1942 World Series

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The Pittsburgh Press (September 29, 1942)

POISE, EXPERIENCE GIVE YANKS EDGE
Series taken in stride by New Yorkers

World champions aim for 7th title in 11 years
By Leo H. Petersen, United Press staff writer

En route to St. Louis –
The New York Yankees headed west today in quest of their seventh world championship in 11 years.

This time, they face the rags-to-riches Cardinals of St. Louis. They figure the trip will turn out to be a golden one if they can win one of the two games which will open the 1942 World Series at Sportsman’s Park Wednesday and Thursday.

The aristocrats of baseball were murder for American League teams at Yankee Stadium this season and are confident they will polish off the greatest stretch team in baseball history on their own grounds.

Manager Joe McCarthy was cautious, as usual, but the Yankee players were not as conservative. They can’t see the Series going beyond the three games which will be played at Yankee Stadium Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

Yank staff rested

As usual, McCarthy refused to reveal his pitching selection for the opening game, but indications mounted that he might not call on Charles “Red” Ruffing, the Yankee reliable rated as the best spot pitcher in the game.

McCarthy held Ruffing, Ernie “Tiny” Bonham and Spurgeon Chandler in New York when the Yankees finished their season at Boston Sunday – a pretty good sign that they are the hurlers he will start in the first three days.

There was a strong belief that the Yankee skipper might select Chandler, the only hurler to lose last year in the Series against Brooklyn. Chandler, with a season’s record of 16 victories against five defeats, has the equipment to handle the St. Louis batting order.

McCarthy is sure Billy Southworth of the Cards will shoot with Mort Cooper in his drive to bring the Mound City its first world title since 1934. And he expects the Cardinals to be tough. McCarthy said:

We’re in fine shape and ready for them. You can count on the Yankees putting up a real battle.

Cards could use cash

If the two-day rest doesn’t cool off the Cardinals, the Yankees feel St. Louis will put up a real fight in this first shot for World Series dollars in eight years. The Cardinals, while not the lowest-paid club in the Majors, aren’t the highest either. They could use that extra $2,000 or so that makes the difference between the winning and losing end.

The Yankees, under McCarthy, never had to take the short end of the Series split. They don’t intend to this time as it may be the last of the big money classic because of the war. Although the United Service Organizations will be the chief beneficiary this year, the players will still share in the pool of the first four games. The Yankees expect the winning split to be about $6,000. The losing cut will probably be about $4,000.

The Yankees, who left New York at 8 p.m. last night, will arrive in St. Louis at 5 p.m. EWT. Because they are familiar with Sportsman’s Park, where the St. Louis Browns also pay their home games, McCarthy decided it wasn’t necessary for the Yankees to work out before the opening game.

Chain store baseball pays Cards, Yanks big returns

Chicago, Illinois (UP) –
Chain store baseball continues today to pay handsome dividends.

You may not like some of the details of its operations, but you can’t deny its success.

The World Series starting tomorrow will match the St. Louis Cardinals and the New York Yankees, two of the greater exponents of the idea. That, however, isn’t the only gauge of success for the plan during the 1942 season.

The Yanks’ two top major league teams, Kansas City (American Association) and Newark (International League), won the championships of their respective circuits. Sacramento, a Cardinal farm, won the Pacific Coast title and another St. Louis-operated outfit, Columbus, took the playoff crown in the Association and is playing Syracuse in the “Little World Series.”

What a steady year-after-year flow of talent up from the minors means to clubs like the Cards and the Yanks is best illustrated by the record.

Since 1925, the Cards have won six pennants, finished second five times and out of the first division three times.

The Yanks over the same stretch have won 10 pennants, finished second five times and been out of the first division just once.

That indicates how well the talent advancing from a farm team sustains the parent club, how it makes them either a pennant winner or has them up close in the race.

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Mort Cooper choice in first game

Yanks’ pilot refuses to name opening game hurler
By Tommy Devine, United Press staff writer

St. Louis, Missouri –
Pitching, power and poise – three factors that carried the New York Yankees to the baseball peak five times in the past six seasons – make the Bronx Bombers the favorites over the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series opening tomorrow at Sportsman’s Park.

The Cardinals will start their right-handed pitching ace, Morton Cooper, in the first game. The fans here expected Ernie Bonham to be on the mound for the Yankees, although manager Joe McCarthy has not announced his selection. A sellout crowd of 34,000 fans was assured for the contest which starts at 1:30 p.m. CWT. All reserved and box seats have been sold for a week. Bleacher tickets will be sold tomorrow.

