 |
|
JOE
CRONIN |
THE SOX HAVE TWO
20 GAME WINNERS ...
Joe Cronin hits a
walk-off homer in the first
game but misses his opportunity in the second
August 7, 1935 ... The
Red Sox were forced to split a doubleheader with the New York
Yankees before 33,000 fans at Fenway Park. Joe Cronin crashed a home
run with two outs and two men on base, in the bottom of the ninth
inning of the first game. His Red Sox were behind 5 to 3 when he came
to bat. After he swung the Sox had won 6 to 5.
An identical opportunity presented itself to Cronin in the ninth
inning of the second game. Two men were on base an there were two
outs, and the Yankees were ahead by a score of 6 to 4. This time when
the Sox manager hit the ball, it resulted in a ground ball to
thirdbaseman Jack Saltzgaver, who threw him out at first.
The winning pitcher of the first game was Lefty Grove (14-7). The
loser of the second game was Wes Ferrell (18-11). Lefty Gomez was the
winner for New York, but he wasn't pitching when Cronin got his
second chance to be the hero.
There was plenty of excitement in both games in another classic Red
Sox-Yankees confrontation. At one point Dusty Cooke advanced to the
top step of the Red Sox dugout and challenged one of the Yankee
players to come to the dressing room for a fist fight at the end of
the game.
In the first half of the ninth inning of the first game, and the
Yankees ahead 4 to 3, Lou Gehrig singled home Jesse Hill to give the
Yanks a two run cushion. But after a pop fly to start the bottom of
the ninth, Cooke singled to left and moved to third on Mel Almada's
single to right. Roy Johnson struck out before Cronin ended the game.
The Yankees had grabbed a 2-0 lead going into the bottom of the third
inning. Billy Werber started the inning with a walk and then stole
second. Babe Dahlgren drew a pass and Grove bunted them forward.
Cooke's ground ball scored Werber and Dahlgren scored the tying run
on Almada's base hit.
In the sixth inning, the Sox grabbed the lead. Almada grounded to
Tony Lazzeri, who threw the ball away, letting him walk down to
second base. Roy Johnson's lined a single to right and the Sox were
ahead 3-2.
The Yankees went back up by one the next inning on four singles,
setting up the dramatic ninth inning. The Sox never had the lead in
the second game. |
