carl Erskine and Dick Marlowe) but are definitely on the lookout for our sparkplug, a guy like the Yankees’ Billy Martin, to be an on-field defensive catalyst. I’d also love to find someone with the veteran leadership to be a captain for the team, and really bring us together as a team.

November 10, 1955: We’ve made a trade with the Washington Senators, sending them backup catcher Billy Shantz and left fielder Chuck Taylor, in exchange for 35-year-old starter Larry Jansen, who went 9-11 last year with a 3.93 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP with 2.2 WAR despite playing on the worst team in the AL. We’re going to be in desperate need of starters who have good control, since Kellner is out at least until May ... and the Senators were willing to retain 60% of Jansen’s contract, which means we’re only going to be responsible for about $14,000 of his deal. So though I’m wishing we could have gotten a little more out of the deal, I think it’s a reasonable one that helps both sides.

November 15, 1955: Later today the rookie draft will take place, but the news of the day is the fact that Vic Power was awarded a Gold Glove at first base for his stellar defense this past season! Here’s hoping he can keep it up next year, we’re going to need every player putting in hard work if we’re going to improve on our 62-win season.

November 16, 1955: We went into the 1955 Rookie Draft with the 4th best pick overall behind Washington, Pittsburgh and Baltimore. It was a relatively deep draft overall, however, led by Willie “Stretch” McCovey, the 17-year-old first baseman the Senators took with their top pick. Pittsburgh took Tommy Davis, a 16-year-old left fielder, and Baltimore went with 18-year-old lefty starter Gary Peters. Below are our key draft picks and our best scouting impresions:

ROUND 1, Pick 4 -- SP Juan Pizzaro
Even at age 18, Pizarro is as close to a “ready now” ace as this draft has ... lean and athletic, the Puerto Rican lefty has a four pitch arsenal which includes an off-the-charts screwball / curveball combo, a good knuckle curve and a solid fastball. He should wind up with elite stuff when he fully matures, and I’m confident he’ll develop into a long-term top-of-the-rotation player for our organization. He pitches hard enough, at 91 to 93 miles per hour, to be a real threat even as a rookie, and he’ll almost certainly be our opening day starter.

ROUND 2, Pick 20 -- RP Moe Drabowsky
This right-handed starter is, at age 20, another “ready to go” prospect. A durable right-handed reliever, Moe can top out at more than 95 miles per hour -- his high octane fastball pairs nicely with a nasty slider and curveball combo, and he’s got the potential to be a high leverage reliever who borders on the elite.

ROUND 3, Pick 36 -- RP Bob Lee
Lee is a 17-year-old reliever from Ottumwa, Iowa, who has a devastating curve and an above-average fastball. With pinpoint control, he should be among the league’s leaders in strikeouts if he develops as expected, and that elite command should also help him avoid getting into home run trouble. His ultimate potential is as a lock-down closer, shorter stints where he can rack up those K’s.

ROUND 4, Pick 52 -- C Chris Cannizzaro
Chris is lean and athletic at 17, hailing from Oakland, California. He’s got the potential to become an above-average contact hitter, while also being good at taking bad pitches and turning them into walks. A slow runner, he still has good instincts and is expected to steal more bases than his share. If he can cut his strikeout rate he’ll become an average major leaguer. His defense leaves a lot to be desired, but he’s smart and that can be taught.He’s got more potential at first and third though, and may never be more than a backup catcher defensively.

Beyond that, the remainder of our draft picks were used to fill the minors with everyday players who may or may not ever have the ability to rise to the level of “major leaguer.” But those top four picks are our most likely long-term prospects.

jksander · 08-31-2024, 06:04 PM

November 16, 1955: Our first rounder, Juan Pizarro, has agreed to a $28,000 signing bonus, and will join the A’s here in Kansas City as our #2 starter behind Carl Erskine. It’s a potentially risky move, but he’s got the skills already to play against major league talent, and that’s going to be our best way to develop him ... we’ll watch his pitch counts early and will be able to avoid leaving him in to get shelled, since we’re building a much deeper bullpen than we had last season. I see him becoming a fan favorite quickly,

November 17, 1955: Jim Finigan won the Silver Slugger award for his performance at second base this year, an honor he definitely deserved. But that news got overshadowed by a huge trade that on the surface sounds insane, but which, in the end, I feel it will benefit our team in the long run. Hector Lopez, who hit .249 for us and put up a ton of WAR based on his fielding, has spent much of the offseason so far talking about how much he hates playing in Kansas City, he doesn’t get along with his teammates, and says he has a hard time motivating himself to care when the team around him is terrible. Milwaukee reached out to us about acquiring him for their similarly rebuilding team, and they seem unaware of his potential clubhouse issues ... they’ve offered us middle-infielder Danny O’Connell, 28, who can play second and third at a high level defensively while hitting .258 with 19 doubles, seven triples and four homers last year with the Braves, batting in 48 RBIs with 2.2 WAR. He’s a clubhouse leader with captain potential, and we’ve had our eye on him for a while. They’ve also offered center fielder Bill Wilson, 27, who isn’t a great contact hitter but he does have good power (five doubles and eight homers last year as a bench player, slugging .365 and putting up half a game of WAR despite the Braves barely using him) and he can defend left, center and first base competently, while also pitching well -- he’s got a great cutter and circle change, and could make a good relief option in a pinch. That they’re also including $60,000 in cash pretty much sealed the deal with our owner, who said do it. Wilson is known throughout the league for his high work ethic, so he’ll fit in with the kind of team we’re building. The move has fans in both cities buzzing, the players are all super excited to work with O’Connell, and we’re excited to have finally made a big move that I feel will benefit the team in the long run.

November 18, 1955: Hector Lopez was named Rookie of the Year the day after we completed our trade, but the general consensus in the local media is that we made the right move for the team ... with our owner’s focus on getting the team’s clubhouse chemistry up and pushing us toward putting a winning team on the field, it wasn’t going to happen with a player who didn’t want to be here and who the fans were becoming indifferent to. Let him play in Milwaukee, where we’ll only have to see him against us if somehow our two teams were to meet in the World Series. Plus, with O’Connell looking to be our #2 hitter, and Wilson having the power to bat seventh, we’re looking at a lineup that could feature Walker / O’Connell / Power / Pafko / Finigan / Astroth / Wilson / DeMaestri, all back to back. So I think the two-for-one deal and cash is going to help us along faster than I otherwise would have expected.

In other news, Moe Drabowsky has agreed to a $1,200 signing bonus, and will be coming up to the big club immediately, where we plan to develop him as a high-leverage stopper.

November 19, 1955: Bob Lee, our third round pick, was acting as though he’d rather go to college rather than sign on to play for us, but I see him as a solid development project worth banking on, so we offered big: $22,000 as a signing bonus, and he’s going to start out with the Grand Island A’s in the NESL. If he adjusts well to that league early on, he could make it to the Crowley Millers in the Evangeline league by midseason, though we’re wanting to take it slow and develop him as a future lockdown closer. Chris Cannizzaro, who signed a $10,000 bonus, is going to be catching for the Millers this year, and looks to be a solid addtion to our farm system.

December 13, 1955: We’ve signed a backup catcher to replace Billy Shantz on the roster. Ray Noble, 36, is an adaptable veteran who, while he hasn’t played for a major league team since 1953, has solid power, eye and an ability to avoid striking out that should benefit him well in his games supporting Astroth off the bench. He has agreed to a $20,000 contract for the current season and is not arbitration eligible, so it’s a one year deal unless he performs well and we decide to extend him. He’ll be a solid option until Cannizzaro is ready to move up, or until we’re able to find a younger player at the position.

December 20, 1955: Only six players total were taken via this year’s Rule 5 draft, and we used our pick to take utility outfielder Zeke Bella from the New York Yankees. The 25-year-old put up 2.7 WAR last year in AAA and hit .272 with 21 doubles and 28 homers, batting in 84 runs. He was never going to earn a chance to start for the Yankees, but his ability to defend all outfield positions will make him a valuable bench option, and you can never have enough power hitters as pinch-hitting options.

08-21-2024, 10:07 PM	#21
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,575	June 24, 1955: Walt Craddock (1-5, 5.12 ERA, 77.1 IP, 33 K’s, 1.60 WHIP) pitched in game one against Baltimore’s Saul Rogovin (5-4, 4.10 ERA, 105.1 IP, 46 K’s, 1.49 WHIP). We took the lead in the top of the first with a passed ball allowing Finigan to score from third base. Craddock had his strikeout to end the bottom of the second, but a passed ball allowed the runner to safely reach base ... moments later we loaded the bags and an RBI double drove in THREE RUNS, none of them earned! Craddock just can’t catch a break. We got a run back quickly in the top of the third with an RBI single by Hector Lopez with one out. Vic Power hit an RBI single to tie it up, and we retook the lead with an RBI single by Astroth. Rocky Bridges hit a single that drove in another run, and a sac-fly by DeMaestri drove in yet another in what was turning into a nightmare scenario for Rogovin, who was now at 101 pitches. He got the final out, but we went into the bottom of the third leading 6-3. They went to the bullpen in the top of the fourth, and Craddock got us through the fifth with the lead unchanged. Pete Suder pinch hit for him in the top of the sixth, leading off with a single, taking second moments later off another wild pitch. They walked Walker, and Finigan batted Suder around to score another run, giving him his 25th RBI of the season. Art Ditmar came out to protect the four-run lead in the bottom of the sixth, and he pitched around two baserunners to keep it that way. Sonny Dixon came out with two outs and a man on third in the bottom of the seventh, getting Gene Woodling to ground out and get us into the eighth still up by four runs. Dixon then went and hit a solo homer out of left in the top of the eighth, stunning everyone ... he’s been hitting just .125 and that’s his first homer of the year! Tanner added an RBI double which gave us a six-run lead heading into the bottom of the eighth. Baltimore got a run back in the bottom of the inning off a triple by Fred Marsh, but Dixon didn’t give an inch from there and we won this one in blowout fashion, 9-4! Will Craddock overcame a rough start to win this one, improving to 2-5 with a 4.81 ERA ... he allowed just three hits, three walks and struck out a pair, all three of his runs being unearned. Ditmar held on for 1.2 innings with two hits and a walk, and Dixon held down the fort for the remaining 2.1 innings, allowing a hit, a walk and an earned run as his ERA improved to 3.90 through 27.2 innings. More shocking is the fact that we outhit the Orioles 17-6, led by the scaldingly hot Finigan, who hit five times for three runs and an RBI. Chuck Tanner and Joe Astroth each added three hits a run and an RBI as well, and eight total players wound up with hits, including Dixon with his surprise homer as we piled on late. June 25, 1955: Walt Masterson (0-2, 5.14 ERA, 28.0 IP, 17 K’s, 1.57 WHIP) pitched today against Baltimore’s Ray Moore (4-7, 4.07 ERA, 55.1 IP, 33 K’s, 1.63 WHIP). Masterson got into real trouble in the bottom of the second, loading the bases and walking in a run, then allowing Ray Moore to hit a two-run single into left to really open things up. Neither starter was going to go deep into this one, but we started to see real chinks in Moore’s armor in the top of the fourth when he walked Tanner, Lopez and Power in quick succession, loading the bases! Astroth then hit a sac-fly that ALMOST blew over the wall for a grand slam ... instead, Tanner at least did manage to score to get us on the board. Moore then walked Bridges, reloading the bases, and DeMaestri hit a sac-fly into center, driving in another run! Bill Wilson came out to pinch hit for Masterson, but he hit another one into left that should have been a homer but wasn’t ... the wind blew it in, the left fielder made the catch, and Lou Sleater came out to pitch in the bottom of the fourth with the lead 3-2 Orioles. They got a run back, a sac-fly by Moore driving in a run, and with two outs Gene Woodling hit an RBI single to make it a three-run lead again. From there it got ugly quickly ... Triandos hit a three-run blast out of left and just like that we were down by six and fading fast. Art Ditmar came out and got the final strikeout, but we were gonna need a miracle to come back now. They helped us some by keeping Ray Moore out there so he could qualify for the win ... he walked Walker and Finigan quickly, but Tanner hit into a double play, sending Walker to third, and pushing Moore out of the game for Lou Kretlow ... another potential good stroke of luck for us, since he threw 65 pitches yesterday... but we couldn’t get the runner at third to score. In the top of the seventh they kept Kretlow out way too long and we took advantage, Finigan hitting an RBI triple that drove in a pair to cut the lead to four. Tanner walked, and they pulled Kretlow for Jim McDonald. With two outs, Vic Power was up to bat when a wild pitch drove another run in, and we went into the stretch trailing 8-5 but somehow still in this one. Wear ‘em down, that’s our plan, then find a way to win again! Ditmar got us through the seventh without incident, but we were hitless in the eighth, so Ditmar stayed out and was phenomenal, shutting them down completely as we came up one last time with hope still taunting us. With two outs against us, Finigan walked, but Tanner grounded harmlessly out to first as we lost in the end 8-5. Masterson took the loss, falling to 0-3 with a 5.52 ERA ... he allowed three hits, walking four and striking one while allowing three earned runs in his three innings. Sleater didn’t help any, getting two outs but allowing five hits and five earned runs, but Ditmar came out and went 4.1 innings and threw just 46 pitches, allowing two hits and striking out a pair as he improved his ERA to 2.78 through 55 innings. They outhit us 10-3, Finigan leading the way for us with a hit, two walks, a run and two RBIs. Tomorrow’s doubleheader wil have to decide it all ... with the exception of Ditmar, the bulk of our bullpen is fully rested, while Baltimore’s is in shambles ... Kretlow, having thrown 120 pitches in two days, is exhausted, as is Jim McDonald who has thrown 115 over three of the last four nights. That will leave them Erv Palica and Don Johnson, neither of whom is a particularly high leverage option. If we can wear their starters down, I like our chances. June 26, 1955: Alex Kellner (10-6, 2.64 ERA, 119.1 IP, 41 K’s, 1.37 WHIP) started the first game of the day, facing Baltimore’s Duane Pillette (1-8, 6.44 ERA, 79.2 IP, 27 K’s, 1.85 WHIP). Wind is blowing out HARD here in the early afternoon, and I’m told there’s a good chance for rain. So we really need to get a lead early in case of any weather delays. Walker and Finigan led off with back to back singles, and with one out Hector Lopez loaded the bases with a single of his own. Rocky Bridges walked in a run, and just like that we had our lead! Bill Renna batted in two more with a single into left, and DeMaestri hit a three-run homer to clear the bases and extend our lead to 6-0! Even Billy Shantz got in on the hit parade, singling into center to bring his sparking average up to .083 ... we batted around, Walker reaching on an E3 error to push Shantz into scoring position, and Finigan batted in another run with a single. Vic Power finally popped out to center for the final out, but we led 7-0 before Kellner even had to throw! Hector Lopez hit a solo bomb out of right to lead off in the top of the second, Don Johnson already out there pitching from the bullpen. The Orioles did get on the board, Gus Triandos hitting an RBI double in the bottom of the fifth to cut our lead to seven, and then with two outs Gene Woodling hit an RBI single to make it 8-2. Jim Finigan hit a two-run homer in the top of the eighth to extend our lead back to eight, Rocky Bridges hit an RBI double that added on, and we went into the bottom of the eighth leading by nine. Fred Marsh hit into a fielder’s choice but drove in a run for the Orioles in the bottom of the inning, but Kellner was quick to close the door on them from there. With Kellner at 138 pitches, we brought Lou Sleater out to pitch in the bottom of the ninth to finish this one out as an 11-3 victory ... the rain held off, and there’s another game scheduled! Alex Kellner’s been on a roll ... four wins in his last four starts, and he’s 5-1 so far in the month of June! Tonight he went eight innings with 10 hits, three walks and three runs (one earned) as he improved his record to 11-6 with a 2.54 ERA. Sleater then came out and allowed just one hit as he finished the game off, improving his ERA to 9.24 through 12.2 innings. We outhit them 14-11, led by Finigan who hit three times and walked once, scoring two and driving in three ... he’s hitting .295 for the year and seems to have come back from his injury better than ever. Lopez added two hits and a walk with three runs and an RBI, and Rocky Bridges got his average back over .200 with two hits, a walk, a run and two RBIs. Bob Spicer (4-6, 4.29 ERA, 92.1 IP, 20 K’s, 1.47 WHIP) pitched in our final game against the Orioles, facing Jim Wilson (5-6, 3.19 ERA, 104.1 IP, 57 K’s, 1.28 WHIP), who Baltimore desperately needed to see have a quality start. Rain has cleared the area, and all signs point to us being able to get a full game in. Baltimore took the lead in the bottom of the second, a two-out single by Jim Wilson getting them on the board. Chuck Diering then hit an RBI triple to make it a 2-0 lead before Spicer finally got the out we needed. But we tied it up quickly, a two-run blast by Harry Walker getting us back in quickly. We loaded the bases, but weren’t able to get the lead from them, however, and Spicer gave up a two-run homer off Bob Kennedy’s bat ... was this one gonna have to be a shootout? Billy Shantz led off with a base hit in the top of the fourth, beating out an infield squib ... moments later we had the bases loaded again, and Chuck Tanner walked in a run to cut their lead to one. Vic Power popped out to left but the runner on third scored, tying the game with two outs! Rocky Bridges walked the bases loaded and a quickly tiring Jim Wilson walked in Bill Wilson (no relation) to put us in the lead 5-4. We brought Bill Harrington out to pitch in the bottom of the sixth, and with the lead still 5-4 but with runners on first and second and just one out in the bottom of the inning, the Orioles went to the pen to bring out Lou Kretlow who was able to get them out of there with the bases loaded, no one scoring. Harry Walker hit an RBI double that drove in a pair in the top of the ninth, and we got two quick outs in the bottom of the ninth ... the second one, however, leading to Harry Walker making a bad slide as he grabbed the ball. He had to come out, but it doesn’t look to be a long-term injury. They left two runners stranded as Harrington completed the final four innings as we won this one 7-4. Bob Spicer improved to 5-6 with a 4.44 ERA, allowing nine hits and four earned runs with two walks and two strikeouts in his five innings. No one expected Harrington to hold the lead the remainder of the way, but he threw 48 pitches through four innings to pick up the save, allowing just four hits and a pair of walks. That was his first save of the year, and he now has a 3.77 ERA through 14.1 innings. Baltimore actually outhit us 13-11, but Walker dominated them with three hits, a walk, two runs and four batted in. Once we had the lead in the top of the fourth there was no way we were giving it up against their brutalized bullpen. If their GM doesn’t call someone up to give them support he doesn’t deserve to have a job in this league. Against all odds we’ve won 10 of our 14 games thus far on this road trip, and after a day off tomorrow to rest, we’ll play two in Cleveland (35-37) before finishing out the week with three against Detroit (36-34) back in Kansas City ... and we’re really hoping the fans will come out to support, now that we’re showing real potential to be able to get back to .500! At 34-38, we’re only half a game behind Cleveland and three games behind Detroit. Attached Images __________________ Draft League: From the Bottom to the Bigs! -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Daily Double Baseball (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) -- *League Has Openings!* WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

