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HARRY HOOPER |
THE LAST ONE FOR 86 YEARS
Harry Hooper's hot bat
leads the Sox in St. Louis
July 29, 1918 ...
Babe Ruth took a turn on the pitcher's mound this afternoon at Sportsman Park and hurled and batted his team to a 3 to 2 victory over the Browns. The Babe held St. Louis to four hits, three of them being bunched in the sixth inning. At bat, Ruth played below his average, getting only one hit in four
times up, but this it was a triple to left-center.
Allen Sothoron, and Byron Houck pitched for St. Louis and hurled well enough to win a majority of the games. Sothoron when eight innings, giving way to a pinch-hitter. All of the Sox attack was concentrated against Sothoron. Seven hits was the sum total of the damage
the Sox did. He did not give a base on balls and Ruth's triple was the only extra-base hit.
Harry Hooper was as much responsible for the Browns defeat as any other one individual, scoring one run, driving in another, and fattening his batting average by hitting safely in each of his four trips to the plate. He opened the game with a single to right. Babe Ruth
tripled to score him.
For the next three innings, only three men each inning, were allowed to bat by Sothoron. Trouble started in the fifth inning, though, when George Whiteman singled to right and took second on Ray Demmitt's fumble. Wally Mayer singled over third to score, Whiteman, and
took second base on Jack Tobin's throw to the plate. Harry Hooper then lined one over first scoring Mayer, but Hooper was nailed at second when George Sisler intercepted the throw to the plate, and threw a strike to Joe Gedeon.
The Browns did not get a man to first until one was out in the fourth inning. In the sixth inning, with one gone, Jack Tobin shot a single through Frank Truesdale. Maisel doubled to left-center with Tobin held at third. George Sisler sent along fly out to Whiteman,
scoring Tobin with the Browns' first run. When Ray Demmitt bounced a ball over George Cochran's head, Maisel scored the Browns second run.
American League President, Ban Johnson today said he favored ending the season on August 20th and playing the World Series right after, to comply with Secretary Baker's "Work-or-Fight" deadline of September 1st.
August Herrmann, chairman of the national baseball commission, said that the club should play through Labor Day, and then he believed permission could be obtained for the World Series between the winning clubs, as it best those affected by the would not total more than
15 players on each team. Pittsburgh Pirates President Barney Dreyfuss said that the National League plans on playing until Labor Day, regardless of what the American League does. |
