1944 World Series

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Series rivals clash in key contest

Cards bank on Wilks against Kramer in battle to gain edge
By Leo H. Petersen, United Press sports editor

Sportsman’s Park, St. Louis, Missouri –
A hot October sun, sending the temperature into the 80’s, beat down on Sportsman’s Park today as the St. Louis Cardinals and the St. Louis Browns, all even at one game each, met in the third game of the World Series.

Manager Billy Southworth sent his rookie ace Ted Wilks, who won 17 games while losing only four in his first season in the majors, against Jack Kramer, Pilot Luke Sewell’s nominee.

The heat changed the pre-game odds because Kramer has been a “cold weather” pitcher. Most of his 17 victories came during the cool days of May, June and September and most of his 13 defeats on the hot days of July and August.

Odds favor Cards

The odds on the Cards dropped from 3–5 to 2–5 and increased on the Browns from 7–5 to 8–5.

It was the first World Series experience for both Wilks and Kramer and they were meeting in the critical third game. Nine times in the past 10 years, the club which won the third game went on to take the series.

Fans gathered slowly in the park on hour and a half before game time and practically all of them were in the unreserved bleacher and pavilion seats. There were still plenty of seats available however, and it promised to be another bad day for the ticket scalpers. Neither the first game, won by the Browns, nor the second contest won by the Cardinals, drew capacity houses.

The Browns became the home club for today’s game. The Cardinals will be hosts for the sixth and seventh, if that many are necessary to decide the best four out of seven games series.

Browns kick away second game, 3–2

The Browns kicked away the second game yesterday, 3–2, in 11 innings after winning the opener Wednesday, 2–1. It was the first extra-inning World Series game since the New York Yankees defeated the Cincinnati Reds, 7–4, in 10 innings in 1938.

Sewell shot with his ace, Nelson Potter, in an effort to make it two in a row over their intracity rivals and without three early inning errors would have won, 2–0, over the regulation distance.

Potter was not charged with the defeat, but he had only himself to blame for sending the game into overtime. He had been taken out for a pinch-hitter in the seventh and his relief, Bob Muncrief, was on the mound.

Potter’s errors hurt

After turning back the National League champions for two innings, he yielded a single to Emil Verban, one of the Cardinals’ weakest hitters, to open the third. Then Max Lanier, the starting Cardinal pitcher, trying to sacrifice, popped a fly which dropped at Potter’s feet and which the Brownie pitcher did not pick up in time. And when he did pick it up, he threw wildly past first for two errors on the same play and, instead of having a man on second with one out there were men on third and first with none out. Verban scored an unearned run as Augie Bergamo grounded out.

Potter also set up the second unearned run scored by the Cards in the fourth, but it was his pitching, and not his fielding, this time. With one man out he walked Ray Sanders. Sanders went to second on George Kurowski’s single, and the bases were filled when Mark Christman, Brownie Third-baseman, fumbled Martin Marion’s sure double-play ground ball. Sanders scored after Verban flied out.

Sylvester “Blix” Donnelly turned in one of the best jobs of relief pitching ever seen in a World Series to turn the Browns back.

O’Dea’s hit wins

He received his reward in the 11th when Ken O’Dea broke up the game with a single to right. The Cards’ second-string catcher was batting for Verban and the blow scored Ray Sanders, who singled and had been sacrificed to second.

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Thought waves echo –
Williams: Brain trusters dominate second game of series

By Joe Williams

St. Louis, Missouri –
The brain trusters took over the second game of the World Series. Both Prof. Southworth of the Cardinals and Prof. Sewell of the Browns went in excessively for heavy thought waves. There were times when the action of the brain cells was audible all over the park. There has been nothing like it since Tunney addressed Yale on the relative values of the left hook and the Greek root.

In the end Prof. Southworth, who went through the Sorbonne, Harvard and MIT, being a magazine salesman at the time, was the victor. It turned out to be something he had eaten; for breakfast the professor had brains and eggs. “That’s the secret of my academic success,” he admitted, “that, and listening to the quiz kids.” Probably correct, too.

Juggling starts early

The two professors started the game by juggling their lineups and for reasons only the scientific mind would be able to comprehend, although Prof. Southworth, an old vaudeville fan, is known to be personally fond of juggling. As the game progressed, they rushed in pinch-hitters, even pinch-runners. Four times they ordered hitters purposely passed, probably a record.

In order to get the full flavor of this, the purposely passing of a hitter, you must at least suspect the rudiments of masterminding. You must realize deep and searching thinking is taking place, out of which may come, in some indirect way, a formula to revolutionize the American way of life, or at any rate the contemporary system of playing the daily double.

Example: Prof. Sewell ordered Shortstop Marion passed in the sixth. Two were out and a Cardinal runner was on second. The next hitter, Second-baseman Verban, popped out. A clear triumph for masterminding.

Sewell outguessed

Another example: It’s the eleventh inning and the score is tired at 2–0, there’s a Cardinal runner on second, one is out and this here Marion comes up again (incidentally, in the three times they did pitch to him he didn’t get the ball beyond the infield). Well, Prof. Sewell once more orders him passed to get to Verban, but the young man never reached the plate. Prof. Southworth was doing some masterminding of his own; he sent Ken O’Dea in to pinch-hit instead, and this gentleman promptly came through with the whack that decided the exciting game.

Apparently, Prof. Sewell had ignored the possibility his scholarly via-a-vis would cross him by calling on a hitter other than Verban, and a lefthanded hitter (as O’Dea is), at that. Prof. Sewell’s pitcher was a righthander and Marion, purposely passed, is a righthanded hitter. In such circumstances, the percentage is supposed to ride with the righthanded pitcher and this certainly was no time to add to his burden.

So, the second guessers were saying today Prof. Sewell masterminded himself out of the ball game, yet the essential facts are infield errors actually beat the Browns. Even so, maybe there should be a law against thinking on the ball field. Or any place else for that matter. It doesn’t seem to improve things, does it?

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Landis hears World Series in hospital bed

Chicago, Illinois (UP) –
Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, High Commissioner of Baseball, had to substitute a bedside radio at St. Luke’s Hospital for a box seat at St. Louis for the World Series this year.

