This Week in Stratball - 7/24/17

CRAWFORDS CRUISE!!

Paige & Company on a Roll

Winners of 13 Games in 16 Outings

The Pittsburgh Crawfords resumed their schedule with a series of 4-game sets against the 1934 National League clubs. The Crawfords had completed one run through the league, compiling a satisfying 13-8 record in their first 21 games. The next 13 wins can in a flurry - it took only 16 games against four opponents to double their win total and create a 26-11 record!!

http://negroleagueshop.com/cat_nlb.cfm
Shop for Crawfords Gear!!

Pittsburgh first traveled to St, Louis to take on the world-champion Cardinals, featuring 30-game winner Dizzy Dean. In the opener, Harry Kincannon allowed a 2-run homer in the first to STL first-baseman Rip Collins and a run-scoring triple in the second to SS Leo Durocher. The Crawfords scratched out runs in the second, third and fourth innings to tie it. The score held at 3 until the 9th when Ted Page doubled and Josh Gibson tripled. Satchel Paige came on for the bottom half of the 9th and picked up his second save of the year.

The Cards came back the next day to even the series at 1 game apiece with a 6-4 victory. Rip Collins's triple set up a 2-run 8th inning that secured the win for Bill Walker, who provided 4 innings of stellar relief.

With Dizzy Dean on the mound for STL, the situation looked good for the Cards. But Josh Gibson led a parade of Crawfords batters with a 2-run homer in the first and a grand slam in the fourth which chased Ol' Diz from the hill. Oscar Charleston and Vic Harris also homered and the Pittsburghers came away with a 9-2 win. Sam Streeter evened his record at 3-3.

Oscar Charleston
#1 On Buzzfeed's Best Players who Never Played in MLB

Diz and Satch, planning a barnstorming tour for the off-season

The finale took 12 innings to settle as the teams were knotted at 5 after 9 innings. Satchel Paige came on in the 10th and hurled 3 innings of 1-hit ball. He wound up as the winning pitcher by driving in 2 runs off of Dizzy Dean (who was looking to prove himself after his short outing the day before) with a single in the 12th. Satch ran his record to 6-0 while Diz fell to 1-4.

Satch!

Next, the Crawfords came home to host the Chicago Cubs. Paige pitched the opener and was outstanding - 3 hits, 2 walks and 14 Ks as he went to 7-0 on the year! The Cubbies took the next 2, scoring 18 runs off of Bert Hunter and William Bell in the process. Sam Streeter broke the mini-slump and began a 9 -game win streak with a complete game, 4-2 win. Back-up catcher Bill Perkins came off the disabled list to drive in all four runs.

The home-stand extended to include 4 games each against the Cincinnati Reds and the Philadelphia Phillies. By scoring 59 runs in these 8 games, the Crawfords seemed invincible! They won all 8 games and provided clear evidence that these players - outlawed by the senseless Jim Crow mentality of pre-Jackie Robinson baseball - would have easily competed in 1930s-era baseball. Some highlights from these games:

- Chet Williams, SS, drove in 11 runs and started numerous doubleplays.
- Josh Gibson, the Crawfords' best player, was injured in the second game... the team won all 5 games he missed!
- Cool Papa Bell and Ted Page each stole 5 bases.
- Satchel Paige followed his 3-hitter with a 2-hit shutout, striking out 11 in the process.
- William Bell got his first victory of the year with a shutout of the reds.
- Pitcher Leroy Matlock swatted a grand slam homer in his complete-game victory over the Phillies.

One final note about the team so far: Paige and Matlock have a combined record of 15-1!!

Next up will be an Eastern road trip as the Craw-dads head to NYC where they'll face both the Giants and Dodgers, then off to Beantown to face the Boston Braves. All three teams, especially the Giants, represent a step up from the recent competition; how far can the Crawfords run their streak?

ONE YEAR AGO IN STRATBALL ...

