8th Inning Rally
Reds at Cardinals, April 25, 1949
8th Inning Rally
You never know what’s going to happen in these games.
The 1949 Cardinals were an excellent team in real life. They’ve been so-so in the early stages of this replay.
Actually, that matches how the Cardinals did in real life at this stage. It turns out that the game I’m about to describe to you was postponed in real life due to poor weather:
Some of the descriptions in this article could apply to the Diamond Mind Cardinals: a bit run shy, happy with the base hits, and featuring excellent hitters like Kazak, Slaughter, Jones, and Schoendienst.
I also liked the bit about Kress coming in as a replacement for Kluszewski, as if history itself were trying to kid me for being so upset about that computer manager decision the other day.
But can the Cardinals get it done today?
5th Inning Blows
St. Louis took an early lead, and had several chances in the early going to put this one away. However, they weren’t able to make the most of their chances, and wound up going into the second half of the game with a slim 1-0 margin.
That’s when the Reds made their move.
After an inauspicious start when Virgil Stallcup struck out, Ray Mueller lined a single to left. Lloyd Merriman struck out for the second out. However, pitcher Howie Fox, swinging away because there were two outs, managed to line a single to right, sending Mueller to second.
And that set it up for Grady Hatton:
Just like that, we were tied.
It was inexplicable. Neither of the two earlier base hits were hit all that hard. Old Boots and Saddles, Al Brazle, was pitching well for the Cardinals. And yet the game was now tied.
And it only got worse.
That Fateful Eigth
Hatton led it off in the top of the 8th inning with a flare:
That brought up Danny Litwhiler:
The Reds now had runners on first and second with nobody out, and I knew we were in trouble.
I had decided before the game to hit Jimmy Bloodworth in the number 3 hole for Cincinnati. He came in hitting something over .500 and playing extremely well. I figured that the Reds might as well take advantage of his good hitting, since nothing else was going their way up to this point in the season.
Anyway, the computer manager inexplicably decided to bunt with Bloodworth here:
I want to pause to show you just how ridiculous this decision was. I mean, I’m a fan of frequent bunting and other aggressive strategies that mainstream sabermetrics abhors. However, a quick look at Bloodworth’s stats up to this point shows you how ridiculous it would have been to bunt in this situation in real life:
I took this screenshot right after the bunt. He was hitting .500 with a .538 on base percentage.
And it’s not like he was an awful hitter in real life, either. Nor was there some sort of platoon disadvantage that the computer manager was trying to avoid. He wasn’t even a great bunter: that “average” sacrifice rating is, well, average.
But the computer wanted to bunt, and I can’t undo it, and so it is a bunt.
Anyway, that brought up Ted Kluszewski. If you think I’m pitching to Kluszewski with runners on second and third and one out in a tie game, you’re fit to be tied.
Old Boots and Saddles got Johnny Wyrostek to strike out for the second out, and I thought that my managerial genius would get us out of this mess.
And that brought up Stallcup again:
Well, I did my best, I suppose.
Brazle almost threw a complete game. I had to stick Ray Yochim in there to get out of a jam in the top of the 9th, though, when Al’s control went bad. 8 strikeouts in 1949 is a quality start in my book.
But Cincinnati came away with the win, and the Cardinals are now down to 3-3.
Other Games
Red Sox 3, Senators 2 (10): At Boston, the Senators remained winless despite a valiant effort. Read extended write-up here. Watch the game here.
Tigers 4, White Sox 1: At Chicago, Fred Hutchinson made short work of Chicago’s weak offense.
Yankees 5, Athletics 0: At New York, Tommy Byrne struck out 10 to help the Yankees power past the Athletics. By the way, Byrne did strike out 10 or more in a single game in 1949 — twice, in fact. Watch the game here.
Dodgers 5, Braves 3: At Brooklyn, the Dodgers held off a late Braves comeback to win a close one. Read extended write-up here. Watch the game here.
Pirates 10, Cubs 2: At Pittsburgh, the Pirates powered past the Cubs for yet another win. Watch the game here.
Giants 6, Phillies 3: At Philadelphia, the Giants pulled out to an early 6-0 lead and never looked back. Watch the game here.