1946 World Series

[NormanStewart]

Munger: ‘Nothing better happened to me in baseball’

Fastballer’s only wish is that his wife and ‘kids’ could have been looking on

BOSTON (UP) – Big George (Red) Munger, toting a battered glove that looked like an old hot pan holder, was wistful in his moment of greatest baseball glory as Cardinal teammates congratulated him for winning the key game of the World Series.

“Sure it’s a thrill,” said the riflin’ righthander from Houston, Texas, who almost missed the World Series because he was such an able officer in the Army Occupation Forces in Germany.

“Who says it isn’t is crazy, and nothing better ever happened to me in baseball. But when you’ve got a wife and two kids, you’d sort of like to have them lookin’ on when you get out there to pitch.

“They’re back in St. Louis and I guess the little lady was listening on the radio, but I sure would have liked to have had a chance to pitch that game In Sportsman’s Park.”

Mates’ power aided him

Munger, whose manager, Eddie Dyer, insists will win 20 games for him next season, was in more hot water than a Turkish bath addict as he beat the Red Sox, 12-3, but because his teammates rallied behind him for a record-tying 20 hits he breezed to victory.

The Cardinals, once again even and now favored to win the series, were actually a little contemptuous of the Red Sox. Without coming right out and saying so, they put them in the same class as the second-division Cincinnati Reds in their own league.

And their reasoning was logical at that. For in hammering out 20 hits yesterday, they did better than in any time during their 156-game wisecracked Shortstop Marty Marion, alluding to the hitting proficiency of the Cardinal pitchers.

“And I think that we should have had another hit which would have given us a World Series record of 21. That was in the ninth inning, when Rudy York handled Red Schoendienst’s grounder and Pitcher Mike Ryba got an error because he didn’t step on the sack. But Red was there first,” he explained.

Asked whether he would protest to the official scores as a member of the major league player committee, he shrugged and said that his business was playing shortstop.

“Except when Ted Williams bats, then I play left second base,” he said.

Shift stops Williams

The Cardinals figured that their three-man shift to the right with Marion playing adjacent to Second Baseman Schoendienst, cut Williams out of another hit yesterday. That was on a slow bounder which Schoendienst gobbled up, but which he might not have handled from his normal position.

Dyer, confident now that he has his lefty aces ready to go “one-two” against the Red Sox, said that it still looks like a “real dog fight.”

“I think the team that gets a little better pitching and a break or two will win,” he said. “But I also think that we’re in a swell spot right now. Old Red-dog Munger took care of that for us.”

[NormanStewart]

The Wilmington Morning Star (October 12, 1946)

BOSTON RED SOX CAPTURE 5TH GAME
Joe Dobson allows 4 hits; Boston wins 6-3 decision

Winning punch provided by Don Gutteridge, Leon Culbertson and Roy Partee; sixth contest scheduled Sunday afternoon
By Oscar Fraley

BOSTON, Oct. 11 (UP) – The Boston Red Sox bounced back from the depths of inglorious defeat Friday by stifling the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-3, and taking a three to-two game lead in the world series.

Jaunty Joe Dobson, a bulky right-hander with a blazing fast ball and a disappointment to the Red Sox since mid-season mowed down the Cardinals by yielding only four hits. His high, hard one silenced the Red Bird bats which yesterday rattled a record-tying tune of 20 safeties. Big Joe struck out eight Cardinals.

Providing the winning punch for Red Sox before 35,982 partisan fans were three reserves… peppery Don Gutteridge, Leon Culberson and Roy Partee.

Cocky Gutteridge, 33, a major league castoff Boston rescued from the minors, led the way with two hits in his first two times up, which snapped his mates out of their batting slump. Culberson, a reserve outfielder, tattered a homer over the left field wall in the sixth and Partee contributed a run too.

But Dobson, a former Army staff sergeant, didn’t need too much assistance. It would have been a breeze for him if it hadn’t been for three Boston errors. Three times his mates opened at the plate with base hits and then left the runners stranded, but Big Joe took it all in stride and he was in there pitching superbly to stem the last Cardinal rally in the last moments or the game.

He was in trouble only three times. Red Schoendienst, the first man up in the first inning, greeted him with a base hit. The next was when an error produced a Cardinal run in the second. The final was when another error helped get the Cardinals’ other two runs across in the ninth.

The Red Sox worked over three Cardinal tossers for 11 hits and tugged Alpha Brazle, a southpaw, with defeat.

The victory a birthday present for smiling Joe Cronin, pilot of the Bo-Sox, who now needs only one more win to take the series. Cronin will be 40 tomorrow. And it was a bitter defeat for Eddie Dyer, who in his first season as a major league manager guided his club into the World Series. Today was his 49th birthday.

There was another dark note for the Cardinals. Country Slaughter, their ace right fielder and one of their heaviest hitters, was struck on the right elbow by a wild pitch in the fourth inning. He had to leave the game in the seventh when the elbow began to swell. It was the first inning he had missed all year and Manager Dyer said he might not be able to play when the teams resume the series in St. Louis on Sunday.

Cronin, elated by the victory, said he would pitch either Mickey Harris or Dave (Boo) Ferriss in an attempt to end the series with a fourth win.

Dyer announced that he would use Harry (The Cat) Brecheen in the sixth game – “and I don’t know who in the seventh.”

[NormanStewart]

Play by play

Cards first: Schoendienst went after the second pitch and singled to right. Moore struck out on a three and two pitch and Schoendienst was doubled at second trying to steal, Partee to Pesky. Musial, after taking three straight pitches for balls, flied to Williams. No runs, one hit, no errors, none left.

First inning Red Sox: Gutteridge lined Pollet’s first pitch off Musial’s glove into right field for a single. Al Brazle, a southpaw, started warming up in the Cardinal bullpen. Pesky rapped a sharp single between first and second into right field sending Gutteridge to second. DiMaggio bounced to Kurowski who stepped on third to force Gutteridge. DiMaggio reaching first as Pesky moved to second. Williams singled sharply to right, scoring Pesky and sending DiMaggio to third. On Slaughter’s throw to the plate Williams headed to second and beat Garagiola’s throw to that bag as DiMaggio held third. Brazle replaced Pollet. York was purposely passed to load the bases. Higgins bounded to Kurowski who threw to Garagiola at the plate to force DiMaggio and the bases remained filled. Marion scooped up Culberson’s grounder and tossed to Schoendienst to force Higgins at second. One run, three hits, no errors, three left.

Second inning Cardinals: Gutteridge threw out Slaughter. Kurowski sent a high pop to York. Garagiola’s grasscutter squirted through Pesky’s legs into center field for a two-base error. Walker doubled to left scoring Garagiola with the tying run. Culberson backed up a few steps and gathered in Marion’s long fly. One run, one hit, one error, one left.

Second inning Red Sox: Partee singled. Kurowski fielded Dobson’s sacrifice bunt but threw too late to catch Pardee at second and all hands were safe. Gutteridge singled through the middle of the diamond scoring Partee and sending Dobson to second, the run put the Red Sox ahead, 2-1. Pesky bunted sharply back to the mound and Brazle threw to Kurowski at third to force Dobson, Pesky reaching first as Gutteridge stopped at second. DiMaggio grounded into a double play, Marion to Schoendienst to Musial. One run, two hits, no errors, one left.

Third inning Cardinals: Brazle filed to DiMaggio in right center. Pesky threw out Schoendienst. Moore struck out. No runs, no hits, no errors, none left.

Third inning Red Sox: Marion threw out Williams. Marion backed up in short center field for York’s pop. Higgins lined to Walker. No runs, no hits, no errors, none left.

