Sim Date:  Oct. 21, 1952


 vs.
MONARCHS EDGE CARPS IN 10TH INNING, 4-3;
KC TAKES 1-GAME LEAD IN SERIES
Oct. 21, 1952
[Boxscore]
QUASQUETON, IA:  The Kansas City Monarchs came from behind to tie today's game in the 9th inning and then scored a run in the 10th to win the 3rd game of the World Series against the Quasqueton Quillback Carpsuckers.  Quasky started strong, scoring all 3 of their runs in the 1st inning off of Monarch starter Billy Pierce.  The Carps benefitted from 3 walks in the inning by Pierce, who only walked 2 more batters the rest of his 6 innings of work.  Quillback starter Jim Hearn shut out the Monarchs for the first 5 innings but then returned Pierce's favor, walking 3 batters in a row in the 6th inning to load the bases with only 1 out.  Like Pierce, Hearn had good control for most of the game, walking only 1 other batter outside of that inning.  One out later, Andy Pafko singled in KC's first run and left fielder Del Ennis committed a throwing error to allow a second run to cross the plate, narrowing Quasky's lead to 3-2.  Hearn left the game after 7 innings, having given up only 1 earned run on 5 singles and 4 walks.  Kansas City tied the game in the top of the 9th against reliever Sandy Consuegra.  With 1 out, Gene Shuba hit a weak squibber to 2nd base and was able to beat out the throw for an infield hit.  The next batter, Jackie Robinson, hit a slow-roller to 3rd and both runners were safe before any Quillback fielder could make a play.  Mickey Vernon then grounded the ball between 1st and 2nd for a shallow single that drove in a run to keep the Monarchs alive.  Quasky threatened to win the game in the bottom of the 9th when Hank Thompson and Jerry Priddy each hit bloop singles off of Paul Minner to put runners on 1st and 2nd with 2 outs and slugger Larry Doby coming to bat.  But Bob Cain relieved Minner and struck out Doby to send the game into extra innings.   Woody Main came in to pitch for Quasky in the 10th and retired the first batter.  But Andy Pafko then hit the only extra base hit of the game for either team, a double to right.  The next batter, Cal Abrams, singled home Pafko to put KC ahead, 4-3.  Main got out of the inning without further problems but the damange was done.  Cain held the Carps scoreless in the bottom of the 10th to save the win.  Both teams pulled out all the stops to try to win the game, with Kansas City using 20 players and Quasqueton getting 19 players in the game.  Tomorrow's anticipated starting pitchers are righthander Sid Hudson (8-10, 4.51) for Kansas City and southpaw Warren Spahn (25-6, 1.84) for Quasqueton.

 vs.
QUASKY WINS GAME 2, 8-4, TO TIE WORLD SERIES;
STALEY WINS 3RD STRAIGHT POSTSEASON START
Oct. 19, 1952
[Boxscore]
KANSAS CITY, MO:  Warren Spahn may have been the Quasqueton Carpsuckers' pitching star during the season, but Jerry Staley is emerging as their ace in this year's playoffs.  After starting and winning two games in the League Championship Series, Staley started Game 2 of the World Series today and pitched a complete game victory over the Kansas City Monarchs.  The two teams traded single-run innings for the first 6 frames, and the game was tied 3 to 3 as KC starter Mike Garcia took the mound to start the top of the 7th.  Garcia had been pitching well up to that point, but today it was the Quillbacks' turn to have a big inning.  With one out, Quasky took the lead after consecutive singles by Hank Thompson, Jerry Priddy, and Larry Doby scored a run and put runners on 1st and 3rd. Jim Dyck then tripled, scoring Priddy and Doby to give the Carpsuckers a 6-3 lead.  Reliever Joe Black, who saved yesterday's win for the Monarchs, came into the game to try to end the Carp rally.  But Joe Garagiola singled home Dyck and Quasky went up by 7-3 before Black could get the final two outs of the inning.  Each team scored one more run apiece before the game ended, making the final score 8-4.  Priddy was 3 for 4 with a double and 3 RBI for Quasky, and Dyck went 2 for 4 with a double and a triple.  Granny Hamner had a single and a triple for KC.  Staley now has a 3-0 record and 2.25 ERA in his 3 postseason starts, with 24 innings pitched in those 3 games.  The two teams will head north to Iowa for the next three games, beginning on October 21.  Although final announcements have not been made, possible starting pitchers for game 3 are Billy Pierce (21-4, 3.21) for the Monarchs and Jim Hearn (13-12, 3.84) for Quasqueton.