08-22-2024, 02:10 AM	#22
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,575	June 28, 1955: Arnie Portocarrero (3-4, 5.05 ERA, 73.0 IP, 24 K’s, 1.41 WHIP) started this afternoon against Herb Score (6-7, 4.09 ERA, 127.2 IP, 121 K’s, 1.43 WHIP) under clear Cleveland skies. We set the tone when, with the count full, Harry Walker hit a solo homer out of left to give him his third of the year! Score then loaded the bases for us, and DeMaestri hit one through the gap to drive in a pair with a single. This road trip has given us the confidence to trust that we’re the most patient team in the league, and we just have to keep sticking to the plan. Cleveland got on the board in the bottom of the third, Larry Doby hitting an RBI single, but we got it back with an RBI single by Hector Lopez in the top of the fourth. Portocarrero got into a real heater of a jam in the bottom of the sixth, loading the bases without an out, but he got three in a row to stifle the Guardians and hold on to our lead. Tom Gorman came out to pitch in the bottom of the seventh, and with two outs Larry Doby hit a solo homer out of right ... so far he’s their only player who has been able to score off us. But Hector Lopez got us the run back with an RBI single in the top of the eighth. Gorman got us through the bottom of the eighth just fine, and Bobby Shantz came out to close it, pitching around a hit by Al Smith as we held tough to win 5-2. Portocarrero has been solid since coming back up from AAA ... he’s now 4-4 with a 4.78 ERA, allowing eight hits with two walks and a strikeout, leading to one earned run through six innings. He’s 3-0 in the six games since coming back up, and his ERA has improved from a low of 6.26. Gorman picked up his sixth hold of the year, and Shantz saved his 18th game, improving his ERA to 2.20 through 45 innings over 30 appearances. Cleveland, as has been a regular thing, outhit us 11-8, but they were never really in the game. Hector Lopez hit three times and walked once, scoring a run and batting in two, and Walker had a hit (his homer), a pair of walks and scored twice with an RBI. The win moves us up into a tie for fourth place with the Guardians, though we remain 17 games out of the pennant race (with the Yankees well in the lead at 52-21). Our farm system is doing well too -- our AAA Columbus Jets are now 37-36 and five games back in fifth place in the International League, while our single-A Savannah A’s are 44-32 and five games back in third place in the South Atlantic League. The Welsh / Marion Miners in the Appalachian League are 48-35, tied for first in the standings, and the Lancaster Red Roses are 55-21 in the Piedmont League, 10 games back but in second place. Considering our farm system is ranked dead last in the majors based purely off of prospect rankings, I feel we’re working to build a solid system from the ground up. June 29, 1955: Walt Craddock (2-5, 4.81 ERA, 82.1 IP, 35 K’s, 1.58 WHIP) pitched our second of two games in Cleveland, facing Early Wynn (8-6, 3.10 ERA, 116.0 IP, 59 K’s, 1.29 WHIP). This one turned into a real pitcher’s duel early, nobody getting a real foothold ... still knotted up at zero, we brought Art Ditmar out to pitch in the bottom of the sixth, and he kept us in the hunt with three quick outs. In the top of the seventh with one out, Vic Power reached first on an E5 error, and Astroth singled into left, driving him into scoring position, but we weren’t able to get them around to score. Sonny Dixon came in with two outs and a man on first in the bottom of the inning, getting Dave Philley to ground out to first to keep the game scoreless. Wynn was nearly unstoppable, getting us out quickly in the top of the ninth to keep it scoreless, having thrown 160 pitches to do it. But we still had a chance to keep the game alive, and Dixon did what we needed him to do -- he pitched around runners on first and second to get the three outs we needed, and this 0-0 ballgame went into extra innings as the Guardians finally went to the pen. In the top of the 10th, Joe Astroth led off with a single, and with two outs Bill Wight walked Sonny Dixon to put Astroth in scoring position with the top of our lineup coming up! Harry Walker walked the bases loaded, but with the count full against him Finigan popped out harmlessly to right. Bobby Shantz came out to pitch in the bottom of the inning, and he pitched around two baserunners to stump the Guardians yet again! With two outs in the top of the 11th, an E2 error allowed Astroth to take second and pushed Vic Power over to third, and finally we got something going ... Rocky Bridges hit a hard line drive into right field, and just like that we held a two-run lead! Shantz stayed out and got the first out, but we brought Tom Gorman out with a runner on first, getting the two quick outs we needed to win this one 2-0 in 11 innings! Walt Craddock, Art Ditmar and Sonny Dixon combined for nine innings pitched with five hits, three walks and nine strikeouts between them. But it wasn’t enough. It took Bobby Shantz’s 1.1 innings with two hits and three strikeouts, which got him the win (he’s now 5-2 with a 2.14 ERA), and then Tom Gorman’s critical pair of 11th inning outs (he’s now got two saves with a 4.00 ERA through 36 innings) to get us the win. Cleveland outhit us 7-4, but they walked us six times which made the difference. Bridges led the way with his hit and two RBIs, while Astroth hit twice for a run and Vic Power had a hit and a run as well. We’re off tomorrow and then we make our triumphant return to Kansas City, where I’m hoping we can draw a good crowd against Detroit ... we’re now in fourth place, a game up on Cleveland and 1.5 games up on Boston, and we’re only a game and a half back of the 37-36 Tigers. We finished the month of June with a 17-14 record, going 12-4 on the road trip that was supposed to break us. July 1, 1955: Just over 9,100 fans showed up under clear skies to watch Walt Masterson (0-3, 5.52 ERA, 31.0 IP, 18 K’s, 1.65 WHIP) pitch against Detroit’s Steve Gromek (7-2, 4.16 ERA, 97.1 IP, 39 K’s, 1.40 WHIP). Detroit got on the board quickly, an RBI single by Ray Boone batting lead-off man Harvey Kuenn in from third in the top of the first. Red Wilson hit an RBI double to add a run on in the top of the second, but Hector Lopez hit a three-run powerbomb out of center to put us up 3-2 in the bottom of the third! Unfortunately for Masterson, he loaded the bases in the top of the fourth and was only able to get two outs before a Jim Delsing single batted them back into the lead with a pair of runs. Al Ditmar came in with runners on first and second, getting the final out to send us into the bottom of the inning trailing 4-3. Detroit added a run in the top of the sixth, and we brought Lou Sleater out to pitch in the top of the seventh. Mel Hoderlein hit a solo blast out of left to make it 6-3, and Ray Boone tripled in the top of the seventh, though he injured himself on the slide into third -- no word as to how severe, but he was pulled for a pinch-runner who scored moments later off a sac-fly to make it a four-run lead. But we didn’t quit ... in the bottom of the eighth we loaded the bases with just one out, scoring a run when pinch-hitter Bill Renna hit into a fielder’s choice. Sonny Dixon got us through the top of the ninth with still a sliver of a chance, and we figured we’d give their pitchers a run for their money ... why not? Nothing to lose! Jim Finigan walked to lead off the bottom of the ninth, advancing to second off a groundout by Tanner. But this time there was no miracle, and we lost 7-4, having been thoroughly dominated by the Tigers. Masterson fell to 0-4 with a 5.97 ERA, allowing eight hits and four earned runs with four walks and four strikeouts in just 3.2 innings. The Tigers outhit us 14-4 and though we did walk nine times, we didn’t do anything with the baserunners we got. We can’t win every game off pure hustle, but any games we do win will depend on it. Hector Lopez hustled his ass off, hitting twice for a run and three RBIs, thanks to his 10th homer this year. But that was the bulk of our spark all in one play. The Tigers’ Ray Boone has knee tendinitis and is day to day for at least the next three weeks, though I have no way to know if they’ll risk playing him or choose to put him on the IL. We’ve put Masterson on waivers, calling Johnny Gray back up from AAA -- Gray has gone 5-1 with a 3.73 ERA through 82 innings with the Columbus Jets, and though he struggled in four early starts for us at this level, I think the 28-year-old is ready for another chance. July 2, 1955: Alex Kellner (11-6, 2.54 ERA, 127.1 IP, 41 K’s, 1.38 WHIP) pitched against Jim Bunning (2-5, 5.00 ERA, 86.1 IP, 58 K’s, 1.46 WHIP) in the second of three games against Detroit. They got a quick early lead again, when Al Kaline hit an RBI single with one out in the top of the first. Kellner held them back as best he could, but we continued to lack any ability to score, and Detroit broke through with an RBI single by Ray Boone in the top of the sixth to add a run, giving them a 2-0 lead. A Bill Tuttle sac-fly made it a three-run lead for the Tigers as we went into the bottom of the sixth. Bill Tuttle made a great catch for our first out in the bottom of the inning, but he started screaming ... they pulled him from the game and it looks like a thumb ligament tear that will cost him at least the month of July ... not that it mattered for our bats, which stayed silent. Art Ditmar came out to pitch in the top of the seventh, immediately giving up a solo homer to their pitcher, Bunning, to make it a 4-0 lead, and his night got worse ... three more hits, capped with a three-run homer by Al Kaline, and, trailing now by seven we brought in Lou Sleater to try and get a single goddamned out -- he got three, but we went into the stretch trailing 7-0. Astroth led off with a triple, a sac-fly by Bridges at least getting us on the board. Then they brought Ben Flowers out of the pen to replace Bunning, and all bets were suddenly off ... he walked Walker, Finigan and Tanner in quick succession, a run scoring when Hector Lopez hit into a fielder’s choice. Vic Power reached on an E5 fielding error that allowed another run in to score, and a passed ball and ANOTHER error, this one E3, allowed Astroth to load the bases! But Rocky Bridges hit into a 4-6 double play to end the inning with us still down by four. Sonny Dixon came out to pitch in the top of the ninth and got the outs we needed, and DeMaestri led off with a single in the bottom of the inning, and Bill Renna, pinch-hitting for Dixon, walked him into scoring position. A Finigan single with one out loaded the bases for the second inning in a row, but yet again we couldn’t buy a hit ... Hector Lopez popped weakly to right and we lost this one 7-3 despite having had several good chances to win it. Kellner fell to 11-7 with a 2.63 ERA, allowing just five hits with three walks and two strikeouts to go with his three earned runs through six innings. Unfortunately, Ditmar allowed four earned runs off four hits without getting a single out ... without that disaster in the seventh, we wound have been in a stronger position for sure. But Detroit out hit us 10-7 ... our team batting average is so consistently low, everyone knows how to beat us, and yet we still had chances. Vic Power led the day, hitting twice with an RBI, while Walker hit once, walked twice and scored a run. July 3, 1955: We’re tied for fourth now with Cleveland, and though Detroit has now pulled significantly away, we could still use this win to rebuild some momentum as we head toward the All Star break. Bob Spicer (5-6, 4.44 ERA, 97.1 IP, 22 K’s, 1.51 WHIP) pitched against Ned Garver (4-1, 4.19 ERA, 68.2 IP, 25 K’s, 1.31 WHIP). But his night did not start smoothly ... three quick hits off 18 pitches and just like that the bags were loaded. With a doubleheader tomorrow he’s gotta tough it out. Ray Boone hit into a fielder’s choice and drove in a run, but Spicer held his own and we came up to bat trailing just by the one run. Vic Power woke everyone up in the bottom of the inning, with a three-run blast out of right off two outs, shooting us into the lead with his seventh homer of the year! Joe Astroth hit an RBI single in the bottom of the third that drove in two more runs, and Bridges batted in another as the floodgates opened! We led 6-1 heading into the top of the fourth, and Finigan hit a solo homer, his seventh of the year, to make it a six run lead in the bottom of the inning. Finigan hit another homer, this one a two-run blast out of right, in the bottom of the eighth, extending our lead to eight runs with his second of the game. Spicer stayed out to complete the game, and we won easily 9-1! Bob Spicer improved to 6-6 with a 4.15 ERA, allowing just four hits in his complete game victory! He walked three, struck out three and allowed just the single earned run. We outhit the Tigers today 11-4, led by Finigan, with two homers for three RBIs, and by Vic Power, who hit three times (including a homer) for two runs and three RBIs. The Chicago White Sox (48-28, 7.5 GB) will come to town tomorrow for a doubleheader against our 37-40 Athletics. We’ll then have a three-game set against Cleveland (36-41) before heading to Detroit for four games against the Tigers before the All Star break. __________________ Draft League: From the Bottom to the Bigs! -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Daily Double Baseball (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) -- *League Has Openings!* WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

