Until this year, 2016, Don Johnson was the last batter for the Chicago Cubs in the Fall Classic. Not related to the actor. You know, from Miami Vice.
But Chicago was last in the World Series in 1945, when the lost to the Detroit Tigers. The Fall Classic went to a deciding seventh game at Wrigley. The Cubs had won a dramatic sixth game at home, 8-7 in extras, to force a winner-take-all last game. But like the Boston Red Sox of 30 years later, they came up short.
Hank Borowy started the game for the home team, but it was his third straight appearance. And Hank didn't last through even one inning. It was the Bengals that score five times in all that frame. Chicago could answer with only a single run in the bottom of the first. And it was Johnson that doubled and scored. But a lot of good that did.
In fact, that was about as close as it would get. A double play stopped any further scoring that inning, and Detroit was not finished. A run in the top of the second and the five-run cushion was restored. The home team scored their second run, but not until the bottom of the fourth. Hal Newhouser was just not going to allow the Cubs to make a game of this.
The Tigers scored run number seven in the top of the seventh, then plated two more the next inning. Hank Greenberg, who's day included two walks and two sacrifices, drove home the ninth run. Johnson was retired in the bottom of the frame, but the Cubs did score their third and final run.
Trailing 9-3 in the bottom of the ninth, Chicago got it's tenth hit (By Roy Hughes) to start the inning. But that proved to be it. Newhouser, sprinting to the finish line for the visitors, retired the next three batters, including Stan Hack on a fly and Don Johnson on a force at second.
You couldn't have told a Cub fan back then that there would be not return for over 70 years. No way! Chicago had, after all, won the World Series in 1907 and 1908. They'd even been there, losing to their crosstown rivals the White Sox in 1906. They made it back several times, including the start of the 10's, 1910. Then again in 1918, 1929. 1932, 1935 (Losing to the Tigers), 1938, and finally 1945. That was 10 times.
But it would be 71 years before they returned to the World Series. 2016 sees Chicago take on Cleveland.
References
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.
Neft, David S., and Richard M. Cohen. The World Series: Complete Play-by-play of Every Game, 1903-1989. 4th ed. New York: St. Martin's, 1990. Print. pp. 205.
Sports Reference LLC. "October 10, 1945 World Series Game 7, Tigers at Cubs" | Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ CHN/CHN194510100.shtml. Web. 23 Oct. 2016.
But Chicago was last in the World Series in 1945, when the lost to the Detroit Tigers. The Fall Classic went to a deciding seventh game at Wrigley. The Cubs had won a dramatic sixth game at home, 8-7 in extras, to force a winner-take-all last game. But like the Boston Red Sox of 30 years later, they came up short.
Hank Borowy started the game for the home team, but it was his third straight appearance. And Hank didn't last through even one inning. It was the Bengals that score five times in all that frame. Chicago could answer with only a single run in the bottom of the first. And it was Johnson that doubled and scored. But a lot of good that did.
In fact, that was about as close as it would get. A double play stopped any further scoring that inning, and Detroit was not finished. A run in the top of the second and the five-run cushion was restored. The home team scored their second run, but not until the bottom of the fourth. Hal Newhouser was just not going to allow the Cubs to make a game of this.
The Tigers scored run number seven in the top of the seventh, then plated two more the next inning. Hank Greenberg, who's day included two walks and two sacrifices, drove home the ninth run. Johnson was retired in the bottom of the frame, but the Cubs did score their third and final run.
Trailing 9-3 in the bottom of the ninth, Chicago got it's tenth hit (By Roy Hughes) to start the inning. But that proved to be it. Newhouser, sprinting to the finish line for the visitors, retired the next three batters, including Stan Hack on a fly and Don Johnson on a force at second.
You couldn't have told a Cub fan back then that there would be not return for over 70 years. No way! Chicago had, after all, won the World Series in 1907 and 1908. They'd even been there, losing to their crosstown rivals the White Sox in 1906. They made it back several times, including the start of the 10's, 1910. Then again in 1918, 1929. 1932, 1935 (Losing to the Tigers), 1938, and finally 1945. That was 10 times.
But it would be 71 years before they returned to the World Series. 2016 sees Chicago take on Cleveland.
References
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.
Neft, David S., and Richard M. Cohen. The World Series: Complete Play-by-play of Every Game, 1903-1989. 4th ed. New York: St. Martin's, 1990. Print. pp. 205.
Sports Reference LLC. "October 10, 1945 World Series Game 7, Tigers at Cubs" | Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ CHN/CHN194510100.shtml. Web. 23 Oct. 2016.
No comments:
Post a Comment