RAGING STARS: EPPA KNOCKS OUT CY IN EIGHTH ROUND

August 7, 1924

So today we all went to a baseball game and a boxing match broke out. Everyone inside Baker Bowl and probably for the surrounding twenty miles figured on a big Reds picnic, with the 15-5 Eppa Rixey going against the 6-9 and usually bullet-riddled Joe Oescheger, but that's why these dang things are played, right?

Four Cincy singles in a row started it off, and their 2-0 lead held up until Cy Williams said enough of this malarkey and bammed a homer to deepest center leading off the Phillie 4th. Cy's been all pepped up lately like I've never see him, and I'm sure the thrill of him player-managing these white all-stars on Sunday has a lot to do with it.

Roush got his third single in the 5th to put the Reds up 3-1, but then got too full of himself and dropped Oeschie's easy fly with one out in our 5th to put Phils at second and third. Part-timer Joe Schultz then whipped a hit into left and the game was tied! Take that, Eppa! Seriously, this Rixey disease has had us sick all year, so it was nice to see us getting some good licks in.

Of course, so were they. Oeschie gave up two quick singles and a scoring fly to put Cincy up 4-3, but then Cy creamed another Rixey pill high over the right train tracks, and it was 4-4. We were in a great one here, and for a while I actually forgot about Rube Foster and this Sunday and all the headaches going with it.

But then Cy came up to start the Phillie 8th. Cincy had knocked Oeschie out with three hits and a run in the top half, but Steineder got out of the mess that was left. Rixey was 15-5 for a reason, though, and wasn't about to let Cy take him out of the park a third time.

So the first pitch knocked him in the head! It wasn't a fastball thank God, but it sure didn't feel good. The crowd moaned as he dropped in the dust. I think I even heard Mama scream thirty blocks away.

Cy got up all wobbly, dusted off his uniform and headed straight to the mound! Eppa ducked the first punch but Cy is a big fellow and had him in a headlock in no time. By the time every player on both teams had reached the fight Eppa and Cy were tearing at each other like mad dogs.

It took almost five minutes to get them apart, and park policemen had to help. Cy was booted out of the game, but was too dizzy to play anymore anyway. Unbelievably though, the umpires allowed Rixey to stay in! Fans hurled trash and a few bottles from the stands, and he had to duck a few other things to make his first pitch to Jimmie Wilson.

Well, he should have come out for his own good, because we weren't about to let him get away with throwing at anyone's head, let alone our best hitter's. Wilson singled. Mokan singled. Parkinson singled. Steineder popped a deep fly for a third run and we were suddenly ahead with justice 7-5! Skinny bastard.

The Reds aren't exactly in second place because someone gave it to them for Christmas, though. In the 9th with one out, they got more patient at the plate than they were all game, and waited for Steineder to crack. Walker, Bressler and Roush all walked. Pinelli made it 7-6 with a single. Bubbles Hargave ripped a 2-run single to put them up 8-7. Daubert singled and it was 9-7 and the crowd was moaning all over again.

Dibut relieved to keep Rixey from being shot, and after a Ford single, Holke dribbled into a double play, Harper who replaced Cy in the cleanup hole, grounded to third and the bout was over.

The doctor checked Cy's noggin after the game and said he had a little concussion and won't be able to play for a few days. Naturally, Mama had heard the news from someone on her block and showed up outside the clubhouse to escort him down the street to who knows where.

He might be okay by Sunday, but this makes two other problems now. Rixey thinks he's pitching with the white stars, so he and Cy better drink some moonshine together, and quick. The other thing is that our best slugger just went out with the first-place Bucs coming in tomorrow. And nobody following this National League race is surprised by that.

Good night, reader-people!
—Vinny

Only other National League game today:

at BRAVES 4-7-0, CARDINALS 3-11-2
Wow. The Cards drop three out of four at Braves Field? What's this season coming to? Cotton Tierney singles in Bancroft in the last of the 10th to finally give Boston its 30th win of the year. Slumping Hornsby gets one one single in five tries and now has to face much tougher pitching in Brooklyn. And probably at Hilldale Field, too, but don't tell anyone.

NATIONAL LEAGUE through Thursday, August 7
Pittsburgh Pirates	67	37	.644	—
Cincinnati Reds	64	45	.587	5.5
Brooklyn Robins	63	46	.578	6.5
New York Giants	59	47	.557	9
St. Louis Cardinals	54	53	.505	14.5
Chicago Cubs	49	57	.462	19
Philadelphia Phillies	42	66	.389	27
Boston Braves	30	77	.280	38.5