08-22-2024, 07:50 AM	#23
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,575	July 4, 1955: Happy Independence Day, America! Let’s play a pair against the White Sox! Arnie Portocarrero (4-4, 4.78 ERA, 79.0 IP, 25 K’s, 1.43 WHIP) pitched in game one against Virgil Trucks (9-3, 2.45 ERA, 106.1 IP, 56 K’s, 1.15 WHIP). Chicago took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first with a groundout by Minnie Minoso, but we got the run back in the bottom of the second off a squeeze play, Hector Lopez scoring the tying run with Vic Power advancing to second. But Portocarrero loaded the bases in the top of the third, a run scoring off a single by George Kell, and he hit Sherm Lollar on the shoulder to drive in a third run. That seemed to open the floodgates, as we struggled to get that final out, sending us into the bottom of the third trailing 5-1. They added on a run in the top of the fifth, and Lou Sleater came out to pitch in the top of the sixth. The hits kept coming ... for Chicago, with Sherm Lollar hitting an RBI single that made it 7-1 Sox heading into the stretch. Johnny Groth batted in another in the top of the eighth, with Sonny Dixon coming in to pitch with one out and a man on first. They added another run before we were able to shut them down, and it was clear they’re playing well out of our league at this point in the season. Lollar hit a solo homer in the ninth, and the White Sox crushed us in the end by a 10-1 margin. Portocarrero fell to 4-6 with a 5.14 ERA, allowing seven hits and six earned runs with two walks and four strikeouts in his five innings. We were outhit 13-6, completely wasting a four-hit game for Vic Power, who is now hitting .302 with 41 RBIs. Walt Craddock (2-5, 4.53 ERA, 87.1 IP, 38 K’s, 1.53 WHIP) pitched against Billy Pierce (8-8, 2.86 ERA, 138.2 IP, 82 K’s, 1.28 WHIP) in game two of the afternoon, in front of the 7,000 or so fans who stuck around for the food and fireworks. In the bottom of the sixth, after a long stalemate, Vic Power hit a solo homer over the center field wall to make it a 1-0 lead for our Athletics! Craddock, without any further run support, stayed out and protected his own lead until, with two outs in the top of the ninth, pinch-hitter Bob Nieman hit a solo shot of his own out of center to tie it up. Craddock got us out of the inning, but he deserved for the team to step the hell up to back him. Hector Lopez took a leadoff walk, but nobody could get him to move from there and we went into extra innings. Art Ditmar came out to pitch in the top of the 10th, and with runners on second and third without an out, we had to pull him for Bobby Shantz, who got three quick outs to frustrate the White Sox as we came up hoping to get this one to a quick end. With two outs, Harry Walker took first on balls, and Finigan said to hell with it and slammed a shot into deep center ... Walker walked it off, winning this one for us 2-1! Shantz wound up with the win, throwing nine pitches for three quick outs under extreme pressure -- he improved to 6-2 with a 2.09 ERA. Craddock, who had nine innings with just five hits, four walks, four strikeouts and the one earned run, was grateful to come out of it and still chaclk the game up as a win. Chicago outhit us 6-4, but once again our patience at the plate allowed us to get runs in when we needed them. Finigan had a pair of hits and an RBI, and Vic Power’s eighth homer of the year kept his average over .300. July 5, 1955: Johnny Gray (0-2, 8.44 ERA, 16.0 IP, 5 K’s, 2.25 WHIP) pitched the first of three games against the Guardians here in Kansas City, facing off against Don Mossi (9-3, 2.24 ERA, 132.1 IP, 62 K’s, 1.16 WHIP). Cleveland scored first with a two-run homer by Al Rosen in the top of the second, and Ralph Kiner hit a two-run blast of his own in the top of the third to make it 4-0 Guardians. Gray fell apart completely in the top of the fourth, allowing two more runs to score with the bases loaded, and with two outs and the bags still loaded we brought Ditmar out to salvage what was left of this game. One run was walked in, and then we finally, mercifully, got the out to get into the bottom of the fourth trailing 7-0. Bill Harrington came out to pitch in the top of the sixth, but the game from there was a comedy of errors. Cleveland picked up two more runs in the sixth, and we FINALLY got on the board in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single by DeMaestri .... at which point we suddenly woke up! With the bases loaded, pinch-hitter Bill Wilson stunned everyone with a grand slam homer out of right field, his eighth homer of the year but his first as a pinch-hittter, and we went into the top of the seventh just trailing 9-5. Sonny Dixon came out to pitch, but with two outs Larry Doby hit an RBI triple that drove in two more runs, giving him 40 RBIs on the year and us an 11-5 deficit. A wild pitch scored a 12th run for the Guardians, and we went into the stretch trailing again by seven runs. Tom Gorman came out to pitch in the top of the eighth, and he got us through without any further damage, but we were completely out of gas and the Guardians whipped us 12-5. Gray took the loss, falling to 0-3 with a 10.07 ERA. He’s looking like strict bullpen material, giving up seven earned runs off six hits, with six walks and three strikeouts in 3.2 innings.They only outhit us 12-11, which makes the beatdown all the more frustrating. Bridges hit three times with a run scored, while DeMaestri added two hits, a walk, a run and and RBI. Vic Power hit twice as well, scoring a run and pushing his average up to .305 for the season. July 6, 1955: Alex Kellner (11-7, 2.63 ERA, 133.1 IP, 43 K’s, 1.38 WHIP) pitched against Herb Score (6-9, 4.04 ERA, 142.2 IP, 138 K’s, 1.44 WHIP) in this afternoon’s game against Cleveland. We continue to struggle against the longball in our home ball park, with Cleveland quickly scoring thanks to a solo blast by Bobby Avila in the top of the first. Facing a 3-1 count with one out in the bottom of the third, Vic Power swung hard, getting us the run back with a shot into the left field corner, an RBI double that put two in scoring position ... but we couldn’t get the go-ahead run across, and we were punished again in the top of the fourth, this time by a two-run homer by Vic Wertz to put Cleveland back up 3-1. Hector Lopez hit a line drive into right in the bottom of the fifth to load the bases, no outs, and they walked Vic Power to put us within a run, but DeMaestri hit into a double play to stop the rally before it started. In the bottom of the sixth, Bill Wilson walked and Alex Kellner successfully bunted for a hit, driving him over to second to bring up the top of our lineup without an out. Rocky Bridges hit a blistering drive down the left field line that tied us up with a double, and they walked Finigan to load the bases. Hector Lopez hit a sac-fly to drive in the go-ahead run with our second out, and thanks to an E8 throwing error, a Vic Power single into center drove in another! They intentionally walked Astroth, and DeMaestri made himself a hometown hero with a grand salami -- just like that we’re up 9-3 heading into the seventh inning! Lou Sleater came out to pitch with one out and a runner on second in the top of the seventh, walking a batter but getting the outs we needed to maintain our advantage. He then led off with a solo homer out of left in the bottom of the inning, Chuck Tanner added a two-run blast out of right, and we led by nine heading into the eighth! Sonny Dixon came out with no outs, men on the corners, giving up two of Sleater’s runs but getting out of the inning still leading by seven, and he got three quick outs in the ninth as we won this one 12-5! With our teams trading blowout wins, it’s all going to come down to tomorrow’s rubber match. Alex Kellner improved to 12-7 with a 2.64 ERA, allowing just five hits, a walk, two strikeouts and three runs (two earned) in 6.1 innings. Sleater and Dixon held them off from there, and we actually outhit them 9-7! We were led by Vic Power with two hits, a run and three RBIs, and by DeMaestri, who surprised everybody with the massive grand slam that put us ahead for good. We’ve made a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals at the bequest of our owner, who was insistent that we bring in a “hometown player” to help boost our team. We sent the Cardinals 24-year-old minor league starter Carl Willey, 23-year-old minor league closer Fred Bourbeau and 25-year-old starter Ray Herbert, who got shellacked in the majors and then continued to struggle at the AAA level. In return, we’ve picked up Liberty, Missouri native Joe Frazier, a 32-year-old right fielder who has hit .205 with four doubles and three homers off the bench for St. Louis. He’s an above average fielder in both left and right, and can reasonably defend center as well. For the moment we’re going to send Lou Sleater (0-1, 9.15 ERA) back down to the minors to make room for him. July 7, 1955: Art Ditmar (4-3, 3.28 ERA, 60.1 IP, 24 K’s, 1.49 WHIP) pitched just his second start of the season, facing off against Cleveland’s Mike Garcia (7-5, 2.50 ERA, 126.0 IP, 52 K’s, 1.37 WHIP). Cleveland took a 1-0 lead off a groundout for their second out by Jim Hegan that drove in a runner from third in the top of the second. They added on with an RBI double by Mike Garcia in the top of the fourth, the pitcher helping his team to a 2-0 lead. But Dick Kryhoski hit a three-run blast out of right in the bottom of the fourth to put us into the lead off just our second hit of the day. Ditmar got through the top of the fifth without incident, and with one out and a man on first in the top of the sixth we brought out Sonny Dixon to protect the one run lead. He did it with a double play off just his second pitch, and with Garcia staying out to pitch in the bottom of the inning, we were ready to knock him off the mound, hard. Vic Power reached on error, and Astroth walked him into scoring position. With two outs, Sonny Dixon walked the bases loaded and that was it for Garcia -- they pulled him for Bill Wight, who immediately walked in a run via Harry Walker! Jim Finigan popped out to left, but we held a 4-2 lead going into the top of the seventh. Dixon stayed out long enough for us to warm up his replacement, allowing Jim Hegan to hit a single into right -- with a man on and no outs, Tom Gorman came out to pitch. With the bases loaded, Dale Mitchell pinch hit and hit a sac-fly into center, driving in a run for the Guardians. Larry Doby did the same, but this time we hit the cutoff man and the runners held. But Gorman’s luck did not ... Ralph Kiner hit a three-run homer to clear the bases and put Cleveland back up 6-4 heading into the stretch. In the bottom of the seventh, Vic Power batted in a run with a single, cutting their lead back to one, and Bobby Shantz came out to pitch in the top of the eighth, getting three outs off 10 pitches to keep us in the hunt, doing the same in the top of the ninth. But this time there wasn’t enough power behind our bats and we fell just short, losing this one 6-5. Gorman wound up losing the game after his third blown save, falling to 4-3 with a 4.38 ERA, allowing four hits and three earned runs. It’s a shame, because Ditmar gave us 5.1 great innings, throwing 91 pitches and allowing just four hits, walking three, striking out one and giving up just two runs (one earned). But Cleveland outhit us 10-4, so it’s amazing we were even still in this one at all once they took the lead back. Kryhoski led the way with his three-run homer, while Power picked up two hits, two runs and an RBI. He’s now hitting .311/.386/.465 with seven doubles and eight homers, good for 2.3 WAR through 61 games. All that remains between us and the All Star break is a four-game stretch including a Sunday doubleheader against the Detroit Tigers on the road. We’re 39-43 heading into the series against the 41-39 Tigers, who lead us by three games, while we hold a half game lead on the Boston Red Sox and a full game lead over the Guardians. July 8, 1955: Walt Craddock (2-5, 4.20 ERA, 96.1 IP, 42 K’s, 1.48 WHIP) pitched in game one against the Tigers, facing Ned Garver (4-2, 4.79 ERA, 71.1 IP, 26 K’s, 1.37 WHIP). The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first thanks to an unearned run ... Jim Delsing reached first on an E4 error, allowing Ferris Fain to score, but we got the third out to leave loaded bases. He wasn’t as lucky the second time he loaded the bases ... Red Wilson walked in a run to make it a two-run Tiger lead, and a Ned Garver single into center left drove in two more. That third out remained elusive; Harvey Kuenn hit an RBI single, and by the time we got that out we were in a 5-0 hole heading into the top of the fourth. Craddock made stuff happen in the top of the fifth, taking first on a fielder’s choice, and with two outs managing to steal both second AND third, but Harry Walker couldn’t bat him home. Detroit added a run in the bottom of the sixth, and Sonny Dixon came out to pitch with two outs and a man on first, giving up a double to Fred Hatfield that drove in another run before we finally got out of the inning. A Finigan triple and a sac-fly by DeMaestri finally got us on the board -- there would be no shutout! But the Tigers got the run back in the bottom of the seventh and we were completely overmatched. Bill Harrington came out to pitch in the bottom of the eighth, loading the bases and this one became a bloodbath ... he couldn’t even get a single out! Six runs scored, no outs, and a seventh scored as Jim Delsing hit into a double play. Finally he got the last out after a 46-pitch inning, and they absolutely DESTROYED us by a 15-1 margin. Craddock gave us 5.2 innings with eight hits, six walks, a strikeout and six earned runs. They outhit us 17-3. We only had seven baserunners the entire game, and only Finigan (two hits, a walk and a run) came out looking like he gave a damn. Enough said, move on to the next one. July 9, 1955: Arnie Portocarrero (4-5, 5.14 ERA, 84.0 IP, 29 K’s, 1.45 WHIP) pitched in this afternoon’s game against the Tigers, facing Billy Hoeft (7-7, 3.54 ERA, 122.0 IP, 72 K’s, 1.30 WHIP). We loaded the bases in the top of the fourth as Rocky Bridges walked, Hector Lopez reached via an E6 error, and then Billy Shantz walked ... two outs, Bill Wilson coming to the plate, and though we’d placed four baserunners, Hoeft had yet to surrender a single run. Wilson took the count full and then took his base on balls, walking in a run to put us up 1-0 without a hit! Pete Suder hit into a fielder’s choice and they botched the throw to second ... a second unearned run scored, and the bases stayed loaded! Portocarrero popped out to end the inning, but we went into the bottom of the fourth leading 2-0 as all the Tigers fans looked absolutely stunned. Jim Delsing hit an RBI single to put Detroit on the board in the bottom of the fourth, and they tied it up when WE botched a fielder’s choice at second ... turnabout is fair play, but we didn’t give them the lead. We busted up Hoeft’s “no hitter” with a single by Joe Frazier to push Lopez into scoring position, and they were quick to give him the hook, bringing out Paul Foytack with the score still tied 2-2, no outs in the top of the sixth. He got the three outs they needed to keep it knotted up, and with two outs and men on first and second in the bottom of the inning, Tom Gorman came out and got us into the top of the seventh still fighting hard and tied up at two runs each. He walked to lead off in the seventh, and Harry Walker hit a two-run blast out of left to put us back in the lead, up by a pair! Detroit got a run back with a lead-off homer by pinch-hitter Wayne Belardi in the bottom of the seventh, but Gorman got three quick outs to maintain our slim lead. Billy Shantz took a walk to start the top of the eighth, and Bill Wilson walked him into scoring position as we hunted for some insurance. With one out, Gorman sac-bunted them both into position, and Harry Walker got a hit into left, coming out of it with a two-run double! Bridges doubled to drive in another run, and we went into the bottom of the eighth leading by four runs, but a two-run blast out of left by Fred Hatfield kept the Tigers ready to pounce ... with Shantz warming in the pen, Gorman got Frank House to pop out to center, and pinch-hitter Jack Phillips struck out swinging to keep our lead at two heading into the ninth. With one out, Billy Shantz drew his third walk of the game, Bill Wilson following with another of his own to give us a runner in scoring position, but we weren’t able to get any additional runs to score. Bobby Shantz came out to pitch in the bottom of the inning, getting us out of there with a 4-6-3 double play as we beat Detroit 7-5. With the doubleheader tomorrow, anything’s possible! Portocarrero had a great night, 5.2 innings with four hits, four walks, three strikeouts and two runs (one earned), but Gorman was the one to hold on for the win ... 2.1 innings with just three hits, a walk, a strikeout and three earned runs improved his record to 5-3 with a 4.79 ERA. Shantz then came out for his 19th save, walking one batter as he brought his ERA down to 1.97 through 50.1 innings. Detroit outhit us 7-5, but their four pitchers combined for 11 walks while we only handed out six free passes. Harry Walker led off with two hits, two runs and four RBIs, while Billy Shantz and Bill Wilson combined for six walks, two runs and an RBI. *Bobby Shantz is officially an All Star!* Through his first 34 appearances of the season he’s put up some gaudy stats ... a 6-2 record, 19 saves and a 1.97 ERA, with 25 strikeouts against 13 walks, giving him a 1.31 WHIP and 1.4 WAR. In other news, we’ve placed a claim on reliever Al “Two Gun” Gettel, of the St. Louis Cardinals ... the 37-year-old has a 3-0 record and a 3.30 ERA through 30 innings of work, and would be a solid addition to our bullpen for the season’s backstretch. He still has one day left on waivers, but if all goes well we should get him on Monday as we head into the break to regroup. July 10, 1955: One last doubleheader before we take some much needed time to reset for the season’s second half. Alex Kellner (12-7, 2.64 ERA, 139.2 IP, 45 K’s, 1.36 WHIP) pitched the first game, facing Detroit’s Frank “Mule” Lary (8-5, 3.73 ERA, 132.2 IP, 68 K’s, 1.41 WHIP). Vic Power hit a two-out triple in the top of the first, and Hector Lopez grounded one to the shortstop who didn’t have time to throw, allowing the run to score! Jim Finigan walked Lopez into scoring position, but Astroth grounded out to first, sending us into the bottom half of the inning leading 1-0, Lary already having thrown 40 pitches. Kellner got two quick outs, but a run scored off a sac-fly by Al Kaline to tie things up. Detroit took the lead in the bottom of the second, Hatfield tripling and then coming around to score off a sac-fly by Frank House. Lary was wild all night, but had incredible luck because of the great fielding behind him -- meanwhile, Kellner had to keep pitching on a razor’s edge despite having pitched with good control, because he has absolutely putrid run support. But he got us into the sixth still within the one run, and the Tigers kept Levy out there on 125 pitches to start the top of the sixth. Finigan took advantage, walking on four pitches ... but the ump called him out for leading, a completely bulls--- call that only led to Astroth taking the same base on balls himself. Bridges walked him into scoring position as the home crowd grew restless, and the manager pulled the pitcher for Bob Miller out of the pen. Alex Kellner damned near bought us some runs himself on two outs, but his flyball to right was just inches inside the park and they made the grab. Another HUGE missed opportunity. Kellner pitched around a triple by Jim Delsing to get out of the bottom of the sixth still trailing 2-1. Finally, in the top of the seventh, Hector Lopez hit an RBI single that drove in the tying run, and the go-ahead scored off a wild pitch! Finigan drove in another with an RBI double, giving us a sudden 4-2 lead going into the seventh inning stretch. Kellner stayed out to start the bottom of the seventh but got sloppy, loading the bases without an out. Art Ditmar came out for the high leverage situation, and though a runner did get in via a walk, Ray Boone hit into a 6-2-3 double play to keep our lead at 4-3 as we came up in the top of the eighth. Harry Walker hit into a double play in the top of the eighth that drove DeMaestri over to third with a chance to buy some insurance. Chuck Tanner walked to put runners on the corners, and Vic Power, on a full count, hit a blistering drive to third ... the throw was off, runner scored from third, and Power wound up getting second thanks to the E5! Bill Harrington came out to pitch in the bottom of the inning, up by two runs, getting two more outs in the bottom of the ninth but with a double by Kaline putting runners on the corners. Bobby Shantz came out and, after glancing at the Tigers’ manager standing in the dugout, struck Ray Boone out swinging. We’d won this one 5-3 and took a two-to-one lead in the series! Alex Kellner improved to 13-7 with a 2.72 ERA, allowing 10 hits with a walk and a strikeout, with three earned runs in his six innings. Ditmar picked up his second hold, Harrington got his third, and Shantz came through with the clutch strikeout to earn his 20th save of the season. Detroit, as has been their wont, outhit us 12-7, but we kept our eyes on the win and pulled it out of the fire. Hector Lopez hit twice and walked once, scoring a run and driving in two, while Vic Power hit once and scored twice on the ground. Bob Spicer (6-6, 4.15 ERA, 106.1 IP, 25 K’s, 1.45 WHIP) started the second half of the doubleheader, facing off against Jim Bunning (3-5, 4.40 ERA, 100.1 IP, 69 K’s, 1.45 WHIP). Detroit drew first blood in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI double by Fred Hatfield, but Spicer held his own, and this duel suddenly flipped in our favor when, on two outs in the top of the eighth, Hector Lopez hit a two-run blast out of left to put us up 2-1! Spicer stayed out and got us through the bottom of the eighth, but we weren’t able to add any insurance. Bobby Shantz came out in the bottom of the inning with Shantz wearing down at 115 pitches, getting two quick outs before Bubba Phillips singled, setting up pinch-hitter Jack Phillips, who popped it out in the infield to win this for us 2-1 ... absolutely incredible! Shantz saved both ends of the doubleheader, and we’ll go into the All Star break just two games under .500. Bob Spicer may be a rookie, but don’t tell HIM that ... he came out tonight and pitched like a veteran, allowing seven hits with two walks and just one earned run as he improved to 7-6 with a 3.94 ERA. And though he was tired, having thrown 15 pitches yesterday while also saving the first game in this doubleheader, Shantz came out and threw 20 more pitches, allowing a hit but saving his 21st game of the year to put his ERA at 1.92. He’s pitched 51.2 innings in 36 appearances, but he’s earned a positive decision in 27 of those games so he’s clearly been our most valuable player. Detroit again outhit us 8-5 and we still outlasted them, led by Lopez who hit once for a run and two RBIs for our entire offensive output. Our waiver claim was executed successfully, and we’ve moved Johnny Gray back down to AAA to make room for Gettel to join the 25-man roster. Walt Masterson has refused to be demoted to AAA, so we’ve released the 35-year-old at a cost of $1,490 against our budget. Gettel will move into a stopper role for us out of the pen, and for now -- unless I can find a way to convince our skinflint owner to help us find a better permanent option, Art Ditmar will step in as our permanent fifth starter for the forseeable future. We’ll return to action on Thursday the 14th of July after a well-earned break, for a 11-day stretch of home games: two against Baltimore (34-52), three against Washington (31-56), three against Boston (40-47) and then four against the Yankees (60-24) including a Sunday doubleheader on July 24. We’ll then finish the month with three on the road at Washington and four against the Yankees in New York including another Sunday doubleheader on the 31st. With 11 of those 19 games against teams with worse records than we have, we have a real chance to come out of the break and do some real damage! Attached Images __________________ Draft League: From the Bottom to the Bigs! -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Daily Double Baseball (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) -- *League Has Openings!* WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

08-22-2024, 03:32 PM	#24
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,575	July 12, 1955: Nearly 80,000 fans showed up to watch the NL vs. AL All Star game, which took place in Cleveland! The AL started Cleveland’s Don “The Sphinx” Mossi (10-3, 2.35 ERA, 145.2 IP, 70 K’s, 1.19 WHIP) against the Giants’ Johnny Antonelli (9-7, 3.57 ERA, 156.1 IP, 79 K’s, 1.30 WHIP). Jackie Robinson started things off with a bang, a lead-off homer for the NL squad putting them up 1-0 as the fans went wild. Bobby Avila hit a two-run blast out of center to put the AL team up 2-1 in the bottom of the third, so Hank Aaron answered with a dinger of his own in the top of the fifth, tying the score 2-2! Gil Hodges hit a solo homer out of left just minutes later to make it a 3-2 lead for the NL squad, and the fans were getting their money’s worth. Randy Jackson hit an RBI single that drove in two more as the NL team started to run away with this one, but Jim Rivera made the defensive play of the game for the AL, stealing a potential grand slam from Duke Snyder, climbing for a catch at the wall in right so we’d still have a chance. Jim Finigan, a last minute addition to the team for the AL, pinch-hit in the bottom of the fifth but didn’t get on base. Bobby Shantz came out to pitch in the top of the seventh, pitching around a single by Randy Jackson to keep the NL to a 5-2 lead heading into the stretch. The NL made it official in the top of the eighth with a grand slam by Frank Thomas ... or so they thought, since we got back in with a grand slam of our own (thanks, Al Kaline!) to cut their lead back to three runs in the bottom of the eighth. Al Rosen hit a solo homer out of left to cut the NL’s lead to two. The NL got another homer off two outs in the top of the ninth, Gil Hodges extending their lead to 10-7, and that’s where this home run derby ended, with more bragging rights for the National League. Gil Hodges was named All Star MVP, hitting twice and walking twice for three runs and two RBIs, with Frank Thomas and Al Kaline, who each hit grand slams, were also exceptional. Boston’s Jackie Jenson hit three times for the AL side, the most of any player on either team. The true MVP was the wind, blowing out to right at 12 miles per hour, which turned this into a fan’s dream. Attached Images __________________ Draft League: From the Bottom to the Bigs! -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Daily Double Baseball (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) -- *League Has Openings!* WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

08-22-2024, 09:21 PM	#25
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,575	July 14, 1955: With our entire team fully rested and ready to go challenge in the back half of the season, Alex Kellner (13-7, 2.72 ERA, 145.2 IP, 46 K’s, 1.38 WHIP) pitched against Baltimore’s ace Bob Kuzava (6-3, 4.20 ERA, 98.2 IP, 49 K’s, 1.68 WHIP). Baltimore took the lead with an RBI single by Fred Marsh in the top of the second, a second run scoring off an RBI single by Gus Triandos as we missed the cutoff man with two outs. But DeMaestri walked the bases loaded for us in the bottom of the inning, and Kellner laid down a perfect squeeze bunt to drive a run in while keeping them loaded on one out! Unfortunately, Walker grounded into a double play to end the inning, but we were right there in it. Baltimore got a run back in the top of the fifth thanks to an RBI double by Hal Smith, and another scored off a wild pitch, Kellner starting to fall apart as we tried to get the third out. We came to the plate in the bottom of the inning trailing 5-1, but their pitcher was tiring too -- he walked Walker, Tanner and Power to load the bases, and they went to the pen, bringing out Lou Kretlow who walked Lopez to drive in a run! Astroth hit a sac-fly to center that drove in a third run, and we went into the top of the sixth still trailing by a pair. Al Gettel, acquired earlier this week off waivers, came out to pitch in the top of the sixth, getting three quick outs off nine pitches, and he handled the seventh inning as well with aplomb. Sonny Dixon came out to pitch in the top of the eighth, still trailing by a pair, and he got through the eighth and ninth with the lead unchanged. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Joe Astroth singled into right to give us a baserunner, taking second off a passed ball! DeMaestri singled through the gap to push him over to third, but Rocky Bridges grounded out to first and we lost this one 5-3. Kellner took the loss, falling to 13-8 with a 2.81 ERA, allowing seven hits, a walk, a strikeout and five runs (three earned) in his five innings of work. Gettel went two innings with a hit and two strikeouts, and Dixon added two innings with only a strikeout, no baserunners. But we were outhit 8-4, which continues to be our achilles heel ... no consistent ability to hit, so we’re dependent on manufacturing runs out of walks and errors. Joe Astroth hit once, walked twice and drove in a run, and Walker hit once, walked three times and scored a run. The loss snapped Kellner’s streak of eight games with at least a quality start. July 15, 1955: Bob Spicer (7-6, 3.94 ERA, 114.1 IP, 25 K’s, 1.43 WHIP) started our second of two games against the Orioles, facing Duane Pillette (2-9, 6.44 ERA, 93.2 IP, 33 K’s, 1.87 WHIP). Baltimore led off with a solo homer from Triandos to get them going quickly, but we got up to the plate without any further immediate damage. Joe Frazier hit a three-run blast out of right in the bottom of the second to shoot us into the lead, but they tied it up in the top of the third with a two-run blast out of right by Gene Woodling, and the Orioles took the lead (still with one goddamned out) off an RBI single by Bob Kennedy. Hoot Evers hit a sac fly that made it 5-3 Orioles and then FINALLY we got out of there -- middle of the third, but trailing by a pair. Joe Astroth walked the bases loaded for us with one out in the bottom of the third, and Joe Frazier drove in another RBI with a sac-fly to center, but Bill Renna popped out to center and ended the rally attempt. Spicer was a f---ing mess, loading the bases, AGAIN, and giving up two more runs off a double by Hal Smith, and with one out and men on second and third we had to go to Sonny Dixon ... who got one out and then allowed two more runs through. Why are we playing so atrociously at home when we’ve done so well all year on the road? When you trail 9-4 when coming up to bat in the bottom of the fourth, essentially all bets are off, nothing to lose but your pride. And by the end of this game we had none of that left ... Chuck Diering hit a three-run homer in the top of the fifth, and Bill Harrington came out to pitch with one out, a man on second and the bottom-feeding Orioles whipping our asses 13-4. They tacked on another run before we finally got into the bottom of the inning, We loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth and drove in a run with an RBI single by Lopez, Finigan walked in a run, and a sac-fly by Astroth drove in another. But three runs only got us back within seven, trailing 14-7 heading into the seventh inning. Al Getel came out to pitch in the top of the eighth, and he kept it from getting any worse. But we had nothing left in the tank and this one went down as a 14-7 blowout. Spicer had an absolutely terrible start, going 3.2 innings with eight hits, three walks, two strikeouts and nine runs, eight of them earned, and Dixon followed with four hits, five earned runs and three walks in one inning. Harrington gave us four innings with two hits, two walks and a strikeout, and Gettel had one hit one walk and one strikeout in his two innings, but the damage was done. We were outhit 15-8, led by Lopez with two hits, two walks, two runs and an RBI, while Bridges led off with two hits, a walk and a run. July 16, 1955: Arnie Portocarrero (4-5, 4.92 ERA, 89.2 IP, 32 K’s, 1.45 WHIP) pitched today against the Senators’ Chuck Stubbs (7-9, 4.30 ERA, 106.2 IP, 51 K’s, 1.43 WHIP). Harry Walker hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the third to put us into the lead, another run scoring off an RBI single by Jim Finigan! Chuck Tanner hit an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth that drove in another pair, giving us a five run lead heading into the top of the fifth. Washington got on the board in the top of the fifth with an RBI double by Jim Busby, and a groundout by Pete Runnels added another. Ray Sievers hit an RBI single as we fought to get our third out, cutting the lead to two runs as we finally escaped into the bottom of the inning. We got a run back thanks to an RBI single by DeMaestri, and in the bottom of the sixth Vic Power hit an RBI double that drove in two more! Leading by five after the stretch, we never let them back in ... with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth, Astroth walked in a run, and we went into the top of the ninth leading by six. Portocarrero stayed out to complete the game and we won easily 9-3. Arnie Portocarrero is now 5-5 with a 4.56 ERA, thanks to a six hit three walk three strikeout game with three runs, one earned. We outhit the Senators 11-6, led by Vic Power with three hits, a walk, a run and two RBIs, while Walker added two hits, a walk, three runs and two RBIs. July 17, 1955: Walt Craddock (2-6, 4.50 ERA, 102.0 IP, 43 K’s, 1.54 WHIP) started today against Washington’s Mickey McDermott (5-5, 4.14 ERA, 111.0 IP, 50 K’s, 1.75 WHIP). Vic Power hit into a fielder’s choice in the bottom of the third, allowing Walt Craddock to score and put us into the lead. Craddock got an infield hit to bat in a run in the bottom of the fourth, expanding our lead to two, and Chuck Tanner walked in a run to add on. A Vic Power flyball into left field drove in two more, and they had to go to the bullpen. Hector Lopez hit a line drive single into right to add two more, and we went into the top of the fifth leading in dominating fashion, 7-0! Chuck Tanner walked in another run in the bottom of the fifth and Vic Power batted in another with a single, expanding our lead to nine, and Craddock held court from there and kept them from getting anywhere as we shut the Senators out 9-0! Craddock is now 3-6 with a 4.14 ERA thanks to his eight hit two walk three strikeout complete game shutout, and we narrowly outhit Washington 9-8! Vic Power hit three times with a run and four RBIs, and Tanner and Lopez each batted in two runs. This win pushes us into third place, our 44-46 record trailing Chicago by 13.5 games and the Yankees by 20.5, putting us half a game up on Detroit and a full game ahead of Cleveland. July 18, 1955: Alex Kellner (13-8, 2.81 ERA, 150.2 IP, 48 K’s, 1.39 WHIP) pitched against Johnny Schmitz (3-6, 5.16 ERA, 83.2 IP, 24 K’s, 1.69 WHIP) in our final game against Washington on this homestand. Alex Kellner got us on the board with a two-run homer in the bottom of the second, just his first longball of the year! Washington got on the board thanks to an RBI single by Ed Fitz Gerald in the top of the fourth, and they took the lead moments later with a double by Johnny Schmitz that put them up 3-2. Kellner had a rough inning trying to get that third out, and by the time we came up to hit in the bottom of the fourth we trailed by three. Sonny Dixon came out to pitch in the top of the seventh with one out and a man on first, getting us out of there without any runs scoring. Hector Lopez hit an RBI single that got us back within two in the bottom of the eighth, and with one out Finigan walked the bases loaded. DeMaestri then hammered a line drive down the right field line and just like that it was all tied up! Dixon shut them down quietly in the top of the ninth to bring up the top of our lineup in the bottom of the inning. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the inning, we won it on a squeeze play .... Finigan laid it down perfectly, Harry Walker scoring from third to win it 6-5! Kellner lasted 6.1 innings despite his poor fourth inning, allowing nine hits and three walks, striking out three and giving up five earned runs. But Sonny Dixon won the game with his 2.2 innings of brilliant play, improving to 2-1 with a 4.47 ERA while merely walking one and striking out another. They outhit us 9-6, but we came back and stunned them thanks to Lopez, who had a hit, three walks, a run and an RBI, and to Kellner who hit the two-run homer that got everything started early on. We’d really like to add another contact / power pitcher to the lineup, but the sellers don’t seem to be willing to sell without getting ridiculous returns. With two weeks left in the trading season, it’s looking less and less likely we’ll be able to make any more significant moves. But I’ll be continuing to man the phones as we hope for a miracle deal to slide in. Meanwhile, our focus is on the 41-51 Red Sox, who are coming to town for three games as we fight to see if we can get back to .500 for the first time since May 11 when we were 12-12. __________________ Draft League: From the Bottom to the Bigs! -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Daily Double Baseball (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) -- *League Has Openings!* WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

