IS THEIR LIFE AFTER DRAMA?

September 25 & 26, 1924

We may as well have been standing over a grave. That's how quiet lunches and dinners at Rachel's house have been the last two days. Even her little brother and sister knew not to make too much noise while their dad was staring into his bowl of beef barley soup.

"That 8th inning the other day?" he mumbled to anyone who was listening, but probably more to himself, "Dazzy had maybe two innings like that all season. And that's the time he picks for the third one?" I carefully reminded him that the Robins still had to win most of the rest of their games, but Saul wouldn't listen.

"That is the entire point. We could have. All we have left is three at home with the Braves while Pittsburgh gets the Cubs. If we win that last game it is definitely and figuratively possible!"

Rachel was still too sad to even mumble, and she coped with the depressing feelings after dinner by starting to write another novel. I didn't ask what this one was going to be about, but I'm sure there's a character from Pittsburgh who will get murdered pretty early.

Her father has been working on finding me a job at a printer through friends of his, and tomorrow I'm supposed to go and get interviewed, so most of tonight I spent looking through my clothes for something presenting to wear while Rachel scribbled on notepads across the room.

I suppose I'd be as sad as her if the Phillies just missed out on a league pennant, but from watching her and her dad I'm not sure I'm looking forward to actually being in a race. At least Saul had more of an excuse. He had to see Brooklyn lose the World Series only four years ago and four years before that.

"Vinny? I could really go for a cup of tea."

I told Rachel that's nice, why don't you go down and get one, but I knew in two seconds that was the wrong thing to say. She ripped a page out of her writing notebook, crumpled and threw it in my direction.

"If you'd rather stand in front of the mirror then look at me, you can forget taking me to that play tonight."

I said I thought she didn't want to go in the first place but then she said she changed her mind, so I said you're not allowed to just change your mind all the time, and she said she had every right to.

"Is this why we got married? To have stupid fights??" I yelled, and it suddenly got real quiet downstairs.

"i cannot talk to you when you scream at me."

"Fine." And then I was grabbing my coat and tramping out of the house for a nice relaxing walk in the early Autumn air.

Geez, we'd been married for how long now? Two weeks? Her father was more than right before at the dinner table, and it was the same thing I told Butterworth at the egg cream place: Another day of pennant drama can make everything feel better.

So how are we going to make it through the winters?
—Vinny

Thrilling and Meaningless Ball Games played in the last two days:

at PHILLIES 13-19-1, CARDINALS 5-12-0
Hey, look at this! The Phils win their third game in September by scoring eight runs in the first two innings off Bill Sherdel and hanging on the rest of the way.

REDS 7-20-1, at BRAVES 2-9-1
Somehow when you knock out twenty hits you'd think you'd score more than seven runs, but the Reds will take them any way they can, as they even have a shot at second place now.

at RED SOX 13-14-2, SENATORS 8-15-1
I sure don't see the Bucs having nightmares over their upcoming series with Washington. The Nats fall behind 5-1 to Quinn, score six unearned runs after a 2-out botch by Flagstead, only to see Mogridge get creamed for eight more runs. George has now lost seven of his last eight starts, and after Johnson and Ogden, the Senators suddenly have some real pitcher problems.

YANKEES 4-14-0, at ATHLETICS 2-10-1 (10 innings)
Nice for the Yanks to go on a winning streak right after being eliminated. Scott and Hoyt get run-scoring singles in the 10th after a key error by Dykes. Again, they would have taken over third place if not for...

at WHITE SOX 15-20-1, TIGERS 14-20-2
Yup. Chicago goes on another late hitting rampage and wins a game they have no business winning. Leave it to crappy-pitching Detroit. Bert Cole, who I seem to remember retiring all 20 Yankees he faced in relief on the day the Tigers got knocked out of the race, gets rewarded by Cobb with his own start, then thanks his manager by giving the Sox seven runs in the 1st despite going out there with a 3-0 lead. And then it gets worse. Detroit roars back with eleven straight runs, takes a 14-9 lead to the 8th and loses the game anyway when Hooks Dauss soils his breeches.

NATIONAL LEAGUE through Friday, September 26
x-Pittsburgh Pirates	92	59	.609	—
Brooklyn Robins	88	63	.583	4
New York Giants	87	64	.576	5
Cincinnati Reds	86	65	.570	6
Chicago Cubs	80	71	.530	12
St. Louis Cardinals	74	77	.490	18
Philadelphia Phillies	57	94	.377	35
Boston Braves	40	111	.265	52
AMERICAN LEAGUE through Friday, September 26
x-Washington Senators	91	60	.603	—
Detroit Tigers	82	70	.539	9.5
Chicago White Sox	80	72	.526	11.5
New York Yankees	79	72	.523	12
Boston Red Sox	71	80	.470	20
St. Louis Browns	70	82	.461	21.5
Cleveland Indians	68	84	.447	23.5
Philadelphia Athletics	65	86	.430	26