1945 World Series

1

The Pittsburgh Press (October 1, 1945)

ws1945

Cubs favored 7-5 to win opener

Borowy, Newhouser named as starters for Wednesday game

DETROIT (UP) – Jolly Cholly Grimm headed for Detroit with his banjo on his knee today, playing a World Series sonata that had a former American League pitcher tuning up for a lead role in his Chicago Cub championship symphony.

And one year late, after blowing the 1944 pennant in the rival American League, Steve O’Neill was leading his Detroit Tigers home, figuring that his Peck’s bad boy, Hal Newhouser, would strike a sour note in the symphony when they clash Wednesday in the opener of baseball’s first post-war classic.

The odd makers figured that Grimm’s tune would be the best for they made the Cubs 7-5 to win the first game and 2½-1 to win the series.

Wins on final day

But O’Neill was looking beyond those odds with the satisfaction of knowing that he had a clutch ball club – one that came through on the final day of the season this year whereas in 1944 it lost its closing game and lost the pennant to the St. Louis Browns.

So he decided that Newhouser, who had been his clutch man all year long, would be his pitcher for Wednesday’s opener. Hs record – 25 victories against only nine defeats – was enough to win O’Neill’s confidence.

Hank Borowy, who won 11 games for the Cubs this season, will start for the National League champions against Detroit.

Pitches Cubs to pennant

Borowy, 27-year-old righthander, was credited with pitching the Cubs to their 16th pennant in National League history. Sold by the New York Yankees to the Cubs late in July, he won his 11 victories in the brief span of 64 days. He won a total of 21 games for the 1945 season, having won 10 and lost five with the Yankees before going to the Cubs.

Borowy lost two games in the National League for a total of seven defeats.

Borowy, several weeks ago, said he wanted to pitch against the Tigers in the series because “I always have luck against them.”

Tigers weary

The Cubs are in all-around better shape than the worn and weary Tigers. Three of the Tigers’ big guns, Second Baseman Eddie Mayo, hard-hitting Hank Greenberg and Pitcher Dizzy Trout have been hampered with injuries and may not be at their best for the series.

All tickets for the first three games here and the remaining ones in the best four-out-of-seven series, which will be necessary at Chicago, have been sold out.

After their game with the Pirates yesterday, the Cubs first went to Chicago to get their World Series uniforms and then headed for Detroit. The Tigers returned from St. Louis today.

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The Pittsburgh Press (October 2, 1945)

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‘Clutch pitchers’ set for opener

World Series likely to establish record in ‘swag’ for players

DETROIT (UP) – A couple of guys who have it in the clutch drew the honor today of going after the first game of what probably will be the richest World Series in history.

It will be Fordham Hank Borowy for the Chicago Cubs and a hometown boy, Hal Newhouser, for the Detroit Tigers when the series opens here tomorrow with the National League pennant winners a 2-1 favorite. The Cubs were favored at 6-5 to take the all-important opening game.

KQV will broadcast all series games, starting at 1:30 p.m.

Borowy and Newhouser were the pennant clinching boys of 1945. Fordham Hank, the second man in history to split 20 or more victories between the two major leagues in a single season, drew the opening hurling assignment from Manager Charlie Grimm because he knows the Tigers and, what’s more, knows how to beat them.

Can beat Tigers

Before Hank was sold to the Cubs by the New York Yankees for $100,000, he had the Tigers’ number. Fourteen times he had faced them for decisions, and 11 times he came out on top. The Tigers became known as his cousins. Jolly Cholly is hoping that will still be true before dusk falls in Briggs Stadium tomorrow evening.

It would give Borowy a lot of satisfaction if he could start the Cubs off on the right foot toward what probably will be the biggest player cut in the World Series gold.

The Yankees – for whom he had been a major cog in winning two American League pennants and one world’s championship – sold the blue-eyed, six-foot Polish boy down the baseball river because, in the words of President Larry MacPhail, he couldn’t pitch winning ball after mid-season.

Won 11 for Cubs

Borowy already has made the fiery boss of the Yanks eat those words. After he donned a Cub uniform, he won 11 games while losing two. Two of those victories came over the St. Louis Cardinals when they were challenging the Cubs for the pennant.

But the big one came last Saturday when he beat Pittsburgh in the first game of a double-header which nailed the National League pennant to the Wrigley Field flagpole.

Grimm decided yesterday that Borowy would be his man, after toying with the idea of Henry Wyse, a fast curveball artist, or Claude Passeau, a veteran of the pitching wars.

Won title game

There never was any question about Steve O’Neill’s starter. It’s been Lefty Hal all the way – and he cemented it when he turned back the St. Louis Browns in the game which gave the Tigers the American League championship Sunday.

That was his 25th victory – making him the winningest pitcher in the majors. It wasn’t quite up to his 1944 standard when he won 29, but it was enough to retain the honor of being the top winner in the majors.

Against that winning total, Borowy has only 21, but those 21 were something different. Ten of them came in the American League before MacPhail decided he wasn’t a mid-season pitcher. Borowy’s continued performance marked the first time since 1902 that any pitcher has pitched in the two leagues in a single season and accomplished the 20-game level.

McGinnity holds record

“Iron Man” Joe McGinnity is the only man outside of Borowy who has ever been able to turn the trick. That was in 1902 when he won 28 for Baltimore – then in the American League – and the National League New York Giants.

And if Borowy should win tomorrow, he would match another two-league record that was set by Jack Coombs, who won three for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1910, another in 1911 and then for the Brooklyn Dodgers of 1916. He is the only pitcher on record who has won a World Series ball game for both the American and National Leagues.

The Cubs, who arrived last night, were scheduled for a workout at Briggs Stadium this afternoon, with the Tigers taking a fielding and batting drill earlier.

Clear weather due

The rain of yesterday promised to subside to permit the clubs to work out and clear weather was promised for the opener tomorrow.

Like hotel rooms, tickets were out of this world. The overflow crowd for this first peacetime series was being taken care of in two “floating” hotels. Two Great Lakes steamers, which usually ply between here and Cleveland, were tied up here so some of the too many people would have a place to sleep.

It even will be worse for the ball game tomorrow. Tickets have been sold out for days but some persons still figured that somehow, somewhere they would find friends who could fix them up.

Record split likely

One thing was sure – with the series being played at Briggs Stadium and Wrigley Field, an all-time high for World Series receipts appeared certain.

If they exceed the previous high of 1935 when the Tigers defeated the Cubs four games to two in the only series they have won from the Windy City boys in three meetings, it will mean that each player on the triumphant side will receive more than $6,644.76. That was the swag that the Tigers received when they defeated the Cubs that year.

With Briggs Stadium and Wrigley Field handling a capacity of approximately 60,000 paid, it appeared a sure bet that the players’ pool, formed from the first four games only, would exceed any amount the fellows who have been in the blue-ribbon classics of the game ever have divided before.

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Louis gets Army discharge, plans to ‘relax’ at series

Bomber does not intend to start heavy training for Conn until January

NEW YORK (UP) – Heavyweight champion Joe Louis, dapper in a civilian gray suit and mottled red necktie, boarded a train for his Detroit home and the World Series today, predicting that his beloved Tigers would beat the Cubs four games to two.

