TIGERFAN'S SPORTING DAILY : WEDNESDAY MAY 16, 1947
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
YANKS CLOSE TO WITHIN GAME AND A HALF OF TRIBE
Cleveland Indians pitcher Johnny Babich tossed a complete game 2-hitter - and lost. Babich gave up a bloop single to Snuffy Stirnweiss in the top of the sixth that scored the first run of the game and a solo homer to Aaron Robinson in the 8th that gave New York a 2-1 victory over the Indians. The only Indians run came in the bottom of the 7th on a sacrifice fly. Tiny Bonham allowed just 7 Cleveland hits while Jimmy Deshong came on in relief to get the final two outs for his first save of the season.
The Yankee win moves New York to within a game and a half of the first place Indians atop the American League standings.
In other action: Chet Laabs homered and drove in 3 runs as Philadelphia waxed Washington 12-1. Mel Almada and Stan Spence each had 3 hits to lead the Boston Red Sox past Detroit 6-5 while in St Louis the Browns dropped Chicago 8-3.
ZABALA BAFFLES BUCS
Where did this guy come from? After 3 seasons spent mainly in the minors and exclusively in relief, New York Giants pitcher Adrian Zabala is making the most of his opportunity to be a starter. Zabala pitched 7 shutout innings as the lowly Giants blanked powerful Pittsburgh 2-0. In three starts the 30 year old is 2-1 with a 1.13 era. Johnny Rucker had 3 hits and scored the winning run to lead the Giants offense.
The Philadelphia Phillies won a wild one in Boston 13-7. The Braves tied the game at 5 when PH Vance Dinges hit a solo homer with 2 out in the bottom of the ninth but that was just the start of the drama. In the top of the 10th another pinch-hitter, Bobby Estalella hit a 2-run shot to put the Phillies ahead but an Earl Torgeson double in the bottom of the inning scored two tie once again tie the game. Philadelphia would put it away with 4 runs in the top of 11th and there was no Boston comeback this time as Orval Grove retired the Braves in order.
There were late inning heroics in Brooklyn as well. Despite having two men retired at the plate on throws from Cardinals OF Frankie Baumholz, Brooklyn scored 3 times in the bottom of the nith to tie the Cardinals at 5. The Dodgers then won the game in the bottom of the 10th on a sac fly from PH Red Nonnenkamp.
In Cincinnati, Grady Hatton's 3 run homer led the Reds past Chicago 5-2.
Code:
AMERICAN W L PCT GB
CLEVELAND 19 8 .704 x
NEW YORK 19 11 .633 1.5
ST LOUIS 17 13 .567 3.5
WASHINGTON 13 15 .464 6.5
DETROIT 12 16 .429 7.5
BOSTON 11 16 .407 8.0
CHICAGO 11 17 .393 8.5
PHILADELPHIA 11 17 .393 8.5
NATIONAL W L PCT GB
PITTSBURGH 21 8 .724 x
ST LOUIS 18 12 .600 3.5
CINCINNATI 16 13 .552 5.0
PHILADELPHIA 14 12 .538 5.5
CHICAGO 14 13 .519 6.0
BOSTON 10 16 .385 9.5
BROOKLYN 9 18 .333 11.0
NEW YORK 8 18 .308 11.5
YESTERDAY'S RESULTS
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Philadelphia 12 Washington 1
Boston 6 Detroit 5
St Louis 8 Chicago 3
New York 2 Cleveland 1
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Philadelphia 13 Boston 7 (11 inn)
Brooklyn 6 St Louis 5 (10 inn)
Cincinnati 5 Chicago 2
New York 2 Pittsburgh 0
TODAY'S GAMES
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Philadelphia (L McCrabb 2-4, 3.47) at Washington (J Haynes 3-3, 3.22)
Detroit (H White 4-2, 3.44) at Boston (A Karl 2-2, 5.76)
Chicago (F Biscan 2-3, 5.10) at St Louis (A Williams 1-4, 2.96)
