1946 World Series

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Series radio fund goes for pensions

ST. LOUIS (AP) – Ford Frick, president of the National League, said today the entire $175,000 radio broadcasting fee of the 1946 World Series will be put in escrow to build up the pension fund for the major league players.

Frick said members of the St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox, the two leagues and Commissioner Happy Chandler, who shared in the income, had all agreed to give their portion to the fund.

The idea to donate the radio broadcasting fee originally was suggested by Marty Marion, ace shortstop of the Cardinals and father of the pension fund.

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The Waterbury Democrat (October 14, 1946)

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Slaughter’s arm injured

By Elmer C. Broz, United Press sports writer

St. Louis (UP) – A fellow who probably shouldn’t have been out there was in right field for the Cardinals and his slogan was “to hell with it.”

He was trying to win a World Series ball game. As things turned out, he wasn’t a vital factor in the outcome of yesterday’s game but his presence in the lineup meant a lot.

For Enos (Country) Slaughter, who throws like a rifle shoots, is all ball player.

“The boy went through on his nerve,” said Dr. Robert P. Hyland, Cardinal club physician, of the right-fielder’s gamble to play in yesterday’s game against medical advice.

Took big chance

“I’m glad Slaughter didn’t have to make a throw,” added the doctor. “His arm was in no shape to be used.”

The sling-shot throwing outfielder of the Redbirds grinned when he heard this.

“I guess the doc’s right. I’m glad I didn’t have to cut loose. But you can bet this – if I’d have had to make a throw I’d have done it – and the hell with the right arm.”

When he said this the country boy rubbed his elbow, the one that was hit by pitcher Joe Dobson’s fast insist speeder in the fifth game of the series.

“That was a very troublesome limb,” said Dr. Hyland. “We worked on it on the train, but Saturday I’d have gambled he couldn’t use it – but even doctors are wrong some times.”

The picture as the club physician drew it was like this: Slaughter got an unexpected blood clot on his arm after being hit. Up until last night he was in danger of injuring it permanently.

“By that I mean,” continued the doctor, “a tendon may have been chronically hurt, which is simple to do when a clot develops.”

Only once in the game was the medical man worried about the situation. That was in the early innings when Slaughter made a dive at first base to prevent being picked off.

Looked bad

“I held my breath up in the stands,” said Dr. Hyland. “I could see that he landed on his right arm. I said to the fellow beside me, ‘there goes a boy diving himself out of baseball’ – but I’m glad I was wrong.”

The physician said that the game Cardinal outfielder will be ready for duty in Tuesday’s game, “and he probably won’t have to worry about any permanent injuries.”

It was good news to the Redbird fielder but he shrugged off the possibility of any wrong guesses by the medico.

“If the right arm’s all right or not – I hope those boys from Boston try to take third when I get my hands on that ball,” he said.

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Red Sox 8 to 5 favorites to clinch 1946 World Series tomorrow

Everything depends on ‘Boo’ Ferriss

St. Louis (UP) – For the 10th time in major league history, a World Series went into a seventh game with the Boston Red Sox 8 to 5 favorites to win from the St. Louis Cardinals in the deciding game tomorrow.

Those odds were against tradition, for six times in the previous limits Series the National League came out on top. But this time they were betting that the Cardinals, who were bouncing off the floor all season, couldn’t make it.

Joe Cronin, who led the Red Sox to the American League pennant, was going to call on Dave (Boo) Ferriss, his 23-game winner, in this crucial contest while it will be Murry Dickson, a right-hander rescued from the bullpen, for the underdog Cards.

Could be revenge for Dickson

Ferriss, the sophomore star who has been the clutch hurler for the Red Sox all season long, beat Dickson 4-0 in the third game played at Boston Wednesday. He allowed only six hits and a base on balls as he proved that he was a guy around to stay so far as pitching in the majors is concerned. There had been some doubt about it for the 21 victories he scored in his freshman season had been discounted because most of the stars were off to war. But he came back this year to better that record by four triumphs and convince the most doubting Thomas’ that he was anything but a one-year wonder.

Dickson hasn’t had the success which Ferriss has enjoyed, but he was a leading figure in the Cardinal drive to the National League pennant after a playoff with the Brooklyn Dodgers. His victories – 14 – look a little short against those big 25 of Ferriss. But most of Dickson’s wins came when the going was roughest – after Dyer elevated him to a starting pitcher’s role as a result of the jump to the Mexican League of starters Max Lanier and Freddie Martin.

He seldom failed his boss after he was promoted from bull pen drudgery, and now Dyer was counting on him to atone that third game defeat. He allowed six hits and three runs in seven innings before he was lifted for a pinch hitter and during that time made only one mistake – he threw a fat one to Rudy York. The Cherokee Indian first baseman met it with a mighty swing and drove the ball out of the park. That turned out to be the ball game.

To get chance tomorrow

“I’d like to pitch to that guy again with men an’ bases,” Dickson said, after that game breaking bow. “He never could do it again.”

So tomorrow he is going to have a chance to prove that prophesy, today being kept open for ticket sales. World Series tickets are sold in blocks of three, so when a seventh game is necessary no fans have tickets, making a day necessary to take care of the 35,000 lucky fans who can crowd Sportsman’s Park.

Scalpers were anticipating a field day. They took advance orders at $40 each for the $6.25 reserved seats.

Warm and clear weather was forecast for the deciding game.

The Red Birds kept alive yesterday when Harry (The Cat) Brecheen, coming up with another pitching masterpiece, set down the Sox with seven hits to win, 4-1. Except for York’s triple he would have scored another shutout.

Teammates support him

His teammates gave him all the runs he needed in the third inning when they came up with a trio of tallies on singles by Del Rice, the rookie catcher, Stan Musial, Country Slaughter, and a double by Al Schoendienst.

Those three runs would have been enough but the Cards came up with another in the eighth when Marty Marion, the present-day star of all shortstops, doubled to drive in Harry Walker.

Mickey Harris, who had lost the second game to Brecheen, 3-0, went out in that big Cardinal third. Cronin, leading then three games to two, gambled on his 17-game winning lefthander because Sportsman’s Park usually has been a paradise for southpaws. But Mickey didn’t have it yesterday – so it was another seventh game Series.

So Cronin wasn’t gambling anymore. He was going with the best he had. It wasn’t quite that situation with Dyer, but he gave Dickson the nod over George (Big Red) Munger, the sinking ball righthander who had evened the Cards up in the fourth game.

The Cards had one big advantage – they had plenty of first-time pitchers ready while Cronin had but one, for big Tex Hughson followed Harris to the mound yesterday.

That left him only Ferriss, and he was sure that would be enough. Dyer not only had Munger, but also Howie Pollet, behind his starting choice. He wasn’t figuring that either of them would be needed.

Series figs

St. Louis (UP) – Facts and figures on the World Series to date:

Yesterday’s attendance: 35,768
Six-game attendance: 213,928

Yesterday’s total receipts: $155,269
Six-game total receipts: $896,521

Yesterday’s leagues’ and clubs’ share: $131,978.65
Six-game leagues’ and clubs’ share: $458,901.80

Yesterday’s commissioners share: $23,290.35
Six-game commissioners share:** $133,478.15

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Red Sox have never lost a World Series

By JOSEPH NOLAN
(United Press Sports Writer)

Boston (UP) – The Boston Red Sox will have precedent in their favor tomorrow when they face the St. Louis Cardinals in the deciding game of the World Series.

Never have the Bosox lost a World Series – even when baseball’s blue-ribbon classic went the full length, as this year. Their record, dating back to 1903, shows five victories, and in two series they had to go the limit to win.

They staged their first all-out effort against Fred Clarke’s Pittsburgh Pirates in 1903. In those days, the series was decided on a five-out-of-nine game basis, and the Red Sox dropped three of the first four contests. But they rallied gamely behind the stalwart pitching of Bill Dinneen and Cy Young to win the title.

In 1912, the Sox again were pushed all the way before edging John McGraw’s belligerent New York Giants. That series went eight games, one of them ending in a 6-6 deadlock.

The deciding game started out as a pitchers’ battle between Christy Mathewson of the Giants and Rookie Hugh Bedient of Boston. Then, with the score tied 1-1 in the seventh, Manager Jake Stahl of Boston called on his mound ace, “Smokey Joe” Wood who had worked the day before and had pressed the Giants’ pants twice in the series.

