A DOUBLE-DROWNING IN LAKE ERIE

TIGERS SHAME OUR FIGHTING MEN AS RANCID HURLERS ALLOW 40 HITS TO LAST PLACE TRIBE

By Calvin J. Butterworth
Detroit Free-Enterprise

May 30, 1924

CLEVELAND, OHIO—Decoration Day may be a day for Americans to remember, but for Tiger fans this one is best forgotten as swiftly as possible. For against a cellar-dwelling club that had simply done nothing well in three games with the White Sox, a club that was 4-11 at home, a club without Speaker and Riggs Stephenson in their lineup, Detroit played as if their heads were embedded in their lower body cavities, serving the Indians twenty delicious hits in each portion of their double holiday feast before a ravenous gathering at League Park.

Ken Holloway was the first pitching prisoner to step to the gallows. Brower led the Cleveland 1st with a double, Jamieson and Sewell singled, and after a two-out Homer Summa triple, it was 3-0. It was 8-0 after the five runs, three hits, two walks and the error Holloway made in the 2nd. It was 10-0 after the three hits and awful Manush error in the 3rd. For their part, Detroit made 15 hits on George Uhle, but 14 of them were singles, a recent malady which has been plaguing the club for days. Dutch Leonard mopped up the game for the dejected Holloway, but early damage had decided this one out of the gate.

The latter contest was far worse. James Edwards started for Cleveland and had nothing to offer, as the Tigers used seven singles and two walks to take a 4-0 lead into the last of the 3rd. Which was when Hooks Dauss grimly joined his mate Holloway on the League Park scaffold. He and Herm Pillette allowed three 4-run innings between them, and it was 12-4 by the end of the 6th, the competition never to return.

So the Tigers were the only road team on this treasured day to be swept. They have now lost four straight, looking absolutely miserable in the process, and have basically slid out of the pennant race for the time being. Aside from their wretched pitching and fielding, their hit-filled attacks are still shallow and devoid of punch. Of their last 44 hits, 41 of them were singles. Ty Cobb can take me into the clubhouse tunnel, spit tobacco juice in my face or knock me into the lake, but I am speaking the truth when I say that this Detroit outfit is dropping into the American League abyss like a croquet ball into a pond.

DET 002 100 031 - 7 15 3
CLE 352 001 20x - 13 20 2

DET 220 000 010 - 5 14 1
CLE 004 404 00x - 12 20 0

Other American League twin-bills today:

SENATORS 3-7-0, at RED SOX 1-4-0
SENATORS 11-16-3, at RED SOX 6-10-3
Firpo Marberry recovers from his last starting travesty with a fine outing, and Bennie Tate chips in with a big double and sacrifice fly. George Murray takes a 5-2 lead for Boston into the 6th in the later game, but the Washingtonians smash the bullpen of Ross, Ruffing and Piercy for nine runs in the final three innings.

WHITE SOX 7-11-0, at BROWNS 4-13-0
WHITE SOX 10-17-1, at BROWNS 2-6-3
As one could have predicted, St. Louis goes home after roughing the Tigers and is completely helpless against the killer White Sox. Collins is on base eight of his eleven times in the two games, Ernie Wingard makes his first rotten performance of the year, Mike Cvengros gets his first start for Chicago and allows just six hits, and Ken Williams is conveniently hurt for three more games. Every single thing is going the White Stocking way right now, and I imagine we should be thankful there is a Washington club around to keep a pennant race going.

ATHLETICS 4-10-0, at YANKEES 2-8-0
ATHLETICS 18-18-0, at YANKEES 5-10-2
Because at this rate, New York will not be part of it either. Heimach and his 1-6 record beats Sad Sam Jones in Game One, before Milt Gaston is knocked out in the third inning of the nightcap. Hauser collects two homers for winner Slim Harriss, one a grand-slam, while after eight straight hitless plate appearances in the two games, the chronically unreliable Babe Ruth strokes homer number 14—with his team trailing 18-3.

AMERICAN LEAGUE through Friday, May 30
Chicago White Sox	29	15	.659	—
Washington Senators	30	16	.652	—
New York Yankees	24	21	.533	5.5
Philadelphia Athletics	21	24	.467	8.5
Detroit Tigers	21	24	.467	8.5
St. Louis Browns	19	25	.432	10
Boston Red Sox	18	26	.409	11
Cleveland Indians	17	28	.378	12.5