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STAN SPENCE |
BOSTON RED SOX ...
THE
CURSE OF THE BAMBINO, PART 3
A
SUBWAY SERIES DISAPPEARS ...
Stan Spence
leads the Sox in Detroit
June 19, 1948 ... The
Red Sox won their 12th game in their last 15 starts and got back to
the .500 mark, by beating the Detroit Tigers 9 to 7 at Briggs
Stadium. Jack Kramer pitched great for eight innings but lost his
touch when a rainstorm interrupted play for 30 minutes in the
ninth-inning. When the action resumed Kramer was not sharp and had to
be relieved by Dave Ferriss, who picked up his second save of the
season. The Sox had two big innings when they scored four in the
first and five in the fourth. In the opening inning they knocked out starter
Virgil Trucks before he could retire a batter. Dom DiMaggio walked on four
straight pitches and scampered to third on Johnny Pesky's single to right. Ted
Williams singled over second base to score DiMaggio with Pesky legging it to
third. The two waltzed home on Spence's sixth home run, that went 15 rows high
into the upper deck. That made it 4-0 and ended the night for Trucks.
Detroit came back with one run in the third on Pat Mullin's homer, but then
the Red Sox exploded for five runs in the fourth. Hal White was the Tiger
pitcher who was the victim of the Sox fireworks. White's downfall started the
same way as the first inning started. He walked DiMaggio, who reached first base
with a free pass for the third time in a row. Dom scored ahead of Pesky's homer
that hit off the façade between the upper and lower decks at the 340 foot mark.
It was the first he had hit since August, 1946 and the fifth of his big league
career.
White remained in the game, however, only to see Ted Williams single through
an open shortstop hole, as the Tigers employed Boudreau's shift. Spence then
doubled off firstbaseman Sam Vico's glove and the ball caromed into foul
territory. An infield single by Vern Stephens scored Williams as Spence held
second. With Bobby Doerr at bat, White then uncorked a wild pitch and that was
it for him. Rookie Walter Pierce came into pitch and after getting Doerr out,
Billy Goodman slapped a single over third that scored both Spence and Stephens.
That put the Sox out ahead by a 9 to 3 score.
The Tigers mounted a ninth inning comeback, but fell two runs short. After
getting two outs, Kramer gave up three singles and a walk. That was enough to
bring in Ferriss, who after giving up a base hit, got George Kell to fly out and
end the game.
Bobby Doerr has 76 putouts and 102 assists with no errors over the last 29
games. |
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