While the Cardinals captured the fans fancy with a great stretch drive that brought them 43 triumphs in the last 51 games, gamblers who aren’t swayed by sentiment have installed the Yanks as the 2–1 Series favorite and Bonham as a 6–5 choice to best Cooper in the inaugural contest.

Bonham whipped Wyatt

Bonham defeated Whit Wyatt of the Dodgers, 3–1, in the fifth and final game of the 1941 World Series. The veteran Charles “Red” Ruffing, winner of his last four series efforts, rookie Hank Borowy and Spud Chandler will probably start in the succeeding games for the Yanks with Johnny Beazley, a first-year man, Ernie White and Max Lanier following Cooper as starters for the Cardinals.

The Yankee foursome has an aggregate season’s record of 66 victories and 21 defeats as against the four Cardinals’ mark of 63 victories and 26 setbacks. The simple won-and-lost figures alone don’t swing the pitching balance to the New Yorkers, however. Experience accomplishes that. Bonham, Ruffing and Chandler have all been tested under World Series fire, while this is the first classic for the “big four” of the St. Louis staff.

Joe McCarthy’s 1942 Yankees aren’t the powerhouse outfits of the Ruth and Gehrig days, but, led by Joe Gordon, Joe DiMaggio and Charlie Keller, they still hit the “long ball” that so often is a telling series factor. The Yankees this season as a team slammed 108 home runs to only 60 for the Cardinals.

Cards speedier

In poise, there’s a sharp difference in the two clubs. The Yanks are cool, methodical and drably efficient. The Cards do everything with dash and a spectacular touch.

In only one department – speed – do the Cardinals appear to have a clean-cut edge.

The teams go into the series virtually at their peak strength. Terry Moore, St. Louis center fielder who was on the sidelines the last two weeks of the championship campaign as the result of a leg injury, played in the pennant clincher Sunday against the Cubs and participated in practice sessions yesterday and today. He’ll start the Series. The only Yankee star missing is outfielder Tommy Henrich, who left the team two weeks ago to join the Coast Guard.

Most of the profits from this war-year World Series will go to the United Service Organizations. If the series goes the limit of seven games, the proceeds to the war agency will total approximately $679,000. As usual, the players’ pool is made up of a percentage of receipts from the first four contests, but the shares of the competing clubs, the rival leagues and the office of Commissioner Kenesaw M. Landis have been cut sharply. The clubs’ profit will be the smallest in modern series history.

The first two games, Wednesday and Thursday, are scheduled here. Friday will be an off-day for travel, with play resuming Saturday in New York for the next three games. If the issue is still undecided, the clubs will return to St. Louis for the final two games.

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Game 1

Radio broadcast of the game (MBS, incomplete):

The Pittsburgh Press (September 30, 1942)

34,000 watch mound duel in early innings

DiMaggio gets first hit; Cooper picked Ruffing off second

St. Louis, Missouri (UP) –
The New York Yankees, champions of the American League for the sixth time in seven years, led the St. Louis Cardinals in the first game of the World Series at Sportsman’s Park today.

Sportsman’s Park was jammed to capacity. In addition to the 34,000 regular seats, 3,000 standing room-only tickets had been sold an hour and a half before game time.

Cooper had a fairly easy time of it in the first inning, getting Rizzuto on the second pitch. Phil slapped a grounder to Marion who threw him out at first. Red Wolfe went down swinging but Roy Cullenbine waited Cooper out and got a walk.

Then with DiMaggio at bat, manager Joe McCarthy of the Yanks protested to umpire Magerkurth that Cooper had committed a balk. However, Magerburth ruled otherwise and DiMaggio promptly came through with the first hit of the series, a single to deep shot that Marion fielded nicely but couldn’t get over to first in time. Charlie Keller ended the frame by striking out.

Ruffing is wild

Ruffing was a bit wild in the Cardinals half of the first, but it did no damage. Brown was thrown out by Hassett when Jimmy hit the first pitch. Terry Moore fouled off five pitches, finally walked.

Here Ruffing grew a bit shaky, passing Slaughter also. Red got out of difficulty though, getting Musial on a fly to Cullenbine and Walker Cooper on a called third strike.

Dickey run down

It was smooth sailing for Mort in the second. Joe Gordon was an easy out when he grounded to Brown who retired home at first. An alert play, by Brother Walker Cooper, took care of Bill Dickey, after Brown threw wildly past first on Dickey’s grounder. Walked backed up the play and nailed Dickey in a rundown. Marty Marion finally making the putout, Buddy Hassett’s line drive was spread by Brown.

