GAME 4
RUTH CRUSHES THREE; KNIGHTS EVEN SERIES
ST. LOUIS, MO (AP) – In response to the St. Louis power twins of Al Simmons and Jimmie Foxx, the Harlem Knights showed
some muscle of their own in Game 4 of the 1930 World Championship Series. Knight outfielder Babe Ruth clubbed three
home runs, and Chuck Klein added two more as the Harlem Knights defeated the St. Louis Bubonic Plague 13 to 7. The
Knight victory now evens the best-of-seven series at two games apiece.
A slight delay forced the start of the game to be pushed back nearly ten-minutes. Lowell Thomas, an NBC
reporter who on September 29 began a nightly radio network news program, had some difficulty getting some equipment
off the field. Thomas, on assignment for the Series, and his crew had to move several heavy pieces of radio equipment
due to the fact that Thomas was broadcasting live. It is believed that Thomas' broadcast was the first “pre-game”
show in baseball history.
After the short delay, Benny Meroff, who earlier this year had a #1 hit in “Happy Days Are Here Again,” led
the crowd in the singing of the national anthem. Newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, on hand to throw out the
ceremonial first pitch followed Meroff to the pitcher's mound. Citizen Hearst, who owns 33 newspapers nationwide,
including 21 that are covering the Series, brought his own special baseball that he called “Rosebud” and delivered a
perfect strike to Plague catcher Luke Sewell.
With the festivities out of the way, a determined Harlem came out of the chutes slugging. With two out in the
first, Plague pitcher Bill Hallahan, much maligned by the St. Louis media and fans due to his Game One performance,
walked Babe Ruth. Chuck Klein followed the Bambino with a towering home run that gave the Knights an early 2-0
advantage. The next batter, Carl Reynolds, also hit a home run to up the ante to 3-0, and the typically impatient
Plague fans began giving Hallahan the business. Although he struck out Bill Dickey to end the first, the St. Louis
faithful at Plague Stadium mercilessly rode “Wild Bill” as he made his way to the dugout.
St. Louis was able to chip away at the Knight lead when Jimmie Foxx launched a solo home run to lead off the
second, reducing the deficit to 3-1. However, the Plague were unable to do any further damage despite a Knight error
and a single. Knight starter Lefty Grove was able to work out of trouble by inducing a ground ball from Charlie
Gelbert and striking out Hallahan.
The Knights extended their lead in the third. Joe Cronin led off the inning with a single, and Babe Ruth
followed with a monstrous two-run shot that pushed Harlem ahead 5-1. It was the first of three homers the “Sultan
of Swat” would hit on the day. A solo shot by Joe Stripp in the fourth and a two run blast by Chuck Klein, his
second of the ballgame, made the score 8-1. A dejected Hallahan was removed from the game, much to the mock delight
of the St. Louis crowd.
The Plague offense, meanwhile, continued to squander scoring opportunities. After a Johnny Hodapp homer to lead off
the fifth narrowed the margin to 8-2, St. Louis promptly put two runners on with only one out. However, a baserunning
mistake by Al Simmons led to the second out, and essentially ran the Plague out of a tremendous scoring chance.
Simmons was on third with one out when Tony Lazzeri bounced a high-hopper to shortstop. The slow-footed Simmons took
off for the plate, and rather there being a close play at first, Knight shortstop Joe Cronin easily fired to catcher
Bill Dickey and tagged out Simmons for the out. With the lead runner erased, Grove calmly retired Jimmie Wilson to
end the threat.
Back-to-back home runs by Cronin and Ruth in the sixth put two more runs on the Knight tally, bringing the score to
10-2, but the Plague made a brief response, scoring three in the bottom of the frame.
Pinch-hitter Joe Judge singled with one out and was followed by a single by Earl Combs. Hodapp crunched his second
homer of the game, a three-run shot that cut the lead to 10-5 and gave the St. Louis fans hope. Grove retired Al
Simmons for the second out, but by this point had thrown 110 pitches and was relieved by Milt Gaston. Gaston promptly
walked Jimmie Foxx and Dick Porter and the St. Louis fans were rocking. However, Tony Lazzeri grounded into a easy
fielder's choice to waste the scoring chance.
Harlem demoralized St. Louis by scoring two more in the seventh on a double by Buddy Myer and one in the eighth on
Ruth's third home run of the game. These runs raised the lead to 13-5 as many loyal Plague fans uncharacteristically
headed for the exits.
