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TED WILLIAMS |
BOSTON RED SOX
...
THE CURSE OF
THE BAMBINO, PART 3
A
SUBWAY SERIES DISAPPEARS ...
Ted Williams (4 for 5) is the only
bright spot in a loss
September 15, 1948 ... The
Red Sox took their worst licking of the year from the Chicago White
Sox at Comiskey Park, to see their American League lead shrink to
only 1 1/2 games over the New York Yankees, who were idle. The White
Sox pounded out 17 hits for a 17 to 10 victory over Jack Kramer and
three relief pitchers. There was only one bright spot on this very
bad day for the Red Sox and that was Ted Williams, as he just about
sewed up the American League batting title by going five for six and
boosting his average to .377, 19 points higher than his chief rival,
Cleveland's Lou Boudreau. Ted has gotten eight hits in his last ten
at bats here in Chicago. Jack Kramer was the losing pitcher, his
fifth loss against sixteen wins. His teammates almost saved him when they
rallied in the top of the seventh to come within one run of the White Sox, who
were leading 5 to 4. But Dave Ferriss and Earl Caldwell saw to it that the Red
Sox could not come close again. Caldwell put the game out of reach for his team
when he gave up three passes and three hits, including a grand slam home run,
before he got two men out.
Kramer's downfall came in the third inning. He had struck out the side in the
second and Boston was coasting along on a one run lead, the result of errors by
Cass Michaels and Luke Appling. In the third however, Kramer yielded five
singles, three in succession, to open up. A pass to Pat Seerey and two more
singles by Taffy Wright and Ralph Weigel accounted for four runs.
So down 4 to 1, the Red Sox began chipping away with one run in the fifth on
Williams' single, a pass to Vern Stephens, a force out and a sacrifice fly by
Billy Goodman. But Seerey matched that with a home run in the bottom half of the
inning. The Sox came back with a single by Ferriss, a force out and another
Williams hit for a run in the sixth, cutting the lead to 5 to 3. In the seventh
they came closer on a double by Birdie Tebbetts following a pass to Stan Spence.
But then the roof caved in.
A double by Luke Appling, four singles, two walks and the grand slam by
Wright, saw ten runs cross the plate and put the game away for Chicago.
The Sox made a valiant attempt by storming back in the eighth, with a six hit
attack of their own, winding up with five runs. Dom DiMaggio, Johnny Pesky and
Williams singled, followed by a bases clearing triple from Vern Stephens. Spence
duplicated that with a triple to right-center and scored on a single by Billy
Goodman. Their final run came in the ninth-inning when rookie Tom Wright cracked
a pinch-hit triple and scored on a sacrifice fly by DiMaggio.
Bobby Doerr took part in batting practice and in the infield drill. Manager
Joe McCarthy said he would be used as soon as he was ready. |
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