It was a “sticky, gray day and the sun never did break through the heavy haze,” according to Tommy Holmes of the

Fans were treated to the playing of the Police and Firemen’s Band, and also a performance of “The Fightin’ Phils” by the Elliott Lawrence orchestra. The Marine color guard hoisted the American flag during the National Anthem, and wounded World War I veteran Si Rappaport threw out the first pitch from his wheelchair.7

Robin Roberts was making his first Opening Day start for the Phillies, after finishing 15-15 in 1949. He was opposed by the Dodgers’ Don Newcombe, who was already considered one of the top pitchers in the league after a 17-8 rookie season in 1949.

The Phillies came out fired up from the very beginning. In the bottom of the first, Richie Ashburn singled and scored on Granny Hamner’s double. As the next batter made his way to the plate, the crowd rose in a standing ovation. It was Eddie Waitkus, taking his first at-bat since tragedy struck the previous June. While in Chicago, Waitkus had received a message that a Ruth Anne Burns wanted to speak on an urgent matter with him in her hotel room. When Waitkus arrived, she shot him in the stomach with a .22-caliber rifle. Her real name was Ruth Ann Steinhagen; she was a Chicago-area obsessed fan who had been stalking Waitkus.8 The shooting is believed to have inspired author Bernard Malamud to write his famous novel The Natural, which was later made into a motion picture. Glad to be alive and able to swing a bat, Waitkus made an out to the shortstop. Del Ennis lined a doubled to left, scoring Hamner, and the Phillies led 2-0 after one inning. The exciting opening to the game “turned bedecked Shibe Park into a roaring amphitheater of appreciation and expectation,” wrote Stan Baumgartner of the Philadelphia Inquirer.9

In the second inning, back-to-back doubles by Mike Goliat and Andy Seminick made the score 3-0 Phillies, and Don Newcombe was driven from the game. “Newcombe attempted to hurl his first opening day game in organized ball, but [Dodgers manager Burt] Shotton might just as well have brought the groundskeeper over from Ebbets Field and started him,” wrote Burr.10

Carl Erskine came in to pitch for Brooklyn, and quickly got two men out. However, a single by Hamner scored Seminick, and then singles by Waitkus and Ennis scored Hamner. “Before today’s opening battle,” wrote Roscoe McGowen in the New York Times, “Manager Burt Shotton of the Dodgers had an upset stomach. Before anybody was out in the Phils’ second inning, he must have had a wrecked nervous system.”11

Once the dust had settled, the Phillies had a 5-0 lead going into the third inning. “We had already scored five runs off Newcombe in the opener by the time Jackie Robinson came up to the plate for his first time,” Seminick recalled. “Jackie said to me, ‘What do you guys think you’re going to do, win the pennant?’ I said, ‘Yessir, we’re going to do it this year. You bet.’”12

The Phillies struck again in the bottom of the third. Pat McGlothin was now pitching for the Dodgers. He allowed back-to-back singles by Dick Sisler and Mike Goliat, and then McGlothin balked, sending runners to second and third. A sacrifice fly by Roberts scored Sisler, and a Hamner single scored Goliat. The Phillies pushed their lead to 7-0.

With one out in the fourth, Willie “Puddin’ Head” Jones singled and went to second on another balk by McGlothin. A single by Goliat scored Jones, and the Phillies led 8-0. That would be all of their scoring until the bottom of the eighth when Waitkus’s single off Clem Labine scored Ashburn for their ninth run.

The Dodgers were overmatched by Roberts on this day, never even getting a runner to second base until a seventh-inning double by Robinson, who took third on Goliat’s muff of the relay throw. Robinson scored on Carl Furillo’s single for the lone Dodger run. Gil Hodges reached with a single, and Roy Campanella reached on an error by Jones to load the bases, the first Dodgers threat of the day. While still leading 8-1, the Phillies bullpen got active for the first time, and “Branch Rickey, Dodger boss who had sat dejectedly for six innings in his box near the Brooklyn bench, began to puff vigorously at his cigar,” Baumgartner observed.13

However, pinch-hitter Gene Hermanski hit a hot shot back to the mound. Roberts quickly knocked it down, threw out the runner coming home, and Seminick threw Hermanski out at first, completing the double play and ending the rally.

All told, the Phillies carved out a 16-hit attack against five Brooklyn pitchers. Roberts was the only Philly batter not to get a hit, yet he still drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. He threw 119 pitches in the complete-game victory, giving up just the one run, scattering seven hits, striking out four, and allowing only one walk. He was consistent all day, with a nearly equal total of fly ball (12) and groundball (11) outs. Roberts “stood like a Rock of Gibraltar, turning back Brooklyn with his fine pitching and equally brilliant fielding,” wrote Baumgartner.14

Roberts remembered years later, “The first game was significant to me not only because it was my first opening day start but because I had not yet beat the Dodgers.”15 Roberts had been 0-3 against the Dodgers with an 8.79 ERA in 1949 and 0-5 lifetime.

Waitkus went 3-for-5 with an RBI in his return to the game. “I was scared to death,” he said after the game. “One of two [hits] were lucky ones, but I’d rather be lucky than good.”16

While Waitkus was returning to the game, another man was in his first ever game with the Dodgers. A 22-year-old Vin Scully was in the Dodgers radio booth for the very first time, calling the action for the team he would cover over the next 67 years.17

This article appears in “The Whiz Kids Take the Pennant: The 1950 Philadelphia Phillies” (SABR, 2018), edited by C. Paul Rogers III and Bill Nowlin. Click here to read more stories from this book at the SABR Games Project.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the text, the author wishes to thank the Newspaper and Microfilm Department of the Free Library of Philadelphia for research assistance.

Notes

1 Tommy Holmes, “The Dodgers Open in Deep Distress,” Brooklyn Eagle, April 19, 1950.

2 John Theodore. Baseball’s Natural: The Story of Eddie Waitkus (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2006), 70.

3 Ibid.

4 Holmes. As best as can be determined by the author, “rinky-dinks” in this era most likely referred to the red-and-white “Rinky Dink Surf Board Skateboard” popular at the time. The Dictionary of American Slang by Harold Wentworth and Stuart Berg Flexner (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1975) describes the word’s origin as “carnival use.”

5 Harold C. Burr, “Barney a Big Leaguer Again for Two Innings,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, April 19, 1950.

6 Cited in Lyle Spatz, “Jackie Robinson on Opening Day, 1947-1956,” in Jackie Robinson: Race, Sports, and the American Dream, eds. Joseph Dorison and Joram Warmund (Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe, 1998), 137.

7 Stan Baumgartner, “Phils Rout Dodgers, 9-1, in Opener; A’s Bow 8-7,” Philadelphia Inquirer, October 1, 1950: 47.

8 C. Paul Rogers III, “Eddie Waitkus,” in Van Lingle Mungo ed. Bill Nowlin (Phoenix: Society for American Baseball Research, 2014); Nook E-book edition. Steinhagen was declared insane and sentenced to the Kankakee State Hospital, while Waitkus rehabbed. The incident was said to have inspired Bernard Malamud’s baseball novel The Natural, which was also made into a movie of the same name in 1984, starring Robert Redford.

9 Baumgartner: 1.

10 Harold C. Burr, “Daylight Spring Tilts Pay Phils Dividends,” Brooklyn Eagle, April 19, 1950.

11 Roscoe McGowen, “Roberts Defeats Brooklyn, 9 to 1,” New York Times, April 19, 1950: 39.

12 Robin Roberts and C. Paul Rogers III, The Whiz Kids and the 1950 Pennant (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1996), 219.

13 Baumgartner: 47.

14 Ibid.

15 Roberts and Rogers, 218.

16 Theodore, 71.

17 The Brooklyn Eagle on April 18, 1950, lists Scully announcing on WMGM with Red Barber and Connie Desmond.

Roberts retired three first three Reds batters of the game on a strikeout and two groundouts. The bottom of the first featured scratch hits by Richie Ashburn and Granny Hamner. Ashburn opened the Phillies’ offensive attack with a grounder to short. Virgil Stallcup knocked it down but Ashburn beat the throw. Hamner hit a ball that Blackwell also knocked down, but Hamner reached. Blackwell walked Eddie Waitkus to load the bases with no outs. The Phillies’ cleanup hitter, Del Ennis, hit a groundball to Stallcup at short, who started a 6-4-3 double play. Ashburn scored as the Reds traded the run for two outs. Willie Jones grounded out to third to end the inning, but the damage was done. That lone run was all right-hander Roberts would need.

Ron Northey led off the Reds’ second with a double to right field. Roberts stranded him there, retiring Joe Adcock, Connie Ryan, and Stallcup on a fly ball to right and two groundouts.  In the bottom of the third, Ashburn walked with one out, stole second, and moved to third on a groundout, but Blackwell stranded him there, getting Waitkus to fly out to center field. Roberts allowed a two-out single to Northey in the fourth inning, but Adcock flied out to right to end the threat.

Blackwell allowed just one more hit, a single by Jones in the fourth inning. Jones was erased when Dick Sisler grounded into a second-to-short-to-first double play.In the seventh inning, home-plate umpire Frank Dascoli ejected Northey, the Reds’ right fielder, for “heckling.”3 After Northey had grounded out to Mike Goliat at second base, he retreated to the Reds dugout and then became a bit too vocal. Apparently, he was not too fond of some of the umpire’s calls while he was batting. One sportswriter said he was tossed for “disputing a called strike a little too volubly.”4With no outs in the bottom of the seventh, the Phillies’ Ennis reached on an error by third baseman Grady Hatton (his third miscue of the young season). Jones tried to move the runner over to second, but when he bunted the ball, Blackwell pounced and threw to second, where shortstop Stallcup tagged the bag and relayed the ball to first base for the double play. Ryan, covering first base after first baseman Adcock charged the bunt, had to leave the game after being spiked in the leg by Jones. According to one reporter, “Puddin’ Head Jones … came down on Ryan’s foot so hard Connie may be shelved several days.”5

In the eighth inning, Cincinnati catcher Dixie Howell walked, bringing Blackwell to the plate. Herm Wehmeier ran for Howell, and Blackwell successfully bunted him to second.  Grady Hatton grounded to the right side, moving Wehmeier to third. Roberts then “bore down again and Wehmeier, running for Howell, died at midway,”6 as Lloyd Merriman flied out to left fielder Sisler to retired the side. Philadelphia got two runners aboard on walks in the bottom of the inning, but nothing came of it, as Blackwell struck out two and got a fly out. Roberts retired three straight in the ninth on two groundballs and a popout to preserve the 1-0 victory.

Phillies manager Eddie Sawyer described the pitching duel: “They call it the rabbit ball, but when a couple of pitchers like Roberts and Blackwell work there is about as much rabbit in the ball as there is in a rock. The hardest-hit ball of the night was Connie Ryan’s foul.”7  He was referring to Ryan’s foul ball hit in the seventh inning. Ryan sent a Roberts offering deep into the left-field seats, but about two feet foul.

The Cincinnati Times-Star reported that this was “Blackie’s best game in three years.”8 However, as The Sporting News reported, “Roberts proved invincible in posting (the) shutout.”9 None of Philadelphia’s hits off of Blackwell were struck hard, but it didn’t matter. Roberts was simply brilliant. He gave up two hits, both by Ron Northey, and only one runner reached third base. It was Roberts’s sixth complete game of the season (in seven starts) and his earned-run average dipped to 1.95.