The Cards couldn’t get the ball out of the infield in their half of the inning. Phil Rizzuto made a slick running catch of Hopp’s foul and both Kurowski and Brown missed third strikes.

It looked as though the vaunted Yankee power might break loose in the third when Ruffing smashed a long single off the right field screen. With Harry Gumbert warming up in the Cards’ bullpen, Cooper walked Rizzuto and there were two on, none out.

But Rolfe took a third strike. Mort caught Ruffing napping with a surprise throw to Marion who targeted Big Red, and Cullenbine rolled to Hopp who stepped on first.

Yanks open sewing

Mort Cooper grounded to Rizzuto to open the third, and after Brown drew a pass on four bad pitches, DiMaggio gathered in Terry Moore’s long drive and Slaughter went for a third strike.

A hard-hit double-down the left field foul line by Buddy Hassett with two men outscored DiMaggio with the first run of the Series on the Yanks’ fourth. DiMaggio had opened with his second single, and after Keller and Gordon had popped out, Dickey drew a walk. Hassett’s smash sent DiMaggio across, but Ruffing was thrown out by Marion.

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Cooper, Ruffing duel in opener

Capacity crowd of 37,000 sees World Series inaugural at Sportsman’s Park
By Tommy Devine, United Press staff writer

St. Louis, Missouri –
The New York Yankees sought to forge another link in the greatest chain of World Series triumphs in baseball history today when they opposed the St. Louis Cardinals in the opening game of the 39th renewal of the diamond’s big show.

Since they clinched the American League pennant on Sept. 14, the Yanks have relaxed and rested which the Cards and Brooklyn Dodgers waged a hectic stretch duel for the right to oppose them. The youthful daredevil Redbirds, who had to wait until the final day of the season to grab the National League flag, figured to give New York more trouble than the aging Dodgers, but even so they were a 1–2 underdog in the betting. The Yanks were a 6–5 choice to win the opener.

Manager Joe McCarthy of the Yanks announced Charles “Red” Ruffing as pitcher for today’s game. The Card’s starter was Morton Cooper, whose 22 triumphs topped all National League hurlers. Included in Cooper’s sensational achievements were 10 shutdowns.

Manager Billy Southworth said in selecting him:

Mort’s our top hurler. We intend to give the best we’ve got from the start of the series to the finish. I think that’ll be good enough to win it.

Cards beat Yanks in ‘26

Southworth was an outsider on the St. Louis team of 1926 that beat the Yankees of the late Miller Huggins in seven games. The New Yorkers have been invincible in series play since, winning eight straight world titles. Over that stretch, the Yanks have throttled the National League representatives decisively by rolling to 32 triumphs while losing only four games.

A sellout crowd of 37,000 fans was to see the opening game. Scalpers, who have corralled a sizeable block of seats, tilted their prices to $20 for a reserve seat ticket with a face value of $5.75 and $50 for a box seat with an original value of $6.90.

Bleacher and pavilion seats went on sale this morning. Before dusk last night, a line of fanatical fans had formed outside the games at Sportsman’s Park to stand the all-night vigil in order to see the opener.

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Starting lineups

New York St. Louis
Rizzuto, ss. Brown, 2b.
Rolfe, 3b. Moore, cf.
Cullenbine, rf. Slaughter, rf.
DiMaggio, cf. Musial, lf
Keller, lf. W. Cooper, c.
Gordon, 2b. Hopp, 1b.
Dickey, c. Kurowski, 3b.
Hassett, 1b. Marion, ss.
Ruffing, p. M. Cooper, p.

UMPIRES: George Magerkurth and George Barr (National League); Bill Summers and Cal Hubbard (American League).

GAME TIME: 1:30 p.m. CWT.

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Soldiers in Pacific will hear Series

Washington (UP) –
World Series games will be broadcast shortwave, in condensed form, to servicemen in Australia and Southwest Pacific Islands, the American Red Cross announced today.

The shortwave broadcasts will be recorded in Australia and sent out over 12 stations of the Australian Broadcasting Commission. Shortwave facilities will carry the games to men in distant outposts.

The Office of War Information will condense the play-by-play accounts into 45-minute records for transmission across the Pacific by Station KWID, San Francisco. Even men on duty during the broadcasts will have a chance to hear the games from records made by the Red Cross.