The 77-year-old baseball czars physician said today that Landis heard the first two series games on the radio and “appeared to enjoy them very much.”

He was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital for a bad cold and a needed rest, and was forced to miss a series for the first time since he became commissioner in 1920.

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Game 3

Friday, October 6, 1944 2:00 pm (CT) at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis, Missouri

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
St. Louis Browns (2-1) 0 0 4 0 0 0 2 0 X 6 8 2
St. Louis Cardinals (1-2) 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 7 0

St. Louis Browns (AL):

Hitters AB R H RBI BB K AVG
Gutteridge, 2B 4 1 1 0 0 2 .083
Kreevich, CF 4 0 0 0 0 0 .154
Moore, RF 4 1 1 0 0 0 .333
Stephens, SS 2 2 1 0 2 0 .100
McQuinn, 1B 3 1 3 2 1 0 .625
Zarilla, LF 4 1 1 1 0 1 .200
Christman, 3B 4 0 1 1 0 0 .083
Hayworth, C 2 0 0 0 2 0 .100
Kramer, P 4 0 0 0 0 2 .000
Totals 31 6 8 4 5 5 .258

2B: D. Gutteridge (1, off Jurisich); G. McQuinn (2, off Jurisich).
IBB: R. Hayworth (1, by Schmidt).
TB: G. McQuinn 4; D. Gutteridge 2; G. Moore; M. Christman; V. Stephens; A. Zarilla.
GIDP: A. Zarilla (1).
RBI: G. McQuinn 2 (4); A. Zarilla (1); M. Christman (1).
2-Out RBI: G. McQuinn 2; M. Christman; A. Zarilla
Team LOB: 6
With RISP: 3 for 10

Fielding
E: V. Stephens (1); D. Gutteridge (2)

St. Louis Cardinals (NL):

Hitters AB R H RBI BB K AVG
Litwhiler, LF 5 0 0 0 0 2 .000
Hopp, CF 4 1 1 0 0 1 .143
Musial, RF 5 0 1 0 0 0 .250
W. Cooper, C 4 0 1 0 0 0 .143
Sanders, 1B 3 2 1 0 2 1 .333
Kurowski, 3B 4 0 2 0 0 0 .375
Marion, SS 3 0 0 0 2 0 .286
Verban, 2B 3 1 1 1 1 0 .400
O’Dea, PH 1 0 1 1 0 0 .500
Lanier, P 2 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Donnelly, P 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000
Totals 36 3 7 3 5 7 .194

2B: W. Cooper (2, off Kramer).
TB: W. Cooper 3; M. Marion 2; J. Hopp; S. Musial; R. Sanders
RBI: W. Cooper (1); M. Marion (1)
2-Out RBI: W. Cooper
Team LOB: 8
With RISP: 2 for 8

Fielding
DP: 1 (Marion to Sanders)
PB: W. Cooper (1)

St. Louis Browns

Pitching IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA BF GSc IR IS WPA aLI cWPA acLI RE24
Kramer, W (1-0) 9 7 2 0 2 10 0 0.00 37 77 0.198 0.84 7.06% 52.50 2.4
Team Totals 9 7 2 0 2 10 0 0.00 37 77 0.198 0.84 7.06% 52.50 2.4

St. Louis Cardinals

Pitching IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA BF GSc IR IS WPA aLI cWPA acLI RE24
Wilks, L (0-1) 2.2 5 4 4 3 3 0 13.50 16 32 -0.2431 1.44 -8.11% 90.26 -2.1
Schmidt 3.1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0.00 11 2 1 0.013 0.57 0.45% 36.02 1.0
Jurisich 0.2 2 2 2 1 0 0 27.00 5 0 0 -0.080 0.52 -2.75% 32.79 -1.9
Byerly 1.1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.00 4 1 0 0.008 0.07 0.26% 4.71 0.8
Team Totals 8 8 6 6 5 5 0 6.75 36 32 3 1 -0.302 0.89 -10.15% 55.66 -2.1

Balks: None
WP: F. Schmidt (1)
HBP: None
IBB: F. Schmidt (1; R. Hayworth)
Pickoffs: None
Umpires: HP - Dunn, 1B - Pipgras, 2B - Sears, 3B - McGowan
Time of Game: 2:19
Attendance: 34,737

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Background of news –
America’s national game

By Bertram Benedict

The 1944 World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and St. Louis Browns rounds out a full century in which baseball has been played according to accepted rules. Such rules were first published at 1845, although the game had been played for a few years previously.

In 1907, a committee of eminent baseball authorities was created to investigate the history of America’s national game. The committee reported that the game developed, not so much from the old English game of Rounders, as from the purely American games of One Old Cat, Two Old Cat, Three Old Cat, and (especially) Four Old Cat. These developed into a game known an Town Ball, which gradually became the modern game of baseball.

However, other authorities believe that the 1907 committee was overanxious to deny a foreign origin for the game. Most Englishmen seeing baseball for the first time explain, “Why, it’s like Rounders!”

Rules drawn up in 1845

In Town Ball, the bases or posts were at first in the form of a square had become a diamond. The year previously., the diagram now used for bases and players’ conditions had been driven up by Col. Abner Doubleday.

In the rules set out in 1845, the first side to score 21 runs was the winner. A batter was out if his hit was caught on the first bounce, or if he was struck while between bases by a ball thrown by an opponent.

The first record of a game dates from 1846. Uniforms appeared in 1849. It was not until 1883 that umpires were paid for their services. In fact, no salaries were paid players until after the Civil War. For a long time, there was a limit only on the diameter of the bat, not on its length. The pitcher was allowed to take a number of steps, as in cricket, before delivering the ball.

After the Civil War, players began to receive money. The first team of full-time professionals was organized in 1869. It often made more than 100 runs in a game. With the advent of professionalism came the use of gloves, and of masks and breast pads for the catchers, also the extensive use of curve balls by pitchers.

Professionals resented

For a time, amateurs resented the professionalization of the game, and a line was drawn between amateurs and professionals, as in tennis today. Four of the early professional teams had names which survived into the modern baseball era – the Red Stockings of Cincinnati, the Athletics of Philadelphia, the White Stockings of Chicago, the Nationals of Washington.

