Yankees - Red Sox

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YouTube

I’ve got a surprise for you.

Starting with this game, I’ve been uploading video of me playing onto YouTube.

Come see for yourself:

Now, I’m not putting every single game on YouTube. There will be games I feature here that were not recorded for YouTube.

However, I have been uploading a game a day on YouTube. You can subscribe to my channel if you like. Note that the replay as showed on YouTube is a bit further along than it is in the blog; if you don’t want spoilers, you might want to just stick with the blog posts.

Yankees at Red Sox

We move along to April 23, 1949 — and here we’ve got a game for the ages.

Boston came into this one with a 4-0 record; the Yankees, meanwhile, were 3-1. Both teams were hitting well, and both teams looked to break into an early stride. You can never say that a late April matchup is crucial — but this one had an eerie October feel to it.

All was quiet until the bottom of the 5th inning, when Ted Williams came up with Tommy O’Brien on third:

Williams’ single scored the first run of the game, and it looked like it just might be enough to win it for Boston.

That darn computer manager was at it again in the top of the 7th inning. Ignoring Cliff Mapes’ excellent first few games, he decided to put Dick Kryhoski in to pinch hit. I consider this decision to be absolutely bizarre, but it worked out:

Kryhoski was forced at second by Gene Woodling on a fielder’s choice. After Bobby Brown lined out, Jerry Coleman came up in a clutch situation: runner on first with two outs in the top of the 7th.

Even though this didn’t actually happen in real life, I can imagine Coleman talking about it on one of his Padres radio broadcasts years later.

8th Inning

The 8th provided even more drama.

Phil Rizzuto managed a single with one out for the Yankees:

That brought up Tommy Henrich:

Yes, Johnny Pesky really should have made that play — and I was fuming on the bench.

Up next was none other than Yogi Berra, always a major threat:

The tying run scored on an infield miscue by Boston. There was no error, but the mistake was plain for all to see. And I was absolutely livid.

Boston managed to get out of the inning, and looked like they might score in the bottom of the 8th. Dom DiMaggio came up with one out:

Pesky flied out to center field, unfortunately, which left things up to Birdie Tebbetts:

And so we went to the ninth — and my heart was pounding.

9th Inning

Jerry Coleman came up again in the top of the 9th with two men out, and looked like he would start some magic:

However, he then made a really poor decision:

Again, this is Diamond Mind, not real life. However, if he were still alive, I’d love to sit down with him and ask what in the world he was thinking here.

Boston also had a brief rally in the bottom of the 9th. Up came Ellis Kinder with two men out:

Now, these two out singles usually don’t mean much, especially in the bottom of the 9th while facing Joe Page. However, this one simply felt different. And I really thought something was going to happen after this Williams at bat:

Ted knew how to get on base, didn’t he?

Two outs and two on now in the top of the ninth, and up came Vern Stephens. Williams and Stephens have provided all the fireworks for Boston so far this season, and I thought for sure Vern would end it.

And on we went.

10th Inning

I never would have dreamt that my Diamond Mind Baseball YouTube debut would go into extra innings. Not only had this game been dramatic so far, but it was only going to get better.

New York went down quietly in the 10th. Scooter did make a little noise, however:

Usually we’re talking about the wind in Fenway in 1949 blowing the ball out. Not today, though.

DiMaggio (the other one) gave Boston something to think about with one out in the bottom of the 10th:

Well, this is where I open myself up to criticism for being too aggressive on the basepaths:

In my defense, with one out and Pesky coming up, I thought the best idea was to stay away from the double play. I didn’t think Pesky would wind up swinging and missing like he did. I do think it was the right call, even in hindsight. I’ll blame the players for not executing correctly.

11th Inning

Berra led off the top of the 11th with a base hit, and moved to second on a ground ball by Johnny Lindell.

That brought up Woodling with two out. I’ve had to split this into two screenshots; apologies for the repeated text.

Didn’t I tell you that this felt like an October game? Berra came barreling in like Pete Rose, and yet Tebbetts still managed to block off the plate and hold on to the ball.

Man, what a way to start it out on YouTube!

The bottom of the 11th also had its share of drama. Billy Hitchcock hit a two out single:

In retrospect, a faster batter might have stretched that one to a double.

Up came Lou Stringer, a pinch hitter for pitcher Ellis Kinder. That’s right: I left Kinder in for all 11 innings.

Now, you might want to scream “inaccurate” at me for starting Ted Williams in the leadoff spot. However, it’s situations like this that compelled me to do it. If Boston is going to threaten in the bottom of the 11th, I want Ted up there. I want him to get as many plate appearances as possible.

And so up went Ted:

And down went Ted.

Well, you can’t win them all.

12th Inning

This was already one of the best games of the replay, and I was absolutely estatic that I had thought of recording it.

The Yankees went down quietly in the top of the 12th.

Boston, however, had other ideas.

After Stephens struck out, Bobby Doerr came up with one out:

I’ve seen a lot of rare plays in my replay history, but that’s the first time I’ve ever seen anything quite like this. A grounder hit towards third went foul, and then went fair again — and then Billy Johnson booted it for an error. And it just had to come up in the bottom of the 12th!

That brought up none other than Dom DiMaggio:

One only wonders what his injured brother Joe would have done in this situation.

Two out now, and Pesky came up to take his cuts:

And there was some poetic justice here, as Johnson atoned for his earlier mistake by making the force at second.

13th Inning

Are you feeling dizzy yet?

Henrich came back up after Phil Rizzuto popped up to lead things off for the Yankees:

That brought up Berra:

Now, you know what I think about intentional walks. Still, this was no time to mess around. With only one out and runners on second and third, there was no way in the world I was pitching to Hank Bauer.

I don’t care that Bauer didn’t have a hit in the game. I wasn’t going to let him beat me here. We took our chances with Lindell, rolling the dice with the bases loaded and only one out, with no place to put him.

There is simply no game out there like Diamond Mind Baseball for clutch moments like this. The play by play is simply captivating, and this was some of the most fun I’d had in ages.

Tebbetts came up in the bottom of the 13th, and it was time to go home:

I wish that Birdie would have just run home with that one. And what a bad play by Bauer out there in right, who was not having the best game of his career by any stretch.

Up came O’Brien again, with a chance to be a hero:

That was a gut-wrenching turn of the screw. There was one out now, runner on first, and Hitchcock was supposed to come up again. I decided to gamble one more time, and put the unheralded Matt Batts up to hit for him:

Haven’t I told you that I’m a genius?

I don’t know if my heart can stand any more games like this one.