Between them, the Reds and Phillies got only five hits. There were seven walks, but only the free pass to Waitkus in the very first inning caused any damage. Robin Roberts became the first National League pitcher in 1950 to pick up his fifth victory (against one defeat). The loss moved Cincinnati to 10 games under .500 for the season. Philadelphia improved to 16-9, keeping the team atop the National League, just ahead of the Brooklyn Dodgers.Roberts later recalled how that game, in which he defeated one of the top pitchers in the league in a 1-0 shutout, had given him confidence that the Whiz Kids were a team to be reckoned with and had a legitimate shot at the pennant.10

This article appears in “The Whiz Kids Take the Pennant: The 1950 Philadelphia Phillies” (SABR, 2018), edited by C. Paul Rogers III and Bill Nowlin. Click here to read more stories from this book at the SABR Games Project.

Sources

In addition to the sources mentioned in the notes, the author consulted baseball-reference.com and retrosheet.org. The author would like to thank Holly A. Jackson, reference librarian at the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, for her assistance in providing documents from Cincinnati newspapers.

Notes

1 “Blackwell Loses Brilliant Mound Duel to Roberts, 1-0,” Cincinnati Enquirer, May 17, 1950.

2 Cincinnati’s Blackwell stood 6-feet-6 and had a nasty side-arm delivery, hence his nickname.  He was named to the National League All-Star squad every season from 1946 to 1951.  In 1950 he was 27 years old. He finished the 1950 season with 17 victories and 15 defeats. Blackwell suffered from health and arm problems through much of his career and was out of the major leagues by the age of 32.

3 “Phils’ Run in First Subdues Reds, 1-0,” New York Times, May 17, 1950.  According to retrosheet.org, the ejection was due to “bench jockeying.”

4 “Phils Score Winning Run in First Frame on Double Play,” Cincinnati Times-Star, May 17, 1950.

5 “Phils Hold Lead by Shading Redlegs, 1 to 0,” Cincinnati Post, May 17, 1950. Ryan did not play again for 10 days.

6 The Sporting News, May 24, 1950.

7 Cincinnati Times-Star.

8 Ibid.

9 The Sporting News.

10 Robin Roberts and C. Paul Rogers III, The Whiz Kids and the 1950 Pennant (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1996), 225.

Burt Shotton, the Dodgers manager, was tight-lipped about his starter for the first game. He claimed that it benefitted gamblers to announce the starter so he generally waited as long as possible to announce his choice. Most expected Preacher Roe or Jack Banta to take the mound. Roe had faced the Phillies on April 27 and only lasted 2/3 of an inning. Banta had yet to face the Phillies this season.

Shotton surprised many fans when he picked Rex Barney as his starter in the morning contest. Barney earned his lone win back on May 7 when he pitched 5 2/3 innings in relief in a 3-2 Dodger victory over the Pirates. When Shotton tagged him for the start, it was his first start of the season. Barney walked leadoff batter Richie Ashburn with the count full. But he was able get the next three Phillies out on fly balls, leaving Ashburn stranded at first.

Robin Roberts took the mound for the Phillies. He was coming off a 3-2 complete-game victory against the Giants on May 26 that lifted his record to 9-3. Roberts beat the Dodgers twice in April, pitching complete games in those victories.

Although Roberts hoped to repeat his success against Brooklyn, the Dodgers had other ideas. Billy Cox led off with a single up the middle. With two outs, Cox stole second. His timely steal allowed him to scurry home when Jackie Robinson hit a double in the gap in center field. Carl Furillo followed and hit the Dodgers second double of the frame. It was a line drive down the left field line that brought Robinson across the plate. By the time that Roberts struck out Gil Hodges to end the inning, the Dodgers had jumped out to a 2-0 lead.

The Phillies wasted no time in grabbing the lead when they came to bat in the second. Dick Sisler hit the second pitch that he saw from Barney into the right field corner for a triple. Barney walked Dick Whitman on four pitches to bring Mike Goliat to the plate. Goliat hit Barney’s first pitch out of Ebbets Field for a three-run homer to put the Phillies in front 3-2. Barney continued to struggle. He hit the next batter and walked two more. But he eventually got the Phillies out while preventing them from doing more damage.

But when Barney walked the first two Phillies batters in the third, Shotton wasted no time in going to his bullpen. Bud Podbielan replaced Barney. Although Podbielan walked Roberts to load the bases, he was able to get the Phillies out without any runs crossing the plate.

Roberts got through the second unscathed but gave a pass to leadoff batter George Shuba in the third. After Roberts got ahead in the count to Robinson, Shuba stole second. Robinson hit a single to center field for his second hit of the game to bring Shuba home with the tying run.

The score was unchanged through the fourth but Sisler led off the fifth and took Podbielan’s first pitch deep for the second Phillies home run of the game. His blast let the Phillies retake the lead 4-3. Roberts kept the Dodgers in check for the next three innings.

Roy Campanella came to bat with one out in the bottom of the seventh. He had ground out and struck out in his first two at-bats. This time he got hold of a pitch and sent the ball soaring over the left field wall into the stands to tie the game 4-4.

After Podbielan was removed for a pinch hitter in the seventh, Roe finally made it into the game when he took over the pitching duties for Brooklyn in the eighth. The first batter that he faced was Ashburn who hit Roe’s fifth pitch over the right field wall, “sending the Phils rooters wild and for a few moments it looked like he would be the hero”1 as the Phillies had climbed back into the lead, 5-4.

But Roberts was unable to hold on to Phillies lead in the bottom half of the eighth. After he got Snider to fly out, Robinson came to the plate and sent the first pitch over the right field wall, barely inches from the foul line to tie the game for the third time. When Furillo tripled, Roberts walked Hodges to set up a double play. Bobby Morgan didn’t comply and hit a fly ball to center field that brought Furillo home with the go-ahead run.

After Roe walked Andy Seminick with one out in the ninth, Del Ennis pinch hit for Roberts. The speedy Putsy Caballero was sent in to run for Seminick. Roe managed to strike out Ennis but then he walked Ashburn to move Seminick into scoring position.

Granny Hamner hit a ground ball towards the mound. “Roe dashed off the hill, scooped up the ball and promptly threw it wildly past Hodges at first.”2 Hamner was given a single and the Phillies had tied the game. Ashburn tried to go all the way around the diamond but an alert Furillo was able to get the ball and throw it to Campanella to keep the Phillies from grabbing the lead.

Jim Konstanty, who had been excellent in relief for the Phils, took over for Roberts in the bottom of the ninth. Konstanty was coming off of five-inning performance on May 28 where he allowed just one hit and one walk after coming out of the bullpen. He got the Dodgers out in order in the bottom of the ninth on just nine pitches.

Roe got through his half of the tenth unscathed and it looked like Konstanty might do the same in the bottom of half after he got the first two Dodgers out. But then he walked Morgan and Campanella. This brought up Roe, who was “a notoriously weak hitter.”3 Roe hit an easy ground ball to short. But Hamner’s throw to first landed in the dirt and skipped past Eddie Waitkus to allow Morgan to score before Waitkus retrieve the ball and throw home.

The extra-inning victory tied Brooklyn with the Phillies for first in the National League. As news spread of Brooklyn’s victory, 34,700 fans packed the stands to see the second game of the double admission twin-bill. No doubt the excitement of the first game was on many of their minds as well as the chance to see their team move into first place in the standings.

“The A.M. game ended just as Jack Collins, biz manager of the Brooks, began to wonder how and when he was going to get the 18,000 morning customers out of the park in order to get the waiting mob of P.M. customers into the park.”4

When the two teams finally took the field, Banta started for the Dodgers. He entered the game with a 3-1 record after pitching a complete game victory against the Boston Braves on May 26. Banta had been pitching through pain since he arrived for spring training but seemed to be on track to perform as well as he did in 1989, his best year in the majors.

The Phillies managed to put two runners in scoring position in the first. Banta walked Ashburn and then surrendered a double to Waitkus. But the Phillies could not capitalize as the next two runners got out on infield outs.

Russ Meyer took the mound for the Phillies. He was still looking for his first victory of the year. On May 23, he pitched seven scoreless innings before giving up four runs in the eighth in a 6-0 loss to the Pirates.

Meyer got the first two batters out easily in the first. Duke Snider then stepped to the plate. Snider had gone hitless in five at-bats in the first game. After fouling off the first pitch from Meyer, he connected and sent the ball over the right field wall into Bedford Avenue. The Daily News described it as “a Ruthian blow; one that must have towered 100 feet in the air as it cleared the right field screen.”5

Although the Phillies continued get runners on base, Banta kept them from scoring. Dick Whitman led off the second with a single. Goliat was walked. Both runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Meyer. But Banta managed to get out of trouble by striking out Hamner for the third out.

The Dodgers built on their lead in the second. Hodges led off with a double. Morgan then walked. When Campanella hit into a double play, Hodges ended up on third. He came home when Banta singled to left, giving the Dodgers a two-run lead.

The Phillies finally got on the scoreboard in the third. Waitkus led off with a double and moved to third on a fielder’s choice to the right side of the infield. He came home on a Sisler single. The run narrowed the Dodger’s lead to one.

Snider came to bat again in the third. He fouled off the two pitches before connecting on a Meyer pitch, sending it over the right-field wall again. It was his second solo home run of the game and it gave the Dodgers a 3-1 lead.

The Dodgers added two more runs in the fourth as Meyer struggled with his control. After getting the leadoff batter out, he walked the next two Dodgers that he faced. Banta flied out. Banta just needed one more to get out of trouble but when the Phillies catcher couldn’t hold a Meyer pitch, both runners advanced.

It looked like Meyer might get out of trouble when Cox hit a ground ball to Hamner but the Phillies shortstop misplayed the ball for the second time in as many games. Hamner threw wild and the two base runners scored. Although Meyer finally struck out Gene Hermanski for the third out, the damage was done. Brooklyn now led 5-1.

But the Phillies wasted no time in closing the gap. A pair of doubles sandwiching a walk allowed the Phils to score two runs and close the gap, leaving them trailing Brooklyn by just two runs.

Philadelphia manager Eddie Sawyer pulled Meyer to send Blix Donnelly to the mound in the fifth. Donnelly had started the season as the Phillies top relief pitcher but he had struggled with minor injuries and hadn’t pitched since May 2.

Snider led off and Donnelly quickly went ahead on the count 0-2. Snider connected on the third pitch. The ball hit the rail in the center field wall. Initially there was some confusion among the umpires whether the ball had left the park since it hit the fence and bounced back into play. Snider beat a close play at the plate and was rewarded with his third home run of the game. Dick Young wrote that it “was a mildly sliced thing that carried just over the wall in left center.”6 Once again Snider gave the Dodgers an insurance run.

It was Snider’s third home run of the game and only the third time that a Dodger had accomplished that feat. Jack Fournier hit three home runs for the Dodgers in 1924 at Sportsman’s Park. Hermanski hit three round trippers two years earlier at Ebbets Field before he was traded to the Phillies.