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Game 1

Wednesday, September 30, 1942 1:30 pm (CWT) at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis, Missouri

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
New York 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 3 2 7 11 0
St. Louis 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 7 4

WP: Red Ruffing (1–0)
LP: Mort Cooper (0–1)
Sv: Spud Chandler (1)

Attendance: 34,769

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Game 2

Radio broadcast of the game (MBS):

The Pittsburgh Press (October 1, 1942)

Cards leading New York in second game

W. Cooper’s double gives St. Louis start in second inning

St. Louis, Missouri (UP) –
Getting away to a fast start, the St. Louis Cardinals showed plenty of spirit and dash to lead the New York Yankees in the second game of the 1942 World Series here today.

Manager Billy Southworth placed the Cardinal hopes of drawing even with the Yanks on a 23-year-old rookie right-hander today. He sent Johnny Beazley, 21-game winner in his first Major League season against Ernie “Tiny” Bonham, manager Joe McCarthy’s choice in the Yankees’ attempt to make ti two straight.

Held to one hit for eight innings as Red Ruffing, veteran righthander, beat Morton Cooper, 7–4, in the opening game, the Cardinals began their batting practice early.

Banks on Beazley

Southworth stuck to Beazley as his pitching selection, despite the fact that rookies seldom have fared well in World Series competition. He figured Johnny had a better chance to come through against a hometown crowd.

His pitching rotation plans called for using his two star lefthanders, Max Lanier and Ernie White, in two of the three games which may be Sunday and Monday. They will spend tomorrow’s open date traveling to New York.

The Yankees began hitting the fences at the start of their batting drill.

Rizzuto in leadoff

McCarthy said he would stick to the lineup he used yesterday when he installed shortstop Phil Rizzuto in the leadoff spot and dropped Buddy Hassett, first baseman, to eighth. The change paid dividends for Hassett got a double and single which batted in vital runs.

Beazley kept a pledge he made to three classmates at a Nashville high school in 1937 and gave them seats for the game. He played baseball with Roy “Wop” Elliott, Cpl. Joe Howard and Billy Riggins and promised them seats for the first World Series game in which he pitched.

Two runs for cards

Rizzuto worked Beazley for a base on balls to open the game. After Rolfe flied out, Rizzuto stole second, but he was stranded as Beazley struck out Cullenbine and disposed of DiMaggio.

The Cardinals came back like a flash in their first frame. Brown walked and T. Moore sacrificed, and both runners were safe when Brown beat Bonham’s throw to second. After Slaughter flied out and Musial fouled out, Walker Cooper doubled to right center, scoring Brown and T. Moore to send the Cardinals ahead, 2–0. Hopp flied out to end the inning.

The only thing Southworth was sure of was that no beating today could be worse than the beating Mort Cooper took yesterday as Big Red Ruffing won his seventh Series victory in eight starts.

Ruffing is game’s hero

Until Terry Moore, brilliant St. Louis centerfielder, drilled a single between first and second base, with two out in the eighth, Ruffing had held the Cardinals hitless and had been troubled only with wildness.

Ruffing was the hero of the first game, and if there was a goat, it was Max Lanier, the Cardinal southpaw. His two errors led to two unearned Yankee runs in the ninth.

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Beazley Cards’ hope to even Series

Redbird rookie opposed by Bonham in ‘key’ game

St. Louis, Missouri (UP) –
The Yankees, having won with their “spot pitcher,” sent their “key game” hurler against the Cardinals’ rookie star today in the second game of the 1942 World Series.

Ernie “Tiny” Bonham, who begins his pre-game warmup by tossing 10-pound weights around to make the baseball feel lighter, was manager Joe McCarthy’s selection for the game which has decided the Series winner 18 times in the last 20 years.

Manager Billy Southworth, sticking to his original choice, called on Johnny Beazley, who won 21 games in his first Major League season. He defied Series history for only rarely have rookies made good in baseball’s biggest money games.

Bonham, the best control pitcher in baseball, has been McCarthy’s key man for winning games that that meant titles. He pitched the Yankees into first place in the 1942 pennant race and then defeated Cleveland back on Sept. 14, to clinch the American League pennant. The strapping 6’2”, 215 lb. righthander also won the final game of the World Series last year against the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Except in 1934, when Tommy Bridges of Detroit beat Wild Bill Hallahan of the Cardinals, and 1941 when Will Wyatt of Brooklyn defeated Spurgeon Chandler, the team which has won the second game has gone on to take the world championship.