Fourth inning Cardinals: Musial flied to Culberson. Slaughter was awarded first base when one of Dobson’s pitches hit him in the back. Kurowski went down swinging. On the second pitch to Garagiola. Slaughter stole second base sliding in ahead of Partee’s throw to Pesky. Garagiola struck out. No runs, no hits, no errors, one left.

Fourth inning Red Sox: Walker knocked down Culberson’s drive into the left field corner and with a fast throw to second held the hit to a single. Culberson was credited with a stolen base when on the first pitch to Partee. Garagiola flung the ball into center field in an attempt to head off the runner. Moore took Partee’s short fly. Dobson went out, Marion to Musial, Culberson moving to third. Marion threw out Gutteridge. No runs, one hit, no errors, one left.

*Fifth inning Cardinals: Walker bunted along the third base line but was out on a close play Higgins to York. Williams took Marion’s high fly. Brazle flied to DiMaggio. No runs, no hits, no errors, none left.

Fifth inning Red Sox: Pesky singled. Pesky stole second. DiMaggio walked. Williams went down swinging. On an attempted double steal. Pesky was caught at third, Garagiola to Kurowski. With DiMaggio moving to second. York was purposely passed. Higgins bounced out – Marion to Musial. No runs, one hit, no errors, two left.

Sixth inning Cardinals: Gutteridge threw out Schoendienst. Moore flied to Williams. Musial doubled to right center for the third Cardinal hit. Williams and DiMaggio both charged in for Slaughter’s high fly to left-center, Williams making the catch. No runs, one hit, no errors, one left.

Sixth inning Red Sox: Culberson hit a home run against the left field screen. The blow put the Red Sox ahead 3-1. Partee walked. Johnny Beazley, a righthander, started warming up in the Cards’ bullpen. Brazle, in attempting to pick Partee off first, flung the ball into the dirt near the bag. Musial was unable to find it and Schoendienst had to run over to retrieve the ball as Partee remained glued to the sack. Dobson struck out. Gutteridge forced Partee at second, Marion to Schoendienst. Pesky fouled to Musial outside the first base line. One run, one hit, no errors, one left.

Seventh inning Cardinals: Kurowski was called out on strikes. York made a one-handed pickup of Garagiola’s grounder and beat the runner to the bag. Dobson knocked down Walker’s torrid smash but York dropped his throw to enable Walker to reach first safely. York was charged with an error. Marion flied deep to DiMaggio. No runs, no hits, one error, one left.

Seventh inning Red Sox: Erv Dusak went to left field for the Cardinals and Walker moved to right field replacing Slaughter. DiMaggio doubled into the left field corner. Williams was called out time, drew an intentional pass. Higgins on strikes. York, for the third straight doubled to left center field scoring DiMaggio and sending York to third. Culberson was purposely passed. Partee hit to Marion who threw wild to second in an attempted force of Culberson. Higgins following York across the plate on the error, Culberson reaching third and Partee racing to second. Dobson struck out. Gutteridge flied to Moore in short center. Three runs, two hits, one error, two left.

Eighth inning Cardinals: It was announced that Slaughter had retired from the game because of an ailing right elbow. Vernal Jones, a righthander, batted for Brazle and struck out. Schoendienst stunned Pesky around but Johnny held struck out. Moore’s wicked drive to short run to the ball and threw to first for the out. No runs, no hits, no errors, none left.

Eighth inning Red Sox: Johnny Beazley went to the mound for the Cards. Pesky beat out a slow roller to short for a single. DiMaggio sacrificed, Beazley to Musial. Williams fouled to Garagiola. Pesky raced to third on Beazley’s wild pitch. York went down swinging. No runs, one hit. no errors, one left.

Ninth inning Cardinals: Musial walked. Dusak struck out. Pesky fumbled Kurowski’s roller and all hands were safe. Garagiola grounded out to York. The runners advancing. Walker dumped a single into short right scoring Musial and Kurowski to make the score 6-3 in favor of the Red Sox. Pesky camped under and caught Marion’s pop directly on second base. Two runs, one hit, one error, one left.

[NormanStewart]

Sox slight favorites

ST. LOUIS, Oct. 11 (AP) – The Red Sox are slight favorites to win the World Series in the sixth game Sunday.

Odds announced after Friday’s game by Betting Commissioner J. Carroll of St. Louis, varied according to Sunday’s probable pitchers as follows:

• Boston (Ferriss) 7-10; St. Louis (Brecheen) 6-5.
• Boston (Harris) 4-5; St. Louis (Brecheen) 1-1.

Carroll did not announce odds on the series as a whole.

[NormanStewart]

The Evening Star (October 12, 1946)

Cards’ hopes rest in Brecheen after torrid Bosox comeback

By Jack Hand, Associated Press sports writer

EN ROUTE TO ST. LOUIS (AP) – Harry (the Cat) Brecheen stands between the Boston Red Sox and the 1946 world championship as the travel-weary baseball caravan heads back to Sportsman’s Park.

Out in front of the St. Louis Cardinals by a 3-2 margin in games, Joe Cronin’s Sox need but one more victory to clinch the big prize.

That one victory must be earned tomorrow over Brecheen, a crafty left-hander who holds a 3-0 series shutout, or the decision will be hanging in the balance until a seventh game is played Tuesday.

Cronin has listed an “either or” pitching selection, refusing to go any farther than to say it will be Mickey Harris or Dave (Boo) Ferriss.

Boston climbed back into the driver’s seat on yesterday’s 6-3 win as three Red Sox players who had not figured prominently in pre-series discussion wrapped up the fifth game all by themselves.

Minor Red Sox shine

Joe Dobson, an overlooked starting pitcher, threw a four-hitter in copping his first series effort. Don Gutteridge, a last-minute sub for the ailing Bobby Doerr, came up with two big hits, one of which drove home the tie-breaking run in the second inning, and Leon Culberson, an added starter in right field, smashed a home run that gave Dobson a more comfortable-working margin in the sixth.

Howie Pollett didn’t have a thing and was hammered off the hill in one-third of an inning, after allowing three hits and one run. Some effective relief pitching by Al Brazle was all that saved the Cards from a first-inning rout. As it was, they tied up the game in their half of the second, bat once Boston grabbed the lead in its half of the same frame it was evident to most of the 35,892 spectators that it was not going to be a St. Louis day.

Ted Williams drove in his first run of the series with a first-inning single that knocked out Pollet and Gutteridge scored Roy Partee with the tie-breaking tally in the second, provoking quite an argument.

Partee slid into the plate as Rookie Catcher Joe Garagiola took Terry Moore’s peg and lunged at him, trying for a tag. Plate Umpire Lee Ballanfant ruled Partee safe and Garagiola protested bitterly. Even Dyer, who seldom wrangles with umpires, kicked up a fuss after Garagiola showed him spike marks on his left forearm.

Walker sends in Card runs

It was a big run for the Birds had tied the score in the top of the second on Harry Walker’s double to left following Johnny Pesky’s two-base error on Garagiola’s grounder. Walker drove home all three runs, the other two with a ninth-inning single.

Following Culberson’s clout in the sixth, the Sox applied the crusher in the seventh with a three-run blast on doubles by Dom DiMaggio and Pinky Higgins, two intentional walks and a two-base error by Marty Marion on a wild throw.

Enos Slaughter, hit on the right elbow by a pitched ball in the fourth inning, was forced out of the game in the seventh and reported last night there was some doubt about his playing tomorrow.

The Sox’s ailing second-sacker, Bobby Doerr, was expected to resume his place in the lineup after a two-day rest necessitated by a severe migraine headache.

[NormanStewart]

Win, Lose or Draw…
The little man is running this series

By Francis E. Stann, Star staff correspondent

EN ROUTE TO ST. LOUIS – The little man wearing the spiked shoes, the guy whose only business manager is his missus, the journeyman ball player who sneaked into the show on the backs of the big star and the never-was-and-maybe-never-will-be characters in the cast are running this World Series… up to now, that is.

