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DOC CRAMER |
THE CURSE OF THE BAMBINO, PART 2 ...
A POWERFUL RED SOX TEAM FAILS
IN THE WORLD SERIES ....
The Sox overcome a big lead,
only to lose in the 14th inning
August 29, 1946 ... The Detroit Tigers completed a sweep of a two-game series by outlasting the Red Sox 9 to 8 in 14 innings at Fenway Park. Dave Ferriss took his sixth walk of the season to
the showers in the sixth inning, while the Tigers were ahead 6-4. His teammates climaxed their uphill chase by tying it at 8-8 in the eighth inning, preserving Dave's record of 11 straight wins and 23 triumphs all told, against only four setbacks.
Fireman Bob Klinger was the loser, his first one as a member of the Red Sox. Old Red Sox veteran, now Tiger, Doc Cramer delivered the starting and finishing blows. His all-important single in the 14th inning was the only hit off Klinger. Klinger walked George Kell start the 14th inning.
Kell, who had made four hits, including a double, during regulation, sprinted to third on Cramer's single to right, and came across when Hank Greenberg forced Doc at second base. Bobby Doerr fired the ball home in an attempt to double up Kell, but the throw was on the wide side of the dish
and George slid across before Hal Wagner's diving tag.
The Tigers, fighting for second place, gave the Sox the full treatment by using Al Benton, Virgil Trucks, and Dizzy Trout, with Dizzy getting credit for the win by tossing scoreless ball over the last 6 2/3 innings. Dizzy's high point came in the 12th inning when the Red Sox loaded the bases
with only one out on Leon Culberson's single, Johnny Pesky's bounding double over Hank Greenberg said an intentional pass to Ted Williams. It was Ted's 135th walk this season, his fourth of the day, all of which came after he belted his 34th homer. However, Bobby Doerr, who had tripled Ted
home with the tying run in the eighth inning, slapped a grounder down to Eddie Lake and his bullet throw forced Culberson at the plate. Birdie Tebbetts quickly threw to first to double up Doerr.
The Tigers jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the first inning when Cramer hit a double on top of George Kell's single. The Red Sox got the run back in the second inning on the first of Rudy York's three singles. Dom DiMaggio's sacrificed and Greenberg's muffed Skeeter Webb's throw on
Wagner's grounder.
Successive singles by Lake, Kell, Kramer, Greenberg, and Dick Wakefield molded four of the Tigers runs in the third inning. Ted Williams smash into the right field grandstand, following a walk to Culby, reduced the Tiger lead to 5-3 in the bottom of the third inning.
The Red Sox and Tigers each traded runs in the fifth and sixth inning, and the Tigers added one more in the seventh to give them an 8 to 5 lead. In the bottom of the seventh, singles by York and DiMaggio greeted reliever Virgil Trucks. Mike Higgins scored York and Tom McBride's pinch-hit
single sent Dominic across to make it 8 to 7. When Ted Williams walked in the eighth inning and Bobby Doerr tripled off the left centerfield wall, the score was tied and stayed that way until the 14th inning.
The Red Sox extra inning record is now five wins, four losses and one tie. Today's game equaled the longest of the season. |