08-26-2024, 07:57 PM	#27
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,575	July 26, 1955: Art Ditmar (4-3, 2 SV, 3.10 ERA, 66.2 IP, 25 K’s, 1.47 WHIP) started today against Washington, facing Chuck Stubbs (7-11, 4.75 ERA, 113.2 IP, 54 K’s, 1.49 WHIP). Andy Pafko hit an RBI triple in the top of the first to get us on the board, but Washington got a hit into the right field corner in the bottom of the second, Jose Valdivielso hitting a triple that pushed them into the lead 2-1. Valdivielso scored off a groundout by Bruce Edwards, and we came up to hit in the top of the third trailing 3-1. They added on in the bottom of the third with a two-run single by Carlos Paula, and though we loaded the bases in the top of the fourth, Ditmar ended the rally with a pop-out to center. We loaded the bases again in the top of the fifth, and this time Finigan walked in a run with one out. Pete Suder came out to replace DeMaestri and take over at shortstop, hitting a bouncing ball into left field to drive in two more runs, but a fly-out to left ended the inning with us still trailing by a run, down 5-4. Ditmar got us through the fifth, and Sonny Dixon came in to pitch in the bottom of the sixth still trailing by a run. He got two quick outs, then allowed back to back singles and the Senators loaded the bases thanks to an E6 error that put Jim Busby on base ... but we got out of the inning without conceding a run. Al Gettel came out to pitch in the bottom of the seventh, and with runners on first and second with two outs, Tom Gorman came out in the bottom of the eighth, getting us out of the jam to still have a chance heading into the top of the ninth. Vic Power led off with a single, and with two outs Finigan walked, putting him in scoring position. But Joe Astroth popped out to right and we lost our eighth in a row, this time by a slim 5-4 margin. Ditmar fell to 4-4 with a 3.52 ERA, allowing six hits, four walks and five earned runs with just one strikeout in his five innings of work. The lowly Senators outhit us 10-6 ... the top four guys in our lineup each scored runs on the ground, but only Vic Power managed to do so while hitting twice and walking once. Pafko hit once, walked once, scored a run and batted in another, and Finigan had a hit, two walks and an RBI. But we continue to get runners on and then strand them, and at this point in the season it’s almost an impossible problem to correct. We’re nine games under .500 but if you believe in our pythagorean record, we’ve been incredibly lucky for too long ... we should be nearly 20 games under. The Yankees, meanwhile, are riding an 11-game winning streak and they’re now up a dozen games on the White Sox -- a subway series in New York is now looking all but preordained. July 27, 1955: Alex Kellner (13-9, 3.26 ERA, 162.2 IP, 54 K’s, 1.44 WHIP) pitched against Mickey McDermott (5-7, 4.50 ERA, 122.0 IP, 52 K’s, 1.76 WHIP). In the top of the second we had runners on second and third with two outs, Kellner at the plate, and Joe DeMaestri managed a spectacular steal of home to put us into the lead -- that was a heads-up play! Rocky Bridges took third on the play, but Kellner struck out swinging so we had to settle for the single run. With one out in the top of the fifth, Kellner successfully bunted for a hit and Henry Walker walked him into scoring position. Vic Power walked to load the bases, and Hector Lopez hit a sac-fly to center that drove in an insurance run. With the bases loaded and one out in the top of the seventh, Hector Lopez hit another sac-fly that drove in our third run of the day! Bobby Shantz came out in the bottom of the ninth with a three-run lead to protect, and he shut them down quietly as we beat the Senators 3-0, snapping the losing streak at eight. Alex Kellner improved to 13-9 with a 3.11 ERA, allowing just three hits, a walk and four strikeouts through eight innings. Shantz then came in for his 22nd save, getting his ERA back under 2.00 by a point. This was his first save in two and a half weeks, since before the All Star break. We outhit Washington 6-3, led by Lopez who batted in a pair despite only making on base once (with a walk). Joe Astroth hit twice but couldn’t get anywhere. July 28, 1955: Bob Spicer (7-8, 4.49 ERA, 130.1 IP, 31 K’s, 1.49 WHIP) pitched against Camilo Pascual (3-18, 4.80 ERA, 161.1 IP, 117 K’s, 1.74 WHIP) in our final game of the series against Washington. Jim Finigan got his 40th RBI of the season when he batted Bridges in with a single in the top of the first, giving us a quick 1-0 lead. But the Senators got it back with a two-run homer by Valdivielso with one out in the bottom of the second that went over the wall in right, putting them into a 2-1 lead. The Senators loaded the bases in the botom of the fourth and walked in a run via Pete Runnels to add to their lead. We brought Sonny Dixon out to pitch in the bottom of the sixth, and he got us through without more runs allowed. In the top of the seventh Pascual walked Astroth and Frazier with two outs, then hit DeMaestri with a pitch to load the bases. Harry Walker came in to pinch hit for Dixon, and he singled into right field to drive in a pair ... we’re all tied up heading into the stretch! Al Gettel came out to pitch in the bottom of the seventh, pitching around a single by Roy Sievers to keep us tied heading into the eighth, and then did the same in the eighth to get us into the top of the ninth still knotted up! With two outs, DeMaestri hit a single into center, driving Frazier to third and then trailing him to second, so we brought Chuck Tanner in to pinch-hit for Gettel, and they intentionally walked him. Rocky Bridges then hit one into center through the gap on a full count, and just like that we held a 5-3 lead! Vic Power hit one into center, scoring Tanner, but Bridges was tagged out after a rundown as he tried to take third, and we went into the bottom of the inning leading by three with Shantz coming in again to pitch. He got us the outs we needed to win this 6-3! Bob Spicer had a solid night, with five innings and just six hits, with three walks, three strikeouts and three earned runs. Dixon kept the game close with his inning (one walk in 19 pitches), which set up Gettel nicely for his win ... he made it two innings with two hits, improving to 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA since we claimed him off waivers two and a half weeks ago, already having put in 15 innings in nine appearances! Shantz then saved his second game in two days, his 23rd of the year, allowing a hit and a walk and improving his ERA to 1.95 through 55.1 innings. They outhit us 9-5, but we got strong performances from Bridges (a hit, a walk, a run and two RBIs) and Walker (a pinch-hit for two RBIs) as we fought back to take the series two games to one. We now get to go to New York and play four more against the 73-26 Yankees, who at least did snap their winning streak with a 3-1 loss to the White Sox, though they’re coming off a 3-1 win in the game that came right after it. Three days remain before the trading deadline. July 29, 1955: Arnie Portocarrero (5-6, 4.28 ERA, 109.1 IP, 37 K’s, 1.39 WHIP) went up against Vinegar Bend Mizell (11-2, 3.07 ERA, 140.2 IP, 114 K’s, 1.24 WHIP) in our first of four games in Yankee Stadium this weekend. Mickey Mantle hit a home run in the bottom of the second, his 21st of the year, to put the Yankees up 1-0. The Yankees added on in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI single by Bill Skowron, and we still trailed by two runs when Al Gettel came out to pitch to start the bottom of the seventh inning. Yogi Berra hit a solo homer to extend their lead to three runs in the bottom of the eighth, and they shut us down quietly as we lost 3-0. Arnie Portocarrero fell to 5-7 with a 4.21 ERA, allowing five hits with two earned runs, walking two and striking out three in his six innings. Gettel then gave us two innings with a hit, a walk, a strikeout and an earned run, our team being outhit 6-3. Astroth and Lopez walked five times between them but got nowhere, and Walker, Power and Finigan were our only players with hits, neither making it on base more than the one time. July 30, 1955: Walt Craddock (3-8, 4.64 ERA, 120.1 IP, 47 K’s, 1.51 WHIP) pitched against New York’s Hal Brown (7-8, 4.62 ERA, 117.0 IP, 56 K’s, 1.32 WHIP). With Harry Walker on second, we pulled off the run and hit, with Andy Pafko pulling one over the short porch in right field for a two-run top-of-the-first homer to put us up 2-0! But the Yankees quickly loaded the bases against us in the bottom of the inning with one out, and with two outs they got a hit into right field off Niren’s bat, an RBI single that put the Yankees on the board, and Phil Rizzuto hit an RBI single that drove in two more ... it was nice having a lead for half an inning. Craddock’s woes continued, and another run scored before he could get that third out, giving New York a 4-2 lead as we came up to hit in the second. Craddock loaded the bases again in the bottom of the second and Noren hit them a grand slam to extend the Yankees’ lead to 8-2 while effectively kicking us repeatedly in the balls. We have a doubleheader tomorrow, so Craddock needed to at least get us through a few more innings before we’d go to the pen, or we might as well concede the remainder of the weekend. He calmed down in the third and got through it alright, and Rocky Bridges hit an RBI triple in the top of the fourth to get us a run and cutting the New York lead to five runs. Craddock wound up getting us through five innings, and in the top of the sixth, Finigan hit a one-out triple and Astroth batted him in with a single. With two outs and men on first and second, Chuck Tanner came in to pinch-hit for Craddock, but he popped up to the catcher to end the rally, the Yankees still leading 8-4 as Sonny Dixon came in to pitch. The Yankees got a run back in the bottom of the seventh, thanks to a Rizzuto RBI single, and with the five run hole we were in, we brought Lino Donoso in for the botom of the eighth to just get us out of it with as little damage as possible. He walked a pair, got a pair of outs and then Mickey Mantle hit an RBI single to make it a six-run Yankees lead. We had nothing left in the tank and lost this one 10-4. Walt Craddock is now 3-9 with a 4.74 ERA, allowing seven hits, two walks and three strikeouts, giving up eight runs (four earned) all in the first two innings. He lasted five, which meant we only had to burn through two bullpen arms ... Dixon had two innings with four hits and an earned run, while Donoso went one inning with a hit, two walks, a strikeout and an earned run, giving him an 11.05 ERA since we picked him up. We actually hit better than usual, only getting outslugged 12-9 by the Yanks, and if it wasn’t for that grand slam that took out our hearts in the second inning, I think we could have made a game of it. Tomorrow we play two and work through the final day of trade negotiations before the deadline. At this point our owner has asked that I be on the lookout for potential overlooked leaders and strong personalities who could help us keep the clubhouse morale up as we fight our way through these last two months of games ... at 29 games back we’re not getting back into this pennant chase, and at nine under .500, we’re not getting back in that race either. It’s a matter of not embarrassing ourselves and then making improvements in the offseason. July 31, 1955: Alex Kellner (14-9, 3.11 ERA, 170.2 IP, 58 K’s, 1.39 WHIP) started game one of the afternoon, going up against Whitey Ford (14-2, 2.80 ERA, 177.0 IP, 90 K’s, 1.34 WHIP). Mickey Mantle hit a triple to lead off the bottom of the fourth, and a groundout to first let him come around to score the run that gave New York a 1-0 lead. Kellner got stuck on two outs, Rizzuto hitting an RBI single to put the Yanks up 2-0 before we were able to end the inning. Mantle hit an RBI double in the bottom of the fifth to add on, making it a 3-0 Yankees lead heading into the sixth, where we got DeMaestri on base via an error and then Rocky Bridges hit a single to bust up Ford’s no-hitter attempt. Renna hit into a double play, and Chuck Tanner, pinch-hitting for Kellner, popped out harmlessly to short. Bill Harrington came in to pitch in the bottom of the sixth, still trailing by three, and the Yankees were quick to add on -- with just one out, pinch-hitter Joe Collins knocked in two with a triple, and with two outs Hank Bauer added another with a single, Skowron hit a two-run homer out of left, and we trailed 8-0 heading into the top of the seventh. Tom Gorman came out with an out and a man on first in the bottom of the seventh, and with two outs and the bases loaded, Billy Martin hit an RBI single that drove in two. Gorman got through the eighth without further incident, and our bats did nothing in the ninth as we lost 10-0. Kellner fell to 14-10 with a 3.18 ERA, allowing seven hits and two walks in five innings, striking out one and letting them score three earned runs. Harrington went 1.1 innings with six hits and six earned runs, Gorman adding three hits, a strikeout and an earned run in his 1.2 innings that got us out of the first game of the day. They outhit us 16-2, in an absolute rout that the less said about, the better. Art Ditmar (4-4, 2 SV, 3.52 ERA, 71.2 IP, 26 K’s, 1.51 WHIP) pitched against Billy O’Dell (6-3, 2.83 ERA, 108.0 IP, 60 K’s, 1.27 WHIP), and at this point we just wanted to get the hell out of the house that Ruth built and put this whole horrible weekend behind us. New York took the lead on a walk with one out in the bottom of the second, Mantle scoring after having reached base off being hit by a pitch, and Ditmar completely melted down, walking in another run and then letting Gil McDougald hit an RBI single to keep the bases loaded and extend the Yankees’ lead to 3-0. Still stuck on one out, the score 7-0 after a Skowron triple that cleared the bases, we had to start warming up arms in the pen. Mantle grounded out and Skowron held at third, but he came in to score when Andy Carey hit an RBI single into right, and we pulled Ditmar for Sonny Dixon, who immediately let Irv Noren hit a triple that added on even more. By the time Dixon got the final out we’d let the Yankees build a 10-0 lead and faced FIFTEEN BATTERS since that fateful hit-by-pitch against Mantle. The game turned into a nightmare scenario from there ... by the time Vic Power hit a “mercy homer,” a solo shot out of left in the top of the sixth, we trailed 15-1, and the Yankees gleefully piled on from there. Tom Gorman came in with us trailing by sixteen and got us through the seventh and eighth witout any runs against us, and then in the top of the ninth with zero chance of a comeback, Jim Finigan hit a three-run blast out of right to at least cut into the lead. We wound up losing this one 17-4. Alex Ditmar fell to 4-5 with a 4.54 ERA, allowing five hits, three walks and NINE EARNED RUNS in his 1.2 innings, all of which came in the second inning ... and down 10-0 at that point there was nothing our pitchers were going to be able to do but pitch and pray. New York was merciless, outhitting us 21-5, though we at least got a pair of homers out of them. Finigan batted in three runs with his, hitting once and walking once, while Vic Power hit once and scored twice, driving in a run. We’re now 11 games under .500, a new low in our season, and we were outscored 40-4 in the series, including 27-4 just today in this doubleheader from Hell. We only made one trade at the deadline, sending 27-year-old 3B Rocky Bridges, 21-year-old minor league reliever LeRoy Schmidt and $5,000 cash to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for 26-year-old right-handed reliever Dick Marlowe. We also claimed shortstop George Wilson off waivers from the New York Giants, releasing Lino Donoso from his remaining two months of his contract to make room on the 25-man roster for Wilson. Art Ditmar is going back into the bullpen as a long reliever, with Dick Marlowe stepping into the role of our fifth starter. With 49 games remaining on our schedule over the next eight weeks, we have the time for this team to show where it truly stands. We head into August with a 47-58 record, good for fifth in the American League. We have the ability to play our way back into the upper tier of teams, or we can continue our collapse and finish near the bottom of the standings. We were expected to finish with between 60 and 65 wins this season according to early projections by the media, and it would certainly be nice to exceed that and head into the offseason with room to positively spin this season. At the very least, the city of Kansas City has yet to fully warm up to us ... it would be good to give them a couple months of baseball where they can find things to cheer about. This current road trip has us playing Baltimore and Boston for three-game sets after a day off for travel tomorrow. We then get to go back to Kansas City for three against the White Sox and three against Cleveland. __________________ Draft League: From the Bottom to the Bigs! -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Daily Double Baseball (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) -- *League Has Openings!* WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

08-26-2024, 08:00 PM	#28
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,575	OOC: I'm committed to staying in "Challenge Mode" through the remainder of the regular season. But this challenge is pointless if I risk getting fired by my owner. If it starts to look like I'm going to lose my job after what has been a better-than-expected run considering where Kansas City started out, I will remove the Challenge Mode setting before the playoffs to avoid that result and make myself non-fireable. Attached Images __________________ Draft League: From the Bottom to the Bigs! -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Daily Double Baseball (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) -- *League Has Openings!* WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

08-27-2024, 10:22 PM	#30
Pelican Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2021 Location: Wilmington, Delaware Posts: 2,910	Enjoying this. I started a sim the year before, in 1954, with the A's still in Philly. In this alternative universe, the deal to keep the team in Philly will come together (as it almost did IRL), and the new owners will inject some funds and talent to replace the aging Mack dynasty. I'm also acting as GM of the Orioles, formerly the Browns, to avoid them completely sucking as IRL. Fun stuff. __________________ Pelican OOTP 2020-? ”Hard to believe, Harry.”

