24 Senators ride Big Train to series win vs 37 Tigers

MVP: Rudy York (2-3, 2 HR, 2 R, 5 RBI)

GAME 1 : September 13 at Navin Field in Detroit

1937 Detroit wins 10-9

WP: Jack Russell (2-0)
LP: Allen Russell (3-2)
HR: Sam Rice (1), Rudy York (8,9), Hank Greenberg (5)

A great back in forth game with late inning explosions from both sides kicked off this 3 game series.  With a 6-5 lead heading to the bottom of the 9th, the Tigers felt pretty good after adding 2 insurance runs off the Senator bullpen.  However, Sam Rice changed all that with a go ahead grand slam off of Detroit starter Roxie Lawson.   The Senators turned to Allen Russell to close out the game with the slim 1 run lead, but Russell was unable to record an out, walking Charlie Gehringer and then giving up a bomb to Hank Greenberg to deep left center field. 

MVP: By Speece (SV, 1.1 IP, 0 R)

GAME 2 : September 14 at Navin Field in Detroit

1924 Washington wins 5-3

WP: George Mogridge (2-2)
LP: Boots Poffenberger (1-4)
SV : By Speece (1)
HR: none

George Mogridge shutout the Tigers over the 1st 6 innings while his teammates staked him to a 5 run lead.  But the Tigers got to Mogridge for 3 in the 7th to make it a ballgame.  With Mogridge tiring, the Sens turned to closer Firpo Marberry but after retiring the 1st 2 Tigers in the 8th, Marberry felt some pain in his elbow and his night was over early.  In a pinch, seldom used By Speece was called in and recorded the last 4 outs of the game to seal the victory.  Sam Rice was the offensive leader for Washington with 2 hits, 2 runs scored and 2 runs batted in.

MVP; Walter Johnson (WP, 9 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 8K)

GAME 3 : September 15 at Griffith Stadium in Washington

1924 Washington wins 7-2

WP: Walter Johnson (6-1)
LP: Elden Auker (1-4)
HR: none

Walter Johnson recorded his KOD leading 6th victory in the series finale in one of his most dominant performances of the season.  Only a Marv Owen 2 run single in the 4th kept the Big Train from notching a complete game shut out.  Joe Judge helped Johnson with 3 hits and a run batted in while also scoring 2 runs.  Johnson also helped himself by getting 2 hits in 4 at bats raising his KOD batting average to an amazing .440.  Charlie Gehringer joined Owen as the only Tiger batters to solve the mystery of the Big Train on this evening.

Double duty Hornsby finds the range, while Terry fits the Bill for Jints.

In a McGraw Division series that featured the National League's premier sluggers, Bill Terry of the Giants and Rogers Hornsby of the '22 Cardinals, both players lived up to the billing. The well balance division saw these clubs split four games, with New York taking the middle two and St. Louis the bookends.

Rogers Hornsby played dual roles, as he also is a big part of the Giants attack and held his own as a McGraw-man, In real life, Hornsby managed the Giants for a good stretch of 1927 when McGraw was ill and not with the club.

As a Cardinal, Hornsby went 8 for 14 in the series, boosted his home run total to 10 and RBI total to 29. Bill Terry continued his torrid pace, picking up 8 hits in 17 at bats, including home run number 9 and finished the series with 31 RBI on the season. As a Giant, Hornsby went 7 for 17.

On the pitching side, Bill "Wee Willie" Sherdel pitched a nifty opener, going the distance in a 6-1 Cardinal victory holding Terry hitless in four at bats. Burleigh Grimes, while not as sharp as Sherdel was in game one, pitched well enough to earn a 6-4 complete game Giant victory in game two. Cardinal pitching was battered for 20 hits in game three, as Dutch Henry went the distance for New York while coasting to a 13-4 win.

No one pitched particularly well in the finale. New York held a 5-2 advantage heading to the eighth with Fat Freddie Fitzsimmons in command, but the Cardinals chipped away with a run n the eighth, and then shocked the home crowd with a 5-run ninth spearheaded by young Jim Bottomley's grand slam.

Bike Mike

40 Tribe drops 41 Bosox en route to division summit

Double X marks the spot

It was a battle between the top two teams in the Mack Division that turned this week's matchup into must-see entertainment. Boston, with its high-powered offense that has scored the second most runs in the league (behind 26NYA) versus Cleveland's fine pitching staff and propensity for the clutch hit. Cleveland came into the series 9-2 at its League Park home, tops in the league.

The standings also showed a close matchup from two teams with gaudy records -- Cleveland in first place in the Mack at 13-4 and Boston a game behind at 12-5. Boston's four future hall of famers in its studly lineup -- Williams, Doerr, Foxx and Cronin -- were to face off against Cleveland's great "Rapid Robert" Feller and stellar rookie SS Lou Boudreau.