Snider came to bat for the fourth time in the seventh with a chance to make history. Bob Miller was pitching for the Phillies. Snider hit the first pitch “as hard as his other drives. His line drive was tailing off when it hit the right field screen a couple of feet from the top.”7

This time Snider had to settle for a single. “Three feet higher and it would have been over. One foot lower and it would have hit the slanted boards at the top corner of the grotesquely constructed scoreboard and perhaps would have bounced over the top for a homer,” wrote Dick Young.8

If the ball had gone over the wall, Snider would have joined elite company. At the time, just five players have hit four home runs in one game. Numerous players had knocked out three home runs prior to Snider’s big day. Young, writing about the event, noted that Snider will get his name printed in very small type at the bottom of a list of 81 other names.” Yet he also noted that Snider got “a tumultuous cheer from the fans.”9

The Phillies were not ready to throw in the towel. Banta hit leadoff batter Ashburn in the top of the eighth. Hamner followed him and hit a double to deep left field that brought Ashburn home for the Phillies fourth run. Shotton pulled Banta and called on Ralph Branca to come out of the bullpen for the Dodgers. He got Waitkus to fly out for the first out. After walking Willie Jones, Branca “poured it on impressively, to fan three men in the two-frame relief bit, save the game and first place with it.”10

While Branca pitched impressively and “deserved a curtain call”11 for his work, it was Snider who received most of the cheers from the fans. The 23-year-old slugger kept the Dodgers in the game although he failed to add more than three RBIs for his efforts since he found no teammates on base every time that he knocked one out of the park.

Stan Baumgartner, writing for the Philadelphia Inquirer, wrote: “Disaster hit the Phillies on this bright Memorial Day. [The Phillies were] lacking punch in the pinch, a punch so essential to a pennant-hunting club.”12

Although the sweep pushed the Dodgers past the Phillies, their hold on first place was short lived as they played .500 ball through June and July. The Phillies eventually won the National League crown after grabbing sole possession of first place on July 23 and then holding off the rest of the league down the stretch.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author used Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org for box score, player, team, and season information as well as pitching and batting game logs, and other pertinent material.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BRO/BRO195005301.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1950/B05301BRO1950.htm

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BRO/BRO195005302.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1950/B05302BRO1950.htm

Notes

1 Stan Baumgartner, “Phillies. Dodgers Play 2 Games,” Philadelphia Inquirer, May 31, 1950, 22.

2 Louis Effrat, “Snider’s 3 Home Runs Mark 6-4 Triumph,” New York Times, May 31, 1950, 42.

3 Ibid.

4 Dick Young, “3 Snider HR Win PM 6-4,” New York Daily News, May 31, 1950, 1014.

5 Ibid.

6 Ibid.

7 Tommy Holmes, “Dodger Fans Have Day to Remember as Phillies Cough Up First Place Post,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, May 31, 1950, 19.

8 Young.

9 Ibid.

10 Ibid.

11 Holmes.

12 Stan Baumgartner, “Phillies Lose to Dodgers, 7-6, 6-4,” Philadelphia Inquirer, May 31, 1950, 44.

The Whiz Kids got only three hits but scored three runs in beating the Boston Braves 3-2 in a night game at Braves Field. Before a crowd of 13,361,

Both southpaws retired the sides in order in the first inning. In the top of the second, Sisler scored the first Philadelphia run. After Spahn struck out Del Ennis and Willie Jones, Sisler drew a four-pitch walk. With Andy Seminick batting, Spahn uncorked a wild pitch (his sixth of the season), and Sisler advanced to second base. Seminick then hit a ground-rule double down the right-field line, scoring Sisler. Spahn, still a bit wild, walked Jimmy Bloodworth but then struck out Simmons to end the inning. Spahn struck out the side but gave up two walks and threw a wild pitch, in addition to the double.

Boston responded in its half of the second. With one out, Luis Olmo and Tommy Holmes had infield singles, and Gene Mauch singled to right field, driving in Olmo. Holmes moved to third on an error by Phillies right fielder Ennis. Buddy Kerr’s sacrifice fly gave the Braves a 2-1 lead.

Spahn settled down and displayed his mastery, retiring the Phillies in order in the next four innings. Simmons kept pace, scattering two walks and two singles in four frames against the Braves. He received some defensive help with a Boston runner caught stealing and a double play. After six innings, Boston was clinging to a 2-1 lead.

In the top of the seventh, Ennis flied out to center, bringing Spahn’s streak of batters retired to 14. But Jones coaxed a walk and then Sisler came to bat again. He hit a drive that “just slipped into the right field bullpen.”1 The 319-foot drive “wrapped up the verdict for the visitors.”2 Seminick walked but was stranded on the bases. Through seven innings, Spahn had allowed three runs on just two hits. Eddie Waitkus singled off Spahn with two outs in the eighth inning for the Phillies’ third and final hit of the game, but was left on base.

Bob Elliott batted for Spahn in the bottom of the eighth and flied out to center. Roy Hartsfield singled and Sam Jethroe walked, and the Braves were threatening with just one out. The young left-hander Simmons worked his way out of the jam with a strikeout and an easy fly ball to center. The Braves’ Bobby Hogue pitched a three-up, three-down ninth.

The bottom of the ninth was a chess match played by the two managers. After Philadelphia shortstop Granny Hamner threw out Olmo, Dick Whitman replaced Sisler in left field. Holmes singled off the tiring Simmons, and skipper Eddie Sawyer summoned Jim Konstanty to the mound.  Boston manager Billy Southworth sent in Sibby Sisti to run for Holmes and brought Sid Gordon in as a pinch-hitter for Mauch. Konstanty struck out Gordon. Willard Marshall pinch-hit for Kerr, and flied out to right to end the game.

The New York Times noted that Jim Konstanty “made his twenty-seventh relief appearance in the last of the ninth to save southpaw Curt Simmons’ ninth triumph of the season.”3 The save did not become an official statistic until 1969, but under present-day rules, it was Konstanty’s eighth save of the season.

Warren Spahn lost his eighth game of the season, despite allowing the Phillies only three hits. The Boston left-hander struck out seven Philadelphia batters, raising his National League-leading strikeout total to 95. Lifted for a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning, Spahn fell short of pitching his 14th complete game of the season. At this point in the season, Boston had lost nine one-run games. The offensive bright spots were Tommy Holmes’s 3-for-4 performance at the plate, which raised his batting average to .385, and Roy Hartsfield’s 2-for-3 with a walk in the leadoff position. Boston left six runners on base, Philadelphia left four. The Boston Globe commented that the Braves, “battling their southpaw jinx again without the services of their long-ball hitting right-handers, Bob Elliott and Sid Gordon, could garner only two scores” off Simmons.4 Both sluggers were used as pinch-hitters late in the contest.

Curt Simmons proved equal to the task against Warren Spahn. He gave up seven hits, walked three, and struck out six as he pitched into the ninth inning. His season record improved to 9-5. Simmons had pitched in relief just two days earlier, against the Chicago Cubs.  In only one-third of an inning, he had been roughed up, allowing four runs (two earned) on three hits and an error. It had been his third relief appearance of the season, and all three occasions were games that had been part of doubleheaders.

The victory over Boston moved the Phillies into first place, a half-game ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals. (The Brooklyn Dodgers also lost on June 27.)  Philadelphia had a 30-16 record in one-run games in 1950.

This article appears in “The Whiz Kids Take the Pennant: The 1950 Philadelphia Phillies” (SABR, 2018), edited by C. Paul Rogers III and Bill Nowlin. Click here to read more stories from this book at the SABR Games Project.

Sources

In addition to the sources mentioned in the notes, the author consulted baseball-reference.com and retrosheet.org. The author thanks Lisa Tuite of the Boston Globe for her assistance with obtaining sources.

Notes

1 “Phils Top Braves, Take League Lead,” New York Times, June 28, 1950.

2 “Phils Top Braves on Sisler Homer, 3-2, Lead League,” Boston Globe, June 28, 1950.

3 New York Times.

4 Ibid.

The Phillies were glad to be back in the City of Brotherly Love as they headed to Shibe Park on Tuesday, July 25. The day before Sawyer’s group lost a six-inning, rain-shortened contest to the Pittsburgh Pirates at Forbes Field, 2-1, to conclude a season-long 19-game road trip with a 9-10 record. More importantly, the loss dropped the upstart “Whiz Kids” into a tie for first place with a record of 51-38, just percentage points behind the St. Louis Cardinals. Philadelphia hoped to regain momentum on its 16-game home stand that began with a doubleheader as part of a four-game set against the Chicago Cubs. Skipper Frankie Frisch, in his first full season with the North Siders, had just concluded a disappointing 18-game home stand with a 7-11 record to fall to 39-44, tied for fifth place with the New York Giants. The series with the Phillies kicked off a grueling 22-game road trip.

Game One

The first game of the twin bill featured two rookie right-handers. Philadelphia’s Emory “Bubba” Church, described by the United Press as “little regarded and virtually unknown,” was a 25-year-old Alabaman, who had compiled a record of 41-26 in three years in the minors.3 He began the season in the Phillies’ bullpen, but had tossed complete games in his last two outings to notch his second and third big-league victories. “I gave Church a chance to look around the league before starting him regularly,” said Sawyer who had managed the pitcher in 1948 with the Toronto Maple Leafs of the International League.4 Andy Seminick, the Phillies’ backstop, had high hopes for Church. “[His] good control lets him keep most of his stuff low,” said the 1949 All-Star catcher. “He keeps his fast ball below the batter’s waste and inside, where it can do the least damage. He does the same thing with his curve. He doesn’t seem to be putting much on the ball, yet every pitch does something.”5 On the mound for the Cubs was hard-throwing, 22-year-old Johnny Klippstein, who had begun his professional career as a 16-year-old in 1944. Plagued by wildness throughout his career, Klippstein was acquired by the Cubs in the Rule 5 draft in the offseason after posting a 15-8 record yet walking 121 in 195 innings with the Mobile Bears of the Class-AA Southern Association in 1949. In his previous outing, on July 19, he recorded his first big-league victory by going the distance against the Boston Braves.

An impressive crowd of 32,726 came out for a twilight doubleheader at Shibe Park, which was baseball’s first steel and concrete stadium when it opened in 1909. The Phillies faithful did not have to wait long to cheer. After Church set down the Cubs in order to start the game, Eddie Waitkus led off the bottom of the first with a walk and moved to second on Richie Ashburn’s single. Dick Sisler, who entered the game batting a team-high .329 and was fresh off the first and only All-Star appearance in his eight-year career, stroked a double to right field to drive in both runners. Three batters latter, Granville “Granny” Hamner lined a single to center to drive in Sisler. But the Cubs’ shoddy defense (they paced the majors with 201 errors in 1950), led to another run on the play. As reported by Edward Burns of the Chicago Tribune, first baseman Hank Sauer cut off center-fielder Andy Pafko’s relay throw and then fired wildly to second base.6 The ball flew into right field allowing Hamner to circle the bases and score, giving the Phillies a four-run lead. After walking Seminick, Klippstein finally ended the inning by retiring Mike Goliat.

