ON THIS DATE (May 26, 1924)
... The Cleveland Indians went down to a 10-9
defeat in front of 6000 excited fans at Fenway Park. Nine pitchers
took a turn at throwing toward the plate, while seven pinch hitters
were used to keep the runs scoring. Twenty five base hits were
registered, four errors, numerous bases on balls, and frequent gusts
of wind made the day a spectacle to behold.
There was a steady stream of players coming and going and everybody
hit the ball all over the park. Homer Ezzell enjoyed his day and came
through with flying colors. He held down the hot corner and smashed
out some key hits. Howie Shanks lined a couple of doubles and
everybody took their turn hitting the Cleveland pitching staff.
The Sox let the Indians grab a five run lead in the fourth inning and
it looked like it could have been a thousand. But our boys came back
to grab the advantage right out from under the noses of the tribal
leaders, in the bottom of the inning with seven runs of their own.
With two outs George Edmondson issued a number of free passes that
loaded the bases with Sox runners. Shanks then lined a double into
right center and two runners trotted home. Logan Drake took the ball
for Cleveland and Phil Todt was inserted to face him. Phil brought in
the third run with a base hit to right. Drake then walked Ira
Flagstead and gave up another base hit to Bill Wambsgnass, scoring
Todt. That was all for Drake, who was sent to the showers while Dewey
Metiver took the ball. He gave up a double down the line by Bobby
Veach. Flagstead and Wamby came home and the Sox were now ahead 7 to
5.
The Cleveland boys however came rushing back and attacked Sox
pitching to step out in front once more with a three run uprising.
Glenn Myatt pinch hitting, took a Howard Ehmke fastball into the
right field bleachers behind two of his mates who were on base,
putting his team back in front 8 to 7.
The Sox bounced right back however and scored again to tie things up,
in their half of the fifth frame. With one out Ezzell pinch hit for
Danny Clark and along with Steve O'Neill, got singles off Sherry
Smith, the latest Tribe pitcher. Shanks banged a grounder to
firstbaseman Charlie Jamison, who threw to shortstop Joe Sewell to
get O'Neill, but the return throw was late and Ezzell made his way
across the plate tying the game.
Things quieted down for a couple of innings, until Cleveland pitcher
Guy Morton allowed Ezzell to reach with a single to left. Val Picnich
next hit a bouncer back to Morton, who threw the ball into
centerfield trying to get Ezzell at second. Homer came all the way
around and scored the go-ahead run, but Picinich got too greedy after
reaching third and got caught in a rundown. Shanks followed with
another double off the fence and was brought home when Les Howe
singled to right. The Sox were up by two now, 10-8.
Two singles and a sacrifice fly earned the Indians one more run in
the eighth, but Jack Quinn came in and shut the door to complete an
exciting see-saw victory at the old ball yard.