08-28-2024, 06:09 PM	#32
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,575	August 9, 1955: Bob Spicer (8-8, 4.46 ERA, 141.1 IP, 36 K’s, 1.49 WHIP) started against Connie Johnson (10-9, 4.60 ERA, 176.0 IP, 110 K’s, 1.52 WHIP) in our first of three against the White Sox back at home in Kansas City. Andy Pafko hit a sac-fly for our second out in the bottom of the first, driving in a run and putting us ahead 1-0 without a single hit -- Henry Walker had walked to lead off, moved to second when Hector Lopez reached on an E5 error, and then made it to third as he and Lopez pulled off a double steal! But Chicago proved that turnabout is fair play, scoring the tying run off a passed ball in the top of the second, neither team having an earned run in the game to that point. Chicago got an RBI off Walt Dropo, who singled in the go-ahead run in the top of the fourth, while we couldn’t get anything off Johnson. In the bottom of the fifth we finally got our first hit, as Harry Walker singled Spicer, who had walked, into scoring position. Andy Pafko, with two outs, managed to get a hit into right field and drove in the tying run, sending us into the top of the sixth knotted up 2-2. Spicer held his ground in the top of the inning, and when our bats gave him nothing to work with he did it again in the seventh, keeping it tied into the stretch. Chuck Tanner came in to pinch-hit for him to lead off in the bottom of the seventh, taking a full count and then popping one safely down into right field for a single against an exhausted Connie Johnson. But we hit into a double play, Jim Finigan singled to take first, and they went to the pen ... bringing out Harry Dorish, who gave Hector Lopez a big fat fastball to slam out of the park for his 12th homer of the year. Just like that we were up 4-2! Tom Gorman came out to pitch in the top of the eighth, shutting them down three in a row, and when we weren’t able to add any runs in the bottom of the inning we brought Shantz out to close things out. But with one out, he let Walt Dropo hit a two-run homer out of left field, his second blown save in three days, and we went into the bottom of the inning knotted up. George Wilson came in to pinch-hit for Shantz, getting nothing, but Harry Walker hit a single into center field to get on base. Finigan walked him into scoring position, but Hector Lopez hit into a double play and for the second game in a row we were headed for extra innings. Al Geitel came out to pitch in the top of the 10th, and with one out he let Larry Doby hit a solo bomb out of right to put the White Sox up a run. With one out in the bottom of the inning, Dick Kryhoski walked and Vic Power singled him into scoring position. Pete Suder came in to pinch-hit for Astroth, and he hit into a fielder’s choice, driving Kryhoski over to third. Joe Frazier came in to hit for Joe DeMaestri, and he grounded out to first, ending the game as a disappointing 5-4 loss. Spicer did his best, going seven innings with seven hits, a walk and two runs (one earned) but not getting the decision. Gorman picked up his eighth hold of the season, but Shantz blew his sixth save, Gettel having to settle for the loss as he fell to 2-1 with a 3.28 ERA (one hit, one earned run against him). They outhit us 11-8, Pafko leading our team with two hits and two RBIs while Walker hit twice, walked once and scored a run. August 10, 1955: Alex Kellner (14-11, 3.28 ERA, 181.0 IP, 60 K’s, 1.41 WHIP) pitched in game two against Chicago’s Jack Harshman (9-7, 4.29 ERA, 157.1 IP, 80 K’s, 1.49 WHIP). An unearned run put Chicago in the lead in the top of the first, Nellie Fox scoring as Sherm Lollar reached first on an E5 error. But we quickly loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning, thanks to a pair of walks and a single by Jim Finigan, and Andy Pafko got hit ... HARD ... in the shoulder to walk in a run, tying it up. Clearly rattled, Harshman walked Kryhoski to push us into the lead, and a Vic Power sac-fly into left drove in another. Joe Astroth walked the bases back to fully loaded, and a DeMaestri groundout to first allowed another run to score. Kellner grounded out to end the inning, but we’d batted around and taken a 4-1 lead on the stunned White Sox. Chicago got a run back in the top of the third off a sac-fly to center by George Kell, and the next batter, Sherm Lollar, hit a solo homer to cut our lead down to one run ... so Kellner got revenge in the bottom of the inning, hitting a two-run blast out of right, just his second all year, to make it 6-3! Hershman walked Walker and then they pulled him with just two outs, bringing in long reliever Morrie Martin, who allowed a double by Finigan but then got Lopez to bat out to second, ending the inning with us leading by three. Astroth hit a sac-fly in the bottom of the fourth to add another run, and Kellner got us through the top of the sixth with that lead unchanged. With the bases loaded, Joe DeMaestri walked in a run in the bottom of the sixth to make it an 8-3 lead, and we brought Bill Harrington out to pitch in the top of the seventh. In the top of the eighth he got into some trouble, Bob Boyd hitting an RBI single that cut the lead down to four while putting runners on the corners ... no outs. Luis Aparacio hit into a double play and another run scored, but Harrington was able to get the strikeout we needed to get into the bottom of the inning still leading by three. In the top of the ninth, Sonny Dixon came out to pitch, getting three quick outs as we held tough to win 8-5. Alex Kellner had a quality start, lasting six innings with nine hits, three runs (two earned), a walk and two strikeouts, improving his record to 15-11 with a 3.27 ERA. Harrington went two innings with three hits, a walk, a strikeout and two earned runs, but Dixon came out and got the save, his sixth of the year, allowing no baserunners as he improved his ERA to 4.38 through 61.2 innings. They actually outhit us 12-6, but walked us 13 TIMES ... that’s what we can do to teams if they don’t stay sharp! Walker walked four times and scored a run ... Vic Power led the way with a hit, two walks, a run and an RBI, while Andy Pafko hit once, walked once and scored two runs, batting in another. August 11, 1955: Carl Erskine (2-2, 3 SV, 3.27 ERA, 33.0 IP, 22 K’s, 1.24 WHIP) started for our final game against the White Sox, facing Dick Donovan (7-5, 4.10 ERA, 131.1 IP, 58 K’s, 1.40 WHIP) with the chance to snag a series win against the second-best team in the AL. Sherm Lollar hit a two-run bomb out of center in the top of the second to put Chicago up 2-0, and they rang us up again with a two-run blast by Walt Dropo ... Erskine had surrendered three hits for four runs (three earned) in a matter of minutes. The White Sox added on in the top of the fourth with an RBI single by Dick Donovan, and Lollar hit his second homer of the game out of center to make it 6-0 ... we were just not in this one at all. Walt Craddock came out of the pen in the top of the sixth, and he pitched around a triple by Walt Dropo to keep them from adding on. He wasn’t as lucky in the seventh, when Nellie Fox hit a bomb out of center to make it a seven-run lead. Craddock hit an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth to get us on the board, and he stayed out to pitch in the ninth, keeping them from adding on, but it didn’t matter -- we lost badly 7-1. Erskine’s record with us as a starter fell to 0-1, pitching five innings with seven hits, two walks, a strikeout and six runs against, five of them earned. It wasn’t a great effort, but there was a lot of bad luck involved, particularly with the longball. Craddock came out as a long reliever and pitched four innings with three hits, a walk, three strikeouts and the one earned run, improving his ERA to 4.74. The Sox outhit us 10-3, Craddock himself batting in our only run, which was scored by Joe Astroth. No time to rest ... we’ve got three games upcoming against the 60-54 Guardians of Cleveland, and then a road trip next week to face both Chicago and Cleveland again. So we can’t let ourselves get bogged down, we’ve got to find ways to win games however we can. August 12, 1955: Arnie Portocarrero (5-8, 4.14 ERA, 126.0 IP, 40 K’s, 1.36 WHIP) pitched against Early Wynn (12-9, 2.72 ERA, 185.0 IP, 97 K’s, 1.14 WHIP). And it was a **show from the start -- Al Smith reached on an error, and an Avila single and then two walks in a row led to the Guardians taking a 1-0 lead, no outs, with Portocarrero struggling to maintain his composure. Stan Lopata hit into a fielder’s choice for their second out, but a second unearned run scored at the same time, and George Crowe singled in another, a THIRD unearned run for the starter, who clearly wanted to be anywhere but here. He did finally secure the third out but we went into the bottom of the inning trailing 3-0 and he’d thrown 33 pitches. We finally got on the board in the bottom of the third with an RBI single by Jim Finigan with two outs against us, but went into the fourth still trailing by two, and the Guardians got the run back in the top of the fourth with an RBI triple by Bobby Avila for the FOURTH UNEARNED RUN against Portocarrero today. Al Rosen batted Avila in for the first earned run of our night, and we trailed 5-1 as we came up to hit in the bottom of the inning -- Portocarrero’s night was going to be over if we couldn’t find a way to score some runs. Astroth loaded the bases after a Vic Power double that pushed Pafko into scoring position ... one out, and DeMaestri hit into a fielder’s choice that let Pafko score a run, sending us into the top of the fifth trailing 5-2. We kept Portocarrero out while we warmed up bullpen arms, but an error and a single by George Strickland didn’t put us in good shape. Early Wynn hit an RBI single, a seventh run scored off a sac-fly by Al Smith, and finally Dick Marlowe was ready to pitch, getting us out of there with a pair of highly necessary outs to trail by five midway through the sixth. Joe Astroth hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning, his second of the year, to put us back within three runs. DeMaestri reached first on an error, and Chuck Tanner pinch-hit for Marlowe, but he hit weakly into what turned into a double play that cleared the bases, and Walker popped out to the catcher, ending our rally attempt. Sonny Dixon came out in the top of the seventh, and Al Rosen kicked us in the balls with a three-run homer to put the game back out of reach. They added on three more in the top of the ninth just because they could, including a two-run homer by Stan Lopata, and we didn’t add anything to the conversation in the bottom of the inning, losing this one in epically bad fashion, 13-4. Portocarrero fell to 5-9 with a 4.07 ERA, allowing eight hits, four walks and two strikeouts while giving up seven runs, only one of which was earned. Marlowe did well in his 1.1 innings, but Dixon took one for the team and stayed out the final three innings in a mop-up role, allowing seven hits and six earned runs with a single strikeout. We were outhit 16-8, wasting a great game by Vic Power (three hits, one run) while Finigan hit twice, walked twice and batted in a run. August 13, 1955: Bob Spicer (8-8, 4.31 ERA, 148.1 IP, 36 K’s, 1.48 WHIP) pitched against Bob Lemon (7-8, 2 SV, 3.05 ERA, 100.1 IP, 34 K’s, 1.25 WHIP). Cleveland took a 2-0 lead off a homer by Ralph Kiner in the top of the first, and they hit another two-run blast, this one off the bat of catcher Jim Hegan, to make it a 4-0 deficit in the top of the second. George Crowe hit a solo bomb in the top of the fourth to add on, Dick Kryhoski hit an RBI single in the bottom of the inning to put us on the board, but Cleveland got it back in the top of the fifth with an RBI single by Al Rosen and a two-run homer by Ralph Kiner just added to our misery. Art Ditmar came out to pitch in the top of the seventh, trailing by seven runs, and in the top of the eighth Cleveland added on a pair of runs. Bill Harrington came out in the top of the ninth, trailing by nine, and he held his own for three outs, but it was all for nothing ... we lost again 10-1, and our entire lineup seems to be slumping. Bob Spicer’s solid rookie campaign has stalled out, and he’s now 8-9 with a 4.61 ERA after six innings with nine hits, three strikeouts and eight earned runs. Ditmar went two innings with three hits and two earned runs, while Harrington had a solid ninth and got his ERA down slightly to 7.22 through 28.2 innings. We were again outhit 12-5, and worse, we only walked once as Cleveland completely shut us down. Kryhoski batted in a run and Pafko hit once, walked once and scored a run ... but that was pretty much it for us today. August 14, 1955: Alex Kellner (15-11, 3.27 ERA, 187.0 IP, 62 K’s, 1.42 WHIP) pitched against Herb Score (10-12, 3.61 ERA, 201.2 IP, 194 K’s, 1.43 WHIP) in our final game of the series against Cleveland. Andy Pafko hit a slow roller into center field that drove in a run, giving us a 1-0 lead with one out in the bottom of the first, with Lopez still in scoring position at second. Kryhoski walked the bases loaded, and it was Cleveland’s turn to squirm as Vic Power hit a flyball into right that drove in three more with a double, giving us a 4-0 lead heading into the top of the second. Kellner immediately gave back a run in the top of the inning, a solo bomb out of center by Lopata, though he didn’t let that throw off his rhythm, getting three outs to get us back up to the plate. In the top of the fourth, Kellner pitched around back to back errors that put a runner in scoring position, leaving Rosen stranded at second as we held on to our three-run lead. Tom Gorman came out with two outs and a man on first in the top of the seventh, stranding him there as George Strickland struck out swinging, and he got us through the eighth inning as well with the three-run lead still safe. Bobby Shantz came out to pitch in the top of the ninth, his first appearance since throwing 21 pitches five days ago, and immediately he gave up a solo homer to Lopata, his 11th this year, cutting our lead down to two runs. But three quick outs followed as we held on to win this one 4-2 ... there would be no sweep! Alex Kellner improved to 16-11 with a 3.21 ERA, allowing just four hits, striking out two while allowing a single earned run. Gorman held his ninth game of the season, with 1.1 innings, a hit and a strikeout improving his ERA to 4.30, and Shantz came in for his 26th save of the season, allowing the homer but nothing else as his ERA slipped to 2.37 through 60.2 innings in 45 appearances. We actually outhit Cleveland 7-6, led by Vic Power who had a hit, a walk and three earned runs. Next week will be almost a mirror image of this week, just all on the road. We’re off tomorrow for a travel day, then will play Tuesday in Chicago ... an off day Wednesday will lead into a doubleheader on Thursday, followed by three games over the weekend in Cleveland. __________________ Draft League: From the Bottom to the Bigs! -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Daily Double Baseball (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) -- League Has Openings! WPOBL** (Cincinnati Reds)

08-29-2024, 05:37 PM	#33
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,575	August 16, 1955: Carl Erskine (2-3, 4.03 ERA, 38.0 IP, 23 K’s, 1.32 WHIP) started today against Jack Harshman (9-8, 4.56 ERA, 160.0 IP, 83 K’s, 1.53 WHIP). And we got started in a big way, loading the bases thanks to a single by Walker and then back to back walks for Finigan and Lopez! Andy Pafko hit into a fielder’s choice that drove in a run, but that was all we’d get ... their infield defense is just too good to let anything good out into the outfield. Finigan stayed hot, hitting a two-run blast into left field to extend our lead in the top of the fifth, his 10th homer of the season, and Erskine was in firm control from the mound as we worked to keep the lead. Erskine walked to load the bases in the top of the sixth, Harshman’s eighth walk against five strikeouts to that point, but they kept him out there and we hoped to take advantage. With two outs and loaded bases, Harry Walker took the count full and then swung for the fences ... but it was an easy pop-up for their second baseman, who ended the inning with us leading still by three. Chicago got on the board with a solo homer by Chico Carrasquel in the bottom of the eighth, but Erskine held firm and we got into the top of the ninth still leading by two. George Wilson pinch-hit for him to lead off in the ninth, but he came up empty. With two outs, Jim Finigan singled into left field, but Lopez grounded out to first and we brought Shantz out to protect our lead. He pitched around a single by Jim Rivera to get the outs we needed as we shocked the White Sox 3-1 on their field! Carl Erskine only allowed four hits, a walk and a single earned run, striking out a pair as he improved his record to 3-3 with a 3.52 ERA, winning his first start of the season. Shantz saved the game, his 27th of the season, with just the one hit, keeping his ERA at 2.34. Each team hit five times in today’s pitching duel, with Finigan leading the way for us -- he hit three times and walked twice, scoring a run and batting in two more. August 18, 1955: We’ve got a doubleheader today, and Alex Kellner (16-11, 3.21 ERA, 193.2 IP, 64 K’s, 1.39 WHIP) started the first game, facing Chicago’s Billy Pierce (13-11, 3.30 ERA, 207.1 IP, 129 K’s, 1.33 WHIP). Chicago drew first blood in the bottom of the second, an RBI double by Carrasquel putting them up 1-0, but we tied it up in the top of the fourth with an RBI single by Jim DeMaestri. But Chicago flat-out hits better than us, and a two-run blast in the bottom of the fourth for Sherm Lollar (#12) put them back up 3-1, and we were going to need every bit of luck we could find to stay in this one. It helped that Pierce was not having a great game. He helped us load the bases in the top of the fifth with two outs, having walked seven against three strikeouts, but he got number four to shut Power down as we failed to capitalize on it. That was all the room Chicago needed, and they added on in the bottom of the inning, a Nellie Fox RBI single driving a run in to put them up 4-1 heading into the sixth. Still trailing by the three runs in the top of the eighth, Dick Marlowe came out to pitch, getting three quick outs, but it didn’t matter. We did nothing in the top of the ninth and lost this one 4-1. Kellner had a solid game, all things considered, but he wound up with 10 hits, a walk and four earned runs against him, along with three strikeouts. Marlowe had a solid inning and got his ERA down to 1.80 through five innings for us, this being just his third relief appearance for us since being traded from Detroit ... though including his Detroit innings his record remains 0-1 with a 6.15 ERA. They outhit us 10-5, DeMaestri providing our only offense with a hit and an RBI, with Vic Power (two walks, one run) scoring the only run for us. Walt Craddock (3-10, 4.74 ERA, 133.0 IP, 53 K’s, 1.53 WHIP) made a spot start for us out of the bullpen, facing Chicago’s Virgil Trucks (11-8, 3.26 ERA, 154.2 IP, 88 K’s, 1.30 WHIP). Andy Pafko gave us a 1-0 lead thanks to an RBI single and Vic Power hit a three-run blast out of left (#10!) to put us up 4-0 in the top of the first! Craddock immediately gave up a solo homer to Jim Rivera to get Chicago on the board, and a solo blast by Larry Doby with just one out had us seriously questioning his ability to not blow this game ... but he got us out of the first at least with a two run lead intact. Crandall settled down from there, but in the top of the sixth with two outs, Walt Dropo hit an RBI double to get the White Sox to within a run. Tom Gorman came out to pitch with the lead 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh, and he was in firm control from the mound, shutting them down to keep the lead in our hands. With Vic Power at the plate and runners on first and secondwith one out, a wild pitch advanced both runners, and they walked Power to load the bases. DeMaestri hit a sac-fly to deep left, allowing a run to score which expanded our lead to two runs. Al Gettel came in to pitch in the bottom of the eighth, but Bobby Shantz had to come in with loaded bases and two outs, gettng Johnny Groth to hit one straight to Vic Power, who tagged the runner out when he reached third. Harry Walker injured his hand trying to take second, leaving Finigan on first with two outs. Hector Lopez struck out swinging, and we went into the bottom of the ninth with Shantz protecting a two run lead, Joe Frazier coming in to take over at right field for Walker. Shantz got the first out quickly, then back to back singles put Nieman on second and Rivera on first, with Nellie Fox coming up to hit. Fox hit a bouncer into right, loading the bags, and Shantz let the game slip out of his hands as Larry Doby hit a walk-off double that scored three runs and won it for the White Sox 6-5. That’s just absolutely brutal. Shantz blew his seventh save of the year and took the loss, falling to 6-4 with a 2.74 ERA after allowing three hits, a walk and three-earned runs while only securing two outs spanning the eighth and ninth innings. That erased a solid start for Craddock, who lasted six innings with seven hits, three earned runs and a strikeout, while Gorman held his 10th game and Gettel his second. The White Sox outhit us 13-8, but we were right with them until the final inning, when it all slipped out of our reach. Finigan had another great game, hitting three times and scoring a run, while Vic Power batted in three with his homer. That one really stings, we could have ridden the bus into Cleveland on a real high if we’d pulled this win out. Instead we take our 53-67 record into Cleveland to face the 64-56 Guardians and we’re not far from being mathematically eliminated from the pennant chase ... a mere formality at this point, but still. Baltimore (50-71, 37.5 GB) has officially been knocked out, as have the Chicago Cubs (57-69, 34 GB) over in the National League. August 19, 1955: Carl Erskine (3-3, 3 SV, 3.52 ERA, 46.0 IP, 25 K’s, 1.20 WHIP) started today in Cleveland against Herb Score (10-13, 3.68 ERA, 208.0 IP, 203 K’s, 1.45 WHIP). Cleveland took the lead with an RBI single by Stan Lopata in the bottom of the first, and a second run scored off a groundout by Harry Simpson. But we loaded the bases in the top of the second, and got on the board ourselves when Joe Frazier walked in a run! Erskine tied it up with a successful squeeze bunt, scoring Vic Power and keeping the bases loaded with just one out. That’s when, with two outs, Finigan hit a grand slam out of right field to give us a four-run lead thanks to his 11th longball of the season! Cleveland got two runs back with an RBI triple by Al Smith, and Smith scored on a groundout to first by Bobby Avila that cut our lead down to one -- through four innings they’d outhit us 8-1, but we still held an improbable 6-5 advantage since that one hit drove in four runs. They tied it up with an RBI single by George Strickland with no outs in the bottom of the sixth, and a Les Moss solo homer put them ahead 7-6 with one out in the bottom of the seventh, Tom Gorman coming in to pitch. In the top of the ninth, Chuck Tanner pinch-hit for Gorman, getting a line drive into right for a single, but that was all we had in us, losing this one 7-6 by slowly and painfully pissing away our lead. Carl Erskine went 6.1 innings but allowed 10 hits and seven runs (six earned) while walking one and striking out three. Gorman then gave us 1.2 innings without a baserunner, but we were outhit 10-3 and needed to be able to hold on after the grand slam put us in the lead ... which isn’t really in our DNA. Finigan batted in four runs, and Frazier had a walk, scoring a run and batting in another. But we got all our runs in the second inning and then couldn’t buy any insurance. This loss officially eliminated us from contention, not that anyone is shocked by that. The Yankees (87-34) still lead the AL by 14.5 games over Chicago, and their magic number to clinch is 20. Over in the NL, the Dodgers (88-33) lead the New York Giants by 23 games, and their magic number to clinch is just 10 ... they’ll easily have it locked up well before Labor Day. - - - - - OOC: Now that we have been officially eliminated from the pennant chase, I will continue to manage our games, but will be more likely to push through the games more quickly, and I will only be handling substitutions myself, handing the bulk of decisions off on my coaches. - - - - - August 20, 1955: Arnie Portocarrero (5-9, 4.07 ERA, 130.1 IP, 42 K’s, 1.40 WHIP) pitched against Bob Lemon (8-8, 2 SV, 2.90 ERA, 108.2 IP, 35 K’s, 1.21 WHIP). Cleveland got on the board with an RBI single by Bob Lemon that scored a pair, but Joe Frazier got us on the board in the top of the fifth with a solo homer that at least kept things interesting. But they answered back with a solo bomb by Al Smith in the bottom of the inning, and Stan Lopata batted in a run with a triple, putting us into a 4-1 hole as we headed into the sixth. We brought Sonny Dixon in for the bottom of the sixth, and in the top of the seventh we got a run back thanks to a DeMaestri single, and with two outs Sonny Dixon batted in another with a single, sending us into the stretch trailing 4-3. Harry Simpson got one of those runs back for Cleveland in the bottom of the inning, an RBI single driving in Al Rosen to score their fifth run. Tom Gorman came out to pitch in the bottom of the eighth, getting us through it without any further damage, and Dick Kryhoski led off with a solo homer in the top of the ninth that cut the deficit to a single run! But we weren’t able to get any more offense going, and we lost this one 5-4. Portocarrero fell to 5-10 with a 4.19 ERA, allowing four runs off five hits, walking six and striking out a pair. Sonny Dixon gave us two innings with three hits and an earned run, striking out one, and Gorman got through his inning with just a single hit ... we even outhit the Guardians 11-9! It just wasn’t enough. Kryhoski led the offense with two hits, two runs and an RBI, while Frazier nearly matched him, hitting twice for a run and an RBI. August 21, 1955: Bob Spicer (8-9, 4.61 ERA, 154.1 IP, 39 K’s, 1.48 WHIP) got the start against Cleveland’s Don Mossi (15-4, 2.41 ERA, 197.2 IP, 95 K’s, 1.16 WHIP) in our final game of this road trip. We took a two run lead in the top of the second thanks to a blast out of left field by Frazier, his sixth homer of the year and his second in two days! We loaded the bags in the top of the fourth and Finigan walked in a run to extend the lead, but the Guardians got a run in the bottom of the fourth thanks to an RBI single by George Strickland. Vic Power hit a two-run homer out of left to make it a 5-1 lead in the top of the fifth, Al Gettel came in for the bottom of the seventh inning, still leading by four runs, and he stayed out and got the first two outs of the eighth as well, but Cleveland got an RBI single from Harry Simpson that cut our lead to three, and we brought out Bobby Shantz to get the out we needed. He got two strikeouts in a row in the bottom of the ninth, then let Stan Lopata take first off a single into left. Al Smith singled him to second with the ball rolling just past the glove of DeMaestri at short, but Bobby Avila popped out harmlessly and we got out of here with a 5-2 win! Bob Spicer improved to 9-9 with a 4.49 ERA, getting through six innings with two hits, three walks, three strikeouts and a single earned run. Gettle got through 1.2 innings with two hits, two walks, a strikeout and two runs (one earned) and Shantz finished things off with two hits and two strikeouts in 1.1 innings, saving his 28th game of the season. We outhit the Guardians 8-6, led by Vic Power with two hits, two runs and two RBIs, while Frazier’s homer gave him a run and two RBIs as well. We’re off tomorrow and will be traveling back to Kansas City, where over the next two weeks we will play a pair against Washington (43-80), three against Baltimore (51-73), a pair each against Boston (57-67) and the Yankees (89-34), and then three against Detroit (60-63), before a Labor Day doubleheader against Cleveland (66-57) on the road. After the Detroit series, 16 of our last 19 games in September will be on the road ... so this home stretch is going to really do a lot to determine how close we can stay to .500 for the season. The bad news is that we finally got a diagnosis on the Harry Walker injury that took place during our August 18 loss to the White Sox ... he’s suffered a broken hand, and his season is over. Since being traded to us this year on May 19, the 38-year-old played in 83 games for us, hitting .208/.407/.291 with nine doubles, five homers and 25 RBIs ... he walked 96 times and only struck out 39 times, making him the quintessential leadoff man. We’ve gone ahead and offered him a non-guaranteed one year extension worth $33,750 to play for us again next year. We’ve called up 29-year-old RF Joe Taylor from AAA to fill a spot on the bench while Joe Frazier will continue to start in Walker’s place for the remainder of the season. __________________ Draft League: From the Bottom to the Bigs! -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Daily Double Baseball (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) -- *League Has Openings!* WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds) Last edited by jksander; 08-29-2024 at 05:38 PM.

