Monday, December 23, 2013

World Series: Did You Know?

Babe Ruth was invovled in the last out of both the 1926 and 1928 World Series.

And both were against my St. Louis Cardinals.

Actually, it looked like Ruth was going to bring it home all by himself in 1926! In game 4 of the Series, The Sultan Of Swat went deep. Three times! The Yankees took the game, 10-5.

But the Series was destined to go the limit.

In game 7, Ruth continued his heroics by slugging a home run of Hall Of Famer Jessie Haines to put the Yankees up 1-0 in the bottom of the 3rd. But the Cards weren't about to let this Series slip away.

In the top of the 4th, the Cardinals scored 3 runs. Two costly errors did in the Yankees. Third basemen Joe Dugan and left fielder Bob Meusel made a gaffe each and that cost starting pitcher Waite Hoyt dearly. None of the runs scored were earned.

Hoyt left after 6 innings, having allowed just 5 hits. Herb Pennock came in and blanked the Cardinals the rest of the way. With Ruth, Lou Gehrig and some other potent hitters around, New York were far from finished.

Indeed, with 2 down in bottom of the 6th, Dugan singled. He must have felt some redemption as Hank Severeid (a rather underrated player playing his final game) drove him home with a double. When Spencer Adams came in to pinch run for Hank, Severeid's career was over. New York could not get him home.

But the Yankees looked like they were going to send Severeid out a winner as they loaded the bases the very next inning against Haines. In came Grover Cleveland Alexander.

The batter was Tony Lazzeri.

Lazzeri lined a pitch just foul down the line, which might have scored at least 2 runs. Grover then fanned poor Tony. Was that it?

With 2 down in the bottom of the 9th, all that stood between the Cardinals and the crown was Ruth. St. Louis had the smarts to walk him. Bob Meusel was next. But Ruth decided he needed to be in scoring position.

Ruth tried to steal and was gunned out by catcher Bob O'Farrell, who fired to Rogers Hornsby. Hornsby, (2nd basemen for those who don't know) slapped the tag on Ruth to end it.

But when the two teams played 2 years later, Ruth and his mates were out for revenge. Quick revenge. New York took the first 3 games 4-1, 9-3 and 7-3.

They actually trailed 2-1 in game 4, but a 4-run 7th put the Bombers up by 3 runs. Two more runs in the top of the 8th made it 7-2, Yankees.

In the bottom of the 9th, the Cardinals scored a run to make it 7-3. But there were now two outs. However, two singles put runners on the corners. Would the Yankees lose it now?

Frankie Frisch lifted a flyball in foul territory to left. It appeared to be heading into the seats.

Well, it was. But the very man who put a lot of baseballs into the seats (fair) was there to make sure it never made it! The Bambino, who was a better fielder than given credit for (and not to mention playing with a injured ankle), raced over and caught it over the railing. Ruth continued on into the dugout. There was nothing more to say, really.

But hey, when Ruth is involved in the last out of a World Series, what fan would not be on the edge of their seats?

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