Wood handcuffed the New Yorkers in the eighth and ninth innings, and gave up a single run in the 10th. But Boston, thanks to Fred Sondgrass’ immortal muff in centerfield, countered with two runs to win the game and the series.

That was the last close shave the Sox had in series competition. They beat the Philadelphia Phil lies in five games in 1915, losing only to Groves Alexander. A year later, Manager Bill Carrigan’s club took Brooklyn into camp in five games.

In their last previous series appearance in 1918, the Red Sox, under Manager Ed Barrow, humbled the Chicago Cubs in a six-game encounter. Two of the Boston victories were pitched by a young southpaw who later was to make World Series history with his bat.

His name was Babe Ruth.

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Ferriss sure he can beat Cards again

By STAN MOCKLER
United Press Sports Writer

St. Louis (UP) – Joe Cronin, pilot of the Boston Red Sox, said “Boo” today and threw a scare into the loyal supporters of the St. Louis Cardinals.

That “Boo,” a pitcher’s nickname, meant that husky sophomore Dave Ferriss would carry the hopes of the Sox into the seventh and deciding contest of the World Series.

The 24-year-old righthander, whose pitching prowess made his hometown whistle stop, Shaw, Miss., a big noise in the baseball world, already owns one series decision over the Birds. And he’s sure he can make it two.

After his six-hit, 4-0 shutout in Boston last Wednesday the easygoing, soft-spoken youngster said calmly: “They were easy. I wish I could pitch against clubs like that every day.”

His victim in that game, Murry Dickson, will again be on the hill for the Cards tomorrow and Ferriss is sure he’s got the stuff to make history repeat.

A 21-game winner in 1945 – his first year in the majors – Ferriss was one of the nation’s most famous hay-fever sufferers. His slump in the latter part of the season was due to the ailment and his recurrent sniffles threatened his career.

But treatment by a Boston physician last summer cleared his nose trouble and enabled him to keep it to the grindstone this year as he racked up a 25-6 mark.

His sparkling record was a two-fold victory. He removed the label of “wartime pitcher” that some of his critics hung on him and he shattered baseball’s “sophomore jinx.”

Only a few of the best hurlers have been able to pass the 20-victory mark after reaching it as a freshman.

Ferriss, a hard worker, doesn’t believe in trick deliveries.

“I’ve always concentrated on my fast ball, a good curve and plenty of control,” he said.

He leaves the dipsy-do stuff, the knucklers and all the rest of it to other fellows.

He’s done pretty well without it.

Ask the Cardinals.

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The Wilmington Morning Star (October 15, 1946)

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CARDINALS’ DICKSON TO FACE BOSTONS’ DAVE FERRISS IN SEVENTH GAME OF WORLD SERIES AT ST. LOUIS TODAY
Both clubs stage last minute workouts for crucial contest

Brilliant Red Sox righthander favored to defeat Cardinal hurler for second time; odds favor St. Louis to win
By Oscar Fraley

ST. LOUIS, Oct. 14 (UP) – The World Series winds up at Sportsman’s Park Tuesday when the St. Louis Cardinals send little Murray Dickson against Big Dave (Boo) Ferriss of the favored Boston Red Sox in the seventh and final game of the 1946 classic.

With fair skies and warmer temperatures predicted, a capacity crowd of more than 85,000 will be on hand as the Bosox, 3 to 2 favorites, meet the battling Redbirds in this payoff contest.

This is only the 10th time in series history that baseball’s blue-ribbon event has gone the full seven-game distance. And the fighting Cardinals, who three times battled back to square the count, ignored the 10 to 13 odds against them. They remembered that of those distance series, the National League champion came out on top six times.

The biggest job rested on the shoulders of Dickson, a slim, wiry righthander from Tracy, Missouri, who until this season was only a relief hurler. When Dickson came marching home after two years in the service, Manager Eddie Dyer converted him into a starting pitcher and Murry responded by winning 14 games against six losses.

Cronin confident

Boston Manager Joe Cronin believes, however, that he has the antidote in Ferriss, the husky Mississippian who led American League pitchers in percentage this season with 25 wins and only six defeats. For Ferriss never was in trouble as he won the third game of the series – and beat Dickson to boot.

This baseball-mad town on the banks of the Mississippi was certain that the Cardinals – winners of three full-length series before – would do it once again. For the Cards never have dropped the Duke when the classic went the distance, topping the Yankees in 1926, the A’s in 1931 and Detroit in 1934 in seven-game series.

They felt, too, that Sportsman’s Park is a jinx ball yard for the Boston club, which never has lost the decision in four previous series. For the Red Sox although they strolled home in the American League pennant race, lost six of their 11 regular season games in St. Louis against the Browns and have dropped two of the three series contests here.

Cronin was smiling off that jinx talk, however, as he watched his bulky bombers rattle the fences in a hitting drill Monday.

“I think the boys are about ready to break out with a rash of base hits,” he said.

Ted Williams, who has been handcuffed to date as big Rudy York stole the show with a pair of game-winning homers, bombarded the right field stands and sent one ball screaming high over the grandstand. York, whose distance clouts over the wall won the first and third games, also was hitting the seats in a lively drill during which the Red Sox were in high spirits.

“We knew that Harry Brecheen would be our toughest pitcher to beat,” Cronin said of the little lefthander who topped the Bosox yesterday for a second time. “Well, we think that the next game belongs to us.”

Ferriss, too, was in high good humor and, when questioned about tomorrow’s blue-chip assignment, replied: “Oh, it’s just another ball game.”

Of the Red Sox squad, only Dom DiMaggio, the fleet center fielder who has been doing yeoman duty in the outfield, did not participate in the drill. Cronin explained that Dom needed rest more than practice.

Four of the Cardinal club did not show for their team’s drill. These were outfielder Enos (Country) Slaughter, Marty Marion, Red Schoendienst and Pitcher Howie Pollett. Slaughter was having his injured right arm worked on by the club physician while Pollet’s sore back was being treated. Marion and Schoendienst rested.

Slaughter’s arm

There was a great deal of concern over the condition of Slaughter’s arm, one of the most valuable defense weapons the Cards have. Hit by a Joe Dobson fast ball in Boston, Slaughter played yesterday as the Cards evened the series for the third time, although doctors warned him that a hard throw might ruin his arm, one of the best in the game.

“My boys are easy and relaxed,” Dyer said as the frolicsome Red Birds whistled, sang and hustled through their clubhouse dressing and a lively drill in the warm Missouri sunshine.

“We feel just like we did when we were behind three games to two – that we’ll win.”

The Texas pilot was confident that Dickson, beaten in the third game by Ferriss, would come back to cop the seventh game and the world championship.

“We made one mistake each before,” Dyer recalled. “I made one ordering Dickson to walk Williams to get to York. Dickson made one error when he threw that slow up pitch which York hit for a home run.”

It happened in the first inning of that third game. York blasted the ball over the left field wall with two men on and Ferriss had three runs. For six scoreless innings after that lone mistake, Dickson silenced the Bosox bats with only four hits until he was lifted for a pinch hitter.

“This time it will be different,” Dyer promised.

Dickson simply nodded grim as sent.

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The Evening Star (October 15, 1946)

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Red Sox lead Cards by score of 1-0 at end of first inning

Moses singles, advances on Pesky’s hit, scores as DiMaggio flies out
By Francis E. Stann, Star staff correspondent

BULLETIN

ST. LOUIS – The Red Sox were leading the Cards, 1-0, at the end of the first inning. Moses opened the game with a single, went to third on Pesky’s hit, and scored as DiMaggio flied out.

ST. LOUIS – A promise of clear, moderately cool weather and a gripping battle between the St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox caused all roads to lead to Sportsman’s Park today for the seventh and final game of the 1946 World Series.

The temperature was expected to be around 75 by game time.

Upward of 35,000 spectators, or a capacity crowd, were to kibitz on the showdown as the rival managers, Eddie Dyer of the Cards and Joe Cronin of the Red Sox, named righthanders as opposing pitchers.

They were 155-pound Murry Dickson of Platte City, Missouri, for the National Leaguers and 208-pound Dave Ferriss of Shaw, Mississippi, for Boston – a David and Goliath act. This was the pair which met last Wednesday in Boston, Ferriss winning on a six-hit shutout, 4-0, as Dickson threw one fatal home-run pitch to Rudy York.

