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TED WILLIAMS |
THE CURSE OF THE BAMBINO, PART 2 ...
A POWERFUL RED SOX TEAM FAILS
IN THE WORLD SERIES ...
Ted's 29th helps Ferriss win his 18th
August 3, 1946 ... When the Tigers pitched to Ted Williams with first base open in the first inning today, the grateful Kid responded with a three run homer. Ted's 29th provided just the
support needed by Dave Ferriss to celebrate his 18th victory party with a 5-3 verdict before 50,000 cash customers at Briggs Stadium.
Dave could very well have pitched a shutout, as he notched his sixth straight success, beating Detroit six times in as many starts this season. Some squeamish Red Sox fielding figured conspicuously when the Tigers scored all their runs in a three run seventh inning uprising.
In the first inning the Red Sox jumped out to a 3 to 0 lead as Wally Moses singled and Johnny Pesky doubled, preceding Williams first at-bat against Freddie Hutchinson, who went the distance for the Tigers. Ted took one strike then swung and missed at another. He took one ball and fouled off
another pitch. Then he unloaded on a high fastball and lined it into the lower right field seats a dozen feet to the left of the 325 foot sign at the foul pole. The smash boosted his RBI total to 97.
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MIKE HIGGINS GETS
INJURED BY GEORGE KELL |
The Sox made it 4-0 in the fifth inning on walks to Ted and Rudy York. Don Gutteridge stroked a two bagger to right. He replaced Mike Higgins, who received a two stitch spike wound above his left knee, tagging out George Kell at third base.
The Tigers slammed back for three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to make it 4 to 3. Boston added an insurance run in the eighth inning. Dom DiMaggio sparked the outburst with a double down the left-field line. Hal Wagner moved him along the third and Wally Moses brought him in on
his own double. With the added run working for good measure, Ferriss settled down and put the Tigers out in order for the last two innings to finish his 11th complete-game.
Ted Williams gave the fans a thrill when he smacked one of the pitches in pregame batting practice over the right field roof, just to the right of the record smash off Bob Harris early in the 1939 season. The resultant comparisons got Ted talking about the slump in home run hitting over the
past years. He thinks the ball in 1939 was livelier and with the advent of night baseball, he feels that a players a routine is thrown off and they are not a sharp. |
