August 4, 1924
With all my thoughts from yesterday on my brain, it wasn't easy concentrating when it came to lining up baseball bats in their dumb rack.
The pesky, pitching-heavy Reds were in town trying to stay alive under the Pirates, and even if players always are more energized against the good teams it don't mean us batboys are. We had Bill Lucky Hubbell throwing against one of their Cubans Dolf Luque, and with the warm wind blowing out at Baker Bowl again I figured I was in for a long day. Dolf had light skin and blue eyes, which is pretty strange for a Cuban, and I guess it's helped him stick around in the big leagues because no one ever thinks he's a black.Hubbell gave him a 2-0 lead today when the Reds walked, doubled, singled and doubled in the 1st, even though Roush was shot down at the plate on Daubert's two-bagger with two out. It gave us hope, and good old Cy ripped one into the corner to lead off our 2nd. After Wilson brought him in with the fourth double of the game, Luque got all nervous and stupid and kicked Mokan's easy grounder to put guys at first and third. After a force at home, Hubbell singled, Harper singled, and presto—we had three runs and the lead!
Luque is pretty famous for his bad temper, and after he didn't get a strike three call on Wilson with two on in our 3rd, he started chewing at the umpire. Wilson tagged the next pitch for a scoring fly and it looked like Dolf was going to pop a bolt. Sure enough, with two outs in the 4th, and the Reds able to put people on but not knock any home, Luque got the first two men and then Harper and my buddy Heinie whacked doubles for a 5-2 Phillie lead. The Incredible Holke then pounced on a boring curve, creamed it over the Lifebuoy sign, and we were up by five!
Cincy skipper Jack Hendricks wouldn't have left Luque out in the sun for another inning even if he was a blonde bathing beauty blowing him kisses. And the move paid off for him. Hubbell fell asleep with his suddenly big lead, gave the Reds three singles and a walk to start the 5th, and Chick Shorten came up to bat for the pitcher. He wasted no time, scorched a triple between Cy and Mokan that rattled around some dropped trash from the bleachers, and after a Walker scoring fly and Bressler single it was 7-7!
The scoreboard showed the Cubs losing up at the Polo Grounds, and that got the Phillie players all hopped up again because we still had that bet with Chicago we'd finish in front of them. If we won this we'd only be seven behind in the losses column. Well, Cy took care of that in the 7th. With lefty Jakie May in to face him, he belted a no-doubt-about-it ball high and far over the train tracks in right, his 20th smack of the year. Harper added a run-scoring single in the 8th, and even though Hubbell gave up 16 hits we won it with 14 because more of ours went higher and further.
Cy was all grins and chuckles in the club house, and players and writers were taking up his time so I didn't get a chance to ask him if he'd heard about any more white players signing on for our secret game. Then Benny took me aside down at Mort's later and asked me pretty much the same question, so I guess I'll have to get to Baker Bowl earlier tomorrow to see what's been happening. I asked Benny if Rube Foster was serious about me being a coach and he said I could ask him myself except he went back to Chicago for a few days to take care of some business. Ain't that great.
I'll tell you, it's nervous-making to be a baseball organizer. Good night, reader-people!
—Vinny
Other National League games today:
PIRATES 3-11-0, ROBINS 0-6-1
A big ho, and a bigger hum. The usually unreliable Lee Meadows smokes the Robins on five scattered singles and a too-late Zack Wheat double, as four Pirate singles off Osborne basically end the game after the first five batters. Dazzy Vance throws tomorrow, and for Brooklyn he can't get to the mound fast enough.
at GIANTS 5-9-1, CUBS 1-6-3
Yowsa! Not only do the Giants finally win another one but they beat the dopes we're trying to catch. Hack Wilson homers off Keen for the big blow and Art Nehf spins a gem until getting tired in the 9th.
at BRAVES 2-9-0, CARDINALS 0-2-0
Isn't this why we love baseball more than anything? You got Joe Genewich with a 2-13 record, 5.58 earned run average, a guy who's given up 168 hits in 121 innings, going against tough Leo Dickerman and a Cards team that hits and scores runs in their sleep. And St. Louis gets shutout on two hits by one of the worst teams ever.
| NATIONAL LEAGUE through Monday, August 4 | ||||
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 67 | 35 | .657 | — |
| Cincinnati Reds | 62 | 44 | .585 | 7 |
| Brooklyn Robins | 61 | 46 | .570 | 8.5 |
| New York Giants | 59 | 45 | .567 | 9 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 53 | 51 | .510 | 15 |
| Chicago Cubs | 47 | 57 | .452 | 21 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 41 | 64 | .390 | 27.5 |
| Boston Braves | 28 | 76 | .269 | 40 |
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