July, 2016 - News from the Depression Era League

The 1934 Pittsburgh Pirates took 4 of 5 from the 1941 Brooklyn Dodgers, bringing each team's record to 15-9. Larry French ran his record to 5-1 with a win in the fourth game while Paul Waner, Fred Lindstrom, and Pie Traynor all homered for the Bucs.

The 1934 Detroit Tigers fashioned 5 straight come-from-behind victories over the 1941 St, Louis Cardinals.  In game one, they scored 2 in the ninth to tie, and 2 in the 10th to win it! Game two; 3 in the 9th, 3 in the 10th to win again! Eighth and ninth-inning runs in game three and 2 in the 10th to win game four. Down 7-3 in the fifth game, the Tigers scored 3 in the 7th and 2 more in the 8th to walk away with an 8-7 win!!

We are Tigers ... hear us roar!

This Week in Stratball - 7/14/17

This Week in Stratball

7/14/17

NATIONAL LEAGUE CATCHES UP

The Pittsburgh Crawfords enjoyed a week's respite as the schedule-makers provided an opportunity for the rest of the National League to engage in internecine battle - the seven NL teams took turns hosting one another in single-game action.

Brooklyn got surprising pitching from Johnny Babich and Boom-Boom Beck as, early on, they moved to a 4-1 record. Babich pitched into the 9th against the Cincinnati Reds before faltering and allowing the Rhinelanders to tie it up at 5. The Dodgers prevailed in the 11th when Len Koenecke's 4th hit of the game drove in the go-ahead run.

Babich's performance was a pleasant surprise: Beck's effort was shocking! "Boom-boom" earned his nickname from contemporary observers who tried to describe the sound of balls hitting bats ... and then outfield walls in rapid succession! His 7.42 ERA for 1934 seems to corroborate this description.

Larry "Boom-boom" Miller

Boom-boom, as portrayed by comedian Larry Miller

In Beck's start against the Boston Braves, the first inning went according to script. Wally Berger, slugging Boston CF, drove one of Beck's offerings into the seats for a 2-0 lead. But Beck settled down and, remarkably, held the Braves scoreless for the rest of the game: Boom-boom went the distance while striking out 7, surrendering 6 hits, and walking only 2.

In other news from around the league ...NY Giants screwballer Carl Hubbell  subdued the St, Louis Cardinals in a 4-2 victory. Mel Ott homered for the Giants. The Phillies outslugged the Reds 11-8 as Bucky Walters drove in 4 runs on a homer and a double. Walters, later to transform into an outstanding PITCHER for the Reds, was the Phillies' third baseman in 1934.

Bucky Walters, seeing into his future as a Red

The Cubs' Lon Warneke won his second game of the year, outpitching the Cards' Dizzy Dean, 6-1. Both of these top-notch clubs are struggling in the early going and are looking forward to playing the softer spots on the schedule.

The early standings:

Pittsburgh Crawfords               13-8
Brooklyn Dodgers                     5-2
New York Giants                       4-2
Philadelphia Phillies                  4-3
St. Louis Cardinals                    2-4
Chicago Cubs                            2-4
Boston Braves                           2-5
Cincinnati Reds                         1-5

NEWS FROM OTHER LEAGUES

The New York teams are claiming the top spots in the Top Teams of the 90s league. The 1988 Mets and their vaunted pitching rotation are leading the "Early 90s" division with an 8-4 record. The 1998 Yankees, with their 9-3 record, lead the "Late 90s" division.

In the Roaring Twenties league, the 1927 Yankees sport a 24-11 record, good for the top ranking in the "Mostly AL" division. In the "Mostly NL" division, the 1920 Cleveland Indians, led by Tris Speaker, have an identical 24-11 record, two games better than the 1911 New York Giants. Though dormant since this past December, play should be resuming in this league quite soon.

Speaking of dormant, the Johnson-Nixon league has been suspended since May of 2014!! It features a dog-fight in the 1964 (Johnson) division - both the Minnesota Twins and New York Yanks are 33-22. In the 1971 (Nixon) division, the Baltimore orioles are 5 games ahead of the LA Dodgers with a 35-17 record.