08-29-2024, 08:50 PM	#34
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,575	August 23, 1955: Alex Kellner (16-12, 3.27 ERA, 200.2 IP, 67 K’s, 1.40 WHIP) pitched against Willie McDermott (6-10, 4.19 ERA, 154.2 IP, 70 K’s, 1.72 WHIP) in our first of two games in two days against the Senators. It didn’t take long for the Senators to score, taking a top-of-the-first lead with a Jim Busby RBI double, but Pafko hit a sac-fly that allowed us to tie it up in the bottom of the inning. They got the lead back in the top of the second when Pete Runnels hit into a sac-fly, allowing a run to score from third, and that’s when the wheels fell off. Kellner got completely shelled and we gave up five runs before finally bringing in Walt Craddock with two outs and no one on, trailing 6-1, to get us out of the inning. Craddock gave up four more runs in the top of the fifth, bringing in Ditmar ... Joe Frazier got us a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth off an RBI single, and we picked up four runs in the bottom of the seventh, Vic Power hitting an RBI single, Joe Frazier an RBI double, Finigan driving in a third with a groundout to first, and Astroth batting in another with a sac-fly to left. We brought Bill Harrington out to pitch in the top of the eighth, still trailing by three at that point, and he got us through two scoreless innings. But we didn’t have any more gas left in our tank, losing this one 10-7 in a game that could have been much worse. Kellner took the loss, falling to 16-13 after 1.2 innings with five hits, six runs (one earned), two walks and a strikeout. Craddock had three innings with five hits, two walks, two strikeouts and four more earned runs, but Ditmar and Harrington went 4.1 innings with just a hit, four walks and a stikeout between them to give us a chance at coming back. They outhit us 11-8, our team led by Frazier who hit twice and walked once, scoring once and batting in three more. August 24, 1955: Carl Erskine (3-4, 3 SV, 4.13 ERA, 52.1 IP, 28 K’s, 1.26 WHIP) started against Washington’s Chuck Stubbs (10-12, 4.73 ERA, 144.2 IP, 68 K’s, 1.52 WHIP). We took the lead in the bottom of the third, Vic Power hitting a sac-fly that scored the go-ahead run. The Senators took the lead back in the top of the fifth, Bruce Edwards hitting a two-run homer with one out, and it stayed a 2-1 Senators lead, with Gorman coming out to pitch in the top of the seventh. In the bottom of the inning, Hector Lopez hit an RBI double to tie it up 2-2, and in the bottom of the eighth we took the lead back with an RBI double by Frazier that put us in the lead 3-2! With the bases loaded and two outs, Hector Lopez hit a hard one into center, the ball bouncing off the wall, three runs scoring in the chaos as he legged out a triple to put us up by four! Al Gettel came out in the top of the ninth and got us out of there quickly with a 6-2 win. Gorman picked up the win, improving to 6-3 with a 3.88 ERA, pitching two innings without a baserunner, following Erskine’s six innings with three hits, two walks, two strikeouts and two earned runs. Gettel pitched around a base hit to get his three outs, as we outhit the Senators 12-4 in our comeback. Frazier’s been red hot, hitting three times with a run and an RBI ... he’s now hitting .270 as an Oakland A, and his season average including his time in St. Louis has him hitting .226 and slugging .435, with six doubles, six homers and 20 RBIs. August 25, 1955: Arnie Portocarrero (5-10, 4.19 ERA, 135.1 IP, 44 K’s, 1.43 WHIP) started against Baltimore’s Jim McDonald (5-5, 5 SV, 3.17 ERA, 99.1 IP, 38 K’s, 1.52 WHIP). The Orioles got the lead in the top of the second ,when Vern Stephens singled, Hoot Evers scoring thanks to an E7 throwing error. We got the run back in the bottom of the inning off an RBI single by DeMaestri, but they took control in the top of the sixth with an RBI single by Hal Smith and a two-run homer by Bob Kennedy, putting them up 4-1 in the middle of the sixth. The seventh inning was a complete disaster, with Portocarrero giving up six runs including three off a second homer by Kennedy, and Marlowe came in to mop up the rest of the game. We scored a pair of meaningless runs in the bottom of the eighth but lost this one in the end 10-3. Portocarrero’s seventh inning was a disaster, and he finished with nine hits, four walks and 10 EARNED RUNS in his 6.2 innings of work ... that drops his record to 5-11 with a 4.63 ERA. The 24-year-old came into our system with a lot of promise, but he’s not looking like he’s got the control to make a career out of this game. Marlowe did his job and got through 2.1 innings with one hit, improving his ERA to 1.23 since the Detroit trade nearly a month ago. We were outhit 10-4, Kryhoski leading the offense with two hits, a walk and a run, while Frazier hit once, walked twice but couldn’t get anywhere. Harry Walker has agreed to the terms of his new contract for next year, which he says may be his last in the majors. August 26, 1955: Bob Spicer (9-9, 4.49 ERA, 160.1 IP, 42 K’s, 1.45 WHIP) pitched today against Ruben Gomez (11-6, 3.49 ERA, 170.0 IP, 72 K’s, 1.30 WHIP), a 28-year-old starter the Orioles picked up off waivers from the Giants on August 4. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the second, Joe Astroth hit an RBI single to give us the lead, and with two outs Hector Lopez hit one into right field to drive in two more! But the Orioles tied it up again in the top of the third, thanks to a three-run double by Gene Woodling. In the bottom of the inning Astroth hit into a fielder’s choice and allowed us to retake the lead 4-3, but Spicer got shellacked in the top of the fifth, giving up five runs before Ditmar came in with a runner on first and two outs, getting us out of there trailing by four. DeMaestri grounded out to first but allowed a run to score, cutting their lead to three, and Ditmar then hit a two-run blast out of left, getting us right back in the game, trailing 8-7 as we went into the sixth inning. Tom Gorman came out to pitch in the top of the eighth, getting three quick outs to keep us within striking distance, doing the same in the ninth when we hadn’t found a way to score. In the bottom of the ninth, Vic Power tied us up 8-8 with a solo homer out of left in the leadoff spot, and this one was headed for extra innings! Gorman stayed out and got two quick strikeouts, Lenny Green then hitting a single to bring up Hoot Evers, who walked him into scoring position. Bobby Shantz came out, striking out Jim Dyck swinging, and we came back up in the bottom of the 10th hoping to put this one away. Lopez took a leadoff walk and Finigan sac-bunted him over to second. With two outs, Pafko walked to give us two on, but Vic Power popped out to end the inning. With two outs and runners on first and third in the top of the 12th, Sonny Dixon came out, getting Hoot Evers to pop out to right field, keeping this game going. With two outs in the bottom of the 12th, Dick Kryhoski hit a double into center, Pafko walked, and then Power popped out to second -- another missed opportunity. Dixon loaded the bases in the top of the 13th but came out of it unblemished, giving us another shot to take this one. We loaded the bases, and with one out Hector Lopez hit a sac-fly to center that drove in the winning run -- it took 13 innings but we beat the Orioles 9-8 after trailing at one point by as many as four runs! Sonny Dixon took the win, improving to 4-1 with a 4.90 ERA, walking two and striking out one without giving up a hit. Shantz pitched two innings with two hits and a pair of strikeouts, this being his first game since July 12 not to end in a decision. We outhit the Orioles 12-10, led by Vic Power who hit three times for three runs and an RBI. Dick Kryhoski added three hits, a walk and a run, while Hector Lopez won the game for us, hitting twice, walking twice and batting in three runs. August 27, 1955: Alex Kellner (16-13, 3.29 ERA, 202.1 IP, 68 K’s, 1.42 WHIP) pitched today, facing Lou Kretlow (3-4, 3 SV, 5.26 ERA, 89.0 IP, 40 K’s, 1.74 WHIP). Hoot Evers got the Orioles a lead in the top of the second with an RBI single, but Joe DeMaestri tied it up in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single. Gene Woodling hit a solo homer in the top of the fourth to put Baltimore back on top, and by the end of the frame we trailed 5-1. Walt Craddock took over with runners on first and second, no outs, in the top of the fifth, getting out of the inning without any of them scoring. Craddock did well to get us through without embarrassing ourselves, but when Bill Harrington came out to pitch in the top of the ninth we trailed the Orioles 6-1. We’d pick up a meaningless run in the bottom of the ninth thanks to a DeMaestri double, but Baltimore won this one easily 6-2 after the Kellner collapse in the fifth. Alex Kellner fell to 16-14 with a 3.40 ERA, allowing eight hits and five runs (four earned) while walking three and striking out a pair through four innings. Craddock went four innings with three hits, a walk, two strikeouts and an earned run, improving his ERA to 4.81, and Harrington got through the ninth with a strikeout and nothing else. Baltimore outhit us 11-10, Power leading the way with three hits, two runs and an RBI. Our record stands at 56-72 heading into a four game stretch with the Red Sox and Yankees coming to play a pair each. August 28, 1955: Carl Erskine (3-4, 3 SV, 4.01 ERA, 58.1 IP, 30 K’s, 1.22 WHIP) pitched against Boston’s Ike Delock (7-12, 4.84 ERA, 145.0 IP, 84 K’s, 1.52 WHIP). Ted Williams batted in a run in the top of the first to get them the lead, and though we loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning we got nothing for it. But in the bottom of the second, Jim Finigan hit an RBI triple that drove in two runs, shooting us into the lead. Jackie Jenson tied it up with a solo homer in the top of the third, but a Pafko solo homer in the bottom of the fifth got us the lead back. Tom Gorman came out to pitch with a 3-2 lead as we started the top of the seventh, and with a runner on second and one out in the top of the eighth, Bobby Shantz came out and kept the lead safe. Shantz struck out Zauchin in the top of the ninth, Piersall grounded out to first for their second out, and then Ted Lepicio hit a single into left field, Don Buddin walking him into scoring position. But a pop-fly to center by Pete Daley ended this one as a 3-2 victory! Carl Erskine picked up his second win in Kansas City and his ERA since the waiver pickup is now 4.10 ... he went six innings with five hits, a walk, three strikeouts and two earned runs. Gorman picked up his 11th hold of the season without a hit, his only baserunner being Billy Goodman in the eighth, who reached on an error. Shantz pitched 1.2 innings for his 29th save of the year, with a hit, a walk and a strikeout as his ERA improved to 2.54 through 67.1 innings. We outhit them 8-6, led by Finigan, who had three hits and two RBIs. August 29, 1955: Arnie Portocarrero (5-11, 4.63 ERA, 142.0 IP, 44 K’s, 1.46 WHIP) pitched today against Boston’s Willard Nixon (9-15, 4.38 ERA, 170.2 IP, 86 K’s, 1.66 WHIP). We took the lead in the bottom of the first thanks to an RBI single by Vic Power, but Portocarrero gave up three runs in the top of the second to swing it back in Boston’s direction. Vic Power hit into a fielder’s choice in the bottom of the third to get us a run back, but Boston scored off an RBI single by Ted Williams in the top of the fifth to make it 4-2 Red Sox heading into the bottom of the inning. Al Gettel came out to pitch for us for the top of the sixth, and in the bottom of the inning Kryhoski hit an RBI single to cut the lead back to one. Vic Power led off with a triple in the bottom of the seventh, and Frazier hit a single that drove him home to tie us up at 4-4. DeMaestri hit a sac-fly that drove in the go-ahead run with one out, and we went into the top of the eighth leading by a run! Gettel got us through the top of the eighth safely, and we brought Tom Gorman out to pitch in the top of the ninth ... all it took was two strikeouts and a pop-up to first and we’d beaten the Red Sox again, this time 5-4! Portocarrero struggled, giving up four earned runs off six hits and three walks, with four strikeouts through five innings. But Gettel came in and was phenomenal, pitching three innings for the win, improving to 3-1 with a one hit, one walk, four strikeout night! Gorman then came in for the save, his third of the year, and we outhit the Red Sox 13-7. Vic Power hit twice with a run and two RBIs, Kryhoski added three hits for a run and an RBI, and DeMaestri hit twice including an RBI. August 30, 1955: The Yankees are in town, and today we had Bob Spicer (9-9, 4.42 ERA, 165.0 IP, 42 K’s, 1.47 WHIP) going up against Hal Brown (12-8, 4.39 ERA, 162.0 IP, 73 K’s, 1.30 WHIP), who has gone 5-0 for the Yankees since getting traded by Boston for a hill of beans ... or, I mean, minor league left fielder Johnny Blanchard. New York opened with a solo homer by Gil McDougald to give them the lead in the top of the first, and Mickey Mantle hit a solo homer moments later to make it 2-0, giving the 23-year-old slugger his 27th of the year which ties his career high set just last year. Joe Frazier hit a homer of his own out of left in the bottom of the second, getting us on the board, but Bill Skowron hit one in the top of the third to keep the Yankees up 3-1. Andy Carey hit one in the top of the fourth, the fifth homer of the game and fourth for the Yankees, but we answered with a two-run blast out of left by DeMaestri in the bottom of the fifth to get back within a run. Al Ditmar came in to pitch with Mantle coming up to the plate in the top of the sixth, walking the Mick ... who would up scoring off an RBI single by Phil Rizzuto. Ditmar got us out of the inning but we were back in a 6-3 hole by the time he did. Dick Marlowe came out in the seventh, and then stayed out in the eighth and got CREAMED ... Sonny Dixon came in with two outs and the score 10-3 Yankees thanks to a three-run homer by Hal Brown. We picked up a couple in the eighth but it was never close again ... we lost badly 10-5. Bob Spicer fell to 9-10 with a 4.50 ERA< allowing four runs off five hits with a walk and a strikeout in his five innings. Ditmar lasted one inning with two hits, two walks and two runs, while Marlowe got rung up with four runs off four hits and a walk in his 1.2 innings. The Yankees outhit us 10-5 and had six homers, McDougald hitting two of them. Frazier did his best for us with two hits, two walks, two runs and an RBI, but the Yankees just had our number tonight. August 31, 1955: Alex Kellner (16-14, 3.40 ERA, 206.1 IP, 70 K’s, 1.45 WHIP) started his 34th game of the season tonight, going up against Whitey Ford (17-5, 3.34 ERA, 215.2 IP, 117 K’s, 1.45 WHIP). The Yankees took the lead in the top of the third, thanks to RBI singles by Hank Bauer and Mickey Mantle, but Pafko answered with a solo homer in the bottom of the fourth to get us on the board. Kellner grounded into a fielder’s choice in the bottom of the fifth, but it was enough for us to score the tying run, but we weren’t able to get out of there with a lead. Walt Craddock came out to pitch to start the sixth inning, and he promptly got shelled ... Dick Marlowe came in with one out and men on first and second, with the lead now 6-2 Yankees. He got out of the inning without anyone else scoring, but the whole experience left us feeling demoralized. Bill Harrington came out to pitch with one out, men on first and second in the top of the eighth, the Yankees scoring another run, and that was pretty much it. Suder hit an RBI double in the bottom of the ninth, but we still lost 7-3. Kellner had a good start, five innings with three hits, three walks, seven strikeouts and two earned runs. But Craddock blew it, falling to 3-11 while just getting ONE OUT ... he gave up four hits, a walk, struck out a batter and allowed four runs (three earned). They outhit us 13-7, Suder leading the way with two hits, a run and an RBI thanks to his garbage time double. We’re off tomorrow before the three game homestand against Detroit (63-69), with rosters expanding for the month of September. We’ve decided to call up left fielder Bill Renna, shortstop Daryl Spencer, first baseman Don Bollweg and right-handed reliever Dutch Romberger from AAA, as well as starter Bob Trice from single-A Savannah. We’re going to run a six-man rotation in September, moving Ditmar and Craddock into the fifth and sixth spots. Bob Trice will handle long relief options for us, and Dutch Romberger will be available for mop-up situations. Attached Images __________________ Draft League: From the Bottom to the Bigs! -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Daily Double Baseball (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) -- *League Has Openings!* WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