From 1870 to 1875, the game became corrupted with rowdyism and bribery, and popular interest in it died out. To replace the game on a firm and popular basis, the National League was formed in 1876; it calls itself the oldest body of organized sports in the United States.

The present membership of the National League dates from 1900, when it was reduced from 12 clubs to eight. In the same year, the National League was challenged by the American League, formed from the old Western League. Peace between the two major leagues was achieved in 1903, and the World Series was initiated in 1905 (the winners in the two leagues had played against each other in 1903, but not in 1904).

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Game 4

Radio broadcast of the game (MBS):

The Pittsburgh Press (October 7, 1944)

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Browns hold 2–1 edge in Series

St. Louis, Missouri (UP) –
The St. Louis Browns, holding a 2–1 edge, picked on Sigmund Jakucki, big righthander, to pitch them to another triumph today in the “streetcar” World Series with their intracity opponents, the St. Louis Cardinals.

Manager Luke Sewell’s hurling choice for the fourth game won 13 and lost nine the past season, his first in the major leagues.

Southpaw Harry Brecheen, who won 16 and lost five games in the regular season, was Manager Billy Southworth’s choice to bring the Cardinals back on an equal footing with the American Leaguers.

Jack Kramer, Browns’ righthander, held the Cards to seven scattered hits yesterday as his teammates shelled Ted Wilks from the box in the third inning and went on to notch a 6–2 triumph.

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Brecheen Cards’ hope to even Series

Browns name Jakucki to increase 2–1 edge; Birds drop 6–2 battle
By Leo H. Petersen, United Press sports editor

St. Louis, Missouri –
A streamlined lefthander and a big, loose-jointed righthander picked up from baseball’s bargain drew the starting assignments today for the fourth game of the World Series with the underdog Browns holding a 2–1 edge over their intracity rivals, the Cardinals.

Southpaw Harry Brecheen was the choice of Manager Billy Southworth in an attempt to get his National League champions back on an equal footing while Luke Sewell of the Browns called on Sigmund Jakucki, whom he rescued from the highways which lead to baseball obscurity.

Brecheen won 16 games while losing only five this year and Jakucki’s record for his first major league season was 13 and nine.

Clear, cool weather prevailed today as the Browns and Cardinals prepared to take the field. The forecast was for fair and cooler today and tonight, with fair and continued cool Sunday.

Jakucki semi-pro

Harry came up with the Cardinals last year from Columbus of the American Association, while the easygoing, good-natured Jakucki was playing semi-pro ball when the Browns picked him up. He probably never would have received a major league opportunity had not the war drained the ranks of professional baseball players.

When Brecheen was poison to the National League, Jakucki was doing better than all right in the junior circuit but he had one weakness which kept him from being one of the leading hurlers. That was his home-run ball. But when his control is gilt-edged he has a low slider that gives batters plenty of trouble.

Kramer stops Cards

Jack Kramer handcuffed the Cards yesterday with seven scattered hits as Sewell’s “Hitless Wonders” put on one of their best displays of what little batting power they possess. The Browns, long on pitching and fielding, needed help from their weakest department to win the third game of the series, 6–2, for the fielding which stood them in such good stead during their stretch drive for the pennant, bogged down once more.

Infield errors gave the Cardinals two unearned runs, but the Browns more than made up for that when they shelled Ted Wilks, Southworth’s rookie star, from the box in the third inning.

Wilks was coasting along under a 1–0 lead and, although troubled by wildness, had pitched no-hit ball for the first two and two-thirds innings. But with two men down in the third, the veteran Gene Moore broke the spell with a single. Before the inning was over, the Browns were leading 4–1 as Vernon Stephens, George McQuinn, Al Zarilla and Mark Christman followed with singles and Fred Schmidt, who relieved Wilks after Christman’s hit, contributed a wild pitch.

Browns rally

The run the Brownies gave the Cards on a second error in the seventh was more than discounted when they used doubles by Don Gutteridge and McQuinn, a walk to Stephens and a passed ball by the Cardinals catcher, Walker Cooper, to score two more tallies.

It was more of a margin than Kramer needed. Although he weakened in the late innings, he always had enough reserve.

His performance added to a remarkable World Series pitching record. In three games the Brown hurlers have allowed the Cardinals only one earned run.

Despite their victory in the third game – the winner of which has gone on to win the series nine times in the last 10 years – the Browns were still quoted as underdogs. The Cards were listed at 4–5 while the Browns were rated at even money. For the fourth game, the Cards were favored 11–20 while the Browns were held at 8–5.

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Kramer glad that he saved his strikeouts

St. Louis, Missouri (Up) –
The Browns, underdogs in the World Series to everybody but themselves, trotted into their hot stuffy dressing room beneath the grandstand of Sportsman’s Park yesterday as if they knew all the time they were going to win the third game.

“It was a cinch, they chorused in their usual cocky manner. “We finally got our bats working.”

Jack Kramer, the best-looking guy in the room, came in for most of the plaudits.

Manager Luke Sewell said:

He had a rough ball game, but he showed plenty of heart and pulled through.

When I went out to talk to him in the eighth inning after the Cards put men on second and third with only one down, he told me he still had his stuff. That was enough for me. I just sat down on the bench while he proved it.

Kramer was laconic:

I kept throwing ‘em in with everything I had. This is the first time all year I got ten strikeouts. I’m mighty glad I saved ‘em up.

First Baseman George McQuinn, who spearheaded the Browns’ attack with three hits and a walk, was grinning from ear to ear. “I like that National League pitching,” he said. “I could hit anything they threw up there.”

Al Zarilla, who replaced Chet Laabs in left field yesterday, was optimistic:

The boys who haven’t been hitting started today and I look for them to continue, the law of averages is on our side now.

