Tonight's win by the Chicago Cubs was their first win not going to extra inning since game three of the 1945 Fall Classic? And did the winning pitcher for Chicago ever pitch well. And his hitting was pretty good, too.
Detroit and Chicago split the first two games of the '45 World Series, but the Tigers should have had the edge in the third contest at home. They had Hank Greenberg and Rudy York and were looking for some serious offence.
It never came in this game.
Claude Passeau, the Cubs starter, was 17-9 with a 2.46 ERA in 1945, so he was the right man to stop the Tigers. And stop them he did. They went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the first. In the second inning, York got the home team's first hit of the game, but he was stranded. Detroit would not get another hit the entire game.
The Cubs, meanwhile, scored twice in the top of the fourth, and that was all Passeau needed. The Tigers coaxed a walk from him in the bottom of the sixth, swiftly erased via a double play. Passeau helped out his own cause by hitting a sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh to make it 3-0, Chicago.
Passeau finished the game in style, retiring the last eleven Detroit batters, giving Chicago a 3-0 lead and a 2-1 lead in the Fall Classic that year. Detroit, however, won the next two games to force Chicago to the brink of elimination.
Passeau pitched game six at Wrigley. Claude was not as effective as he'd been in game three. He allowed three runs over 6 2/3 IP. His team went on to an extra inning, 8-7 win. The joy was short-lived, however. Two days later, the visitors won 9-3 to take the 1945 World Series. The Tigers would have to wait until 1968 to return to the Fall Classic, whereas the Cubs would have to wait 71 years to return.
But the 1945 World Series, despite the lop-sided game seven, was very exciting. Passreau had to work hard in his 3-0 game, and even his own bat was needed for that effort. The World Series had started with a lot of promise, as the Cubs blanked 'em 9-0 in the first contest. Every game after that, with the exception of the sixth one, was a pretty good effort on the winning pitcher's part, despite the final score.
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.
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 26 Oct. 2016.
Retrosheet. Web. 26 Oct. 2016. <www.retrosheet.org>
Detroit and Chicago split the first two games of the '45 World Series, but the Tigers should have had the edge in the third contest at home. They had Hank Greenberg and Rudy York and were looking for some serious offence.
It never came in this game.
Claude Passeau, the Cubs starter, was 17-9 with a 2.46 ERA in 1945, so he was the right man to stop the Tigers. And stop them he did. They went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the first. In the second inning, York got the home team's first hit of the game, but he was stranded. Detroit would not get another hit the entire game.
The Cubs, meanwhile, scored twice in the top of the fourth, and that was all Passeau needed. The Tigers coaxed a walk from him in the bottom of the sixth, swiftly erased via a double play. Passeau helped out his own cause by hitting a sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh to make it 3-0, Chicago.
Passeau finished the game in style, retiring the last eleven Detroit batters, giving Chicago a 3-0 lead and a 2-1 lead in the Fall Classic that year. Detroit, however, won the next two games to force Chicago to the brink of elimination.
Passeau pitched game six at Wrigley. Claude was not as effective as he'd been in game three. He allowed three runs over 6 2/3 IP. His team went on to an extra inning, 8-7 win. The joy was short-lived, however. Two days later, the visitors won 9-3 to take the 1945 World Series. The Tigers would have to wait until 1968 to return to the Fall Classic, whereas the Cubs would have to wait 71 years to return.
But the 1945 World Series, despite the lop-sided game seven, was very exciting. Passreau had to work hard in his 3-0 game, and even his own bat was needed for that effort. The World Series had started with a lot of promise, as the Cubs blanked 'em 9-0 in the first contest. Every game after that, with the exception of the sixth one, was a pretty good effort on the winning pitcher's part, despite the final score.
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.
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 26 Oct. 2016.
Retrosheet. Web. 26 Oct. 2016. <www.retrosheet.org>
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