Left On Base
Plus Day in Review, May 11, 1949
Left On Base
I’ve always loved watching original broadcasts of old baseball games. One of my favorite series to rewatch is the 1980 NLCS.
It’s an absolute blast to rewatch that series. 4 of the 5 games went to extra innings. Each game was filled to the brim with exciting moments and all sorts of drama.
The Phillies also left their share of runners on base in that famous series. By my count, they left a total of 43 runners on base in only 5 games, which seems almost obscene.
They did a bit of that in this game, too.
Missed Chances
The Phillies had more than enough chances to win this one.
Their best chance came in the bottom of the 9th.
The Cubs had a 4-3 lead, but looked more than likely to blow it. The lead had originally been 4-1, but a Philadelphia rally in the bottom of the 6th made it a one run game.
Philadelphia left the tying run stranded in both the bottom of the 7th and the bottom of the 8th. And up came Del Ennis to lead things off in the 9th:
Up next came Bill Nicholson:
Now the Phillies really had something going. Dick Sisler came up, and I was sure he’d at least tie the game:
That was only the first out, of course. Up next came Willie Jones, another player more than capable of driving in the tying run:
There were two outs now, and the tying run was only 90 feet away. Up came Granny Hamner:
That one felt frustrating.
The Phillies left 12 runners on base in this one. They got more than enough hits, but simply couldn’t bunch them together.
Other Action
Red Sox 5, White Sox 0: At Chicago, Mel Parnell threw a two hitter, and the Red Sox continue to march up the standings.
Indians 6, Yankees 5: At Cleveland, the Indians complete a huge comeback late. Watch the game here. Read the summary here.
Senators 23, Tigers 5: At Detroit, the Senators score 15 runs in the first 2 innings. Read the summary here.
Athletics 12, Browns 1: At St. Louis, Philadelphia simply dominated this game.
Dodgers 17, Pirates 3: At Brooklyn, the National League frontrunners were destroyed by the Dodger bats. Watch the game here. Read the summary here.
Cardinals 3, Braves 2: At Boston, Warren Spahn fell apart. Read the summary here.
Cubs 4, Phillies 3: At Philadelphia, see above.
Giants 3, Reds 1: At New York, Dave Koslo went to 5-1 after a masterful pitching performance. Watch the game here.
Standings
Batting Leaders
Pitching Leaders
Team Batting
Team Pitching
Team Fielding
