A NICE DAY TO RECOVER

April 21, 1924

I had no problem with Mama last night, even though I got home at almost eleven. See, there was a flower man at the station and I bought some daisies from him, then told her that I picked them special for her, right from the meadow we had our church picnic in, so that was that.

Mrs. Crackerbee gave me a pat on the head this morning in class because Mr. Tuggerheinz must have told her about my sick brother, so I think I'm free and clear to leave school early for games whenever I want. Except today I might have had more fun learning my division because Brooklyn bombarded our spirits again by an unholy 18-5 score, which included 24 safeties. Bill Hubbell, who pitched like a champ for us his first time against the Braves, got his rump waxed for 10 hits in a bit over two innings before Fletcher sent him on his way.

We were behind 13-2 in the 5th when Benny finally arrived in the bleachers. His eyes were all red and he was moving like he was still asleep or something, and he was sure glad he missed the first half of the game. He ended up sleeping in a Brooklyn alley all night because Rachel made him leave around ten at night when he tried to smooch her and she said she didn't like him that way. Benny said to heck with girls, especially Brooklyn ones, and I said yeah you're right even though I was secretly glad she didn't like him.

Anyway, Benny was in a foul mood the rest of the game and was really giving it to the Robins players, even Zack Wheat in left, who hit a homer in this one along with Jack Fournier their clean-up man. Clarence Mitchell came in for us to wipe up the mess, but he just added to it, allowing three in the 8th and two more in the 9th. By then most everyone had left Baker Bowl so me and Benny snuck down to the real good field seats to watch the bottom of the 9th.

It's incredible how much more you can see from up close. Burleigh Grimes was still pitching for Brooklyn (that's him at the top of this report), and the big blue "B" on his jersey was all smudged with red dirt from running the bases earlier. Hod Ford hadn't shaved in a few days and Heinie Sand was even dumber-looking than we thought. The Phillies got two walks with one out in the inning, and then they started hitting right in front of us. Harper lined a single to load the sacks, Holke singled into right for a run, and then Wrightstone, who Fletcher moved to the 3-spot and got four hits, singled in two more! We were going to watch a miracle comeback! Jolly fat Wilbert Robinson went to the hill and replaced Grimes with some guy named Ehrhardt and we stood up and shouted and didn't care what the few well-heeled types around us thought. The ushers had mostly gone home, too. Cy Williams was coming up, and in a ballgame, anything is always possible.

But then Cy grounded into an easy double play on the first pitch and we went home.

Good night, reader-people!

ROBINS 317 020 032 — 18 24 0
PHILS 100 100 003 — 5 12 3

Other National League games I found out about:

BRAVES 9-10-2, at GIANTS 4-9-1
Wow! What's gotten into Boston's soup? The Braves have their way with the evil Giants for the second day in a row, as Cooney beats McQuillan and New York is under the .500 mark like us!

at REDS 7-14-2, CUBS 6-14-0
Cincy has certainly been a pesky bunch, winning close games even without injured Edd Roush. Eppa Rixey survived this one and Lee tripled in the winner in the 7th.

PIRATES 8-15-2, at CARDS 7-14-1 (11 inn.)
Another great sweaty contest. The Bucs get two in the 1st but Hornsby bangs a 3-run homer to take the lead. The Bucs then go up 6-3 but Hornsby does it again with a big double in the 5th and it's 7-6 Cards. Then Wright homers to tie, Pie Traynor singles in the 11th inning winner, and Babe Adams gets Hornsby out on a bases loaded deep fly to end the game. Pittsburgh stays tied at the top with Brooklyn, and the Robins by the way have a .358 team batting average, or so says Mort.

NATIONAL LEAGUE through Monday, April 21
Brooklyn Robins	5	2	.714	—
Pittsburgh Pirates	5	2	.714	—
Cincinnati Reds	4	3	.571	1
Philadelphia Phillies	3	4	.429	2
St. Louis Cardinals	3	4	.429	2
New York Giants	3	4	.429	2
Boston Braves	3	4	.429	2
Chicago Cubs	2	5	.286	3