IN THE NEWS: Congressman Celler denies the accusation that his committee wants a 3rd ML. He states that some changes with regard to territorial rights will have to be made.
The Cubs' Eddie Miksis lines a ball to Willie Mays in CF, which caroms off his head for a double, as the Cubs nip the Giants, 32. Cal McLish wins over Larry Jansen. The Giants come back in game two behind the shut out pitching of Al Corwin to top the Cubs, 20. Bob Kelly is the losing pitcher, while Al Corwin wins his first ML game.
At Pittsburgh, the Dodgers take a 72 lead against Murry Dickson, then make two hits off four relievers and lose, 129. The Pirates score four in the 4th and four more in the 8th, including Ralph Kiner's 27th homer, to win and snap the Dodgers victory streak at 10 games.
IN THE NEWS: Lame duck Commissioner Happy Chandler testifies in front of the Senate committee, urging that baseball expand out of its eastern area. He adds that some owners see sport only as big business.
IN THE NEWS: The Phils shut out the Braves 10 in 15 innings in the 2nd game of a doubleheader as reliever Ken Heintzelman bests Warren Spahn, also in relief. The Phils capture the opener, 31, on Robin Roberts' 15th win.
In a day-night doubleheader the Dodgers sweep a pair from the Giants, taking the first game 72 behind the solid relief of Carl Erskine. Gil Hodges, Duke Snider and Carl Furillo homer. Brooklyn takes the nitecap, 65, in 10 innings after jumping on Maglie for a 51 lead. Snider and Furillo homer again, while Bobby Thomson goes deep for the Giants. Cox's RBI single wins it, giving the Dodgers an 11 1/2 game margin, the greatest lead in Brooklyn history.
Senator Edwin C. Johnson backs the reserve clause in his testimony, citing his bill to exempt baseball from antitrust legislation.
Bobby Doerr suffers a severe sacroiliac pain that forces the future Hall of Famer into early retirement. The Red Sox regular 2B for 13 seasons, Doerr will become a Red Sox coach.
IN THE NEWS: With possible baseball commissioner Douglas MacArthur looking on, the Dodgers top the Giants again, 65, for their 12th win in 15 games between the two rivals. The two teams combine for a National League record 24 walks. Campanella hits two homers, but sustains an injury the 9th inning when Whitey Lockman crashes into him: "The hardest I've ever been hit in a ball game." Campy will miss four days but the bone chips will hamper him the rest of the season. Clyde King wins his 2nd win in two days and shortstops Pee Wee Reese (19) and Alvin Dark (17) keep their hitting streaks alive. The Dodgers lead by 12 1/2 games.
In the Braves 54 win over the Phillies, catcher Ebba St. Claire participates in three double plays to tie the ML record. The record will be topped in the American League, but not till 1999 will another NL backstop be in three DPs in a game.
IN THE NEWS: In Philadelphia, the Giants lose to the Phils, as Robin Roberts shuts them out, 40, for his 16th win. Putsy Cabellero hits his 1st major league homer, off George Spencer for the 3rd place Phils (57-52), now just one 1/2 games behind New York.
The Dodgers take the 1st of two games against the Braves, winning 81 behind Ralph Branca. Brooklyn now leads the National League by 13 1/2 games with 49 games to play. The Braves take the nitecap, 84, behind Max Surkont and a home run by Sid Gordon. With Red Barber and Connie Desmond making the calls, the doubleheader is the first ML game to be telecast in color.
Behind the four-hit pitching of Early Wynn, the Indians defeat the White Sox 21 in front of a Ladies Night crowd of 70,119. Wynn's homer in the 7th gives the Tribe (68-39) and negates 2nd-inning homers by Eddie Robinson and Al Rosen. It's the Tribes 9th straight win to stay deadlocked with the Yankees for first place. Loser Joe Dobson, who has beaten Wynn twice this year, gives up just six hits.
Eddie Joost homers in the 9th for the A's, who tie the Yanks 44, but the Yanks win in 11, 74. Sloppy fielding and a two-run single by Berra account for the scoring. The win goes to reliever Bob Kuzava, late of the Senators, while Alex Kellner takes the loss.
IN THE NEWS: The Giants (59-51) start the day 13 games behind first place Brooklyn (70-36). On Wes Westrum Day at the Polo Grounds, Sal Maglie wins the first game against the Phillies 32, and rookie Al Corwin takes the 2nd game 21. Eddie Stanky returns to the lineup after a week's absence and has five walks in the two games while leading off. The sweep launches a 16-game win streak and a spurt of 39 wins in 47 games.
Campanella breaks up a pitching duel between Newcombe and Boston's Johnny Sain with a 3-run homer, his 2nd of the game, and the 3rd time in nine games he's collected a pair of homers. Campy's five ribbies give the Dodgers a 72 win. Don Newcombe wins his 16th, while Sain goes 413.
