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Saturday, June 8, 2013

Some baseball memories


... this from the web, with some personal footnotes… "Baseball Almanac is pleased to present the box score to the 1946 Midsummer Classic which was played on July 9, 1946 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts
"I don't think I've ever seen a more festive occasion. Guys who hadn't seen one another in years were crossing back and forth before the game to shake hands and visit. It was great."- Frank McCormick. "

1946 All-Star Game

National League 0 vs American League 12
July 9, 1946 Fenway Park

Hitting & Fielding Notes
Name Pos AB R H RBI
Red Schoendienst 2b 2 0 0 0
   c-Frankie Gustine ph-2b 1 0 0 0
Stan Musial lf 2 0 0 0
   d-Del Ennis ph-lf 2 0 0 0
Johnny Hopp cf 2 0 1 0
   e-Peanuts Lowrey ph-cf 2 0 1 0
Dixie Walker rf 3 0 0 0
   Enos Slaughter rf 1 0 0 0
Whitey Kurowski 3b 3 0 0 0
   i-Emil Verban ph 1 0 0 0
Johnny Mize 1b 1 0 0 0
   b-Frank McCormick ph-1b 1 0 0 0
   g-Phil Cavarretta ph-1b 1 0 0 0
Walker Cooper c 1 0 1 0
   Phil Masi c 2 0 0 0
Marty Marion ss 3 0 0 0
Claude Passeau p 1 0 0 0
   Kirby Higbe p 1 0 0 0
   Ewell Blackwell p 0 0 0 0
   h-Ray Lamanno ph 1 0 0 0
   Rip Sewell p 0 0 0 0
Totals 31 0 3 0



Name Pos AB R H RBI
Dom DiMaggio cf 2 0 1 0
   Stan Spence cf 0 1 0 0
   Sam Chapman cf 2 0 0 1
Johnny Pesky ss 2 0 0 0
   Vern Stephens ss 3 1 2 2
Ted Williams lf 4 4 4 5
Charlie Keller rf 4 2 1 2
Bobby Doerr 2b 2 0 0 0
   Joe Gordon 2b 2 0 1 2
Mickey Vernon 1b 2 0 0 0
   Rudy York 1b 2 0 1 0
Ken Keltner 3b 0 0 0 0
   Snuffy Stirnweiss 3b 3 1 1 0
Frankie Hayes c 1 0 0 0
   Buddy Rosar c 2 1 1 0
   Hal Wagner c 1 0 0 0
Bob Feller p 0 0 0 0
   a-Luke Appling ph 1 0 0 0
   Hal Newhouser p 1 1 1 0
   f-Bill Dickey ph 1 0 0 0
   Jack Kramer p 1 1 1 0
Totals 36 12 14 12


a: Grounded out for Feller in 3rd inning.
b: Flied out for Mize in 4th inning.
c: Struck out for Schoendienst in 6th inning.
d: Struck out for Musial in 6th inning.
e: Singled for Hopp in 6th inning.
f: Struck out for Newhouser in 6th inning.
g: Struck out for McCormick in 7th inning.
h: Grounded out for Blackwell in 8th inning.
i: Fouled out for Kurowski in 9th inning.

Double Plays: Marion-Mize, Schoendienst-Marion-Mize.
Doubles: Stephens, Gordon.
Error: Pesky.
Home Runs: Williams 2, Keller.
Left on Base: N.L. 5, A.L. 4.

Line Score
All-Star Team         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
National League 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
American League 2 0 0 1 3 0 2 4 x 12 14 1

Pitching Notes

Name                  IP H R ER BB SO
Claude Passeau 3.0 2 2 2 2 0
   Kirby Higbe                 1.1 5 4 4 1 2
   Ewell Blackwell 2.2 3 2 2 1 1
   Rip Sewell         1 4 4 4 0 0

Name                 IP H R ER BB SO
Bob Feller         3.0 2 0 0 0 3
   Hal Newhouser 3.0 1 0 0 0 4
   Jack Kramer                 3.0 0 0 0 1 3


Losing Pitcher: Passeau.
Wild Pitch: Blackwell.
Winning Pitcher: Feller.

Game Notes
Attendance: 34,906.
Length of Game: 2:19.
Umpires A.L.: 1B: Bill Summers, 3B: Eddie Rommel.
Umpires N.L.: HP: Dusty Boggess, 2B: Larry Goetz.


Game / Box Links: 1946 All-Star Game | 1946 Play-by-Play
Navigation: Previous Box Score | Next Box Score

Rip Sewell, creator and master of the ephus pitch said, "Before the game Ted (Williams) said to me, 'Hey Rip, you wouldn't throw that damn crazy pitch in a game like this.' Sure, I'm gonna throw it to you, so look out."

During the eighth inning Ted Williams came to the plate with Rip Sewell on the mound. Sewell described what happened to the media after the game, "He shook his head from side to side, telling me not to throw it. I nodded to him - you're gonna get it, buddy. So I wound up like I was going to throw a fastball and here comes the blooper. He swung from Port Arthur and just fouled it on the tip of his bat. He stepped back in, staring out at me, and I nodded to him again - you're gonna get another one. I threw him another one, but it was outside and he let it go. Now he was looking for it. Well, I threw him a fastball and he didn't like that. Surprised him. Now I had him one ball, two strikes. I wound up and threw him another blooper, on an arc about twenty-five feet high. It was a good one. Dropped right down the chute for a strike. He took a couple of steps up on it - which was the right way to attack that pitch, incidentally - and he hit it right out of there. And I mean he HIT it!"

Rip Sewell yelled at Ted Williams when he was rounding the bases, "The only reason you hit it is because I told you it was coming!""

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I attended this game with my father. We sat on the right field side, about half way down the foul line ane about half up in the stands. It was a perfect vantage point to see Ted's home run ball hugging the line and going all the way.

We went to four World Series games (Braves and Red Sox) and a variety of regular season games. I saw Pete Gray - the one-armed outfielder for the Browns, and I saw Babe Ruth - close to his death - circling Fenway Park in an open car. (was this the all star game? I doubt it only because I remember sitting in the right field stands for the All Star game, but I saw the Babe from seats on the left field side...)

Soon after I started working at Sylvania - probably in 1955 or 1956 - I was randomly chosen to present our employees gift to the Jimmy Fund. I handed the check to Ted Williams and shook his hand on the field at Fenway Park! There are pictures somewhere...

The radio always was on during home games for Jim Britt's play-by-play. The pre-game show featured Bob Elliott and Ray Goulding of "Bob and Ray" fame. Road games were broadcast by "telegraphic recreation" by Don Gillis, who tried to create the excitement of a live broadcast by reading descriptions of plays from the printouts. (I met Don later at one of Bob Copeland's parties.) 

I played baseball for a short time around my eighth & ninth grade years, but I lacked the vision and the arm for serious play. The family certainly didn't have excess money but somehow I had a glove and a couple of bats... and I can remember being seriously upset when my father couldn't attend a game. There's a team picture.

Eventually I switched to horseshoe pitching, which defined my sports activity during most of high school. Yearbook pictures provide verification!