Ex-Sgt. Joe, who received his honorable discharge from the Army at nearby Camp Shanks yesterday, declared with gusto, “Ah’ll see every game of that series at Detroit and Chicago, too.”

The champ has plans that will occupy his time until New Years. After the series, he said, he will return to New York for some business huddles with Mike Jacobs. Then he will go to Los Angeles, where he intends to relax and do preliminary conditioning until January. He admitted, with a chuckle, that most of this preliminary work would be confined to golf – “mah favorite form of trainin’.”

In January, he will return to New York and confer with Jacobs about the “big fight” in June – his second title defense against Billy Conn, who was recently discharged from the Army. They will decide whether Joe will have any tune-up bouts, whether he will go on an exhibition tour, or whether he will merely concentrate on preparations to meet the Pittsburgh Irishman who put up such a great fight in June 1941.

Jacobs sets program

Chatting with reporters at the Freddie Schott-Johnny Thomas bout in St. Nicholas Arena last night, Louis said, “Ah don’t believe ah’ll have any title fights till ah meets Conn again. But, of course, that’s up to Mistah Jacobs.”

Did the champ believe his bout with Conn would draw as much as Jacobs predicted? – between $7,000,000 and $10,000,000, including gate, radio, movies and television.

Joe rolled his eyes and said, “That’s a powful lotta money; ah hopes Mistah Jacobs is right.”

Speaking of money, Louis proudly disclosed that the Army had given him $1,422.49, when he was mustered out yesterday. That included base pay for a whole year, mustering out pay of $100, and his fare to New York, $1.10.

Bomber weighs 219

Forty-four months in the Army seemed to have agreed with the Brown Bomber. His double-breasted gray suit, purchased before the war, fitted him perfectly. Despite this long absence from competition and despite his age of 31, he looked firm and fit. He said he weighed 219 pounds, only 14 more than his best fighting weight.

Louis explained that he had given between 500 and 600 boxing exhibitions in Europe, North Africa, Alaska, Canada and the United States since he enlisted on January 14, 1942. These activities had kept him in good condition, he said.

Joe received his discharge in virtual secrecy at Camp Shanks. No newspapermen were permitted to watch him pick up his “white piece of paper” – a document he had earned with 74 points. But it was like old times when the champ, in civvies, blew into St. Nick’s last night.

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ws1945

The Village Smithy

By Chester L. Smith, sports editor

DETROIT – The profound thinkers among the literati gathered here to report the World Series claim they have a complaint.

They have been robbed. One of their favorite columns, probably deserving to be called Series A, No. 1, has been stolen from them.

This thesis dealt in profound speculation on what a tired ball club that had barely got under the wire would do with a well-rested rival, which had had some time to get its breath.

This has been the general situation in the series more often than not, and while the great thinkers never seemed to be able to reach a definite conclusion and seldom returned to the files to see if they had been right or wrong, they were still faithful in pursuit of the ephemeral problem.

Last year, the Cardinals began trimming their sails for the series shortly after Labor Day, whereas the Browns didn’t know they were in until the last hours. The old Yankees were great ones for playing a pat hand through September while the National League huffed and puffed at picking a pennant winner. This was fodder for the journalists, who made the most of it.

But what do we find today? Two clubs that should be utterly exhausted, dripping with sweat and nerves a-jangle. A pair of contenders that had to scrape the bottom. It’s the closest thing to a double knockout baseball has known in years. Make it a triple. The men of the Fourth Estate are also screaming with pain.

The Cubs, we must point out, may be installed the favorites only because they won their pennant 24 hours before the Tigers won theirs, thus gaining a night’s sleep on their adversaries. We wonder if this will prove to be the turning point.

Makes logical choice

Cholly Grimm’s nomination of Hank Borowy to pitch tomorrow was in no sense a message that rocked the world.

Cholly didn’t sound convincing when he talked about either Henry Wyse or Claude Passeau a few days ago. There were too many reasons why it almost had to be Borowy. If they hadn’t occurred to Mr. Grimm, all he had to do was ask his barber or the newsie on the corner.

Wasn’t Borowy an American Leaguer much longer than he has served in the National? Isn’t he at home im the Detroit park, where he pitched frequently? Hasn’t he shown a not inconsiderable disdain for the Tigers by whipping them 11 times in 14 starts? The other Chicago pitchers would have to be carefully briefed on the strong points and frailties of each Bengal batsman, but not Hankus Pankus. Why, the man has beaten them twice already this season – while he was still a Yankee!

There will be ample time for Wyse and Passeau and Ray Prim and the lot of Cholly’s casters to show up later, but nobody else except Borowy would do for the opener on the rival’s field.

That’s what the smart mob said, and Mr. Grimm made it official yesterday.

Banks on Newhouser

In the same vein, Old Steve O’Neill doubtless would be cast into the Detroit River with Briggs Stadium tied to his neck if he dared choose anybody except Hal Newhouser. He’s the pitcher who has won for Stevie the games that have counted. He could be the top pitcher in the league, not excluding Bob Feller. And it is the thing to do in the World Series to get the jump. So O’Neill’s mind didn’t have to be made up.

This is Old Steve’s first pennant in Detroit, but he had a hand in winning another for the Tigers back in 1940.

That was when he knocked everybody out of their seats by suggesting to Manager Del Baker that he pitch Floyd Giebell against Feller at Cleveland in the final series with nothing less than the pennant as the prize.

Steve was managing Buffalo then and he had sent Giebell, a big fellow with nothing much on the ball but tantalizing control, along to Detroit to do sundry relief jobs.

O’Neill picked winner

And when the Tigers went to Cleveland, the Indians having cried themselves out of it over their dislike for Oscar Vitt, it became a question of whom to slaughter arainst Feller.

“Try Giebell,” O’Neill suggested. “He might be just the man in that big park where they can hit ‘em a mile and still be putouts.”

It was Giebell and although the Indians did everything but knock out his bridgework, he won, striking out Ben Chapman with two on base not once, but three times.

The moral to be gathered from this at the moment is that Stevie is not a gent to shy at taking a long chance or tossing his last chips on the table. As the scars on his body and his gnarled fingers attest, he is a remnant of the old school or slash, dash and to hell with how you get there as long as you do. His duel with Grimm, another harum scarum strategist, should make for a series worth watching.

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ws1945

O’Neill asks so Joe says: Tigers in six

Beating Browns wins for Detroit
By Joe Williams

DETROIT – The suety Mr. Steve O’Neill, manager of Detroit’s seventh pennant winning team, stood at a window in his hotel suite and looked out across the Motor City as rain and hail fell on management and labor alike; he looked out across a city which must be an umpire’s delight, a city where no balls, only strikes, are called.

I had asked him to go back over the turbulent season just ended and try to put his finger on the one factor which had most influenced the success of his Tigers in the pennant fight.

“Beat the Browns,” he answered promptly. “That was a sort of battle cry with us. From the start we decided they were the team to beat, so we took dead aim at them and… Well, you see how it worked out.”