Both sides claim precedent

All even after six games, the Sox and Cards engaged in the 10th series to go the limit of seven games. Both sides claimed precedent in their favor. Boston had played in five previous World Series and had won all. The Cards, meanwhile, never had lost a seven-game series.

Of the nine classics which had gone seven games, the National League won six. Thrice in the past the Cards had been the National League representatives and they captured all of the drawn-out sessions.

Both pitchers were thoroughly rested, neither having appeared since last Wednesday. Manager Dyer held back his frail star to lead with his southpaws, Howie Pollet and Harry Brecheen, while Cronin passed up Ferriss last Sunday so that his robust righthander would be in prime condition if a seventh game were needed.

The Sox were slight favorites to win, but oddsmakers were wary of bets since Boston, from the beginning, had been favored by odds which since have proved far out of line.

Betting Commissioner James J. Carroll quoted Boston with Ferriss pitching at 13 to 20 and St. Louis with Dickson pitching at 13 to 10. It means a Red Sox bettor must wager $20 to win $13, a Cardinals bettor $10 to win $13.

Purses smallest in years

Although this series had become one of the most bitterly contested in history the players were competing for one of the smallest purses of modern years because of the small parks and the fact that the $175,000 paid by a radio sponsor is being withheld to set up a pension fund. If the Cards win, they will receive $3,736 per man and if they lose each Redbird voted a full share will receive $2,525. Boston players will get even less. If the Sox win each player will receive $3,098 and if they lose, a full share will be worth only $2,094.

Both teams were expected to be at full strength, with Boston’s captain, Bobby Doerr, at second base and St. Louis’ star outfielder, Enos (Country) Slaughter, in right field. Doerr previously had been ailing, although he played last Sunday, and Slaughter still had a sore arm as a result of being hit by a pitch thrown by Joe Dobson last Friday.

Dobson, incidentally, was to be Ferriss’ No. 1 relief today. The former staff sergeant, who beat the Cards with a surprising four-hitter, had four days of rest and was ready to start or relieve.

Behind Dickson was George Munger, a winner in this series, and Dyer indicated that, if necessary, Harry (the Cat) Brecheen, only double winner, would be ready to pitch an inning or two. “He won’t have his stuff,” admitted Dyer, “but he’ll have his heart. And that’s enough for me.”

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$127,739 stake in Cards-Bosox last-ditch fight

Favorite role retained by Boston as clubs stage final contest
By Jack Hand, Associated Press sports writer

ST. LOUIS (AP) – The world championship and $127,739 in cold cash awaited the winner today as Dave (Boo) Ferriss, the amazing Boston Red Sox sophomore, opposed pint-size Murry Dickson of the St. Louis Cardinals in the finale of the 43rd World Series.

National League prestige, rocked to its foundations by the all-star game rout, made a remarkable recovery in the Redbirds’ split of the first six games, but the power-laden Bostons remained the oddmakers’ favorite at a 13 to 20 price.

Ferriss’ 4-0 shutout victory in the third game and his 25-6 regular season win record gave the Sox an edge over Dickson, a renovated bullpen artist who piled up most of his 15 decisions since his first starting chance June 7.

On top of Ferriss’ past performance chart that included a series win over Dickson, there was a solid suspicion that the Sox, who never have lost a series, were due to break out at least once with a splurge of extra base blows.

Hurlers outguess Williams

Not even the stoutest members of the “Knock Ted Williams Society” would have figured he’d be going into a seventh game with only five hits, all singles. Williams had been stymied by the variations of the “Dyer shift” and heady pitching by the Cards who had given him very little to hit at. Most of his teammates joined “the kid” in thinking he was due to tee off on the righthanded Dickson.

In the first six games the box score figures show the Cards completely outplayed the vaunted Sox, who breezed to their pennant. St. Louis enjoyed an edge in club batting, .254 to .242; club fielding, .987 to .957; only three errors to 10 and in both total hits and runs.

Seven Card pitchers gave fewer earned runs and pitched more complete games than the 10 Sox hurlers used by Manager Joe Cronin.

Only in the game Ferriss worked did the Red Sox show a marked superiority. All through the regular season the 24-year-old righthander from Shaw, Mississippi, was noted for pitching just hard enough to win, whether it was 1-0 or 10-9.

Cards game in pinches

He was what Cronin happily described as a “winning pitcher.” Detractors have pointed out that he does not have a real blazing fast ball, but his 21 freshman victories and 25 wins this season provide a mouth-shutting rebuttal.

Eddie Dyer’s Cardinals were an unpredictable lot following spring training. Yet when backed up against the wall they fought back magnificently. That was why you could not count out the Birds, even with Ferriss giving the Sox the pitching edge.

Dyer’s closing pitcher, Dickson, often has been called a “righthanded Brecheen,” although he really does not have as much “stuff” as the catlike southpaw who kept the Cards in the series with two important triumphs.

George Munger and Brecheen were ready for St. Louis and Tex Hughson and Joe Dobson for the Sox as reliefers.

Precedent said the Sox never lost a series and the same tradition also revealed that the Cardinals never failed in a seven-game “classic.”

More in victory for Cards

Although the players’ shares will be the smallest since 1918 because the $175,000 radio money is being placed in escrow for the pension fund, the winning pot amounts to $127,739 as compared to $85,160 for the losers. Victory for St. Louis meant each share would amount to approximately $3,736.45 but a Boston win would net each man only $3,098.52 because they split it 41½ ways to 34 for the Birds.

With that kind of dough as stake, Enos Slaughter’s right elbow injury, Marty Marion’s back and Bobby Doerr’s headache were bound to improve. Slaughter, the most serious casualty, insisted he’d be able to throw “as soon as any of those guys start running.”

Not since 1925 when Pittsburgh beat Walter Johnson of Washington in the rain and mud at Forbes Field had a series lasted as long as October 15. Once it dragged out as long as October 26 after a week of rain at Philadelphia in 1911.

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Win, Lose or Draw…
Williams’ crime is being overrated

By Francis E. Stann, Star staff correspondent

ST. LOUIS – As the World Series today moved into the final act there was no question but that Theodore Samuel Williams had been the most disappointing of the principals. The debut of the lanky slugger in the greatest show in baseball had been dismal, heart wringing to Williams and tough on the Red Sox, who fought on even terms for six games with almost no help from their top performer.

Rarely has a ball player lost so much prestige in two months as “Ted the Kid” and even if he were to win the series now, single-handedly, he hardly could recapture what has been lost. He failed to win the batting championship, home run crown or the runs-batted-in title of the American League. And in six games during this series, he had been fair prey for the tough, wiry little Cardinal pitchers and Manager Eddie Dyer’s strategems.

Topping all, Williams has been given a poor press. The sports authors, particularly those from Boston, have devoted nearly 50 per cent of their space to Williams and the rest to the series. Boston papers turned loose their sob sisters and brothers, presumably with the ringing order, “Cover Williams!” and the result has been some of the most undeniable journalistic parsley of modern times.

The sisters and brothers covered Williams, all right. Day by day they interpreted his moods. A quick smile here and a headline proclaimed that Williams was elated. A frown there and Ted was unhappy.

Ted barely makes list of great hitters

The adjectives used were many and contrasting. The Kid – he’s the Kid to Boston newspapers – was bewildered, happy, confused, discontented, worried, indifferent, startled, morbid and, of course, misunderstood. Sob sisters and brothers who overlook “misunderstood” are not worthy of the salt in a reader’s tears.

There’s just one description of Williams, speaking as a neutral, that seems to have been overlooked. It’s a one-word description – overrated.

Since late last winter, when the ball clubs were in training, some people have been calling Williams the greatest hitter of all times and mothers, more conservative, merely have been hailing him as one of the greatest. Now, this is not Williams’ fault. The fellow has not admitted to anybody that he is the greatest or nearly the greatest. The whole business of rating him thusly probably started for fair when Ted hit an opening-game home run in Washington into the center field bleachers, a 480-foot clout.

It was a mighty poke, but Williams still hardly is the greatest hitter of all times, and barely is he one of the best.