MONARCHS WIN GAME 1, 5-3;
CARPSUCKER ERRORS LEAD TO 4 UNEARNED RUNS
ROBINSON HOMERS, DRIVES IN 2
Oct. 18, 1952
[Boxscore]
Webcast:  http://www.livestream.com/wombatvideo
KANSAS CITY, MO:  The Kansas City Monarchs demonstrated today that they still know how to beat the Quasqueton Quillback Carpsuckers.  The Monarchs, who defeated the Carps in all three of their previous World Series matchups, took advantage of two Quasky errors and 4 unearned runs in the 5th inning to win the opening game of the 1952 Series by the score of 5-3.  For the first 4 innings, starting pitchers Spec Shea for KC and Warren Spahn for Quasqueton mowed down batters right and left, and each pitcher had given up only 1 hit as the 5th inning opened. Quasqueton got on the board in the top of the 5th thanks to Del Ennis, who hit a leadoff triple and then scored on Eddie Waitkus' ground out.  In the bottom of the 5th, Spahn remained in control of the game as he quickly retired the first two batters.  To this point in the game Spahn had only allowed 2 baserunners. But Jim Busby doubled to keep the inning alive.  Shea, the pitcher, hit a grounder to Quillback shortstop Bobby Morgan for what should have been the 3rd out, but Morgan's throw was wild and landed in the stands, allowing Busby to come home to tie the game at 1-1.  Jackie Robinson drilled Spahn's next pitch into the left field stands for a 2-2un home run and a 3-1 KC lead.  Spahn's next pitch was drilled down the right field line by Sid Gordon for a single.  On the very next pitch Don Lenhardt hit a slow dribbler to the left of the mound that Spahn chased after but had trouble fielding, allowing Lenhardt to reach base on the error.  That brought up Yogi Berra, who watched one pitch go by before drilling a single into right field to send Gordon home and give the Monarchs a 4-1 lead.  The Quasqueton fans who had made the trip down from Iowa were stunned by the sudden reversal of fortune, with their 1-0 margin turning into a 4-1 Monarch lead after only 7 pitches by the winningest pitcher in the VBG.  Larry Jansen relieved Spahn and ended the inning.  Quasky looked like they would mount a comeback in the top of the 6th when they loaded the bases with no outs, but Shea managed to work his way out of that jam with only 1 run scoring, narrowing the KC lead to 4-2.  Kansas City got that run back in the bottom of the 6th with a double by Gene Shuba and an RBI single by Shea.  Quasqueton added one more run when Bill Nicholson homered off of reliever Joe Black in the 8th, but the Monarchs hung on to win, 5-3.  Starters for tomorrow's game are expected to be Jerry Staley (19-16, 3.66) for the Carps and Mike Garcia (16-13, 4.56) for the Monarchs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~





