 |
|
ERNIE JOHNSON |
THE LAST ONE FOR 86 YEARS
Johnson's sprint for home beats the Sox
June 16, 1918 ...
Running wild in the ninth inning, Ernie Johnson, slick infielder for the Browns, stole the game from the Red Sox 2 to 1, after the score had stood one all for a long time. Johnson carried over the winning run after two men were out.
He was on first by virtue of being chosen to run for Pete Johns and made a dash for second base. Sox catcher, Wally Schang's throw was low, and the ball rolled into right field. Johnson picked himself out of the dust and headed for third, not pausing there but sprinting for home, while the ball
followed him, just a split second after he slid across the plate.
Tim Hendryx opened the inning with a grounder that took a high bounce just before it reached Fred Thomas at third base. Thomas made a clever stop, but Hendryx beat the throw to first. Pete Johns went to bat for Earl Smith and after failing to sacrifice, forced Hendryx at second, with a fielder's
choice. Johnson went to first to pinch run for Johns and that was the turning point of the game.
The Browns scored their first run in the second inning. Hendryx opened with a line drive to Whiteman, and Smith hit a hard grounder that bounced off Dave Shean's leg and rolled into right field for a double. With Joe Gedeon up, Smith stole third, which pulled the
Boston infield in on the grass. Then Gedeon made good with a single to center, scoring Smith.
The Sox tied the score in the seventh. George Whiteman began with a double to left-center. Everett Scott bounced a high one off the plate that Les Nunamaker ran after and made a good play getting him at first base. The Sox third-base coach seeing that home plate
was left uncovered, sent Whiteman home and he slid in about the same time that Nunamaker received George Sisler's throw back to him. Scotty was safe when the St. Louis catcher dropped the ball.
St. Louis pitcher, Urban Shocker, struck out five men in the first three innings. He passed Babe Ruth intentionally three times, when each time a hit would have meant a run. |