The Yankees, tied for first place with Cleveland, lose a pair to the A's. The A's use 17 hits to win the opener, 95. then use Pennsylvania's Sunday Blue Law at 6:59 (American League Rule is 7:00 with no inning starting after 6:44) to win the nitecap, 74. The Yanks start an 8th inning 5-run rally at 6:37 and take a 97 lead, but the curfew wipes it out before Pete Suder can hit. Beginning next year, the AL will adopt the 40-year-old suspended game policy of the National League.
IN THE NEWS: Where's Steve Sax when you need him? At Ebbets Field, the Dodgers offer up one of the odder promotions in "Music Depreciation Night," and every fan with a musical instrument is admitted free. 2,426 fans take advantage of the offer, including one with a piano. The Dodgers have a motive in countering the local musicians' union which wants to silence the non-union Sym-Phoney. The Dodgers outplay the Braves, 76, as Gil Hodges belts a 3-run homer in the 8th, following an intentional walk to Campanella, who had earlier homered.
The Giants keep pace with a 52 win over the Phils. Larry Jansen, pitching for the first time in eight days, wins his 15th. Whitey Lockman hits a 3-run homer.
IN THE NEWS: In a night game at the Polo Groundsthe last of 14 night games this yearthe Giants righty George Spencer beats the Dodgers, 42. Erv Palica takes the loss, as the Giants jump on him early. Al Dark doubles and comes home on Don Mueller's homer. An out later, Whitey Lockman homers and Palica doesn't make the 2nd inning. The Dodgers score in the 8th on successive homers by Cox and Snider.
Ted Williams hits two home runs to take the American League lead, and the Red Sox pull off a triple play to beat the A's, 74. With his 25th home run, Ted reaches 100 RBIs.
IN THE NEWS: Giants P Jim Hearn defeats the Dodgers 31 as Willie Mays makes a miraculous play in the 8th. With the score 11 and Billy Cox on 3rd, Mays makes a running catch of a Carl Furillo drive in deep right CF and whirls counterclockwise to throw out the astonished Cox at home. Wes Westrum's 2-run homer off Ralph Branca in the 8th provides the two-run margin. Hearn allows just six hits, all singles, as the Giants move to 10 1/2 behind Brooklyn.
Al Rosen belts a first inning grand slam to jump start the Indians to a 94 win over the Browns, their 13th in a row. For Rosen, it is his 4th slam of the year, just the 9th player to accomplish the feat. Ned Garver gives up seven runs in the first inning in losing to Early Wynn.
IN THE NEWS: Sal Maglie outpitches Don Newcombe, 21, to cut the Dodger lead over the Giants to nine 1/2 games. Maglie allows four hits, including Billy Cox's 300-foot homer, in winning his 17th. The Giants score the winner in the 7th when Bobby Thomson scores on a wild pitch. Reese goes hitless, ending his 22-game streak.
The Browns end the Indians win streak at 13 when Tommy Byrne pitches and bats St. Louis to a 40 win. Byrne allows two hits in seven innings and drives in all the runs before retiring with back spasms. Mike Garcia loses to drop the Indians lead to one 1/2 games over the Yankees.
The Cards score six runs in the 7th inning to defeat the Pirates, 96. Murry Dickson, trying for his 17th win, takes the loss. Stan Musial hits a 3-run homer in the 6th to start the scoring for St. Louis. His inside the park homer is his first hit in 13 at bats, and his 2nd inside-the-park homer in four days.
At Elmira, New York, minor-leaguer Don Zimmer marries Jean Carol Bauerle at home plate. Teammate Ed Roebuck is supposed to make it a double wedding, but opts for a church instead.
IN THE NEWS: In his most interesting promotional stunt, Bill Veeck signs a 3'7" midget, Eddie Gaedel, who goes to bat wearing the number 1/8 in the first inning of the nightcap with the Tigers. Lefty Bob Cain laughingly walks him on four pitches. Jim Delsing then pinch runs, but the Tigers win, 62. Two days later the ML bars Eddie Gaedel from appearing in any more games.
In Boston, the Braves score five in the 6th and roll over the Dodgers, 134. Warren Spahn picks up his 15th win and his 21st complete game. A 2nd-inning homer by Willard Marshall, off Ralph Branca, starts the scoring.
In Philadelphia, the Giants overcome a 4-run deficit to win, 54, and cut Brooklyn's lead to eight games. Al Corwin wins in relief, after Bobby Thomson's 2-run homer gets the Giants on the board. The Giants have won nine in a row, with tomorrow a day off.
IN THE NEWS: Baseball owners elect General "Rosey" O'Donnell as the new baseball commissioner, but President Truman overrules the decision. Truman says that O'Donnell is needed in his present jobnot a talk show host, but Air Force commanding general of bombing in Korea.
