Only The Cubs

Cubs at Phillies, May 12, 1949

Only The Cubs

This could only happen to a team like the Cubs.

Chicago was down all game long. Curt Simmons had the Cubs baffled. And then the 9th inning happened.

It was a 4-3 Phillies lead going into the top of the 9th. Chicago had once enjoyed a 3-1 lead, but, as usual, had let the other team come crawling back.

Hank Edwards came up to start the top of the 9th, looking to at least delay the inevitable:

I really have a hard time picturing the 1949 Cubs causing a hush to come over any crowd. That would presume that there was actually a crowd of people willing to watch them play. But I digress.

Phil Cavarretta came up next. The computer manager decided to use Hank Schenz as a pinch runner for Edwards.

And then came Andy Pafko:

Well, if that Edwards base hit silenced the crowd, this one had them in tears. The score was now 4-4, and there were still two more outs to get.

Next was Peanuts Lowrey:

Well, at least most of the Cubs were still hitting like the Cubs.

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Comeback

Bill Nicholson came up with one out in the bottom of the 9th for the Phillies, the score still tied, 4-4:

I decided that I wanted to play it safe with Bill. However, he apparently had other ideas:

There were two men out now, and I figured this one was going into extra innings. Up next came Dick Sisler:

Yeah, that was another classic 1949 Cubs play. Roy Smalley made the stop, but didn’t get a throw off for whatever reason. Maybe the sun was in his eyes.

Next came Willie Jones:

A slow ground ball that should have been an easy forceout turned into the second straight single.

That brought up Granny Hamner:

I almost fell over when I saw this happen. Just like that, the Phillies had won this one in a walkoff, 7-4. That’s a crazy way to win it!

Both teams wasted a number of opportunities in this one. The Cubs didn’t commit any errors, but their fielding was a lot worse. It’s going to be a long season in Chicago.