08-30-2024, 02:34 PM	#35
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,575	September 2, 1955: Carl Erskine (4-4, 3 SV, 3.92 ERA, 64.1 IP, 33 K’s, 1.20 WHIP) pitched today against Jim Bunning (6-7, 3.76 ERA, 193.2 IP, 129 K’s, 1.30 WHIP). Detroit took a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first and we never recovered. Kryhoski drove in a run in the bottom of the sixth to get us on the board, but we were already down by five when he did it. Bob Trice came in to pitch for the final two innings, and we wound up losing this one badly, 8-3. Erskine lasted seven innings but allowed 11 hits and five runs (four earned) with two walks and four strikeouts. We were outhit 15-7, led by Lopez with three hits and a run, and by Pafko with two hits, a walk and a run. September 3, 1955: Arnie Portocarrero (5-11, 4.71 ERA, 147.0 IP, 48 K’s, 1.47 WHIP) got the start against Detroit’s Frank Lary (11-10, 3.94 ERA, 205.2 IP, 110 K’s, 1.43 WHIP). Detroit again took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, thanks this time to a two-run homer by Ray Boone, but we picked up three in the bottom of the inning, thanks to an RBI single by Pafko and a two-run double by Joe Frazier. A Harvey Kuenn solo homer in the top of the third tied it up, but Vic Power hit a two-run double with a line drive into left that gave us a 5-3 lead at the end of three. Finigan hit an RBI double to add a run in the bottom of the fourth, but the Tigers got a pair back in the top of the fifth and Al Gettel came in to replace Portocarrero. Detroit tied it up in the top of the seventh with an RBI single by Fred Hatfield, and Tom Gorman came in to pitch with two runners on base and two outs, walking Don Blasingame and then giving up a three-run single to Harvey Kuenn to put us in an 8-6 hole. We were down by four heading into the stretch, and though Dutch Bomberger had a solid two inning appearance, we lost this one 10-7. Gettel took the loss, falling to 3-2, and we were outhit 16-14. Pafko had a great game, with four hits, three runs and a pair of RBIs, while Lopez, Power and Astroth each hit twice. September 4, 1955: Bob Spicer (9-10, 4.50 ERA, 170.0 IP, 43 K’s, 1.46 WHIP) pitched against Detroit’s Steve Gromek (13-4, 3.90 ERA, 173.0 IP, 84 K’s, 1.38 WHIP) in the last of our three games against them here in Kansas City. Spicer gave up two runs in the first, the third time we’ve done that this series, but we tied it up in the bottom of the fourth with a two-run double by Vic Power. Jim Delsing got the Tigers back on top with a solo homer in the top of the sixth, and we went into the bottom of the ninth trailing by three runs. Joe Frazier tried to will us back into it with a two-run homer, but that was all we could muster, the Tigers completing the sweep by beating us 5-4. Spicer took the loss and fell to 9-11, and we were outhit 13-7. Power and Frazier each hit twice with a run and two RBIs thanks to their home runs. September 5, 1955: In game one of our doubleheader on the road in Cleveland, Art Ditmar (4-5, 2 SV, 4.43 ERA, 85.1 IP, 32 K’s, 1.52 WHIP) pitched against Don Mossi (17-5, 2.47 ERA, 218.1 IP, 110 K’s, 1.16 WHIP). Stan Lopata got them the lead in the bottom of the first with an RBI line-drive double, but Finigan scored off an E6 error in the top of the second that allowed Ditmar to score from third. Ditmar got us through the fifth still knotted up at one run each, and Tom Gorman came out to pitch with one out and men on first and second in the bottom of the sixth, getting Lopata to hit into a double play to keep it that way. But Cleveland took the lead off a Ralph Kiner solo homer in the bottom of the seventh, and our bats couldn’t make up the run -- we’d lose the game 2-1, a real heartbreaker. Gorman took the loss, falling to 6-4 with a 3.76 ERA. We outhit Cleveland 6-4, led by Finigan who hit once and scored our one (unearned) run. Walt Craddock (3-11, 4.98 ERA, 146.1 IP, 59 K’s, 1.55 WHIP) pitched in game two, facing Herb Score (13-14, 3.87 ERA, 239.1 IP, 242 K’s, 1.48 WHIP). Cleveland scored twice in the bottom of the second to take the lead. Despite solid pitching from our bullpen, that wound up being all they’d need as they held on to beat us 2-0 in the end, adding yet another loss to our current streak. Craddock lasted 4.2 innings and fell to 3-12, but Bill Harrington and Dutch Romberger combined for 3.1 hitless innings. But our bats were silent, getting outhit 7-2 ... shockingly, Billy Shantz picked up both hits, giving our backup catcher a .117 average. September 7, 1955: Alex Kellner (16-14, 3.41 ERA, 211.1 IP, 77 K’s, 1.44 WHIP) pitched against the Yankees’ Vinegar Bend Mizell (16-4, 3.00 ERA, 207.1 IP, 156 K’s, 1.21 WHIP). We took the lead in the top of the second thanks to a two-run single by Joe Taylor, and Vic Power hit an RBI single in the top of the third to add on. But an Enos Slaughter RBI single and a Bill Skowron triple in the bottom of the third tied it up, so Taylor had to hit another RBI single to drive us back into the lead in the top of the fourth. New York tied it up again in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI double by Gil McDougald. Kellner stayed out for the bottom of the sixth, and got two outs before a half hour rain delay ended his night. Gorman came out for the last out of the inning, and with an out and a man on first in the bottom of the eighth we brought out Sonny Dixon with the score still tied up at 4-4. This one wound up continuing into extra innings! Hector Lopez put us up by a run with a solo homer to lead off in the top of the 10th, and Bobby Shantz came out in the bottom of the inning to protect the lead. He pitched around a single by Enos Slaughter, getting out of the inning with a double play as we beat the Yankees 5-4! Dixon took the win, improving to 5-1 with a 4.75 ERA, while Shantz saved his 30th game, his ERA sitting at 2.50 now through 68.1 innings over 51 appearances. The Yankees outhit us 11-8, but Joe Taylor, who has only played in 12 games so far this year, hit twice and batted in three RBIs, giving him nine RBIs for the season. September 8, 1955: Carl Erskine (4-5, 3 SV, 4.04 ERA, 37 K’s, 1.26 WHIP) started against Billy O’Dell (12-5, 3.01 ERA, 170.2 IP, 93 K’s, 1.21 WHIP). Vic Power grounded into a 5-4-3 double play in the top of the first, but Hector Lopez scored to give us an early lead. In the top of the fourth Frazier hit a two-run homer that extended our lead to three, but Yogi Berra batted in a run with a single in the bottom of the inning to get New York on the board. Erskine was having a great game and stayed in for the sixth, but that’s when the Yankees shelled us ... with the lead 5-3 Yankees, a runner on second and just one out, Al Gettel came in to put out the fire. Vic Power hit a two-run single to tie it up in the top of the seventh, but Gettel loaded the bases without an out, and Marlowe had to come in to try and prevent a complete collapse. He walked in a run, and then back to back hits gave up four runs as this game became a rout. Marlowe got the outs eventually, but we went into the top of the eighth trailing by five. From there it was just a matter of finishing things out, and we lost badly 11-5. Gettel took the loss, falling to 3-3 with a 4.15 ERA, and New York outhit us 12-10. Frazier hit once, walked once, scored a run and drove in two, while DeMaestri hit twice and scored a run. __________________ Draft League: From the Bottom to the Bigs! -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Daily Double Baseball (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) -- *League Has Openings!* WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

08-30-2024, 03:31 PM	#36
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,575	September 9, 1955: Arnie Portocarrero (5-11, 4.87 ERA, 151.2 IP, 51 K’s, 1.51 WHIP) pitched against Washington’s Larry Jansen (6-10, 4.44 ERA, 135.2 IP, 59 K’s, 1.30 WHIP) in our first of two against the Senators. This one was deadlocked until the bottom of the fifth, when Washington got three runs off a walk and a pair of RBI singles. They added a pair in the sixth, but Joe Frazier then hit a three-run homer in the top of the seventh to try and will us back into the game. It wasn’t happening though. They scored six unanswered runs in the seventh and eighth, destroying us in the end by an 11-3 margin. The loss went to Portocarrero, who allowed four walks and seven hits in five innings, earning three runs against him. Joe Frazier’s three RBIs led the team, with Pafko and Astroth contributing the other two runs scored by his homer. September 10, 1955: Bob Spicer (9-11, 4.50 ERA, 176.0 IP, 45 K’s, 1.47 WHIP) pitched against Camilo Pascual (5-22, 4.79 ERA, 225.2 IP, 151 K’s, 1.65 WHIP), and this turned into an unexpected pitcher’s duel, with no runs getting in for anyone. Tom Gorman came out to pitch in the bottom of the eighth with the score still tied at 0-0, and he got six outs in a row -- not even allowing a baserunner! -- to get us into extra innings with double-goose-eggs ... each team hit five times in regulation and nobody could score. Pete Suder led off with a single in the top of the 10th, pinch-hitting successfully for Gorman, but Lopez hit into a double play, and we weren’t able to make it happen. Sonny Dixon came out to pitch, and in the top of the 11th we got a triple off Vic Power with just one out, but we weren’t able to score him. Al Gettel came out with one out in the bottom of the inning, a man on first, and he got us through again without Washington finding a way to walk it off. We saw our chance in the top of the 13th, and Joe Frazier took advantage, singling into right with a line drive to drive in the go-ahead run to give us a 1-0 lead! With the bases loaded, DeMaestri hit one into right, driving in a pair, and Hector Lopez drove in another with a single to make it a four-run lead! Gettel stayed out to close things out and we won an absolutely crazy game by a 4-0 margin after 13 innings! Spicer had just five hits through seven innings, and we only allowed two more through the remaining six frames, Gettel taking the win to improve to 4-3 with a 3.86 ERA after throwing 29 pitches through 2.2 innings. We wound up outhitting them 14-7, led by Hector Lopez with two hits, a walk and and RBI and by DeMaestri with a hit, two walks and two RBIs. This was our 60th win of the season. September 11, 1955: Art Ditmar (4-5, 2 SV, 4.27 ERA, 90.2 IP, 35 K’s, 1.50 WHIP) pitched in our first game of a double header against the Orioles, facing Bob Kuzawa (8-9, 4.44 ERA, 162.1 IP, 79 K’s, 1.71 WHIP). And it was a pretty uneventful game after the first few innings. Baltimore took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second, and though Billy Shantz led off with a triple in the third, coming around to score thanks to a single from Hector Lopez, that was all the offense we were able to muster. Our pitching was impeccable from there, but we still lost 3-1. Ditmar lasted seven innings with seven hits, two walks, two strikeouts and three earned runs, giving him the loss. They outhit us 7-4, Lopez and Shantz providing our only offense. Walt Craddock (3-12, 4.95 ERA, 151.0 IP, 66 K’s, 1.58 WHIP) pitched against Jim McDonald (7-7, 5 SV, 3.10 ERA, 122.0 IP, 48 K’s, 1.47 WHIP in the second game of the afternoon. Trailing 3-1 after five innings, Andy Pafko hit a two-run homer for us in the top of the sixth to tie things up, but Craddock couldn’t hold it. Fred Marsh hit a single that batted in a pair in the bottom of the inning, putting them back into the lead. Dutch Romberger got us through, and in the top of the seventh Hector Lopez hit a single that drove in two to re-tie it up, but Romberger couldn’t handle it in the bottom of the inning, loading the bases and giving up a pair of runs before Sonny Dixon could get warmed up and come in without any outs. He escaped with just one of Romberger’s runs scoring, but we were out of comebacks, losing this one 8-5. Romberger took the loss, falling to 0-1 with a 9.64 ERA through 4.2 innings since getting his September 1st call-up. We were outhit 11-5, led by Lopez who hit three times with a run and two more batted in, giving him 70 RBIs this year. September 13, 1955: Alex Kellner (16-14, 3.48 ERA, 217.0 IP, 78 K’s, 1.44 WHIP) pitched against Boston’s Frank Sullivan (15-12, 3.31 ERA, 242.0 IP, 115 K’s, 1.42 WHIP) at Fenway, and this time Kellner didn’t even get out of the fifth inning ... with the score 3-0 Boston, Dick Marlowe came in to pitch in the bottom of the fifth, but he handled himself well and in the top of the seventh we got a run thanks to an Astroth walk. But we weren’t able to muster any further offense, losing this one in the end 4-1. Kellner took the loss, falling to 16-15, and Marlowe put in four solid innings ... three hits, three walks, two strikeouts and the one earned run, while throwing 56 pitches. Boston outhit us 7-3, with Dick Kryhoski leading the way with two hits and a run scored. September 14, 1955: Carl Erskine (4-5, 3 SV, 4.34 ERA, 76.2 IP, 39 K’s, 1.29 WHIP) pitched against Tom Brewer (11-8, 3.89 ERA, 183.0 IP, 64 K’s, 1.42 WHIP) in our last game of the year in Boston. And though Erskine had a great game, pitching all eight innings, Boston took the lead in the bottom of the second with a Sonny White solo homer to take a 2-1 lead, and Ted Williams batted in a run with a sac-fly in the bottom of the third to add all the insurance they’d need. The Red Sox beat us 3-1 for our fourth loss in a row. And with just nine games left in the season (six against the White Sox and three against Detroit), winnable games are at a premium from here on out. We actually outhit the Sox 6-5 today, DeMaestri leading the way with a hit, a run and an RBI. __________________ Draft League: From the Bottom to the Bigs! -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Daily Double Baseball (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) -- *League Has Openings!* WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds) Last edited by jksander; 08-30-2024 at 03:42 PM.

08-30-2024, 06:52 PM	#37
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,575	September 16, 1955: Arnie Portocarrero (5-12, 4.88 ERA, 156.2 IP, 55 K’s, 1.53 WHIP) pitched against the White Sox’s Billy Pierce (19-11, 2.95 ERA, 262.2 IP, 171 K’s, 1.27 WHIP) in front of around 8,000 A’s stalwarts as we started our final home series of the season. Chicago got out to a 3-0 lead quickly in the top of the second, Portocarrero batting in a run with a single in the bottom of the inning to get us on the board. Trailing by three runs in the bottom of the sixth, Andy Pafko hit an RBI single and Finigan smacked a solo homer out of left, pulling us back into the game trailing by a run. Portocarrero kept us in the game, trailing 4-3 as we came up to hit in the bottom of the seventh, and with a runner on second and one out in the top of the eighth we brought out Al Gettel to try and keep us in this one. Gettel did well, getting us into the bottom of the ninth still trailing by just the one run, but we couldn’t muster a comeback, losing this one 4-3. Portocarrero had a great game (7.1 innings, four hits, two walks, four runs of which three were earned) but had to take the loss, with Gettel going hitless through his 1.2 innings. We outhit the White Sox 7-4 but came up short, led by Finigan with a hit, a run and an RBI, and by Portocarrero who had a hit and an RBI. September 17, 1955: Bob Spicer (9-11, 4.33 ERA, 183.0 IP, 48 K’s, 1.45 WHIP) pitched against Virgil Trucks (14-10, 3.42 ERA, 197.1 IP, 109 K’s, 1.33 WHIP). Kryhoski hit an RBI single to give us a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third, but in the top of the sixth the White Sox took the lead with an RBI single by Sherm Lollar and a sac-fly by Jim Rivera. They added on six runs in the seventh and eighth, and though we got a couple runs in the bottom of the ninth it was too little, too late -- Chicago beat us 8-3 for their 90th win of the season. Spicer took the loss, falling to 9-12, allowing 13 hits and eight earned runs with four walks. They outhit us 13-5, with Kryhoski leading our offense with three hits and an RBI. REALLY bad news ... Alex Kellner, who left after the fourth inning in his last start, has been diagnosed with a ruptured disc in his back ... The 31-year-old is now out until at least May of next season, and that’s only if his rehabilitation goes well. That makes our pitching woes exceptionally severe heading into an offseason that is going to be very difficult for us to maneuver. September 18, 1955: Art Ditmar (4-6, 2 SV, 4.24 ERA, 97.2 IP, 37 K’s, 1.48 WHIP) started today against Connie Johnson in our final home game of the season. He promptly spotted them a three-run lead in the top of the first, and they crushed us in the later innings, shutting us out 9-0 in the end. It was ugly, and the fans who were there, while not exactly expecting perfection from us, certainly deserved better than this. Ditmar fell to 4-7 with a 4.30 ERA, and we were outhit 11-5. Our offense was non-existent, with nobody but Pafko (a hit and a walk) making it on base more than once. September 19, 1955: We’ve lost seven in a row and head into our final six game stretch on the road, first facing the 74-74 Detroit Tigers, who would love to finish their season with an above-.500 record for the first time since 1950. Walt Craddock (3-12, 5.07 ERA, 156.1 IP, 70 K’s, 1.60 WHIP) pitched against Steve Gromek (16-4, 3.55 ERA, 198.0 IP, 93 K’s, 1.33 WHIP), and they took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first, holding us off through the middle innings with no trouble. Trailing 5-2 heading into the top of the eighth inning, Finigan led off with a double, advancing to third off a wild pitch and scoring a run thanks to a Kryhoski sac-fly to center. But Dutch Romberger loaded the bases and let pinch-hitter Cal Abrams hit a grand slam to gut him on the mound with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, and we didn’t even bother with any protest in the top of the ninth, throwing up our hands as we lost 9-3. Craddock took the loss, falling to 3-13, and though we outhit them 11-7, there was no overcoming the way the eighth inning ended. Finigan led the way with two hits and two RBIs, while Power, Frazier and Astroth each hit twice as well. September 20, 1955: Bob Trice (0-0, 8.10 ERA, 3.1 IP, 1 K, 2.10 WHIP) started out of the bullpen today, facing Ned Garver (8-6, 4.63 ERA, 153.2 IP, 62 K’s, 1.33 WHIP). Detroit took the lead in the bottom of the second with an RBI single by Red Wilson, and we brought Marlowe out for the third inning and beyond. Billy Shantz hit an RBI single to tie it up in the top of the fourth, and Dick Marlowe hit an RBI single to push us into the lead, and Marlowe did well enough to hold it through the fifth inning! Tom Gorman came out to pitch in the bottom of the sixth, still leading the Tigers 2-1, but the Tigers got an RBI double from Jim Delsing to tie it up in the bottom of the inning. Sonny Dixon came out to pitch after the stretch, and he got us through to the end, but it was Detroit coming out of the game with the walk-off win, Kaline hitting an RBI single to win the game for them 3-2. Dixon took the loss, falling to 5-2 with a 5.01 ERA, but he did what he could -- we just got outhit, this time by a 10-7 margin. Pafko led the team with two hits and a run, while Billy Shantz (two hits and an RBI) continues to hit well in the latter part of the season, though he still only has a .143 average and four RBIs. September 21, 1955: Carl Erskine (4-6, 3 SV, 4.25 ERA, 84.2 IP, 44 K’s, 1.24 WHIP) started our final game of the year against Detroit, facing Billy Hoeft (12-13, 3.92 ERA, 216.0 IP, 128 K’s, 1.40 WHIP). Pafko hit a two-run homer to put us up 2-0 in the first inning, and when our bats weren’t able to find any insurance, Erskine held the lead, pitching his best game since coming to Kansas City. Joe Frazier finally bought us a bit of insurance in the top of the ninth with a two-out solo homer to make ours a three-run lead, and Bobby Shantz came out for the save opportunity in the bottom of the inning ... he got three quick outs and we won a stunner on the road, 3-0! Erskine went eight innings with just three hits, four walks and five strikeouts, and Shantz saved his 31st game and brought his ERA down to 2.47, making his first appearance out of the bullpen in two weeks. We outhit Detroit 8-3, led by Pafko who hit twice with a run and two RBIs. September 23, 1955: It’s been a long season, but it’s almost over ... just three games left between our 61-90 A’s and the Chicago White Sox, who come into the final series with a 91-60 record. Arnie Portocarrero (5-13, 4.83 ERA, 164.0 IP, 55 K’s, 1.50 WHIP) got the start, facing Connie Johnson (13-12, 4.36 ERA, 239.1 IP, 147 K’s, 1.46 WHIP). They took a 2-0 lead in the first, added a run in the second, and then never looked back ... a brutal four-run start to the bottom of the sixth ballooned their lead to 7-2, and Al Gettel gave up an extra run trying to dig out of the hole he replaced Portocarrero in. They’d go on to beat us soundly 10-2. Portocarrero allowed 10 hits with three walks to produce eight runs, six of them were earned, as he fell to 5-14 to finish his season with a 5.01 ERA. They outhit us 15-7, our team led by Finigan with a hit, two walks and an RBI ... Pafko also hit three times, but went nowhere. September 24, 1955: Bob Spicer (9-12, 4.53 ERA, 190.2 IP, 49 K’s, 1.48 WHIP) pitched against Virgil Trucks (15-10, 3.40 ERA, 206.1 IP, 110 K’s, 1.32 WHIP). We came out fighting, Andy Pafko hitting a two-run triple to put us into the lead, with Frazier adding a two-run homer to give us a 4-0 lead after half an inning. But over the next five innings Spicer slowly gave the lead back, Larry Doby hitting a solo homer in the bottom of the fifth that tied it up 4-4. Sonny Dixon came in to start the sixth inning, and in the top of the seventh Finigan got us back into the lead with a two-run single, giving us a 6-4 lead as Dixon stayed out to pitch in the bottom of the seventh. Tom Gorman came out with two outs and men on first and second, and the White Sox got a run back with an RBI single by Chico Carrasquel on just his first pitch. He wound up loading the bases and walking in a run via Bob Nieman to tie things back up. Al Gettel came out with loaded bases, getting us into the top of the eighth without giving them a lead, but we were running on fumes. Gettel got us through the bottom of the eighth, where, with two outs, Pafko hit an RBI single to give us back the lead! A second run scored when Vin Power reached first on an E6 error, and we went into the bottom of the inning leading by two with Shantz coming out to pitch. He got three quick outs and we got out of there with an 8-6 win! Though Gorman blew his fifth save, Gettel was able to get the win, improving to 5-3 with a 3.32 ERA, and Shantz saved his 32nd game, giving him a 2.43 ERA through 70.1 innings. They outhit us 14-11 but we got the last laugh, led by Finigan who hit three times with two runs and two RBIs, and by Frazier who had three hits, a walk, two hits and two RBIs. September 25, 1955: We went with Carl Erskine (5-6, 3 SV, 3.88 ERA, 92.2 IP, 49 K’s, 1.21 WHIP) in the final game, facing Jack Harshman (12-11, 4.41 ERA, 206.1 IP, 108 K’s, 1.52 WHIP). Erskine had two great innings and then got reamed in the third, giving up four runs to the White Sox. The game was called in the seventh inning due to an incoming storm coming off the lake, and we took the loss by the same 4-0 margin, but Erskine didn’t flinch after his rough inning, pitching three perfect innings after that and looking like he could have gone the distance if the game hadn’t ended. He allowed eight hits, a walk and four earned runs, almost all of which came in the third inning. They outhit us 8-1, Vic Power getting our only hit and he went nowhere, while Finigan, Astroth and Taylor each walked once. Our season comes to an end with a 62-92 record, but our win yesterday was enough to get us ahead of Baltimore -- we’ll finish sixth in the American League. Attached Images __________________ Draft League: From the Bottom to the Bigs! -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Daily Double Baseball (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) -- *League Has Openings!* WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