Figuring that hometown friends might mean more than baseball tradition, Southworth, down-hearted with the failure of Morton Cooper, ace of the Cardinal mound staff, in the first game, decided that he would risk going along with his freshman star.

One thing he was sure of – it couldn’t be any worse than the beating Cooper took yesterday. In the end, the four unearned runs which the usually tight Cardinal defense gave the Yankees in the eighth and ninth inning of the opener made the difference which gave big Charles “Red” Ruffing his seventh Series victory in eight starts.

But Big Red, as he went along, gave the impression that he was going to win. He held the Cardinals hitless for 7⅔ innings, a World Series record, and eased up only in the ninth when he was coasting on a seven-run lead.

He didn’t last, but he carried out his assignment of winning. He needed help from Chandler to get the pesky Cardinals out in the ninth after they had scored four runs to bring the final count of 7–4. Ruffing couldn’t tighten up, once the Cardinals, showing some of the drive that brought them the pennant in the hottest stretch run in National League history, began clicking in the ninth, but he had done what every pitcher strives to do. He had held the Cardinals off until his teammates gave him a commanding lead and it was good enough to

Until Terry Moore, brilliant St. Louis centerfielder, drilled a single between first and second base, with two out in the eighth, Ruffing had held the Cardinals hitless and had been troubled only with wildness. But he proved that he was the greatest spot pitchers in the game until, with his heart still willing, he didn’t have quite enough steam left on his fast ball. With two out in the ninth inning, St. Louis began scoring.

So, with the Cardinals running wild, McCarthy took him out and put in Chandler, who put out the Redbird blaze with the tying runs on the bases.

But had it not been for the treacherous infield of Sportsman’s Park, Ruffing would probably have had a one-hit shutout – the second in series competition. For the ball that Walker Cooper, brother of Mort, hit with one man out in the ninth, took a bad hop as Red Rolfe, veteran Yankee third baseman, was set to field it.

He got the next man out, but with only the big man to go, couldn’t quite make it.

Ruffing was the hero and if there was a goat it was Max Lanier, the Cardinal southpaw. His two errors led to two unearned Yankee runs in the ninth. The other two unearned runs – in the eighth – came when Enos Slaughter was charged with a two-base error when he dropped Ruffing’s long fly.

DiMaggio, in direct contrast to his previous World Series appearances, got three for five to lead the Yankee 11-hit attack, but his hits were not the most devastating driven out by the Bronx Bombers. Buddy Hassett, rescued by the Yankees from the Boston Braves, had the most telling blows – a double and a single which counted because they scored the early runs.

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Yanks 3–5 favorites

St. Louis, Missouri (UP) –
James J. Carroll, St. Louis betting commissioner, offered odds of 3–5 on the New York Yankees to win today’s World Series game with Ernie Bonham pitching. He held the St. Louis Cardinals at 7–5 with John Beazley on the mound.

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Seven-game Series may cause

Washington (UP) –
Defense Transportation Director Joseph B. Eastman’s order today “freezing” all railroad passenger schedules may have a bearing upon the current World Series between St. Louis and New York.

The Yankees traveled to St. Louis, where they won the opening game yesterday, in three chartered cars. Eastman’s order forbids assignment of chartered cars exclusively to “an individual or group of persons.”

Eastman had authority to waive the barrier, but aides doubted that he would do so in this case.

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Game 2

Thursday, October 1, 1942 1:30 pm (CWT) at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis, Missouri

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
New York 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 3 10 2
St. Louis 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 X 4 6 0

WP: Johnny Beazley (1–0)
LP: Tiny Bonham (0–1)

Home runs:

  • NYY: Charlie Keller (1)
  • STL: None

Attendance: 34,255

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The Pittsburgh Press (October 2, 1942)

CARDS’ SPEED, DARING KNOT SERIES
Event likely to go limit of 7 games

Yankee errors help Redbirds in 4–3 triumph

En route to New York –
It was merely so long that the Cardinals and Yankees said to St. Louis today as they started toward New York to renew the World Series tomorrow at the Yankee Stadium.

That was the consensus after the dashing Cardinals knotted up the series at one game apiece yesterday at Sportsman’s Park, for if a trip back to St. Louis is to be avoided, one club must sweep all three games to be played in the House that Ruth built.

And with the even-stephen ball displayed in the first two games, that’s about as remote as snow in July. Most writers believe the Series will go the entire distance.

Lefthanders for Cardinals

Manager Billy Southworth, of St. Louis, said he would pitch one of his two ace southpaws, Ernie White or Max Lanier, in the third game. The Yankees believe it will be White, because Lanier was not too hot in his relief assignment in the first game.

