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“DIARY OF A WINNER”
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THE LAST ONE FOR 86 YEARS August 20, 1918 ... The Cleveland Indians, before leaving town, kicked the stuffing out of the Red Sox by a score of 8-4 at Fenway Park. Everything on the baseball menu that was served to the fans who showed up was great, and if one was not cheering, one was groaning. Babe Ruth was sent back to pitch, and they whacked him around for 13 hits in seven innings. Walt Kinney, from Dallas, making his debut before the local audience, came into pitch in the eighth inning. Babe hit the ball hard, but not safe, and was in a couple of stunts that won him a deserved hand. In the second inning, when Steve O'Neill's foul pop bounced off the end of Wally Mayer's glove, Babe nonchalantly picked it out of the air before it at any opportunity to fall to the ground. In the sixth inning when Ray Chapman sacrificed, he got the ball and nailed him with a line drive throw to first base. For the third consecutive time, Stuffy McInnis demonstrated that it was a mistake to pass Babe to get to him. He knocked the strategy flat again in the first inning. Jim Bagby started for the Indians, holding the Sox to five hits in five innings, but he was fading toward the end, so manager Lee Fohl sent southpaw Fritz Coumbe in to pitch. After Fritz got warmed up the Sox folded up completely. Jack Graney's triple and Joe Wood's single gave Cleveland one run in the first inning. The Sox tied it up when Harry Hooper reached second on Ray Chapman's wild throw, was sacrificed to third by Dave Shean, and driven home by Stuffy after Ruth was walked on purpose. The Sox came back again in the second inning for another run on Wally Mayer's double and Hooper's single. In the third, the Indians tied the game when Bagby singled, was sacrificed by Grainy and knocked in by Ray Chapman. In the fourth, O'Neil tripled and scored on a fielder's choice when Dave Shean threw wild to third base, trying to get him. The Indians scored three more in the fifth inning on Jack Graney's double, Speaker's single, and Woods ground out that scored Graney. Speaker stole third and scored on Bob Bescher's hit. Wood was forced at third on a throw by Babe Ruth, when he tagged up on Doc Johnston's fly ball, but Terry Turner's single scored Bescher. The Indians and the Sox traded runs in the end, but the visitors ended up leaving the city with an 8 to 4 win. The National Baseball Commission met in Cincinnati today to discuss the logistics of the coming World Series, but shortly before the conclusion of the meeting, announced that no decisions relative to the schedule, umpires, eligible players and other details would be announced until later. The reason given was that the American League race was so close, that the members of the commission thought it would be better to delay, until the situation became more clear. |
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