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Game 4

Saturday, October 7, 1944 2:00 pm (CT) at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis, Missouri

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
St. Louis Browns (2-2) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 9 1
St. Louis Cardinals (2-2) 2 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 5 12 0

St. Louis Browns (AL):

Hitters AB R H RBI BB K AVG
Gutteridge, 2B 4 0 2 0 1 1 .188
Kreevich, CF 5 0 1 0 0 0 .167
Moore, RF 3 1 0 0 1 1 .267
Stephens, SS 4 0 1 0 0 0 .143
Laabs, LF 4 0 2 0 0 0 .167
McQuinn, 1B 3 0 1 0 1 0 .545
Christman, 3B 4 0 1 0 0 2 .125
Hayworth, C 2 0 0 0 0 0 .083
Mancuso, C 2 0 1 0 0 0 .667
Jakucki, P 0 0 0 0 0 0
Clary, PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Hollingsworth, P 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Byrnes, PH 0 0 0 0 0 0
Shirley, P 0 0 0 0 0 0
Turner, PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Totals 34 1 9 0 4 4 .265

2B: C. Laabs (1, off Brecheen)
TB: C. Laabs 3; D. Gutteridge 2; F. Mancuso; G. McQuinn; M. Christman; V. Stephens; M. Kreevich
GIDP: R. Hayworth (1); C. Laabs (1)
With RISP: 0 for 5
Team LOB: 10

Fielding
E: D. Gutteridge (3)
Outfield Assists: M. Kreevich (D. Litwhiler at 2nd base); M. Kreevich (W. Cooper at home plate)

St. Louis Cardinals (NL):

Hitters AB R H RBI BB K AVG
Litwhiler, LF 4 1 2 0 1 1 .182
Hopp, CF 5 1 2 0 0 1 .211
Musial, RF 4 2 3 2 1 0 .375
W. Cooper, C 4 0 2 1 1 0 .333
Sanders, 1B 5 1 1 0 0 1 .286
Kurowski, 3B 4 0 0 0 0 1 .188
Marion, SS 4 0 1 1 0 1 .333
Verban, 2B 4 0 1 0 0 0 .273
Brecheen, P 4 0 0 0 0 1 .000
Totals 38 5 12 4 3 6 .316

2B: M. Marion (3, off Hollingsworth); S. Musial (1, off Hollingsworth)
3B: W. Cooper (1, off Shirley)
HR: S. Musial (1, off Jakucki, 1st inn, 1 on, 1 out to Deep RF)
IBB: W. Cooper (2, by Hollingsworth)
TB: S. Musial 7; W. Cooper 4; M. Marion 2; J. Hopp 2; D. Litwhiler 2; E. Verban; R. Sanders
RBI: S. Musial 2 (2); M. Marion (2); W. Cooper (2)
2-Out RBI: W. Cooper
With RISP: 1 for 8
Team LOB: 9

Fielding
DP: 2 (Marion to Verban to Sanders; Kurowski to Verban to Sanders)

St. Louis Browns

Pitching IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA BF GSc IR IS WPA aLI cWPA acLI RE24
Jakucki, L (0-1) 3 5 4 3 0 4 1 9.00 15 39 -0.246 0.71 -10.36% 45.63 -2.5
Hollingsworth 4 5 1 1 2 1 0 2.25 18 0 0 0.017 0.22 0.71% 14.19 0.9
Shirley 2 2 0 0 1 1 0 0.00 8 0 0 0.007 0.05 0.28% 3.31 1.0
Team Totals 9 12 5 4 3 6 1 4.00 41 39 0 0 -0.222 0.36 -9.37% 23.57 -0.6

St. Louis Cardinals

Pitching IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA BF GSc IR IS WPA aLI cWPA acLI RE24
Brecheen, W (1-0) 9 9 1 1 4 4 0 1.00 38 65 0.278 0.64 11.68% 41.17 3.4
Team Totals 9 9 1 1 4 4 0 1.00 38 65 0.278 0.64 11.68% 41.17 3.4

Balks: None
WP: None
HBP: None
IBB: A. Hollingsworth (1; W. Cooper)
Pickoffs: None
Umpires: HP - Pipgras, 1B - Sears, 2B - McGowan, 3B - Dunn
Time of Game: 2:22
Attendance: 35,455

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The Pittsburgh Press (October 8, 1944)

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Cards win, 5–1, to even Series

The National League Cards defeated the American League Browns 5–1 yesterday afternoon to knot the game count at 2–0 in the All-St. Louis World Series. The teams play again this afternoon.

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Cards defeat Browns, 5–1, even Series count

Musial clouts homer for two runs in first inning to decide win

Sportsman’s Park, St. Louis, Missouri (UP) – (Oct. 7)
The St. Louis Cardinals exploded some of the hitting power which enabled them to coast to the National League pennant to defeat the Browns, 5–1, today and even the World Series at two games each.

A 12-hit attack against three Brown pitchers, which included a first-inning home run by Stan Musial, gave the Cardinals the fourth game before the largest crowd of the Series – 35,455.

Harry Brecheen, streamlined Cardinal southpaw, yielded nine hits to the American League champions but kept them well scattered and did not permit a run until the eighth inning when his mates had already given him a five-run margin.

Homer clear pavilion

The game was only eight minutes and 12 pitches old when it was decided.

Sigmund “Jack” Jakucki, Browns righthander, struck out the first man to face him, but then was touched for a single by Johnny Hopp. Musial, a World Series bust in 1942 and again in 1943, caught hold of Jakucki’s first pitch, a high, hard one, and drove it over the rightfield pavilion roof for all the runs Brecheen needed.

The Cards doubled their margin in the third when infield hits by Danny Litwhiler and Musial, a single by Catcher Walker Cooper and an error by Don Gutteridge gave them two more tallies.

Jakucki was taken out for a pinch-hitter in the third and his relief, Southpaw Al Hollingsworth, yielded the final Cardinals run in the sixth on Ray Sanders’ single and Martin Marion’s double.

Browns threaten often

Although they threatened to break through in almost every inning, the Browns did not score until the eighth. They had a promising rally going when Martin Marion came up with a good stop on Chet Laabs’ grounder and turned it into a double play to snuff out the hopes of the American League champions.

Gene Moore had walked to open the eighth and went to third when Vernon Stephens singled. That was the setup when Laabs came to bat. The double play resulted in the only Browns run, Stephens scoring.

They made a dying gesture in the ninth but were retired with two men on and two out.