The Giants manage just one runs in seven innings off Reds knuckleballer Willard Ramsdell, but the wheels come off in "The Knuck" in the 8th: Eddie Stanky belts a leadoff homer, Lockman adds a 2-run shot, and Westrum finishes with a 3-run roundtripper off reliever Frank Smith. Spencer (9-4) wins in relief, 74. With their 10th straight win, the Giants move to seven 1/2 behind the rained-out Brooks.
Bob Feller wins his 20th, stopping the Senators, 40, and keeping the Indians a game ahead of the Yankees. Feller is the American League's first 20-game winner.
IN THE NEWS: The Dodgers sweep a pair of 10-inning games from St. Louis, with Clyde King picking up both come-from-behind victories. King goes three innings in Game One and one inning in game 2. Jackie Robinson is 5-for-6 in the nitecap including a 2-out single in the 10th off Al Brazle. Andy Pafko has a homer in the nitecap, while Stan Musial hits his 29th in game 1. Furillo has three hits on the afternoon and a pair of assists in game 1, bringing his season total to 21. The Dodgers have now won 14 straight from the Cards.
At the Polo Grounds, the Giants win their 11th straight, again coming from behind to top the Reds, 43. Irvin homers in the 2nd off Ewell Blackwell, but it is Whitey Lockman's double in the 8th that wins it for reliever Sheldon Jones.
Tommy Byrne keeps walking them and the Red Sox keep stranding them as St. Louis and Boston battle for 13 innings before the Sox win, 31. Brownie Byrne walks 16 Sox batters, tying the American League walk record set by Bruno Haas in 1915 (Haas walked 16 in a loss to the Yanks, his only ML decision), and Boston strands 22 runners: the AL record for stranded runners is 24, set by the Indians in 18 innings on July 10, 1932. Byrne breaks his personal record of 13 walks in a game he set in 1949. The Brownies don't help him much, stranding 14.
IN THE NEWS: At Ebbets Field, the Cards finally beat the Dodgers, 42. Max Lanier allows seven hits, including Campanella's 27th homer, in beating Don Newcombe. Newk won't lose again to the Birds till 1957, winning 12 straight.
IN THE NEWS: In another of Bill Veeck's legendary PR stunts, "Fans Managers' Night," the Browns defeat the Athletics 53. The Browns coaches hold up placards for 1115 fans, who vote "yes" or "no" on the options given them. Manager Zack Taylor sits in a box behind the dugout with two fans who monitor the voting. Adding to the festivities is Max Patkin, the clown prince of baseball, who coaches at 1B for several innings. Sherm Lollar voted in behind the plate instead of Matt Batts, has three hits including a homer, and Hank Arft, also voted in, knocks home two. Gus Zernial's 28th home run, off Garver, accounts for all the A's runs. When the stunt was announced on August 15th, A's GM Art Ehlers bitterly denounced it as "farcical."
At Ebbets Field, the Dodgers Ralph Branca outduels Cubs pitcher Paul Minner to win 10. Branca strikes out 10 Cubs, walks none, and gives up three hits.
At the Polo Grounds, the Giants tie the Cards in the 9th on three singles, and with the bases loaded, Bobby Thomson scores the winner on a fielder's choice play at the plate. New York wins, 65, its 12th in a row and 4th in a row in coming from behind.
Against Cleveland's Early Wynn, Gene Woodling cracks his 3rd homer off the Tribe ace this year, as the Yanks win, 20. Woodling went deep on Wynn on June 24th, July 24th and today. Mickey Mantle makes his first appearance since his recall from the minors.
IN THE NEWS: Before 66,110 at Cleveland, Mickey Mantle belts an opposite field 2-run homer off Mike Garcia to help the Yankees win, 73. New York (77-46) moves to a game in back of the Tribe.
In a rain-shortened contest, the Dodgers come out on the short end of a 51 decision with the Cubs. Rookie Bob Kelly is the winner in eight innings as Cavarretta drives in four runs. Chicago might have scored more except for Furillo's two assists, bringing his total to 25. Brooklyn leads by 7.
Stan Musial homers to give the Cards a 31 lead over the Giants, but rain washes out the game after Thomson hits his 24th, in the 3rd.
IN THE NEWS: Rookie hurler Niles Jordan of the Phillies blanks the Reds 20 in his first ML start. Jordan gives up three hits, the same number allowed by loser Willard Ramsdell. The Reds win the opener, 42, as Ewell Blackwell bests Robin Roberts.
In the 2nd game against the Yanks, veteran infielder Bert Haas hits a pinch homer in the 6th for the White Sox, his last ML at bat. The Sox will release the 37-year old tomorrow. The Yanks win 86, to remain a game behind the Indians. The Sox take the opener, 32, behind Saul Rogovin.