The Depression Era league has the 1941 Brooklyn Dodgers atop the "Pre-War"division with a 23-12 record, comfortably ahead of the 1941 Red Sox (with .406-hitting Ted Williams) and the 1941 Yanks (with 56-game hitting streak Joe DiMaggio). In the "Dust Bowl" division, the 1930 A's (23-12) are a game ahead of the 1934 Pittsburgh Pirates and 2 ahead of the 1934 Detroit Tigers.

Finally, with a 15-9 record, the 1953 Brooklyn Dodgers lead the 50s division of the NL Pennant Winners league, while the 1962 San Francisco Giants (16-8) are one game up on the 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates in the 60s division.

This Week in Stratball - 6/26/17

This Week in Stratball 

6/26/17

CRAWFORDS STUMBLE, THEN ROAR

With a 5-4 record, the barnstorming Pittsburgh Crawfords came home to host the Brooklyn Dodgers. Though not a formidable team, Brooklyn slapped around Sam Streeter for 7 runs in little more than 3 innings and cruised to a 9-5 win (see side note regarding Astoria-born Tony Cuccinello's contributions). The Crawfords' Bert Hunter dug a hole for himself in the next game, allowing 4 runs in the opening frame. The Craws fought back and tied the game after 5 innings, but Hunter stumbled in the 8th and the Dodgers walked away with a 6-4 win. Buzz Boyle (3-run double in the first) and Len Koenecke (solo HR in the 8th) provided the offensive spark for Brooklyn.

Buzz Boyle, Brooklyn

Len Koenecke, Dodger slugger

With a record of 5-6, Pittsburgh seemed listless. But, sparked by the bottom of their lineup and some stout pitching from Leroy Matlock, they evened their record the next day by beating Brooklyn 7-4. In that game, the bottom third of the order, including Matlock in the 9-hole, collected 7 hits and scored and drove in 2 key runs. John Henry Russell collected three of those hits and scored both of the runs.

The New York Giants, featuring Carl Hubbell, Bill Terry, and Mel Ott, then came into town. Satchel Paige committed an error in the first, leading to 3 runs. Josh Gibson responded with a 2-run HR in the bottom of the first and Oscar Charleston supplied his own 2-run bomb in the third. Paige, meanwhile, allowed just 2 hits for the rest of the game, improving his record to 4-0. Though Prince Hal Schumacher quieted Crawford bats the next day - he allowed just four hits en route to a 4-2 victory - a corner had been turned. Pittsburgh went forward to win 6 of the next 7, completing its first tour of the National League with a 13-8 record.

Some highlights of those games:

- an 11-run inning against the Giants in which Charleston doubled and tripled in the same inning.
- a 12 strikeout performance by Paige against the Phillies, running his record to 5-0.
- Judy Johnson went 5-5 with 3 doubles, leading a 14-3 shellacking of the Phillies.
- the reversal of Sam Streeter, winner of 2 straight games with fine pitching performances.
- a thrilling comeback from a 7-1 deficit against the Boston Braves, with Paige providing 9th-inning relief help in a 9-7 win.

"COOCH" REPRESENTS ASTORIA COMMUNITY

My hometown burg, Astoria, is a busy little NYC community bordered,  on the west, by the East River and framed by the Triboro (now RFK) and Hell Gate Bridges. 

The Hell Gate Bridge, looking heavenly

Though now bustling, in the early 20th century it was countryside and farmland, famously referenced in The Great Gatsby. It was THIS Astoria that gave major league baseball the Cuccinello brothers, Tony and Al.

Tony, the focus of these thoughts, became the first Astoria-born batter (I've used the great Whitey Ford - a Hall-of-Fame pitcher for the Yankees who grew up in Astoria - many times) that I've ever used in Strat-o-matic. He was a capable middle infielder who bounced around the National League during the Great Depression. He made the All-star team three times and occasionally garnered some MVP votes. Looking through the record book, it's clear that Tony, while not a star, was a valuable guy to have on your team. I had long been aware that he was from Astoria and looked forward to using his card in one of my games.