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Game 5

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Game 5

Sunday, October 8, 1944 2:00 pm (CT) at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis, Missouri

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
St. Louis Browns (2-3) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 1
St. Louis Cardinals (3-2) 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 2 6 1

St. Louis Browns (AL):

Hitters AB R H RBI BB K AVG
Gutteridge, 2B 2 0 0 0 1 0 .167
Baker, PH-2B 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000
Kreevich, CF 4 0 2 0 0 1 .227
Moore, RF 4 0 0 0 0 2 .211
Stephens, SS 4 0 3 0 0 0 .278
McQuinn, 1B 3 0 0 0 1 1 .429
Zarilla, LF 4 0 0 0 0 2 .111
Christman, 3B 3 0 0 0 0 1 .105
Byrnes, PH 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000
Hayworth, C 3 0 1 0 0 0 .133
Laabs, PH 1 0 0 0 0 1 .154
Galehouse, P 3 0 1 0 0 1 .200
Chartak, PH 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000
Totals 34 0 7 0 2 12 .206

2B: M. Kreevich (2, off Cooper); V. Stephens (1, off Cooper)
TB: V. Stephens 4; M. Kreevich 3; D. Galehouse; R. Hayworth
With RISP: 0 for 8
Team LOB: 9

Fielding
DP: 1 (Stephens to McQuinn)
E: V. Stephens (2)

St. Louis Cardinals (NL):

Hitters AB R H RBI BB K AVG
Litwhiler, LF 4 1 2 1 0 1 .267
Hopp, CF 4 0 0 0 0 3 .174
Musial, RF 3 0 1 0 1 0 .368
W. Cooper, C 4 0 0 0 0 2 .263
Sanders, 1B 4 1 1 1 0 2 .278
Kurowski, 3B 4 0 1 0 0 1 .200
Marion, SS 4 0 0 0 0 1 .263
Verban, 2B 3 0 1 0 0 0 .286
O’Dea, PH 1 0 1 1 0 0 .500
M. Cooper, P 2 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Totals 32 2 6 2 1 10 .188

2B: D. Litwhiler (1, off Galehouse); S. Musial (2, off Galehouse)
HR: R. Sanders (1, off Galehouse, 6th inn, 0 on, 2 outs to Deep RF); D. Litwhiler (1, off Galehouse, 8th inn, 0 on, 0 outs to Deep CF-RF)
SH: M. Cooper (1, off Galehouse)
TB: D. Litwhiler 6; R. Sanders 4; S. Musial 2; W. Kurowski; E. Verban
GIDP: M. Cooper (1)
RBI: R. Sanders (1); D. Litwhiler (1)
2-Out RBI: R. Sanders
With RISP: 0 for 7
Team LOB: 5

Fielding
E: S. Musial (1)

St. Louis Browns

Pitching IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA BF GSc IR IS WPA aLI cWPA acLI RE24
Galehouse, L (1-1) 9 6 2 2 1 10 2 1.50 34 76 0.144 0.98 5.41% 81.29 2.4
Team Totals 9 6 2 2 1 10 2 2.00 34 76 0.144 0.98 5.41% 81.29 2.4

St. Louis Cardinals

Pitching IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA BF GSc IR IS WPA aLI cWPA acLI RE24
Cooper, W (1-1) 9 7 0 0 2 12 0 1.13 36 83 0.644 1.57 32.38% 129.75 4.4
Team Totals 9 7 0 0 2 12 0 0.00 36 83 0.644 1.57 32.38% 129.75 4.4

Balks: None
WP: None
HBP: None
IBB: None
Pickoffs: None
Umpires: HP - Sears, 1B - Pipgras, 2B - Dunn, 3B - McGowan
Time of Game: 2:04
Attendance: 36,568

31

Game 6

Radio broadcast of the game (MBS):

The Pittsburgh Press (October 8, 1944)

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Browns lead in sixth game

Chet Laabs triples, McQuinn scores him

Sportsman’s Park, St. Louis, Missouri (UP) –
The American League Browns, battling hard to keep their World Series chances alive, led the National League Cardinals, 1 –0, in the third inning of the sixth game this afternoon. A triple by Chet Laabs with George McQuinn’s single, produced the only run of the game thus far in the second inning.

Lefty Max Lanier was on the mound for the Cards, who needed only one more victory to win the championship. Opposing him was Browns’ star righthander, Nels Potter.

Lanier and Potter had met before, in the second game of the series, but neither finished. Lanier went out in the eighth and Potter in the seventh. Blix Donnelly was the eventual winner for the National Leaguers with Bob Muncrief, the loser, in an 11-inning battle.

Sanders raced over to the temporary boxes behind first base to reach for Don Gutteridge’s foul as the Browns came to bat in the opening inning, and Lanier took care of the next two batters – striking out Mike Kreevich and Gene Moore, the latter taking the third strike with his bat on his shoulder.

Litwhiler fans

Potter fanned Litwhiler, the first Cardinal to come to the plate. Johnny Hopp then popped to Gutteridge and Stan Musial was thrown out by Gutteridge.

The Browns opened the scoring in the top half of the second when, after Stephens had struck out, Chet Laabs tripled to the wall in right center and raced home when George McQuinn followed with a single over second. Christman sent a high fly to Hopp in center and Hayworth went out the same way to end the inning and send the American Leaguers away to a 1–0 lead.

Walker Cooper’s bid for a hit in the Cards’ second was turned into a putout by Stephens’ leaping one-hand catch. Sanders popped to Gutteridge. Kurowski bashed a single off Christman’s glove, but was trapped off first on Potter’s snap throw with Marion batting and was retired. Potter to McQuinn to Gutteridge to Potter.

Potter fans

Lanier had fanned Potter and forced Guttridge to foul to Musial in the rightfield bullpen in the Browns’ third before Kreevich lined a sharp two-bagger to left center, the second extra*-base hit off the Cards’ lefthander. Lanier pitched cautiously to Moore and walked him, then Stephens nipped the rally by forcing Moore, Marty Marion to Verban.

In the Cardinal half, Emil Verban singled after Christman had tossed out Marion. Lasnier came through with a hit to short center, Verban stopping at second.

Potter then struck out Litwhiler and Hopp to retire the side.

