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Sweet victory
Boston Globe, October 6, 1932
THE RED SOX ARE THE CHAMPIONS!
Hafey, Todt, Dihigo, Frisch Lead Potent Attack in 11-6 Win
Special to the Globe by PAT O'FARRELL
CINCINNATI--As I write this, I am looking across my hotel room at a suit that will need to be replaced, but for a very good reason. It's soaked in celebratory champagne, sprayed and poured on me by one member or another of the World Champion Boston Red Sox ballclub.
Yesterday, the Sox broke out their big bats and gave their pitcher, Merle Settlemire, some early breathing room. The Reds, to their credit, took a shot to the chin in the form of a four-run first inning by the Sox and refused to go down.
Chick Hafey, who has been a tremendous addition to the club since we obtained him in June, drove in Judy Johnson and Lou Gehrig with a long triple, and then Frank Frisch hit one even farther--over the fence for a homer. The Reds came back with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning, again showing they are a club with lots of grit.
That, however, was the closest the Reds would get. The Sox hit Harlan Pyle hard, finally driving him from the box in the seventh, and then treated the relief men, Ed Carroll and Dutch Kemner, just about as harshly. Settlemire tired as well, and in the eighth inning Earle Combs hit a three-run homer to make the score 11-6. Bill Carrigan gave Merle the rest of the afternoon off, and Ray Brown and Red Ruffing took it from there.
The Cincinnati fans behaved with a great deal of sportsmanship at the end of the game. It's difficult to watch another team celebrate a championship on your own grounds; I know that from experience. The applause they gave the Red Sox was sincere, and they saluted their team even more warmly. After all, the Reds won the pennant, which demonstrates success over the course of six months, and won it very decisively. They are a young ballclub, and believe me, they will be back in fine form next season!
It was particularly gratifying to me to see the excitement of some of the younger Red Sox, who haven't been part of a World Series champion club before. Josh Gibson, for example, had a grin a mile wide. Even Settlemire, who has been with the organization for several years, had never been around for a Series. It's an unforgettable experience, even if you are as lucky as I am and have had the opportunity to enjoy it many times.
I hope you have enjoyed reading about the World Series from my perspective as much as I have enjoyed writing about it. I hope we all have the chance to do it again next season. For now, I'm going back to Boston to spend a long autumn and winter with my family. I hope your "off-season" will be as enjoyable as mine will surely be.
Thanks for your support,
PAT O'FARRELL
General Manager
Boston American League Base Ball Club
WORLD CHAMPIONS, 1932
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