FOR THE LOVE OF THE STRANGE

TIGERS ROAR BACK LATE TO AVOID WASHINGTON LANDSLIDE, DELIGHT SUICIDAL FANS

By C. Jedediah Butterworth
Base Ball Freescriber

July 31, 1924

AUTHOR'S NOTE: From my new glorious perch atop the right-center field bleachers at Navin Field, I can smell the hot sausages grilling behind home plate. Twenty-four hours spent in a humiliating cell at Wayne County Jail was twenty-three and a half hours too long, and right now, with my hat off and my face caressed with warm sunshine, there is no place on earth I'd rather be. Darling Bonnie has given me the day here alone to reacquaint myself with the other love of my life, and the overflowing bleacher fans about me have been gracious and accepted me as one of their own. Best of all, I have chosen to write until the end of my days in the present tense, and as an employee of no one but myself. Feel free, people, to read my accounts as they happen and share them with whoever you like, for the words are like dust from a hurler's resin bag, scattered into the ball park air for all to enjoy.

Ambushed late and most severely yesterday by a roving gang of Tiger marauders, the Senators are in no mood for competition. Earl Whitehill has been battered about in his last few outings, and he is sadly true to form here from the outset. Singles from Leibold and Judge and a walk to the kingly Goose Goslin fill the sacks with Nats.

Up steps Sam Rice, and I can feel the weight of the bleacher rows sag around me with gruesome anticipation. Rice makes good on their fears, lambasting a dead Whitehill curve on a deep line to the left of us. Cobb and Heilman converge but nether man is fleet enough to snare the sphere, which bounces happily to the fence as all three runs score.

It becomes worse. A Les Burke error at second with two outs in the 2nd is followed by a Judge single and Goslin double. Two singles and a scoring grounder in the next frame make it 5-0. A walk, single, and crackling 3-run belt by Harris with two outs in the 5th down the left field line build the deficit to 8-0. A man beside me choosing to keep his eyes buried in a rumpled sporting page pipes up that Harris' clout is the one and only home run the Senators have hit in the entire month! This coming in a July that has seen the first-place Washington lead grow like Jack's beanstalk. How utterly foolish I have been to hammer on Cobb for his team's lack of power.

Whitehill is finally sent on his ways here to a chorus of raspberries, and Dutch Leonard is summoned to perform custodial work. He whiffs Leibold to end the inning, then rapidly loses his job thereafter. Judge walks to begin the 6th and Goslin brings him in with a scintillating triple, his 107th run batted in on the season. Rice strikes himself out, but then Bluege singles, Peckinpaugh doubles, Ruel walks and even pitcher Zachary drives in two with a single. When Herman Pillette enters the fray, we are behind by eleven runs. The boisterous air of the bleachers I wallowed in on my last visit is a far cry from the tomb-like glumness here, and I leave my seat in the hopes of changing our luck.

Until now I have been scant in my praise of Tom Zachary, Washington's twirler. After retiring the first twelve Tiger batsmen he faces, Detroit squeezes two runs out in the 5th on a 2-base Harris error. Still, moving to the last of the 7th he has allowed one mere hit when Heilman pulls a fastball into the left corner for a leadoff double. I am settling into an empty spot in the furthest right corner of the park, behind the foul stripe and pole, and my back is turned when Manush singles Heilman to third. There are faint murmurs of cheer when Woodall brings home our third run with a force, but then Burke triples into the left center gap. Peckinpaugh boots a grounder. Pillette bats for himself and singles. Harris boots another grounder from Cobb. The crowd rumbles to life like an elephant herd discovering water. Rigney doubles, as does Fred Haney, and we're suddenly up to nine runs!

Alan Russell finally sends Zachary on his not-so-merry way, and little do we know our good fortune has come to an end. He gets Heilman and Manush easily to end the uprising, then puts away the next five hitters. With two outs in the 9th, a walk and singles by Fatty Fothergill and Heilman fill the bases once more. Manush can tie the contest with a home run! The knowledgeable cranks among us are acutely aware we have but twenty circuit clouts on the year, but in base ball, hope never succumbs until the final out is made.

Here rests Hope, laid to rest in the last moment of July as Manush dribbles out to Harris to end the game. But what a bonfire we created out of twigs and dry grass, with Bluege and Leibold both going out with week-long injuries in the process! Walter Johnson throws for the League Leaders tomorrow, and with the mettle we showed this afternoon, the Train better be on his favored track!

WAS 311 035 000 - 13 15 3
DET 000 020 700 - 9 9 1

THE DAY'S OTHER AMERICAN LEAGUE CONTESTS:

at INDIANS 7-10-2, ATHLETICS 4-10-0
The Speaker is in the house again, providing a 1st inning single and three-run wallop in the 4th off Rommel to drive the Tribe's latest win for Sherry Smith. Cleveland may not have much pitching, but they can belt the cork out of the ball.

at WHITE SOX 4-11-2, RED SOX 2-7-1
Sloppy Thurston win his 14th, and veteran backstop Ray Schalk, starting to take advantage of Jack Quinn's troubles with righty batters, triples and homers to become the Comiskey hero.

at BROWNS 12-13-1, YANKEES 3-9-1
I never fail to be marveled by this sport. Here is Joe Bush with his 10-7 mark, three shutouts and reasonable earned run average, giving up eleven hits and twelve runs to the Browns in two and two-thirds innings of toil. Replaced by seldom-used (and with good reason) Al Mamaux and Cliff Markle, the two Yankee fools blank the Brownies on two hits the rest of the way. Pat Collins caps the 10-run St. Louis 3rd inning with a grand slammer.