GAME INCOMPLETE AT EDITION TIME.

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Cards choose Lanier to clinch Series

Browns delegate Potter to ward off defeat in last-ditch sixth tilt
By Leo R. Petersen, United Press staff writer

Sportsman’s Park, St. Louis, Missouri –
Manager Billy Southworth of the St. Louis Cardinals sent Max Lanier, his star lefthander, to the mound today in an attempt to close out the first All-St. Louis World Series in six games just before the Cardinals, host team for the sixth game, began their batting drill. Lanier told his boss that he was “fit and ready.”

Nelson Potter, ace of Luke Sewell’s staff, carried the Browns’ hope of evening the series at three games each. Potter and Lanier met in the second game but neither was involved in the decision which the Cardinals took, 3–2, in 11 innings.

The sun broke through heavy clouds shortly before noon, but it was topcoat weather and the absence of lines outside the ticket windows led speculators to offer reserved grandstand and box seats at cost.

Cooper strikes out 12 to win, 2–0

But Mort Cooper finally got his blasting fast ball zipping over the corners yesterday as the Cards won, 2–0, to take the lead in the series for the first time and cut down 12 Brown batters on strikes.

His opponent, Denny Galehouse, who had beaten Cooper in the first game, 2–1, was almost as good, fanning 10, but he threw home run balls to Ray Sanders in the sixth inning and Danny Litwhiler in the eighth and that was the difference.

Their strikeout total of 22 set a new World Series record. The former mark for a single game was 21, made in the 1906 World Series between the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago White Sox and tied in 1929 when Howard Ehmke of the Philadelphia Athletics set the World Series record for strikeouts in a single game, 13, while his opponent, Charlie Root, was setting down eight.

The 22 strikeouts yesterday also set a new mark for five games, the total being 78 against the former mark of 77 made in the 1929 World Series.

Cooper throttles Browns

Cooper, whose homerun ball has ruined him in three of his five World Series starts and two appearances against the American League in the All-Star game, kept the Browns throttled and wound up the game by fanning three pinch-hitters in the ninth. Only once was he in serious trouble – in the sixth inning when the Browns filled the bases with only one out – but his high, hard one pulled him through as both Al Zarilla and Mark Christman were called out on strikes.

Except for the fat ones he served up to Sanders and Litwhiler, Galehouse matched Cooper pitch for pitch but those home runs brought about his downfall, just like a homer by George McQuinn, with a man on base, had beaten Cooper on a two-hit performance in the opening game of the series.

The largest crowd of the series, 36,368, saw the Cardinals start off as though they were going to break the game open in the first inning when Litwhiler doubled. But Galehouse’s strikeout pitching pulled him out of that spot. He was sailing alone smoothly when Sanders came up with two men out in the sixth. Sanders worked the count to three and one and hit the next pitch over the right field pavilion roof.

Knew it was a homer

“I was behind on him and had to come down with the pitch,” Galehouse said in the clubhouse after the game. “I knew when he hit it that it was going out of the park.”

Both Galehouse and Sewell felt, however, that Litwhiler’s drive onto the pavilion seats would have been caught had not the wind swerved it over.

He allowed seven hits, one more than Galehouse, with Vernon Stephens getting three of them, but his control was perfect and his fast ball never had more zip.

The betting commissioners withdrew all prices on the series with the Cardinals needing but one victory and quoted the National League champions as 11–20 to take the sixth game if Lanier pitches. The Browns were short enders at 8–3.

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Chilly breezes –
Daniel: Series to rate as vast exploit of strikeouts

By Dan Daniel

St. Louis, Missouri –
The baseball classic which is rapidly drawing to its immortal close here will go down in the imperishable records of the national pastime as the series of the strikeouts.

So vast has been the production of whiffing exploits in the five games thus far contested by the Cardinals and the Browns that the indigenous temperature has dropped some 20 points, from a torrid 8 to a comparatively shivery 60.

No fewer than 78 batters have fanned, with the American Leaguers showing a slight advantage, 40–38. That is unmatched by the past Johnny Hopp and Ray Sanders, of the Redbirds, between them have split 14 strikeouts.

Sneezes from bleachers

The epizootic of whiffing which, in the 2–0 shutout hung on the trailing Browns by Morton Cooper in the fifth game yesterday, caused the stands and bleachers to ring with sneezes. Handkerchiefs have gone on the local priority list.

You should have heard the lusty cheers of the Benzedrine and Argyrol lobbies as Mort Cooper climaxed his gorgeous shutout performance with a drug store flourish.

Tired of seeing his regular workers blown down, Luke Sewell swept up his bench in the ninth inning and presented Milton Byrnes, Chet Laabs and Mike Chartak as pinch-hitters. All three looked like competitors in an Indian club swinging tournament. They whiffed with a gusto that sent the customers rushing home for their heavy underwear.

Since Floyd Baker, whom Sewell for some reason as yet determined sent in to swing for Don Gutteridge in the seventh inning, also fanned, it is believed that if Mort did nothing else, he established a record for striking out four consecutive minute men.

Cooper’s work a joy

In only one inning, the sixth, was Cooper in serious trouble, and the way he sneezed the Browns out of that opportunity was a positive joy to the ephedrine and Copenhagen snuff section near the Cardinal dugout.

Mike Kreevich organized the revolt with a single to right. Then Mort made a peach of a play on Gene Moore’s bunt, and forced Mike out of the picture. However, Vernon Stephens, who tapped Cooper for three hits, singled to center and George McQuinn walked, loading the bases.

Now came one Allen Zarilla. He swung and he swung again, and out he went, one of the whiffing dozen. That was the ball game, chums. Then Mark Christman stepped to the plate and whiffed and whiffed and amid a thunder of “gesundheits,” ended the only real disturbance against Morton Cecil from Atherton, Missouri.

When you recollect that in the second game Max Lanier and Sylvester Ulysses Blix Donnelly struck out 13 Browns in 11 innings, you discover a two-contest World Series record lying under your very nose. Achoo!

