A VERY GLORIOUS LOSS

April 30, 1924

So the creepy Nickelodeon manager rudely woke me up and threw me on the street around midnight, and when I spit on the sidewalk in front of his building he yelled for a cop who chased me three blocks, grabbed me by the collar and dragged me down to a local jail for the night. At least the cell was warm.

Me and some other lowlifes got fed watery oatmeal in the morning and then I started pleading to come out, which got me nowhere. Finally I offered this guard all the rest of my money and faked like I was crying and that worked, but it was one in the afternoon by the time I hit the Brooklyn street again. I ran past a ticket booth to get on the el train back to the Polo Grounds but stupidly took a connector train into Manhattan by accident, so there was no way I could get there for the start of the 2 o'clock game.

My mama always says that sometimes your best days are happy accidents, and this was sure one of those. I ended up in Times Square, the most crowded, exciting city place I'd ever seen, autos whizzing around everywhere and people all dressed up, and at one corner of it The New York Times had set up a giant electrical scoreboard that was showing the Giants and Phillies game, seconds after the action was happening at the Polo Grounds. What luck! A pretty large crowd of business men had skipped their lunches or afternoon work to stand in front of it, and I blended right in with a handful of kids who wanted no part of school like me.

The board had green lights for the balls, red ones for the strikes, and had these little mechanical men that moved around on the diamond. When Wrightstone hit a homer in the 3rd to put us up 2-1, I let out a cheer and got some low curses from the people around me, who I'm sure were mostly all Giants fans. New York has truly been playing bad so far, and their fans can't stop complaining about it. George Kelly their first baseman has been real rotten with men on base, something he never is, and I heard two different people say he shouldn't be making anywhere near his $7,000 a year.

Anyway, the 3-1 Phillie lead grew to 5-1 in the 8th when Harper homered to knock out Mule Watson. This time I kept my mouth shut but a girl about 100 feet away yelled "YAHOO!" real loud and I recognized all at once whose voice it was. I pushed my way through the crowd and there she was in front of me: Rachel. She couldn't believe I was there, too, and gave me a big friendly hug. After yesterday's tough loss she left Boston because she figured she was bringing them bad luck, and as you'll soon find out the Robins were getting their brains bashed in again on this day, but with the Giants losing too she was in great spirits.

The electric board broke down for a half hour right then, and by the time they got it working again the Giants had scored three times in the 8th and Johnny Couch was now pitching for us instead of Glazner. Huck Betts must have been too tired after yesterday's work, and that was unfortunate. Down 5-4 in the 9th with the Times Square crowd hooting like nuts, O'Connell hit a pinch double for them with one out in the bottom of the 9th. Hack Wilson, who had done nothing all day, then tripled, his mechanical man chugging around on the board the same slow way he is.

Rachel and I got real quiet, and she actually gripped my hand. The game suddenly didn't mean as much, and I started rooting for extra innings so she'd never let go. But no dice. Frisch walked and Irish Meusel hit a fly that scored Wilson's little mechanical man, the crowd threw their hats up and we just snuck out of their quick as possible.

I told Rachel my problems with money and the cop and she offered to let me sleep on her couch for the whole weekend so I could go with her to the Phillies games at Ebbets. We stayed in Manhattan most of the night, first eating at a great Italian place that served the biggest manicottis I'd ever seen, then to a little dancing music club down in an area called Greenwich where she taught me how to do the Charleston till I got dizzy.

Actually she's been making every part of me dizzy, so I badly need to rest up now for tomorrow's adventure. It'll be nice to spend the whole First of May with Rachel and learn more about her. I found out her last name is Stone, not Italian-sounding like I thought it would be. But that's okay. Her name could be from Hell and I probably wouldn't believe it. Good night, reader-people!
—Vinny

PHL 102 000 020 - 5 11 1
NYG 100 000 032 - 6 10 3

Other National League games on the big electric board:

at BRAVES 11-16-2, ROBINS 4-8-3
It was good Rachel missed this one or she might not have recovered. Tiny Osborne was dreadful while the Brooklyns could barely touch Marquard. Boston is playing unbelievably well in the early going.

at REDS 4-9-0, CARDINALS 2-10-0
Cincy is like a bunch of mosquito bugs. You seem like you're doing fine against them, and then you look up at the end of the game and they somehow bit you to death. Walker's triple in the 7th breaks the 2-2 tie with Sheehan getting the complete win.

PIRATES 6-11-0, at CUBS 0-2-2
Someone better start beating the Bucs soon. Johnny Morrison gave up a single in the 1st and a double in the 9th and NOTHING ELSE. They now go home to welcome the struggling Cards, so look out, league!

NATIONAL LEAGUE through Wednesday, April 30
Pittsburgh Pirates	10	5	.667	—
Cincinnati Reds	8	7	.533	2
Brooklyn Robins	8	7	.533	2
Philadelphia Phillies	7	8	.467	3
New York Giants	7	8	.467	3
Boston Braves	7	8	.467	3
St. Louis Cardinals	7	9	.438	3.5
Chicago Cubs	6	10	.375	4.5