Won 15 of 21

It worked out very well. The Tigers took 15 out of 21 from the St. Louis entry which had won the 1944 pennant at the expense of Mr. O’Neill’s club on the last day of the season.

“The records will always show we lost to the Browns on the final day,” admitted Mr. O’Neill as he gazed reflectively at his cigar, “but that was only part of the story, a footnote to the whole. They beat us all last season. Anyway, they beat us when it hurt. Took 13 out of 22 as I recall it.”

“How did this battle cry – ‘Beat the Browns’ – get its start?” I asked. “What was the inspiration?”

Thought of pennant

O’Neill said:

I don’t think you could call it an inspiration. I remember telling the fellows at the beginning of the season that we could win the flag if we could beat the Browns. This was saying the obvious, or so it seemed at the time, and nobody was particularly startled.

But I think this approach was pretty important at that. It helped get the fellows to thinking in terms of the pennant.

The year before, such an approach would have been ridiculous. We simply didn’t have it and no manager can kid his players beyond a certain point. Do you realize where we were when Dick Wakefield joined us last season? In seventh place.

Took first in July

It was Wakefield, returning to the Tigers in July between military assignments, who put the club in the race with his .355 hitting in 78 games. But this year the Tigers didn’t have Wakefield, and yet they took over first place in July and never relinquished it. How did Mr. O’Neill account for that?

He said:

Well, for one thing there was that new approach we had. For another, we picked up added strength here and there. Roy Cullenbine in the outfield didn’t make up for the absence of Wakefield but he didn’t hurt us. And Eddie Mayo, the second baseman, developed into a power hitter.

And do you know how that happened? I persuaded him to discard the thick-handled bat he was using and substitute a slender-handled bat. He began to follow through on his swing and up to the time he was hurt he was our leading home run hitter.

Greenberg helps

All these little things helped and, of course, we got a wonderful break when Hank Greenberg was returned to us.

For the past 10 days the boys had been writing that it looked as if the Tigers were going to out-stagger themselves and blow another close pennant race. This must be a mental fever blister with Mr. O’Neill, for he turned to the subject himself.

“We weren’t out-staggered last year,” he declared. “We were simply out-sprinted down the stretch. We won 11 of our last 15 games. Ordinarily, that would be good enough. As it happened the Browns did even better. They won 11 out of their last 13.”

Tigers, of course

Mr. O’Neill suddenly turned and asked: “Who are you picking?”

That was easy. His Tigers, of course. To begin with he has Hal Newhouser, the best pitcher in baseball, who is sure to open the series and work in at least two games.

Then he has the long ball hitters: Greenberg, York, Cramer and Outlaw. Also, the smartest catcher and best thrower in Paul Richards.

And, finally, the Cubs won the pennant from their cousins, the Cincinnati Reds. There was only one real ball club in the NL, the St. Louis Cardinals, and the new champions couldn’t beat them. Therefore, the conclusion must be the Cubs can be taken.

Worried by Borowy

“I hope you’re right,” nodded Mr. O’Neill, “but that Hank Borowy’s got me worried.”

I hadn’t thought of Borowy, and that was careless of me. Mr. O’Neill’s worries were not ill-founded. As a Yankee, Borowy used to handle the Tigers as if he owned them, and he’s the opening game pitcher for the Cubs. Oh, well, it’s still the Tigers in six games on a fast track with favoring winds.

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Attendance mark set by majors

NEW YORK (UP) – Major league baseball set a new attendance mark in 1945 – approximately 11,141,813 paid admissions.

Both leagues went over the five-million mark for new records. The American League drew 5,865,850 and the National 5,275,963.

Bad weather prevented the Detroit Tigers from setting a new single club season mark. The American League champions played before 1,280,391, some 9,000 under the 1920 Yankee record of 1,289,422. Rain washed out a game with Cleveland September 25, and had that game been played, a new record would have been set.

Here are the figures for each team, some of them unofficial:

National League 1945 1944
Brooklyn Dodgers 1,060,855 618,193
New York Giants 1,038,195 733,598
Chicago Cubs 978,015 640,110
Pittsburgh Pirates 626,799 653,912
St. Louis Cardinals 595,220 486,851
Boston Braves 393,800 245,197
Cincinnati Reds 294,787 431,297
Philadelphia Phillies 288,292 369,586
TOTALS 5,275,963 4,178,744
American League 1945 1944
Detroit Tigers 1,280,391 923,176
New York Yankees 1,014,936 789,995
Chicago White Sox 700,000 563,539
Boston Red Sox 696,170 508,975
Washington Senators 652,660 525,235
Philadelphia Athletics 547,216 505,272
St. Louis Browns 496,295 508,644
Cleveland Indians 488,182 475,272
TOTALS 5,865,850 4,798,138
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Game 1

Broadcast (MBS), October 3, 1:30 p.m. CT:

9

The Pittsburgh Press (October 3, 1945)

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CUBS WIN SERIES OPENER, 9-0
Chicagoans batter four Tigers hurlers

Cavarretta smashes home run

DETROIT (UP) – Chicago’s Cubs took the opening game of the 1945 World Series from the Detroit Tigers by a score of 9-0 here today.

The Cubs thrived on the portside slants of Hal Newhouser, Detroit’s 25-game winner during the regular season.

They blasted his offerings for four runs in the first inning on as many hits, then added three more runs on four more hits in the third before Newhouser was replaced on the mound by Al Benton.

A crowd of 59,400 fans was on hand for the opening game, played under bright, sunny skies but in brisk October weather.

Cubs grab early lead

The Cubs lost no time in grabbing an early lead with four runs in the first inning on four hits, a stolen base and a passed ball.

Don Johnson broke the ice with the first hit of the series, a sizzling single through shortstop after Stan Hack, first Cub to face Hal Newhouser, grounded out to third. Then Johnson grabbed another “first” honor by stealing second.

After “Peanuts” Lowrey flied to short center, the Cubs exploded with their runs.

Nicholson triples

Phil Cavarretta beat out an infield hit, moving Johnson to third. Johnson scored and Cavarretta went to second on a passed ball. Pafko drew an intentional pass and both runners scored as Bill Nicholson blasted a triple against the right field wall. Nicholson then tallied as Mickey Livingston singled into center.

The Tigers threatened to recoup in their half of the opening inning, but the threat died when Rudy York fouled out to Cavarretta along the first base line with the bases loaded. A fast Cub double play also figured in stopping the threat after Webb and Mayo, first Tigers to face Hank Borowy, both singled.

After his shaky start, Newhouser started bearing down with his southpaw slants in the second. He set the Cubs down in order via the strikeout route, whiffing Hughes, Borowy and Hack.

Second double play

The strong Cub infield came through with another double play in the second. It staved off a possible Detroit threat as Newhouser forced Richards at second and was doubled at first, Johnson to Hughes to Cavarretta.

Three more Cub runs in the third inning sent Newhouser to the showers. Johnson opened the inning with a rousing double to right center, then took third as Lowrey laid down a neat sacrifice. Cavarretta’s second straight hit scored Johnson, then Pafko doubled to center to send Cavarretta across.

