April 19, 1949
Day 2
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Game of the Day
The game of the day was clearly the home opener at Briggs Stadium in Detroit. The Tigers hosted the White Sox in a game filled with heroics and late-inning drama.
Detroit started it off with three quick first inning runs, and I was pretty sure that this was going to be a route. Chicago started to come back slowly, however, scoring a run on a second inning error, and then coming back with two in the top of the 7th inning to tie it.
As I alluded to in this post, I might have gone a bit too far with Detroit starting pitcher Virgil Trucks. Trucks started to run out of gas in the top of the 7th inning as his pitch count rose, giving up two runs on four singles and a walk. He was able to get out of the jam in the end, and held Chicago scoreless in the top of the 8th before I finally lifted him for a pinch hitter.
The real fun started in extra innings. The White Sox rallied in the top of the 10th, as two walks put runners on first and second with two outs and the heart of the order coming up. Tiger pitcher Hal White managed to strike out Cass Michaels to end the threat.
Detroit had clear chances to win in each extra inning. The Tigers had a runner on second with one out in the top of the 10th, but couldn’t do anything to put him across. Jimmy Outlaw, owner of one of the greatest names in baseball history, hit a one out pinch-hit double in the 11th, but wound up stranded at third. Detroit also loaded the bases with two out in the bottom of the 12th, but it all came to naught when Neil Barry hit a loud fly out to center field.
Chicago finally went ahead in the top of the 13th, after pinch hitter Bud Souchock hit a leadoff triple and scored on a sacrifice fly. Detroit had the tying run on second with one out in the bottom of the 13th, but that was all the shouting.
It was a great game to play, all in all – full of excitement, drama, and a lot of missed opportunities. The two teams combined to leave 29 men on base, which is the sort of thing you have to do if you put together 23 hits but only 7 runs total. Each team made 3 errors, which also added a bit of drama to the proceedings.
Maybe it wasn’t the best played game I’ve ever managed, but it was certainly a lot of fun.
Other Action
Red Sox 4, Athletics 3 – In Philadelphia, Ted Williams (who else?) hit a single in the top of the 9th to help the Red Sox slide past the Philadelphia Athletics.
Indians 7, Browns 4 – In St. Louis, the defending World Champions battered browns pitching for 14 hits and 7 runs. Lou Boudreau led the way with 4 hits in 5 at bats, and starting pitcher Bob Lemon went a surprising 2-for-3 with a double.
Yankees 7, Senators 1 – The Yankees delighted the home New York crowd by crushing Washington pitching. The unheralded Cliff Mapes, starting in place of the injured Joe DiMaggio, led the Yankee attack with two home runs, as I detailed in yesterday’s post.
Giants 8, Dodgers 3 – In Brooklyn, the cross-town rival Giants stifled the vaunted Brooklyn Dodger offense. Starting pitcher Dave Koslo led the way with a 7 hit complete game.
(Game 1) Braves 9, Phillies 1; (Game 2) Braves 4, Phillies 0 – In Boston, the National League champions obliterated the Phillies in both games of a doubleheader. The games were delayed by a total of 91 minutes due to rain.
Pirates 5, Cubs 2 – In Chicago, Ralph Kiner hit a 3-run home run in the 9th inning with two outs to lead the Pirates past the Cubs.
Reds 3, Cardinals 2 – In Cincinnati, a clutch 8th-inning double by Virgil Stallcup helped propel the Reds past the Cardinals.
Standings
It’s far too early to look at this now, but here are the standings in case you were curious.
Forum Roundup
The infamous Mike Mathias has played through September 17 in his 1934 replay. Mathias is using the card and dice version of Replay Baseball, and is well known in the community for his quick and accurate replays, as well as for his excellent writeups.
Mark Ruckhaus, one of my favorite replay authors, is about three days into his 1959 NPIII replay.
Please be patient – this section is expanding! If you have a baseball replay or sim blog, YouTube channel, or are just proud of results you’ve posted on a public forum, please let me know. I would love to follow your project and give it a bit of publicity.