After his rough first inning, Klippstein looked like he might be headed for the showers in the third inning. Sisler led off the frame with a double and scored to give the Phillies a 5-0 lead when hot-hitting Del Ennis (16-for-46 and slugging .630 in his last 11 games) singled to center field. All-Star Willie “Puddin’ Head” Jones followed with a single and Hamner loaded the bases when he reached on another Cubs miscue. Officially scored a fielder’s choice, Hamner bunted to advance the runners; Cubs catcher Mickey Owen broke late to the ball and fired to second, but not in time to erase Jones. Klippstein avoided another big inning when third baseman Bill Serena fielded Seminick’s shot to third and fired to home to cut down a charging Ennis with Owen then throwing to first to complete the twin-killing. Not yet out of trouble, Klippstein intentionally walked Goliat to fill the bases and then punched out Church to end the inning.

In the fourth inning, Philadelphia tacked on its final two runs when, with two outs and Waitkus on first via a single, Ennis connected for his 18th home run. Thereafter Klippstein retired 11 consecutive batters until catcher Stan Lopata, who relieved Seminick to start the sixth, singled in the eighth followed by Goliat’s double. Klippstein escaped the jam by retiring Church and Waitkus.

While Klippstein struggled in the first half of game, Church was dominant throughout in just his sixth big-league start. Relying primarily on fastballs and curves Church yielded only three singles (one in the second, third, and seventh innings), did not issue a walk, and did not allow a Cubs runner to reach second base. He struck out two and needed only 88 pitches and one hour and 41 minutes to record his first of seven career shutouts in a six-year career (1950-1955) Described as an “ace in the hole,” Church’s emergence as bona fide starter came at the most opportune time as 21-year-old right-hander Curt Simmons, arguably the team’s hottest hurler with a record of 13-5, was scheduled to report that weekend to the 28th Division Artillery in the Pennsylvania National Guard.7 “You can see how he has pitched,” said an ecstatic Sawyer after Church’s performance, which improved his record to 4-0 and dropped his ERA to 2.11 in 72 2/3 innings.  “He is ready to pick up a part of the load when Curt Simmons leaves.”8Continuing his success over the next seven weeks, Church was 8-4 with 2.18 ERA in 136 2/3 innings when he was hit in the face by a line drive off the bat of Cincinnati’s Ted Kluszewski on September 15. Thereafter he logged only 5 2/3 innings, yielding 12 runs (10 earned). Church’s injury came only six days after Simmons hurled his last game for the Phillies before he was lost for the season when his National Guard unit was activated in light of the escalating conflict on the Korean Peninsula.

Game Two

Whereas the first game of the doubleheader pitted two inexperienced hurlers, the second game featured two members of the 1950 NL All-Star pitching staff. Right-hander Robin Roberts, the Phillies’ 23-year-old workhorse en route to his first of six consecutive seasons of at least 20 victories and 300 innings, had hurled a convincing four-hit shutout just three days earlier against the Cincinnati Reds at Crosley Field to improve his record to 11-5 and lower his ERA to 3.27. “I was mainly a one-pitch pitcher,” said the 6-foot, 190-pound Roberts in his autobiography My Life in Baseball with Paul Rogers, “[A]lthough sometimes I mixed in a curveball when I was ahead in the count. I could put my fastball where I wanted it, but I was sometimes criticized for not pitching inside more and not knocking hitters down.”9 On the mound for the Cubs was burly Bob Rush, a 6-foot-4, 205-pound hard-throwing right-hander and mainstay of the Cubs staff throughout the 1950s. “Bob doesn’t go in for fancy deliveries such as the sinker, slider and any trick stuff,” reported Baseball Magazine. “[H]e rears back and lets go a fastball that has the admirations of every scout that sees it.”10 After a strong start to the season (9-6), Rush had been clobbered in his last five starts (42 hits, 16 walks, and 18 runs in 30 1/3 innings) to fall to 9-10 en route to tying Alex Kellner of the Philadelphia Athletics for the major-league lead in losses with 20.

“We hooked up in a memorable pitching duel,” said Roberts who yielded only a single and a walk in the first five innings.11 Not quite as sharp as his counterpart, Rush surrendered a hit in each of the first four innings, but no runs. Rush escaped a jam in the second, when Hamner was involved in another poorly executed fielder’s choice. With “Puddin Head” Jones on first, Hamner hit the ball back to the Rush who was unable to execute the throw to second to erase Jones while Hamner reached first safely. Rush set down the next three batters (two by strikeout) to end the frame.

“We had wasted several golden scoring opportunities,” reminisced Roberts about the game.12 Roberts, who batted just .118 (12-for-102) in 1950, led off the fifth with a single and moved to third on Waitkus’s double. After Ashburn popped up to third sacker Bill Serena, Rush intentionally walked Sisler to load the bases with cleanup hitter Del Ennis due up. In his fifth season, Ennis had 102 career homers, but was in search of his first grand slam. The wait continued as he hit into a 6-4-3 double play; however, the draught would soon be over. Two days later on July 27 he blasted a grand slam and knocked in seven against the Cubs, and then added another slam on July 30 against the Pirates.

In a scoreless game, the Phillies threatened again in the seventh when Roberts lined a one-out single. Waitkus followed with another single and both runners advanced on right-fielder Ron Northey’s poor throw back to the infield, though he was not charged with an error. In a good defensive play, second baseman and former Phillie Emil Verban fielded Ashburn’s chopper and fired a strike to catcher Rube Walker to cut down Roberts at the plate. With runners on the corners, Rush punched out Dick Sisler. Another defensive gem by the Cubs in the eighth saved another potential run. After Hamner tripled to deep center with two outs, Seminick hit a screecher to at third. “Serena made a great backhand stop,” reminisced Roberts, and fired a bullet to first to end the ending.13

The Cubs’ luck was wearing thin. In the eighth inning, they finally landed a man on third base when Carmen Mauro’s two-out single advanced Rube Walker. Undeterred, Roberts induced Roy Smalley to ground out to shortstop Hamner to end the inning.

Notwithstanding Andy Pakfo’s one-out single, Roberts concluded the ninth inning by extending his scoreless inning streak to 19 innings, and began the Phillies’ rally in the bottom of the inning by drawing a one-out walk. He was replaced by pinch-runner Putsy Caballero, a 22-year-old utilityman who played his first big-league game in 1944 as a 16-year-old war-time player for the Phillies. After Caballero moved to second on Waitkus’s grounder to first, Ashburn collected his third hit of the game, a walk-off single to centerfield easily driving in Caballero and giving the Phillies a dramatic victory, 1-0.

“We have a hustling ball club and will be in the thick of the fight right to the end,” said an ecstatic Sawyer after the game which was completed in exactly two hours.14 In recording his second consecutive shutout, Roberts whiffed four and walked two. He blanked the Pirates in his next outing, on July 30, and extended his career-long scoreless inning streak to 33 2/3 innings in a victory over the Cardinals on August 4. Tough-luck loser Rush dropped his fifth straight decision; his complete-game victory over the Pirates on August 12 ended the dubious streak at eight games.

After the second game Bubba Church walked up to Roberts in the clubhouse and said, “I can’t believe you did that to me.”

Roberts said, “What do you mean, Bubba?”

Church said with a laugh, “I pitch a three-hit shutout and I can already see the headlines tomorrow and then you come along and pitch another shutout and win the second game 1-0.  I don’t think that is fair.”15

The doubleheader sweep improved the Phillies’ record to 53-38 and moved them back into sole possession of first place, a half-game in front of the Cardinals. Said Sawyer about the tight pennant race in which a mere 2 1/2 games separated the Phillies, Cardinals, the surprising Boston Braves, and the reigning NL pennant-winning Brooklyn Dodgers: “Maybe [it is] not the closest but surely the screwiest.”16 The Cubs, on the other hand, suffered their third consecutive shutout and fourth in five games to fall 11 games off the pace. The lowest scoring team in the NL (643 runs), the Cubs were shut out 14 times and scored just one run in another 21 games in 1950.

Sawyer was guardedly optimistic after the sweep. “Remember we are a young ball club,” he told reporters, “and nothing counts better than experience in the stretch drive.”17 With the average age of 26.5, the Phillies had the youngest team in the NL. Four of the eight starting position players were 25 or younger; Eddie Waitkus was the oldest (30). Their top five starting pitchers, Roberts, Simmons, Church, Bob Miller and Russ Meyer, were all 26 or younger. Super fireman and eventual NL MVP Jim Konstanty was a graybeard at 33. “We were a cocky bunch,” said Roberts, “and we played good and we had good pitchers.”18 Under the calm leadership of Sawyer, the Whiz Kids’ doubleheader victory commenced a stretch of 35 victories in the next 50 games to extend their lead to 7 1/2 games (86-53) on September 15. The last 15 games of the season would test their collective mettle.

This article appears in “The Whiz Kids Take the Pennant: The 1950 Philadelphia Phillies” (SABR, 2018), edited by C. Paul Rogers III and Bill Nowlin. Click here to read more stories from this book at the SABR Games Project.

Sources

In addition to the sources in the notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com, Retrosheet.org, and SABR.org.

Notes

1 Orlo Robertson, AP, “Phillies Still Young, But Promise Battle,” Terre Haute (Indiana) Tribune, July 26, 1950: 7.

2 Robin Roberts and C. Paul Rogers III, The Whiz Kids and the 1950 Pennant (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2000), 236.

3 UP, “Church Great as Phils Blank Cubs Twice,” Delaware County (Pennsylvania) Daily Times, July 26, 1950: 23.

4 Robertson.

5 Bill James and Rob Neyer, Neyer/James Guide To Pitchers (New York: Fireside, 2004), 163.

6 Edward Burns, “Cubs Lose, 7-0, 1-0; 32,726 See Phillies Blank Cubs Twice, Chicago Tribune, July 26, 1950: B1.

7 UP, “Church Great as Phils Blank Cubs Twice.”

8 Robertson.

9 Robin Roberts and C. Paul Rogers III, My Life in Baseball (Chicago: Triumph Books, 2003), 263.

10 James and Neyer, 368.

11 Roberts and Rogers, Whiz Kids, 236.

12 Ibid.

13 Ibid.

14 Robertson.

15 Roberts and Rogers, Whiz Kids, 237.

16 UP, “Church Great as Phils Blank Cubs Twice.”

17 Robertson.

18 Martin Frank, “Whiz Kids pitcher recalls last Phils-Yanks series,” USA Today, October 27, 2009.

Heading into their August 12 “Kids’ Day” game against the New York Giants in Shibe Park, the Phillies were on a roll with four wins in their last five games. In fact, since July 21 the Whiz Kids had won 19 of 26 to extend their lead from a first-place tie to a five-game lead over the second-place Boston Braves. They had split the first two games of the four-game series, but there was added drama heading into game three because of what had transpired the night before, a 3-1 Giants victory over

The Giants and Phillies were intense rivals and earlier in the year Phillies manager Eddie Sawyer had accused the Giants of intentionally throwing at the Phillies hitters, while New York manager Leo Durocher had complained publicly about the aggressive manner in which Whiz Kids catcher Andy Seminick blocked the plate.1 In the August 11 game, ultracompetitive Giants second baseman Eddie Stanky decided it would be a good idea to move over by second base and perform jumping jacks while Seminick was at bat.2 The Phillies complained to no avail to umpire Al Barlick, who said there was nothing in the rule book to prohibit it.3 In addition, in the eighth inning Maglie, who had a history of throwing at Seminick, hit him in the elbow. Although Seminick treated it as if a fly had landed on his arm and trotted down to first base, the next day it was all swollen and discolored.4

Seminick was still fuming the next day although Sawyer and Durocher agreed before the game to instruct Stanky to stop his gyrations until they could get a ruling from league President Ford Frick.5 The game featured Phils ace Robin Roberts, seeking his 16th win of the season, against Sheldon Jones, who was 9-12 so far. The Giants quickly loaded the bases in the top of the first with one out, but Roberts struck out Wes Westrum and induced Bobby Thomson to roll into a force out to escape the inning unscathed.