Players don’t rate him with top hitters

The cold fact is that Williams has been in a slump for a long time. The ball players put it this way: “He’s a good woodman, but he can be pitched to.” I haven’t heard a single player or ex-player of any repute rate Williams with Ruth, Cobb, Speaker, Sisler, Hornsby, Simmons, Heilmann and a few others.

As Williams’ batting average declined this year, and as his goal of winning the triple crown faded, those who first placed him on a pedestal wrote vitriolic pieces explaining that if it were not for his disposition (bad) his natural ability (wonderful) would have carried him to triumph.

This sort of alibiing became a style. It’s true that Williams isn’t and won’t be any Walter Johnson as far as disposition goes. But for that matter a .230 hitter, after a bad day, invariably snaps at his wife, spanks the kid and criticizes the dinner.

A day scarcely passed, during the closing weeks of the regular season and during this series, when Williams’ disposition or temperament wasn’t publicly discussed, although of late the Boston press has gone off on a new tangent. Now it develops Williams is just a big, overgrown kid to whom sympathy must or should be extended.

Response wonderful and sweeteningly sick

All theories along this line carefully were explained to the Boston fans who had been booing Williams, and the response was both wonderful and sweeteningly sick.

The commonest pop fly caught by him in Boston brought forth mighty cheers. Good ol’ Ted was trying, he was; he moved 20 feet for that fly. When he took a third strike and moved to his position in the outfield the left-field inhabitants rose and applauded their thwarted hero. When he finally bunted to unprotected territory, after considerable pressure had been brought to bear by the Sox management and his personal manager, he was the hero of all heroes. There was, withal, no complete placidity for Williams, even had the brave little Card pitchers really been nightmares. After getting a few ovations for doing nothing, a paper leveled again an accusing finger at Williams and asked why didn’t he tip his cap to the applauding crowd?

Williams’ answer was simple and direct; he hadn’t done anything. He caught a few lazy flies, bunted where nobody was, struck out, got called out, etc. A man can’t take bows for that, he said, in effect.

Only in a sense is it a poor press for Williams. If the young man can take those silly sympathetic cheers with the boos, he can make himself a barrel of dough by simply being what he is, which is an overrated ball player with a peculiar disposition. He might make $80,000 a year yet!

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Series tosses aside tradition; brother nicknamed Ferriss

ST. LOUIS (AP) – Today’s seventh and probably deciding World Series game was the old story of an irresistible force meeting an immovable object.

The St. Louis Cardinals never had lost a seven-game World Series. And the Boston Red Sox never had lost a series. Period.

Ferriss got the nickname “Boo” from a younger brother, who before he learned to talk would try to refer to Dave as “brother.” The “Boo” was as close as he could come to it. The peculiar spelling of Dickson’s first name, Murry, without the a, came from the last name of the Dickson family doctor who brought the Cardinal pitcher into the world.

Murry Dickson had been wanting another try against the Red Sox. He was slightly peeved over his first effort last Wednesday, when Rudy York got to him for a home run that was the ball game before Boston was out in the first inning.

A baseball used in the first series game will be mailed to a Coast Guardsman stationed at Reguron Island in the Marshalls. It has been autographed by Eddie Dyer and Joe Cronin. The Sporting News, baseball weekly, with the help of the War Department chose the Coast Guard lad as the serviceman in the most isolated outpost in the world.

The second Sunday in October marked the 20th anniversary of the day in New York that Grover Cleveland Alexander walked out of the Yankee Stadium bullpen, struck out Tony Lazzeri with the pressure on and protected a 3-2 lead to give St. Louis its first world championship. Ol’ Pete, now employed in East St. Louis, Illinois, has been a regular series spectator.

Owner Sam Breadon of the Cardinals considered all angles in this series – even to the possibility of a seventh tie game necessitating an eighth-game playoff. Eighth game tickets were printed. But there were some fans and many baseball writers who figured this series ought to end before they were compelled to fight Christmas shopping crowds.

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Williams convinced that form can’t be depended on in series

By Ted Williams

ST. LOUIS – It’s do or die now for both the Red Sox and the Cardinals.

Going into a seventh World Series game is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced in my life. You’ve just got to win it or wind up with the losers’ share when they split up the dough. And that’s something the Red Sox don’t aim to do.

Considering that both clubs have been playing ball for eight months, I think the series has been a most interesting one for the fans. The two clubs have been about evenly matched. We’ve each won two out of three on our home fields. All except one of the games has been close. I hardly think that there has been a long series such as this one since they brought the lively ball into the game that there have been so few runs scored by both sides.

It’s kind of hard to explain why there has been so little run scoring. Rudy York has carried the burden in the production of runs for the Red Sox. Rudy has only a .263 average for the series, but every one of his five hits has been an important one. If Rudy hadn’t been hitting in the clutch, the series probably would have been over a few days ago.

Stan Musial had been the big sticker for the Cardinals during the regular season. But like somebody else I know – whose name I won’t mention for obvious reasons – Stan hasn’t hit during the series the way he did during the season. You’d hardly expect a hitter like Musial to only hit for .206 for the first six games.

The pitching also has been surprising. The two men generally regarded as the best pitchers on each team have failed to win a game. You’ve got to rate Hughson and Pollet as the aces of the two staffs, but neither has been able to win a game.

I’m convinced that in a series of this type, you can’t depend on form.

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Game 7

Tuesday, October 15, 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 (3-4) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 8 0
St. Louis Cardinals (4-3) 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 1 X 4 9 1
BOSTON RED SOX (AL):
Hitters AB R H PO A E AVG
Moses, RF 4 1 1 1 0 0 .417
Pesky, SS 4 0 1 2 1 0 .233
DiMaggio, CF 3 0 1 0 0 0 .259
Culberson, PR-CF 0 0 0 0 0 0 .222
Williams, LF 4 0 0 3 1 0 .200
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
2B G. Metkovich (1, off Dickson); D. DiMaggio (3, off Brecheen)
TB D. DiMaggio 2; G. Metkovich 2; B. Doerr 2; W. Moses; R. Russell; R. York; J. Pesky
RBI D. DiMaggio 3 (3)
2-Out RBI D. DiMaggio 2
With RISP 1 for 11
Team LOB 6
Fielding
Outfield Assists T. Williams (Schoendienst at 2nd base)
ST. LOUIS CARDINALS (NL):
Hitters AB R H PO A E AVG
Schoendienst, 2B 4 0 2 2 3 0 .233
Moore, CF 4 0 1 3 0 0 .148
Musial, 1B 3 0 1 6 0 0 .222
Slaughter, RF 3 1 1 4 0 0 .320
Kurowski, 3B 4 1 1 3 1 1 .296
Garagiola, C 3 0 0 4 0 0 .316
Rice, C 1 0 0 0 0 0 .500
Walker, LF 3 1 2 3 0 0 .412
Marion, SS 2 0 0 2 1 0 .250
Dickson, P 3 1 1 0 1 0 .400
Brecheen, P 1 0 0 0 0 0 .125
Totals 31 4 9 27 6 1 .290
Batting
2B S. Musial (4, off Ferriss); W. Kurowski (3, off Ferriss); M. Dickson (2, off Ferriss); H. Walker (2, off Klinger)
SH M. Marion (3, off Ferriss)
IBB E. Slaughter (2, by Dobson); M. Marion (1, by Klinger)
TB H. Walker 3; R. Schoendienst 2; W. Kurowski 2; S. Musial 2; M. Dickson 2; T. Moore; E. Slaughter
RBI H. Walker 2 (6); R. Schoendienst (1); M. Dickson (1)
2-Out RBI H. Walker
Team LOB 8
With RISP 2 for 9
Fielding
E W. Kurowski (1)

Boston Red Sox

Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Ferriss 4.1 7 3 3 1 2 0 2.03
Dobson 2.2 0 0 0 2 2 0 0.00
Klinger, L (0-1) 0.2 2 1 1 1 0 0 13.50
Johnson 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.70
Team Totals 8 9 4 4 4 4 0 4.50

St. Louis Cardinals

Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Dickson 7 5 3 3 1 3 0 3.86
Brecheen, BS (1), W (3-0) 2 3 0 0 0 1 0 0.45
Team Totals 9 8 3 3 1 4 0 3.00

M. Dickson faced 2 batters in the 8th inning.

Balks: None
WP: None
HBP: None
IBB: B. Klinger (1; M. Marion); J. Dobson (1; E. Slaughter)
Pickoffs: None
Umpires: HP - Barlick, 1B - Berry, 2B - Ballanfant, 3B - Hubbard
Time: 2:17
Attendance: 36,143

113

St. Louis Star Times (October 15, 1946)

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CARDS BEAT SOX, WIN 6TH WORLD SERIES
Walker’s double in eighth decides game

Blow drives in Slaughter from 1st base; Boston threatens in ninth but fails to score
By W. Vernon Tietjen, Star-Times sports writer

SPORTSMAN’S PARK – The Cardinals became baseball’s 1946 World Champions here today when they defeated the Boston Red Sox in the seventh and final game of the World Series. The title was the sixth the Red Birds have won, starting with their first in 1926.