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Game 6

Monday, October 9, 1944 2:00 pm (CT) at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis, Missouri

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
St. Louis Browns (2-4) 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 2
St. Louis Cardinals (4-2) 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 X 3 10 0

St. Louis Browns (AL):

Hitters AB R H RBI BB K AVG
Gutteridge, 2B 3 0 0 0 0 0 .143
Baker, PH-2B 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000
Kreevich, CF 4 0 1 0 0 2 .231
Moore, RF 3 0 0 0 1 1 .182
Stephens, SS 4 0 0 0 0 1 .227
Laabs, PH 2 1 1 0 2 0 .200
McQuinn, 1B 2 0 1 1 1 0 .438
Christman, 3B 3 0 0 0 0 0 .091
Byrnes, PH 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000
Hayworth, C 2 0 0 0 1 0 .118
Chartak, PH 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000
Potter, P 2 0 0 0 0 1 .000
Muncrief, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Zarilla, PH 1 0 0 0 0 1 .100
Kramer, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Totals 29 1 3 1 5 9 .103

2B: M. Kreevich (3, off Lanier)
3B: C. Laabs (1, off Lanier)
SH: G. McQuinn (1, off Lanier)
IBB: R. Hayworth (2, by Lanier)
TB: C. Laabs 3; M. Kreevich 2; G. McQuinn
RBI: G. McQuinn (5)
With RISP: 1 for 6
Team LOB: 7

Fielding
E: R. Hayworth (1); V. Stephens (3)
Outfield Assists: C. Laabs (Hopp at 2nd base)

St. Louis Cardinals (NL):

Hitters AB R H RBI BB K AVG
Litwhiler, LF 5 0 0 0 0 2 .200
Hopp, CF 4 0 1 0 0 1 .185
Musial, RF 4 0 0 0 0 0 .304
W. Cooper, C 3 1 2 0 1 0 .318
Sanders, 1B 3 1 1 0 1 1 .286
Kurowski, 3B 3 1 1 1 1 0 .217
Marion, SS 3 0 0 0 0 0 .227
Verban, 2B 3 0 3 1 010 .412
Lanier, P 2 0 2 1 0 0 .500
Wilks, P 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000
Totals 31 3 10 3 4 5 .323

SH: T. Wilks (1, off Muncrief); M. Marion (1, off Kramer)
IBB: E. Verban (1, by Kramer)
TB: E. Verban 3; W. Cooper 2; M. Lanier 2; J. Hopp; W. Kurowski; R. Sanders
RBI: E. Verban (2); W. Kurowski (1); M. Lanier (1)
2-Out RBI: E. Verban; M. Lanier
With RISP: 2 for 11
Team LOB: 10

Baserunning
Pickoffs: W. Kurowski 2 (1st base by Potter, 2nd base by Kramer)

St. Louis Browns

Pitching IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA BF GSc IR IS WPA aLI cWPA acLI RE24
Potter, L (0-1) 3.2 6 3 1 1 3 0 0.93 18 43 -0.205 1.30 -8.25% 99.22 -1.5
Muncrief 2.1 2 0 0 1 0 0 1.35 10 2 0 0.088 0.62 3.67% 47.39 1.4
Kramer 2 2 0 0 2 2 0 0.00 9 0 0 0.036 0.36 1.52% 27.24 1.0
Team Totals 8 10 3 1 4 5 0 1.12 37 43 2 0 -0.081 0.89 -3.06% 67.47 0.9

St. Louis Cardinals

Pitching IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA BF GSc IR IS WPA aLI cWPA acLI RE24
Lanier, W (1-0) 5.1 3 1 1 5 5 0 2.19 24 58 0.018 1.09 1.02% 83.01 0.5
Wilks, S (1) 3.2 0 0 0 0 4 0 5.68 11 2 0 0.402 1.20 16.75% 91.15 2.9
Team Totals 9 3 1 1 5 9 0 1.00 35 58 2 0 0.420 1.12 17.77% 85.50 3.4

Balks: None
WP: M. Lanier (1)
HBP: None
IBB: M. Lanier (1; R. Hayworth); J. Kramer (1; E. Verban).
Pickoffs: J. Kramer (0; W. Kurowski, 2nd base); N. Potter (1; W. Kurowski, 1st base)
Umpires: HP - McGowan, 1B - Dunn, 2B - Pipgras, 3B - Sears
Time of Game: 2:06
Attendance: 31,630

35

The Pittsburgh Press (October 10, 1944)

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Browns’ fielding lapse loses Series

Cards cop sixth, 3–1, as keystone combine fails with chips down
By Leo H. Petersen, United Press sports editor

St. Louis, Missouri –
The 1944 World Series went down in the record books as a triumph for Billy Southworth and the Cardinals, but it should credit an assist to the second base combination of the Browns.

For the men of Manager Luke Sewell failed to reach the top in their rags-to-riches baseball climb because one of the major weapons in their last-ditch drive to their first American League pennant failed them when the blue chips were down.

Those weapons, reading from left to right, were the clutch hitting of Vernon Stephens and the fielding of Don Gutteridge, their chatterbox second baseman. In a manner of speaking, they struck out yesterday when they could have come up with the play which would have saved the ball game and the world championship hopes of the Browns.

The setting was the fourth inning with a $1,300 differential riding on every play. And the Browns failed to come through with the play that counted.

Southworth’s speedy Redbirds took advantage of the fielding miscue to beat the Browns out of their chances of making a Cinderella finish to their most successful season.

Browns had lead

The 1944 edition of the American League’s hitless wonders were sailing along under a 1–0 lead in the sixth game of the first all-St. Louis series when Stephens and Gutteridge let them down.

Nelson Potter, the Browns’ leading winner, had a one-run lead on Chet Laabs’ triple and George McQuinn’s single in the second inning. Then came the fourth and he started by getting Stan Musial on a fly ball to center field.

Although it has been around for a long time, he couldn’t find the plate when he pitched to Catcher Walker Cooper. Cooper walked after four pitches.

Ray Sanders, who turned in the most consistent hitting for the National League titleholders, came through with a single that sent Cooper to third. That set the stage for the play that meant the ball game.

The break

Whitey Kurowski, more or less of a series bust, stepped to the plate and sent a grounder down to Stephens. The Brownie shortstop threw the ball to second base in an attempt to force Sanders and start a twin killing. The idea was good – but the execution was faulty.