Sim Date:  Oct. 14, 1952

 vs.
MONARCHS WIN NAIL-BITER, 6-5, TO CAPTURE CJ PENNANT
9TH-INNING GOAT ISLAND COMEBACK FALLS SHORT
Oct. 14, 1952
[Boxscore]
Webcast:  http://www.livestream.com/wombatvideo
KANSAS CITY, MO:  The Kansas City Monarchs finally put away the scrappy Goat Island Lights in the fight for the Crackerjack League pennant with today's 6-5 victory in Game 7 of the LCS.  Goat Island took an early lead with a run in the first inning.  Enos Slaughter led off the game with a triple.  Backup catcher Harry Chiti, who was pressed into emergency duty as the starting left fielder due to Goat Island's injury problems, drove Slaughter home with a single.  The Lights increased their lead to 2-0 when Connie Ryan led off the 5th inning with a walk and raced around to score on Billy Johnson's double.  Goat Island lost a chance for another run, however, when Johnson was thrown out at 3rd trying to stretch his double into a triple, going against the traditional baseball axiom that runners shouldn't risk making the 1st or 3rd out in an inning at 3rd base.  Aggressive baserunning may have cost the Lights another chance at a big inning in the 6th as well when they again risked making the 1st out at 3rd base and lost the gamble.  Slaughter led off the 6th with a single and Johnny Wyrostek followed with another single. With the heart of the order coming up to bat and no outs, Slaughter tried to go to 3rd base on the single but was gunned down by KC rightfielder Don Lenhardt.   Goat Island starter Curt Simmons shut out the potent Monarchs lineup through the first 6 innings but ran out of gas in the 7th.  Pitching on 3 days rest after winning Game 4, Simmons  showed signs of fatigue as he battled Andy Pafko to start the inning.  Pafko fouled off 3 pitches as he worked Simmons into a full count and drew a walk on the 8th pitch of the at-bat.  With two righthanded batters coming up, the Goat Island manager decided that was enough for the lefthanded Simmons and Johnny Sain came in to relieve him.  Sain got the first batter out but then surrendured a single to Mickey Vernon and a 3-run homer to pinch hitter Gene Shuba, and suddenly the Monarchs had a 3-2 lead.  Johnny Mize then singled, bringing up Jackie Robinson.  Robinson grounded to 3rd baseman Billy Johnson for what should have been at least the 2nd out and possibly an inning-ending double play, but Johnson committed an error on the play that put Mize on 2nd and Robinson on 3rd. Sain, having thrown 20 pitches but only notching 1 out, left the game and Ed Wright took over on the mound to try to keep the game in reach.  Wright induced Sid Gordon to hit into a force for the 2nd out, but then Don Lenhardt drove Wright's next pitch deep into the left field stands for KC's second 3-run home run of the inning to stretch the lead to 6-2.  Monarch reliever Joe Black came into the game in place of starting pitcher Billy Pierce, who had been removed for a pinch hitter during the KC rally.  Black ran into big trouble in the 9th inning when the Lights came roaring back from their 4-run hole to threaten to retake the lead.  Luke Easter led off with a double and scored when the next batter, Sherm Lollar, singled, and KC's lead was cut to 6-3.  Connie Ryan singled to put runners on 1st and 2nd and the tying run at the plate with no outs.  Catcher Yogi Berra allowed a passed ball and the runners moved up to 2nd and 3rd.  Black struck out Billy Johnson for the first out, and then retired Gus Niarhos on a grounder for the 2nd out.  Lollar scored on the groundout and Ryan moved up to 3rd base, and the Monarchs lead was down to 6-4.  Leo Thomas then singled home Ryan, and the Lights had pulled to within 1 run.  That brought the go-ahead run to the plate in the person of Enos Slaughter, who had already tripled and singled during the game.  Righthanded reliever Spec Shea took over for Black and faced the lefty-hitting Slaughter.  In an epic plate appearance that had Kansas City fans holding their breath, Slaughter worked the count to 3-2, fouled off the next two pitches, and then launched a long fly ball toward the left field wall that looked like it could be out of the park.  But the ball fell just short of the fence where it was caught by Gordon for the final out of the game, sending the Kansas City Monarchs to the World Series and the Goat Island Lights back to Cape Porpoise to ponder how close they came to a pennant despite their barrage of injuries.  After 3 days off, the Monarchs will face the Quasqueton Quillback Carpsuckers in Game 1 of the World Series, with the first 2 games played in Kansas City.