Nicholson popped out to Mayo back of second base, but Livingston singled to score Pafko. Newhouser was replaced by Al Benton. Livingston went out stealing to end the Cub half of the inning.

Borowy survived a momentary spell of wildness in the third when he walked Doc Cramer after the Tiger outfielder worked the count to three and two. Then Borowy hit big Hank Greenberg, the ball just touching Greenberg’s cap as he dropped to get out of the way of the pitch. The Cub twirler was out of danger as Cullenbine popped out to second for the final out.

Tobin goes to mound

Jim Tobin was sent to the mound for Detroit as the Cubs went to bat in the fifth. Manager Steve O’Neill of the Tigers had jerked Benton in the Tiger half of the fourth for Pinch-Hitter Zeb Eaton after York had walked, Outlaw had singled and Richards had fanned.

But Borowy then whiffed Eaton and forced Webb to pop to Hack.

The Cubs had averaged two hits an inning for the first five frames with 10 as their total. Borowy had yielded only five hits – all singles – to the Tigers, two of these coming in the fifth on singles by Mayo and Greenberg.

Both teams played errorless ball through the first five innings.

Cavarretta hits homer

The Cubs added two more runs in the seventh after two were down, one of these counters being Phil Cavarretta’s home run against a steel girder in the upper right-field stands. It was the first homer of the series.

Pafko followed with a single and then stole second, took third on a passed ball and raced over the plate as Nicholson shot a single into right.

Les Mueller, a righthander, went to the mound for the Tigers, replacing Jim Tobin, at the start of the eighth inning.

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59,400 jam way into den of Tigers

Fans wear topcoats as temperature stays in low 40s
By Leo H. Petersen, United Press sports editor

DETROIT – A cutting October wind swept Briggs Stadium today as the Detroit Tigers sent Hal Newhouser, the winningest pitcher in the majors this season out against Hank Borowy of the Chicago Cubs in the first game of the 1945 World Series.

Newhouser won 25 games in the Tigers’ drive for the American League pennant.

Fordham Hank won 11, including the pennant clincher at Pittsburgh Saturday, after the Cubs purchased him for $100,000 from the New York Yankees in mid-season. Before that he had gone against the Tigers 14 times and came out on top in 11 of the games.

The temperature dropped to 36 early this morning and an hour before game time, although the sun was shining brightly, it had climbed only five degrees.

Fans wear topcoats

So it was a top-coated crowd which jammed Briggs Stadium for this first game.

The 59,400 who filled the stadium to capacity were slow in coming in. Only those who had stood in line since midnight last night for the 10,400 general admission and 5000 standing room tickets which went on sale at 9:30 on a first-come, first-served basis, were on hand early.

Because of the “football weather” those who had reserved seats came in late. The wind, which swept in late. The wind, which swept this battleground for the first game of the series, was too cold for comfort and those 15,400 who bought the cheap tickets were beginning to get restless when the Tigers came out for their batting practice.

Hank hits ‘em

Big Hank Greenberg, who hit the “money” home run – with the bases loaded – which gave Detroit the American League pennant at St. Louis Sunday, provided the early comers with plenty of thrills. He was driving the ball out of the park and Roy Cullenbine and Rudy York, who following him in the batting order to give the Tigers a “big three,” quickly took up his pace. They were rattling the fences regularly.

Dressed in natty new white uniforms, the Tigers gave up the field as a blue-coated band took up a position in centerfold and began entertaining the throng.

The Cubs had trouble finding the range in their batting drill. They were lofting high fly balls.

Tigers in snappy drill

The first big cheer from the crowd came when Detroit went out for its fielding workout.

The Tigers’ fielding drill was a snappy one. Eddie Mayo, the sparkplug second baseman of the Tigers, showed no trace of the shoulder injury which hampered him during the closing days of the regular season.

And Greenberg in left field was running without favoring the ankle that had kept him on he sidelines much of the time during the Tigers’ flag drive.

Johnson recovers

Don Johnson, the second baseman of the Cubs, also looked all right. He suffered a wrenched neck in trying for a line drive at Cincinnati last week, but was cavorting around in his usual manner during the Chicago fielding workout.

All tickets were sold days before the Tigers clinched the pennant and scalpers were reported getting as much as $50 for the regular $6 seats.

With the prospects of a sellout for each of the three games here, and another capacity throng assured when the series moves to Wrigley Field Saturday, it looked as if the players’ cut of the 1945 series may be the biggest in history.

$6,600 for winners

That would mean something like $6,600 for each member of the winning team and something like $5,000 for each of the losers.

The clubs, the Commissioner’s Office and the teams which finished second, third and fourth in both leagues also appeared assured of heavy cuts in what may be the biggest financial gravy in World Series history.

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Play-by-play description of first game

Johnson of Cubs gets first hit

DETROIT (UP) --The following is a play-by-play description of the first game of the World Series:

FIRST INNING

CUBS – Hack up. After Newhouser’s first pitch was a ball, Umpire Summers stopped the game and gave the ball to A. B. Chandler, new commissioner of baseball. Hack grounded out. Outlaw to York. Johnson singled off Webb’s glove. Johnson stole second. Mayo failing to come up with Richards’ low throw. Lowrey flied to Cramer. Cavarretta beat out a slow grounder to second. Johnson taking third. Johnson scored and Cavarretta went to second on a passed ball. Pafko was purposely passed. Nicholson tripled off the right field wall. Cavarretta and Pafko scoring. Livingston singled to center. Nicholson scoring. Livingston was out trying to steal. Richards to Mayo. Four runs, four hits, no errors, none left.

TIGERS – Webb singled to left. Mayo singled to center. Webb stopping at second. Cramer hit into a double play. Hughes to Johnson to Cavarretta. Webb going to third. Greenberg walked. Cullenbine walked, filling the bases. York fouled to Cavarretta. No runs, two hits, no errors, three left.

SECOND INNING

CUBS – Hughes was called out on strikes. Borowy struck out. Hack also struck out. No runs, no hits, no errors, none left.

TIGERS – Outlaw fouled to Cavarretta. Richards walked. Newhouser hit into a double play. Johnson to Hughes to Cavarretta. No runs, no hits, no errors, none left.

THIRD INNING

CUBS – Johnson doubled to right-center. Lowrey sacrificed Johnson to third. Newhouser to York. Cavarretta singled to center, scoring Johnson. Pafko doubled to left-center. Cavarretta scoring. Nicholson popped to Mayo. Livingston singled to center. Pafko scoring. Newhouser was replaced by Al Benton. Livingston was out stealing. Richards to Mayo. Three runs, four hits, no errors, none left.

TIGERS – Webb was out on a sensational stop by Cavarretta, who fell as he fielded a line drive back of first and threw to Borowy, who covered first. Mayo struck out. Cramer walked. Greenberg was hit by a pitched ball. Cullenbine popped to Johnson. No runs, no hits, no errors, two left.

FOURTH INNING

CUBS – Hughes flied to Cramer. Borowy struck out. Hack beat out a high bounder to Benton for a single. Johnson grounded out. Outlaw to York. No runs, one hit, no errors, one left.

