THE AGONY AND THE EPPA RIXEY

July 8, 1924

We rolled into Cincinnati late yesterday and split into a bunch of taxicabs for the drive over to the Palace Hotel on Vine Street, which was built in 1882 by someone who must've thought he was a French king. It was eight stories high and had elevators and marble grand stairs in the lobby.

It also had three hundred or so rooms, but because there was a big convention of sausage-makers in town, there wasn't any space for me. Art Fletcher argued with the desk man for about ten seconds, and they ended up clearing out an extra linen closet and throwing a mattress on the floor. Harper felt bad and gave me a cigar, which I wasn't about to light up in there, while Wrightstone went down to a store and bought me a calendar with pictures of German countryside on it to hang on the closet wall. Real nice guys. The water pipes also happened to run up one of the walls, so every time someone used a toilet, took a bath or washed their teeth, which was most of the night, I would hear it.

I was so tired in the morning that I had my first cup of coffee with Heinie Sand in the hotel's breakfast room. It was awful bitter and I have no idea how so many people drink the stuff every day, but it did wake me up some. By the time we got to Redland Field I was all hopped up and took care of our bats five times quicker than usual. Johnny Couch was pitching for us, which probably meant a close game, except then I looked toward the Cincinnati dugout and saw scary Eppa Rixey tossing warm-ups. The Reds have been in the pennant chase all season, and this guy has been the main reason with his 11-4 record. He's also wiped us clean at least three times, and I could see most of our players drop their heads and shoulders just by taking a look at him.

Holke tried to make us forget about him by hitting a sacrifice fly in the 1st inning, but the Reds took care of that business right away with two-out singles from Bressler and Roush and the favorite Cincy weapon, the clutch triple, by Pinelli for a 2-1 lead. Heinie got himself a run-scoring fly in the 2nd to tie us again, but then Cincy went ahead 3-2 on a double play grounder by Walker...

And we were never heard from again.

Mokan singled in the 4th, Holke led the 6th with a double and Cy bashed a long out in the 8th that would have been a homer anywhere but here, and Rixey got everyone else out. The Reds scored single runs in the 4th and 7th but didn't need them, and then something even worse happened.

One of the Over-the-Rhine boys me and Benny had run into back in May recognized me while I was lugging some bats to the Phillie dugout and ran up to the rail. "Hey!" he shouted, "Aren't you Hans Muellerschidt's friend?' Muellerschmidt was the fake name Benny had given them to keep us from getting beat up, so I said "Ja" in a fake German accent and before you knew it, six more of those little thugs were squeezing into the good seats to pick on me before a cop finally made them move.

I stuck to Sand as close as I could after the game and we went for hamburgers. He didn't like losing but felt pretty good about his sacrifice fly off Rixey. "That guy is 12-4 now, it's a good thing when your bat hits any of his balls." I said from the stands it doesn't all that hard and he just laughed, toasted me with his root beer glass and said, "Meet me on the ball park diamond tomorrow morning."

You bet I will, reader-people!
—Vinny

PHI 110 000 000 - 2 6 2
CIN 210 100 10x - 5 10 1


Only National League Games today:

at PIRATES 12-17-0, BRAVES 3-13-2
Okay, so the Bucs go to 9-0 against Boston with no end in sight. This was actually just a 4-2 Pirate lead until the NL leaders got bored and racked up eight runs in the 5th, 6th, and 7th off Yeargin and Gearin, as if there's a difference between them. Best player in the league Kiki Cutler has his typical day: single, triple, grand slam homer, five runs batted in and a stolen base.

ROBINS 2-7-1, at CUBS 1-9-1
Burleigh Grimes win his 12th and Brooklyn jumps the Poor Cubs for two runs off Aldridge in the top of the 9th, the winner on a Grimes single.

GIANTS 15-16-3, at CARDINALS 10-11-5
New York recovers from losing to us by crushing St. louis in their own yard. Down 4-0 to Haines in the 5th they score nine times and three the next inning with the help of some rotten Cards fielding. The Giants have this way of looking awful even when they win, though, as Bentley and Jonnard allow five runs in the last of the 9th and have to get Cooney out to end the game with two more aboard. And with that worthless drunk George Kelly unable to get the ball out of the infield in six times up, McGraw vows to drop him down to the seventh lineup spot tomorrow.

NATIONAL LEAGUE through Tuesday, July 8
Pittsburgh Pirates	52	25	.675	—
Cincinnati Reds	49	32	.605	5
Brooklyn Robins	48	33	.593	6
New York Giants	44	34	.564	8.5
St. Louis Cardinals	39	40	.494	14
Chicago Cubs	35	44	.443	18
Philadelphia Phillies	31	50	.383	24
Boston Braves	20	60	.250	34.5