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JOE DOBSON |
BOSTON RED SOX ...
THE
CURSE OF THE BAMBINO, PART 3
A
SUBWAY SERIES DISAPPEARS ...
Dobson sets
down the Yankees for a series sweep
July 6, 1948 ... Substituting
finesse for power, the Red Sox swept the three-game holiday series by
downing the New York Yankees, 2 to 1, before an exuberant crowd of
31,735 patrons at Fenway Park. Joe Dobson, ace of the Sox pitching
staff, was magnificent as he dominated the game. Pitching his best
baseball of the year, Dobson held the still formidable Bronx bombers
to five hits and lost a shutout by one run in the eighth-inning.
Winning his 10th victory of the year, Dobson grew stronger as the
game progressed, striking out the final three Yankee hitters in the
ninth-inning. The fans in Fenway saw the Red Sox cut the Yankee lead
over them in the American League to 3 1/2 games.
Meanwhile, the Red Sox put up two runs against Yankee starter Frank Hiller as
Birdie Tebbetts, who played a great game all night, squeezed home what proved to
be the winning run in the second inning. Tebbetts, who handled Dobson superbly
throughout the game, came through with a perfect squeeze bunt and caught the
sleeping Yankees off second base on a most precipitous occasion.
Ted Williams came through with a three for four day, including a left-field
single and a pushed bunt on which no play could be made. However, the Kid, for
the first time this year, was fooled by a drive off the fence in retrieving Yogi
Berra's double in the eighth-inning that permitted Tommy Henrich to score the
only Yankee run. With two down Henrich walked on four pitches. Berra took a bad
pitch from Dobson and smashed it off the left-field scoreboard for two bases.
Ted played the rebound badly and allowed Henrich to score, ruining Dobson's
chance for a shutout.
After Dom DiMaggio went down on strikes in the first inning, Johnny Pesky
drew a walk and pulled up at second when Williams slapped a clean single to
left. Stan Spence forced Williams at second, but the return throw was not in
time to get Spence at first. Firstbaseman George McQuinn spun around to see
Pesky heading for the plate and his hurried throw arrived too late to catch the
speedy Sox third baseman.
Up 1 to 0, Billy Goodman opened the second inning by pulling a drive to
right, which landed in front of Tommy Henrich. Goodman took advantage of his
speed and headed for second, winding up on third when Henrich's throw got away
from Stuffy Stirnweiss. On the second pitch that he saw, Tebbetts dropped a
perfect bunt down the first base line as Goodman broke for home and easily
scored the Sox second run. Hiller fell after fielding the ball and threw late to
Berra, with little chance to erase Goodman.
Dobson threw 115 pitches and faced only 34 men, with only 19 over the last
five innings. He is 2 and 1 against the Bombers this year.
Tebbetts may wind up third in the fans voting for the All-Star catching
position behind Berra, as Pat Mullin of the Detroit Tigers was added to the
American League All-Star team today. Ted Williams got the most individual votes
with 1,556,784. Stan Musial held second place and Joe DiMaggio came in third.
Five new players were added to the National League All-Star team including
Eddie Stanky of the Braves at second base. |
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