The Giants did scratch out a run in the top of the second on an Alvin Dark single, another single by Tookie Gilbert, a bunt, and a sacrifice fly to score Dark. Then, in the bottom half of the inning, the fireworks began. With two out Granny Hamner doubled to bring up Seminick. While he was at bat, Stanky at second base made a big show of waving his arms and then standing absolutely motionless when the pitch was delivered.6 Seminick walked to put runners on first and second. Mike Goliat was next and Giants pitcher Jones promptly sent him sprawling with a high inside pitch. Goliat got up and took a step toward the mound before deciding to return to the batter’s box.7 He then smashed the next pitch to left for a single to score Hamner from second. An irate Seminick rounded second and never broke stride while heading to third. He slammed into New York third baseman Hank Thompson with a forearm shiver to Thompson’s jaw just as Thompson reached for the throw from left fielder Whitey Lockman. Thompson and the ball went flying while Seminick scrambled to his feet and scored, beating a throw to the plate by Jones, who, backing up third, had retrieved the ball.8

Thompson was dazed by the collision9 and while Durocher and the Giants trainer tended to him, the Phillies dugout hollered, “You better call Jersey City.” Thompson was unable to continue and was replaced by Bill Rigney at third. Roberts followed with a single to center to score Goliat, who had moved to second on Seminick’s adventure at third, to make the score 3-1.

Seminick came to the plate again with two outs in the bottom of the fourth with the score still 3-1. Jack Kramer was pitching for the Giants, since Jones had been lifted for a pinch-hitter in the top of the inning. Stanky, who was upset with Seminick for his slide into Thompson in the second, moved over behind second and on the second pitch waved his hands wildly over his head.10 Seminick responded by flinging his bat out in the direction of the mound while umpire Lon Warneke promptly ejected Stanky for “making a farce of the game.” That caused Durocher to argue vociferously “chin-to-chin” and to officially protest the game. He was forced to move Rigney to replace Stanky, inserting Jack Lohrke at third.11

Seminick proceeded to reach first on an error by Al Dark at shortstop. Goliat then grounded to Dark, who threw to Rigney at second for the force out. Seminick slid in hard right at the bag and upended Rigney, who took umbrage and jumped on Andy and took a swing. Seminick, who was on the bottom, grabbed Rigney by his shirt and started hitting him, causing Rigney to bounce up and down. After taking a couple of punches, Rigney yelled, “Turn me loose, you’re killing me.”12

By that time both benches had emptied and several fights erupted.13 The Giants’ Gilbert went after Seminick, only to be intercepted by Phillies coach Dusty Cooke. Phillies reserve infielder Jimmy Bloodworth and Giants Jim Hearn and Rudy Rufer exchanged swings. The Phillies all despised Durocher, who was woofing at everyone until the Phillies’ Bubba Church grabbed him from behind with both arms and pulled him into the outfield. The rhubarb lasted close to 10 minutes. The police had to come onto the field to restore order and almost arrested Gilbert for abusive language and resisting an officer’s command. Umpire Lee Ballanfant, however, came to Gilbert’s defense and talked the officer out of it.14

Both Seminick and Rigney were ejected. The next day Durocher was quoted as saying the Phillies would be playing Jersey City [the Giants’ top farm team] the next day if they hadn’t gotten Seminick out of the game.15

Once play resumed, the game turned into a thriller. Roberts continued to struggle on the mound and in the top of the sixth with two outs he walked opposing pitcher Kramer, gave up a single to Jack Lohrke (the Giants’ third second baseman of the game), and walked Whitey Lockman to load the bases. Don Mueller lived up to his Mandrake the Magician nickname by singling through the infield to drive in two runs and tie the score, 3-3. Roberts then walked Monte Irvin (the Giants’ third third baseman of the game)16 to reload the bases before retiring Wes Westrum on a fly ball to left to finally escape the inning.

In the meantime the Phillies could get nothing going against Kramer. Bobby Thomson then led off the seventh with a home run into the upper left-field stands to put the Giants ahead 4-3. The Phillies, however, came back in their half to scratch out the tying run when Gilbert at first base booted a groundball by Goliat, and Bill Nicholson (pinch-hitting for Roberts), and Eddie Waitkus both singled.

Jim Konstanty relieved Roberts and showed his MVP form, scattering two hits over the next four innings as the game remained tied and went into extra innings. In the meantime Dave Koslo, who had relieved Kramer in the seventh, held the Phillies at bay. With one out in the bottom of the 11th, Stan Lopata, who had come in to catch after Seminick’s ejection, tripled to center just out of the reach of Bobby Thomson.17 Koslo intentionally walked Goliat and Bloodworth, batting for Konstanty. Waitkus was next and sailed a flyball to Thomson in center field. It was deep enough to allow Lopata to beat the throw and give the Phillies a 4-3 victory.

The run enabled Konstanty to record his 10th win of the season, all in relief, as he extended his scoreless streak to 20⅓ innings. With the victory, the Phillies stretched their lead to five games over the second-place Boston Braves, 6½ games over the Cardinals, and 7½ games over the Dodgers.

Efforts to reach National League President Ford Frick were successful and the next day he fined Seminick and Rigney $25 each.18 After a hearing with Giants owner Horace Stoneham, Durocher, and Stanky, Frick issued an edict ruling that Stanky’s actions were unsportsmanlike and would in the future result in ejection “in aggravated cases.”19

After two games against the Boston Braves in Shibe Park, the Phillies had to head to New York for a series against the Giants. In the interim, Seminick had received a threatening letter saying the fans were going to get him in New York. The first time he came to bat in the first game, on August 18, just six days after the rhubarb, Giants fans booed loudly while the Giants waved white handkerchiefs from the dugout. Seminick responded by walloping Jim Hearn’s first pitch into the upper deck in left field for a home run. By his last at-bat, Seminick had the Giants’ fans cheering and clapping for him in appreciation of his toughness and resilience.20

This article appears in “The Whiz Kids Take the Pennant: The 1950 Philadelphia Phillies” (SABR, 2018), edited by C. Paul Rogers III and Bill Nowlin. Click here to read more stories from this book at the SABR Games Project.

Notes

1 Stan Baumgartner, “Rigney, Seminick Scrap Spreads Into Battle Royal,” The Sporting News, August, 23, 1950: 6.

2 Stanky had hit on the idea of distracting batters in an August 9 game against the Boston Braves when the Braves’ Bob Elliot asked umpire Al Barlick to move out of his line of vision. Barlick did so but Stanky moved into Barlick’s old spot and succeeded in distracting Elliot, who struck out. Robin Roberts and C. Paul Rogers III, The Whiz Kids and the 1950 Pennant (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1996), 248; Baumgartner, The Sporting News, August, 23, 1950: 5.

3 Sawyer called it “unsportsmanlike and purely bush league stuff.” Joseph M. Sheehan, “Phillies Beat Giants in 11th, 5-4, After Players Fight,” New York Times, August 13, 1950: Section 5, 1.

4 Roberts and Rogers, 248-49.

5 Sheehan; Roberts and Rogers, 249.

6 Sheehan.

7 Carson Van Lindt, Fire & Spirit – The Story of the 1950 Phillies (New York: Marabou Publishing, 1998), 123.

8 Roberts and Rogers, 248-50.

9 According to the New York Times, Thompson “went down like he was pole-axed and did not stir for fully five minutes.” Sheehan.

10 Some sources indicate that Durocher directed Stanky to begin waving his arms again after Seminick’s takeout of Hank Thompson. Harry T. Paxton, The Whiz Kids – The Story of the Fightin’ Phillies (Philadelphia: David McKay Co., Inc., 1950), 98.

11 Sheehan. Durocher was incensed that Warneke had not ejected Seminick for throwing his bat. Van Lindt, 123.

12 Roberts and Rogers, 250.

13 The fight was the Phillies’ second major brawl in three weeks. On July 23 in Cincinnati Willie Jones slid hard into Reds second baseman Connie Ryan, spiking him and ripping off his shoe. Ryan responded by taking a swing at Jones and the two wrestled to the ground as both benches emptied. Roberts and Rogers, 235; Baumgartner, The Sporting News, August 23, 1950: 5.

14 Roberts and Rogers, 251; According to The Sporting News, Gilbert was almost hauled to jail for using profanity on the field. “Younger Gilbert, Unlike Dad, Bares Fiery Tongue,” The Sporting News, August 23, 1950: 6.

15 Roberts and Rogers, 251.

16 Irvin replaced Lohrke, who moved to second base when Rigney was ejected. Lohrke had replaced Thompson after Seminick coldcocked Thompson in the second inning.

17 According to the New York Times, Thomson failed to get a good jump on the ball and would have made the catch ninety-nine times out of a hundred. Sheehan.

18 According to The Sporting News, a New York newspaper attempted to reach National League President Ford Frick for a ruling on the legality of Stanky’s antics after he was banished in the August 12 game. A call to Frick’s Bronxville home revealed that he was away for the weekend, staying somewhere on Long Island in a house without a phone. The paper ended its August 13 game story with the message, “Mr. Frick, if you happen to read this, call one of your umpires in Philadelphia. It’s urgent.” “Paper Asks Frick to Call One of Umpires in Philly,” The Sporting News, August 23, 1950: 5.

19 Ken Smith, “Frick Vetoes Wig-Wagging by Infielders,” The Sporting News, August 23, 1950: 5. Leo Durocher was unapologetic afterward, saying that what Stanky had done “was perfectly legal as far as he was concerned” and that “smart ballplayers have been pulling stuff like that for all of the 25 years I’ve been in baseball.” Sheehan. Stanky took the same tack, saying, “If a fielder waved his arms at me, I’d congratulate him after the game for doing anything he could to win.” When informed the Phillies thought he was “bush league,” Stanky retorted, “I don’t care how it looks. All I want to do is win.” Baumgartner: 5, 6.

20 Roberts and Rogers, 255, 267. The Phillies lost, however, 7-4 to Jim Hearn.

“Naturally we’re going to miss him,” said Philadelphia Phillies manager

The Phillies were in unusual territory when they arrived at Shibe Park on that Friday to play the first of a two-game set with the Boston Braves. In a pennant race for the first time since 1916, in the days of Pete Alexander and Eppa Rixey, Philadelphia was in first-place (81-52), 5½ games in front of the Brooklyn Dodgers. But the Whiz Kids, the youngest team in the NL, heard footsteps behind them. After winning 11 of 15 games on a road trip, the Phillies had lost the first five games on their current 18-game homestand, including three straight to Brooklyn before pulling out a hard-fought 4-3 victory the night before on Russ Meyer’s six-hit complete game. “We weren’t hitting against the Dodgers,” said Sawyer. “The kids were a little tight.”2 Sawyer, the youngest manager in the NL at just 39 years of age, took the losses in stride. “We’re still on top,” he told Phillies beat reporter (and former major leaguer) Stan Baumgartner. “We were due for a little letdown.”3 In contrast, Billy Southworth, skipper of the Boston Braves, saw his club’s chances for their second pennant in three years slipping away. The Tribe was in third place (72-57), seven games behind the Phils, but was playing inconsistently of late, having won only 12 of their last 23 games.