TIGERS – York walked. Outlaw singled to right. York stopping at second. Richards struck out. Eaton batted for Benton and struck out. Webb popped to Hack. No runs, one hit, no errors, two left.

FIFTH INNING

CUBS – Jim Tobin went in to pitch for the Tigers. Lowrey grounded out. Webb to York. Cavarretta hit to Tobin, who threw him out. Pafko singled to left. Nicholson fouled to Richards. No runs, one hit, no errors, one left.

TIGERS – Mayo singled to left. Cramer fouled to Livingston. Greenberg singled to center and Mayo was out when he tried to go to third. Pafko to Hack. Cullenbine flied to Pafko. No runs, two hits, no errors, one left.

SIXTH INNING

CUBS – Livingston flied to Cramer. Hughes walked. Borowy sacrificed. Outlaw to Mayo, who covered first. Hack grounded out. Mayo to York. No runs, no hits, no errors, one left.

TIGERS – York singled to deep left. Outlaw grounded to Hack, and York was safe at second when he beat Hack’s throw to the bag. It was scored as a fielder’s choice. Richards flied to Pafko. Tobin popped to Johnson. Webb grounded out. Johnson to Cavarretta. No runs, one hit, no errors, two left.

SEVENTH INNING

CUBS – Johnson popped to Webb. Lowery flied to Cramer. Cavarretta hit a home run, the ball hitting a steel girder of the upper right field stands and falling back into the park. Pafko singled over second and then stole second. Pafko went to third on a passed ball. Nicholson singled to right, scoring Pafko. Livingston grounded out. Webb to York. Two runs, three hits, no errors, one left.

TIGERS – Mayo grounded out. Johnson to Cavarretta. Cramer popped to Hughes. Greenberg struck out. No runs, no hits, no errors, none left.

EIGHTH INNING

CUBS – Les Mueller went in to pitch for Detroit. Hughes struck out. Borowy flied to Cramer. Hack lined to Cramer. No runs, no hits, no errors, none left.

TIGERS – Cullenbine flied to Pafko. York fled to Lowrey. Outlaw fouled to Hack. No runs, no hits, no errors, none left.

NINTH INNING

CUBS – Johnson fouled to Richards. Lowrey grounded out. Outlaw to York. Cavarretta walked. Pafko fouled to Outlaw. No runs, no hits, no errors, one left.

TIGERS – Hostetler batted for Richards. Hostetler grounded out. Hughes to Cavarretta.

Borom batted for Mueller. Borom grounded out. Hughes to Cavarretta.

McHale batted for Webb and flied to Pafko. No runs, no hits, no errors, none left.

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ws1945

Grimm, O’Neill reclimb to top the hard way

Minor exiles make great comebacks

DETROIT (UP) – Two oft-fired guys who came back the hard way were striding toward the World Series title today for a knockdown, drag-out battle which will put one of them on the very top of the baseball heap.

One is a left-handed, banjo-playing Dutchman with a shock of graying brown hair who is known affectionately to his Chicago Cubs as Jolly Cholly Grimm.

The other is Steve O’Neill, a tough-looking Irishman from Minooka, Pennsylvania, whose troubles before and since managing the Detroit Tigers have marked his slick black hair with silver.

Minor league fugitives

For both it was a case of making good after being shunted off to the minor leagues on grounds that they were just a bit short of being major league managerial timber. And here they were, with the pennants of their respective leagues.

Grimm’s was a real comeback. He had been on top before, bringing three National League championships to these same Cubs as a manager – and others before that as one of the finest first basemen the game has ever known.

But the blow fell in July 1938. The Cubs that season were rated as the team to beat, but under Grimm they floundered so badly that Jolly Cholly was replaced by Gabby Hartnett, the tomato-faced catcher.

Hartnett rallied the club just when it seemed that the Pirates had the pennant sewed up. And Charlie was down with Milwaukee, gazing up longingly at the majors so far away.

But he got another chance last year when the front office beckoned him home from exile and now, one year later, Charlie has tacked another bit of bunting on that Wrigley Field flagpole.

Heartbreak for O’Neill

And over in the American League, Black Steve was having his troubles, too, down through the years. For 13 seasons he was a catcher for the Cleveland Indians before being named manager. Then came banishment from the majors when he failed to pull them out of their “crybaby” stage.

Came managerial tours of duty at Toronto, Toledo and Buffalo before Steve returned, now as a Detroit coach, but then it was back to the minors again as Beaumont manager. Then, in 1943, he returned as a major league manager and last year finished a heartbreaking second by one game to the St. Louis Browns.

He and Grimm, two fugitives from the minors, had proved even with wartime ball players that they had what it takes to belong in the majors. And it couldn’t have happened to a pair of finer and nicer guys.

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ws1945

Richards picked as series key man

Rated best-throwing catcher in majors
By Joe Williams

DETROIT – Such are the vagaries of wartime baseball in its holdover form that an old catcher who came to the Tigers as a coach in the winter of 1942 might well be the key man, if not the actual hero, of the World Series which starts its annual run in this wind-lashed city today.

This would be loose, lanky Paul Richards, who has been trying to convince managers he is a big leaguer for better than a dozen years but remained spectacularly unsuccessful until the war came and the attendant manpower emergency forced managers to desperate decisions.

One of these affected the waning baseball days of Richards.

Up from Atlanta

All of a sudden in 1943, the Tigers found they had no catcher worthy of the name.

Someone thought of Richards, who had been brought up from Atlanta to work with the pitchers and to do other odd jobs around the premises. It probably was Steve O’Neill, the Tigers’ manager, because he would know about catchers, having been one of the best in his day.

In any event, Richards was pressed into service, as the saying goes, and for the past several seasons has been the Tigers’ mainstay.

Runs the pitchers

Because he has been around and knows all the answers, O’Neill permits Richards to run his art of the game from behind the plate which is to say he runs the pitchers. They don’t know what they think is best; they throw what Richards calls for. In fact, he’s their boss.

Richards is something more than a standout mediocrity. In O’Neill’s judgment, he could have caught for any of the pre-war clubs.

“I’m talking about the Richards I see today,” the Tigers’ manager qualified. “I don’t know about the Richards of other days.”

Well, there were other days and there was another Richards. Brooklyn had him as far back as 1932. He was with the Giants for a spell in 1933 and from there he went to the Athletics. His next step was Atlanta, where he managed.

Attitude changes

All along the rap against Richards was that he lacked the up-and-at-‘em spirit. He didn’t seem to care whether school kept or not. He just went through the motions.

But when he went to Atlanta and took over the job of managing, something happened to him. He brought a new approach to the game; it was both serious and spirited. My recollection is that he won a couple of pennants down there; he not only managed but caught and once when he lost his first baseman he played the bag.

At this point there is a vague spot in his story. Seemingly he was on his way to success in the managerial field. Then he was on his way to Detroit as a mere coach.

Best throwing catcher

And if it hadn’t been for the war, the chances are he would have remained an obscure figure in the sport. Certainly, he wouldn’t have become a key man on a championship club and a prospective World Series hero in so brief a period.

