Tommy Thevenow hit two regular season home runs in 1926. Then he hit another in that year's Fall Classic. Those three would prove to be the only longballs of his MLB career! So the St. Louis Cardinals of '26 were getting power from the player you'd expect the least to do it!
Tommy wasn't much of a threat at the dish as he hit just .247 lifetime, so this has got to be one of the least likely World Series home runs ever.
It was in game two vs. the New York Yankees. I guess the fact that it came against a team that had Babe Ruth made it seem all the more unlikely. The Babe and his 'mates had taken game one, at home, 2-1. But Ruth did not go deep.
In game two, it was the Yankees' Urban Shocker and the Cardinals' Grover Cleveland Alexander. Thevenow got a single in the top of the second, but was subsequently stranded by the Cards. New York made 'em pay for that when they scored twice in the bottom of the frame. When you miss, the other team doesn't. It just seems like that in the Fall Classic!
But St. Louis came back with a pair of their own in the top of the third, in this most important game. And Alexander settled down. For a while, though, Shocker matched him.
In the top of the eighth, St. Louis pulled ahead. Thevenow singled a runner to third. Then, with two on and two outs, Billy Southworth proved his worth by belting a three-run home run. It must have shocked Shocker and the Yankees! Suddenly, it was 5-2, St. Louis.
However, there was still our boy's moment right? That came in the top of the ninth. You have Ruth and Lou Gehrig on New York, so a comeback isn't out of the question at this stage of the game. St. Louis would need more. And they got it.
New York had a new pitcher on the hill. Sad Sam Jones. Thevenow came up with the bases empty and one out. He hit a fly to right that dropped in despite Babe Ruth's best effort. Tommy raced around the bases and beat The Babe's throw home. It was the last run of the game. Ruth himself was the second last out of the game.
The World Series is like that sometimes. You have great sluggers who fail to go yard. And then you have someone who has no right to hit a home run, even an inside-the-park one. Thevenow went on to play exactly 1000 more games in the regular season, and even seven most games in the Fall Classic without ever hitting another home run! The Babe would hit three home runs alone in game four of this clash!
But that is what makes the Fall Classic so fun to watch! Imagine today, in the social media age. How would you hastag it? Here's how I would:
#TheBabe fails to #goyard and #Thevenow #does!
References
Enders, Eric. 100 Years Of The World Series. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005. Print.
Neft, David S., Richard M. Cohen, and Michael L. Neft. The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball, 1992. 12th ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. Print.
Nemec, David et all. 20th Century Baseball Chronicle: A Year-by-year History of Major League Baseball. Collector's Edition. Lincolnwood, Ill: Publications International, 1993. Print.
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 30 Sept. 2014.
Thorn, John, and Pete Palmer. Total Baseball. Vers. 1994. Portland, OR: Creative Multimedia Corp., 1994. Computer software. CD-ROM.
Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 30 Sept. 2014. <https://en.wikipedia.org>.
Tommy wasn't much of a threat at the dish as he hit just .247 lifetime, so this has got to be one of the least likely World Series home runs ever.
It was in game two vs. the New York Yankees. I guess the fact that it came against a team that had Babe Ruth made it seem all the more unlikely. The Babe and his 'mates had taken game one, at home, 2-1. But Ruth did not go deep.
In game two, it was the Yankees' Urban Shocker and the Cardinals' Grover Cleveland Alexander. Thevenow got a single in the top of the second, but was subsequently stranded by the Cards. New York made 'em pay for that when they scored twice in the bottom of the frame. When you miss, the other team doesn't. It just seems like that in the Fall Classic!
But St. Louis came back with a pair of their own in the top of the third, in this most important game. And Alexander settled down. For a while, though, Shocker matched him.
In the top of the eighth, St. Louis pulled ahead. Thevenow singled a runner to third. Then, with two on and two outs, Billy Southworth proved his worth by belting a three-run home run. It must have shocked Shocker and the Yankees! Suddenly, it was 5-2, St. Louis.
However, there was still our boy's moment right? That came in the top of the ninth. You have Ruth and Lou Gehrig on New York, so a comeback isn't out of the question at this stage of the game. St. Louis would need more. And they got it.
New York had a new pitcher on the hill. Sad Sam Jones. Thevenow came up with the bases empty and one out. He hit a fly to right that dropped in despite Babe Ruth's best effort. Tommy raced around the bases and beat The Babe's throw home. It was the last run of the game. Ruth himself was the second last out of the game.
The World Series is like that sometimes. You have great sluggers who fail to go yard. And then you have someone who has no right to hit a home run, even an inside-the-park one. Thevenow went on to play exactly 1000 more games in the regular season, and even seven most games in the Fall Classic without ever hitting another home run! The Babe would hit three home runs alone in game four of this clash!
But that is what makes the Fall Classic so fun to watch! Imagine today, in the social media age. How would you hastag it? Here's how I would:
#TheBabe fails to #goyard and #Thevenow #does!
References
Enders, Eric. 100 Years Of The World Series. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005. Print.
Neft, David S., Richard M. Cohen, and Michael L. Neft. The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball, 1992. 12th ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. Print.
Nemec, David et all. 20th Century Baseball Chronicle: A Year-by-year History of Major League Baseball. Collector's Edition. Lincolnwood, Ill: Publications International, 1993. Print.
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 30 Sept. 2014.
Thorn, John, and Pete Palmer. Total Baseball. Vers. 1994. Portland, OR: Creative Multimedia Corp., 1994. Computer software. CD-ROM.
Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 30 Sept. 2014. <https://en.wikipedia.org>.
No comments:
Post a Comment