The uncounted thousands who thought they were lucky to have drawn Ted Williams in the hit pools should be resigned to defeat by this time. Mr. Williams, he ain’t going to make it with his puny .200 batting average. Nor is Mr. Dominic DiMaggio with his .250, nor Mr. John Pesky with his .217 and four errors, nor Mr. Stanley Frank Musial with his .200.

Back in 1924, the greatest pitcher of all, Walter Johnson, made two starts and couldn’t win. But as a relief pitcher in the seventh and final game against the Giants he pitched his heart out and won. But was he the undisputed hero? He was not. An almost forgotten pebble – the one Earl McNeilly hit with a well-placed grounder – co-starred with Johnson in the next day’s papers.

Williams now tied with one Leon Culberson

Here’s this young fellow, Howard Pollet, with the best record of any southpaw in the National League since Carl Hubbell.

Off his record he’s the class of the series pitchers, yet he blew his first game with a sucker pitch to a bald-headed, believed-to-be-washed-up first baseman named Rudy York, and yesterday, in his second start he got one (1) batter out.

After Newhouser and Feller, the best pitcher in the American League, and presumably in baseball, supposedly was Tex Hughson, who throws fast balls, curves, change-ups, slithers, screwballs, knuckles and tantrums. He’s had two chances and hasn’t won yet.

The fabulous Williams has driven in one run in 18 times at bat and therefore is tied with Leon Culberson, who makes a 10th of Williams’ salary and whose been at the plate only five times. Williams has no homers; Culberson has one.

The catcher generally rated the best in the American League, Hal Wagner of Boston, is batting a frigid .000 for four games, but 20-year-old Joe Garagiola is hitting .375 and playing a great game for the Cards.

Then there’s a guy named Walker

There have been many Walkers in the majors and in recent years the least known has been Harry. He comes close to being the No. 1 star of this series. He’s hitting .454 for the Cards and has been probably the best outfielder in the entire affair.

With the exception of the Cardinals and a comparative handful of studious fans, who knew much about Harry Brecheen before he pitched his four-hit shutout in the second game?

He was just a little guy who threw left-handed and who had been knocking around in baseball chiefly in the bushes, for years. Yet he pitched the best game of the series.

And then there’s Joe Dobson, who beat the Cards yesterday to put the Sox in front. Who is Dobson, anyway? He was a Cleveland castoff.

Listen, chum, this has been the little guy’s World Series. If the glamour boys have been overplayed, they’ve also been outplayed.

[NormanStewart]

Cronin prefers 4th series win as day-late birthday present

BOSTON (AP) – Today is Red Sox Manager Joe Cronin’s 40th birthday, but he has asked his players to delay their gift for another 24 hours and make it the clinching win over the Cardinals.

Meanwhile all American League-minded numerologists are keeping their fingers crossed. The Sockers have taken the first, third and fifth of the current World Series clashes and tomorrow’s renewal in St. Louis will be even No. 6.

About 500 of yesterday’s spectators followed the winners to the airport last night when they, along with owner Tom Yawkey, boarded a special plane for the six-hour trip to St. Louis. Cronin, his coaches and eight players, including ailing Bobby Doerr, preferred the 25-hour train ride. Erstwhile slugger Ted Williams had a book on trout fishing to take his mind off his batting slump.

Southpaw Al Brazle said he fed Williams nothing but sinkers and fireballs while fanning him twice and making him ground and foul out. The sidearmer insisted that the ball that Lee Culberson homered into the left-field screen got away from him.

Cardinal Pilot Eddie Dyer has a hunch that 20-year-old Vernon Jones, who was whiffed by Joe Dobson while batting for Brazle a leadoff in the eighth, will be his 1947 third baseman. That should please Lou Perini and the rest of the Boston Braves “little steamshovelers.” They are eager to have Whitey Kurowski doing their third basing and are ready to top all bids for him.

Johnny Beazley, who said he felt “real good” after relieving Brazle in the ninth, has assured Dyer he will be back with the Cards next season. While spiking reports of his retirement, Beazley blamed his current record of being 15 pounds underweight. “I’ll get them all back this winter, for all I am going to do is eat, sleep, hunt and fish,” he promised Dyer.

Heavyweight Champion Joe Louis, who took in the last two of the three games, has signed, to box an exhibition in Honolulu early next month. Dyer told him he would be vacationing there about that time.

While being made an honorary member of the San Francisco Junior Chamber of Commerce, Cronin was presented with a miniature sterling silver bat by its representatives. They also honored native sons Dom and Joe DiMaggio in similar fashion.

[NormanStewart]

Dobson’s win makes Williams predict series end tomorrow

By Ted Williams

EN ROUTE TO ST. LOUIS – My hat’s off to Joe Dobson. And, brother, it’s off just as high as a hat can be off.

I think Joe’s performance was just about the outstanding pitching feat of the series. He didn’t pitch a better game than Boo Ferriss in our home opener Wednesday, but Joe’s job was a much tougher one. Everybody knows that Ferriss is a great pitcher, but Dobson had been regarded as just another guy named Joe. But not anymore.

After what he did to the Redbirds, Dobson will be regarded with a great deal of respect. Joe’s weakness has been a lack of commence in himself. All he has to do is get the ball over and he’d be a steady winner. Yesterday Joe got the ball over and got the Cardinals out.

We had to win or we might have been going back to St. Louis with our backs against the wall and our hearts and heads low and heavy. Now, we’ve got Dave Ferriss and Tex Hughson ready.

I think we’ve got a tremendous edge on the Redbirds. Our club is in much better shape than St. Louis. They tell me that Slaughter’s elbow is bad. I understand he got hit just like I did when we played the All-Stars in Boston about 10 days ago. If it’s the same type of injury that mine was, I don’t think he’ll be able to play anymore. Those things get sore and stiff.

I told you a week ago that by next Sunday the Red Sox will be the baseball champions of the world. And tomorrow I’ll be out there on a limb with a bat in my hand.

[NormanStewart]

The Chicago Star (October 12, 1946)

Stardust

By Pete Williams

Getting the facts about this year’s World Series between the chimes tolling out the virtues of a certain razor blade leaves much to be desired, but it’s the next best thing.

It recalls too, how much a broadcast of this event can mean to people. As long as the series is in St. Louis and Boston and we’re in Chicago, there’s not much that can be done about it. The range of television transmitters has not as yet increased sufficiently to allow us to witness the October Classic from our armchairs.

Two years ago, we listened to the Series with our ears glued to an earphone in a B-17 G-type aircraft, returning from a night mission that took us over the oil refineries at Blechhammer in Upper Silesia.

Down in the muddy foxholes of Italy, GIs were anxiously awaiting word as to the outcome and those who could, gathered around radio sets eagerly listening to the all-St. Louis series that year.

Baseball means a great deal to the average Joe. You can’t underestimate how much it does mean, and while some people, just cannot comprehend why a guy will sweat out a line all night just to get in to sit on a hard wooden bleacher bench in a broiling sun, the fact remains that people do do these things. In Brooklyn, for instance, the subject reaches its zenith, being culture, religion, politics and everything else under the sun to fanatical Dodger rooters.

Because of the STAR’S early press time, we know, at this writing, that the series stood even-steven going to Boston. It proved only one thing – that it should be a battle all the way down the line.

After Sunday’s opener, lesser aggregations than the Cardinals would have been heart-broken by Rudy York’s wallop and a series of bad breaks. Not so with the St. Louisans. They came back with a vengeance. They took the play away from the highly-touted Bosox, making their hits count and bottling up the vaunted power of the Bostonians.

At this stage of the game, it’s hard to tell how the National Leaguers will fare in Fenway Park. Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis presents no new problems to the Sox, since they play the Browns there during the year, but the Boston ball park will be entirely new to the Cards. As such, it will give the home club a decided advantage.