Manager Joe McCarthy, of the Yankees, said he would announce his third game pitcher upon arrival in New York. It was likely to be Spurgeon Chandler, Atley Donald or Hank Borowy, with Chandler having the inside track.

Rookie defies tradition

Southworth defied baseball tradition to start and win with his rookie ace, Johnny Beazley, in the second game and McCarthy might take the same chance.

Just as the Cardinals weren’t the Cardinals in the first game, the Yankees weren’t the Yankees in yesterday’s battle. The errors which gave the Yankees four runs in the 7–4 victory in the opener showed in the St. Louis box score but the mistakes which cost the Bronx Bombers yesterday’s game were of a different kind. The Cardinals’ errors were of commission, the Yankees’ of omission.

There was no question that Beazley deserved the 4–3 victory, but the score probably would have been different if it hadn’t been for two plays – one in the first inning, the other in the ninth.

Bonham forgets card speed

Ernie “Tiny” Bonham, who allowed only six hits to Beazley’s 10, made the first base guess. With Jimmy Brown on first in the first inning as a result of a base on balls – something pretty rare in Bonham’s pitching – Tiny elected to make a play at second on Terry Moore’s sacrifice bunt. He hesitated a split second and it cost him an out because Brown made it with a typical Cardinal headlong slide. Bonham could have caught Moore at first easily.

The Yankee ace, who like Beazley, won 21 games during the season, retired the next two men, Enos Slaughter and Stan Musial, who were later to become the Redbird heroes, but he couldn’t get by Walker Cooper. The Cardinal catcher drilled one into right field for a double and two runs scored.

There was a break on the hit, too. Normally, Gordon would have been in a position where he might have caught the ball, but he was off balance because he had feinted toward second in an effort to force Brown to cut down his head.

They were earned runs, all right, but they weren’t the type of runs Yankee pitchers usually allow.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, Tuck Stainbeck, a pinch runner, cost the Yankees their chance for victory in the ninth. Running for Bill Dickey, who had singled, Stainbeck tried to leg it to third on Buddy Hassett’s one-baser into right. It took a perfect throw by Enos Slaughter to get him, but it looked like a reckless chance considering Slaughter’s throwing reputation and the fact there was no one out.

That changed the complexion of the game for, instead of putting Beazley into a deep hole with men on first and second with no one out, it left only a man on first with one out. The Cardinal star was good enough to keep the tying run from getting around. But those are baseball breaks. Where the Cardinals got them yesterday, the Yankees received them the day before.

Beazley, with a three-run lead and two out in the eighth, looked like he was on his way to a shutout, but then the Yankee bats exploded. Roy Cullenbine and Joe DiMaggio hit successive singles and Charlie Keller got the series’ first homerun to tie the score.

But Slaughter and Musial, the heart of the Cardinal batting order with only one hit between them, clicked in the Cardinal half of the eighth and won the ball game.

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Game 3

Radio broadcast of the game:

The Pittsburgh Press (October 3, 1942)

CARDS SEND SOUTHPAW SHOTS AT YANKS
White starts plan to quell Yankee bats

Chandler to oppose; attendance mark may be set
By Jack Cuddy, United Press staff writer

New York –
Playing before a crowd that may reach 70,000 and set a World Series attendance record, the “Cinderella team” of St. Louis Cardinals sent their ace southpaw, blond Ernie White, to the mound at Yankee Stadium today against righthanded Spurgeon “Spud” Chandler, of the Yanks, in the third game of the current classic.

With the Series deadlocked at one game each as the contesting teams arrived on their special from St. Louis, the performance of 26-year-old White was expected to prove whether the Cardinals’ acknowledged edge in southpaw pitching would be a determining factor in this best-of-seven-game Series.

If White’s portside slants muffle the Yankee powerhouse, manager Billy Southworth, of the rampant Redbirds, will shoot another good southpaw, Max Lanier, at the Yanks tomorrow. But if DiMaggio, Keller and Co., tee off on White, righthanded Morton Cooper will probably climb the hill Sunday, despite his defeat in the first game at St. Louis.

Record crowd expected

That’s what Southworth said as he and Marse Joe McCarthy, of the Yanks, announced their pitching selections aboard train before reaching New York. McCarthy was uncertain about Sunday’s flinger, but he will probably pick Atley Donald or Hank Borowy, both righthanders.