But while Boston continued its offensive tear -- scoring at least five runs in three of the four games and four in the other -- it was Cleveland that somehow managed to win three of the four games and extend its division lead to three games. Cleveland now has a league-best 16-5 record. Not as good a hitting squad as many other teams in KOD22, the Indians somehow find ways to win.

Game One: Boston starts out on the right foot, winning 11-3 and tying Cleveland for the division lead. It was a very lopsided affair on all fronts, as future Indian Joe Dobson (4-0) went eight innings and only allowed three runs. Bostons' HOF lineup also responded, with Jimmie Foxx going three-for-three with a homer and five RBIs, as he had a great series overall.

Game Two: Boston continued to pound Cleveland pitching, scoring six runs, but their

Benny Beltner ?

bullpen was a disaster, as Cleveland evened the series with a 9-6 win. The Sawks jumped out to an early 5-0 lead off Cleveland's Mel Harder, who came into the game with a 4-0 record, and appeared to be in control behind the pitching of Dickie Newsome. But Newsome faltered in the sixth and seventh, as the Tribe scored five to tie it before Boston scratched out a run in the bottom of the seventh for a 6-5 lead.

Then came Boston's bullpen for a bare-knuckle ride. Cleveland pounces on three Boston relievers for four late runs, as former Red Sox Joe Dobson keep Boston hitters at bay (or Back Bay?). Cronin went four for five with three doubles and a triple for Boston and was a very tough out all series. Ken Keltner led Cleveland's comeback, striking two doubles and driving in three.

Big Mack Attack

Game Three: Kenny Keltner and Cleveland's offense continue to roll in the Indians' 7-5 win. Cleveland jumped out to a 7-0 lead, as Boston's Mickey Harris was banged up for seven runs in six innings. Keltner again led the offense with three more hits. Oddly, Cleveland only managed two extra base hits, one by good-hitting starter Al Smith (2-1), but clutch hitting was the key. Boston attempted a late comeback, scoring five runs in the seventh and eighth, but Cleveland closer Johnny Allen shut it down after that with hitless ball over the last 1.2 innings.

Game Four: Cleveland again got out of the gate quickly,  scoring four runs in the sixth to take a 5-1 lead behind Feller (4-1). But Feller wasn't his sharpest today, walking six to balance his six strikeouts, and Boston came back with two in the eighth to narrow the lead to 5-3. Boston managed to scratch out another run in the ninth but Feller stayed in the game to get the final out in Cleveland's 5-4 win.

The big blow for the Tribe was Ray Mack's sixth inning, three-run homer, which hopefully will propel the second basemen out of his early slump. 

--submitted by Joe Pryweller--

Moore-ah, Rajah !

The 1924 Brooklyn Robins and 1922 St. Louis Cardinals swapped victories in an inter-division series that saw a couple of easy wins from each club, and finished with a tight, well-played 2-1 finale.

The Robins put together a 12 hit attack in the opener, and good pitching from Tiny Osborne to take the opener 6-3. Jack Fournier went 3 for 3 with a walk for Brooklyn, while his counter-part for St. Louis was 0 for 3 with a strikeout. 

The Robin version of Fournier stretched his on base streak to nine straight, going 4 for 4 with a walk in game two. However, Rogers Hornsby put on a display of offense that left the home crown in awe striking a grand slam home run and a two run double amount 3 hits, driving in seven and scoring two to lead the Cardinals to a 12-5 rout. Austin McHenry also chipped in 3 hits to benefit Spittin' Bill Doak, who evened his record at 1-1 despite a 9.12 ERA.

Game three saw Dazzy Vance dazzle the Cardinals, with a crisp 3 hitter striking out 8 in a sterling 2-1 win. The Dazzler is now 5-0 on the season, with a 1.17 ERA. Former Robin Jeff Pfeffer was the hard luck loser. The top two Robins in the order were his undoing, with Johnny Mitchell and Zach Wheat each getting 3 hits, Mitchell scoring both runs and Wheat driving him home both times.

The incomparable Hornsby drove his 8th homer of the year in the 6th, for the only Redbird tally off of Vance.