[NormanStewart]

The Waterbury Democrat (October 12, 1946)

Editorial: Baseball and politics don’t mix

Americans are used to having the ugly head of politics rear its head in a great many fields of national life but when it gets mixed into broadcasting the World Series, we won’t take that without squawking!

Rumor has it that Arch MacDonald was selected to broadcast the blue-ribbon sports event not because he was an outstanding broadcaster, but because he’s a friend of Commissioner A. B. (Happy) Candler and a candidate for Congress next month into the bargain. When our office fans complained about MacDonald we took it with a gram of salt. After all, any other among radio’s silver tongues would sound coated in comparison with New England’s Jim Britt whose performance has been uniformly high throughout the season.

During the fifth game in Boston, however, we heard him with our own ears and his performance to an ardent fan was downright sacrilege. Imagine calling Harry Walker, Fred! Pray for the soul of a supposed expert who calls a wild pitch a foul tip and then compounds the felony by calling it a “wild throw” instead of a wild pitch. A broadcaster who doesn’t immediately recognize that Walker’s hit in the ninth is a single and not a double must be blind. And we’re still waiting for tonight’s Democrat Peach to learn whether DiMaggio was out on the play which saw Musial saving Beazley an error on a low throw to first in the last of the eighth.

Strikes seem unavoidable, we’ve just got to stand going without a new car, and we will take it but not like it when we can’t buy a good rib roast of beef for Sunday’s dinner. But when Washington, in the person of Sen. Chandler makes us fans suffer to publicize a candidate for Congress, rioting in the streets may develop any minute. We want our baseball straight and undiluted by politics!

[NormanStewart]

The Sunday Star (October 13, 1946)

Six Cards on semi-invalid list; Slaughter unable to lift arm

ST. LOUIS, Oct. 12 (AP) – It is highly improbable that any team ever went into the end of a World Series with as many crippling injuries as the Cardinals have today as they prepare to meet the Red Sox in the sixth and what may be the final game of the current classic.

At least six regular members of the team – Enos (Country) Slaughter, Terry Moore, Howie Pollet, Marty Marion, Al Schoendienst and Whitey Kurowski – are on the semi-invalid list.

Probably the most serious injury is the one suffered by Slaughter, the rightfielder, who has been finding the range of late with his booming bat. Slaughter was forced to retire from yesterday’s game when hit on the right elbow by an errant pitch by Joe Dobson, and both he and Manager Eddie Dyer were pessimistic about his return to the lineup tomorrow.

Can’t lift right arm

“This is the first time I have been out of the lineup few a single inning this season,” moaned Slaughter. “I can’t lift my right arm at all right now, but unless it is broken, I’ll try to be in there tomorrow.”

Dyer said that if Slaughter was not in shape to play tomorrow he would start either Erv Dusak or Dick Sisler in left field, depending on whether the opposition used a righthander or southpaw, and switch Harry Walker to Slaughter’s position in right.

It is fairly certain that Pollet, who tried courageously to stem the Boston bats despite an extremely painful back ailment in yesterday’s 6-3 defeat, will not throw another ball in this series. A source who should know but refused to be identified, said that “unless Pollet gives his bad back a six-month rest, he may never pitch again.”

“His back and side are in awful shape. How that boy can throw at all is a miracle to me.”

Moore’s playing status has been in doubt each day until the morning of the game. Troubled by a damaged right knee all season, the flashy centerfielder doesn’t know whether he’ll be able to play until he works out the kinks each morning. He will undergo an operation on the knee as soon as the series ends.

Marion ailing again

Marion’s aching back has been acting up again as a result of the train rides from St. Louis to Brooklyn to St. Louis to Boston and back to St. Louis within two weeks. He cannot lie flat on his back because of the Jerking and swaying of the moving trains and is forced to sleep in a semi-sitting position.

Schoendienst, the 150-pound second baseman, has shed 15 pounds during the season and looks and acts tired. In addition, he has been bothered by a strained muscle in his back and has been taking treatments from Dr. Harrison Weaver, club trainer.

Kurowski has been handicapped in his swinging by some chipped bones in his right elbow and plans to have them removed during the winter.

The Cardinals of today may not be the equal of the Gas House gang of a decade ago in ability, but they are just as game.

[NormanStewart]

Cards rely on Brecheen today in fight to keep series alive

Cronin will start Ferriss or Harris; Doerr expected to return to action
By Francis E. Stann, Star staff correspondent

ST. LOUIS, Oct. 12 – The 1946 World Series, made late by a tie and playoff for the National League pennant and made long by the stubbornness of the contenders and the long journeys half way across the country and back, will end here tomorrow if the Boston Red Sox can conquer the pitching ace of the St. Louis Cardinals, Harry Brecheen.

Going into the sixth game of the marathon series, the American Leaguers hold the lead in victories, 3-2, and need only one more triumph to divide the winners’ share and disband.

But Brecheen stands in the path of the rich Red Sox and the 32-year-old, 160-pound southpaw from Broken Bow, Oklahoma, is a formidable opponent. It was Brecheen, who hurled the best of several good games in the series when he shut out Boston with four hits in the second game here to even the classic, 1-1.

Manager Joe Cronin of the Red Sox would not name his starting pitcher, except to say that his starter will be either Maurice (Mickey) Harris, loser to Brecheen in the second contest, or Dave Ferriss, ace of the Boston club. If Cronin’s pitcher is Ferriss, the game tomorrow might well be the best of all because the big right-hander from Shaw, Mississippi, pitched the other shutout of the spectacle in the third game in Boston, holding the Cards to six hits.

The Cardinals, fighting with their backs to the wall as they have done all season, may have more than usual pressure on them tomorrow due to the injured arm of Enos Slaughter, easily the standout outfielder of the series.

Slaughter, who tied a world series record last Thursday by hitting safely four times, was hit by a pitch thrown by Joe Dodson of Boston in yesterday’s game and was forced to withdraw, so painful was the injury. The St. Louis Club physician indicated today it was doubtful if Slaughter would be able to resume the battle tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Boston almost certainly will regain the services of its captain and star second-baseman, Bobby Doerr who withdrew from Thursday’s losing game and did not play when the Red Sox won yesterday’s due to a sever migraine headache. Doerr flew into St. Louis early today with most of the Red Sox and said he was fit and ready to play.

The carnival air which pervaded in St. Louis when the series opened last Sunday seemed to be missing tonight. Only a few bleacher fans lined up to stand all-night vigil and await the throwing open of the gates to the 9,000 seats. The weather, which has been freezing the last two nights, was believed to have cooled interest, although all bleacher and grandstand seats have been sold.

If Brecheen can repeat his victory over the Red Sox and tie up the series, it will indeed become a marathon as Monday will be an off day so that tickets can be sold for the seventh and decisive game, which would be on Tuesday, weather permitting.

The Red Sox, who flew from Boston, arrived here well ahead of the Cards but did not work out today. The National Leaguers entrained from the hub and arrived late today.

James J. Carroll, well-known St. Louis betting commissioner, announced he is taking no more bets on the outcome of the series, but if Ferriss faces the Cards tomorrow a Boston bettor will have to put up $10 to win $7 and if Harris is the Boston pitcher the Card fan will have to wager $6 to get $5.

[NormanStewart]

Win, Lose or Draw…
Steam from the bubbling cauldron

By Francis E. Stann, Star staff correspondent

ST. LOUIS, Oct. 12 – Bill Veeck, young president of the Cleveland Indians, will listen if Clark Griffith offers to trade Outfielder Stan Spence for Third Baseman Ken Keltner, which Griffith probably won’t do now on an even-up basis as a result of Spence’s good year and Keltner’s poor season. … When Veeck and Larry MacPhail made the first trade of the off-season by swapping Pitcher Allie Reynolds and Second Baseman Joe Gordon and when Veeck also acquired Third Baseman Joe Bachman from the Yanks for two players to be identified, Cleveland critics interpreted it as meaning the end of Keltner in an Indian suit.

