|
THE CURSE OF THE BAMBINO, PART 2 ...
A POWERFUL RED SOX TEAM FAILS
IN THE WORLD SERIES ...
Ted hits for the cycle with seven
hits, in doubleheader sweep
July 21, 1946 ... While the Red Sox were twice sinking the Browns by scores of 5 to 0 and 7 to 4, Ted Williams was making seven
successive
hits, four of which rounded out coveted cycle of a single, a double, a triple and a home run, which was his 27th of the season in the second game. It was the first time that Ted as ever turn the cycle, made seven straight hits, or collected seven safeties in a doubleheader.
It was the 10th Sox sweep of a doubleheader which saw Dave Ferriss fashion his fifth shutout of the season and his 15th win in the opening game. It also gave Joe Cronin's crew an 11 1/2 game lead over the Yankees who lost to the White Sox.
Ted flied out lazily to Walt Judnich in short center, for his first time up against Tex Shirley in the opener. He then singled off Shirley, singled off lefty Stan Ferens and doubled off Ellis Kinder. In the second game the Kid socked his homer into the far end of the right field grandstand
extension, to provide the first Sox run in the second inning of the nightcap. Cliff Fannin was the starter and destined to suffer his first major league loss in three starts.
In the next inning Ted tripled off the St. Louis bullpen wall, with the ball caroming off Judnich's shins to give Ted an extra base after it bounded off the barrier. Ted completed the decimation of Fannin with a run producing single into center during the four run uprising in the fifth
inning. Williams was the first batter to face lefty Sam Zolak in the seventh and he rounded out his cycle by doubling down the first base line into right field.
Ted came up again against Zolak in the eighth-inning and demonstrated that he used human after all. He looked at three straight strikes to end the inning. Still his seven for nine boosted his batting average twelve points to .365 as he regained the American League lead by eight points over
Mickey Vernon, who only went 4 for 8 in his days work.
Dave Ferriss really was close to his best in the opening game. Like so many other ballplayers he lost the headlines only because is on the same team with the superstar Ted Williams. Dave allowed just five singles, didn't walk a man, let only three runners get beyond first, and faced just 31
batters. Ferriss struck out six, including called strikes on Vern Stephens, Johnny Berardino and Jeff Heath in the sixth inning.
Meanwhile, both Tex Shirley and Stan Ferens were victims of their own wildness. With two away in the third inning of the opening game and Johnny Pesky aboard after walking, Ted singled and Shirley walked both Bobby Doerr and Rudy York to force in another run. In the second game Ferens
started the fourth inning by passing Wagner. Wagner moved to third on groundouts and Dom DiMaggio sent a sinking double through Heath's legs to bring home Wagner. Pesky and Ted singled to bring in Dom.
Joe Dobson got credit for his 10th win in the second game but needed the help of firemen Bob Klinger. With the game tied at 2-2 in the fifth inning, Dobson himself started by walking. Then, in rapid succession, singles by Metkovich, Pesky, DiMaggio and Ted along with a sacrifice fly by Bobby
Doerr brought in four runs in a game the Sox ended up winning 7-4.
The Sox left for Chicago after the game with one group flying from Logan airport and another group leaving by train from the Huntington Avenue railroad station. |