All the way from "the country"... Astoria, NYC

His debut was sensational. In the first, he singled and drove in a run. In the third, he doubled and drove in a run. In the fourth, he put the game away with a 3-run homer! In his fourth at bat, "Cooch" completed the cycle with a triple. In his first 4 at bats, he drove in 5 runs and completed one of the rarest batting feats in baseball! My hometown heart swelled. Congrats, Cooch, ya dun good ...

This Week In Stratball - 6/19/17

Satchel Paige, ready to fire!

THIS WEEK IN STRATBALL

JUNE 19, 2017

CRAWFORDS CRASH 1934 NATIONAL LEAGUE

Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, and Oscar Charleston are leading a parade of Pittsburgh Crawfords stars into battle against the 1934 National League. They are replacing the Pittsburgh Pirates and retroactively integrating the league thirteen years ahead of schedule.

The Crawfords' Strat cards come courtesy of Paul Dylan, long-time Strat player and curator of the awesome One For Five website, from which one can download the cards. This is a single team from the barnstorming winter of 1933 & 1934 and, as such, has the feel of a real team - some great players, for sure, but others of just modest talent. Managing the team will have its challenges as one will need to balance the front-line talent with a shallow bench.

Paige got the team off to a fast start, out-pitching Dizzy Dean and the Gas House Gang on Opening Day. He struck out 9 en route to a 3-hit shutout and received some surprising support from Judy Johnson who crushed a grand-slam homer in the 6-0 win.

After 9 games, however, the Craw-dads are scuffling with a 5-4 record. They run hot and cold, capable of scalding opposing pitchers for 28 hits and 16 runs one day and being shackled to just 1 run the next. Satch is 3-0 with 3 complete games - he's had just one earned run scored off of him! But the pitching seems pretty thin after him. And, outside of Gibson and Charleston, there's little homerun muscle - though that seems true for most 1934 NL teams.

Next up is Brooklyn, then across the river to the New York Giants of Mel Ott and Carl Hubbell fame.

TOP TEAMS OF THE 90S LEAGUE GETS UNDERWAY

Grab 5 teams from the 90s, one from the late 80s, 2 from the early aughts, and 4 fictionalized teams and what would you call it? Well, I settled on "Top Teams of the 90s" and, frankly, the playing of the league is much more interesting than the naming of the league.

The league is divided into two divisions: an Early 90s and a Late 90s division:

EARLY:

1988 NEW YORK METS
1990 OAKLAND A's
1993 TORONTO BLUE JAYS
1996 ATLANTA BRAVES

LATE:

1998 NEW YORK YANKEES
1998 HOUSTON ASTROS
2001 SEATTLE MARINERS
2002 ANAHEIM ANGELS

Each division is rounded out with "semi-stars" of Strat's 42 Old-Timer Teams. For those in the know, the names will delight - Lew Riggs, Alpha Brazle, Curly Ogden, etc. They are organized by decade and were allowed to draft one era-specific star (say, Tris Speaker for the 1920 American League team), one modern hitter (Larry Walker, par example), and one modern pitcher (Pedro Martinez is represented by both his 1999 and 200 cards). More on these teams at a later time.

Randy Johnson doesn't like you.

One notable feat has already occurred in this young league: Randy Johnson, pitching for the 1998 Houston Astros, tossed a no-hitter in the team's 9th game. It was, perhaps, the worst no-hitter ever thrown: he walked 13, including four in the first to give up a run, and needed 9th-inning heroics from Craig Biggio who singled home Brad Ausmus for the walk-off: Astros won 2-1.

Randy's pitching line: 9 IP, 1 ER, 0 Hits, 13 walks, 7 strikeouts and the win. I'm guessing a pitch count of at least 160.

