GAME 7
HARLEM KNIGHTS NEW DBS CHAMPIONS; HANG ON TO WIN GAME SEVEN 5-4
However, Malone began the game wild, walking two of the first three batters he faced and found himself in a bases loaded-nobody out jam
before the customers could get comfortable in the seats. With the sacks juiced, Malone dug deep down and struck out cleanup man Chuck Klein and the
dangerous Don Hurst. However, catcher Bill Dickey, mired in a Series slump, laced a single to bring home the first run of the inning and an early 1-0 lead.
The Knights added to their lead in the third when the red-hot O'Doul doubled and Babe Ruth was walked intentionally. Malone fooled Klein
again for the strikeout, but he was unable to solve Hurst and Dickey who both reached him for hits. The safeties both brought in runs and upped the
Harlem ante to 3-0.
French, meanwhile, displayed the poise of a veteran. Playing in the biggest game in the history of his team, he immediately established himself
against an anxious Burns lineup. French moved through the Montgomery order with relative ease early in the game, retiring 11 of the first 12 batters he
faced, and allowing only three baserunners in the first five innings.
Meanwhile, his mates were busy adding notches to the scoreboard. With Malone tiring in the fifth, the Knights squeezed a single from the weary
ace and then managed to coax a pair of walks to load the bases with no one out. Manager Wilbert Robinson removed the All-Star to bring in Jesse Haines,
and he promptly allowed a single to Joe Stripp that brought home Harlem's fourth run of the game. Haines managed to get through the inning without further
damage and kept the Burns down 4-0.
Montgomery was able to break through against French in the sixth. With one out, Lloyd Waner singled and Woody English followed with a walk.
Paul Waner singled his brother home, cutting the deficit to 4-1. However, the Burns squandered any further scoring opportunities as the heart of their order
went down meekly.
Harlem added their final run in the top of the eighth inning. Facing reliever Fred Heimach, Buddy Myer singled and O'Doul followed with his third
hit of the game, moving Myer to second. Babe Ruth laced a soft liner in front of left-fielder Heine Manush that brought home Myer with Harlem's fifth run of
the game and a late 5-1 Knight lead.
But Montgomery wasn't finished and was determined to give their fans a few more thrills. With two out in the eighth, all hoped seemed lost when
Paul Waner singled and Rogers Hornsby walked. Rookie first sacker Ripper Collins revived the congregation by blasting a French offering into the center field
stands for a three-run homer that cut the Harlem lead to 5-4. French ended the inning with no further damage.
It was at this point that Harlem skipper Roger Peckinpaugh made an interesting decision. Rather than remove his rookie hurler in favor of a reliever,
he allowed French to take the mound for the ninth inning. Speculation was that Watty Clark was tired after logging four tough innings in Game Six and that
Tom Zachary had been battered around in Game Five and Six. Therefore, instead of turning to a bullpen he felt was suspect, Peckinpaugh turned to his
rookie to win him a championship.
The ninth inning was not without drama. French calmly disposed of the first two men he faced in the ninth and was one strike away from the
championship when pinch-hitter Smead Jolley touched him for a double. Still, there was no action in the Harlem bullpen. Facing Lloyd Waner with the
title on the line, French induced a long fly ball that died in the vast spaces of the Power Plant outfield. Fittingly, O'Doul clenched it for the final out of the
inning, the game and the Series. The Harlem Knights were 1931 DBS champions, defeating the Montgomery Burns by a score of 5-4.
| HARLEM | AB | R |
H | RBI |
MONTGOMERY | AB | R |
H | RBI |
|---|
| Myer, 2b | 4 | 2 |
1 | 0 |
LWaner, cf | 5 | 1 |
1 | 0 |
| O'Doul, lf | 5 | 1 |
3 | 0 |
English, ss | 3 | 0 |
0 | 0 |
| Ruth, rf | 3 | 1 |
1 | 1 |
PWaner, rf | 4 | 1 |
2 | 1 |
| Klein, cf | 5 | 1 |
2 | 0 |
Hornsby, 2b | 3 | 1 |
0 | 0 |
| Hurst, 1b | 4 | 0 |
1 | 1 |
Rpr Collins, 1b | 4 | 1 |
1 | 3 |
| Dickey, c | 4 | 0 |
1 | 0 |
Cochrane, c | 4 | 0 |
2 | 0 |
| Stripp, 3b | 5 | 0 |
1 | 1 |
Traynor, 3b | 4 | 0 |
0 | 0 |
| Cronin, ss | 4 | 0 |
0 | 0 |
Manush, lf | 3 | 0 |
0 | 0 |
| French, p | 4 | 0 |
0 | 0 |
Malone, p | 1 | 0 |
0 | 0 |
| | |
| |
Haines, p | 0 | 0 |
0 | 0 |
| Grove, p | 2 | 0 |
0 | 0 |
Douthit, ph | 1 | 0 |
0 | 0 |
| | |
| |
PCollins, p | 0 | 0 |
0 | 0 |
| | |
| |
Alexander, ph | 1 | 0 |
0 | 0 |
| | |
| |
Heimach, p | 0 | 0 |
0 | 0 |
| | |
| |
Jolley, ph | 1 | 0 |
1 | 0 |
| | | | |
| | |
| |
| TOTAL | 38 | 5 |
11 | 5 |
TOTAL | 34 | 4 |
7 | 4 |
| HARLEM | 102 | 010 | 010 |
- | 5 11 1 |
| MONTGOMERY | 000 | 001 | 030 |
- | 4 7 0 |
E: Stripp, (). DP: Harlem, 2; Montgomery, 0. LOB: Harlem, 11; Montgomery, 6. 2B: O'Doul, (); Jolley, (). HR: R. Collins, (). CS: O'Doul, ()
| HARLEM | IP | H |
R | ER |
BB | SO |
MONTGOMERY | IP | H |
R | ER |
BB | SO |
|---|
| French (W 2-0) | 9 | 7 |
4 | 4 |
3 | 2 |
Malone (L 1-2) | 4 | 7 |
4 | 4 |
5 | 6 |
| | |
| |
| |
Haines | 2 | 2 |
0 | 0 |
0 | 0 |
| | |
| |
| |
PCollins | 1 | 0 |
0 | 0 |
0 | 1 |
| | |
| |
| |
Heimach | 2 | 2 |
1 | 1 |
0 | 2 |
Umpires: Home, Klem;
1b, Nallin; 2b; McGowan; 3b; Owens; lf; Geisel; rf; Reardon
T: 2:47 A: 40,895
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