The score was 4-3.

The Cards scored a run in the eighth when Enos Slaughter singled, held first as two men went out, and scored on Harry Walker’s double to left-center.

Neither Murry Monroe Dickson, the 150-pound right-hander who started for the National League’s Red Birds in the blue chip pay-off game, nor Dave (Boo) Ferris, 210-pound right-hander who was the American League Red Sox mound choice, escaped early inning damage.

Two singles of a scratchy variety led to a quick Boston run off Dickson in the first inning. Wally Moses bounced a hit over second base, then reached third when Johnny Pesky got a single on a bounding ball that hopped directly past Marty Marion near second base.

Moses crossed the plate handily with the first run of the day when Dom DiMaggio flied deep to right field and Enos Slaughter, who probably couldn’t have made the throw out at the plate if he had an undamaged injured right arm which he hasn’t.

Dickson pitched his way out of a tough spot in the second, after Doerr singled and reached third with only one out, and the Cards came back with a game-tying run in their second turn at the plate.

Whitey Kurowski opened with a double to left-center, moved up on Joe Garagiola’s infield out to Doerr, and then scored on fidgety Harry Walker’s liner to Ted Williams in left-center.

Over eagerness cost the Birds a chance to score in the first. Schoendienst opened with a single but was out trying for second when Williams momentarily juggled the ball. Stan Musial subsequently doubled.

But they didn’t miss a chance in the fifth when Walker opened up with a single to center. Marion sacrificed and then Dickson, all 150 pounds, came through with a double to left that sent Walker home and the Cards into the lead. Schoendienst then singled to center, scoring Dickson, and when Terry Moore, who had played great defensive ball in center field, came through with a one-base blow, Ferriss was removed in favor of Joe Dobson, winner of the fifth game when he limited the Cards to four hits.

After Doerr singled to start the second, Dickson apparently regained his poise and composure and retired 14 straight batters before Dom DiMaggio walked with two out in the sixth. Meanwhile, the Cardinals backed him up with a tremendously fine defense.

In the first, Moore playing in right-center for Ted Williams, raced far to center field to pull down the Boston slugger’s long smash, and turned a similar feat on Williams in the fourth.

In the fifth, Moore made a sensational glove-hand catch of Mike Higgins’ long liner near the left-center wall, and Kurowski then went to left field to haul down a foul fly by Hal Wagner.

Dickson, however, ran into trouble in the eighth when Pinch-Batters Rip Russell and George Metkovich hit a single and double, respectively, putting men on second and third with none out. At this point Manager Eddie Dyer stopped play, removed Dickson and motioned to the bullpen for Harry (The Cat) Brecheen, whose great 4-1 victory Sunday had tied the series at three games each.

Brecheen then fanned Moses on three pitches, and forced Pesky to fly to Slaughter in middle right, as the runners held their bases out of respect to Slaughter’s arm. But DiMaggio hit a long double off the right field wall and both runners scored, tying the score. Culberson then ran for DiMaggio, who apparently pulled a leg muscle. Williams then fouled out, ending the inning.

Against righthanded pitching, both Managers Eddie Dyer of the Cardinals and Joe Cronin of the Red Sox had all their left-handed hitting power in the lineups.

The huge, overflow crowd of 36,143 was packed so tightly into the park that aisles in the upper grandstand shortly before the game were utterly clogged with fans. It took some writers 25 minutes to reach the upper grandstand press box from the dugout.

It was again a beautifully warm autumn day, although, as on Sunday, a strong breeze from right field was directly against the rightfield hitters.

FIRST INNING

RED SOX – Moses singled to center. Pesky’s slow bounder over the mound got past Marion and into center field for a single, Moses reaching third. DiMaggio flied to Slaughter, Moses scoring after the catch. Moore went far to his right in center field for Williams’ long fly. York popped to Schoendienst. ONE RUN.

CARDINALS – Schoendienst singled to left, but when Williams fumbled momentarily, Schoendienst was out trying for second, Williams to Pesky. Moore popped to York. Musial sliced a double inside third base. Slaughter was called out on strikes. NO RUNS.

SECOND INNING

RED SOX – Doerr beat out a bounding ball to Kurowski for a single and reached second when Kurowski threw wide to Musial at first. Schoendienst threw out Higgins, Doerr reaching third. H. Wagner flied to Walker in short left. Ferriss flied to Walker. NO RUNS.

CARDINALS – Kurowski doubled to left-center. Kurowski moved to third as Doerr threw out Garagiola. Walker lined to Williams in left-center, Kurowski scoring after the catch. Doerr threw out Marion. ONE RUN.

THIRD INNING

RED SOX – Moses fouled to Kurowski. Pesky grounded to Schoendienst. DiMaggio was called out on strikes. NO RUNS.

CARDINALS – Dickson struck out. Schoendienst grounded to Pesky. Moore flied to Williams. NO RUNS.

FOURTH INNING

RED SOX – Williams flied to Walker in deep center. York struck out. Doerr flied to Slaughter. NO RUNS.

CARDINALS – Musial walked. Slaughter fouled to Pesky. Kurowski flied to Moses. Garagiola grounded to Doerr. NO RUNS.

FIFTH INNING

RED SOX – Moore made a sensational glove hand catch of Higgins’ liner near the wall in left-center field. Kurowski made a fine running catch of Wagner’s foul far behind third. Dickson threw out Ferriss. NO RUNS.

CARDINALS – Walker singled past Pesky into center field. Marion sacrificed, York to Doerr who covered first. Dickson doubled over Higgins’ head, scoring Walker. Schoendienst singled to center, scoring Dickson. Moore singled to center, Schoendienst stopping at second. Dobson relieved Ferriss on the Red Sox mound. Doerr threw out Musial, on a slow bounding ball; both runners moving up. Slaughter was intentionally passed, filling the bases. Kurowski forced Slaughter, Higgins to Doerr. TWO RUNS.

SIXTH INNING

RED SOX – Moses grounded to Musial. Pesky lined to Kurowski. DiMaggio walked. Williams flied to Slaughter. NO RUNS.

CARDINALS – Garagiola struck out. Walker walked. Doerr threw out Marion, Walker reaching second. Dickson also grounded to Doerr. NO RUNS.

SEVENTH INNING

RED SOX – York fanned. Doerr flied to Moore. Higgins grounded to Marion. NO RUNS.

CARDINALS – Schoendienst fanned. Doerr caught Moore’s fly short right center after colliding with Moses on the play. Both Boston players remained in the game after time had been called to check possible injuries. Dobson threw out Musial. NO RUNS.

EIGHTH INNING

RED SOX – Russell batted for Wagner. Russell singled to center. Metkovich batted for Dobson and doubled to left, Russell stopping at third. Brecheen came in to relieve Dickson. Moses was called out on strikes, on three straight pitches. Pesky flied to Slaughter in middle right field and both runners were held on their bases as Slaughter rifled a throw to Stan Musial in the infield. DiMaggio doubled off the right center field wall, scoring Russell and Metkovich with the tying run. DiMaggio apparently pulled a muscle in his right leg while rounding first and left the game. Culberson ran for him. When Williams foul tipped Brecheen’s first pitch, Garagiola suffered a split third finger on his right hand and was forced to leave the game. Del Rice went in to catch. Williams popped to Schoendienst inside the foul line in right field. TWO RUNS.

CARDINALS – Klinger went in to pitch, Partee to catch and Culberson to center field for Boston. Slaughter singled to center. Kurowski, attempting to bunt, popped to Klinger. Rice flied to Williams. Walker doubled to left-center, scoring Slaughter, Marion was intentionally passed. Johnson replaced Klinger on the mound for Boston. Doerr threw out Brecheen. ONE RUN.