The highly touted Simmons, a former bonus baby who had notched a disappointing 12-23 record in his first three seasons, entered the game with a stellar 17-8 record and now was arguably the best left-handed starter in the NL not named Spahn. His season had already been interrupted once, for about 10 days, when he fulfilled his service obligations to the National Guard in August. He returned to win three of five decisions, including two shutouts. “[H]is very presence as one of the four starters,” opined Stan Baumgartner, “helped the other pitchers maintain balance.”4 Simmons’s unit had actually been activated on September 5, but spent a week at the armory at Broad and Diamond in Philadelphia before shipping out to Camp Atterbury.  As a result, Simmons was required to be at the armory from 7 A.M. to 5 P.M. before reporting to the ballpark.5

His mound opponent that evening was 28-year-old Max Surkont, a hard-throwing right-hander, making just his third start for the Braves since his acquisition from the Chicago White Sox three weeks earlier. After an erratic rookie season, Surkont had regained his groove with the Sacramento Solons (Pacific Coast League) in 1950, going 18-13.

A crowd of 24,488, including 9,159 screaming children who received free tickets, packed Shibe Park to see a game described by the Associated Press as “bizarre,”6 and as “sloppy” by Boston sportswriter Clif Keane.7  The teams combined for 13 runs, 27 hits, 4 errors, and 2 passed balls, leading Keane to quip sarcastically that the game was “probably an example of the stuff people played back in ’76,” the year the NL was founded.8

After a quiet first inning, the Braves struck first following two consecutive errors by Phillies second baseman Mark Goliat. Light-hitting Buddy Kerr stroked a two-out double to right field to give the visitors a 2-0 lead. The score remained that way until the bottom of the fourth, when all five Phillies batters connected on Surkont’s first pitch.9  Del Ennis reached on a bunt single to lead off the inning and Jackie Mayo doubled to put runners on second and third. After Granny Hamner popped to first for the first out, Andy Seminick knocked in Ennis on a grounder to short. Goliat followed with a single to left field, but Mayo, racing from second base, was cut down at home plate on a strong throw by Sid Gordon to end the frame.

Surkont and Simmons remained locked in a tight pitchers’ duel through six innings. That changed quickly in the seventh. Boston’s Roy Hartsfield led off the inning with a thundering home run to left field. After Sam Jethroe fanned, Earl Torgeson singled, stole second, and moved to third when Seminick’s wild throw sailed into center field. The Phillies caught a break when Simmons fielded Bob Elliott’s chopper back to the mound and fired a strike to Seminick to nail a charging Torgeson at the plate. But Simmons’s day was over two batters later when Walker Copper singled and Sid Gordon followed with one of his own to drive in Elliott and make the game 4-1. The fans knew that this was Simmons’s last game and as he left the mound they all rose and gave him a rousing ovation.10  Bob Miller came in to relieve and, after Seminick’s passed ball, put out the fire by intentionally walking Tommy Holmes to load the basses and dispatching Kerr on a fly ball to center.

The Phillies must have been inspired by the Braves’ inning. With runners on second and third, courtesy of a single, walk, and passed ball, pinch-hitter Dick Whitman hit a “slow grounder” to first baseman Torgeson for what appeared to be an easy out, but Surkont failed to cover the bag. Whitman was safe and Granny Hamner scored.11 Eddie Waitkus followed with a shallow fly to center field. According to Cliff Keane, Jethroe let loose with a wild “transcontinental peg” that flew over catcher Walker Cooper’s head, allowing Goliat to score easily. Whitman, on second, “undoubtedly had never seen anything like it,” continued Keane, and strolled to third.12 Richie Ashburn tied the game, 4-4, when he singled, plating Whitman and ending Surkont’s day.

The Phillies led off the eighth with three straight hits off reliever Bobby Hogue. After Ennis doubled, Mayo chopped a bunt in front of the plate, but Hogue lost the ball in the sun, enabling Mayo to reach first safely. Hamner singled to drive in Ennis and give the Phils their first lead of the game, 5-4. Seminick greeted reliever Dave Cole, making his first big-league appearance, with a deep fly to left field to drive in Mayo. With one out and runners on first and second, Sawyer let Jim Konstanty, who had hurled a 1-2-3 eighth, bat for himself. The result was an inning-ending double play when Konstanty whiffed and Goliat was caught stealing.

Konstanty, who had allowed only three earned runs in his previous 45⅔ innings, “was not his usual reliable self,” wrote the AP.13 Torgeson connected for a single off the eventual 1950 NL MVP to lead off the ninth. Elliott “pickled one of Konstanty’s pet sliders” for his 21st round-tripper of the season to tie the game, 6-6.14 After Gordon singled with one out, Konstanty avoided more trouble by inducing Willard Marshall to hit into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.

In what was described by Clif Keane as “one of [Southworth’s] several errors of judgment,” Cole was on the mound for the Braves to start the ninth and “met his Waterloo.”15 Waitkus led off with a single and moved to second on Ashburn’s sacrifice bunt off reliever Mickey Haefner. Next up was Willie “Puddin’ Head” Jones, mired in a “paralyzing slump” with just one hit in his previous 27 at-bats.16 After taking a ball and a strike, he lined a walk-off single into the left-field corner to drive in Waitkus, giving the Phillies a dramatic victory, 7-6. “Luck stuff,” said Braves’ coach Johnny Cooney incredulously after the game. “Jones hits a knuckleball on his fist and gets two bases.”17 [With Waitkus on second, Jones was officially credited with a single].

Konstanty got credit for the win to improve his record to 14-5 while Cole was collared with the loss in his debut in a game that lasted 2 hours and 25 minutes. Although Simmons’s last outing until April 29, 1952, did not have a fairy-tale finish, he pitched well enough to keep the Phils in the game, surrendering nine hits, striking out three, and walking two in 6⅔ innings. Only two of the four runs charged to him were earned. “It’s a shame about the kid,” said Sawyer. “He was due for a great season. If he hadn’t already lost that time in Army training (in August), I think he would have won 20 games by now.”18

For his part, Simmons was stoic about having to leave the team in the middle of a pennant race.  Simmons realized that there was political pressure not to treat ballplayers any different than any other reservists and there was not much anyone could do about it.19

The Phillies’ victory was a team effort, indicative of how the club played all season long. Each position player other than the catcher, Seminick, recorded a hit, led by Hamner’s three; six different players scored a run, and the same number drove in a run. With the win, the Whiz Kids increased their lead to 6½ games over the Dodgers with 20 games to play. Braves manager Billy Southworth suggested yet another reason for Philadelphia’s success. “In my 40 years in baseball,” said the future Hall of Famer, “I have never seen fans equal to those of Philadelphia. They won as many games as the players.”20

This article appears in “The Whiz Kids Take the Pennant: The 1950 Philadelphia Phillies” (SABR, 2018), edited by C. Paul Rogers III and Bill Nowlin. Click here to read more stories from this book at the SABR Games Project.

Sources

In addition to the sources in the notes, the author consulted BaseballReference.com, Retrosheet.org, and SABR.org.

Notes

1 The Sporting News, September 20, 1950: 17.

2 Clif Keane, “Braves Hand Phillies 7-6 Verdict,” Boston Globe, September 10, 1950: C47.

3 The Sporting News, September 20, 1950: 9.

4 Ibid.

5 Robin Roberts and C. Paul Rogers III, The Whiz Kids and the 1950 Pennant (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1996), 286.

6 AP, “Phillies Shade Braves on Jones’ Hit in Ninth,” Springfield (Massachusetts) Republican, September 10, 1950: B1.

7 Keane.

8 Keane.

9 Joe Looney, “Jones Hit Nips Tribe in 9th,” Boston Herald, September 10, 1950: 57.

10 Roberts and Rogers, 285.

11 Clif Keane and Joe Looney go into detail on this play.  According to BaseballReference.com, Whitman singled to center and advanced on Jethroe’s error.

12 Keane.

13 AP.

14 AP.

15 Keane.

16 AP.

17 The Sporting News, September 27, 1950: 4.

18 The Sporting News, September 20, 1950: 17.

19 Roberts and Rogers, 286.

20 The Sporting News, September 27, 1950: 4.

With one out in the top of the first, Church pitched himself into trouble with consecutive walks to Grady Hatton and former Phillie Johnny Wyrostek.  Church now had to confront the muscle of the Cincinnati batting order in the hulking presences of Ted Kluszewski and Joe Adcock. Combined, they would hit exactly one-third of Cincinnati’s 99 home runs in 1950, but Church initially bettered them by retiring both on fly balls to the outfield.

Veteran Willie Ramsdell started for the Reds. Cincinnati had just two 30-year-old pitchers, Ken Raffensberger (32) and Ramsdell (34). Ramsdell “was sold to Cincinnati on May 10, reportedly for around $20,000. At Cincinnati Ramsdell began as a reliever but ended up as a starting pitcher. … [S]coring runs was a problem for the 1950 Cincinnati club; Ramsdell was one of the primary victims as the sixth-place Reds were shut out in five of his twelve defeats.”1Ramsdell enjoyed little run support on this day, too, but pitched well in a complete-game effort.  Like Church, Ramsdell had two batters reach against him in the first inning on a leadoff single by Eddie Waitkus and a walk to Del Ennis, but also like Church, Ramsdell pitched out of trouble.

This pattern continued in the second inning. Cincinnati got singles from Lloyd Merriman and Johnny Pramesa to start the frame, but Church got Virgil Stallcup on a fly to Ennis in right before facing Ramsdell, who would hit .200 with the Reds with 10 hits in 1950.  Ramsdell lined out to Mike Goliat, who flipped to Granny Hamner at short to double up Merriman off second and keep the game scoreless.

The game did not stay scoreless for long. Hamner and catcher Andy Seminick both singled to start the bottom of the second, with Granny going to third on Seminick’s hit. Goliat flied out to Merriman, scoring Hamner, although Merriman threw out Seminick trying to take second. Church grounded out to end the inning with the Phillies up 1-0.

In baseball terms, Church did not survive the third inning; in human terms, he survived, but barely. Church retired the first two batters on grounders to Willie Jones at third base before walking Wyrostek for the second time in the game. Kluszewski came to the plate. Nearly half a century later, Philadelphia ace Robin Roberts recounted what transpired next: “Bubba fired in a first pitch fastball and big Klu met it squarely, sending it back at Bubba like a rocket. It struck Bubba in the face, opening a gash under his left eye. Bubba clutched his face, spun completely around, and finally sank to his knees. …”2 “Bubba bent under the impact, but didn’t go down. … Bubba’s nose and forehead were painted crimson, a trickle of blood ran through his hair and into the ear.”3

Kluszewski’s hit literally knocked Church out of the game. “Church suffered a severe gash beneath his left eye and was taken to Jefferson Hospital where four stitches were required to close the wound.  Owner Bob Carpenter said Church would undergo plastic surgery. …”4

Manager Eddie Sawyer brought in lefty Ken Heintzelman, who four years earlier had his own similarly scary accident when he “was hit on the jaw by a vicious drive off Sid Gordon’s bat … and … was carried off on a stretcher.”5  Overcoming this tough memory, Heintzelman got Adcock to fly to Ennis to retire the side.

