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ON THIS DATE (April 30, 1952) ... Ted
Williams bid farewell to the Red Sox for the second time in ten
years, with a game-winning two run homer, that gave the Red Sox a 5
to 3 victory over the Detroit Tigers.
Ted's 324th career home run strengthened the Sox hold on first place,
as he was leaving to rejoin the Marines for a 17 month tour of duty
as a pilot.
Making his first start since the opening game in Washington, during
which he pulled a leg muscle, Williams slammed a homer into the right
field bleachers off Dizzy Trout with Dom DiMaggio on base in the
seventh inning to break a 3-3 tie. The entire Red Sox dugout came out
onto the field to congratulate him.
The Red Sox had pulled away and taken a 3-1 lead at the expense of
Virgil Trucks in the fifth inning. Rookie Ted Lepcio launched the
rally by slamming a double off the left field wall and Sammy White
advanced him to third with a crisp single to center,
Then Mel Parnell chopped a ball on the plate that took a bounce off
the glove of catcher Matt Batts. Batts got the ball but threw it into
right field allowing Lepcio and White to score, as Parnell raced over
to third base.
A DiMaggio single brought in Parnell with the third Boston run and
the stylish southpaw seemed to have it clinched. He had given a run
to the Tigers in the fifth inning when Johnny Lipon singled and
George Kell doubled. In the seventh, after Kell drew a base on balls
and was forced at second, Vic Wertz homered to deadlock the game.
Then with two outs, Don Kolloway and Batts connected for hits and
that ended the day for Parnell. Ike Delock came in and he retired the
last seven Tiger batters, striking out three, gaining credit for his
second win of the year.
Williams was showered with gifts during a pre-game ceremony. One of
them was a Cadillac sedan from his friends. Mayor Hynes gave him a
silver bowl on behalf of the city of Boston and his Sox teammates
chipped in with a movie projector. George Akerson, assistant
publisher of the Boston Herald-Traveler gave him a memory book with
almost hal a million signatures of his fans. Ted broke down giving
his speech, and gestured warmly to the fans in the stands. |
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