Even though age is creeping up on Richards, he can still do one thing about as well as any catcher who ever lived, and that is throw to bases. Right now, he is the best throwing catcher in either league.

Ask George Stirnweiss of the Yankees and George Case of the Senators. They are superlative base runners. They didn’t run on Richards. They want no part of him.

The Cubs’ Don Johnson double-crossed Joe by stealing second in the first inning of today’s game and scored on a passed ball.

Keep an eye on Richards in this series. The loose, lanky guy can do things.

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ws1945

The Village Smithy

By Chester L. Smith, sports editor

DETROIT – The most ridiculous aspect of the World Series that opened today in this well chilled segment of Michigan was the manner in which they were picking the winner.

It has been hardly 48 hours ago that the odds came out at two and a half to one on the Cubs to win. Then, when Charlie Grimm released the stupendous announcement that Hank Borowy was to pitch the first game, the quotations were filed at 7-5, again in favor of the National Leaguers. This in the face of Hal Newhouser, probably the ranking pitcher in all baseball today, taking the mound for the Tigers.

Slightly stupefied, the rail birds breathlessly awaited a last communique, which they were certain would be forthcoming sooner or later. When it came, everybody was floored. Now the Tigers were picked at 7-5, both for the series and today’s engagement.

On top of it all, eight out of 10 experts (each one canvassed readily admitted the charge) said they thought it was to be Detroit in six games.

Match bungle for bungle

Thus the World Series headquarters here is willing to match bungle for bungle and stumble for stumble with the ministers who have just thrown up the sponge in London.

If the gentlemen who were trying to put the international scene in scoring position feel badly, they should be in this town. Such utter confusion has never been seen before, as even the elders who claim to have had a handshaking acquaintance with Abner Doubleday are free to concede.

An indication which way the tide is running was had when the Cubs reached Detroit. There were rooms for all but nine, and these were assigned to quarters on one of the two lake liners that have been tied up in the Detroit River to serve as floating hospices for the visitors who are unable to bed down elsewhere.

Another strike threatened

As might have been expected, the nine Bruins filed immediate objections, in brief, they threatened a sit-down strike. This could have been the influence of their surroundings, but it finally became so serious that Charlie Grimm moved in and declared that either his nine would be on dry land or he would not guarantee the consequences. In face of considerable turmoil, the seagoing members of the party were put back on land. The fleet was in and the series went on.

To add to the hubbub, there was the doubletalk that sprang from both managers when they were asked, “who, pray, will pitch the second game?”

Mr. Grimm was approached first.

“Second game?” he cut back.

(One got the impression that he was amazed to know there would be a second game). “Second game? Honestly, I wouldn’t have the slightest idea. I am sending Borowy out today, but that’s as far as I’ll go. We will worry about the second game when the first game is over.”

O’Neill more positive

Stolid Stephen O’Neill had somewhat more positive ideas.

“If Newhouser wins this afternoon, I’ll come back tomorrow with another left hander, Stubby Overmire. If Hal is beaten, you will see Trucks.”

Virgil “Fire” Trucks, if he draws the assignment, will be the first pitcher to have walked into a World Series after he had been with his team less than a week and had not hurled nine innings. The reason, of course, is that he is one of baseball’s war orphans who did not get his discharge from the Navy until some 10 days ago. He joined the Tigers in St. Louis after spending the summer chucking for the Great Lakes Station, and O’Neill tossed him into the game the Tigers had to win.

The Fireman didn’t stay to see Hank Greenberg hit the home run that ran down the clock for the Senators, but he convinced O’Neill.

“He has all he used to have, and maybe a little more,” Stolid Stephen said. “He will be my sleeper.”

Grimm has candidate

As I got it from Grimm, the Cubs also have a candidate for the wrapped-in-a-blanket department.

I asked Cholly whom he thought might turn out to be the surprise of the series, and he answered without a moment’s hesitation that could be Bill Nicholson.

This doesn’t require any strain on the imagination. Bad Bill, up until this year, was Mister Cub, the dangerous man who whammed the runs across the plate. What his trouble has been nobody, Grimm least of all, knows, but there have been signs of late that he has been shaking out of whatever his troubles might have been.

Says Cholly: “If he has, Newhouser or none of the other Tiger lefties will stop him and he’ll murder the right handers.”

Very, very interesting if true.

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Game 2

Thursday, October 4, 1945, 1:30 p.m. CT
Briggs Stadium, Detroit

Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Chicago Cubs (1-1) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 7 0
Detroit Tigers (1-1) 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 X 4 7 0
CHICAGO CUBS (NL):
Hitters AB R H PO A E AVG
Hack, 3B 3 0 3 0 2 0 .500
Johnson, 2B 3 0 0 2 4 0 .250
Lowrey, LF 4 0 2 3 0 0 .250
Cavarretta, 1B 4 1 1 8 0 0 .500
Pafko, CF 4 0 0 4 0 0 .375
Nicholson, RF 3 0 1 2 0 0 .429
Gillespie, C 4 0 0 3 0 0 .000
Hughes, SS 3 0 0 2 2 0 .000
Wyse, P 2 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Secory, PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Erickson, P 0 0 0 0 0 0
Becker, PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Totals 32 1 7 24 8 0 .219
Batting
2B P. Cavarretta (1, off Trucks); S. Hack (1, off Trucks)
SH D. Johnson (1, off Trucks)
TB S. Hack 4; P. Cavarretta 2; P. Lowrey 2; B. Nicholson
RBI B. Nicholson (4)
2-Out RBI B. Nicholson
With RISP 2 for 9
Team LOB 8
DETROIT TIGERS (AL):
Hitters AB R H PO A E AVG
Webb, SS 4 1 2 0 4 0 .375
Mayo, 2B 3 1 0 3 3 0 .286
Cramer, CF 4 1 3 2 0 0 .429
Greenberg, LF 3 1 1 2 1 0 .400
Cullenbine, RF 2 0 0 2 0 0 .000
York, 1B 4 0 0 11 1 0 .143
Outlaw, 3B 4 0 1 1 0 0 .250
Richards, C 4 0 0 5 0 0 .000
Trucks, P 3 0 0 1 1 0 .000
Totals 31 4 7 27 10 0 .226
Batting
HR H. Greenberg (1, off Wyse, 5th inn, 2 on, 2 outs to Deep LF-CF)
TB H. Greenberg 4; D. Cramer 3; S. Webb 2; J. Outlaw
RBI H. Greenberg (1); D. Cramer (1)
2-Out RBI H. Greenberg 3; D. Cramer
With RISP 2 for 6
Team LOB 7
Pitching
OFA Greenberg (Hack at home plate)

Chicago Cubs

Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Wyse, L (0-1) 6 5 4 4 3 1 1 6.00
Erickson 2 2 0 0 1 1 0 0.00
Team Totals 8 7 4 4 4 2 1 4.50

Detroit Tigers

Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Trucks, W (1-0) 9 7 1 1 3 4 0 1.00
Team Totals 9 7 1 1 3 4 0 1.00

Balks: None
WP: None
HBP: None
IBB: None
Pickoffs: None
Umpires: HP - Jorda, 1B - Passarella, 2B - Conan, 3B - Summers
Time: 1:47
Attendance: 53,636

16

The Pittsburgh Press (October 4, 1945)

ws1945

TIGERS WIN, 4-1, TO EVEN SERIES
Greenberg’s homer scores three in fifth

Ex-sailor Trucks handcuffs Nationals

CHICAGO (UP) – Husky Hank Greenberg’s fifth inning home run with two mates aboard gave Detroit’s Tigers a 4-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs in the second game of the 1945 World Series here today.