CFL Countdown: The End is Here

And so it comes to this: 

The 1950 New York Yankees have a record of 88-64 and two games left with the 1957 Milwaukee Braves.

courtesy baseball-refernce.com

Left to right: Rizzuto, Berra, Dimaggio, Lopat, Reynolds, Raschi, Coleman, Ford, Bauer, Woodling, Mize, and Byrne.

The 1954 Cleveland Indians own a record of 88-65 and will play the final game on the calendar against those very same Braves.

courtesy baseball-refernce.com

Left to right: Avila, Doby, Wynn, Lemon, Rosen, Garcia, Smith, Mossi, Narleski, Houtteman, Feller, Wertz

A tie at the end of the season would set up a best of three playoff.

Let's get to the games!

The Yanks send wildman Tommy Byrne (10-12) to the mound to face spot starter Bob Trowbridge (7-12) as the Braves' starter Gene Conley comes up lame in his last scheduled start of the year. Things look good for the New Yawkers as they score 2 in the second and another pair in the top of the third. Byrne, however, has trouble getting anyone out in the Milwaukee third, giving up 3 hits and 2 walks before yielding to Allie Reynolds. Big Chief Reynolds calmed things down but the Braves score 5 (including 3 on Hank Aaron's league-leading 45th HR) to take a 5-4 lead.

Yogi Berra sends the Yanks up again with a 2-run homer in the fourth and, for a while, it looks like those runs might be enough. Reynolds provides 5 innings of stellar relief but surrenders the tying run in the 6th, as Eddie Mathews doubled home Red Schoendienst. Meanwhile, a trio of Milwaukee relievers shut down the potent NY offense - Ernie Johnson, Juan Pizarro, and Don Mcmahon keep the Bombers scoreless through the 8th.  Joe Ostrowski comes on for the Yanks - he's got a league-leading total of 20 saves on the year. The Braves tee off on Ostro for 4 hits and Bobby Brown commits an error all good for 2 runs and an 8-6 lead. Don McMahon completes the 9th without incident and the Yanks go down to defeat.

WP: Don McMahon 7-2
LP: Joe Ostrowski 5-8

NY 88-65
CLE 88-65

Tied with one game left for each team in the season.

The Yanks' last game of the year was a laugher. They jumped on hard-luck Braves' hurler Lew Burdette (4-22) and his second-inning replacement Dave Jolly for 11 runs. Vic Raschi cruised into the 9th but needed last out help from Tom Ferrick. Final score 11-6.

WP: Vic Raschi 15-11
LP: Lew Burdette 4-23

Lew Burdette - wondering how it could have gone so wrong this year!

NY 89-65
CLE 88-65

Cleveland must win the final game of the season to force a playoff.

Ace Bob Lemon takes the mound for Cleveland while the Braves send 17-game winner Bob Buhl out to thwart the Indians. Lemon falters in the first, giving up 6 hits and 5 runs. This, combined with the fact that Cleveland is playing without their starting 2B (Bobby Avila), C (Jim Hegan), and LF (Al Smith) has quieted the visitors' dugout ... the season seems lost. 

But the game must go on and Cleveland shows signs of life: Wally Westlake doubles and scores in the second, Larry Doby triples home Hank Majeski in the third, and Al Rosen singles and scores in the 6th. Meanwhile, Lemon has regained his composure and pitches 6 innings, leaving for a pinch-hitter in the 7th on the wrong end of a 7-3 score. Things go from bad to worse as Red Schoendienst homers in the bottom of the 7th, putting Cleveland down by 5 with just two innings to go.


In the top of the 8th, the Indians come alive, getting to Buhl for a series of hits. Westlake homers, scoring himself and Vic Wertz. SS George Strickland walks and scores moments later when backup catcher Hal Naragon triples. Dave Philley doubles home Naragon and, when Doby singles him home, it's 8-8!! The Indians have improbably stormed back and are very much alive in the pennant race as we head into the final few innings.

Ace reliever Don Mossi retires the Braves in order in the bottom of the 8th and Ernie Johnson duplicates that effort, quieting the Tribe in the 9th. Tied at 8, we go to the bottom of the 9th in the final game of this remarkable season!

