Читать книгу Bad Boys, Bad Times. The Cleveland Indians and Baseball in the Prewar Years, 1937–1941 онлайн

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Three days after Allen went down, the Indians faced the Washington Senators. Mel Harder pitched a decent game, going six and two-third innings while allowing five runs, three earned. His teammates played little defense, committing four errors, including one by each of the infielders. Roy Weatherly added to the sloppy play, heaving a throw from center field to the wrong base, which allowed runners to advance into scoring position. A frustrated Steve O’Neill severely chewed out Weatherly when he came back to the dugout.

Reliever Joe Heving replaced Harder and held the Senators in check for the next three and a third innings, leaving with the score deadlocked at 5–5. Newly acquired Carl Fischer took the mound for the top of the eleventh, promptly walking Ben Chapman. Buddy Lewis singled, then Joe Kuhel sacrificed the runners to second and third. After a strikeout of Jon Stone, Steve O’Neill had now seen enough of Fischer, and motioned for Whitlow Wyatt to enter the game. The situation worsened as Wyatt gave up a base on balls to Al Simmons. The fans at League Park squirmed in their seats when Ben Chapman inched down the third-base line. Wyatt began his delivery as if there was nobody on base. All three runners took off, with Chapman sliding effortlessly home ahead of the pitch. Incredibly, a rare triple steal had just been executed against the hapless Indians. Three straight base hits followed, forcing O’Neill to go to the bullpen once more. Long-time veteran Willis Hudlin entered the game, serving up a single and a double before finally retiring the Senators.