The Wilmington Morning Star (October 7, 1946)
RED SOX CAPTURE OPENING SERIES GAME
Rudy York breaks up tight pitchers’ duel in tenth inning with history making homer
Largest crowd to ever jam Sportsman’s Park sees big first baseman pole one of Howie Pollet’s fast balls into the left field bleachers to give Boston 3 to 2 victory
By Gayle Talbot
ST. LOUIS, Oct. 6 (AP) – The last time the white ball could be seen from the stands it was glistening in the sun and arching down into the crowd deep in the left field bleachers, about 375 feet from home plate.
The ball had been struck with shattering force by Rudy York, big part-Indian first-baseman of the Boston Red Sox, and on its soaring flight the American League champions rode to a dramatic 3 to 2, 10-inning triumph over the St. Louis Cardinals in Sunday’s World Series opener.
The greatest crowd ever to jam its way into historic Sportsman’s Park, 36,218 fans, saw York, with two down in the tenth, catch hold of a fast ball slung right down the middle by Howie Pollet, slim Card southpaw, and break up the first extra-inning game played on the opening day of a World Series since 1907.
It was a heartbreaker for Pollet, who, in the ninth inning, had been within one strike of winning the tight, nerve-tingling battle and sending the under-dog Red Birds away in front. Had he whipped that third strike past Tom McBride, Sox righthander, the Cards would have won, 2 to 1.
But McBride slashed a single between shortstop and third to score pinch-runner Don Gutteridge with the tying run and send the struggle into overtime, and set the scene for York’s titanic smash.
In the eighth inning, the Cardinals had taken the lead 2-1 on a hotly disputed play in which Whitey Kurowski scored on Joe Garagiola’s fly that Dom DiMaggio misjudged.
For big Rudy the blow was the ultimate climax to one of the most spectacular comebacks ever effected by a veteran of the Big Leagues. A year ago, he was playing first for the Detroit Tigers in another World Series, and doing a very ordinary job of it, to be generous.
Many observers said flatly he was through, washed-up, and it came as something of a surprise during the winter when the Red Sox grabbed him. But Rudy shed 30 pounds in the off-season, reported at Sarasota, Florida, in the pink,
and went on to play a terrific first
base for the Sox all season. Sunday he finally and fully repaid Manager Joe Cronin for the faith he had shown in him.
It was only by grace of a stray pebble on the infield that first McBride, and then York, had a chance to spoil a beautifully pitched game by Pollet, who for nine innings matched “Tex” Hughson, righthanded Boston ace, pitch for pitch, and even had some the better of it.
One was away in the ninth when Pinky Higgins, Sox third sacker, slapped a bouncer to Marty Marion at short that was labelled an easy out. Just as Marty started to grab the ball, it struck the pebble and squirted through his legs. Glen Russell, a pinch-hitter then shot a single into center, but Pollet whiffed another pinch-hitter for the second out. That was when McBride came through with the crucial sock that eventually decided the game.
Earl Johnson, a southpaw, pitched the tenth for the Sox and gained credit for the victory. Hughson had given up seven safeties and struck out five in his nine-inning stint. Pollet eventually yielded nine safeties, but he was steady and stingy all through the early innings, and he scarcely deserved to lose.
The wildest incident of the game arose in the eighth frame, when the Cards pushed across the run that put them in front, 2 to 1. They had tied it up in the sixth on a ringing double off the right field wall by Stan Musial, the National League’s leading slugger.
With two down in the eighth, Kurowski, Card third baseman, slapped a single into left, bringing up Garagiola, rookie Card catcher, who had not hit in three previous tries. The crowd yelled for another hitter, but Manager Eddie Dyer left the youngster in.
Garagiola rewarded him with a terrific blow out toward center field. Dom DiMaggio started in, seemed to lose the ball momentarily in the sun, and backpedaled desperately. He just managed to get his glove on it, but it bounced away.
Garagiola easily rounded second, and then dug for third, Kurowski, meantime, had rounded third and appeared certain to score easily. But Higgins, the Sox third-baseman, somehow got in Whitey’s way, and when Garagiola was thrown out at third on a sharp relay from DiMaggio to Pesky to Higgins, there was doubt whether Kurowski had crossed the plate before the out was made.
Plate Umpire Lee Ballanfant of National League called the run good, bringing a concerted shout of joy from the crowd and an equally concerted roar from Cronin and the Sox players. They swarmed around Ballanfant demanding a recount, but he shook them off vigorously, and umpire Charley Berry, who was watching third, came in to support Ballanfant.
In time, it was explained that the arbiter had based his decision on Higgins’ interference with the runner, rather than on Kurowski’s having reached home in time. The run looked mighty big at the time.
From the first it was obvious that Pollet, who beat Brooklyn in the first game of the National League playoff, last Tuesday, was going to give Hughson and the Sox a genuine tussle. The lefty had a little of everything he needed, though he could not quite match Hughson’s blazing fast balls.
Only a lapse in Pollet’s control enabled the Sox to put the game’s first run across in the second frame. York got nicked by a wild throw and Bobby Doerr drew a walk after one was out. Higgins, who, all in all, took a very prominent part in the contest, then drove a single into right center to bring York across.
That was the last sign of a run until the sixth, when the Cards finally tied it up. Hughson for the first five innings gave up only a pair of blows, a single by Harry Walker in the third and a triple by Enos Slaughter after two were out in the fourth. Pollet fully matched him, yielding only two singles for five innings, and only three in the first seven chapters.
Red Schoendienst paved the way for the tying score in the sixth when, with one away he scratched a hit off Hughson’s glove. Big Tex got the next batter, Captain Terry Moore, on an infield roller, but Musial, a left-handed batter, sewed it up with a blazing double down the right field line, and reached third on McBride’s wild throw-in.
The Sox couldn’t get to Pollet in the seventh, and failed to score in the eighth. DiMaggio shot his second hit of the game into center field in the latter frame, but was thrown out by Moore when he attempted to stretch it. Then came the eighth and Garagiola’s blow that looked like it had won the thing, and the ninth inning and McBride’s timely clout, and then the tenth and Rudy York. It was an afternoon.
Manager Dyer did not quite live up to his promise to employ a more-or-less normal defense against Ted Williams. The Card pilot shifted third-baseman Kurowski over to the right of second when terrible Ted came up, playing him approximately in the second baseman’s slot, while Schoendienst the second baseman, swung over to where the first sacker ordinarily plays. Musial played almost directly behind first base. Marty Marion remained at his regular shortstop post, and the outfield shifted only slightly to the right.
It could not be said whether the arrangement was effective. His first time up Williams slashed one right at Schoendienst. and in the sixth he pounded a single over Kurowski’s head which the Card infielder almost speared. Two other times Ted was walked, but neither time purposely.
The game was played in unseasonable heat, the temperature ranging up to 82 degrees midway of the struggle. Apparently fearing their starters might wilt, both managers kept relief pitchers warming up most of the way.
Cronin said he would throw Mickey Harris, his southpaw star, against the Cards in tomorrow’s second game. Dyer also nominated a lefthander, Harry (the Cat) Brecheen.
