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BOBBY DOERR |
THE SOX STARS LEAVE
TO FIGHT IN THE WAR ...
Bobby Doerr saves the game against the Yankees
June
27, 1943 ... Bobby Doerr and pitcher Mike Ryba
saved the Red Sox from a double defeat at the hands of the New York
Yankees. The Yankees won the first game of a doubleheader, 3 to 2,
and they ran up a three to nothing lead against Lou Lucier in the
second game. But then Ryba stepped in and stopped the Yankee rally by
retiring the last batter in the third inning with runners on first
and third, and then mowing the Yanks down inning after inning. In
the fourth inning Jim Tabor doubled and scored on a couple of infield outs,
leading the Sox two runs behind. Then in the eighth, Tony Lupien singled and
Bobby Doerr blasted a pitch from Tiny Bonham over the left-field fence for a two
run homer that tied the score.
On into the 12th inning the game went, with Ryba still throwing shutout ball.
His long relief effort was for nine and a third innings of scoreless ball
against the world champions. And when the contest went into overtime he yielded
only three hits in his first six and a third frames. He gave them two hits each
in the 10th and the 12th innings, turning them back each time.
The big thrill came in the last of the 12th. Pete Fox opened it with a double
off the left-field fence. Manager Joe McCarthy decided to give a free pass
intentionally to Tony Lupien and the strategy worked for a brief time. Tabor
attempted to sacrifice bunt him over to third, but hit it too hard. Thirdbaseman
Billy Johnson raced in, grabbed it on the first hop and ran back to get Fox at
third. Fox was safe on the play by a fraction of the second, but Johnson landed
on his leg knocking it off the bag and tagging him out.
With Lupien on second and Tabor on first, Doerr came through again. He belted
a drive off the left-field wall that scored Lupien and gave the Red Sox a 4 to 3
walkoff triumph and an even split for the day.
In the first game, with the Sox two runs behind in the sixth inning, Babe
Barna singled to left and the Yanks walked Bill Conroy. But the last pitch was
wild and Barna reachedto third and Conroy stopped at first. Joe Cronin came up
as a pinch-hitter and lined a two bagger off the left-field wall. It scored
Barna and sent Conroy to third where they were stranded.
It was Cronin's first pinchhitting appearance since his pair of three run
homers against the Athletics. His one run double gave him a record of three
consecutive pinch hits for a total of ten bases and seven runs batted in.
Including his two previous pinchhitting appearances, he has a record of five
times at bat, four hits, three home runs, one double and ten runs batted in. |