Bike Mike

'40 Tribe Sweeps Pale Hose

The 40 Indians and 37 White Sox played a hard fought series, with two games going to extra innings. Although the White Sox outhit the Indians in two of the games and knocked around Bob Feller a bit, the Indians managed some late heroics to sweep the series and move to 13-4 on the season. Each game was a pitching gem:

Game One:  Cleveland's Mel Harder and Chicago's Vern Kennedy dueled at Comiskey, with Cleveland leading 1-0 going into the eighth on a Ben Chapman RBI triple. The Indians scraped together three more runs in the eighth to knock out Kennedy, all on singles and a key sac fly from Harder. Harder maintained the complete game shutout, moving to 4-0 on the season. Cleveland 4, White Sox 0.
Game Two: This go-round, it was Chicago's John Whitehead and Cleveland's Al Smith doing the dueling. Cleveland broke a scoreless tie with solitary runs in the seventh and eighth, but the White Sox mounted a comeback in the ninth, scoring two to tie it, the big blow a home run from Dixie Walker.  Chicago had a chance to go ahead in the top of the 11th, but Luke Appling was gunned down at the plate on a perfect throw from Chapman. Then, in the bottom of that inning,the Indians' all-or-nothing bopper Jeff Heath ended it with his third homer of the year. Cleveland 4, White Sox 2.
Game Three: Yet another scoreless duel as aces Bob Feller and Monty Stratton hurled zeros through nine. Stratton was particularly good, striking out nine Indians, while Feller allowed eight hits and only K'd four. Cleveland took the game in the bottom of the 11th again, as pitcher Al Smith, pinch hitting with men on first and second, stroked a single to center to score the only run. Cleveland 1, White Sox 0.

Regards,

Joe Pryweller

'41 Sox scalp '39 Tribe

GAME 1 - League Park
Newsome vs Feller
Indians 3, Red Sox 2

Rapid Robert Feller didn't have his "A" game, but he was pretty darn good going the distance and allowing just 2.  He "only" fanned 5 and walked 5, but the Red Sox lineup that he faced had 5 HOF'ers batting 1-5 in the order, so Mr. Feller had no margin for error.  Ben "the antagonist" Chapman went 3 for 3 (with a HR) at the top of Cleveland's order.  Boston managed just 2 hits.

 

GAME 2 - Fenway Park
Harder vs M.Harris
Red Sox 2, Indians 0

Mickey Harris tossed a complete game 5 hit shutout to defeat Mel Harder and the Tribe.  The bottom of the Sox order:  Jim Tabor (2-3), Frankie Pytlak (2-3) and Harris (1-2) did all the damage while the big guns were pitched around.

GAME 3
J.Allen vs C.Wagner
Red Sox 10, Indians 8
After 2 pitcher's duels the series final turned into a slugfest.  Both teams combined for 18 runs on 25 hits.  Once again the bottom of the Sox order did the damage.  Jim Tabor (2-4), who hit two long balls had 4 RBI's.  Hal Trosky had 2 homers in a losing effort.  The injury bug hit the Sox hard as All-Star centerfielder Dom DiMaggio went down with a sprained ankle.  Stan Spence replaced "the Little Professor" in the 4th inning and went 1 for 2 with a walk and a double.

Gas House Gang take 2 of 3 from Dem Bums

Game 1...Very tight game as the lead changed hands several times late in the game.  The Dodgers took a 5 - 4 lead in the eighth as they plated 3 runs on Dolph Camili's first homerun of the year. However the Dodger bullpen was unable to hold the lead.  St. Louis tied the game in the bottom half of the inning. The game went into extras. Brooklyn scored 2 runs in the top half of the eleventh but "the big Cat" Johnny Mize crushed the first of three homeruns in the series for a walk off 3 run blast. The victim of Mize's hefty clout was Hugh Carlton (0-2)...Cardinals 8 - Dodgers 7 in 11 innings.
Game 2...Another tight match that was settled late. Paul Dean suffered an injury in the second inning and had to exit the game.  Jim Winford and Si Johnson pitched strong in relief and got support from Johnny Mize and Joe "don't call me Ducky" Medwick who both clubbed homeruns and drove in four of the the five Cardinal runs.  Luke Hamlin got the loss and Si Johnson earned the win.....Cardinals 5 - Dodgers 4.
Game 3...The story of this game was "Fat" Freddie Fitzsimmons who went the distance for the Bums allowing only one run on 5 hits.  Fitzsimmons was masterful as he improved his record to 2-1.  Mize hit another homerun for the Cardinals but it was not enough to offset the Dodgers offense. Joe Vosmik drove in two runs for Brooklyn. Dodgers 4...Cardinals 1.

--submitted by Joey "I'm back" Scigliano--

Dem Bums of 1940 fire manager Weiss and hire Joey Scigliano

In an unprecedented mid season move the 5-9 last place 1940 Brooklyn Dodgers decided to part company with manager Marc Weiss.  In a related move, KOD charter member Joey Scigliano was brought on to take the helm of the slumping Brooks.  With friction in the clubhouse and dem Bums underachieving the team from Flatbush looked to bring on board a more calming influence to change their team's course.  Scigliano, who's been with KOD, since the early days returns to the bench after a half season absence.  Normally the pilot of the San Diego Padres, Scigliano found himself in the PCL this season due to the fact that the Padres weren't going to be a major league squad for at least another 3 decades.  Not to be kept out of the mix he is getting a mid season call up back to the show.  Welcome back Joey !!!