But the Plague kept fighting. Jimmie Foxx hit his second home run in the bottom of the eighth, a two-run shot that
cut the lead to 13-7. It was Foxx's sixth home run of the Series as “The Beast” has hit two in each of the last three
games. However, it was the last charge St. Louis would make. Squandered opportunities, the Plague stranded 13 runners
in the game, haunted them several times in Game Four.
However, the story of Game Four was the hitting of Babe Ruth and Chuck Klein. The two Harlem sluggers were a combined
6 for 8, hit five home runs, drove in eight and scored seven. Ruth was perfect on the day going 4 for 4 with three
home runs and double, four RBI and five runs scored.
The Harlem victory not only evened the Series, but returned home field advantage to the Knights. Game Five will be
the last game played in 1930 in St. Louis, as the Plague turn to George Pipgras to lead the charge. Pipgras, one of
the Plague's best starters during the regular season, was rocked in Game Two, pitching to only four batters and
giving up four runs. It is unknown at press time who will be opposing Pipgras for Harlem, but several strong rumors
have indicated that Knight rookie Pat Caraway may receive the starting nod. Caraway has had an on-going war of words
with the St. Louis media and front office and has been instrumental in much of the bad blood between the teams.
Game Five is shaping up to be a interesting affair.
| HARLEM | AB | R |
H | RBI |
ST LOUIS | AB | R |
H | RBI |
|---|
| Myer, 2b | 6 | 0 |
1 | 2 |
Combs, cf | 6 | 1 |
2 | 0 |
| Cronin, ss | 5 | 2 |
2 | 1 |
Hodapp, 2b | 6 | 3 |
3 | 4 |
| Ruth, rf | 4 | 5 |
4 | 4 |
Simmons, lf | 4 | 0 |
1 | 0 |
| Klein, cf | 4 | 2 |
2 | 4 |
Foxx, 1b | 4 | 2 |
2 | 3 |
| Reynolds, lf | 4 | 1 |
1 | 1 |
Porter, rf | 4 | 0 |
1 | 0 |
| Dickey, c | 5 | 0 |
0 | 0 |
Lazzeri, 3b | 5 | 0 |
2 | 0 |
| Kelly, 1b | 5 | 1 |
3 | 0 |
Wilson, c | 3 | 0 |
0 | 0 |
| Stripp, 3b | 4 | 1 |
1 | 1 |
West, ph | 1 | 0 |
1 | 0 |
| Grove, p | 3 | 0 |
0 | 0 |
LSewell, ph | 1 | 0 |
1 | 0 |
| Gaston, p | 0 | 1 |
0 | 0 |
Gelbert, ss | 3 | 0 |
0 | 0 |
| | |
| |
JSewell, ss | 1 | 0 |
1 | 0 |
| | |
| |
Hallahan, p | 1 | 0 |
0 | 0 |
| | |
| |
Luque, p | 0 | 0 |
0 | 0 |
| | |
| |
Judge, ph | 1 | 1 |
1 | 0 |
| | |
| |
Bell, p | 1 | 0 |
0 | 0 |
| | |
| |
Boone, ph | 1 | 0 |
0 | 0 |
| | | | |
| | |
| |
| TOTAL | 40 | 13 |
14 | 13 |
TOTAL | 42 | 7 |
15 | 7 |
| HARLEM | 302 | 122 | 210 |
- | 13 14 2 |
| ST LOUIS | 010 | 013 | 020 |
- | 7 15 0 |
E: Kelly, (1); Ruth, (2). DP: Harlem, 2; St. Louis, 1. LOB: Harlem, 6; St. Louis, 13.
2B: Lazzeri, (1); Myer, (1); Ruth, (3).
HR: Cronin, (1); Ruth 3, (5); Klein 2, (4); Reynolds, (2); Stripp, (1); Hodapp 2, (3); Foxx 2, (6).
| HARLEM | IP | H |
R | ER |
BB | SO |
ST LOUIS | IP | H |
R | ER |
BB | SO |
|---|
| Grove (W 2-0) | 5.2 | 9 |
5 | 5 |
3 | 3 |
Hallahan (L 0-2) | 4.2 | 9 |
8 | 8 |
2 | 5 |
| Gaston | 3.1 | 5 |
2 | 2 |
3 | 1 |
Luque | 1.1 | 2 |
2 | 2 |
1 | 2 |
| | |
| |
| |
Bell | 3 | 3 |
3 | 3 |
3 | 0 |
Umpires: Home, McCormick;
1b, Klem; 2b; Wilson; 3b; Nallin; lf; McGowan; rf; Owens
T: 3:14 A: 45,519
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