Meanwhile, president Ed Barrow, of the Yanks, predicted a crowd of 70,000 today if the weather is favorable. This would be the largest crowd in World Series history, topping the record set at last year’s Dodger-Yank opening in the Stadium – 68,540 fans. Barrow said all boxes were sold out 10 days ago and all reserved seats a week ago, the earliest on record. Today, 14,000 bleacher seats and 14,000 unreserved seats in the upper stands were to be sold first-come, first-served at the Stadium. Barrow said the demand for tickets this year was the greatest he ever had known, and:

…it seems that everybody had enough money to buy reserved seats.

Travel plans may be upset

With the third, fourth and fifth games scheduled for the Stadium, it was uncertain whether the sixth and seventh contests (if necessary) could be shifted to St. Louis, as originally planned. It was reported that it would be virtually impossible to make adequate train arrangements for a return to St. Louis under the new transportation regulations, unless a last-minute exception were made. Commissioner Kenesaw M. Landis was reported studying the possibility of playing the sixth and seventh contests, if necessary, in New York.

Jack Doyle, Broadway pricemaker, announced that the Yanks were still favored to win the Series, with 5–13 quoted against their victory, and 11-5 against the Cards. The Yanks were also favored for today’s engagement, with 1–2 quoted against them, and 9–5 against the Cards.

Yanks’ batting order altered

With southpaw White facing the Yanks, some changes are expected in the Yankee batting order. Gerry Priddy will probably replace lefthanded Red Rolfe at third base, and either Buddy Rosar or Rollie Hemsley may catch instead of Bill Dickey. This would change the Yankee order in four berths – Buddy Hassett batting second instead of eighth; Charlie Keller and Joe Gordon changing their fifth and sixth notches, and Priddy coming eighth. McCarthy, however, has not definitely decided on these expected shifts. Meanwhile, Southworth said the Cards would stick to their regular lineup, unless a sore arm forced Whitey Kurowski, third baseman, to the bench. Kurowski hurt the arm, making a quick throw in Thursday’s game. If Kurowski can’t play, Southworth said Jimmy Brown will switch from second to third, and Creepy Crespi, reserve infielder, will take over second.

White was the prime factor last year when the Cads made their great bid for the pennant. He won 17 games to keep the Cards in contention, but this season Ernie got off to a bad start and was hampered most of the season with injuries. He wound up with the unimpressive record of seven wins and five losses. However, he finished the campaign in excellent physical condition and clinched the pennant for the Cards in the opener of last Sunday’s doubleheader with the Cubs. It will be White’s World Series debut.

Chandler’s second Series showing

Chandler, 32, has been with the Yanks since 1937, and last year had the questionable distinction of being the only Yankee losing pitcher in the Series with the Dodgers. This season, he was one of the champions’ mainstays, winning 16 and losing five. He has already seen action in the current Series, quelling the ninth-inning Cardinals’ uprising against Red Ruffing in the opening game at St. Louis.

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Game 3

Saturday, October 3, 1942 1:30 pm (EWT) at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New York

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
New York 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 5 1
St. Louis 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 1

WP: Ernie White (1–0)
LP: Spud Chandler (0–1)

Attendance: 69,123

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The Pittsburgh Press (October 4, 1942)

Cardinals beat Yanks in third game, 2–0

Ernie White allows six hits in shackling Bronx Bombers
By Jack Cuddy, United Press staff writer

New York – (Oct. 3)
The inspired St. Louis Cardinals, seizing advantage of every break and aided by the shutout pitching of southpaw Ernie White, defeated the New York Yankees, 2–0, today in the third game of the World Series.

It was the first time the Yankees had been shut out in a World Series game since 1926 when Jess Haines of these same Cardinals turned the trick. Today’s victory sent the Cardinals into the lead, two games to one – the first time the Yankees have been behind in the “games won” column of the World Series since the 1926 championship.

The official attendance was 69,123 – largest crowd ever to see a World Series game.

A crowd that stretched to the top rafters of Yankee Stadium this afternoon watched White hold the sluggers in the Yankees’ batting order to six scattered hits.

Chandler gives three hits

Spurgeon Chandler, carrying the hopes of the Yankees, yielded only three hits before he retired for a pinch hitter in the eighth inning. But the Cardinals, making no mistakes and surging through to capitalize on every break, were not to be denied.

The Cardinals got a run in the third and another in the ninth, but these two were enough as White wheeled his southpaw pitches past the Yankee hitters. After Chandler retired for a pinch-hitter, Marv Breuer and Jim Turner finished up on the mound for the Yankees.

