Stan the Man

Cubs at Cardinals, April 23, 1949

Stan the Man

This was one of those legendary rivalry games. It’s worth taking the time to watch (and it’s only a 30 minute video!):

The Lowly Cubs

Have I told you how bad the 1949 Cubs are? They’re one of the worst teams I’ve ever had the pleasure to manage. They have no offense, no defense, and a horrid pitching staff.

And yet they managed to go up 1-0 in this one.

Peanuts Lowrey found himself at the plate with a runner on third and one out in the top of the 3rd:

I thought that St. Louis had a play at the plate, and would have made that throw every single time. It just didn’t work out for us, that’s all.

The Cardinals, of course, are a very good team, and we started to come back in the bottom of the 4th. Red Schoendienst came up with one out and promptly singled. I then tried to steal with him, but he was confused by Johnny Schmitz’ move:

Marty Marion, never one to panic, promptly hit a base hit. Del Rice did likewise, bringing up pitcher Howie Pollet with two out and two on:

Giving up a base hit to the pitcher with an 0-2 count and two outs really has to hurt. And, of course, since these are the Cardinals, up came Enos Slaughter to do more damage:

The bases were now loaded with two outs and Eddie Kazak at bat. Eddie grounded out, however, and that ended that rally.

The Cubs Come Back

These Cubs might not be a good team, but they do have some fight in them.

Frankie Gustine walked with two out in the top of the 6th of this 1-1 game. Pollet tried to pick him off but threw the ball into the dugout, allowing Gustine to reach second. That brought up Harry Walker:

The Cardinals did get the final out afterwards, but the Cubs now had a 2-1 lead.

And, in the top of the 7th, the Cubs managed to extend that lead just a bit more. Gene Mauch led off with a double, bringing up Andy Pafko:

Now it was 3-1 Chicago, and time was running out for the Cardinals.

The Big Blast

Schoendienst ground out to start off the bottom of the 8th inning, with time running out. Marion came back up for the Cardinals, and proceeded to force a walk on 7 pitches. That brought up Rice again, and it was time to bunt:

I thought for a second that replacement firstbaseman Clarence Maddern wasn’t going to make a play at all. He did get Rice at first, but the Cardinals clearly had something going, even with two out.

Up came Pollet. You’re going to think that the obvious move would be to send up a pinch hitter. Pollet was pitching well, however, and I wanted to give him a chance to show me what he was made of:

The Cubs woes continued, and now it was Slaughter’s turn, once again:

In came Bob Chipman to pitch. Chipman was the 4th Chicago pitcher of this game, and seemed to be a desperate choice for a desperate time. He faced Eddie Kazak:

This was the absolute worst case scenario for the Cubs. What should have been a quiet inning had now turned into a nightmare. The bases were loaded with two outs. One run was in, and that precious lead was now only 3-2. And up came none other than Stan Musial, arguably the greatest hitter in the National League:

Goodnight, everybody.