12th Inning Magic

April 21, 1949

White Sox at Tigers

It feels like we’ve had more than our fair share of close games in this replay already. Hold on tight, because there’s more coming.

The White Sox and Tigers have already given us two great games in this three game series. The first was a nailbiting 13-inning affair; the second turned around on a 9th inning home run. What would happen in the third?

Tipton Goes Deep

Joe Tipton wasn’t really much of a hitter during his brief major league career. You can imagine my surprise when he socked one into the stands in his first plate appearance in this replay:

That solo shot in the bottom of the 2nd tied this game at 1 each.

3rd Inning Rally

Detroit thratened again with runners on first and second and only one out in the bottom of the third. I figured that the computer wouldn’t look for me to bunt with Paul Campbell — and I was right:

Poor Campbell waited a long time to get regular playing time — and here I am bunting with him in the third inning.

That brought up Johnny Lipon with the bases loaded and only one out:

Neil Berry then grounded out on the first pitch, and that was that.

Late Inning Drama

Though he was pitching well by the standards of the day, the computer took out White Sox starter Billy Pierce in the bottom of the 6th after only 103 pitches. Pierce did walk 6 Tigers, though, which might have led to the decision.

Chicago had a rally of its own in the top of the 8th, putting runners on 1st and 2nd with 2 outs, the score still knotted at 1 each. Up came Dave Philley, and, well, down he went:

Berry came up in the bottom of the 8th with one out, and did his best to make up for that poor at bat in the 3rd:

I’m not convinced that many people in 1949 paid attention the number of pitches in any given at bat, but we’ll go along with it.

That brought up Bob Swift, a last minute catching decision on my part (mostly for the sake of player rotation):

Now I had a choice to make. Detroit starting pitcher Fred Hutchinson was up next. Hutchinson had thrown 116 pitches, had given up only 5 hits all day long, and seemed good to continue to me. With two on and only one out in a 1-1 game, I thought we could take a chance by leaving Hutchinson in there, trying for some late inning trickery, and seeing what came of it.

Fortunately, I don’t have to face the media after the game (other than the comments section here, of course). I went for a suicide squeeze, which was obviously the wrong choice:

Yeah, I don’t think having Berry try to steal home was the best decision I ever made in my life.

Swift went to second on that play, though — and then this happened:

Isn’t the drama great? I’m telling you, some of these games we’ve had so far rank up there with the best baseball simulation games I’ve ever played. This was simply tons of fun.

I decided that I really wanted Hutchinson to stay in there now, and so I let him swing away. And, well, you can guess what happened next:

All of that on only 3 pitches.

The White Sox had a rally of their own in the top of the 9th. Gus Zernial started things off with a base hit, which then brought up Billy Bowers:

Bowers is one of those great players for replayers to discover — a minor league star who had an extremely brief major league spell before disappearing into obscurity. This isn’t exactly an all-star at bat, but I figured I might as well give him his share of the spotlight while he’s still around.

Anyway, Tipton grounded out to short, which brought up Bud Souchock:

And you guessed right — we went to extras again.

Extra Innings

Luke Appling walked to start the top of the 10th for Chicago, and then this happened:

This was a huge play, a really huge play. Cass Michaels, yesterday’s star, showed an inability to get the bunt on the ground, almost ending the rally as soon as it started. I’m guessing this play would be all over the highlight shows if it happened today, though in a way it’s almost better to only have a textual representation of the event. It certainly makes the he-caught-it / he-trapped-it argument much more imaginative.

Floyd Baker flew out for the second out, and then up came catcher Don Wheeler:

Detroit went down quietly in its half of the 10th, and, wouldn’t you know it, the White Sox came roaring back in the top of the 11th with this one:

This was the second controversial fielding play in two extra innings, this time coming in Detroit’s favor. And that was it for Chicago in the top of the 11th.

After Swift singled with one out on the bottom of the 11th, I felt that I finally had to get Hutchinson out of there. Allowing only 1 run in 11 innings was no small feat, but I needed to think in terms of the marathon, not the sprint. Detroit made two quick outs anyway, though, and we went to the 12th, still tied at 1.

12th Inning Drama

Detroit had a really bad bullpen in 1949, and I had an awful feeling about this. I put Lou Kretlow in there to see what he could do.

Luke Appling always seems to be on base — and seems to get all the luck:

Chicago couldn’t capitalize, however, stranding him yet again.

Johnny Groth walked to open the bottom of the 12th for Detroit. The computer brought Marino Pieretti (another obscure name) in to pitch to try to extend this game. Pieretti wasn’t able to do much with Vic Wertz, however:

Even with runners on the corners with nobody out, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen. This game, and this series, had been so crazy up to this point that nothing would surprise me. And up came Hoot Evers:

And there’s another one in the books: a 2-1 extra inning thriller.

Both teams combined to strand 24 runners, which is downright appalling. It does make for a good writeup, though.