NINTH INNING

RED SOX – York singled to left. Campbell ran for York. Doerr singled to left, Campbell stopping at second. Higgins forced Doerr, Kurowski to Marion. Partee fouled to Musial. McBride batted for Johnson, and forced Higgins, Schoendienst to Marion. NO RUNS.

114

St. Louis Post-Dispatch (October 15, 1946)

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Cards win world championship

Walker drives in Slaughter in 8th to beat Red Sox, 4-3
By J. Roy Stockton, sports editor of the Post-Dispatch

SPORTSMAN’S PARK – The Cardinals are world baseball champions again!

Eddie Dyer’s Redbirds defeated the Boston Red Sox of Joe Cronin here this afternoon in the seventh and deciding game of the world series, thus gaining top honors on the diamond for the sixth time since 1926.

The score was 4 to 3.

With the score tied at 3-3 in the eighth inning, Harry Walker doubled to drive in Enos Slaughter with the run that put the Cardinals in front. Enos had opened the frame with a single.

David (Boo) Ferriss, shutout victor in the third game of the series, was batted out of the box in the fifth inning this afternoon as the Cardinals bunched four safeties, including a double by Pitcher Murry Dickson, in a two-run rally. Joe Dobson was the Boston relief hurler.

Dickson himself was removed after two Red Sox hit safely in the eighth inning and Harry Brecheen, winner twice previously in the series, was the replacement.

Brecheen stayed on the job to become the winning hurler for the third time in the series.

Singles by Wally Moses and Johnny Pesky and Dom DiMaggio’s fly to Enos Slaughter gave the Red Sox a run in the first inning and the Redbirds matched that tally in the second when George Kurowski doubled to left-center, moved to third on Joe Garagiola’s infield out and ran home after Harry Walker’s fly to Ted Williams.

Both teams scored early in the do-or-die game.

The attendance was announced as 36,143 and the receipts, $156,379. This made the attendance for the series 250,071 and the total receipts $1,052,900.

Al Barlick, probably the 1946 favorite with National League ball players, was umpire-in-chief behind the plate for the seventh game. Charley Berry of the American League called decisions at first base, Lee Ballanfant of the National was at second and Cal Hubbard, American, at third.

It was another fine day for baseball, with bright sunshine and shirt-sleeve weather in the bleachers.

First two men hit safely

Moses took a called strike and a ball and then opened the game with a line single past Dickson and over second base to center field. Pesky hit the first pitch through the box and Marion had a chance for a double play but the ball bounced past him without touching his glove. It was a single and sent Moses to third. DiMaggio flied to Slaughter, too deep in right for a play at the plate, and Moses scored after the catch. Musial cut off the throw and held Pesky at first. Williams took a ball and then swung and missed a strike inside. Ted flied deep to center on the next one and Moore had to run into deep territory for the catch. Pesky, who had reached second, scurried back to first. York, whose three-run homer beat Dickson in his other game, ended the frame with a pop fly to Schoendienst.

Ferriss put over a called strike on his first pitch to Schoendienst, leading off for the Redbirds in their opening frame, and Red fouled the next one against the screen. A ball inside moved Red back from the plate and on the next one Schoendienst singled to left. Williams fumbled momentarily, but it was a break for the Sox. Red tried for second and was out, Williams to Pesky. Moore popped to York, but Musial lined a double down the left-field line, fair by inches, and Schoendienst probably would have been able to score from first on the hit as Williams fumbled the ball as he fielded it. Slaughter fouled one into the seats and another down the first base line. Enos looked at three balls and then was called out on strikes, the third one cutting the outside corner.

Doerr opened the second with a grounder to Kurowski near third base. George’s throw was wide, bouncing past Musial’s outstretched glove, and Doerr, credited with a single, continued to second on the error. Higgins grounded to Schoendienst and Doerr moved to third as Red was throwing out his man at first. Hal Wagner, hitless in the series thus far, sent a short fly to Walker and Doerr held third as Harry rifled a throw to Kurowski, in the cut-off position. Ferriss ended the frame with a fly to Walker.

Kurowski brought a roar from the crowd as he led off in the home second with a two-bagger to left-center. DiMaggio kicked the ball as he ran over to field it, but quickly retrieved it and no error was charged. Garagiola was out, Doerr to York, and Kurowski moved to third on the play. Walker, an important hitter for the Cards in the series, after a disappointing season, lined to Williams in deep territory and Kurowski easily scored the tying run after the catch. Marion ended the frame, grounding out to Doerr.

With Moses at bat to start the third inning, a foul tip off Wally’s bat struck Garagiola on the foot and Manager Dyer left the dug-out to see if little Joe, pet of the club, was all right, Joe remained on duty – all the horses on the hill couldn’t have pulled him from the job – and Moses then fouled to Kurowski on the next pitch. Pesky grounded to Schoendienst. DiMaggio took a called third strike and it was the first hitless half inning of the contest.

Quick inning

Ferriss quickly put over two strikes on Dickson, leading off for the Cards in the third and Murry then swung and missed a low one inside for the third strike. Schoendienst hit sharply past Ferriss, but Pesky moved over for a glove-hand stop near second and threw out Red. Moore flied to Williams.

Williams, first up in the Boston fourth, sent a towering fly to center and Harry Walker ran back for an excellent catch, not far from the flag pole. York worked his string to three and two and Dickson struck him out on the next pitch. Doerr also had a count of three and two when he flied to Slaughter.

Musial drew three straight balls to open the home fourth and Ferriss gave Barlick an inquiring look on the third one, Stan took a called strike and then walked Slaughter swung at the first pitch and fouled to Pesky. Kurowski also picked on the first offering and flied to Moses near the pavilion wall. Doerr threw out Garagiola to end the frame.

Best catch of series

Terry Moore made the best catch of the series to take an extra-base hit away from Higgins, leading off in the fifth. The drive was to left-center and Moore made the catch on the dead run, near the wall, clutching the ball back-handed with his glove as he skirted the concrete. The stands roared when they saw that Terry had the ball. There was another cheer as Kurowski raced deep into foul territory and caught Wagner’s pop fly. Ferriss bounced toward first base and Dickson ran over and threw him out.

Walker lined a single just out of Pesky’s reach to open the Redbird fifth. It was Harry’s sixth hit of the series. Marion put down a sacrifice bunt and was out, York to Doerr, Walker moving to second. Dickson lived up to his reputation as a hitting pitcher. After looking more like a pitcher than a hitter on two swings, he took a ball and then looped a double ever Higgins’s head, scoring Walker, to put the Cardinals ahead. Schoendienst followed with a hot single to center – a low bounding ball that DiMaggio fumbled momentarily. Dickson, running all the way, scored on the hit and no error was charged to DiMaggio, Dom has a fine arm however, and it would have been close, without that fumble. Terry Moore also found the center field range with a low line single and Schoendienst stopped at second. Joe Cronin went from the dug-out to the mound and, after a conference, Joe Dobson, also a righthander, replaced Ferriss as the Boston pitcher.

Dobson’s first pitch to Musial was low, in the dirt, but Wagner blocked it and the runners held their bases. Stan whipped the next one down the first base line, but it was foul by inches. He fouled one against the screen and looked at ball two, outside, but tempting. Stan fouled off another one and then sent a slow grounder to Doerr, who threw him out, the runners advancing. Slaughter was walked intentionally, filling the bases. Kurowski ended the inning with a grounder…

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Fans wildly delirious as home team takes final series contest

By Selwyn Pepper

SPORTSMAN’S PARK – Before a wildly delirious capacity crowd, the St. Louis Cardinals won the world’s baseball championship this afternoon, defeating the Boston Red Sox in the seventh game of the World Series.

The score was 4 to 3.

Three times the tenacious Cardinals had come from behind to tie the Sox in the series and today they won the final battle that decided the war. Their victory brought St. Louis its sixth world’s championship.

To each Cardinal player, victory meant a difference of about $1200 in his share of the million-dollar receipts for the series. Cardinal players will receive $3736. Red Sox players will get $2094.

In the fifth inning, when the Cardinals drove Dave Ferriss from the pitcher’s box, and the St. Louis team went into the lead, bedlam reigned.