Stephens fielded the grounder cleanly and threw but the scorers decided his throw was wide and drew Gutteridge off the bag. A lot of others thought that Gutteridge, in his haste to complete the double play, took his foot off the bag.

But Stephens got the error and it led to two unearned Cardinal runs and that proved to be the difference – just like two unearned tallies in the second game kept the Cardinals in the running and enabled them to win out in 11 innings 3–2. So, in the final analysis, it added up to this – the Browns lost the series on their fielding.

More than enough

The failure to complete a double play permitted the tying run to come home. The failure to get even one man out led to the winning and extra tallies, for Emil Verban and Southpaw Max Lanier followed with singles that scored two runs, making it 3–1.

The Browns made their final dying gesture in the sixth when after one man had been retired. Laabs and George McQuinn walked.

Southworth walked out to the mound to confer with Max Lanier and decided to leave him in the game, but when his next pitch was a wild one which permitted Laabs to go to third and McQuinn to second. Billy the Kid decided to take him out.

Ted Wilks, who had been batted out of the box in the third game, came in, retired 11 men in order, and saved the ball game for the Cardinals.

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Cards were stacked –
Williams: Browns fought but bowed to ‘inevitable’

By Joe Williams

New York –
There is much to say for the St. Louis Browns: They went about as far in the series as they figured to, and they got about as much out of their limited abilities as they could. They may not have been the weakest team ever to represent the American League in the championship but few knowing baseball men would care to argue to the contrary.

Yet facing practically the inevitable against the Cardinals, the only team of pre-war strength in baseball, the Browns, celebrating their first pennant victory in history, managed to make most of the games dramatically close and to impart to the series a competitive evenness which did not actually exist. They were finally beaten 4–2 in games and over a season’s stretch they would be beaten just as decisively.

There was no material department in which the Browns could match the National League champions. Only in nerve and resolution were they able to hold their own. The spiritual qualities which enabled them to overcome a fearful slump, regain the league lead and fight off one challenger after another down the stretch were still present in the series but these were not sufficient to offset obvious inferiorities.

Did have chance

In spite of all this they had a chance to win. Looking back, the turning point probably came in the second game when Potter failed to break fast enough for Morton Cooper’s pop bunt. This led to an unearned run which in turn cost the Browns a game they might well have won, and, succeeding, they would have won the first three games, a handicap which even the gifted Cardinals might not have been able to overcome.

In the net analysis, of course, the Cardinals carried too many guns. No matter how the breaks of the games might go they figured to wear the patched-up AL champions down in the end. Their overall superiority is clearly reflected in the figures; they had the hitting, the pitching and the fielding. And once they shook off the notion, dangerous but understandable, that they could call the score. Once they settled down to serious, determined play, they took full command.

Defense helps

A tight defense is not always the deciding factor in the series but it never hurts. The Yankee teams, when they were winning, were remarkably equipped for defensive play, a fact generally overlooked because of their more stirring and spectacular exploits at the plate.

The Cardinals, as a team, set a new fielding record this year, and they came close to perfection in the series when they committed only one error in the six games. As against this impressive performance the Browns made ten. This inequality helped to illuminate the difference between the two clubs as big-time workers, adroit play makers.

Just couldn’t hit

The Browns’ manager used pinch-hitters freely. This identified him as an optimist, for it had to be assumed his bestmen, even as hitters, were his regulars. In the last two games of the series, he used eight pinch-hitters and every one of them struck out. This further illuminated the mediocrity of his material, at least in contrast with that of the Cardinals. Moreover, it pointed up the shabbishness of the AL as a whole; it was additional proof the Browns, in winning the pennant, were no more than the best of a squalid lot.

37

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Cards get $4,063 apiece, Browns $2,708

St. Louis, Missouri (UP) –
Winning the World Series netted the Cardinals a bonus of $4,063 each while the Browns got $2,708 each as their share from the first four games.

The players’ share, which is divided among the four teams finishing in the first division of each league, was $309,590, of which the Cards and Browns received a total of $216,713.

Of that amount, the Cardinals received $129,907 and the Browns $86,609.

38

The Pittsburgh Press (October 11, 1944)

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Marion, Doerr win baseball honors

‘Most valuable’ award in each league goes to Cards, Red Sox stars

St. Louis, Missouri (UP) –
A keystone combination that would be the fulfillment of a perfect dream for any major league manager – Marty Marion of the St. Louis Cardinals at shortstop and Bobby Doerr of the Boston Red Sox at second base – bore the accolade of the Sporting News today as the most valuable players in their respective leagues for 1944.

The national baseball weekly, singling out the infield stars for its annual awards, stressed their fielding prowess and general all-around capabilities.

In addition, it created a special award of merit for pitchers, explaining that they were at a disadvantage in competition for the most valuable rating because they did not play every day. Rewarded in this category were Hal Newhouser, the Detroit Tiger lefthander, who won 29 games and almost pitched the team to a pennant in the closing stages of the race, and Rookie Bill Voiselle of the New York Giants, who won 21 games in his first season.

Special distinction for Doerr

The award to Doerr bore a special distinction – it was the first time it had ever gone to a man who was unable to finish the season with his club.

Doerr, who was inducted into the Armed Forces as his team was entering the late stages of the race, left behind him the second-best batting record in the American League, a .325 mark which was only two points short of the .327 with which Lou Boudreau of Cleveland won the championship.

In addition, he was the standout fielding second-baseman of the circuit, a record which he has achieved almost annually. However, the batting mark was the best in his major league career of eight years and marked the first time since 1939 he had hit more than .300.

Marion tops in series

For Marion, unanimously designated the outstanding player in the World Series just completed, his play was just a continuation of his all-around stylish ball handling during the regular season. In the series, he handled a total of 29 chances, seven putouts and 22 assists without an error and was one of the top clutch hitters on either side.

Although he batted only .227, he drove in two important runs and connected for three doubles, more than any other player on either side except Mike Kreevich of the Browns.

During the season, he batted .269 and his fielding record topped that of any other infielder. Uniquely, he had the distinction of starting wo triple plays on successful weekends, providing the only incident in National League history in which the same players participated in the same three-way killing.