GAME 1
HARLEM WINS A SQUEAKER 4-3; TAKE WORLD SERIES OPENER
The early returns are not disappointing for Harlem fans. Bill Walker shut down the Burns offense after some early trouble, the Knight bullpen was outstanding for
the final four frames and the Harlem batsmen clubbed out 16 hits.
The pageantry of the opening ceremonies was only exceeded by the luminaries in the crowd. On hand for the ceremonial first pitch was the President of the United
States, Herbert Hoover. Mr. Hoover has made the DBS World Series an annual event, despite the economic woes plaguing the nation.
Other faces in the crowd were Spanish surrealist painter Salvador Dali, who earlier this year presented one of his finest works to date, Persistence of Memory. The
DBS was also well represented by Fremont manager and pitcher Jack Quinn, North Dallas' Mel Ott and Johnny Burnett, Sahara's Sam Rice and Pawtucket pitcher Ray Kolp.
On hand to lead the crowd in the Star Spangled Banner, was Academy Award winning actress Helen Hayes. Ms. Hayes, who wowed movie house audiences with her
performance in The Sin of Madelon Claudet, equally impressed the Montgomery crowd with her rendition of our National Anthem.
With the pre-game festivities concluded, Montgomery drew first blood in the bottom of the first inning. With two out, Paul Waner tripled past a diving Chuck Klein and
arrived at third amidst a wave of raucous cheers among the partisan crowd. Rogers Hornsby turned the wave of adulation into a sea when he yanked a breaking ball from Bill
Walker into the upper deck in right field to give the Burns a quick lead, 2-0. The 53,383 in attendance refused to be seated until the valiant second baseman emerged from the
dugout and doffed his cap.
The Harlem batsmen, however, were unimpressed. The Knights put four base runners in play in the first two innings off of Montgomery's ace Pat Malone only to be
squelched by timely defensive gems from the Burns' fielders. However, in the third, Malone allowed two quick singles to Lefty O'Doul and Babe Ruth before striking out
Chuck Klein. The Mississippi Mudcat then hung a curve ball to Knight first baseman Don Hurst, who deposited it into the upper deck in left field for a home run that gave
the Knights a 3-2 lead.
The crushing home run rattled Malone, who seemed clearly tired after a long season in which he was called upon to lead the Montgomery moundsmen charge to
the division title. After the round tripper he allowed another single and a walk before Burns skipper Wilbert Robinson removed him from the game in favor of Syl Johnson.
Like his predecessor, Johnson benefited from sparkling defense. In the top of the fourth inning, Johnson loaded the bases with three consecutive singles by
Buddy Myer, O'Doul (who was 4 for 5) and Ruth. Chuck Klein then laced a wicked two-hopper right to shortstop Woody English who tagged out O'Doul, who was
racing to third. Keeping his wits about him, English then fired home to nab a sliding Myer at the plate for a double play. Johnson escaped the inning without further incident.
Harlem starter Bill Walker on the other hand, needed no such defensive wizardry from his mates. After the Hornsby homer, the left-hander settled down,
retiring the Burns in order in three of the next four innings. Walker fooled four Burns hitters with tantalizing off-speed pitches for strikeouts. Meanwhile, Walker's
teammates raised the ante by a run in the sixth inning when second baseman Myer homered into the left field stands to raise the Harlem lead to 4-2.
Walker was in such control that it raised some eyebrows when Knight manager Roger Peckinpaugh brought in Watty Clark to start the sixth inning. Clark,
however, proved to be a worthy substitute, as he managed to strand Montgomery runners in both the sixth and seventh innings.
In the eighth, Montgomery mounted a serious threat to the Harlem lead. With one out, Lloyd Waner singled and quickly stole second. This seemingly bothered
Clark, who then allowed a singled to Woody English that moved Lloyd to third. Lloyd's big brother Paul followed with a single that brought Lloyd home to cut the lead to 4-3.
The tension mounted as Hornsby strode to the plate. The owner of a double and a homer already in the game, the Montgomery clean-up man had an
opportunity to draw the home nine even. Clark battled him to a full count before Hornsby bounded into an inning ending double play that snuffed the rally.
Harlem faced one last desperate charge from Montgomery in the ninth. With Tom Zachary on the hill in place of Clark, Mickey Cochrane singled with one out.