Mossi retires Billy Bruton and Hank Aaron and it looks like we're headed for extra innings. Slugger Eddie Mathews is pitched to carefully; he works a walk. Andy Pafko lifts a short fly to center which drops in; first and second with 2 outs. Mossi faces yet another Braves' slugger in Joe Adcock. When Adcock walks, it loads the bases for SS Johnny Logan.

Just two of the Braves Fence Busters
courtesy carboardconnection.com

Mossi, and Cleveland fans everywhere, couldn't have asked for a better situation - given the depth of the Braves' potent offense (three Hall-of-Famers, six players who, at some point in their careers hit 25 homers in a season, five of whom reached the 35-homer mark),  the prospect of facing Johnny Logan with the season on the line is pretty appealing. Mossi holds the ball and considers his good fortune.

Honestly .. one of the better pics available of the esteemed Mr. Mossi.

Bottom of the 9th, bases loaded, two out .... pennant on the line. An out extends the game, the season, and the hopes for Cleveland's fans. A hit, walk, or error ends it all with Cleveland one game back of the Yankees. A high-leverage moment, indeed.

Mossi reaches back and delivers to Logan. Logan drives it right back up the middle, past Mossi, between Majeski and Stickland and, as the ball bounces over second base, Eddie Mathews scores!!

Logan's Run ends the season and dashes Cleveland's hopes

Braves win, Cleveland loses, and the Yankees win the pennant!! And a season which took seven years to complete, ends on the very last roll. 

Final Standings:

YEAR	TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT	G.B.
1950	New York Yankees	89	65	0.578	0
1954	Cleveland Indians	88	66	0.571	-1
1962	Los Angeles Dodgers	81	73	0.526	-8
1957	Milwaukee Braves	72	82	0.468	-17
1962	New York Mets	38	116	0.247	-51

CFL Countdown - The End is Near

Home of the Braves, land of the free

Milwaukee's County Stadium will be the site of the final ten games of this magnificent season, with the top two teams - the 1950 New York Yankees and the 1954 Cleveland Indians - taking turns at the battered and beaten Braves of 1957. Here's how it will all wind up:

Yanks versus Braves for 1 game
Indians versus Braves for 2 games
Yanks versus Braves for 2 games
Indians versus Braves for 2 games
Yanks versus Braves for 2 game
Indians versus Braves for 1 game

The Indians and the New Yorkers come in with identical 85-64 records. Cleveland blew an opportunity to come in with a superior record but could only manage a split of their four-game series with the 1962 Mets who finished their season with a 38-116 record (.247). 

The Braves have staggered some (winning only 21 of their last 53 has turned a 48-42 record into a disappointing 69-75) and have been injured a lot. They've lost significant time to injuries in the past month of the season including Andy Pafko for 2 games, Wes Covington for 2, Warren Spahn for 6, Hank Aaron for 8, Eddie Mathews for 10, and switch-hitting 2B Red Schoendienst for 11 games. That's 35 games lost to four Hall-of-Famers!! Everyone's back off the DL, so the Braves, though tender, will have a full roster for the start of these important games.

Let's get to the games:

Yanks 5, Braves 4

Hank Bauer, happy to be here

Yanks' starter Vic Raschi got into a 2-0 jam after just two batters - Red Schoendienst doubled and was brought around by a Johnny Logan homer. Two subsequent errors went to waste as the Braves could not convert these early gifts into more runs. Pity, too, as Hank Bauer poled a 3-run homer in the third to give NY the lead. The teams traded runs and went into the 8th tied at 4.  Johnny Mize, New York's red-hot first-baseman, clubbed his 29th homer of the year for the lead . . .  and the win. 

