Preacher Roe's Sermon
The Dodgers are quietly making a move.
Preacher Roe’s Sermon
Brooklyn wasn’t doing so hot by this point in real life:
In fact, if you look at the standings right before the May 1, 1949 doubleheaders, Brooklyn was having a pretty poor year:
That’s a lot better than Brooklyn has been in this replay, however. But, then again, maybe the preacher will have something to say about it.
Inauspicious Beginning
Things couldn’t have started worse for Preacher Roe.
This is how Bill Nicholson greeted him to start this game off:
Great job, Roe. And that brought up Andy Seminick:
I thought right here that the Dodgers were done for. Oh, ye of little faith.
Clawing Back
Fortunately for Roe, there are always second chances.
Roe got a chance at redemption early, with the baes loaded and 2 out in the bottom of the second, Brooklyn still trailing 2-0:
You’ve got to wonder what in the world Ken Heintzelman was thinking when he threw that one.
The preacher struck out to end the inning, but the Dodgers were starting to come back.
The Duke of Flatbush came up with Jackie Robinson on third base in the bottom of the 3rd:
And, in the bottom of the 4th, Bruce Edwards had a chance to put the Dodgers ahead:
That made the score 3-2 Brooklyn, and this one was getting interesting in a hurry.
Trading Blows
Seminick came up again in the top of the 6th inning, again with a runner on base:
Roe might have felt pretty bad about that. However, he found himself in an interesting situation in the bottom of the 6th, with Gil Hodges on at second base and two out:
And now we were tied at 4.
7th Inning
By this point I knew we had a good game on our hands.
Richie Ashburn came up in the top of the 7th inning with one out:
Willie Jones came up next:
It was around this time that I started wondering whether Preacher still had it in him. Up came Heintzelman, the Philadelphia pitcher, still with only one out:
Now it was Nicholson’s turn, with two outs:
It wasn’t pretty, but Roe got out of that jam.
Pee Wee Reese came up in the bottom of the 7th with nobody on and one out:
The score was now 5-4 Brooklyn, with two innings to go.
8th Inning
Philadelphia didn’t make it easy.
Seminick led things off in the top of the 8th:
Up came Dick Sisler, in a clutch situation:
That’s just the way Roe is. Every time I think he’s going to get shelled, he reaches down and finds something extra.
Next was Del Ennis:
That got one, but still left a runner on at first with two outs. Up came Granny Hamner:
Well, that settled that one.
9th Inning
Brooklyn went down quietly in the bottom of the 8th. And up came Eddie Miller to lead things off in the 9th for Philadelphia, the score still Brooklyn 5, Philadelphia 4:
Next was Ashburn, with one out:
And, finally, up came Jones one last time:
It wasn’t pretty, but Roe had done it!
Roe pitched extremely well in this one, striking out 8 and giving up only 2 walks and 5 hits. The Dodgers are starting to look good.