OCTOBER 15, 1943 : SPECIAL WCS ISSUE
CANNONS CLAIM CROWN
Barrell 2-hitter Keys Thrilling Game 7 Win
Quite a finish to an outstanding World Championship Series has seen the city of Cincinnati claim it's first big league sports title since the old Monarchs won the Border Association pennant way back in 1888. Rufus Barrell led the way, retiring the final 21 Boston batters in order while twirling a 2-hitter, along with Denny Andrews, who snapped a 1-1 tie with a solo homerun in the 8th inning, to lead the Cannons to a 4-1 victory over the Boston Minutemen in the seventh game of the World Championship Series.
The Series could not have been much closer as the only game won by the visiting team was the deciding 7th contest, and for the Series only one run separated the two sides. The seventh game had the feeling it might never be decided as it stayed 1-1 for the first seven innings before Andrews, who began his career in Boston and had lost his starting job in Cincinnati with the mid-season acquisition of Billy Dalton, played the hero with what would prove to be the series-clinching homerun to lead off the top of the 8th inning.
Both clubs plated a run in the first. Cincinnati's coming when Chuck Adams doubled in Fred Galloway, who had worked Boston starter Walt Wells for a free pass, but the Minutemen quickly matched that when Bob Donoghue hit a solo homerun -his second round tripper in as many games- after Deuce Barrell retired the first two Minutemen hitters.
Both clubs had opportunities but neither Wells nor Barrell would break. The Cannons had the bases loaded with one out in the second but the rally ended when Bob Griffith hit into a doubleplay. Boston had runners on the corners with no one out in the third but Barrell managed to get out of trouble with 3 straight fly balls. In the fifth the Cannons had runners on the corners with one out but Wells again pitched his way out of trouble.
Boston's luck ran out in the top of the 8th when Duke Hendricks, who had relieved Wells midway through the 7th, grooved a pinch to Andrews that travelled close to 400 feet and allowed the Cannons infielder to score the tie-breaking run. That inning could have been much worse for Hendricks as a walk, a single and an error -Boston's third miscue of the game- loaded the bases with just one out. Harry Barrell made a terrific play on his nephew, nabbing Deuce's ground ball and firing a bullet home to catcher Bill Van Ness for the force at the plate and then Bob Griffith followed with another ground ball that Harry easily handled to get Hendricks out of what could have been a devastating inning.
Boston still had hope but it was flickering, entering the bottom of the 8th trailing to 2-1. Deuce Barrell, who had been incredibly efficient most of the game -throwing just 91 pitches in total- needed just 7 pitches to set the side down in order in the 8th and that was after it took just 3 pitches to get three outs in the 7th.
The Minutemen hopes came crashing down in the 9th inning when Johnny Harry -who had just an awful series- allowed 2 Cincinnati runs on a pair of walks -although one to Andrews was intentional- and a Sam Brown double. With a 4-1 lead and needing just 3 outs, Deuce Barrell put the game away with just 4 pitches in the bottom of the 9th. Pete Day and Bill Moore each hit fly balls to Cannons outfielders before Donoghue grounded out to shortstop Jimmy Hensley to end the series.
WCS NOTES
- Ed Wood, who won Games One and Six for the Minutemen without allowing an earned run was named the Series MVP. One can't help but wonder if Boston skipper Bill Boshart's decision to start Paul Richardson in Game 4 instead of Wood cost his team the Series? If Wood had pitched in the fourth game he likely would have been on the hill against Deuce Barrell yesterday in the deciding contest, if the series even went that far. Richardson's start was a 6-5 loss for the Boston nine, but the fault lies much more on reliever Johnny Harry -who allowed 4 runs in 1 and a third innings that game.
- Wood's .109 opponent batting average is the lowest ever recorded in a WCS, easily smashing the old mark of .139 against Detroit's Jim Golden in the 1919 series. There must be something about Wood and October baseball as two years ago the Cougars hit just .161 off Wood, which is tied for 5th lowest. Wood is 4-0 with a 0.27 era as a WCS pitcher -also the lowest career era mark of all-time.
- Deuce Barrell pitched 26 innings in the Series. That is tied for 5th most all-time in a single WCS and 3 shy of Charlie Sis' 1911 record. Billy Riley of the Stars and the Gothams Ed Bowman each pitched 25 innings last year.
- Bill Moore's 2-homerun performance in Game Four tied a WCS record. Only 3 players have ever homered twice in a single WCS contest. All three were from the Federal Association with Moore joining Cliff Moss, who did it with the Chiefs in 1938 and Henry Jones, who hit 2 in a 1929 game for Detroit.
- Pete Day led all hitters with a .346 batting average. Day went 8-for-11 in the first three games but was just 1-for-15 in the final four.
A last place finish. You know what that means, change is coming. This can be good, however, rumor has is the first more is a return to the past. Having given up on the wildly erratic Rusty Petrick, the Gothams are apparently turning to....Jim Lonardo?
That's right. Talk is the team has long desired a reunion with their long time ace. Now 39 and the winner of 261 career games the 10 year Gotham will attempt to add to his 162 total for the franchise. Lonardo needs just 3 victories to move past Charlie Wilson for 2nd place in team history. With one solid season Lonardo would likely moved into 2nd in most categories, trailing only the unreachable Ike Wetzel. Word is draft picks and prospects are also involved.