[Westheim]

Week 5 / 1950 - May 15-23, 1950

Results and Performances

Mon May 15 - off day
Tue May 16 - v BOS - rainout rescheduled for May 17
Wed May 17 - v BOS (1) - W 11-4 ... Wertz 2-4, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Bero (PH) 1-1, RBI; Hutchinson 5.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, W (3-2);
Wed May 17 - v BOS (2) - L 7-4 ... Wertz 2-3, 2 BB, 2B, RBI; Lipon 1-2, BB, RBI;
Thu May 18 - v BOS - L 8-2 ... Swift 1-2, BB, RBI;
Fri May 19 - v PHA - W 7-3 ... Kell 3-6; Evers 1-2, 3 BB; Wertz 3-4, BB, 3B, 2 RBI; Lerchen 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Swift 2-4, BB, 2 RBI;
Sat May 20 - v PHA - W 2-1 ... Priddy 2-5, RBI; Kryhoski 2-4, HR, RBI; Mullin (PH) 1-1; Trout 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K;
Sun May 21 - v WAS - W 5-0 ... Evers 2-5, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Groth 3-3, BB, 2B; Swift 2-4, 2B, RBI; Hutchinson 9.0 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, W (4-2) and 1-4, 2B;
Mon May 22 - v WAS - W 7-5 ... Evers 3-5, 3B, 2B, 2 RBI; Groth 1-2, 3 BB, HR, 2 RBI; Newhouser 9.0 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, 0 K, W (3-4) and 1-2, BB, RBI;
Tue May 23 - v WAS - W 3-2 ... Gray 9.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (3-3);

Ranking at week's end: 4th, 18-14, 5 GB
Power rankings: 6th (+3)

Key plays

Boston's Joe Dobson no-hit the Tigers through 4.1 innings and two rain delays in the first game on a long Wednesday, but walked four batters after play resumed in the bottom of the 5th, followed by Hoot Evers' 2-run single through the left side that flipped the score in Detroit's favor, 3-2. Detroit scored four in the fifth and five in the seventh on the soft Red Sox pen to turn this one into a rousing comeback victory.

Friday against left-hander Mason Bowes the Tigers held perfectly still in the fourth inning, in which Bowes issued a hit and six walks, four of which came with two outs and the bases loaded. The inning only ended because at some point, Art Houtteman had to come to the plate and struck out. The four free runs turned a 2-0 deficit into a 4-2 lead that would hold up for Houtteman.

The Tigers completed a 2-game sweep of the A's on Saturday with a ninth-frame rally from a 1-0 deficit they had been stuck in forever. Dick Kryhoski led off the inning with a home run off Kelly Swift, after which Bob Swift singled. Lipon popped out on a bunt, bringing up Pat Mullin batting for Lacy James. Mullin flew to right, where Wally Moses struggled to come in, never got there, and Mullin reached on the single. James Cronin ran for Swift at that point while the A's brought on Bob Hooper to salvage the game and send it to extra innings, but he immediately surrendered a walkoff single to Jerry Priddy.

The Tigers came back from mostly unearned early deficits - the defense made three errors to seemingly unhorse Hal early themselves - against the Senators on Monday by drawing five walks in the seventh inning against Jim Pearce and Sandy Consuegra, with automatic out Joe Ginsberg drawing a walk to tie the score, and Newhouser drawing another one for the go-ahead and ultimately winning run.

Around the leagues

May 16 - 20-year-old Braves rookie SP Ralph Albers (2-4, 3.38 ERA) 2-hits the Pirates in a 2-0 shutout, striking out six and walking four.
May 17 - PHA 3B Bob Dillinger (.282, 1 HR, 16 RBI) collects five hits, including two triples, in a 12-8 A's win at Cleveland. Dillinger drives in four runs with his 5-for-6 performance.
May 18 - PHI 1B/LF Dick Sisler (.312, 2 HR, 10 RBI) is expected to miss the rest of the season with a broken elbow.
May 19 - NYG SP Sheldon Jones (3-2, 3.44 ERA) 3-hits the Reds in a 6-0 shutout, tallying four strikeouts and no walks.
May 20 - The Cardinals expect LF/RF/1B Stan Musial (.340, 0 HR, 20 RBI) to miss the next two weeks with a concussion.

Players of the Week

AL: PHA 3B Bob Dillinger (.321, 1 HR, 17 RBI) went .515 (17-33), 0 HR, 5 RBI
NL: BRO 1B Gil Hodges (.298, 8 HR, 25 RBI) went .440 (11-25), 4 HR, 8 RBI

Complaints and stuff

I must admit, the Red Sox' offense is admirable, even though I find it hard to applaud them stomping around on my pitchers' backs. On the other hand, they were shut out on five hits by White Sox sophomore Billy Pierce on Sunday. Maybe it's us, really... And as a neat fact, the Pierce shutout is one of three wins the Sox have on the month, compared to 18 defeats.

Yeah, well, those Red Sox. They do have a handful more games played than us, but when they entered town they had almost twice as many runs scored as the Tigers had, and they really didn't have twice as many games played... oh, those Red Sox.

The Senators, on the other hand, are welcome any time!

They will even be back next month; most of June will be another 4-city trip around the East Coast, playing three with every team there, then another homestand where every East Coast team plus the White Sox will cycle through.

George Kell did not play a whole lot in this sequence due to continuing quad and intercostal woes.