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TED WILLIAMS WINS IT |
THE CURSE OF THE BAMBINO, PART 2 ...
A POWERFUL RED SOX TEAM FAILS
IN THE WORLD SERIES ...
Ted Williams with a walk-off
HR in the 10th inning
May 2, 1946 ... Ted Williams authored a stirring finish to the Detroit series when he rifled a home run in the last of the 10th inning at Fenway Park. The Sox won the game, their seventh
straight, by a 5-4 score and swept the three-game series from the world champions. Listless and lacking the usual spunk as a result of a heavy cold, Williams had made four harmless appearances at the plate in regulation. In the 10th, leading off, he took one called strike from Tommy Bridges who was finishing up for the Tigers.
The Kid swung viciously but missed a second pitch. With a 2-0 count, the third Bridges pitch came up low and fast. Williams bat swung in a lightning arc and the ball traveled almost like a line drive to right-center and into the Tigers bullpen. Right fielder Barney McCoskey started back the crack of the bat, but immediately
realized that pursuit was futile.
Up until the eighth inning, Hal Wagner's home run scoring Rudy York and Don DiMaggio in the second inning, still looked like the biggest blow of all. In the sixth inning the Sox scored their fourth run on Bobby Doerr's double and another hit by York.
In the course of the game, Tex Hughson was not from the box in a stormy four run eighth inning, after shutting out the Tigers with almost automatic superiority first seven innings. In the Detroit eighth inning, Hughson lost his sharpness. Two base hits and a walk produced two runs for
Detroit. Then, Eddie Mayo followed with a hit to right that scored Barney McCoskey. Dick Wakefield breezed home on Mike Higgins solid shot to center and took second when DiMaggio fumbled the ball. There were two men on base and Tex walked Pat Mullen to fill them up. Clem Dreisewerd came in
to relieve Mr. Hughson and worked Jimmy Outlaw for a pop up to end the inning, but the score was knotted at 4-4.
Eddie Pellagrini is finding it hard. He has whiffed 10 times in the last five games. |
