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BOSTON RED
SOX ...
THE CURSE OF
THE BAMBINO, PART 3
A
SUBWAY SERIES DISAPPEARS ...
The Yankees
knock the Sox out of first place
September 26, 1948 ... Tommy
Byrne, who has only been used recently as a relief pitcher for the
Yankees, shattered most of the Red Sox pennant plans as New York beat
the Red Sox 6 to 2 at Yankee Stadium. With Cleveland beating Detroit,
the Red Sox lost possession of first place. The loss deadlocked them
in a second place tie with New York. Byrne allowed the Sox five
hits, walked four and hit two batters, but the 69,755 fans in the stands gave
him a thunderous ovation when he walked off the field. He struck out seven Red
Sox batters. Plenty of the cheers were reserved however for Tommy Henrich, the
Yankees firstbaseman, who supplied the major portion of the Yanks' thunder. He
banged out a home run and two singles, driving in three runs and scoring two
more. Henrich picked up three hits and by virtue of three RBIs, drove his
seasonal total to 100.
While Byrne was chalking up his six straight win, the Yankees were clubbing
Mel Parnell, Denny Galehouse and Dave Ferriss for 12 hits. They scored two in
the first inning on Henrich's 25th home run, two more in the third and single
runs in the fifth and sixth. Parnell went three innings, allowing four hits and
as many runs. Galehouse went three innings and gave up two runs and seven hits.
The Red Sox couldn't do much when it counted. They left the bases loaded in
the fourth, and all told, nine men on base. Vern Stephens was the only Red Sox
player who got two hits. Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr and Birdie Tebbetts also got
base hits, but Wally Moses struck out four times.
Henrich started the fireworks when he took the first pitch by Parnell and
slammed it into the right-field stands to account for two runs, with Phil
Rizzuto on base. Parnell continued to have trouble with his control and the
Yankees capitalized on it. In the third inning Rizzuto walked and this time went
to third when Henrich singled to right. Johnny Lindell singled to left to score
Rizzuto and Henrich moved down to second. Then Joe DiMaggio singled off the
handle of his bat, dropping the ball into left-field and scoring Henrich. The
Sox decided to intentionally passed Hank Bauer and worked out as Billy Johnson
promptly hit into a doubleplay, but the Yankees were up 4 to 0.
The Sox got one run back in the third inning but lost a golden opportunity to
add to it. Byrne was wild and after giving up a single to Williams, he walked
Stephens and hit Bobby Doerr with a pitch on the leg. Moses and Goodman went out
and it looked as if there would be no more scoring until Byrne walked Tebbetts
to force in a run. But the Yankees greeted Galehouse to get the marker back in
the fourth. Byrne beat out a scratch hit, Rizzuto punched one into left and
Henrich singled, to right to make it, 5 to 1.
Galehouse was hit for another run in the fifth after two were out. The Sox
got their second run in the eighth as Stephen singled and Doerr doubled to deep
right center, bringing him home.
It was Vic Raschi Day at the Stadium and residents from the Springfield Mass
area were on hand to present him with a new Buick convertible and many other
gifts, including $1900, stuffed into a wallet. The mayor of Springfield made the
presentation and almost brought the house down when he said he was sorry back
Vic was not a pitcher for the Red Sox. Movie star Clark Gable was at the game,
sitting in the box of one of the Yankee owners, Dan Topping.
Bob Feller blazed his way past the Detroit Tigers at Briggs Stadium by a
score of 4 to 1. It was Feller sixth straight win and his 18th of the season. He
allowed only five hits, the third straight game in which he has allowed five or
fewer safeties. Both Cleveland and Boston only have five games left to play. |
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