Just Short

Tigers at Browns, May 13, 1949

Just Short

Well, I guess you can’t expect too much from the old St. Louis Browns.

They were down 3-1 in this one as we went into the bottom of the 8th. Jack Graham, however, had something to say about that scoreline:

And now it was exciting.

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Bottom of the 9th

The Tigers lifted Fred Hutchinson for Lou Kretlow to start the bottom of the 9th, still winning by a 3-2 margin.

Up first for St. Louis was Roy Sievers:

That wasn’t exactly the most auspicious start for Kretlow.

Up next came Eddie Pellagrini, and I decided to bunt with him:

That put Sievers in scoring position, and gave the Browns two chances to knock him in.

Stan Spence was up next:

By this point I was convinced that Kretlow was losing his touch. I thought for certain that the Browns were going to wind up winning this game.

Next came Jerry Priddy:

Yeah, that wasn’t exactly the best at bat in the world by Jerry. He swung at the first pitch and hit a shallow fly ball to right field, not really deep enough to make anything happen. You’d think he would take a pitch or two, given how wild Kretlow was.

Up came Sherm Lollar, suddenly with two men out:

And, just like that, the St. Louis rally was over.

St. Louis wasted an excellent pitching performance by Al Papai. The Browns simply could not get the hits when it counted.