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WahooSam309 · 05-13-2019, 10:08 AM

Veeck’s bold experiment was starting to work, and the idea spread. Word soon reached the Phillies that the Senators had integrated the American League by signing Juan Vargas and Leon Day from their Negro League teams. The Giants and Athletics followed suit over the next week. Even beyond the Phillies, baseball was forever changed.

Meanwhile, as the team waited on the doctors to figure out Paige’s injury, they readied themselves for the series in St. Louis. In other road games, the Phillies had marveled at the outpouring of support from black baseball fans, but in St. Louis the effect was even greater. The Cardinals kept their ballpark segregated, but the black section was filled to bursting as many more gathered outside the park to celebrated the event they had long dreamed of.

Dave Barnhill took the mound in the first game against the Cards’ 7-2 hurler, Mort Cooper. A sac fly gave the Cardinals the lead in the second and they added four more in the third on Litwhiler’s grand slam after Barnhill walked the bases loaded. Cooper was nearly unhittable, and remained so for the whole game, shutting out the Phillies 6-0.

Some good news followed the loss: the trainers pronounced Paige’s injury as just a strain, and said he should miss no more than one start. Verdell Mathis pitched the following day against Harry Breeden, whom the Phillies had beaten once before. Both pitchers had their best stuff that night, and the teams were locked in a scoreless tie until the sixth, when Leonard singled to right to drive in Wells and Brown. Mathis worked efficiently, pounding the strike zone and avoiding walks. He worked out of a jam in the eighth to maintain the shutout and induced a double play to win it in the ninth, taking down the league leaders 2-0.

Si Johnson faced Max Lanier in the final match the next day. A Cardinal error led to a Phillies run in the first, and Johnson knocked in another with a single up the middle in the third. Musial scored on Litwhiler’s triple in the fourth to cut the lead to one, and Ray Sanders drove him in to tie it. Musial, inevitably, got to Johnson again, knocking in a run in the fifth to take a 3-2 lead. Two batters later, Sanders drove Musial and Litwhiler in with a home run to right, and that was it for Johnson. Musial added two more with a massive opposite field shot off Hilton Smith in the seventh. That was all she wrote for the Phillies, who fell 8-2 to the mighty Redbirds.

05-13-2019, 10:08 AM	#21
WahooSam309 Minors (Single A) Join Date: Mar 2018 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 81	At St. Louis (June 3, 4, and 5) Veeck’s bold experiment was starting to work, and the idea spread. Word soon reached the Phillies that the Senators had integrated the American League by signing Juan Vargas and Leon Day from their Negro League teams. The Giants and Athletics followed suit over the next week. Even beyond the Phillies, baseball was forever changed. Meanwhile, as the team waited on the doctors to figure out Paige’s injury, they readied themselves for the series in St. Louis. In other road games, the Phillies had marveled at the outpouring of support from black baseball fans, but in St. Louis the effect was even greater. The Cardinals kept their ballpark segregated, but the black section was filled to bursting as many more gathered outside the park to celebrated the event they had long dreamed of. Dave Barnhill took the mound in the first game against the Cards’ 7-2 hurler, Mort Cooper. A sac fly gave the Cardinals the lead in the second and they added four more in the third on Litwhiler’s grand slam after Barnhill walked the bases loaded. Cooper was nearly unhittable, and remained so for the whole game, shutting out the Phillies 6-0. Some good news followed the loss: the trainers pronounced Paige’s injury as just a strain, and said he should miss no more than one start. Verdell Mathis pitched the following day against Harry Breeden, whom the Phillies had beaten once before. Both pitchers had their best stuff that night, and the teams were locked in a scoreless tie until the sixth, when Leonard singled to right to drive in Wells and Brown. Mathis worked efficiently, pounding the strike zone and avoiding walks. He worked out of a jam in the eighth to maintain the shutout and induced a double play to win it in the ninth, taking down the league leaders 2-0. Si Johnson faced Max Lanier in the final match the next day. A Cardinal error led to a Phillies run in the first, and Johnson knocked in another with a single up the middle in the third. Musial scored on Litwhiler’s triple in the fourth to cut the lead to one, and Ray Sanders drove him in to tie it. Musial, inevitably, got to Johnson again, knocking in a run in the fifth to take a 3-2 lead. Two batters later, Sanders drove Musial and Litwhiler in with a home run to right, and that was it for Johnson. Musial added two more with a massive opposite field shot off Hilton Smith in the seventh. That was all she wrote for the Phillies, who fell 8-2 to the mighty Redbirds.