In the eighth inning, the Red Sox tied the score, 3 to 3, on a double by Dominic DiMaggio. DiMaggio pulled a muscle and Joe Garagiola, the pride of the Italian community on “The Hill,” suffered a split finger on his right hand when hit by a foul tip from the bad of Ted Williams. Both DiMaggio and Garagiola were cheered as they left the game.

Then, in their half of the eighth inning, the Cardinals again regained the lead when Harry Walker doubled, scoring Enos (Country) Slaughter. Fans went wild.

At 1:15, the band stood and played “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” as the groundkeepers took over for final ministrations to the playing field. Promptly at 1:28, the band played the national anthem and a moment later the Cardinals dashed from their dugout. The crowd roared a welcome. The game was on.

Stand two to three deep

Ramps were jammed as ticket holders continued to pour into the park. Crowds blocked the areas around refreshment stands, despite the order of Building Commissioner A. H. Baum to keep passageways clear. Thousands were still trying to get to their seats. Jostled by the crowd, a perspiring man complained: “They must have sold four tickets for every seat.”

Persons with standing room tickets were packed two to three deep in the rear of the lower deck of the grandstand. In the second deck, there were only few vantage points for the stand-

Some enterprising fans bought five or six cushions and stood on hem. Piles of cushions as seats had been prohibited but no one had said anything about using cushions as standing platforms.

Fans grew apprehensive when Boston took a quick 1 to 0 lead in the first inning but the fighting Cardinals tied it up in the second.

When Ted Williams, favorite whipping boy of the bleacherites, flied out in the opening inning, he got a sympathetic pat on the back from Boston Coach Del Baker. Williams, Boston’s heaviest hitter, has been effectively throttled by Cardinal pitchers in almost every game of the series.

In the second inning, when “Whitey” Kurowski doubled and scored quickly on a long fly, the crowd went wild.

Dollar bills float down

Press box occupants thought they were seeing things when they noticed three single dollar bills floating down in front of them from the roof. One landed in the upper deck of the grandstand. A plump spectator glanced at it and quickly stuffed it in his pocket. Another bill landed in an aisle in the lower deck and an eagle-eyed guard made a beeline for it. He got it just before two fans dived. No one saw what became of the third bill.

Scalpers outside the park were asking $15 for reserved seat tickets and $7 for bleacher seats at noon. One scalper said he received $35 for a reserved seat this morning.

As game time approached, scalpers reduced their prices to $12 for a grandstand seat.

In spite of the warm weather, some women wore furs. Most bleacherites, as always, were in shirt sleeves. In the grandstand and pavilion, business suits, without vests, were the order of the day.

Among the spectators were Baseball Commissioner Albert B. (Happy) Chandler, former U.S. senator; Ford Frick, president of the National League; Morris C. Osburn, chairman of the Missouri Public Service Commission; Tom Yawkey, owner of the Red Sox; Mark Eagleton, former president of the Police Board; Gabby Hayes, character actor in movie Westerns; Mayor Aloys P. Kaufmann; Postmaster Bernard F. Dickmann; James L. Ford, civic leader, and dozens of public officials.

Truman aide there

Also present was Maj. Gen. Harry A. Vaughan, military aide to President Truman. He told a Post-Dispatch reporter the President would listen to today’s game on the radio. With Gen. Vaughan in the fourth-row box behind home plate was Dr. Franc L. McCluer, president of Westminster College, Fulton, Mo.

Lt. Gen. James H. (Jimmy) Doolittle also occupied a box.

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Cuban and Mexican League offers likely to take coach Mike Gonzalez from Cards

By Bob Broeg, Post-Dispatch sports staff

SPORTSMAN’S PARK – The final game of the 1946 World Series today conceivably could have marked the last appearance of Mike Gonzalez, veteran Cardinal Coach, in the ranks of major league and organized professional baseball. Gonzalez shortly will have to make a decision that will determine his future course.

The use in Cuba’s winter league of players an organized baseball’s ineligible list has imperiled Gonzalez’s routine of coaching for Cardinals in the summer, managing the Havana Reds of the Cuban League in the winter. At present, Gonzalez has controlling interest in the Havana club, which last season enjoyed its best year financially.

The veteran coach, who has been connected with professional baseball in this country since 1912, said this afternoon he already had had two talks with Commissioner A. B. (Happy) Chandler and that he was scheduled to have one more.

Has offers from Mexico

“I don’t see how the Commissioner can make an exception in my case,” Gonzalez said, “and so I’m the middle, between two things I want to do. I want to stay here and yet I want to keep my Cuban connection because of the more money involved. I’ll have to decide soon.”

The Senor acknowledged that he had had more than one offer to manage in the Pasquels’ Mexican League in summer, but that he had no intention of accepting.

Protective measures to assure an uninterrupted warmup for Murry Dickson, who had been bothered by photographers in Boston, failed to avert the shaky start for which the Cardinals’ slender right-hander has become noted both in starting and relief assignments.

Ushers fringed the dugout and area in which Dickson loosened his arm, and one enterprising newsreel cameraman, defying the order and crouching at the pitcher’s feet, was hoisted out of the way.

So Dickson warmed up without interference, but he quickly was scored upon.

Tomorrow’s pitcher

In good humor before the game, Dyer said in answer to a question that his pitcher tomorrow would be “more than likely, a guy I’ve been saving all season.”

Williams’ fumble of Schoendienst’s single, opening the home half of the first, was followed by a hard and accurate throw, one which enabled Pesky to lay the ball so quickly in front of the bag that the redhead tagged himself out at second.

As Boston scored in the first, Moses opened with his fifth straight hit, apparently a world series mark for consecutive safeties, though the record book failed to cover that category.

In the same inning, DiMaggio’s long fly to Slaughter drove in the run. And the Cardinals’ right fielder, forced to throw hard for the first time since he suffered that bruised elbow, wrung his right hand in pain after he cut loose.

Kurowski took the lead in total hits when he opened the last of the second with a double, his eighth safety. He then scored the tying run, the Cardinals’ first off Ferriss in 11 innings.

Williams’ first two times at bat produced long high flies to dead centerfield, and both caused the outfield to gallop. Moore caught the first, racing back from right center, where he had been playing the Boston slugger. And Walker dashed far over to grab the second, narrowly avoiding a collision with Moore.

The count on York in the fourth ran to “3 and 2,” the same fatal figures that prevailed when Rudy ruined Dickson in the third game with a three-run homer on a slow curve. This time the pitcher fired in a fast, sharp-breaking curve – and York struck out.

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wraycolumn.banner

Few teams that have gone into world championship baseball series of the past have suffered the surprise and chagrin experienced by Joe Cronin and his Red Sox in the climatic struggled of the 1946 season.

Rated as an absolute sure-shot, before the first championship game, they were fought to a standstill by a determined foe and carried to the final game of the series still mortified and uncertain.

Probably only one world series contender of the past suffered a heavier blow to its pride and to its expectations. … That team was the Athletics of 1914 world championship victors of the year before.

That season still is a legend in baseball annals. … It saw the Boston Braves, piloted by George Stallings, in last place on July 14, and with only three pitchers of much account, rise to great heights in winning the league pennant. … A few days later they carried on to four consecutive victories, to overwhelm the haughty Athletics. …

The blow stunned his players and shocked Connie Mack unbelievably. … His resentment was so great that the following year he began to break up his championship team and sell his famous stars hither and yon. … His one-time world championship team became so depleted that it sank to the cellar and remained in last place seven consecutive seasons.

Red Sox betting favorites still

One of the surprising features of the current series was the persistent favoritism shown the Red Sox by the professional betting commissioners. … The final game like the opening game, found the Bostonians a 13-20 choice with the Cards 13 to 10.

The fact that Ferriss and Dickson, pitchers in the final contest, had met in the third game with Ferriss the winner, of course turned the betting trend in favor of the visiting team.

Professional betting men picked up some ample bankrolls in the single game wagering. … Since each team won three victories, and because in each case the wagerer was forced to put up more money to win than the commissioners had to pay out on defeats, the public held the bag.

But as to the series betting a Cardinal victory meant that the professional betting men were doomed to a heavy loss. … They made the odds against the Cards so enticing and the price against the Red Sox so short, that a majority of the money went on the Redbirds. … The commissioners themselves were gambling.