New York (D Dean 5-1, 2.93) at Cleveland (M Butcher 2-0, 1.46)
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Chicago (V Olsen 5-2, 2.03) at Boston (B Brown 1-0, 0.64)
New York (D Koslo 1-5, 5.75) at Brooklyn (M Haefner 0-5, 7.15)
Philadelphia (C Schanz 5-2, 3.30) at Cincinnati (J Hutchings 3-3, 3.61)
St Louis (G Dockins 4-3, 5.04) at Pittsburgh (J Tobin 5-1, 3.75)
Code:
AMERICAN LEAGUE LEADERS NATIONAL LEAGUE LEADERS
BATTING BATTING
D Wakefield Det .379 B Elliott Pit .400
W Judnich SLB .360 G Rosen Bkn .386
J Heath Cle .350 G Scharein StL .367
HOME RUNS HOME RUNS
F Crosetti NYY 7 H Clift Chn 9
T Hafey Cha 7 W Cooper StL 7
D Walker NYY 5 E Torgeson Bsn 6
RBI'S RBI'S
D Litwhiler Cha 28 B Elliott Pit 31
B Young Bos 25 A Vaughan Pit 30
D Walker NYY 24 R Kiner Pit 24
WINS WINS
B Lohrman Cle 6-0 P Roe Pit 6-0
S Gromek Cle 5-0 C Schanz Phi 5-2
D Dean NYY 5-1 V Olsen Chn 5-2
ERA ERA
B Lohrman Cle 1.04 A Zabala NYG 1.13
T Bonham NYY 1.68 V Olsen Chn 2.03
E Johnson Bos 1.74 P Roe Pit 2.18
STRIKEOUTS STRIKEOUTS
F Hutchinson Det 34 W Spahn Bsn 43
J Haynes Wsh 31 R Barney Bkn 42
S Gromek Cle 31 A Jurisch StL 39
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION OFFSEASON NOTES
NBA DRAFT PRIMER - SETON HALL'S GARY TAYLOR
Despite, or perhaps because of a back injury suffered in Seton Hall's final NCAA tournament game of the season, junior center Gary Taylor has decided to skip his senior year and enter the NBA draft. For his part Taylor says the injury had no bearing either way on his decision, he simply felt it was time to take his game to the pro ranks.
Taylor spent 3 seasons as the starting center for the Pirates and improved his game in each of those years. He led Seton Hall to two straight Big East tournament titles and was named to the conference allstar team this year.
There is plenty of competition at center in this year's draft but as long as his back is sound Taylor should hear his name called by the middle of the first round.
Code:
GARY TAYLOR'S CAREER STATS AT SETON HALL
YEAR GP MPG PPG RPG APG TO SPG BPG FG% FT% 3P%
44-45 33 31.4 8.3 9.3 1.4 0.8 0.4 1.7 .397 .829 .000
45-46 34 31.6 10.1 11.8 1.6 1.1 0.1 2.0 .420 .813 .500
46-47 34 30.5 13.7 13.8 1.0 1.0 1.3 3.0 .644 .774 .000
--- ---- ---- ---- --- --- --- --- ---- ---- ----
career 101 31.2 10.7 11.7 1.3 1.0 0.6 2.2 .494 .804 .500
Gary Taylor is a fictional player created by TDCB.
GOLF
BING CROSBY PRO-AM BEGINS TOMORROW
Bing Crosby's annual pro-am tournament begins tomorrow in a brand new venue. After a decade at Rancho Santa Fe near San Diego the event will now be played on three courses in the Monterey Penninsula - Pebble Beach, Cypress Point and Del Monte. The event will also be extended from 36 holes to 54 with one round being contested at each of the courses.
HORSE RACING
PHALANX, JET PILOT CO-FAVOURITES IN PREAKNESS
Kentucky Derby winner Jet Pilot is a co-favourite at 2-1 along with the third place finisher in the Derby Phalanx for Saturday's Preakness Stakes. The next two most popular horses with the early bettor's are On Trust and Faultless, both at 5-1. Liberty Road's surprising second place finish at Churchill Downs is getting little respect at Pimlico - the horse is set at 10-1 as of Tuesday.
Code:
Here are the mid-week odds
Jet Pilot 2-1
Phalanx 2-1
On Trust 5-1
Faultless 5-1
Bulletproof 9-1
Liberty Road 10-1
Stepfather 10-1
Star Reward 12-1
Jett Jett 12-1
Riskolater 12-1
WL Sickle 15-1
Double Jay 20-1
Cosmic Bomb 20-1