HELLO AND GOODBYE

September 9, 1924

Rachel was so sure her team was going to beat mine today we'd already bought our train tickets to Quebec and had our packed bags stored away in one of the ticket-taker's booths at Ebbets Field. The fact Dazzy Vance was pitching had a lot to do with it.

But baseball's a lot like life, I had to remind her as we found our seats behind third base. Things that look certain hardly ever turn out that way. This may have been the quickest game these teams have played all year, but there were more tense moments packed into it than your average cliffhanger moving picture. Like these:

--Wheat doubles in the 1st, gets to third on a Cy Williams error but doesn't score.
--Phillies get two on and two out against Dazzy in the 2nd but don't score.
--Zack Taylor scores for Brooklyn with two outs on a Bernie Neis single in the 2nd, then Robins load the bases but Wheat flies out.
--Ford singles in Mokan to tie it in the 4th and Dazzy has to whiff Lew Wendell with two outs and two on.
--High triples with one out in bottom of the 4th but doesn't score.
--Neis triples with two outs in bottom of the 5th but doesn't score.
--Phillies get lead off singles in the 6th and 7th but don't score.
--Robins get two singles in the 6th and 7th but don't score.

Finally, in the last of the 8th, with Rachel chewing her fingernails and me worried about our marriage already, Brown led with a walk, my pal Heinie threw a ball into the East River to put runners on second and third, and none other than Dazzy knocked one into left for a go-ahead single, his third game-winnng hit of the year to go with his 22-8 record and 2.06 earned run average. And it was also Brooklyn's 80th win.

"Never a dull game, is there?" Rachel sighed when it was over and we were fetching our bags. By the time we got to Pennsylvania Station we found out the Pirates had lost another double-header, and life suddenly seemed real strange. My first visit to a foreign country was coming up, but without talking about it I'm sure the first thing on our minds was how we'd be able to get baseball scores.
—Vinny

PHL 000 100 000 - 1 5 1
BRK 010 000 01x - 2 10 0

Other National League games today (Old Cal will be back with you all shortly):

at CARDINALS 7-9-0, PIRATES 6-11-3
at CARDINALS 7-15-0, PIRATES 0-2-2
Gadzooks! The first game's a thriller, with the Cards grabbing a 2-0 lead, the Bucs battling back to take a 4-2 lead, before St. Louis scores four off Meadows in the bottom of the 7th, before the Bucs tie it back up immediately in the 8th, before a Gooch error with two outs in the last of the 9th is followed by a Howard Freigau double(!), a walk-on-purpose to Bottomley and awinning single by Mike Gonzalez. For a while it seems like the Bucs have wired God to help them out again because Earl Smith comes back from his injury to go right back to work with a homer and two singles, and it's arranged for Hornsby to get injured for the entire rest of the series, but the Cards take the game anyway. Ha-ha. In the nightcap, Johnny Stuart just mows the Bucs down with a 2-hitter, the second time in three days Pittsburgh gets shut out to finish a double-header.

at GIANTS 15-15-2, BRAVES 3-10-5
McGraw's Mashers stay hot, spotting Boston a 3-2 lead in the 4th before eating them for lunch. Virgil Barnes goes the distance and Mr. Kelly is at it again with a homer and three singles while Hack Wilson adds a 3-run smash to cap an eight-run 7th. The next Braves loss will be number 100.

at CUBS 1-6-1, REDS 0-2-2
By contrast, Cincy arrives at the hitting palace called Cubs Park and suddenly can't hit, even for Eppa Rixey. Even with Roush, Bressler and Caveney all back from injuries, Vic Keen gives them two singles, a walk and nothing else to avoid becoming the first 20-game loser in baseball. I'd say that's about it for the Reds.

NATIONAL LEAGUE through Tuesday, September 9
Pittsburgh Pirates	85	53	.616	—
Brooklyn Robins	80	59	.576	5.5
New York Giants	79	59	.572	6
Cincinnati Reds	78	61	.561	7.5
Chicago Cubs	70	68	.507	15
St. Louis Cardinals	67	71	.486	18
Philadelphia Phillies	55	83	.399	30
Boston Braves	39	99	.283	46