The player’s share of the World Series will be one of the leanest in recent years owing to the fact that the two ball parks are among the smallest in the major leagues. But back in 1903, when Boston won its first series, each Red Sox received only $1,182 and was less well paid than the defeated Pirates, whose $1,316.25 shares were bolstered when Owner Barney Dreyfuss tossed his share into the losing players’ pool. … Something of that sort may happen again if the Cards lose this series for the second-place Brooklyn Dodgers will fare as well or better financially because each of the Bums was given a new automobile by Owner Branch Rickey.

Red Sox have much dead wood to remove

The Red Sox and all members of the Baseball Writers’ Association covering the Series were presented with cigarette lighters with the Sox crest on them by Tom Yawkey. … A St. Louis newspaperman, asked what Owner Sam Breadon was going to give the scribes, quipped: “Fuel for the lighters, probably.”

For pennant winners and possibly world champions, the Red Sox have more admitted dead wood on their roster than any club in the big leagues. … Before spring training next year, according to reports, most or all of the following will be missing: Pitchers Mace Brown, Clem Dreisewerd, Charley Wagner, Mike Ryba, Bob Klinger and Bill Zuber; Infielder Paul Campbell and Outfielder John Lazor.

Cmdr. Bill Reinhart, former George Washington University coach who now is head man at Merchant Marine Academy at King’s Point, Long Island, rates Boston College as potentially one of the best (and biggest) college teams he’s ever seen. … The Eagles whipped Reinhart’s King’s Pointers, 56-7, last night in Boston. … “We expected to get walloped,” Reinhart said, “because we’re playing 17 and 18-year-old kids, just like Navy and Army. Those teams with ex-GIs in the middle 20s are too much for us.”

Rather than troubling himself lining up airline reservations, one of the world’s most tedious jobs, incidentally, Bill Veeck solved his problem and that of the Cleveland press covering the Series by chartering a DC-3 which is a nice deal – if you can afford it.

Griff says Pollet almost was a Nat

Three guesses where most of the World Series stars to date hail from, and the right answer is the South. … For the Cards, Enos Slaughter is from Roxboro, N.C.; Harry Walker from Pascagoula, Miss.; Marty Marion from Richburg, S.C.; Harry Brecheen from Broken Bow, Okla., and Howard Pollet from New Orleans. … For the Red Sox, Dave Ferriss is from Shaw, Miss.; Joe Dobson from Durant, Okla.; Rudy York from Cartersville, Ga.; Leon Culberson from Bartow County, Ga., and Wally Moses from Uvalda, Ga.

Clark Griffith says Pollet should be wearing a Washington uniform. … “I first saw Pollet when he was pitching for a New Orleans American Legion team in Charlotte,” said Griffith in Boston. “The manager of the team was a friend of mine and he promised that Pollet would join my club. ‘I’ve been taking care of that boy and helping his mother,’ this fellow said to me, ‘and he’ll play where I tell him. And I’ll tell him Washington.’ But one day he called me and said he was sorry but that Pollet had decided to join the Cardinals despite his advice.”

If the Series reaches the point where a well-placed bunt means winning or losing, the Cardinals have an edge. … They all can bunt, Musial, Slaughter and pitchers alike.

DiMag-Shor team attended Cronin party

The Red Sox are gracious hosts, but most of the Series entourage was glad to get out of Boston, whose hotels couldn’t accommodate the crowds and whose phone service is horrible. Hie manager of a leading Boston hotel, where baseball clubs have been stopping for years, made enemies when he tossed out nearly all reservations. … Griffith and his party, which included Mrs. Griffith, Vice President Calvin Griffith and the Buck Newsoms were among those who had to seek accommodations elsewhere – and they were nothing fancy. … On the other hand, all of the ball players hate to play at Sportsman’s Park, which they call a rockpile, and the touring press and others don’t care for the dirty stands and overall squalor, which will seem more marked after the three games played in Boston’s spic and span Fenway Park.

When the first rumors of a Williams-for-Joe DiMaggio trade were afloat it was reported that one reason the Yankees were in favor of it was to break up the friendship of DiMaggio and Toots Shor, New York restauranteur, with whom DiMag’s boss, Larry McPhail, has fallen out-But when Joe Cronin threw a party the other night in Boston for the Yawkeys, Griffiths, Eddie Duchin and Harry Ruby of the song-and-dance world, Happy Chandler (who sang as Duchin played), two of the guests were Joe DiMaggio and Shor and a non-guest was MacPhail.

[NormanStewart]

Gridiron weather is due at series

ST. LOUIS, Oct. 12 – Weather better suited for football than baseball is in prospect for tomorrow’s sixth game of the World Series.

Clear skies with the mercury in the low 60s was the forecast of the Weather Bureau. The temperature dipped to 38 early today, the lowest for this date since 1917.

[NormanStewart]

Game 6

Sunday, October 13, 1946, 1:30 p.m. CT
Sportsman’s Park, St. Louis

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Boston Red Sox (3-3)	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	7	0
St. Louis Cardinals (3-3)	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	1	X	4	8	0

BOSTON RED SOX (AL):
Hitters	AB	R	H	PO	A	E	AVG
Culberson, RF	4	0	0	5	0	0	.222
Pesky, SS	3	0	1	2	3	0	.231
DiMaggio, CF	4	0	1	5	0	0	.250
Williams, LF	3	0	1	2	0	0	.238
York, 1B	4	1	1	4	0	0	.263
Doerr, 2B	3	0	1	1	1	0	.389
Higgins, 3B	3	0	1	1	1	0	.250
Partee, C	3	0	0	4	0	0	.111
Harris, P	1	0	0	0	0	0	.333
Hughson, P	1	0	1	0	0	0	.333
McBride, PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	.182
Johnson, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	30	1	7	24	5	0	.233

Batting
3B	R. York (1, off Brecheen)
TB	R. York 3; B. Doerr; P. Higgins; D. DiMaggio; T. Williams; T. Hughson; J. Pesky
GIDP	R. York 2 (2); D. DiMaggio (3)
RBI	B. Doerr (3)
With RISP	0 for 2
Team LOB	4

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS (NL):
Hitters	AB	R	H	PO	A	E	AVG
Schoendienst, 2B	4	1	1	4	3	0	.192
Moore, CF	4	0	1	2	0	0	.130
Musial, 1B	4	1	1	9	0	0	.208
Kurowski, 3B	4	0	1	2	2	0	.304
Slaughter, RF	2	0	1	2	0	0	.318
Dusak, LF	0	0	0	0	1	0	.250
Walker, PH-LF	3	1	0	1	0	0	.357
Marion, SS	4	0	2	2	1	0	.273
Rice, C	3	0	1	5	1	0	.600
Brecheen, P	4	1	0	0	2	0	.143
Totals	32	4	8	27	10	0	.250

Batting
2B	R. Schoendienst (1, off Harris); M. Marion (2, off Johnson)
IBB	D. Rice (2, by Johnson)
TB	M. Marion 3; R. Schoendienst 2; T. Moore; D. Rice; E. Slaughter; S. Musial; W. Kurowski
RBI	E. Slaughter (2); T. Moore (2); W. Kurowski (2); M. Marion (4)
2-Out RBI	M. Marion; E. Slaughter; W. Kurowski
With RISP	3 for 7
Team LOB	8
Fielding
DP	3. W. Kurowski-R. Schoendienst-S. Musial 2; H. Brecheen-R. Schoendienst-M. Marion-S. Musial
Outfield Assists	E. Dusak (Doerr at 3rd base)