It squared the series at one game each.

Virgil “Fire” Trucks, who joined the Tigers only two weeks ago after returning from the Navy, was the winning Tiger pitcher.

Cubs’ threat nipped

It appeared, momentarily, in the first inning that the Cubs might duplicate their run-making orgy of the first game yesterday when they got off to a four-run start.

They got to Trucks for two hits, one an infield single by Stan Hack that brought a close play at first.

The Tigers protested Umpire Passarella’s decision. Johnson’s sacrifice sent Hack to second by the threat ended when Hack was nipped at the plate trying to score on a single to left by Lowrey.

The Cubs broke the ice with the first run of the game in the fourth with two out. Lowrey rolled out to Webb to open the frame, but Phil Cavarretta laced a double to center on a three-and-two pitch.

Cavarretta scores

Pafko then grounded out and Cavarretta held second, but Nicholson singled to right center to send Cavarretta across.

Roger Cramer momentarily fumbled the ball in fielding it, but managed to hold Nicholson on first. He was left stranded as Gillespie flied to Cramer.

Meanwhile, the Tigers were still trying to solve the slants of Wyse. The Cub twirler had yielded only two hits to the Detroiters in the first four innings. One of these was a single by Jimmy Outlaw in the second. The other came in the fourth when Cramer opened the Tiger half with a single into left.

Stan Hack made his third straight hit in the first of the fifth but was left stranded.

Greenberg homers

The Tigers tallied four runs in their half of the fifth inning, three of these accounted for by big Hank Greenberg’s first home run of the series with Mayo and Cramer scoring in front of him.

There were two out when the Tigers did their scoring. Webb started it with a single to left center, then Mayo walked on four pitches.

Cramer singled to left to score Webb with the tying run. Then Greenberg came through with his long clout into the left field stands, 375 feet from the plate.

Wyse left the game for a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning. Paul Erickson, another righthander, went to the mound for the Cubs.

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Cubs send Wyse against Trucks

Sun warms up fans although temperature stays around 60
By Leo H. Petersen, United Press sports editor

DETROIT – Virgil Trucks, a fireball artist, and Hank Wyse, who curves them, went out after the second game of the 1945 World Series today with the Chicago Cubs one up on the Detroit Tigers.

They met in this second game under much more favorable weather conditions than yesterday when the Cubs, behind another Hank, Borowy, won the first game 9-0 in an October chill that had the thermometer down in the 40s.

The temperature, with the sun beating out of a clear blue sky, was 60 and although the crowd which jammed Briggs Stadium to capacity again was wrapped in topcoats, the fans didn’t have to huddle up because the cold wind which swept Briggs for the opener had subsided.

Stadum filled again

Another sellout crowd was on hand, with the 10,400 bleacher seats and 5,000 standing room only admissions gone to the long line of customers two hours before game time.

Wyse, who is part Irish and part Cherokee Indian, sat quietly in the dugout as the Tigers went through batting drill. Only Hank Greenberg was able to find the range and the rest of the Tigers were swinging like they did in the opener when they got only six scattered hits off Borowy.

But the Cubs were really meeting the ball. Trucks sat in the dugout. too, as Peanuts Lowrey, went up to the plate for his first turn in the batting cage and sent four out of the five balls served to him out of the park.

Trucks key man

Like Wyse, whose fast-breaking curves won 22 games for the Cubs this season, Trucks also has Indian blood running through his veins. He definitely was a key man in the Tigers’ chances to come from behind and win the world’s baseball championship back from the National League.

He was discharged from the service only last week and Manager Steve O’Neill of the Bengals immediately demonstrated what faith he had in the fast ball king by starting him against the St. Louis Browns last Sunday in the game which eventually meant the pennant to Detroit.

Trucks did not last, but for five innings he showed the old zip on his fast, high, hard one.

Played last in 1943

Trucks last saw active major league competition in 1943 but O’Neill figured he was the man to put the Tigers back on the right track. For his left-handed pitching ace, Hal Newhouser, whose 25 victories led all hurlers this season, didn’t have it yesterday as the Cubs’ heavy artillery went into action and shelled him from the mound in two and two-thirds innings.

Manager Charlie Grimm’s boys by that time had gotten to Prince Hal for eight hits and Newhouser was charged with seven runs which the Cubs scored in the first three frames.

In naming Wyse to go after Game No. 2, Grimm was sidetracking two other likely starters – Veterans Claude Passeau and Paul Derringer.

Passeau’s arm sore

Passeau has been troubled with a sore arm so Cholly decided to give him another day’s rest. And with the first game in his column, Grimm figured he could gamble on Oklahoma Hank, with Derringer held in reserve for Game No. 4 at Wrigley Field, Chicago, Saturday.

There was only one change in the lineups. Grimm put Paul Gillespie, a left-handed hitter, in to catch, instead of Mickey Livingston, who hits them from the right side.

The betting was 8-5 that the Oklahoman would make it two in a row for Chicago.

Borowy shows ‘em

In the October chill which blanketed Briggs Stadium yesterday, Borowy showed the Tigers he was a winner after midseason no matter what the weather – hot or cold. When the New York Yankees sold the silent New Jersey Pole to the Cubs, President Larry MacPhail said he wouldn’t finish a game after July 4.

Borowy has paid dividends ever since he joined the Cubs and he aid more than that yesterday as he pitched Chicago to the first opening World Series victory a National League Team has won since 1936.

Fordham Hank was merely in his usual form, however, when he turned back the Tigers in the opener before an overflow crowd of nearly 53,000 in the windswept stadium.

For after all, it was Borowy who gave the Cubs the NL pennant with 11 victories. His triumphs included two over St. Louis when the Cardinals were making a bold bid for first place plus the pennant-clinching victory over Pittsburgh last Saturday.

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ws1945

Play-by-play of second game

Stan Hack opens with infield hit

DETROIT (UP) – Play-by-play of the second game of the World Series follows:

FIRST INNING

CUBS – Hack peat out a grounder to deep short. It was a close play, and the Tigers protested Umpire Passarella’s decision. Johnson sacrificed. York unassisted. Hack going to second. Lowrey singled to left, but Hack was out trying to score. Greenberg to Richards. Lowrey went 10 second on the throw-in. Cavarretta grounded out. York unassisted. No runs, two hits, no errors, one left.

TIGERS – Webb fled to Lowrey. Mayo lined to Lowrey. Cramer grounded out on the first pitch. Johnston to Cavarretta. No runs, no hits, no errors, none left.