Richie Ashburn walked in the bottom of the third, and Pramesa got his second single in the top of the fourth, but neither team scored again until the bottom of the fourth when Seminick’s 23rd homer of the year, “a rousing drive into the upper deck of the left-field bleachers,”6 put the Phillies up 2-0.

Hatton doubled in the top of the fifth with two outs, but Heintzelman induced his former US Army teammate Wyrostek to sky to Ashburn to keep the Reds off the scoreboard.7

After a 1-2-3 bottom of the fifth, Cincinnati rallied in the top of the sixth with Kluszewski leading the attack with his second single of the game. Adcock hit a comebacker to Heintzelman, who got the lead runner at second. Merriman, too, hit into a fielder’s choice, and Pramesa’s third hit of the game, one short of his career high of four (established the previous month) put runners on the corners with two outs. Stallcup doubled in Merriman, but catcher Pramesa stopped at third, a key play in a one-run game. Trailing 2-1, Ramsdell hit for himself and flied to Ennis to end the inning.

Only three hitters reached the rest of the game, and each did so with two outs. Goliat singled in the bottom of the seventh, but Philadelphia manager Eddie Sawyer, perhaps thinking ahead to the demands that the nightcap might place on his battered pitching staff, let Heintzelman hit, to no offensive avail.

Jones walked in the bottom of the eighth, but Ennis fanned.

Down 2-1 in the top of the ninth with two outs, Danny Litwhiler, who had made the All-Star team with the 1942 Phillies and would hit well against Heintzelman throughout his career,8 batted for Ramsdell and singled. Pitcher Herm Wehmeier ran for Litwhiler, but Heintzelman retired leadoff hitter Bobby Adams to end the game. The entire contest was played in just 1 hour and 46 minutes.“Heintzelman, given an opportunity after Church was laid low with a batted ball, pitched magnificently against the Reds to win,”9 his first since beating Cincinnati May 7 and just his second victory of the season.10 The second half of the doubleheader would incredibly provide a pair of even more marathon outings that would overshadow Heintzelman’s “[b]rilliant relief hurling.”11

This article appears in “The Whiz Kids Take the Pennant: The 1950 Philadelphia Phillies” (SABR, 2018), edited by C. Paul Rogers III and Bill Nowlin. Click here to read more stories from this book at the SABR Games Project.

Notes

1 John Stahl, “Willie Ramsdell,” sabr.org/bioproj/person/b12cbf39 (accessed May 14, 2015).

2 Robin Roberts and C. Paul Rogers III, The Whiz Kids and the 1950 Pennant (Philadelphia:  Temple University Press, 1996), 290.

3 John Webster, “Misfortune Strikes Phils; Batted Ball Injures Church,” Philadelphia Inquirer, September 16, 1950: 15-16.

4 Associated Press, “Phils Win in 19th after 2-1 Triumph,” New York Times, September 16, 1950.  Church started just two more regular-season games in 1950.  He lost both and gave up 12 runs (10 earned) in less than six total innings. Church did not appear in the 1950 World Series.

5 Louis Effrat, “Giants Drop 2 to Pirates, 2-1, 5-1; Ott Banished From Both Contests,” New York Times, June 10, 1946.

6 Lou Smith, “Phil Hurler Felled By Ted’s Liner; Reds Lose Final In 19 Innings, 8-7,” Cincinnati Enquirer, September 16, 1950: 15.

7 “When the fighting ended, the Army found a more fitting use for [Ewell] Blackwell’s talents: pitching for the division baseball team. His teammates included major leaguers Harry Walker, Johnny Wyrostek, and Ken Heintzelman.” Warren Corbett, “Ewell Blackwell,” sabr.org/bioproj/person/99b3d493, (accessed May 20, 2015).

8 Litwhiler would post a career .340/.404/.660 slash line off Heintzelman in 47 at-bats with three doubles and four home runs, according to incomplete data available at retrosheet.org/boxesetc/H/MU1_heink101.htm (accessed May 19, 2015).

9 Stan Baumgartner, “Phils’ Bench Gets Its Chance, Proves Stouter Than Figured,” The Sporting News, September 27, 1950: 4.

10 All three of Heintzelman’s 1950 wins came in the first games of doubleheaders. He would appear just twice more during the regular season, both in starting roles, beating Warren Spahn and Boston 12-4 in a September 25 complete game and, on just two days of rest, losing to New York 3-1on September 28.

11 Stan Baumgartner, “Phils Win, 8-7, in 19th To Take 2; Church Hurt,” Philadelphia Inquirer, September 16, 1950: 1.

The starter, Phillies ace Robin Roberts, was seeking his 20th win but struggled, handicapped by a porous Philadelphia defense. With one out in the first, shortstop Granny Hamner, “obviously weary in the field,”1 made two straight errors. With two Reds on, Roberts got Ted Kluszewski and Joe Adcock to hit two more balls at Hamner, this time for outs.

Cincinnati starter Howie Fox led the National League with 19 losses in 1949, but in 1950 would have the only winning season (11-8) of his nine-year career. Fox also allowed two baserunners in the first, on singles by Richie Ashburn and Ennis, but stranded both by retiring Jackie Mayo on a popup.

After Roberts enjoyed his only 1-2-3 inning in the top of the second, Hamner doubled in the bottom of the inning and Andy Seminick singled him to third base. Fox fanned Mike Goliat and got Roberts to pop to Kluszewski, then walked Eddie Waitkus to load the bases for Ashburn, but the outfielder also popped to Kluszewski to leave the sacks full of Phils.

In the third Fox himself scored the first run. He reached on Hamner’s third error of the game (his 44th of the season).  A single by Lloyd Merriman pushed Fox to second. After Grady Hatton struck out, Johnny Wyrostek hit one to Waitkus, who erred, allowing Fox to score. With runners on first and second and one out, manager Eddie Sawyer had Roberts walk Kluszewski intentionally, loading the bases for Adcock. His two-run single gave Cincinnati a 3-0 lead. Roberts struck out Connie Ryan with two runners in scoring position (Adcock had advanced to second on the throw to third to try to get Kluszewski), then got Virgil Stallcup on a fly ball to left to keep the score 3-0.

After the Phillies went in order in the bottom of the third, the Reds padded the lead in the top of the fourth thanks to a double by Dixie Howell double and a single by Merriman. Philadelphia mustered just a Seminick walk in the bottom of the fourth and trailed 4-0 after four.

Cincinnati scored again in the top of the fifth on singles by Kluszewski and Adcock and a fly ball by Stallcup. The Phillies wasted a leadoff single by Waitkus in the bottom of the fifth and faced a formidable 5-0 deficit after five innings.

After Seminick grounded out to end the Philadelphia half of the sixth, Sawyer replaced him with Stan Lopata, probably figuring that 15 innings of catching in one day would suffice.  But Lopata would end up catching nearly as many innings during the day as Seminick.

Roberts got a 6-4-3 DP to end the top of the seventh, and Philadelphia broke through against Fox in the home half. Goliat doubled and one out later Waitkus reached on an error by Ryan to put runners at the corners. Both scored thanks to Willie Jones’s fly ball and a two-out RBI single by Ennis.

Having pinch-hit for Roberts and seeing his team trail 5-2 after seven in the second game of a doubleheader, Sawyer tapped 26-year-old Jack Brittin to make his major-league debut. Brittin pitched an easy eighth inning and even struck out Howell.

The Phillies crept closer in the bottom of the eighth thanks to a walk to Hamner, Goliat’s single, and an RBI single by Jimmy Bloodworth, batting for Brittin. After Bloodworth’s hit, Fox departed, making way for Ken Raffensberger. The former Phillies pitcher tied Preacher Roe and Johnny Sain with a league-leading 34 home runs given up in 1950, but he escaped the eighth by striking out Waitkus and retiring Ashburn on a groundout to allow Cincinnati to maintain its 5-3 margin.

For the ninth, Sawyer turned to Jim Konstanty, who made his record-setting 66th appearance of the season.2 After consecutive singles by Merriman and Hatton, Konstanty prevented the Reds from getting a critical insurance run by retiring the heart of the order, Wyrostek, Kluszewski, and Adcock, on two fly balls and a groundout.

The Phillies rallied in the bottom of the ninth after the lefty Raffensberger had fanned Jones. Righty Herm Wehmeier then relieved, and Ennis greeted him with a single. Ignoring the platoon advantage, Sawyer sent right-handed-batting Stan Hollmig up for the left-handed-hitting Mayo. Hollmig doubled to put the tying runs in scoring position. Hamner’s double tied the game at 5.  Lopata walked, but neither Goliat nor Konstanty could deliver a winning hit.

Konstanty got Cincinnati in order in the top of the 10th. Philadelphia threatened in the bottom of the inning. Waitkus singled. Ashburn forced him at second, then stole second. But Jones and Ennis, the two top RBI men of the 1950 Phillies, could not plate Ashburn.

Neither team had a hitter reach again until Waitkus doubled with two outs in the bottom of the 12th. Wehmeier got Ashburn to fly out.

Konstanty retired 14 Reds in a row before Howell singled with two outs in the top of the 13th, but Wehmeier grounded out to Hamner.

Cincinnati had two baserunners in the 14th on walks to Hatton and Kluszewski (the latter intentionally). The strategy succeeded this time as Adcock popped out to Hamner.

Having failed to win the game with a hit in the ninth, Konstanty singled in the bottom of the 14th but did not score.

The top of the 16th played out similarly to the top of the 14th. With Hatton on second after his single followed by a groundout, Konstanty again passed Kluszewski intentionally and again retired Adcock on an infield grounder to end the inning.

In the bottom of the 17th with one out, Waitkus doubled off Wehmeier for the second time in extra innings but again did not score.

Going into the 18th, the teams had played eight scoreless innings. After fanning Wehmeier to start the top of the inning, Konstanty got tired and wild, walking Merriman, Hatton, and Wryostek to load the bases with one out for Kluszewski. Konstanty came after the slugger and the big man delivered a single that gave the Reds a 7-5 lead. Adcock then bounced into a double play to end the inning. Cincinnati again needed to secure three outs and give up less than two runs to win.

Wehmeier came out for the bottom of the 18th and gave up double to Ennis and a single to Dick Sisler to put the tying runs on the corners with none out. Hamner drove in Ennis with a fly ball, Philadelphia still trailed 7-6 with one out and Sisler on first. Lopata, the fill-in catcher, “then delivered one of his best hits of the year, a resounding triple to right center, scoring Sisler with the tying run.”3 With Lopata on third, Reds shortstop Stallcup “made a nice play on Goliat’s grounder”4 and threw him out at first, holding Lopata at third. Having already used Konstanty for 10 innings, Sawyer pinch-hit with Ken Silvestri, who flied out to end the 18th in a 7-7 deadlock.

