Late Onslaught
Cardinals at Phillies, plus day in review for May 3, 1949
Late Onslaught
The 1949 Phillies weren’t a great team, and we all know about the 1949 Cardinals.
However, even the futile Phils won a game here and then.
It happened in real life, after all:
The replay version was even more exciting.
Early Rumblings
St. Louis led 2 to 1 as we went into the bottom of the 7th inning.
We should actually credit Phillies starter Robin Roberts for managing to keep the St. Louis offense at bay for so long. The youngster overcame some adversity and a number of walks to keep this game within reach.
Roberts’ spot in the batting order was due up. The Phillies had runners on first and second, but two men out. I decided to lift him for pinch hitter Putsy Caballero in hope of making something happen:
Now the game was tied at 2, and it looked like Philadelphia wasn’t done yet. Up came Bill Nicholson:
Yep — Al Brazle pitched a really good game for the Cardinals, ending up with 8 strikeouts in all.
Widening Gap
Things started to fall apart for the Phillies as soon as Roberts left.
Stan Musial led things off for St. Louis in the top of the 8th:
Up next was Nippy Jones, and part of me died inside when this happened:
That was the first of a number of pitching miscues by relief pitcher Ken Trinkle. I think it was a bit harsh to blame Andy Seminick for this one. Actually, Seminick would be charged with another passed ball an inning later — also possibly due to poor pitching by Trinkle.
At any rate, this Cardinal offense is strong enough to hurt you even if you don’t give them bases for free. Jones was still up there:
It was almost a foregon conclusion that Marty Marion would drive in the run after all that:
St. Louis then manufactured another run in the top of the 9th, making this a 4-2 ballgame.
Comeback
But that wasn’t all.
The Cardinals decided to bring Jim Hearn in to pitch the bottom of the 9th. Brazle had actually singled as part of the St. Louis 9th inning rally, but was taken out by the computer manager for a pinch runner. Interesting strategy.
Eddie Miller singled to lead things off for the Phillies in the bottom of the 9th. Richie Ashburn promptly bounced into a ground ball, forcing Miller at second; Ashburn reached first on the fielder’s choice.
That set the stage for Willie Jones:
I played it safe with Ashburn because his run didn’t really count. We needed two to tie the game, after all.
Up next came Eddie Waitkus, who I put in to pinch hit for Trinkle:
I thought for a second that Schoendienst had dropped the ball before making the out at second. I guess he dropped it right afterwards.
There were two men out now, and up came Nicholson again:
And now came Seminick, who had just been charged with two passed balls in two innings. Andy was looking to redeem himself:
Told you that taking Brazle out was an interesting strategy.
Up came Dick Sisler with the bases loaded. The score was Cardinals 4, Phillies 3:
That was a big win for a club that probably doesn’t have many ambitions this season. And that was a hard loss for the Cardinals to take.
Other Action
Red Sox 5, Tigers 1 (11): At Detroit, Stan Spence did very well in place of Dom DiMaggio for the Red Sox. Watch the game here. Read the summary here.
Senators 3, White Sox 2 (11): At Chicago, Washington manages to win despite leaving 20 men on base. The White Sox walked 13. Read the summary here.
Yankees 3, Browns 2: At St. Louis, the Browns comeback falls just short. Watch the game here. Read the summary here.
Reds 6, Dodgers 5: At Brooklyn, the Dodgers blow it in the 9th. Read the summary here.
Braves 6, Cubs 0: At Chicago, Vern Bickford throws a 2-hit complete game shutout.
Giants 3, Pirates 1: At New York, Monty Kennedy throws a 3-hit complete game for the win. Three Pirates come within inches of tying the game in the bottom of the 9th. Watch the game here. Read the summary here.
Phillies 5, Cardinals 4: At Philadelphia, see above.
Standings
We’ve got some pennant races, folks. It’s too early to call, of course, but things are quite congested at the top.
The Pirates and Giants are both big surprises in the National League. I’ve got a feeling that both will be around for some time to come.
Meanwhile, the Yankees and Red Sox don’t surprise anybody in the American. However, Cleveland is still in the race despite losing two in a row, and the Athletics are starting to make a move.