08-30-2024, 08:39 PM	#38
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,575	1955 World Series September 28, 1955: Both the Yankees and Dodgers have been dominant this season, but the 112-42 Dodgers came into this series as the heavy favorites to win this year’s Subway Series despite the Yankees winning home field advantage. Sandy Koufax (21-5, 3.16 ERA, 251.0 IP, 228 K’s, 1.29 WHIP) pitched in game one for Brooklyn against the Yankees’ Billy O’Dell (14-6, 3.19 ERA, 200.0 IP, 107 K’s, 1.24 WHIP), and the Yankees blew up Koufax early in the bottom of the first with five runs, three of them off one homer by Bill Skowron ... so much for the early betting faves, right? Koufax stayed in and pitched very well, but the Dodgers’ bats were quiet. They brought Saul Rogovin out of the bullpen in the bottom of the eighth, still trailing by five, and he didn’t make it any worse, but Brooklyn failed to score a run and lost game one 5-0, getting outhit 7-3. Koufax finished with six hits, three walks and seven strikeouts with five earned runs in seven innings, while O’Dell pitched a three-hitter through 7.2 innings, earning player of the game status. Mantle hit three times for a run, and Skowron’s three RBIs were the early deciding factor. September 29, 1955: Brooklyn brought out Don Drysdale (19-9, 3.27 ERA, 278.1 IP, 197 K’s, 1.17 WHIP) to pitch in a must-win game two situation, facing the Yankees’ Vinegar Bend Mizell (17-6, 3.10 ERA, 241.0 IP, 181 K’s, 1.23 WHIP). And Brooklyn failed miserably, the Yankees taking a 2-0 lead in the first thanks to a Skowron RBI triple and a groundout by Mantle, and then adding to it with an RBI single by Yogi Berra in the bottom of the fifth. Brooklyn didn’t score once, so after two games they trail the Bronx Bombers 2-0 in the series and 8-0 in runs scored, prompting the baseball media to wonder if the National League is just completely overrated. Drysdale pitched a complete game, allowing eight hits with three walks and five strikeouts, only two of his three runs being earned. Mizell, however, pitched a complete game two-hitter, striking out 13, setting a Yankees playoff record for K’s, which ties the American League record. Berra hit three times with the RBI, and McDougald hit twice and scored two. October 1, 1955: For game three in Brooklyn, the Yankees started Whitey Ford (20-6, 3.48 ERA, 253.2 IP, 134 K’s, 1.45 WHIP) against the Dodgers’ Karl Spooner (24-5, 2.68 ERA, 275.2 IP, 228 K’s, 1.18 WHIP). The Yankees took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second thanks to an Irv Noren RBI single that scored Mantle and Andy Carey, and they added two more in the top of the third before a solo homer by Sandy Amoros scored the Dodgers’ first run of the series. But they came roaring back in the bottom of the fifth ... Jim Gilliam reached first on an error, scoring Carl Furillo from third, Pee Wee Reese singled in Amoros for another run, and Duke Snider walked in a run to tie it up though Brooklyn would leave the bases loaded. The Yankees got the lead back with an RBI single by McDougald in the top of the eighth, but Johnny Roseboro hit a sac-fly to left and the tying run scored via Don Hoak from third, and this one was headed for extra innings! The Yankees took the lead with an RBI single by Yogi Berra in the top of the 13th, giving them a 6-5 advantage, and they held onto it to win and take a 3-0 series lead, gutting the Dodgers faithful who still clung to the idea that they could come back. The final run was unearned, so the Brooklyn bullpen put together six innings with three hits, three walks, three strikeouts and two unearned runs in the loss. Bob Grim won it for the Yankees with four innings, just four hits and three walks with a pair of K’s ... and Mantle led the offense with three hits, a walk, a run and an RBI. October 2, 1955: The Yankees started Hal Brown (7-2, 2 SV, 5.13 ERA, 79.0 IP, 28 K’s, 1.41 WHIP) against Brooklyn’s Don Newcombe (12-5, 4.02 ERA, 176.2 IP, 113 K’s, 1.21 WHIP) in game four. Brooklyn took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the third, runs scoring off a solo homer by Sandy Amoros, a groundout by Pee Wee Reese and a single by Duke Snyder. The Yankees got as close as two, trailing 5-3 in the middle of the eighth, but Amoros batted in a sixth run with a groundball single in the bottom of the inning and they held tough to win 6-3 as they got their first postseason victory. Newcombe took the win, pitching 6.1 innings with six hits, six strikeouts and one earned run, with Amoros their driving force on offense -- he hit three times with two runs and two RBIs including his second homer of the series. Mickey Mantle hit three times and scored two runs fro the Yankees, but Brown got crushed early and only lasted 3.2 innings ... starting him definitely got the New York press going, suggesting it was hubris for the Yankees to essentially pitch a bullpen game when they could have had a sweep. Regardless, there will now at least be a game five in Brooklyn tomorrow afternoon. October 3, 1955: Koufax and O’Dell faced off in game five, a rematch of game one, but this time Koufax was on his home mound in front of his team’s fans. Brooklyn took the lead in the bottom of the first thanks to a solo homer by Duke Snyder, but Irv Noren batted in a run with a double to tie it up in the top of the second, the Yankees taking the lead an inning later with a two-run Skowron homer to make it 3-1 Yankees. Brooklyn came roaring back with an RBI single by Koufax and a sac-fly by Jim Gilliam in the bottom of the fifth, tying the score at 3-3, and they took the lead with a Ray Campanella two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth! Gil McDougald scored from third off a Yogi Berra single in the top of the eighth to cut the Dodgers’ lead to one, but Gil Hodges hit a solo blast out of left and Don Hoak hit an RBI single, the Dodgers leading by three heading into the ninth inning. The Yankees didn’t let them rest easy ... Enos Slaughter hit an RBI triple which Skowron followed up by singling, getting Slaughter in to cut the lead again to one. But that was all they’d get -- Brooklyn held on to win 7-6, and the series will go back to the house that Ruth built with the Yankees leading three games to two. Koufax went eight innings with three hits, but he walked eight against six strikeouts, his wildness contributing to four earned runs. But the Dodgers outhit the Yankees 9-7, led by Campanella (two hits, two runs, two RBIs) and Snider (two hits, two runs, one RBI). Skowron hit twice for the Yankees and batted in three, but Mantle hit only once, walked three times and never was in danger of scoring. He’s hit .556 so far through five games, and the Yankees are going to need him if they’re going to avoid letting this series slip away. October 5, 1955: Heading into game six, the Dodgers had literally nothing to lose, while the Yankees came in having let their crosstown nemesis stick a foot in the crack of the door, putting them on the verge of an unheard of World Series comeback. Don Drysdale and Vinegar Bend Mizell faced off in a rematch of game two, and this one was a duel from the first pitch. Brooklyn drew first blood in the top of the fourth, thanks to a Duke Snyder solo homer, a 488-footer that left the park and drew gasps even from the Yankee fans present. They then bought some insurance in the top of the seventh with an RBI single by Don Hoak, giving them a 2-0 lead heading into the stretch with Drysdale still going strong. But the Yankees struck back like a cobra in the bottom of the inning, Mantle walking and then scoring from first off a Berra double, Andy Carey hit a sac-fly that drove in another, and then Mizell himself hit an RBI double that drove in the go-ahead run as this place exploded with Yankee excitement! That took the heart right out of the Dodgers, and they limped to the finish from there, losing this one, and the series, by a 3-2 margin. Mizell pitched his second complete game of the series with five hits, two walks and 10 K’s ... Berra hit once, walked twice and scored a run, while Mantle (who hit .550 in the series) hit once, walked twice and scored once. But Mizell’s two RBIs won the game ... I suspect this won’t be his last heroic moment pitching for the Yankees, his $154,000 free agent signing this April being worth every penny. And while 19-year-old Don Drysdale has to be feeling disappointed by his 0-2 record and 2.81 ERA during his two starts, he’s a rookie who has nowhere to go but up in his career. *The New York Yankees are your 1955 World Series champions, outlasting the Dodgers of Brooklyn 4-2.* - - - - - October 16, 1955: I’m still waiting for my meeting with owner Richard Doyle to officially extend my contract, but all signs I’ve heard from him suggest that, while he’s not happy how far we fell out of contention from being a .500 team, we’ve made progress and he’s not looking to find a new GM / Manager for the team yet. The draft pool has been released and we’re now busy scouting players, knowing the future of the team depends on how well we can capitalize on our high draft position. October 31, 1955: I still haven’t had an official meeting with Richard Doyle, but I did get a new contract, earning $5,000 to remain at the helm of the team both in the front office and as the team’s manager through the 1956 season. The draft pool is looking quite deep this year, and I’m hopeful we’ll be able to bring in a really solid crop of young players to add to our system during the 25-round draft that takes place on November 15! November 7, 1955: Richard Doyle and I finally got to sit down and go over things in detail. He was happy with the work I did to improve our fan support; the folks over in public relations say that fan interest is up eight percent from when I took over the team, and Doyle is happy that we finished the season with nearly $1 million in revenue, with $140,000 in cash on hand. But he wants our attendance to rise this year, which is going to require me to both draft well and find ways to maximize a limited free agent market to find new players, while getting the most out of our veterans who will return to play another year. He still wants to see us playing near .500 in the coming season, with a long term goal of getting to a World Series by the end of the decade. Most important, however, is the attendance goal, as well as his insistence that we need to build a top three farm system over the next three seasons -- and with us being dead last right now, that’s a HUGE ask. He is willing to put money into our payroll expenses, however ... right now our budget is $980,000 for the upcoming season, which leaves us room to put $900,000 into player salaries. Right now we’re paying $755,000 to pay our existing contracts, so that leaves me room to go after more expensive players in the trade market and free agency. __________________ Draft League: From the Bottom to the Bigs! -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Daily Double Baseball (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) -- *League Has Openings!* WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

08-30-2024, 10:20 PM	#39
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,575	November 8, 1955: Here are our top players from the previous season based on WAR: *CF Hector Lopez* -- .249/.377/.354, 12 doubles, 13 homers, 70 RBIs, +12.2 ZR, 5.3 WAR *2B Jim Finigan* -- .266/.392/.423, 27 doubles, 12 homers, 66 RBIs, +6.6 ZR, 5.3 WAR *SP Alex Kellner* -- 16-15, 3.54 ERA, 221.0 IP, 78 K’s, 1.44 WHIP, 3.6 WAR *1B Vic Power* -- .287/.361/.447, 18 doubles, 16 homers, 82 RBIs, +4.2 ZR, 3.3 WAR *C Joe Astroth* -- .209/.353/.257, 8 doubles, 39 RBIs, +1.4 ZR, 1.8 WAR *RF Harry Walker* -- .205/.402/.285, 9 doubles, 5 homers, 25 RBIs, 1.6 WAR (played 83 games for us and 16 games for St. Louis) *RP Bobby Shantz* -- 6-4, 32 SV, 2.43 ERA, 70.1 IP, 34 K’s, 1.42 WHIP, 1.5 WAR *SP Arnie Portocarrero* -- 5-14, 5.01 ERA, 169.0 IP, 57 K’s, 1.53 WHIP, 1.3 WAR *RF Joe Frazier* -- .231/.322/.434, 12 homers, 35 RBIs, +2.8 ZR, 1.2 WAR (played 40 games for us and 24 games for St. Louis) *LF Andy Pafko* -- .271/.330/.396, 6 doubles, 8 homers, 39 RBIs, 1.1 WAR (played 61 games for us and 30 games for Milwaukee) Lopez, our top player, has been a clubhouse issue due to his perceived lack of motivation, as has Tom Gorman, who was frustrated last year to wind up in a mostly setup role behind Bobby Shantz. We have a good core of leaders (Walt Craddock, George Wilson, Carl Erskine and Dick Marlowe) but are definitely on the lookout for our sparkplug, a guy like the Yankees’ Billy Martin, to be an on-field defensive catalyst. I’d also love to find someone with the veteran leadership to be a captain for the team, and really bring us together as a team. November 10, 1955: We’ve made a trade with the Washington Senators, sending them backup catcher Billy Shantz and left fielder Chuck Taylor, in exchange for 35-year-old starter Larry Jansen, who went 9-11 last year with a 3.93 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP with 2.2 WAR despite playing on the worst team in the AL. We’re going to be in desperate need of starters who have good control, since Kellner is out at least until May ... and the Senators were willing to retain 60% of Jansen’s contract, which means we’re only going to be responsible for about $14,000 of his deal. So though I’m wishing we could have gotten a little more out of the deal, I think it’s a reasonable one that helps both sides. November 15, 1955: Later today the rookie draft will take place, but the news of the day is the fact that Vic Power was awarded a Gold Glove at first base for his stellar defense this past season! Here’s hoping he can keep it up next year, we’re going to need every player putting in hard work if we’re going to improve on our 62-win season. November 16, 1955: We went into the 1955 Rookie Draft with the 4th best pick overall behind Washington, Pittsburgh and Baltimore. It was a relatively deep draft overall, however, led by Willie “Stretch” McCovey, the 17-year-old first baseman the Senators took with their top pick. Pittsburgh took Tommy Davis, a 16-year-old left fielder, and Baltimore went with 18-year-old lefty starter Gary Peters. Below are our key draft picks and our best scouting impresions: ROUND 1, Pick 4 -- SP Juan Pizzaro Even at age 18, Pizarro is as close to a “ready now” ace as this draft has ... lean and athletic, the Puerto Rican lefty has a four pitch arsenal which includes an off-the-charts screwball / curveball combo, a good knuckle curve and a solid fastball. He should wind up with elite stuff when he fully matures, and I’m confident he’ll develop into a long-term top-of-the-rotation player for our organization. He pitches hard enough, at 91 to 93 miles per hour, to be a real threat even as a rookie, and he’ll almost certainly be our opening day starter. ROUND 2, Pick 20 -- RP Moe Drabowsky This right-handed starter is, at age 20, another “ready to go” prospect. A durable right-handed reliever, Moe can top out at more than 95 miles per hour -- his high octane fastball pairs nicely with a nasty slider and curveball combo, and he’s got the potential to be a high leverage reliever who borders on the elite. ROUND 3, Pick 36 -- RP Bob Lee Lee is a 17-year-old reliever from Ottumwa, Iowa, who has a devastating curve and an above-average fastball. With pinpoint control, he should be among the league’s leaders in strikeouts if he develops as expected, and that elite command should also help him avoid getting into home run trouble. His ultimate potential is as a lock-down closer, shorter stints where he can rack up those K’s. ROUND 4, Pick 52 -- C Chris Cannizzaro Chris is lean and athletic at 17, hailing from Oakland, California. He’s got the potential to become an above-average contact hitter, while also being good at taking bad pitches and turning them into walks. A slow runner, he still has good instincts and is expected to steal more bases than his share. If he can cut his strikeout rate he’ll become an average major leaguer. His defense leaves a lot to be desired, but he’s smart and that can be taught.He’s got more potential at first and third though, and may never be more than a backup catcher defensively. Beyond that, the remainder of our draft picks were used to fill the minors with everyday players who may or may not ever have the ability to rise to the level of “major leaguer.” But those top four picks are our most likely long-term prospects. __________________ Draft League: From the Bottom to the Bigs! -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Daily Double Baseball (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) -- *League Has Openings!* WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds) Last edited by jksander; 08-31-2024 at 06:02 PM.

08-31-2024, 06:04 PM	#40
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,575	November 16, 1955: Our first rounder, Juan Pizarro, has agreed to a $28,000 signing bonus, and will join the A’s here in Kansas City as our #2 starter behind Carl Erskine. It’s a potentially risky move, but he’s got the skills already to play against major league talent, and that’s going to be our best way to develop him ... we’ll watch his pitch counts early and will be able to avoid leaving him in to get shelled, since we’re building a much deeper bullpen than we had last season. I see him becoming a fan favorite quickly, November 17, 1955: Jim Finigan won the Silver Slugger award for his performance at second base this year, an honor he definitely deserved. But that news got overshadowed by a huge trade that on the surface sounds insane, but which, in the end, I feel it will benefit our team in the long run. Hector Lopez, who hit .249 for us and put up a ton of WAR based on his fielding, has spent much of the offseason so far talking about how much he hates playing in Kansas City, he doesn’t get along with his teammates, and says he has a hard time motivating himself to care when the team around him is terrible. Milwaukee reached out to us about acquiring him for their similarly rebuilding team, and they seem unaware of his potential clubhouse issues ... they’ve offered us middle-infielder Danny O’Connell, 28, who can play second and third at a high level defensively while hitting .258 with 19 doubles, seven triples and four homers last year with the Braves, batting in 48 RBIs with 2.2 WAR. He’s a clubhouse leader with captain potential, and we’ve had our eye on him for a while. They’ve also offered center fielder Bill Wilson, 27, who isn’t a great contact hitter but he does have good power (five doubles and eight homers last year as a bench player, slugging .365 and putting up half a game of WAR despite the Braves barely using him) and he can defend left, center and first base competently, while also pitching well -- he’s got a great cutter and circle change, and could make a good relief option in a pinch. That they’re also including $60,000 in cash pretty much sealed the deal with our owner, who said do it. Wilson is known throughout the league for his high work ethic, so he’ll fit in with the kind of team we’re building. The move has fans in both cities buzzing, the players are all super excited to work with O’Connell, and we’re excited to have finally made a big move that I feel will benefit the team in the long run. November 18, 1955: Hector Lopez was named Rookie of the Year the day after we completed our trade, but the general consensus in the local media is that we made the right move for the team ... with our owner’s focus on getting the team’s clubhouse chemistry up and pushing us toward putting a winning team on the field, it wasn’t going to happen with a player who didn’t want to be here and who the fans were becoming indifferent to. Let him play in Milwaukee, where we’ll only have to see him against us if somehow our two teams were to meet in the World Series. Plus, with O’Connell looking to be our #2 hitter, and Wilson having the power to bat seventh, we’re looking at a lineup that could feature Walker / O’Connell / Power / Pafko / Finigan / Astroth / Wilson / DeMaestri, all back to back. So I think the two-for-one deal and cash is going to help us along faster than I otherwise would have expected. In other news, Moe Drabowsky has agreed to a $1,200 signing bonus, and will be coming up to the big club immediately, where we plan to develop him as a high-leverage stopper. November 19, 1955: Bob Lee, our third round pick, was acting as though he’d rather go to college rather than sign on to play for us, but I see him as a solid development project worth banking on, so we offered big: $22,000 as a signing bonus, and he’s going to start out with the Grand Island A’s in the NESL. If he adjusts well to that league early on, he could make it to the Crowley Millers in the Evangeline league by midseason, though we’re wanting to take it slow and develop him as a future lockdown closer. Chris Cannizzaro, who signed a $10,000 bonus, is going to be catching for the Millers this year, and looks to be a solid addtion to our farm system. December 13, 1955: We’ve signed a backup catcher to replace Billy Shantz on the roster. Ray Noble, 36, is an adaptable veteran who, while he hasn’t played for a major league team since 1953, has solid power, eye and an ability to avoid striking out that should benefit him well in his games supporting Astroth off the bench. He has agreed to a $20,000 contract for the current season and is not arbitration eligible, so it’s a one year deal unless he performs well and we decide to extend him. He’ll be a solid option until Cannizzaro is ready to move up, or until we’re able to find a younger player at the position. December 20, 1955: Only six players total were taken via this year’s Rule 5 draft, and we used our pick to take utility outfielder Zeke Bella from the New York Yankees. The 25-year-old put up 2.7 WAR last year in AAA and hit .272 with 21 doubles and 28 homers, batting in 84 runs. He was never going to earn a chance to start for the Yankees, but his ability to defend all outfield positions will make him a valuable bench option, and you can never have enough power hitters as pinch-hitting options. __________________ Draft League: From the Bottom to the Bigs! -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Daily Double Baseball (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) -- *League Has Openings!* WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)