Gotta Throw Strikes
Tigers at Browns, May 15, 1949, Game 2
Gotta Throw Strikes
Detroit came into this day on a little bit of a roll. They started the doubleheader only 3 games behind the New York Yankees, and looked to take advantage of continued Yankee losses.
They’re not feeling so optimistic now, however.
St. Louis won the morning game, 6-3. The Tigers were faring a tad better in this one, though. They came into the top of the 7th tied at 3.
That rough combination of infield base hits and walks started to do the Brownies in during that top of the 7th. The Tiger rally culminated in this Johnny Groth at bat:
You’ve got to throw strikes to compete. Being hit by the pitch meant that everybody moved up, and Detroit was now out to a 4-3 lead.
Coming Back
Of course, I wouldn’t be telling you about all of this if it were that simple. The Browns did indeed come back in the bottom of the 8th.
The big comeback started with Whitey Platt, who managed to find his way on base. That set things up for Roy Sievers, batting with two men out:
Up next came Eddie Pellagrini, who is quickly becoming my favorite player on the Browns. Don’t be fooled by his low batting average.
Just like that, the score was tied at 4.
But wait, there was more. Stan Spence came up next:
I thought for a minute that the Browns were going to run away with this one. Jerry Priddy was up next:
Well, so much for that thought.
Throw Strikes
That brings us to the bottom of the 9th, with the score tied at 4.
Catcher Les Moss, who has been brilliant so far this season, led things off for the Browns:
That brough up Dick Kokos:
With one out and a runner on first, it was up to Bob Dillinger. However, Kokos had other ideas:
I wanted to hit and run, but Dillinger was sadly unable to make contact. Fortunately, Kokos is a good enough base runner to not get thrown out in this situation.
Detroit couldn’t find the plate, however. That brought up Marlin Stuart.
Stuart is a fascinating player. We’ll talk a little bit more about him later. I’ll just say that we don’t have characters like that in the game anymore, and it’s a shame.
Stuart’s first task was to handle Jack Graham:
I thought bunting with Graham would give us an advantage. We now had two runners in scoring position. Up next was Platt:
That loaded the bases, and it was down to Sievers again:
Indeed — you’ve got to throw strikes.
Hoot Evers wound up going 4 for 5 in a losing cause. The Browns had some control problems, but it was nothing like the 8 walks that Detroit gave up. It’s sad to say, but the Tigers simply aren’t going to compete if they can’t find the strike zone.