Defensive replacement Eric McNair popped out to second and the Burns hopes rested on pinch-hitter Smead Jolley. Jolley never had an opportunity to tie the score.
With the count 1-1, Cochrane took off for second in an attempt to steal. Bill Dickey's throw to shortstop Cronin was perfect, and the shortstop tagged �Black Mike�
on the thigh for the final out of the game. Harlem prevailed 4-3, leaving the Burns and the capacity crowd in a state of stunned silence.
Game Two will be played on Friday and will feature a pitching match-up of Wes Ferrell for Montgomery and Lefty Grove taking the hill for Harlem. Grove
was 4-1 vs. the Burns this season, including a near miss of a no-hitter. Ferrell on the other hand, won only two of five starts against the Knights, but one of those was
an impressive 1-0 decision against Grove.
| HARLEM | AB | R |
H | RBI |
MONTGOMERY | AB | R |
H | RBI |
|---|
| Myer, 2b | 5 | 1 |
2 | 1 |
LWaner, cf | 3 | 1 |
0 | 0 |
| O'Doul, lf | 5 | 1 |
4 | 0 |
English, ss | 4 | 0 |
1 | 0 |
| Ruth, rf | 4 | 1 |
2 | 0 |
PWaner, rf | 3 | 1 |
2 | 1 |
| Klein, cf | 5 | 0 |
2 | 0 |
Hornsby, 2b | 4 | 1 |
2 | 2 |
| Hurst, 1b | 5 | 1 |
2 | 3 |
RrCollins, 1b | 4 | 0 |
0 | 0 |
| Dickey, c | 4 | 0 |
1 | 0 |
Cochrane, c | 3 | 0 |
2 | 0 |
| Stripp, 3b | 4 | 0 |
1 | 0 |
Traynor, 1b | 2 | 0 |
0 | 0 |
| Cronin, ss | 3 | 0 |
1 | 0 |
Douthit, ph | 1 | 0 |
0 | 0 |
| Walker, p | 2 | 0 |
0 | 0 |
McNair, 3b | 1 | 0 |
0 | 0 |
| Haas, ph | 1 | 0 |
0 | 0 |
Manush, lf | 2 | 0 |
0 | 0 |
| Clark, p | 1 | 0 |
1 | 0 |
Alexander, 1b | 1 | 0 |
0 | 0 |
| Zachary, p | 0 | 0 |
0 | 0 |
Jolley, lf | 0 | 0 |
0 | 0 |
| | |
| |
Malone, p | 0 | 0 |
0 | 0 |
| | |
| |
SyJohnson, p | 2 | 0 |
1 | 0 |
| | |
| |
Miller, ph | 1 | 0 |
0 | 0 |
| | |
| |
PCollins, p | 0 | 0 |
0 | 0 |
| | | | |
| | |
| |
| TOTAL | 39 | 4 |
16 | 4 |
TOTAL | 31 | 3 |
8 | 3 |
| HARLEM | 003 | 001 | 000 |
- | 4 16 0 |
| MONTGOMERY | 200 | 000 | 010 |
- | 3 8 0 |
DP: Harlem, 3; Montgomery, 4. LOB: Harlem, 11; Montgomery, 4. 2B: O'Doul, (1); Hornsby, (1).
3B: P. Waner, (1). HR: Myer, (1); Hurst, (1); Hornsby, (1). SB: O'Doul, (1); L. Waner, (1). CS: Cochrane, (1).
| HARLEM | IP | H |
R | ER |
BB | SO |
MONTGOMERY | IP | H |
R | ER |
BB | SO |
|---|
| Walker (W 1-0) | 5 | 4 |
2 | 2 |
1 | 4 |
Malone (L 0-1) | 2.2 | 7 |
3 | 3 |
2 | 1 |
| Clark | 3 | 3 |
1 | 1 |
2 | 1 |
SyJohnson | 5.1 | 7 |
1 | 1 |
0 | 0 |
| Zachary (S1) | 1 | 1 |
0 | 0 |
0 | 0 |
PCollins | 1 | 2 |
0 | 0 |
1 | 0 |
Umpires: Home, Klem;
1b, Nallin; 2b; McGowan; 3b; Owens; lf; Geisel; rf; Reardon
T: 2:33 A: 53,383
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