1954 Indians flashback: Dave Philley's big week leads the way

After a pretty good 5-2 week prior, the Indians had somehow managed to lose a game and a half of their lead. The Yankees stood just four games back and the most important series of the week would take place at Yankee Stadium. First the Indians would play a game at Fenway on Monday, and after the Yankee series, headed to Comiskey to take on the dangerous White Sox.

August 30, 1954

August 30: Indians 5, Red Sox 4

On Sunday, the Indians had swept a doubleheader and asked Ray Narkeski to make a spot start to try and get the series sweep. Narleski loaded the bases with no outs in the first, but escaped with just one run crossing the plate. Manager Al Lopez didn't wait long with his hook after the Red Sox plated another in the third, calling on Dave Hoskins who left the bases juiced again. But Hoskins loaded them again in the fourth and Bob Hooper could not stop the bleeding with the Red Sox now up 4-0. The offense had managed just three baserunners through six against Willard Nixon. But in the seventh, Vic Wertz scored one with a single and then Al Rosen scored on a fielder's choice. Jim Hegan doubled to put the tying runs on. Hank Majeski greeted reliever Ellis Kinder with a three run blast and the Tribe now led 5-4. Hal Newhouser and Mike Garcia retired nine of the final 10 batters and the Tribe gained another Fenway sweep.

August 31- September 2, 1954

August 31: Indians 6, Yankees 1

September 1: Indians 1, Yankees 4

September 2: Indians 2, Yankees 3

Early Wynn was tabbed with the job of keeping the Yankees at bay in the first game. Boy did he deliver. He retired the first eleven hitters before walking Mickey Mantle. The first he allowed was a solo home run by Irv Noren in the seventh. Wynn finished his complete game with just two hits and two walks. The Indians scored a pair in the fourth on a Wertz single and Sam Dente sacrifice fly. After Noren pulled the Yankees within one, Rosen singled in Al Smith before Dave Philley put the game out of reach with a three run bomb off Bob Grim.

Garcia faced Eddie Lopat in game two and actually started the scoring in the fourth with a sacrifice fly, scoring Jim Hegan after his triple. But a two run double by Eddie Robinson in the fourth and a two run shot by Yogi Berra in the sixth, gave Lopat all he needed, as he scattered nine hits in his complete game win.

The finale featured Bob Lemon against Whitey Ford. There were only five baserunners until the fifth inning. Dente hit his lone homer of the season to put the Tribe up 1-0. But Mantle tied it with a bomb of his own in the sixth and the Yankees plated two more later that inning. Larry Doby hit a solo shot in the ninth, but Allie Reynolds closed out the game, and the Yankees were now just 3.5 games back with 21 games to play.

September 3-5, 1954

September 3: Indians 3, White Sox 2

September 4: Indians 5, White Sox 8

September 5: Indians 8, White Sox 2

Although the White Sox were 9.5 games back, they were still a very good team with a 86-48 record at this point. Bob Feller faced Virgil Trucks in the opener. Wertz got him a quick 1-0 lead in the first, but thy left the bases loaded. A pair of singles and an error in the third tied the game. Doby pushed the Tribe back up 2-1 in the fifth, and yet again the White Sox tied it in the sixth. Doby cranked his 30th homer of the season and 111th RBI in the seventh. Garcia pitched the final 2.2 innings to get another save, allowing just an infield single.

Wynn got his second start of the week in the second game and fell behind 1-0 in the first on an unearned run. Rosen had a two run shot in the fourth and when Wertz scored on a wild pitch after a triple, the Tribe led 3-1. Minnie Minoso got one back for the Sox in the fourth, and Wynn was lifted in the sixth after a walk and an error. Narleski could not hold the fort down, as the White Sox ended up plating five that inning, essentially ending the game even though the Tribe did get two back in the eighth.

The Tribe left the bases juiced again in the first inning of the finale, but finally broke through in the second against Billy Pierce when Bobby Avila singled in a pair. Philley tacked on another in the third, with the Sox getting one back in the bottom half. The Tribe pushed two more across in the fourth on a pair of RBI groundouts. Art Houtteman couldn't get through five innings, with Narleski coming in again and keeping the score at 5-2. A two run blast by Wertz in the sixth gave Narleski and Hal Newhouser plenty to work with.

Player of the Week

I wanted to give this to Vic Wertz for his pair of triples, but am going to give it to Dave Philley, who hit 333/455/556 and had that key blast again the Yankees. He also drove in 5 on the week.

Player Spotlight

Right Fielder Dave Philley

Just prior to the 1954 season, Philley was acquired for Bill Upton, Lee Wheat and $15k. H had finished 19th in MVP voting the season prior, but slumped badly for Cleveland. He hit 226/308/347, good enough for a 78 OPS+, the worst of his career to date. He diot hit 12 home runs and drove in 60 in his 522 plate appearances. He only made it halfway through 1955, when he was claimed on waivers by the Baltimore Orioles.

Transactions/Moves

With the roster expansion on September 1, the Indians called up catcher Mickey Grasso and Jim Dyck, who had been acquired back in April for Bob Kennedy. They also activated George Strickland from the DL.

Summary

The Indians had their worst week since early July, but still finished a respectable 4-3. They were also able to pick up a half game on the Yankees in the standings even with losing two of three in the Bronx. This is because they lost two of three to the Washington Senators.

Next week, the Indians finish off this brutal road trip with a double header in Baltimore. Then they come home to face the Athletics, Red Sox and Yankees all for two games each.