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 . . .