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

35 страница из 96

Fischer stood rigid on the mound, waiting for the sign from catcher Frankie Pytlak. He continued to stare at home plate, oblivious to the runners. Lazzeri, now an aging veteran with heavy legs, took off for third, stealing the base with ease. Steve O’Neill flew out of the dugout and raged at his relief pitcher. Whether he was taking Ed McAuley’s advice to get mad or simply asserting himself, he screamed at Fischer to go to the clubhouse and pack his bags. Fischer’s days with Cleveland were abruptly over.

In the bottom half of the inning, Pytlak doubled and came home on a single by Roy Weatherly. That made the score 7–4, with the Yankees coming to bat in the ninth. Pitcher Earl Whitehill came in to close out the game. With one out and a runner on first, Joe DiMaggio grounded to third, where Sammy Hale fielded the ball and fired to second to start a game-ending double play. But shortstop Lyn Lary inexplicably dropped the throw. To further complicate matters, Whitehill walked Lou Gehrig to load the bases. Bill Dickey stepped to the plate with a chance to do some real harm. Instead, he hit a soft bouncer right back to the mound. Whitehill had only to whip the ball home for the force play and give Pytlak a chance to throw to first to end the game. For some odd reason, he chose to whirl around and throw to second. Lary barely fielded the throw, touched second, then fired in the dirt to first baseman Hal Trosky. The ball got under Trosky’s glove and rolled into foul territory. Two runs crossed the plate while Gehrig raced to third and Dickey to second. The crowd had gone full circle from leisurely watching a blowout to standing up and screaming at the Indians players. Luckily, Whitehill got the last out before a major riot ensued. Cleveland, in spite of playing like amateurs, had won 7–6, yet the fans were boiling and muttering to themselves about the poor exhibition they had just seen.