The relentless Cardinals not only took advantage of Yankee misfortunes, but they also virtually “robbed” them on three occasions of blows that needed but a little more attitude to be home runs.

The Cards made their first rally in the third inning after Slats Marion was thrown out, apparently, while trying to beat out a bunt. Manager Billy Southworth of the Cards objected vigorously, claiming that the bunt and landed first in the batter’s box and hence should be a foul. After a lengthy huddle with the four umpires, it was decided that the ball had gone foul and that Marion was not out.

Marion beats out bunt

Whitey Kurowski was in first at the time. Marion, back at hat, tried the bunt business again and beat it out this time, thereby saving an all-important out and advancing Kurowski to second.

Both Kurowski and Marion advanced on the next play when pitcher White was out on a sacrifice, and Kurowski scored the first run pf the game when Jimmy Brown was thrown bout after a fast grounder to Gordon. Terry Moore then struck out, retiring the side.

The Cards registered their next run in the turbulent ninth session, aided by pitcher Breuer’s wild throw to second. Brown had singled to right. Then fast-stepping Terry Moore reached first on a fielder’s choice, as Breuer tried to throw out Brown at second, but his toss to Rizzuto was wild, permitting Brown to advance to third and Moore to make second. Brown scored when Country Slaughter singled to center.

Turner replaces Breuer

On the throw-in from center that tried to get Brown at the plate, both Moore and Slaughter took another base. At this point, Turner relieved Breuer on the mound. Stan Musial was intentionally walked. Walker flied out to short center, with no one advancing. Then Johnny Hopp flied to Charlie Keller, who made a great throw to catcher Bill Dickey who tagged Moore as he flashed past him in a fadeaway slide for the plate, ending the Cardinals’ efforts for the afternoon.

The suspense held the crowd in its seats until the last out – an out that caused a groan from the thousands of Yankee fans.

Joe DiMaggio was on first base by virtue of his single to right. Joe Gordon and Roy Cullenbine were out, and up to the plate stepped big Charlie “King Kong” Keller whose home run with two aboard tied the score in the second game of this Series at St. Louis. If Keller could duplicate this feat, the Yankee hopes in today’s game could be kept alive.

Keller made a mighty try. He blasted the ball toward the right field stands. The crowd rose with a frenzied roar, but the ball settled into the waiting hands of Slaughter just in front of the 344-foor sign on the lower right stands. A couple more feet of altitude would have transformed it into na four-bagger instead of the final out.

But that was just one of the bad breaks the Yanks got today. They missed two potential homers by similar margins in the seventh inning. Joe Gordon sent a drive sailing toward the distant left field stands, but it dropped into the eager hands of Musial, who had his back against the lower boxes. And the next man up, Keller, whammed one out to the right field stands – in almost the same spot where Slaughter took his next mighty drive in the ninth.

Some of the fans yelled, “Robber! Robber!” When Slaughter pulled down that first Keller drive in the seventh.

And the Yanks, themselves, felt that they were being robbed by luck and the Cardinals’ torrid playing as the afternoon wore on. It embittered them and caused them to make protest after protest – against decisions on strikes at the plate and on close plays on the bags. This was unusual because the champion Yanks always have prided themselves on being cool-headed and “perfect gentlemen” with the umpires.

The crowd of 69,123 paid a total of $267,177. Of this sum, the players will receive $136,260.27, and the United Service Organizations $130,916.73.

In the dressing room, manager Joe McCarthy announced that he will send to the Yankee mound tomorrow Hank Borowy, a righthander. Hank will face either southpaw Max Lanier or righthander Mort Cooper, who lost the opening contest for the Cards.

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No more worries!

New York (UP) – (Oct. 3)
Train accommodations for the Cardinals and Yankees, baseball writers and league officials will be available if the World Series has to go back to St. Louis for the sixth and seventh games, a representative of the New York Central Railroad informed the press tonight.

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Broken thumb outs Buddy Hassett out

New York (UP) – (Oct. 3)
First baseman Buddy Hassett of the New York Yankees will be out of the remaining World Series games with a fractured thumb on his left hand, manager Joe McCarthy announced today.

Hassett, who collected a double and two singles in nine times at bat for a Series average of .333 and drove in two runs, was hit by a foul tip from his own hat in the first inning of today’s third game. He fouled out and then retired.

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20

What does the X mean ?

The radioshow is very well done and sounds modern. With a call for donating blood.

PS go Brooklyn Dodgers

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