Crazy Comeback
Another Cardinals - Cubs Thriller
Crazy Comeback
Every now and then you experience one of those comebacks that is just wild. This was one of those games.
Late Inning Scoring
This one was quiet — scoreless, in fact, up until the bottom of the 7th inning.
I’ve complained before about how inept the 1949 Cubs offense was. In this case, though, the Cubs were able to overcome a potentially rally-killing double play to score the first run. Rube Walker came up there with Hal Jeffcoat standing on 3rd base and two men out:
That made it 1-0. However, the Cardinals came roaring back in the top of the 8th.
Joe Garagiola started it off loudly:
That brought up Ron Northey, who pinch hit for St. Louis starting pitcher Gerry Staley:
That brought up Enos Slaughter:
This gave me pause to think. Chicago starter Doyle Lade had pitched well up to this point, but seemed to be in trouble. I thought about replacing him, but then decided against it.
Up came Eddie Kazak with the bases loaded and nobody out, in a 1-0 ballgame:
And there it went. Bad decision on my part.
The Comeback
Then something strange happened.
Ted Wilks was the new St. Louis pitcher in the bottom of the 8th. Gene Mauch led things off by lining a single to right center field.
Up came Phil Cavarretta:
That set things up for Frankie Gustine, with nobody out:
I had my fingers crossed when I sent Cavarretta home on that one. He was safe, and the score was now 4-3 with a runner on second.
After Andy Pafko popped out for the first out, it was Jeffcoat’s turn again:
Now we were tied at 4. And the Cubs weren’t done yet.
Peanuts Lowrey, who is having an awful season, struck out. That brought up Roy Smalley, with Jeffcoat on first base and two out:
After that freak base hit, Walker came back up there:
And, well, that’s how this one ended. What a comeback!
Lade pitched well, but not quite well enough for the win. The Cubs are bad; we all know that. The Cardinals, however, are supposed to be better than this.