Boston Red Sox

Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Harris, L (0-2)	2.2	5	3	3	1	2	0	3.72
Hughson	4.1	2	0	0	1	2	0	3.14
Johnson	1	1	1	1	2	0	0	3.00
Team Totals	8	8	4	4	4	4	0	4.50

St. Louis Cardinals

Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Brecheen, W (2-0)	9	7	1	1	2	6	0	0.50
Team Totals	9	7	1	1	2	6	0	1.00

Balks: None
WP: None
HBP: None
IBB: E. Johnson (1; D. Rice)
Pickoffs: None
Umpires: HP - Hubbard, 1B - Barlick, 2B - Berry, 3B - Ballanfant
Time: 1:56
Attendance: 35,768

[NormanStewart]

The Wilmington Morning Star (October 14, 1946)

CARDS DEFEAT BOSTON, 4-1
Harry Brecheen pitches seven-hit Cardinal victory; triumph places World Series at three wins each

Deciding game scheduled for Tuesday with Dave Ferriss slated to oppose George Munger on mound; 35,768 fans expected for crucial tilt at Sportsman’s Park, St. Louis
By Gayle Talbot

ST. LOUIS, Oct. 13 (AP) – For the second time Harry (The Cat) Brecheen, brilliant St. Louis lefthander, stood the Boston Red Sox on their heads here Sunday, and the World Series stretched to the limit of seven games as the Cards clipped three Sox flingers for a 4-1 victory.

Brecheen, who shut out the Bostons with a four-hitter in the second game of the playoff, came back with an almost equally lustrous seven-hitter Sunday and had completed a string of 15 scoreless innings against the American League champs before a triple by Rudy York led to the Sox’s score in the seventh frame Sunday.

The Redbirds, fighting to keep the series alive after dropping two out of three in Boston, sewed up the game with a five-hit, three-run outburst that drove Mickey Harris from the hill in the third inning. Brecheen, his screwball again puzzling the Sox sluggers, needed no more encouragement than that.

The deciding game will not be fought out until Tuesday, Monday having been set aside, as customary, for the sale of tickets. Another jammed crowd such as the 35,768 who watched the home town boys rally Sunday was expected to witness the final fray. It was the second straight year that the series had gone the limit. The Detroit Tigers having needed all seven to subdue the Chicago Cubs a year ago.

Brecheen, in delivering his second classic performance, recovered from a shaky start in the first two innings and went on to win impressively. He struck out six and was never in danger after the Red Sox made four of their seven blows in the opening frames. Thereafter he spaced out three safeties, including a single by Ted Williams in the ninth inning.

Infield clicks

Superlative work by the Card infield spared the little portsider possible embarrassment on several occasions. Three times the Redbirds reeled off classy double plays, including one that wound up the game after Williams had got on.

Cardinal hearts missed a few beats at the outset when Johnny Pesky, second Soxer to face Brecheen, raked a single through the right side of the diamond and Dom DiMaggio followed with a blow in to left. Brecheen pitched too carefully to Williams and walked him to load the sacks. George Munger, Card righthander, jumped up and began working in the bullpen as Rudy York stepped up with his menacing war club.

Down Brecheen came with a curve, and Rudy slapped it squarely at Whitey Kurowski on third, and it turned into a double play.

Again in the second Bobby Doerr, recovered from the headache which kept him out of the final game in Boston, greeted Brecheen with a single to right, his seventh hit of the series. Pinky Higgins blasted a single to left and it looked like curtains for The Cat. But he was saved when Doerr, overestimating Higgins’ smack, tried to reach third, and was thrown out by Erv Dusak’s rifle throw to Kurowski.

With that, Brecheen took a fine deep breath and struck out Roy Partee, swinging, and caused Harris to loft out to center. After that he was off and winging. He retired 10 straight Sox batters, mostly on infield popouts, before Tex Hughson, who relieved Harris, got Boston’s fifth hit.

Harris, who gave Brecheen a tussle in the second series game before being lifted for a pinch-hitter, looked exceedingly tough for two chapters Sunday, during which only one Card reached first, on a walk. But in the third he got his lumps properly.

Del Rice, young St. Louis catcher, started it with a clean single to left, and was forced at second by Brecheen. Red Schoendienst followed with a slashing double down the rightfield line on which Brecheen, taking it easy, held up at third.

Terry Moore, the Cards’ crippled up captain, lifted a towering fly to the outfield on which Brecheen scored easily. Stan Musial then beat out a deep infield roller to shortstop, and Kurowski came through with a blast to left to score Schoendienst. When Enos Slaughter drove the third run across with a smash to center, it was curtains for Harris.

Hughson put out the fire, thanks to a superb running catch by DiMaggio off Dusak, for the third out, and he pitched great ball for the next 4 1-3 innings before giving way to a pinch-hitter. But his fine work came too late. Hughson allowed only two more St. Louis hits during his tenure. The Cards made their fourth and unneeded run off Earl Johnson in the eighth on a walk and Marty Marion’s double into the rightfield corner.

Had the veteran Moore been just a little more agile, Brecheen might have had another shutout. York’s smash to open the seventh was a towering product which hit the centerfield wall at about the 425-foot mark. Moore, giving it the old Cardinal try, reached the point almost simultaneously with the ball, and leaped high against the wall in an effort to haul it down. But he failed, and limped back to his position. York trotted in on Doerr’s following belt to deep left, and the Sox never saw which way Brecheen went after that.

The last eight Boston batters got only two balls out of the infield, and two of them, Leon Culberson and Johnny Pesky, were successive strikeout victims in the eighth.

It was not certain until shortly before game time that Slaughter would be able to play. He had a badly-bruised right elbow from being hit by a pitched ball in Boston, but he insisted on playing, and performed with his usual brilliance. He ran far to pull down a lustly clout by Culberson after Hughson had singled in the fifth.

Manager Joe Cronin decided overnight to start Harris, rather than Dave (Boo) Ferriss, the big righthander who stopped the Cards with six hits in Boston. The reason was that Ferriss, a left-hand batter, is an exceptionally good hitter for a pitcher, and Cronin wished to save him to hit against a St. Louis righthander, in Tuesday’s final.

It was certain that Manager Eddie Dyer would be forced to use either Munger or Murry Dickson, both righties, in the final. He settled on Dickson, who was beaten in the third series game at Boston.

[NormanStewart]

Play by play

FIRST INNING

RED SOX: Culberson struck out. Pesky singled to right center on the first pitch. DiMaggio singled to left, Pesky stopping at second. With Williams at bat, the Cardinals kept Kurowski at third but played Marion on the right side of second. Munger began warming up in the St. Louis bullpen. Williams walked, filling the bases, York hit into a double play, Kurowski to Schoendienst to Musial. No runs, two hits, no errors, two left.

CARDS: Schoendienst fouled to Higgins. Moore struck out. Musial grounded out, Pesky to York. No runs, no hits, no errors, none left.

SECOND INNING

RED SOX: Doerr singled off Kurowski’s glove. Higgins singled to left and Doerr was out trying to go to third on the hit, Dusak to Kurowski. Partee struck out. Harris flied to Moore. No runs, two hits, no errors, one left.

CARDS: Kurowski flied to Williams. Slaughter struck out. Dusak walked. Marion flied to Culberson. No runs no hits, no errors, one left.

THIRD INNING

RED SOX: Culberson grounded out, Brecheen to Musial. Pesky fouled to Kurowski. DiMaggio struck out, but had to be thrown out, Rice to Musial, when Rice dropped the ball. No runs, no hits, no errors none left.

