April 26, 1949: Del Ennis two-run homer caps Phillies’ extra-inning comeback

Both the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Giants had disappointing 1948 seasons. The Phillies won 66 games and lost 88 while finishing sixth in the National League. This was the 16th consecutive losing season for the Phillies, a streak that began in 1933. The Giants did better, finishing fifth with a 78-76 record.

Still, both teams had high hopes as the 1949 season began. The Phillies had a young nucleus with players like Richie Ashburn, Granny Hamner, Del Ennis and Willie “Puddin Head” Jones, all in their early 20s. Skipper Eddie Sawyer was very familiar with the young talent, having managed several of them in the minor leagues. The Phillies had also made some moves during the offseason, acquiring Eddie Waitkus, Bill Nicholson, Hank Borowy, and Russ Meyer from the Chicago Cubs. Waitkus was penciled in to be the everyday first baseman while Nicholson was a power-hitting outfielder. Borowy and Meyer were dependable starting pitchers. The Giants still had sluggers Johnny Mize, Sid Gordon, and Willard Marshall, who were major contributors in 1947 when the team hit 221 home runs.

In the second week of the 1949 season, the Giants arrived in Philadelphia for a two-game series. The Giants had won three in a row after having lost the first two games of the season to the Brooklyn Dodgers. The Phillies had won only two of their first seven games. In game one of the series, on April 25, the Giants beat the Phillies 6-3 behind pitcher Clint Hartung, while Hank Borowy was the losing pitcher for the Phillies. The second game of the series pitted Russ Meyer against the Giants’ best pitcher, Larry Jansen.

The Giants scored first, in the top of the second, on Willard Marshall’s fly ball that scored Johnny Mize. The Phillies responded in the bottom of the inning with a bases-empty home run by Willie Jones, who had a hot hand: This was his 10th hit of the season, and eight were for extra bases.1 However, the Giants came up with three runs in the top of the third on an RBI single by Bobby Thomson and third baseman Jones’s wild throw that allowed two runs to score. The Giants added a run in the top of the fifth on Jansen’s RBI single.

Jansen was effective for the first five innings and the Giants led 5-1 as the Phillies came to bat in the bottom of the sixth. The Phillies loaded the bases with one out. Light-hitting second baseman Eddie Miller surprised everyone by hitting a grand slam, tying the score, 5-5.

Blix Donnelly, who had relieved Russ Meyer in the top of the sixth inning, got into trouble in the Giants seventh by walking two of the first three hitters. He was replaced by Jim Konstanty, who almost got out of the inning, before an error by shortstop Hamner loaded the bases and Whitey Lockman singled home two runs for a 7-5 Giants lead.

Hank Behrman relieved Larry Jansen to start Phillies seventh. Leading off, Ashburn reached first base on an error by Giants shortstop Buddy Kerr. Ashburn was out at second on Hamner’s grounder to the pitcher, but Behrman walked Eddie Waitkus and Del Ennis’s single plated Hamner and sent Waitkus to third base. Giants lefty Dave Koslo replaced Behrman. Waitkus scored on Nicholson’s force-play grounder to second, again tying the game, 7-7.

With Konstanty still pitching, Johnny Mize led off the top of the eighth with a double and Thomson singled. Both scored when Marshall ripped a single to center field. Ken Trinkle replaced Konstanty and got out of the inning with no further scoring. (Marshall and Pete Milne, who had walked with two outs, were both thrown out trying to steal second.)2 The Giants now led 9-7. Koslo set down the Phillies in order in the bottom of the eighth. Schoolboy Rowe replaced Trinkle in the top of the ninth and retired all three Giants batters.

With the Giants leading in the bottom of the ninth, the Phillies needed to rally. Koslo was still on the mound for the Giants and gave up a leadoff single to Ashburn and a double to Hamner. Ash-burn scored on Waitkus’s grounder to first and Hamner took third. Hamner then then scored on a fly ball by Del Ennis. The score was tied again. Nicholson popped out to second and the game went into extra innings.

Both Rowe and Koslo pitched one-two-three 10th innings. In the top of the 11th, Marshall led off with a single. With two outs, Walker Cooper pinch-hit for Koslo and walked. With two runners on base, Jack Lohrke batted for second baseman Bobby Rhawn and responded with a two-run double to right field. The Giants led 11-9 going to the bottom of the 11th.

Giants manager Leo Durocher called upon Andy Hansen to close out the game. The Phillies were probably happy to see Koslo leave; he had a 7-0 record against them.3 Hansen walked pinch-hitter Bert Haas to begin the inning but retired Ashburn on a force out and Hamner on a fly ball. The Phillies were now down to their last out, but Waitkus got his third hit of the game, a run-scoring single to right field, and Waitkus went to second base when Willard Marshall let the ball roll through his legs for an error. The batter was now Del Ennis, who already had two hits. Ennis hit Hansen’s first pitch to him for a home run to deep left field, his third of the season, giving the Phillies a thrilling 12-11 victory before a slim crowd of 3,296. Hansen threw his hat and glove on the mound in disgust as the Phillies stormed out of the dugout, hugged Ennis, and attempted to carry him off the field.4

One interesting sidelight was that two days after the game, the Phillies sold Bert Haas to the Giants who apparently wanted to shore up their bench with the versatile infielder/outfielder.

The 1949 Phillies experienced considerable improvement over the 1948 squad, finishing in third place with 81 wins and 73 losses after a late-season surge. The 16-season losing streak had ended. This improvement was just a prelude to the 1950 season when the Whiz Kids won the pennant on the last day of the season in extra innings with Dick Sisler hitting a game-winning home run against the Brooklyn Dodgers. The 1949 season was marred by the shooting of Eddie Waitkus in a Chicago hotel by a deranged young woman. He was unable to finish the season but did return in 1950, playing all 154 games.

The Giants regressed in 1949, finishing sixth with 73 wins and 81 losses. However, two years later Durocher’s team would win the pennant on Bobby Thomson’s home run. Better times were coming for both teams.

SOURCES

In addition to the sources mentioned in the Notes, a box score and play-by-play account for this game can be seen on Baseball-Reference.com.

NOTES

1 Stan Baumgartner, “Phils’ 3 in 11th Tops Giants 12-11,” Philadelphia Inquirer, April 27, 1949: 37-38.

2 John Drebinger, “Phils Nip Durocher Men, 12-11, on 2 Run Blast by Ennis in 11th,” New York Times, April 27, 1949: 34.

3 Baumgartner.

4 Baumgartner.