Replacement Blix Donnelly yielded a leadoff double to Connie Ryan to start the 19th but retired the next three Reds, finishing with teenager Ted Tappe, who had debuted with a homer against Brooklyn on September 14 but in this game grounded out batting for Wehmeier.

Eddie Erautt came in to pitch for Cincinnati with the 1:00 A.M. curfew looming. Waitkus singled. Ashburn dropped “a beautifully placed bunt down the first base line that stayed fair,”5 and Jones walked to load the bases with none out for Ennis. “The seconds were ticking off the clock as Ennis batted — the count went to two and two and then Del connected.”6 His drive less than one minute before curfew cashed in Waitkus for the sensational sweep.

This article appears in “The Whiz Kids Take the Pennant: The 1950 Philadelphia Phillies” (SABR, 2018), edited by C. Paul Rogers III and Bill Nowlin. Click here to read more stories from this book at the SABR Games Project.

Notes

1 Stan Baumgartner, “Phils’ Bench Gets Its Chance, Proves Stouter Than Figured,” The Sporting News, September 27, 1950: 4.

2 “All-time king of the bullpen, Jim Konstanty … broke the major league record for most relief appearances in a season when he participated in his sixty-sixth game in the 19-inning nightcap with the Reds, September 15. The old record of 65 games pitched in a season, none started, was been set by Ace Adams of the (New York) Giants in 1945.” “Konstanty Breaks Adams’ Record With His 66th Stint,” The Sporting News, September 27, 1950: 32.

3 Stan Baumgartner, “Phils Win, 8-7, in 19th To Take 2; Church Hurt,” Philadelphia Inquirer, September 16, 1950: 16.

4 Ibid.

5 Robin Roberts and C. Paul Rogers III, The Whiz Kids and the 1950 Pennant (Philadelphia:  Temple University Press, 1996), 293.

6 Associated Press, “Phils Win in 19th after 2-1 Triumph,” New York Times, September 16, 1950.

“What a difference a day makes.” Think Dinah Washington and you have a classic. Tweak it to “What a difference a week makes” and you’ve summed up life for the Philadelphia Phillies.

On September 20, 1950, the great Red Barber would have said, “The Phillies are sittin’ in tall cotton.” They led the Boston Braves and the defending National League champion Brooklyn Dodgers by 7½ games. The Braves would fade as the Phillies took two out of three from them on the 25th and 26th.  But the Dodgers of Jackie Robinson and an all-star cast, a marvelous team that dominated the NL from 1949 to 1953, were something else.

The Dodgers started winning; the Phillies started losing.

September 20 notwithstanding, the Phillies’ troubles began 10 days earlier, when Curt Simmons reported for active military duty. His departure, with a 17-8 record, left a tremendous hole in the Philadelphia pitching staff. Matters got worse on September 15, when a line drive from Ted Kluszewski’s bat hit Bubba Church in the face; he continued to pitch after a stay in the hospital, but not effectively. Worst of all, the Phillies’ last nine games (three with Boston, four with New York, two with Brooklyn) were away.

When the Phillies took the field on the 28th, their comfortable lead was down to four games. After the bleeding was over, thanks to the Phillies dropping a pair to the New York Giants and the Dodgers splitting a doubleheader with the Braves, the Phillies’ lead was three, and they had two to play in Ebbets Field. For their part, the Dodgers had four games to play, including a doubleheader the next day at home against the Braves before the final two against the Phillies.

The Giants were an intriguing team. Managed by the ever-cunning Leo Durocher, they had started the season badly, not getting over the .500 mark to stay until August 4. Once they righted themselves, they went 42-21 from August 2 until the end of the season.

Among their standout players were second baseman Eddie Stanky, catcher Wes Westrum, and left fielder/first baseman Monte Irvin. The spark plug of the team, Stanky was a magician at drawing walks. He led the National League with 144 in 1950 and had coaxed pitchers out of a league-record 148 in 1945. Westrum didn’t hit for a high average (.236 in 1950), but he had an incredible eye, drawing 92 walks, and power (23 homers, second on the team) — all this with 103 hits in 140 games. In addition, he was a wizard behind the plate, committing just one error all season for a league-record .999 fielding percentage. Negro Leagues legend Irvin was the best player on the team. He helped the Giants through all-around play and leadership.

Offensively, other than Stanky, the Giants got the job done without eyebrow-raising numbers. Shortstop Alvin Dark was a fine complement to Stanky. Negro Leagues veteran Hank Thompson got Stanley Woodward’s vote as the NL’s top third baseman1 and led the team in RBIs with 91. The outfield was made up of Whitey Lockman (soon to become the team’s first baseman), Bobby Thomson (the team leader with 25 home runs), and Don Mueller (who hit for a decent average, rarely struck out, and walked even less).

The Giants’ strongest suit was their pitching. Their 3.71 ERA and 643 runs allowed were second to the Phillies. Stanley Woodward named 19-game-winner Larry Jansen (along with Robin Roberts) as the NL’s top pitcher.2 Sal Maglie, once the Giants realized he should be a starter, ran off an 11-game win streak. Jim Hearn, acquired from St. Louis, led the NL in ERA.3 Lefty Dave Koslo and Sheldon Jones won 13 games apiece (while losing 15 and 16, respectively) but ate up innings and had some good moments.

Not surprisingly, the doubleheader of September 28 was a low-scoring affair. For the Phillies’ part, it was a day of lost opportunities and torture through hope.

The opener pitted southpaw Ken Heintzelman against Sal Maglie. Heintzelman, basically a journeyman pitcher, had enjoyed a career year in 1949, with a 17-10 mark, a 3.02 ERA, and a league-best five shutouts. He struggled all through 1950, however, and was looking for his fourth win to go with eight losses. In contrast, Maglie was seeking his 18th win and had only four losses.

Eddie Waitkus and Richie Ashburn started the game with singles, and Del Ennis walked after Dick Sisler popped up.  Bases loaded, one out — life looked good, no? No. Maglie retired Willie Jones on a called third strike and Granny Hamner on a fly to Bobby Thomson.

Mike Goliat singled with one out in the second and died on first.

With one out in the Giants’ second, Bobby Thomson homered to draw first blood. Hank Thompson singled to center, going to second on Mueller’s groundout, but got no further. Phillies 0, Giants 1

The Phillies scored in the third, as Ashburn singled to left and Sisler walked. Ennis’s fly to right, sent Ashburn to third. Jones then forced Sisler at second, to drive in Ashburn. Hamner grounded out, Maglie to Irvin. A good start produced just one run. Phillies 1, Giants 1

Stanky led off the Giants’ third with a walk. Heintzelman appeared to escape, retiring Lockman on a fly and Dark on a groundout that sent Stanky to third. But Irvin’s double to right scored Stanky. Then it almost got ugly. Heintzelman walked Thomson and Thompson but he slipped out of a potential disaster by striking out the contact-hitting Mueller. Phillies 1, Giants 2

Both teams went down in order in the fourth, but Ashburn made some noise in the fifth. Singling to center with one out, he stole second. Maglie’s wild pitch sent him to third, but neither Sisler nor Ennis could get the ball out of the infield to bring him in.

After the Phillies went down in order in the sixth, Bobby Thomson homered to lead off the Giants’ half of the inning. Phillies 1, Giants 3

And that’s how it ended, with the last nine Phillies going down in order. The Phillies had their chances and failed to take advantage of them. Heintzelman pitched reasonably well, but Maglie was better at escaping jams. It was Bobby Thomson’s day, with five putouts to go with his two homers.

The story line for the nightcap was eerily similar, with the very same result.

Robin Roberts was making his third start in five days. He’d pitched eight innings on the 23rd, giving up three runs in a 3-2 loss to Brooklyn. He’d then started the first game of a doubleheader against the Giants on the 27th, lasting four innings and giving up seven hits and five runs but not figuring in the 8-7 loss. And one day later he was looking for his 20th win while facing Sheldon Jones and trying to stop his team’s collapse.

The Phillies got off to the best possible start — Eddie Waitkus’s leadoff home run. Ennis’s two-out double looked as if it might lead to another run when Westrum allowed a passed ball with Jones at the plate. But Jones struck out. Phillies 1, Giants 0

The Giants and Phillies made the third interesting. Dark singled to left. Westrum walked, but Seminick picked him off first. Dark stole third. Roberts, normally blessed with good control, then committed the unpardonable sin of walking Sheldon Jones. Jones came to Roberts’s rescue by getting thrown out trying to steal second. Roberts walked Stanky. Lockman finally forced Stanky at second. Roberts escaped (absurdly), but three walks didn’t make anybody happy.

The teams traded goose eggs until the Giants’ sixth. Stanky led off with a home run. Lockman doubled to right, and the Giants threatened to blow the game open. Mueller sacrificed Lockman to third, but Roberts retired Hank Thompson on a called third strike and Irvin on a fly to Ennis. Disaster averted — for now. Phillies 1, Giants 1

Bobby Thomson led off the seventh with a double to left, only to be thrown out at third trying to advance on Dark’s groundball to first, and Westrum took a called third strike for the second out. Roberts, pitching on heart, finally faltered. Jones, a .105 hitter, singled to right, sending Dark to third. Stanky walked — again — to load the bases. Lockman’s single scored Dark and Jones. Mueller’s pop foul to Waitkus ended the carnage. Phillies 1, Giants 3

The Phillies mounted their second and last threat of the day in the ninth. Ennis and Jones singled, but Hamner lined to Irvin for an unassisted double play. Seminick flied out to Thomson for the final out.

The Phillies’ season-high 7½-game lead had shrunk to three games. The mathematics could become interesting. The Dodgers had four games to play, the Phillies just two. After Brooklyn swept a doubleheader from the Braves the next day in Ebbets Field the lead would be down to two games with two to play. The Phillies and Dodgers would face each other on September 30 and October 1 with the pennant on the line.

What a difference a week makes.

This article appears in “The Whiz Kids Take the Pennant: The 1950 Philadelphia Phillies” (SABR, 2018), edited by C. Paul Rogers III and Bill Nowlin. Click here to read more stories from this book at the SABR Games Project.

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to editors and fact-checkers Leonard Levin, Bill Nowlin, Carl Riechers, and C. Paul Rogers III for their help making this article better.

Sources

Honig, Donald. Baseball in the ’50s: A Decade of Transition. An Illustrated History (New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1987).

Jordan, David M. Occasional Glory: The History of the Philadelphia Phillies (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 2002).

Marshall, William. Baseball’s Pivotal Era: 1945-1951 (Lexington: University Press of

Kentucky, 1999).

Roberts, Robin, and C. Paul Rogers III. The Whiz Kids and the 1950 Pennant (Philadelphia:

Temple University Press, 1996).

Baseball Stars 1951

backtobaseball.com

baseball-almanac.com

baseball-reference.com

retrosheet.org

thisgreatgame.com

Notes

1 Who’s Who in Sports by Stanley Woodward (1951): 8-9.

2 Ibid.

3 Hearn’s ERA of 2.49 was the lowest in the National League. At the time, and in sources some years later, he was acknowledged as the league leader. However, he pitched only 134 innings, short of the required minimum of 154.  Teammate Sal Maglie pitched 206 innings with an ERA of 2.71 and is now regarded as the National League leader at baseball-reference.com and retrosheet.org.