CARDS: Rice singled to center. Brecheen, attempting to sacrifice, forced Rice at second, Higgins to Pesky. Schoendienst doubled down the right field line, Brecheen holding up at third. Moore flied to DiMaggio, Brecheen scoring after the catch, and Schoendienst holding second. Musial beat out a grounder to Pesky for a hit, Schoendienst going to third. Tex Hughson began warming up for the Red Sox. Kurowski singled to left, Schoendienst scoring and Musial stopping at second. Slaughter singled to center, Musial scoring and Kurowski going to third. Cronin went out to talk to Harris. Harris was taken out and was replaced by Hughson. Walker batted for Dusak and lined to DiMaggio, who came in fast to make a shoe-string catch. Three runs, five hits, no errors, two left.

FOURTH INNING

RED SOX: Walker took Dusak’s place in left field for the Cardinals. Musial gloved Williams’ high pop on the turf between first and second base. Schoendienst, running with his back to the plate, made a fine catch of York’s bid for a hit into shallow right field. Musial gathered in Doerr’s high pop on the infield grass near first base. No runs, no hits, no errors, none left.

CARDINALS: Marion lined to Culberson in right-center field. DiMaggio caught Rice’s fly in center field retiring the Cardinal catcher for the first time in this series. Brecheen lined a foul into the Cardinal dugout, then fouled out to Pesky who made a nice running catch back of third base. No runs, no hits, no errors, none left.

FIFTH INNING

RED SOX: Higgins sent a high pop fly to Marion who made the catch in short left field after almost losing the ball in the sun. Partee flied to Slaughter in right-center. Hughson singled over Schoendienst’s head in to right field for the Red Sox fifth hit, one more than they made off him in last Monday’s game. Slaughter made a fine running catch of Culberson’s drive toward the right field corner. No runs, one hit, no errors, one left.

CARDINALS: Doerr picked up Schoendienst’s bounder back of the pitcher’s mound and tossed him out. Moore struck out on three pitches, looking at the third strike. Musial went down swinging. No runs, no hits, no errors, none left.

SIXTH INNING

RED SOX: Pesky ran the count to three and two and walked. DiMaggio hit into a double play, Kurowski to Schoendienst to Musial, the first baseman making a nice catch of Schoendienst’s wide throw. Williams struck out, swinging at a three and two pitch. No runs, no hits, no errors, none left.

CARDINALS: Kurowski fouled to Culberson who made a fine running catch near the right field stands. Slaughter walked. Walker flied to DiMaggio in deep center field. Marion singled into center for the Cards’ first hit off Hughson Slaughter stopping at second. Rice ran the string to three and two, then flied deep to DiMaggio in center. No runs, one hit, no errors, two left.

SEVENTH INNING

RED SOX: York tripled against the centerfield wall 425 feet away. Moore banged against the concrete to try and field the drive and Walker had to retrieve the ball. Doerr sent a long fly to Walker in left field, York easily scoring after the catch. It was the first Red Sox run off Brecheen after 15 consecutive scoreless innings and made the score, St. Louis 3, Boston 1. Higgins fouled to Musial who leaned ever into the boxes alongside first base for the catch. Partee popped to Schoendienst at the edge of the infield grass. One run, one hit, no errors, none left.

CARDINALS: Brecheen grounded out, Pesky to York. Culberson backed up against the right field wall to haul down Schoendienst’s long drive. Moore lined a single to center. Musial lofted to Williams. No runs, one hit, no errors, one left.

EIGHTH INNING

RED SOX: Tom McBride, a right-handed hitter, batted for Hughson. McBride fouled to Musial near the first base field boxes. Culberson was called out on strikes. Pesky also was called out on strikes to become Brecheen’s sixth strikeout victim. No runs, no hits, no errors, none left.

CARDINALS: Earl Johnson, a southpaw, now pitching for the Red Sox. Kurowski flied to DiMaggio in left-center. Slaughter walked on a three and two pitch. Walker forced Slaughter at second, Pesky to Doerr, the latter making a fine grab of Pesky’s hurried high throw. Marion lined a double over first base scoring Walker to put the Cards ahead, 4-1. The ball rolled against the wall, 310 feet away. Rice was purposely passed. Brecheen grounded out to York, unassisted. One run, one hit, no errors, two left.

NINTH INNING

RED SOX: Moore raced into short center for DiMaggio’s line drive. Williams singled through a narrow hole between Marion and Schoendienst. York hit into a game-ending double play, Schoendienst to Marion to Musial. Brecheen received an assist on the play when he barely managed to touch the ball as it bounced over his head to Schoendienst. No runs, one hit, no errors, none left.

[NormanStewart]

The Evening Star (October 14, 1946)

Cards still underdogs, pin last hope on Dickson

Cronin picks Ferriss as Bosox pitcher in finale tomorrow*
By Jack Hand, Associated Press sports writer

ST. LOUIS (AP) – Sam Breadon is selling tickets today for a seventh World Series game at Sportsman’s Park because his St. Louis Cardinals have as many lives as a cat – Harry “The Cat” Brecheen.

If it weren’t for the game little lefthander from Oklahoma the Boston Red Sox would have won the series long ago and the Redbirds would be scattered to the four winds, instead of planning strategy for tomorrow’s finale.

In the cold light of dawn there is room for a solid suspicion that “The Cat” and the Cards spent their last life in a 4-1 win yesterday. The Sox have Dave (Boo) Ferriss, their 25-game winner, primed for a second straight shut-out bid, and there is no reason to believe he won’t be just as effective as he was in Boston.

Odds against home club

The odds definitely are against the home club, but that’s nothing new. Coming from behind and upsetting the dope has been a habit with Eddie Dyer and his St. Louis team ever since midseason, when they trailed Brooklyn by seven and a half games and eventually won the flag in a playoff.

All through this 43rd series it has been the same story – lose today and then scramble to get it back by winning tomorrow. They’re fresh out of ball games now, and there will be no further comebacks. This is it.

After Howie Pollet dropped the opener, Brecheen shut out Boston. He wasn’t available when the Cards needed their second life, but George Munger and a 20-hit barrage squared matters.

Poised on the brink of elimination after dropping behind. 3-2, in games at Fenway Park, Brecheen took the Cards by the scuff of their necks and lifted them back into the scramble, all even at three games each.

Dickson to hurl final

Brecheen can’t do it again, although he’ll probably be in the bull pen. So Dyer has picked the next best thing, his roommate, Murry Dickson.

Fate plays strange tricks on ball clubs and managers and now with the world championship hanging in the balance, Joe Cronin finally falls back on Ferriss, who didn’t get a chance until the third game. Dyer must use Dickson, a wiry little fellow who worked on relief and wasn’t a “starter” until June 9.

Ferriss enjoys a huge edge on his 25-6 season record and his lone series winning appearance, although Dickson won 15 and lost six including a playoff victory at Brooklyn. In his only series start, Dickson bowed to Ferriss, 4-0.

Although he throws righthanded and Brecheen, of course, is a southpaw, there is a great deal of similarity between their styles. Each is known as a fine fielding pitcher and a good hitter. Like “The Cat,” Dickson throws a screwball and depends more on a variety of “stuff” rather than throwing the ball past the batter. They’ve been rooming together since 1939 at Houston with the exception of Dickson’s two years in the Army.

Rest to benefit Cards

An extra day of rest will benefit the Cards more than the Sox, for the American League champs had done little more than wait since September 13, when they clinched the pennant. Their problem has been to regain the fine edge they held in midseason, and they haven’t done it yet.

Marty Marion is playing with an aching back that always improves with a day of rest. Howie Pollet, if needed, will have more time to let his tom side muscle mend, and Enos Slaughter, who played gamely in the sixth contest despite a painfully swollen right elbow, will be more like his usual self.

Although Dr. Robert Hyland told Slaughter he might injure himself permanently if he took a chance and played yesterday, the slugging right fielder not only played, but contributed two nice catches and knocked Mickey Harris out of the box with a third-inning single.