AMERICAN LEAGUE STATISTICAL COMPENDIUM

RECORD IN MONTH OF JULY
19-9 Washington, 16-13 New York, 16-14 Cleveland, 14-15 Detroit,
14-15 St. Louis, 14-15 Philadelphia, 12-16 Boston, 10-18 Chicago

RECORD AT HOME
Washington 42-18, Detroit 29-21, Chicago 24-20, Cleveland 26-23,
New York 26-28, St. Louis 21-25, Philadelphia 25-30, Boston 19-32

RECORD ABROAD
Washington 26-17, New York 26-21, Chicago 29-28, Detroit 26-28
Boston 24-26, St. Louis 26-31, Philadelphia 20-28, Cleveland 21-34

ONE-RUN CONTESTS
Detroit 23-9, Washington 18-8, Philadelphia 13-10, Chicago 15-16,
Boston 13-16, New York 13-16, St. Louis 9-13, Cleveland 9-25

ADDITIONAL INNINGS
Washington 8-4, Detroit 8-4, New York 3-3, Philadelphia 3-3,
Boston 3-4, Chicago 5-6, Cleveland 5-7, St. Louis 3-6

COMEBACK VICTORIES/RUINED ADVANTAGES
Washington 30/14, New York 30/24, Philadelphia 19/17, Detroit 23/22,
Chicago 25/28, St. Louis 21/26, Cleveland 25/30, Boston 17/30

BATTING AVERAGE
St. Louis .312, Cleveland .311, Detroit .300, Chicago .299
New York .295, Washington .295, Boston .282, Philadelphia .280

RUNS SCORED
Cleveland 648, Detroit 593, Chicago 586, Washington 570
New York 560, St. Louis 551, Philadelphia 527, Boston 506

TRIPLES
Washington 61, Detroit 57, Cleveland 54, St. Louis 51,
New York 51, Boston 46, Philadelphia 44, Chicago 41

HOME RUNS
New York 58, St. Louis 46, Philadelphia 44, Chicago 37
Cleveland 31, Detroit 20, Washington 18, Boston 18

DOUBLE PLAYS GROUNDED INTO
New York 93, Washington 108, St. Louis 110, Detroit 119,
Philadelphia 120, Boston 122, Cleveland 128, Chicago 130

RUNNERS LEFT ADRIFT
Philadelphia 772, New York 864, Chicago 865, St. Louis 870,
Washington 902, Boston 922, Detroit 957, Cleveland 990

EARNED RUN AVERAGE
Washington 3.79, Boston 4.98, New York 4.99, Detroit 5.02,
St. Louis 5.07, Chicago 5.16, Philadelphia 5.18, Cleveland 5.44

ERRORS
New York 98, Detroit 101, Cleveland 111, Boston 112,
Chicago 120, Washington 121, St. Louis 130, Philadelphia 132

DOUBLE PLAYS EXECUTED
Philadelphia 141, Washington 121, New York 118, Boston 116,
Cleveland 112, Chicago 109, Detroit 107, St. Louis 95

HOME RUNS ALLOWED
Boston 19, Washington 26, Detroit 28, Philadelphia 31,
Chicago 36, Cleveland 43, St. Louis 44, New York 47

BATTING AVG. LEADERS
.374 Jamieson, CLE
.367 Heilman, DET
.363 Ruth, NYY
.352 Judge, WASH
.351 Cobb, DET
.350 Speaker, CLE
.344 Falk, CHW
.341 McManus, STL
.328 Goslin, WASH
.325 Collins, CHW

HOME RUN LEADERS
27 Ruth, NYY
16 Hauser, PHA
13 Williams, STL
12 Goslin, WASH

RUNS BATTED IN LEADERS
107 Goslin, WASH
99 Heilman, DET
87 Meusel, NYY
85 Lamar, PHA
82 Speaker, CLE
82 Ruth, NYY
72 Falk, CHW

GAME-DECIDING BLOWS
20 Goslin, WASH
13 Heilman, DET
12 Harris, WASH
11 Mostil, CHW
9 Speaker, CLE

WINS LEADERS
16-3 Collins, DET
15-7 Johnson, WASH
14-7 Thurston, CHW
13-4 Mogridge, WASH
13-5 Zachary, WASH
13-7 Faber, CHW

E.R.A. LEADERS
2.79 Johnson, WASH
2.67 Ogden, WASH
3.25 Collins DET
3.32 Mogridge, WASH

SAVED GAMES LEADERS
10 Dauss, DET
8 Meeker, PHA
6 Russell, WASH
6 Pruett, STL
6 Ross, BOS
6 McWeeny, CHI

AMERICAN LEAGUE through Thursday, July 31
Washington Senators	68	35	.660	—
Detroit Tigers	55	49	.529	13.5
Chicago White Sox	53	48	.525	14
New York Yankees	52	49	.515	15
St. Louis Browns	47	56	.456	21
Cleveland Indians	47	57	.452	21.5
Philadelphia Athletics	45	58	.437	23
Boston Red Sox	43	58	.426	24