Mound City Marathon
Red Sox at Browns, May 8, 1949 Game 2
Mound City Marathon
Okay, this is going to take a little while. This game was simply wild.
We’ll start this one off in the bottom of the 9th inning, with the score tied, 6-6. I would start earlier, but this post would turn into a book.
With two outs in the bottom of the 9th inning, Jerry Priddy managed a loud single down the right field line. This was Priddy’s 5th hit in 5 times at bat, and it forced the computer-controlled Red Sox to bring Mickey Harris in from the bullpen to pitch.
Harris faced Bob Dillinger:
That brought up Jack Graham, and the Browns looked like they were in business:
That walk brought up catcher Sherm Lollar:
And that’s how this story starts off: with a bases loaded situation turning into an extra inning ballgame.
The 10th
Boston went down quietly in its half of the 10th. Up came Whitey Platt to lead things off for the Browns:
That brought up Roy Sievers:
Remember how I talked about there being too many double plays in my last 1949 post? This is what I’m referring to. This happens far too often with runners on first base, and, in this case, led to a marathon.
11th Inning
I thought it was going to end after the Red Sox rallied in the top of the 11th to put runners on first and second with two outs. Johnny Pesky came up:
The Browns did get out of the inning, though the damage was done. The score was now 7-6.
In the St. Louis half, however, Dick Kokos had something to say about that lead:
Kokos was the leadoff hitter in the inning, and St. Louis wasn’t done yet.
Pitcher Bill Kennedy was due up next. I replaced him with pinch hitter Paul Lehner:
On came Frank Quinn for the Red Sox, and up came Priddy, who was 5 for 5 at this point. But, before Priddy could do anything, Lehner made a rash decision:
I had no option to prevent this from happening, sadly. Priddy was still up there, though:
He was followed by Dillinger:
Credit that catch to Dom DiMaggio, who is having an incredible season so far.
Up came Graham with Priddy on first and two out:
And now, for the second time this game, Lollar came up with a chance to win it:
I’m guessing he shouldn’t bat 4th anymore.
The 12th
Sievers came up in the bottom of the 12th with one out, the game still tied at 7:
That brought up Eddie Pellagrini:
It was an out, sure, but it was a productive one. Up came Kokos, who had already launched two home runs in this one:
Kokos apparently just missed it.
The Frantic 13th
As crazy as this game had been so far, it was about to get even wilder.
DiMaggio led off the top of the 13th for Boston:
It’s never a good idea to walk somebody to get to Ted Williams, especially when there are no outs:
That brought up Vern Stephens, who we walked, obviously, with first base open:
We then brought in Bob Malloy to pitch, and prayed that we could get out of this jam.
Up came Pesky:
Didn’t I tell you that we had too many double plays? We almost pulled off another one there.
That made one out, and up came the pitcher’s spot. The Red Sox decided to use Lou Stringer as a pinch hitter:
I thought we were done for now. It was now 9-7, and there were runners on second and third. Bobby Doerr was at the plate:
Well, that was it for Malloy. I put in Bob Savage to try to get us out of it. He faced Billy Hitchcock:
There’s your double play — the 3rd of the game for the Browns, and the 7th of the double header. Told you we had too many.
The score was now 9-7 Boston, and we went into the bottom of the 13th. Denny Galehouse was in to pitch for the Red Sox. Savage was due up, and so I put Stan Spence up there to pinch hit:
That made this a 9-8 ballgame, and I simply couldn’t believe it.
Up came Priddy next, and you won’t believe this one, either:
And now it was a 9-9 game. Priddy was an incredible 6 for 6 on the day, with 2 home runs — a one-man wrecking machine.
Up came Dillinger:
In came Fritz Dorish to face Graham, with a runner on first and nobody out:
And now, for the third time in this game, Sherm Lollar was up there with a chance to win it:
No worries. There was only one out, and Platt was up there with two runners in scoring position:
Interesting that the computer would go to the trouble of bringing the infield in for an intentional walk.
Up came Sievers in a really big moment:
Now there were two outs, the bases were still loaded, and it was all up to Pellagrini:
Side retired.
The 14th
Boston had a chance in the top of the 14th. With two out, DiMaggio came up to bat:
Priddy had had an excellent game up to this point, but I guess we all get tired every now and then.
Up came Ted Williams:
That brought up Stephens, and I feared the worst:
The bottom of the 14th wasn’t much better for us — and on we went into the 15th, and beyond.
The 15th
Boston had a real chance here.
With one out in the top of the 15th, Billy Goodman came up to pinch hit:
That brought up Doerr:
Goodman was now in scoring position with two out. Up came Hitchcock again:
Hitchcock was followed by blog legend Matt Batts:
That walk loaded up the bases and set things up for Al Zarilla, who had just joined the Red Sox from the Browns a few days earlier:
Guess it’s good we traded him!
Jack Robinson was the new Boston pitcher, and his first task was to take care of Graham:
And, just like that, this game was over.
The Damage
This boxscore is a mess:
Yes, I had to divide the boxscore up into two screenshots.
Boston used 9 pitchers; the Browns used “only” 7. There were a total of 19 walks and 36 hits in this ballgame, and yet there were only 19 runs in all.
Priddy wound up going 6 for 7, just missing a chance at a 7th base hit in the bottom of the 14th:
The real scary thing is that Priddy would have hit his third home run of the game right there if he had pulled the ball a little.
Williams went 3 for 7, the only bright spot of a Red Sox offense that only managed 14 hits. The Browns, meanwhile, had 5 players with multiple hits, including 3 with 3 hits, as well as Priddy, who did the work of three men himself.
There were a total of 5 double plays in this marathon, and could have been more. Priddy made 3 of the 4 Browns errors by himself. Boston somehow managed to avoid making a single error in this game.
If the Red Sox wind up losing the pennant by a single game, remember this one.