WP: Vic Raschi 14-11
LP: Lew Burdette 4-21

YEAR	TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT	G.B.
1950	New York Yankees	86	64	0.573	0
1954	Cleveland Indians	85	64	0.570	-0.5
1962	Los Angeles Dodgers	81	73	0.526	-7
1957	Milwaukee Braves	69	76	0.476	-14.5
1962	New York Mets	38	116	0.247	-50

Indians 10, Braves 2

Bob Lemon knows something you don't know ... and he's not tellin'

Bob Lemon picked up his 16th win while battery-mate Jim Hegan clubbed his 26th HR of the year and drove in 4 runs. Cleveland scored early and often and drove Milwaukee starter Bob Buhl from the mound after 5 innings. With the win, the Yanks and Cleveland remained tied with 86-64 records.

WP: Bob Lemon 16-12

LP: Bob Buhl 17-8

Braves 6, Indians 3

Reaching back for that something extra: Warren Spahn!

To say that lefty Warren Spahn survived a shaky start wouldn't quite be right ... true, he gave up 3 runs in the first three innings but he was never comfortable on the mound. He surrendered 16 hits and 2 walks in his 9 innings of work and, magically, incredibly, walked away with a win. In so doing he became the league's first - and likely only - 20-game winner. Spahnnie also collected two hits and drove in a run.

WP: Warren Spahn 20-14

LP: Art Houtteman 10-6

YEAR	TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT	G.B.
1950	New York Yankees	86	64	0.573	0
1954	Cleveland Indians	86	65	0.570	-0.5
1962	Los Angeles Dodgers	81	73	0.526	-7
1957	Milwaukee Braves	70	77	0.476	-14.5
1962	New York Mets	38	116	0.247	-50

Yanks 6, Braves 2

Yanks 2, Braves 1

Hey Yogi! Whaddaya wanna do? I dunno, Phil... whadda you wanna do?

Eddie Lopat stymied the Braves on 6 hits in the first game while Whitey Ford hurled 8 shutout innings before yielding a solo run in the 9th inning of the second game as the Yanks swept their two games against Milwaukee. "The Scooter," Phil Rizzuto picked up 5 hits in the two games, three of them for extra bases.

WP: Eddie Lopat 18-8

LP: Gene Conley 8-5

WP: Whitey Ford 10-5

LP: Lew Burdette 4-22

Indians 5, Braves 3 (11 innings)

Indians 11, Braves 3

Three Hall-of-Famers and the CFL's Cy Young Award winner???

Cleveland came right back to match the Yanks' sweep. Mike Garcia pitched 10 strong innings for Cleveland and Bob Buhl pitched a beaut for Milwaukee. Cleveland's back-up RF Wally Westlake broke the deadlock in the 11th with his 20th homer of the year - his 4th hit of the day! The victory was a costly one, however, as the Indians lost their stalwart catcher (Jim Hegan) and their star second-baseman (Bobby Avila) to injuries which will keep them out of the lineup for the final few games.

Early Wynn then mesmerized the Braves, giving up just 4 hits (including a shutout-spoiling 3-run HR by Andy Pafko) in the complete-game, 11-3 rout. Given their injuries, the Indians wisely sat some of their regulars after getting a 10-0 lead after three innings. Unfortunately, it wasn't 100% effective; Al Smith, left-fielder and lead-off man, went down with yet another season-ending injury, leaving the Indians down by three starters, with just one game left. 

WP: Mike Garcia, 19-5

LP: Bob Trowbridge 7-11

SV: Ray Narleski (7)

WP: Early Wynn 12-15

LP: Warren Spahn 20-15

YEAR	TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT	G.B.
1950	New York Yankees	88	64	0.579	0
1954	Cleveland Indians	88	65	0.575	-0.5
1962	Los Angeles Dodgers	81	73	0.526	-8
1957	Milwaukee Braves	70	81	0.464	-17.5
1962	New York Mets	38	116	0.247	-51

The Yanks come in for two final games before Cleveland ends the season with one last game. New York, with two wins, can make that last game meaningless. 

After seven years of play, this league comes down to its final three games . . . 