Slaughter was the last Card to face the left-handed Harris, who yielded five hits, all in the third, before he was replaced by Tex Hughson. The big Texan, who was the focal point of the 20-hit attack Thursday, turned back St. Louis with two hits before he went out for a pinch-batter and was replaced by Lefty Earl Johnson, against whom the Redbirds made one run in the eighth.

Brecheen has rocky start

The Sox had given Brecheen a rocky first and second inning before Harris blew up. In the first, two singles and a walk loaded the bases with one out before Whitey Kurowski started a fast double play on Rudy York’s rap. Two straight singles in the second came to naught when Erv Dusak threw out Bobby Doerr, who was trying to move from first to third on Pinky Higgins’ single.

After that Brecheen steadied down and pitched the same kind of masterful game he had turned in a week ago. He retired 10 men in a row from the second to the fifth and yielded only seven hits in all. York’s triple off the left centerfield wall followed by Doerr’s fly to Harry Walker broke his string of 15 shut-out innings in the seventh.

Catcher Del Rice opened the big third with a single to left. “The Cat” forced him at second and went to third on Red Schoendienst’s double.

Terry Moore knocked home the first run with a fly and Stan Musial kept Harris in hot water by beating Johnny Pesky’s throw from deep short for an infield single. Whitey Kurowski scored Schoendienst with a single and Slaughter rapped one through the box into centerfield, knocking in Musial and ending the day for Harris.

[NormanStewart]

Win, Lose or Draw…
Second-guessers ride Cronin as Series goes on

By Francis E. Stann, Star staff correspondent

ST. LOUIS – The most infallible invention of mankind remains the second guess and today that ghastly weapon was trained on Mr. Joseph Edward Cronin by some of the most gifted technicians of the second guess in sports. Mr. Cronin, it is maintained by these characters had no business pitching Micky Harris yesterday when his Red Sox had the Cardinals behind the eight ball and needed only one victory to clinch the World Series.

Who, they demanded in postgame exasperation, did Cronin think Harris was, anyway? And what was wrong about pitching Dave Ferriss?

By way of springing nimbly to the defense of Washington’s one time boy manager, I am assured that Mr. Cronin, in answer to the first question, thinks Mickey Harris is a left-handed pitcher who is the property of the Red Sox. And in answer to the second question, there was nothing wrong about pitching Mr. Ferriss; it just would have been unwise and quite possibly very futile.

In fairness to most of the sports experts who are second-guessing it must be explained that they are becoming a little testy. They want to go home, you see. Some of them are football enthusiasts who want to see one game before the season is over. Some are family men who are anxious to gaze upon new heirs and heiresses and to renew acquaintances with other offspring before they forget who daddy is. Besides, everybody is broke.

Red Sox learned to respect Harry Brecheen

Cronin held back Ferriss because the Cards, out of desperation, were leading with their ace-tough, rugged little Harry Brecheen. The Sox had a lot of respect for Brecheen after The Cat, as he is called, shut them out earlier with a four-hitter. Cronin knew that if Brecheen was right the Bostons weren’t going to score many runs and maybe not beat him even with Ferriss – who in turn shut out the Cards – pitching against him.

On the other hand, the repeat pitching performances of every hurler in this series had been horrible. Tex Hughson and Howie Pollet, who were sharp as new razor blades in their first outings, couldn’t pitch up an alley next time out. Maybe, Cronin reasoned, that what happened to Pollet in his second start should happen to The Cat. And that maybe Harris might be the lone exception of the series and do well on his second chance.

It didn’t work out, as you undoubtedly know. The lone exception, the only pitcher to star twice was Brecheen, and the Cards won, 4-1. Harris was horrible and so was one of his relief pitchers Earl Johnson, who was the winner and hero of the opening game, a 10-inning thriller.

Harris became the sacrificial lamb

Cronin knows exactly who Mickey Harris is, don’t worry. Mickey is a nice guy, an ex-GI whose record of 17 wins and 9 defeats flatters his ability. He is a big league pitcher, but with not much to spare. He was, in a sense, the sacrificial lamb. The Cards, who had to win, were forced to use Brecheen unless a Boston pitcher of less quality than Harris was used.

Here’s the way Cronin explained it shortly before the game. A Ferriss vs. Brecheen battle figured to be close, a tossup, if both were right. If Brecheen beat Ferriss, where would that leave the Red Sox as far as seventh-game pitching is concerned?

On the other hand, by saving Ferriss and sacrificing Harris, the Red Sox would have their ace rested and ready for the final test. True, Eddie Dyer of the Cards, has Murry Dickson, a talented but fragile-looking pitcher, but Cronin figures that Ferriss is a better bet to beat Dickson than he would have been to beat Brecheen and only time will tell if Joe was wrong. And to make Cronin wrong Dickson tomorrow will have to hold Boston to seven hits and a single run, as The Cat did yesterday.

Headaches are why Joe drives four cars

This profession of Cronin’s, which is being a big league manager, isn’t without its drawbacks, among which the second guess ranks high. That’s why Joseph, for instance, is able to drive four automobiles, three reported to be gifts. Some bitter comes with the sweet.

It looked as if Cronin might get away with his strategy for a couple of innings yesterday. The Cat was on the ropes in the two innings. If Rudy York had hit a ball in the opening round, instead of drilling into a double play. Brecheen would have been out of the game. And if the Sox had run bases better in the second round The Cat would have been thumbed out, for George Munger was warming up in earnest and Cronin had Hughson ready at the first sign of weakness by Harris.

But from the third inning on this remarkable, leathery Oklahoman named Brecheen was terrific, giving three hits in the last seven innings. As usual, York was the Sox’s offense, tripling to start the seventh and scoring on a fly. Even so, The Cat finished with a record of permitting one run in 18 innings and if that isn’t par somebody should lay out the course all over again.

This little Brecheen is a personality apart. Although the report is that he got his nickname – The Cat – because of his fielding, he sets no store by it. He thinks he must resemble a cat. “Tell me,” he inquires, apparently in all seriousness, “do I really appear like a cat?”

Personally, I’d call him an undersized tiger.

[NormanStewart]

‘The Cat’ more than lives up to his name, Williams says

By Ted Williams

ST. LOUIS – Well, the Cat has skinned us again, and I’ll have to hand it to him. Brecheen is a much better pitcher than we realized and we figured he was pretty good. I’ve told you before that if any one Cardinal pitcher would give us trouble it would be Brecheen. But I didn’t expect him to be double trouble.

Brecheen is one of the smartest spot pitchers I’ve ever faced. What makes him so effective is that you don’t know which spot he’s going to pitch to. He’s high when you think he’d be coming low and he’s inside when you’re looking for him to be outside. He isn’t supposed to be fast, but yesterday he threw a couple of fast ones that would shatter non-breakable glass.

When the game started, I thought we were going to get Harry out of there in a hurry. He didn’t seem to have much. A cat is supposed to have nine lives. Well, Brecheen is definitely a member of the feline family. He died about eight times in the first two innings. But we could never get him for the ninth time.

After the first two innings, the Cat played with us like he would a mouse. And brother we behaved like mice, not like Red Sox.

Well, we’ve got one more chance to keep alive Boston’s unbeaten record in World Series play. And I don’t think that we’ll break that victory string.

All season long the Red Sox have felt that they could win every important game they had to play. It started early in the season when we came back to beat the Yankees in our first series there this year.

We knocked off the Detroit Tigers three games in a row the first time we met them. Those two clubs were our chief rivals during the American League season. We beat them when it counted most.

Coming into the World Series, we felt that the mast important game, outside of the final contest in the series, was the opening one. We won that. Now we’re coming down to the most important game of all. And we haven’t lost our original feeling.