With only five games to go, the pennant race looks to be going right down to the end. Washington has a two game lead over the Yankees, who are playing Cleveland while the Griffs face Chicago. On Tuesday, September 23, 1924, Bucky Harris will start George Mogridge, one of his four trusted pitchers, owner of a 3.48 ERA. Mogridge had complained about a sore are a day before, and, that morning, was not sure he could pitch, but he did. About 8,000 fans will pay to see this late-season game, and many will cheer for the Nationals...or against the Yankees.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHA/CHA192409230.shtmlStarting Lineups Nationals1 Earl McNeely CF
2 Bucky Harris 2B
3 Sam Rice RF
4 Goose Goslin LF
5 Joe Judge 1B
6 Ossie Bluege 3B
7 Roger Peckinpaugh SS
8 Muddy Ruel C
9 George Mogridge P
White Sox1 Bill Barrett CF
2 Roy Elsh RF
3 Eddie Collins 2B
4 Earl Sheely 1B
5 Bibb Falk LF
6 Willie Kamm 3B
7 Ike Davis SS
8 Buck Crouse C
9 Charlie Robertson P
Robertson entered the game with a 4-9 record, and about a 5.0 ERA.
The Nationals threatened in the first, as Earl McNeely singled, took second on a passed ball, ran behind SS Ike Davis as he fielded a grounder by Harris, but was thrown out at home on a fielder's choice, started by future Hall of Famer Eddie Collins -- last of the stars from the 1919 Chicago team.
This sort of baseball was much more fun than the current home-run-oriented game. (Recall that McNeely ran and ran into the go-ahead run in St. Louis when he rounded second as future Hall of Famer, a startled "Gorgeous George" Sisler, stepped on first and threw a ball over the head of the Browns' 3B)
Chicago scored first, when a pair of singles and a walk loaded the bases with one out. Bibb Falk pushed across a run on a double-play! How? He grounded to Bucky Harris, who flipped the ball to Roger Peckinpaugh covering second for the second out, as Bill Barrett scored. Roy Elsh was out at home, Peckinpaugh to Joe Judge to Muddy Ruel. Eddie Collins might have said, "What was he doing? What was he thinking?"
Chicago 1, Washington 0.It got worse in the bottom of the second, when a Bill Barrett single to RF scored Ike Davis and Buck Crouse. It might have gotten even worse, as Roy Elsh singled, putting Barrett on second, but Mogridge picked Barrett off.
Chicago 3, Washington 0.
The Senators got a few rns of their own, as McNeely led off with a popfly behind SS and 3B that Ike Davis could not hold. McNeely helped himself to an extra base, as he danced off second. His own 2B, Bucky Harris, singled and the Nats had their first run. To compensate for the right-handed hitting Harris having single to right, the lefty hitting Sam Rice singled to left. Accounts say that Rice could hit the ball anywhere he needed. Goslin singled, scoring Harris. With no one out, Joe Judge did...what would you guess? He bunted, his sacrifice moving Rice to third and Goslin to second. The orthodox strategy worked, since Ossie Bluege doubled to left, scoring Rice and Goslin. Bluege took third on the throw home, but was stranded when Peckinpaugh lined out to SS and Muddy Ruel popped out to third.
Washington 4, Chicago 3.Chicago could not answer in the bottom of the third. With two outs, Bibb Falk and Willie Kamm singled, but Ike Davis flew (or flied?) out to McNeely in center.
In the top of the 4th, the Nationals hammered out three more runs, and drove Chicago's Charlie Robertson from the game. Mogridge was not much of a hitter, but he led off with a single. McNeely singled to center, pushing Mogridge to second. Bucky Harris bunted, of course, but beat Ike Davis throw to first. Bases loaded -- "Ducks on the pond", as Arch McDonald would say.
Who was Arch McDonald?
Arch McDonald was the first radio voice of the New York Yankees, New York Giants and Washington Senators, where he called games for 23 seasons.
He was known as “The Old Pine Tree” after the song he used as his on-air signature. It is a country tear-jerker that was recorded by the likes of singing cowboy Gene Autry and bluegrass pioneer Ralph Stanley, but was written by three Broadway songsmiths:
They cut down the old pine tree
And they hauled it away to the mill
To make a coffin of pine
For that sweetheart of mine
They cut down the old pine tree
But she’s not alone in her grave tonight,
For it’s there my heart will always be;
Though we’d drifted apart,
Still they cut down my heart,
When they cut down the old pine tree.
(Copyright 1929 Vincent Youmans Inc., copyright assigned 1931 to Miller Music Corp.)
When the Senators won, rarely in most seasons, McDonald would tell his listeners, “Well, they did it again. They cut down the old pine tree.” (If you think this makes no sense, you are not alone.)
(Actually, it makes a lot of sense. Arthur Godfrey, who became famous in the 1950s with a TV show on NBC, called "Today", was the morning man on McDonald's radio station. The phrase was an inside joke, teasing the self-important Godfrey)
https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/arch-mcdonald/Back to the game, with ducks on the pond in the top of the 4th. Sam Rice banged a fly to right, scoring Mogridge and advancing McNeely and Harris. Goose Goslin doubled to right-center, scoring both. Ted Blankenship replaced Robertson, and wiggled out of trouble.
Washington 7, Chicago 3.Blankenship and Mogridge pitched steadily. Then, in the bottom of the 6th, Blankenship drove in Ike Davis with a single.
Washington 7, Chicago 4.
Cautious about Mogridge's arm, Bucky Harris replaced him with Firpo Marberry for the bottom of the 7th. Firpo gave up a pair of walks, and, with two outs, Willie Kamm doubled them home. Sop much for Miller Huggins and his claim that teams are playing soft against the Nationals and hard against his Yankees.
Washington 7, Chicago 6.
Marberry was hanging on, skipping in and out of trouble. In the 8th, he got the first two batters out, but pinch-hitter Maurice Archdeacon reached on Bucky Harris's error. Harry Hooper singled to right, allowing Archdeacon to reach third. Marberry walked the dangerous Eddie Collins, loading the bases. These duck, however, were left on the pond when Earl Sheely grounded out, Peckinpaugh to Judge.
In the bottom of the 9th, the White Sox threatened again. Bibb Falk grounded back to Marberry, but Willie Kamm singled. Bud Clancy pinch-hit for SS Ike Davis, but struck out. Buck Crouse singled to right, so Kamm took third. Then Crouse stole second. Pressure got higher on the rookie Marberry, but Ray Moreheart grounded out, Bluege to Jusge.
Final: Washington 7, Chicago 6Standings:
1. WSH: 89-60 (.597)
2. NYY: 87-62 (.584; 2 GB; beat the Indians, 8-2)
Four games left.