At the Polo Grounds, Chuck "The Rifleman" Connors clubs his 2nd and last ML homer, a three-run shot off Sal Maglie in the 9th to give the visiting Cubs a temporary 44 tie. Wes Westrum then answers with his 2nd homer of the game, off reliever Walt Dubiel, and New York wins, 54. New York takes the nitecap, 51, to run their victory streak to 14 games. Jim Hearn tops Cal McLish. Mays electrifies the crowd in the 6th by singling, advancing on a balk and a short fly, and stealing home. The Giants trail by six games.
The Pirates club the Dodgers, 1211 to win the opener of two with the league leaders. Brooklyn chases Howie Pollet and takes a 92 lead but the Bucs roar back with eight runs in the 7th inning. Clyde King, unscored on in his last eight games, is the loser. The Dodgers load the bases in the 9th, and Murry Dickson walks pinch-hitter Cal Abrams to force in a run and make the score 1211. But Carl Furillo and Pee Wee Reese fail to deliver. Pete Castiglione has two homers for the Pirates. Brooklyn wins the second game, 43, when Jackie Robinson homers in the 10th, off Ted Wilks. Andy Pafko homers in the 8th, off Bob Friend, and Preacher Roe (17-2) goes all the way.
IN THE NEWS: At Shibe Park, light-hitting reserve C Del Wilber of the Phillies hits three home runs in three at bats to provide Ken Johnson with all his support. Johnson beats the Reds Ken Raffensberger 30 in the nightcap after Jocko Thompson shuts out Cincinnati 20 in the first game. Wilber went back to the minors in 1949 to manage in the Texas League.
"The two fine Italian arms of Branca and Furillo had a no-hitter running for eight innings" writes columnist Dick Young; in the 3rd inning Ralph Branca's no-hitter seems broken by a one-hop shot to RF by pitcher Mel Queen, but Carl Furillo guns him out at first. Branca, pitching on two days rest, finally gives up two Pirate hits in the 9th before winning, 50. In the nitecap the Pirates jump on Erv Palica for three runs in the first inning and hold on for a 53 win behind Bill Werle and Vern Law. Clyde McCullough is the "Big Un" with a two-run double and a two-run homer. The Pirates continue to be the only team with a season edge on the Dodgers.
The Giants win two more from the Cubs, including a 54, twelve-inning complete game victory for Larry Jansen. It is his 17th win. The Cubs score in the top of the 12th, but the Giants score two off Dutch Leonard to win. Behind Al Corwin's pitching and homers by Stanky and Irwin, the Giants take the nitecap, 63.
IN THE NEWS: At the Polo Grounds, the Pirates Howie Pollet (5-14) shuts out the Giants 20 on six hits3 by Thomsonto end New York's 16-game winning streak, best in the National League since 1935. Errors in the 8th by Stanky and Mueller do in Sheldon Jones.
The Dodgers edge the visiting Reds, 31, behind rookie Clem Labine. Duke Snider provides the offense off Howie Fox with a single and two-run homer, the latter breaking a tie in the 8th.
The Indians triumph over the A's, 10, on Bob Kennedy's homer off Sam Zoldak. It is Sam's 2nd 10 loss to the Tribe. Early Wynn wins his 15th to keep the Indians a game ahead of New York, 75 winners in 10 innings at St. Louis.
The Braves sell P Johnny Sain to the Yankees for $50,000 and a young pitcher named Lew Burdette. It is another late-season insurance measure for the New Yorkers.
IN THE NEWS: The Yankees pick on the lowly Browns for a 152 win at Sportsman's Park. Mickey Mantle has four RBIs including a three run homer in the 9th off Satchel Paige. Ned Garver (15-9) is the loser.
Pitching on 2-days rest, the Giants Jim Hearn tops 17-game winner Murry Dickson, 31. It is Hearn's 8th straight over Pittsburgh stretching back to 1949. The Giants gear up by recalling Hank Thompson from Minneapolis.
At Ebbets Field, the Dodgers roll to a 131 win over the Reds behind Don Newcombe. Gil Hodges drives in seven runs and hits his 35th and 36th homers to tie Ralph Kiner for the homer lead. He also sets a Dodger club record. Reese has three RBIs to run his total to 77.
IN THE NEWS: The Giants move to an 81 lead after five inning over the Pirates behind two homers by Willie Mays. But George Spencer wilts in the heat and gives up homers to Frank Thomashis first in the majorsand pinch hitter Gus Bell. After Pete Castiglione and Bill Rigney match homers, Ralph Kiner powers one in the 9th inning to give Pittsburgh a 109 victory. For Kiner, it is his 37th.
Brooklyn's Preacher Roe, with relief help from Clyde King, stops the Reds, 31, for his 18th win.
The A's topple the Indians, 62, beating Bob Feller and knocking the Tribe into 2nd place, a half game behind the idle Yankees. Morrie Martin and Carl Scheib combine for the win.