Tribe vs Tribe...1940 prevails in 2 of 3 contests

So good he dominated for both

Call it the clash of the Cuyahoga or Tribal Warfare. Either way, 1939 Cleveland faced 1940 Cleveland in a battle between two good, pre-war Indians squads that had similar rosters.

Speaking of which, both teams had a Feller in his prime and its showed during this series. My prognosticators predicted an epic fight between 1939 Cleveland, with dominant hitting but a shaky bullpen, and 1940 Cleveland, with deeper pitching but weaker hitting.

Here's how it went down:

Game One: The 1939 Bob Feller model pitched his best game of the year, a three hit shutout of the 1940 squad with 11 Ks. Odell Hale knocked in two and Rollie Hemsley had a key triple in the whitewash. 39 CLE 6, 40 CLE 0.

Game Two: 1940 Cleveland brought in lefty Al Milnar to face the 1939 team, even though Milnar was not having a great year and only had a 1-3 record. But he was stout on this day, pitching a complete game six-hitter and limiting the 1939 Indians to two runs. The 1940 team broke open the game late by tagging 1939 starter Mel Harder for four runs in the eighth and ninth. 1940 Ben Chapman was the hitting star, going four for five with two RBIs, while Hal Trosky banged his fifth homer. 1940 CLE 6, 1939 CLE 2.

Game Three: 1940 Cleveland rolled out its Bob Feller, who proved to be the equal of the 1939 stud. A tight game proceeded with scant hitting, as 1939's Al Milnar was also up to the task. 1940 Cleveland scored one in the first on a Lou Boudreau single and one in the fifth as Feller laid down a perfect suicide squeeze. That was it for the scoring. Feller notched 8 Ks and only allowed five hits through nine to move to 6-1. 1940 CLE 2, 1939 CLE 0.

Regards,

Joe Pryweller