SECOND INNING

CUBS – Patko popped to Mayo. Nicholson flied to Cullenbine. Gillespie popped to Mayo. No runs, no hits, no errors, none left.

TIGERS – Greenberg flied to Pafko. Cullenbine walked. York was called out on strikes. Outlaw singled to left. Cullenbine stepping at second. Richards grounded out. Hughes to Cavarretta. No runs, one hit, no errors, two left.

THIRD INNING

CUBS – Hughes was thrown out by Mayo. Wyse struck out. Hack beat out a hit down the first base line. York fielded the grounder, and, when Trucks was slow in covering the base, tried to beat Hark to the bag but missed. Johnson struck out. No runs, one hit, no errors, one left.

TIGERS – Trucks grounded out. Johnson to Cavarretta. Webb fled to Nicholson. Mayo grounded out. Johnson to Cavarretta. No runs, no hits, no errors, none left.

FOURTH INNING

CUBS – Lowrey grounded out. Webb to York. Cavarretta doubled to center. Patko grounded out. Webb to York. Cavarretta holding second. Nicholson singled to right-center scoring Cavarretta. Gillespie flied to Cramer. One run, two hits, no errors, one left.

TIGERS – Cramer singled to left. Greenberg grounded out. Hack to Cavarretta. Cramer going to second. Cullenbine walked. York flied to Pafko. Outlaw forced Cullenbine at second. Johnson to Hughes. No runs, one hit, no errors, two left.

FIFTH INNING

CUBS – Hughes lined the first pitch to Trucks, who threw him out at first. Wyse grounded out. Webb to York. Hack doubled to center for his third straight hit. Johnson grounded out. Mayo to York. No runs, one hit, no errors, one left.

TIGERS – Richards flied to Pafko. Trucks broke his bat as he popped to Johnson. Webb singled to left-center. Mayo walked. Webb moving to second. Cramer singled to left, scoring Webb with the tying run, and Mayo going to third. Greenberg hit a home run into the left center field stands, 345 feet away, scoring Mayo and Cramer ahead of him. Cullenbine grounded out. Cavarretta unassisted. Four runs, three hits, no errors, none left.

SIXTH INNING

CUBS – Lowrey fed to Cullenbine. Cavarretta flied to Cramer. Pafko popped to Mayo. No runs, no hits, no errors, none left.

TIGERS – York drove a long one that Pafko caught against the bleacher wall, 420 feet from the plate. Outlaw grounded out. Hack to Cavarretta. Richards popped to Johnson. No runs, no hits, no errors, none left.

SEVENTH INNING

CUBS – Nicholson grounded out. Mayo to York. Gillespie lined to Greenberg. Hughes walked. Secory batted for Wyse and lined to Greenberg. No runs, no hits, one left.

TIGERS – Paul Erickson now pitching for the Cubs. Trucks struck out. Webb beat out a bunt toward third. Mayo flied to Lowrey. Cramer singled to center. Webb going to third. Greenberg walked filling the bases. Cullenbine flied to Nicholson. No runs, two hits, no errors, three left.

EIGHTH INNING

CUBS – Hack walked Johnson, was called out on strikes. Lowrey singled to left center. Hack stopping at second. Cavarretta grounded out York to Trucks who covered first. Hack going to third and Lowrey to second. Pafko grounded out Webb to York. No runs, one hit, no errors, two left.

TIGERS – York grounded out. Hughes to Cavarretta. Outlaw fouled to Gillespie. Richards lined to Hughes. No runs, no hits, no errors, none left.

NINTH INNING

CUBS – Nicholson walked. Gillespie grounded out York unassisted. Nicholson went to second on the play. Hughes popped to Outlaw. Becker, batting for Erickson, struck out.

No runs, no hits, no errors, one left.

19

ws1945

Pafko is freshman star of World Series opener

Manager Steve O’Neill lauds centerfielder

DETROIT (UP) – A chunky Wisconsin farm boy, playing in the first World Series he ever saw, was off to a running start today to become the “freshman star” of the 1945 series.

Centerfielder Andy Pafko of the Cubs, a bashful 24-year-old kid from Boyceville, Wisconsin, was already being tabbed as the brightest rookie World Series star since Hard-Hitting Bill Johnson led the Yankees to championship glory in 1943.

The “Milkpail Kid” from Wisconsin, who turned to baseball only four years ago when he tired of tending his dad’s cow, bedeviled the Tigers for nine innings yesterday with his crackling bat and sure-fingered fielding.

‘Best centerfielder’

“He’s the best centerfielder I’ve seen all season and maybe more than that,” Manager Steve O’Neill of the Tigers said after recovering from yesterday’s unexpected defeat by the Cubs.

But just as the Slugging Slovak was headed for stardom, Roy Cullenbine, the Tigers’ right fielder, was off on the “left foot” toward being the “goat” of baseball’s celebrated classic.

Cullenbine, the 30-year-old Irishman who has bounced around the leagues like an old shoe since 1939, misjudged two balls which figured prominently in the Cubs’ shutout 9-0 triumph yesterday. He also went hitless, twice in the midst of potential Tiger rallies which failed because of his idle bat.

Missed Nicholson’s drive

His most disastrous failing was in the first inning when he missed Bill Nicholson’s soaring drive to deep right. It was the decisive blow in the Cubs’ four-run, game-deciding first inning explosion.

But in contrast to Cullenbine’s uncertain fielding and “swishing” performance at the plate, Pafko was a roaring success – stealing even the applause of the Briggs Stadium bleacher fans who usually reserve their acclaim for their “favorite outfielder,” Hank Greenberg.

The boyish farmer from the heart of America’s dairyland pounded out three hits in four attempts, including a whistling double. He also fielded four flies and added an assist, a rifle-shot throw to third base to nip Eddie Mayo and snuff out a budding Detroit uprising.

First time in Detroit

Not only is this the first time Andy has seen a World Series, this is the first time the square-built outfielder has been in Detroit.

But he made his Detroit debut with the same confidence and calm that marked his brilliant play during the regular National League season – his first regular campaign with the Cubs.

Although he’s a kid surrounded by old-timers, Andy has been the pin-wheel of the Cubs’ outfield all season and he evidently has saved his greatest games for the big “series dough.”

20

ws1945

Defeat worst series opener

DETROIT (UP) – When the Tigers lost to the Cubs, 9-0, yesterday, they suffered the worst opening-game defeat in World Series history.

The previous worst initial defeat had been sustained by Chicago’s White Sox when beaten, 9-1, by the Cincinnati Reds in the “Black Sox” scandal series of 1919.

Despite the lopsidedness of yesterday’s shutout, it still did not touch the all-time series record shutout of 11-0 by which the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Tigers in the seventh game of the 1934 classic at Detroit.

When Hank Borowy hung his goose egg on the Tigers yesterday, it was the fourth time a series opener had resulted in a shutout. The Cubs downed the Tigers, 3-0, in the initial contest in 1935; the Red Sox in 1918 blanked the Cubs, 1-0, and in 1905 the New York Giants put the horse collar on the Athletics, 3-0.