[Big Six]

Boston Globe, October 3, 1932

ONE GAME CLOSER!
Brady Outduels Ferrell, 4-2; Red Sox Win Game Four

Special to the Globe by PAT O’FARRELL

BOSTON—There were no late-inning heroics yesterday at Fenway Park, nor did a manager make a decision that set fans to asking questions. There was just a good, solid, game of baseball, and that in itself is entertaining enough.

The Red Sox won it, 4-2, with an impressive show of hitting against a young pitcher who looks like he has the stuff to pitch in the major leagues for a long time. His name is Wes Ferrell, and he is a real competitor. Boston batters managed eleven hits off him, and this outcome did not please him at all. When Mr. Ferrell was removed from the game, he took out a few of his frustrations on a rack of bats, quite similar to the implements the Red Sox had used to create said frustrations.

His opposite number, Neal Brady, was his typically stingy self, giving up only seven hits, only one earned run, and walking nobody. He struck out seven men, whiffing first baseman Lu Blue three times.

Marty Dihigo, Frank Frisch, and Phil Todt continued their particularly effective batsmanship, getting seven of the Red Sox’ hits between them. Both Dihigo and Frisch are hitting .500 for the Series, and Todt isn’t far behind at .400. Dihigo had the game’s longest hit, a triple that gave him the opportunity to show off his lightning speed.

I’ve noticed that fewer players in today’s game try to steal bases than they did when I played. If Martin Dihigo played in 1912 instead of 1932, I’m sure he would steal as many bases as I did, and I’m convinced that a player like Detroit’s Cool Papa Bell would steal more. Of course, nobody hit home runs a season like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, or Oscar Charleston do today, either. I don’t suppose it makes as much sense to risk an out by trying to steal a base when the next man can bash the ball over the fence, does it?

Someone recently said to me, “Pat, if you played today, you would hit 35 or 40 homers a season, too.” I laughed and thanked the man, but I sincerely doubt he’s right. I’m five feet, ten inches tall, and have never weighed more than 175 pounds in my life. The real sluggers, men like Ruth and Gehrig and Charleston, are all six-footers and weigh 200 pounds, or more! Mel Ott, who plays across town for the Braves, is one exception to that rule; he hits thirty homers a year and is just about my size. Most fellows like us, however, can’t muscle the ball out of the park quite so regularly!

Tomorrow, the Red Sox have a chance to win the World Series in front of their hometown fans, which is an experience that no player will ever forget. At any rate, it will be the final game of baseball played in Fenway Park this season, so if you have a ticket, you’re a lucky person indeed. If you don’t, you’re still fortunate enough to be close enough to the action to experience some of the excitement, so please enjoy it while you can.

It will be six months before you get that chance again, and that’s a long time!