MONARCHS STOP GOAT ISLAND MOMENTUM;
KC WINS GAME SIX, 6-3, TO TIE CJ LCS;
TOMORROW'S GAME WILL DECIDE PENNANT
Oct. 13, 1952
[Boxscore]
KANSAS CITY, MO:  The Kansas City Monarchs regained the upper hand in the Crackerjack League Championship Series by defeating the Goat Island Lights and sending the series to a final game in Kansas City's' home field.  The defending champion Monarchs pounced on Goat Island starter Virgil Trucks early with 4 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks in the 2nd inning.  The first 4 KC batters of the inning reached base safely, with a single by Yogi Berra, a double by Andy Pafko, a 2-run single by Granny Hamner, and a walk to Jim Busby.  Monarch pitcher Bob "Sugar" Cain bunted the runners to 2nd and 3rd, and Gene Shuba drove in 2 more runs with a single, taking 2nd on an error.  When Trucks walked the next batter, he was yanked and replaced by Turk Lown, who put out the fire.  The Monarchs scored 2 more in the 4th inning, putting the Lights in a 6-run hole.  Through the first 6 innings Cain had shut out the Lights on 3 hits and no walks, but Goat Island started to battle back in the late innings.  Russ Sullivan singled to lead off the top of the 7th and advanced to 2nd when Sherm Lollar walked.  Connie Ryan put Goat Island on the board by singling home Sullivan.  Goat Island threatened to tie the game in the 8th.  Pinch hitter Leo Thomas drew a leadoff walk and Enos Slaughter followed with a single that advanced Thomas to 3rd.  Thomas scored when Johnny Wyrostek hit into a force at 2nd.  Back-to-back singles by Russ Sullivan and Luke Easter drove Wyrostek home to cut the KC lead to 6-3 with the tying run at the plate and only 1 out.  Cain was sent to the showers and rookie reliever Joe Black took over.  Black pitched like a VBG veteran as he retired the next two batters to end the threat and then closed out the win with a scoreless 9th inning.  The Crackerjack LCS will now come down to one last game.  Although nothing has been finalized, expected starters for the decisive game are southpaws Curt Simmons (14-11, 3.63) for Goat Island and Billy Pierce (21-4, 3.21) for Kansas City.  The wheels continue to fall off the Goat Island bandwagon as it approaches the finish line; after today's game it was announced that Russ Sullivan will be unable to play tomorrow.  That announcement raises the total number of injured or inactive Goat Island players to eight.


  vs. 
STALEY PITCHES CARPS INTO WORLD SERIES;
QUASKY BEATS SPOON RIVER, 4-1, TO WIN PENNANT
Oct. 11, 1952
[Boxscore]
CANTON, IL:  The Quasqueton Quillback  Carpsuckers captured the Peanut League pennant today by beating the Spoon River Mudcats, 4 to 1.  Jerry Staley started for Quasky and recorded his second win of the LCS by holding the Mudcats to only 1 unearned run off of 5 hits and no walks in 7 innings of work.  Staley also contributed offensively with a single and a double, and scored what proved to be the winning run.  With the score tied 1-1 in the top of the 8th and 1 out, Staley singled.  After the 2^nd out was recorded, pinch hitter Bill Nicholson walked and Jerry Priddy singled home Staley to break the tie.  Lary Doby then hit a 2-run triple to increase the Carp lead to 4-1.  Klem  Koshorek went 2 for 4 with a stolen base for Spoon River, driving in the Mudcats’ only run.  Mudcat starter Ken Rafffensberger took the loss.  The  Carpsuckers will now have a few extra days off while they wait to find out if they will begin the World Series by hosting the Goat Island Lights in Quasqueton or traveling to Kansas City to face the Monarchs. 

1952 Players of the Month

PITCHERS
April: Harry Brecheen, Tex (4-0, 0.26, .345 OPS allowed)
May: Allie Reynolds, Tex (4-1, 2.09, .438 OPS allowed, 3 CG)
June: Bobby Shantz, WP (5-0, 1.53, .455 OPS allowed, 6.6 R/9IP)
July: Bobby Shantz, WP (5-0, 0.75, 3 ShO, 3 CG)
Aug: Bob Lemon, DC (4-1, 1.38, 3 CG, .499 OPS allowed)
Sept: Connie Marrero, SR (4-1, 1.98, 3 CG, 7.7 R/9IP)

POSITION PLAYERS:
April: Stan Musial, SR (.410/.529/.651)
May: Sid Gordon, KC (.331/.419/.712; 37 RBI, 12 HR, 20 XBH)
June: Eddie Joost, Fri (.350/.458/.650; 28 R, 15 XBH, 65 TB)
July: Yogi Berra, KC (.390/.450/.810; 31 R, 39 RBI, 12 HR, 81 TB)
Aug: Ted Kluszewski, LA (.378/.444/.638; 48 H, 19 XBH, 81 TB
Sept: Stan Musial, SR (.412/.478/.676; 42 H, 4 T, 18 XBH, 69 TB)