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LOU FINNEY |
ON THIS DATE (June 14, 1942)
... Before over 33,000 fans, the first
sellout crowd at Fenway Park in two years, Tex Hughson beat Jack
Kramer 1 to 0 in a tense pitching duel in the first game of a
doubleheader against the league-leading St. Louis Browns.
The game was a beautiful battle and was won in the sixth inning. Jim Bucher
opened with a single to center and was sacrificed to second by George Metkovich.
Then Pete Fox, who had broken up a Browns rally in the second inning, with a
beautiful throw from right-field to third-base, came through again, hammering a
single to center. Bucher rounded third and sped for home. Rightfielder Milt
Byrnes made a beautiful throw to the plate, but the ball rolled out of the hand
of catcher Ray Hayworth, allowing the only run of the game to score.
Hughson gave up six singles and no walks. The only Brown runner to reach
third base off him was Mike Kreevich in the ninth-inning.
In the second game, thanks to a mess of infield singles off George Woods
during the first two innings, the Browns were breezing along to a victory with a
3 to 1 lead.
When manager Joe Cronin did not agree with a couple of called strikes and got
tossed out of the game in the seventh inning, the long forgotten veteran, Lou
Finney, came in to take his place. He proceeded to tie up the game in the
ninth-inning and then win it for the Sox in the 11th inning.
With one down in the ninth, Bob Johnson lifted a long fly ball that eluded
centerfielder Mike Kreevich and bounced off the fence for two bases. Bobby
Doerr, whose fifth inning home run had provided the Sox with their only run of
the game, grounded out but it sent Johnson over to third-base. Up came Finney
and he poked a blooper down the left-field line that went for two bases. It
scored Johnson and the Sox were now only one run behind, 3 to 2. Hal Wagner
followed by lacing a hard single to right and Finney jogged home with the tying
run.
Come the 11th inning, Pete Fox lined a single to center and stretched it into
a double. Johnson sacrificed him to third and Doerr hit a ground ball to Mark
Christman, the Browns thirdbaseman. Fox got caught in a rundown between third
and home, dodging back and forth until Doerr was able to get on second base.
Up came Finney again and he slashed a ground ball to second base side of Don
Gutteridge. The St. Louis secondbaseman got in front of it, but it took a bad
hop over his hands for a base hit, enabling Doerr race home with the winning
run, 4 to 3. |