Not since the day of the powerhouse Yankee teams, sparked by Babe Ruth and loaded with top-hole pitchers, was a world series public been so sold in advance on one club, as was the case with the Red Sox. … And yet right down to the last game picking the final winner still seemed just a case of tossing a coin.

Meat haven at Sportsmen’s Park

It’s a good thing President Truman lifted meat controls just as the world series was ending. … Blake Harper’s hit-dog counters at Sportsman’s Park and the press room restaurant saved us from a vegetable diet. … The President’s meat relief measure will probably make it possible for us to banquet on neckbones and soup meat in a short time.

The longer the series lasted the bigger the entertainment nut for Sam Breadon. … He probably hated to think of the possibility of the seventh game ending in a tie and a playoff.

Sam did pretty well at the press rooms. … He even ate there himself. … The setback must have run close to $20,000 for the series, considering that ceilings on everything liquid or solid were in the stratosphere. … The food situation seemed to be the worst. … There was only a fractional difference in the ceiling as between a half-pound of sirloin and a fifth of Scotch. … On the whole, debates among the elbow-bending contingent at the press quarters were conservative. … Even the spirits were neutral.

The Brooklyn Dodgers really went to town this year in the matter of overconfidence. … Already in print, days before the National League race ended, was a costly souvenir program prepared for world series distribution.

The front page displayed a picture of Ebbets Field and the words “1946 World Series. Brooklyn Dodgers vs. Boston Red Sox.” It contains 38 pages of pictures and facts about the Dodgers, within colored-cover pages, score card, plenty of advertisements and “congratulations” by the Brooklyn Trust Co. reading as follows:

“We join with the millions of other baseball fans in offering congratulations to the Brooklyn Dodgers upon their winning the National League pennant for the second time in five years.”

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The Boston Daily Globe (October 16, 1946)

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Slaughter, Brecheen give Cards series finale

By JERRY NASON

ST. LOUIS, Oct. 15 – The Cat stalked the Red Sox for the third and fatal time today.

In a desperately waged seventh game, in which Harry The Cat Brecheen slinked in a relief role to his in his third victory, the St. Louis Cardinals won the 1946 World Series.

A fighting, snarling ball team, the Cardinals rebounded in the last of the eighth to down the Boston Red Sox, 4-3.

Enos Slaughter, racing head down like a steer, scored from first base on a line double to left-center field by hotfoot Harry Walker with two out in the last of the eighth inning.

Sizzling around the bases, Slaughter won his gamble when John Pesky, the Sox shortstop stationed out in short left-center, “froze” momentarily with the ball in his hand when it was relayed rapidly to him by Leon Culberson.

…

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Ted just sits and stares for half hour after game

By HY HURWITZ

ST. LOUIS, Oct. 15 – You could see some tears and hear some curses as the reporters entered the Red Sox dressing room after today’s disappointing loss.

The 1946 World Series was already history. Boston’s perfect record in the blue-ribbon classic had been shattered. Several hearts were broken. But the Red Sox didn’t alibi their defeat in the seventh and final game of the series.

Their dressing room was as quiet and depressing as a funeral establishment. The defeated Red Sox crept into the room almost on their tiptoes and silently began undressing, while their manager, Joe Cronin, went next door to the Cardinals’ clubhouse to extend his congratulations to the victorious manager, Eddie Dyer.

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The Wilmington Morning Star (October 16, 1946)

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CARDINALS CAPTURE WORLD SERIES 4-3 IN THRILL-PACKED GAME AT RED BIRD PARK
Boston rally squelched by fine pitching

Harry ‘The Cat’ Brecheen makes history with relief hurling
DRAMATIC FINISH
Dyermen shove over winning run in eighth after Sox tie-up contest
By Oscar Fraley, United Press staff writer

ST. LOUIS, Oct. 15 (UP) – The “under-dog” St. Louis Cardinals won the world series Tuesday by defeating the highly favored Boston Red Sox, 4-3, in the seventh and final game.

Harry (The Cat) Brecheen, wiry little Cardinal pitcher, again was the hero, winning his third series game, after being called into service after only one day’s rest to squelch a Red Sox uprising in the eighth that tied the score.

In the Cards’ half of the eighth, Harry Walker ripped double to left center which scored Country Slaughter with the winning run while the crowd of 36,143 sent up a frenzied cheer.

Brecheen had to ride out a ninth-inning storm to give the Cardinals their sixth world championship in nine tries.

In a tense, gripping fight which see-sawed through nine tight innings, the Cards came from behind once, stepped into a two-run lead and then had it cancelled by the late-inning Red Sox rally.

Brecheen, who yielded only 11 hits in 18 previous innings against the Boston Bombers, was greeted by singles off the bats of the first two men to face him in the ninth.

Holds it safe

Three men came up after that and three went down as the Cat held his runners on the sacks and became the first three-game world series winner since Stanley Coveleski turned the trick for Cleveland in 1920.

But he had his troubles. That curve ball wasn’t breaking for him as it had when he blew down the Red Sox Twice before, the last time on Sunday.

It looked bad when Don DiMaggio laced him for a two-run double when he was called in to little Murry Dickson’s relief with two on and none out in the eighth. He had just sent Wally Moses down on a called third strike and had made Johnny Pesky fly out. But DiMaggio tied the score at three-all.

And then, after his mates gave him that one run lead in the eighth, he yielded those two base hits in the top of the ninth.

Rudy York, whose violin-sized bat won two games for the Bosox with homers, started off with a single to left and Paul Campbell in to run for him. Bobby Doerr sent a base hit into left and Campbell stopped at second. That put the winning run on base – and the veteran, Pinky Higgins up.

But Higgins forced Doerr at second as Campbell went on to third. Roy Partee was next and he popped a foul to Musial.

Tom McBride, another veteran, was called in as a pinch-hitter and grounded out.

The delirious crowd stormed down on the field as the happy Cardinals carried their hero, Brecheen from the field.

This was the fourth time the Cardinals had been in a seven-game world series, and they kept intact their record of never losing one which went the distance.

It was the first time the Red Sox ever had lost the classic. They had won five.

Dave (Boo) Ferriss, the American League’s leading pitcher, who copped the third game of the series for Boston, was the Boston Starter against Dickson, under a broiling sun at Sportsman’s Park.

Ferriss, winner over Dickson the first time they met, looked good at the start with a sharp-breaking curve particularly when his mates got him one run in the first inning.

Moses opened the game with a single to center and Pesky picked on Dickson’s first pitch to slap a single over second which sent Moses on to third.

DiMaggio flied to Slaughter and Moses raced home after the catch.

The Cards came right back with two hits but Schoendienst was out trying to stretch his single and Stan Musial’s double went for nothing because Ferriss’ curve ball got Slaughter on a called third strike.

Kurowski doubles

Whitey Kurowski, the chunky third baseman of the Cardinals, who committed the game’s only error in the second, redeemed himself with a double to left field. He moved to third when Joe Garagiola grounded out and scored the tying run when Walker lined to Williams.

The Cards went out to break open the game in the fifth. They chased Ferriss from the box with a four-hit attack which produced two runs.

Walker – who was to come through again later – started it with a single to center field and Slats Marion sacrificed him to second. Dickson slashed a double down the left base line to score Walker and Schoendienst singled him home with a blast through the box.

Terry Moore followed with another single which put Schoendienst on second and Ferriss took the long walk to the showers, having given up seven hits and three runs in four and one-third innings.

Joe Dobson came in to halt the rally and tor two more innings, with little Murray putting everything he had on the ball, neither club scored.

But the Sox got to Murry in the eighth. Rip Russell, batting for Hal Wagner, singled to center and went on to third when George Metkovich, pinch hitting for Dobson, whacked a double down the left field line. That was all for Murry. “The Cat” came to the rescue.

The stands rocked with roars. And they rocked even more when Moses was called out on three straight strikes. Pesky went down but DiMaggio squared the game with his own two-run double.

With a man on second “The Cat” fed Williams a pop ball.

Slaughter’s hit was Bob Klinger, the third Sox pitcher. That’s when Walker, kid brother of the Dodgers Dixie, walloped the double which made it conclusive.

Earl Johnson came in after Marion walked to retire the side but the damage was done.