Me and Lou - a 40-year Strat Relationship

This past July commemorated the 76-year anniversary of Lou Gehrig's "Luckiest Man" speech at Yankee Stadium. For the past several months, I've been thinking about Gehrig, his phenomenal 1927 season, and his equally impressive Strat-O-Matic card from that year:

This is the basic-only card originally available as part of Strat's spectacular 42-team, Old-timer set. I first purchased this set in 1972 or so and have bought the entire set two more times since then. The later purchases provided me with cards that had the by-now-standard black ink on white card printing, but the '72 purchase arrived with teams having the distinctive shade of blue ink shown above.

It's a great card from one of the best offensive seasons ever. A .373 batting average with 109 walks results in a near-.500 on-base percentage. The extra base hit barrage of 52/18/47 is a wonder to behold. And Strat's conversion of all that into a card is a thing of beauty - the solid HRs on 3-4, 3-5, and 3-6 are both rare and yet not-quite enough, necessitating a minor split on 3-7. Indeed, the "HOMERUN 1, DOUBLE 2-20" result provided me with one of my first hints as to the precision of Strat-O-Matic's work: it seems almost unnecessary and yet they included it to make...his...card... juuuust .... right. A truly epic season crafted into an aesthetically pleasing card. Plus, as a bonus, Lou's card was the only one of its kind (until some Strat policy changes years later): it was free of injuries. Every other player's card contained a result - often in the infrequent 2 or 12 slot for those who were regulars - that would injure a player for anywhere from a moment to a maximum of 15 games. But Lou, in the midst of a historic game-playing streak that would eventually reach 2130 straight games, was exempt from this probability. I loved that Strat understood that about Gehrig and created a card that respected - and captured - his achievement.

All of those aspects could be appreciated about that card as soon as it was delivered. But, now, after 40+ years of playing and handling, there are additional layers of appreciation ... layers that reveal the interaction of the ball-player and the game-player.

Take another look at the card. Notice the curve along the left-hand edge? That's where the card, along with its teammates in a lineup of nine, rested against the opposable-thumb muscle of my left hand. The right-hand side curves? Those are the slight impressions created by the slow carving of curled fingers that kept it in place, at bat by at bat, game by game, season by slowly-evolving season.

How 'bout them stains? There are two prominent ones, set diagonally across from one another. On the upper left, one can see the accumulation of dirt, grime, and oils deposited over eons as my left-hand thumb pushed down on the card, then pushed to the right when an at bat came to an end. The matching browning on the lower right-hand side is the same effect produced by the right-hand thumb finishing the transaction, retrieving the card and bringing it to the bottom of the 9-card lineup. Many of the cards from that set show these signs to some degree but Lou's card, always in the lineup, shows them to the greatest extent.

What you can't tell from the photo is the feel of the card. When they first arrive, the cards often stick together due to a slightly waxy finish. After a few games, a satisfying slip sets in and the cards move more freely. After a thousand games - and that is by no means an exaggeration in the case of this card - the card takes on a velvety smoothness and becomes noticeably slimmer as, tiny layer by tiny layer, a river-rock erosion takes place.

As I think about the sloughing of the card's outer layers over time, I can't help but think about the similar impact this action has had on my fingers ... we know our skin sheds its outermost layers and this constant sliding of fingers and thumbs against Strat cards must accelerate that process. Somewhere those atomic bits of skin and paper are mingling. Indeed, there must be a trail of such erosion, from the living room and kitchen of my parents' apartment in New York City to the dormitories of Syracuse University and the steady stream of the Boston apartments of my 20s and ultimately to the shared spaces with my wife in Vermont ... a 40-year trail of Strat detritus.

I never met Lou Gehrig, obviously; his untimely death in 1941 is part of the mythology of baseball and America. But, through Strat-O-Matic, I've had a relationship with him. While I have grown and changed over time, he has been constant, static, and unchanging while somehow also slowly altering - softening and slimming - through a lifetime of interactions. Our time together is evident on his card; one of the few cases where the impact of a relationship can be visualized.   

Lou Gehrig - a good man to hang out with
courtesy of sabr