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JIM BAGBY |
THE CURSE OF THE BAMBINO, PART 2 ...
A POWERFUL RED SOX TEAM FAILS
IN THE WORLD SERIES ....
Jim Bagby shuts out the Senators, 1-0
September 5, 1946 ... Jim Bagby, one of Joe Cronin's prize pickups, pitched the Red Sox a notch closer to the championship, when he shut
out the Washington Senators before 17,000 in a dramatic game at Griffith Stadium. The run which produced the latest success and kept the Red Sox 16 1/2 game lead over the Yankees, was fashioned in the second inning on Bobby Doerr's triple and Glenn Russell's single. The Sox played superbly.
Bagby gave up nine hits, but when the pressure was on, Washington couldn't beg, borrow or steal a hit. Most of the hits were of the infield variety. Mickey Vernon made a lone single, while Johnny Pesky, Ted Williams and Dom DiMaggio all gained ground in the four way fight for the American
League batting crown.
The Sox increased their current winning streak to eight, and all three of Boston's batting leaders pounded out a pair of hits. Besides his two singles, Williams also drew a walk.
Bagby's superb pitching gave the Red Sox their seventh successive night victory. In scoring his first shutout of the year and his seventh win, Bagby never worked better, since Cronin brought him back from Cleveland. A couple of cheap squibbers had him in trouble in the second inning, but he
got out of the hole by getting Joe Grace on a fly ball and also raced over to first to take Rudy York's throw to rub out Vernon.
The Nats had two men on base in the sixth with one out, when Vernon pushed a bouncer between Doerr and York. Bagby walked Cecil Travis on a 3-2 pitch, but he got Gerry Priddy to fly out and end the threat. Bagby got into a little more trouble in the ninth-inning, when with a man on base,
pitcher Early Wynn pushed a double down the left-field foul line. A fly ball to DiMaggio ended that threat.
Before the game, Joe Cronin went to Georgetown hospital to visit his friend and teammate Walter Johnson. Johnson can't speak, but he cried when he saw Cronin. Cronin fought back a tear as he called Johnson probably the best friend he had in baseball. He told Johnson how he wished that he was
still pitching now that night baseball had come around. He was sure that Walter would have struck out many more batters in night games. |
