[Big Six]

Boston Globe, September 29, 1927
Special World Series Edition

RED SOX WIN AGAIN
Veteran Stars Are The Difference
Boston Takes 2-0 Series Lead With Them To Chicago

Special to the Globe by PAT O’FARRELL


The final out of this afternoon’s game had just settled into the glove of Lefty O’Doul, and I was jogging in from my position at second base when I realized that it is possible that Fenway Park might not host another game of baseball in 1927. While the fans, whose enthusiastic support was washing around me at that very moment, deserve to see more ball, I am sure most of them would gladly trade that opportunity for a World Series that ends in a Red Sox victory while we are in Chicago. We have three chances to win two games, but the Cubs are a tough outfit, and I would not be surprised if the Series lasts long enough for us all to return to Boston to settle it.

It was thrilling to watch my sister’s husband and my longtime friend, Joe Wood, pitch such a fine game. Joe didn’t strike out as many batters as he usually does—only two Cubs heard “strike three” from the umpire—but his control was fine, and he kept the Chicago hitters off balance by changing speeds expertly. Joe allowed only six hits, and the Cubs scored single runs in the fifth and sixth innings. That kind of pitching gives any club a chance to win the game, and that is all you can ask from a twirler.

As for us hitters, we faced a fine opponent in Duke Houck. Houck’s control was not as sharp as usual, however, and when big league hitters can “hit ahead in the count” consistently—when the count is two balls and no strikes, or “three and one”—we find our task much easier. In the first inning today, I faced just such a situation. The count was two balls and no strikes when Houck threw me a fastball where I was looking for it, and I hit it past Oscar Charleston into right-center field. I wound up on third, and then Lou Gehrig singled me home.

The score was still 1-0, Red Sox, when I led off the fourth inning. Again, I managed to work Houck into a count that was favorable to me, and bounced a single up the middle. After Gehrig flied out, I stole second on the first pitch to Frankie Frisch, getting in just ahead a powerful throw by Gabby Hartnett. Kiki Cuyler was the next man up, and he hit one hard off the center field wall. Kiki raced to second, and I scored easily without a slide as the fans roared.

We scored again in the next inning, on a combination of a pair of walks, a fielders’ choice, and an error. The Cubs are a championship team, a game bunch of fellows, and a 3-0 deficit does not make them flinch a bit. Two innings later, the Cubs had battled back to make the score 3-2, one run scoring on a long homer by Charleston, who is as fine a hitter as I have ever seen.

Houck’s control once again failed him in the eighth inning. I led off, and he left a pitch right where I like to see them. I hit it hard down the right field line, and thought I had pulled it foul, but it landed just on the fair side of the line and bounced into the corner. As I rounded second, I looked up to see Bill Carrigan, coaching at third, moving his arm like a windmill, and I dug hard for third. The throw was off the mark, and I slid in safely with my second triple of the day. The ovation I heard as I stood up and dusted off my white home uniform was one of the warmest I have ever received, and the memory will be etched in my mind forever. Houck walked Gehrig intentionally, and at first, it looked like a good piece of strategy, when Frisch popped up to third. Then, however, Duke lost the strike zone, and walked both Cuyler and Bassler. There was no room for all of us, and I jogged across the plate with run number four. Shorten came up next, and when he singled, both Gehrig and Cuyler scored, and that made it 6-2, the eventual final tally.

I had three hits today in three official times at bat, and with the walk, I was on base every time I came up. The real hero today, however, was Wood. He smiled as he talked to the reporters, some of whom had given up on him three years ago, and he reminded me of the young pitcher who won so many big games for us back in the ‘teens.

Now it is off to Chicago on the train for at least two more games. Chicago is a great city for baseball, and the fans there will be backing the Cubs all the way. I expect that we will have an even tougher fight on our hands from this point forward.