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DUSTY BOGGESS |
BOSTON BRAVES
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SPAHN & SAIN and PRAY FOR RAIN ...
The Braves
lose a tough one and two in all
April 25, 1948 ... According
to the scoreboard, the New York Giants handed the Braves a double
defeat by scores of 6 to 2 and 6 to 0 at the Wigwam today. But you
can't convince the vast majority of the fans, that the Braves fairly
lost both decisions to the powerhouse New Yorkers. An umpires ruling
created an unprecedented situation that cost the Braves the first
game. A monstrous grand slam homer by Walker Cooper in the 10th
inning gave the Giants the game. Two hit pitching by Sheldon Jones handed the
Braves their first shutout of the year with only a handful of fans present in
the second game. Most of the customers had earlier walked out, muttering to
themselves about a ninth-inning, opening game verdict, by umpire Dusty Boggess.
It was the only thing that kept them warm, as a matter of fact hot under the
collar.
Johnny Sain and Bobo Newsom had pitched brilliantly during the early stages
of the game, although Newsom was forced out of the game with a muscle strain in
the seventh inning with the game knotted at 1 to 1. In the ninth-inning Johnny
Mize opened with a single for the Giants. Willard Marshall single to center and
when Jim Russell fumbled the ball, Mize made it to third base and Marshall
legged to second. Cooper was given an intentional pass to set up a doubleplay.
The next batter was Jack Lohrke and he rolled one down to Al Dark who fired the
ball home to rub out Bobby Rhawn, who was pinch running for Johnny Mize. But the
relay back to first failed to double up Lohrke and the bases were still full.
With the infield drawn in, Dark rushed in to grab Buddy Kerr's low line
drive. From his reaction and those of Eddie Stanky it appeared he had caught the
ball on the fly. Down on the field however there was an important dissenter by
the name of Boggess. He motioned that the ball had been trapped, and Dark not
seeing his call, fired the ball to Stanky for would seem to be an inning ending
double play. The Braves rushed off the field and the customers were excited,
applauding Dark and Sain. But the Giants came storming out on the field. They
hollered at Boggess, and the other umpires Bill Stewart and Butch Henline for a
clarification. When it was pointed out that the ball was trapped and it was not
a doubleplay, and it was only two outs, Cooper raced back to third and Kerr back
to first.
Then the Braves rushed out of their dugout led by manager Billy Southworth
and Eddie Stanky. They argued in vain, of course, that Dark and caught the ball
and that the Giants had been retired without Marshall's run-scoring. Stanky was
so upset that he kicked his glove almost out into left field. After a
five-minute delay, the Braves were ordered back on the field. Boggess had said
that the ball had been trapped, but Bill Stewart, the first base umpire had
flashed the out sign. Plate umpire Henline ruled that it was Boggess' call and
there was nothing the Braves could do about it.
So the next batter up was Ken Trinkle, who rolled out to Dark with the play
that officially ended the inning, and the Giants leading 2 to 1. But the
debating did not end at this point.
So the Braves, Bob Sturgeon walked to open the ninth-inning and Dark
sacrificed him to second. Pinch-hitter Frank McCormick popped out and Stanky
singled to left field. But as Sturgeon was getting squared away to hit
third-base and head for home, Lohrke crashed into him and obstructed his
progress. This play was right in front of Boggess. Instantly he motioned
Sturgeon home and called interference. Sid Gordon threw the ball home and
Sturgeon was tagged out, but since interference had been called, the run counted
and the game had been tied up.
Now it was the Giants turn to do some complaining. They argued that Stanky,
who had legged it out to second base on the play, should be ordered back to
first. It didn't make any difference because Jim Russell was called out on a
slow roller to Trinkle that ended the inning.
Since Sain had been taken out for a pinch-hitter, Ernie White took over as
the Giants came up in the 10th inning. He retired Bob Blattner and then
everything went haywire. Whitey Lockman laid down a bunt to the right of White.
He ran after the ball and fired it into right field, allowing Lockman to race to
third. Gordon was then walked on purpose and White struck out Johnny McCarthy
for the second out. Then he lost his control and walked Marshall to fill the
bases. He served up two balls to Walker Cooper and Billy Southworth came out and
brought in Bobby Hogue from the bullpen. The score was tied, the bases were
full, and slugger Cooper was at bat. Hogue had to throw a strike. He got two
strikes and then threw a slider in tight. But this time Cooper had the pitch
timed and he put everything into it. The ball sailed high and far striking the
scoreboard half way up and rebounding back onto the field, or a grand slam
homer.
That took the heart out of the Braves and they were pretty easy prey for
Sheldon Jones in the second game. Jones held them to just two singles. The first
was a high bouncing ball behind the mound by Stanky in the fifth inning and the
other was a hot roller to centerfield by Phil Masi in the seventh.
The Giants scored five of their six runs off rookie lefty Jim Prendergast
during the 2 2/3 innings he lasted, in his major league debut. The first one was
unearned as Sturgeon fumbled the ball away with two outs and Lohrke followed
with a double and Buddy Kerr with a single.
Five hits and pass gave the Giants four runs in the third inning before Vern
Bickford was called in to put out the fire. Bickford yielded the final run in
the fourth with three passes sandwiched around a two base hit by Lohrke. Then he
settled down in did some fine pitching, putting the Giants down in order during
the next three innings, as Ray Martin came in and then held them scoreless for
the final two. |
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