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

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The return of Bob Feller drew a total of 35,000 eager fans to the stadium—an excellent crowd, yet nowhere close to a record. Jo-Jo White led off for the Tigers by drawing a walk. Feller then ignited the crowd by striking out Bill Rogell, Charlie Gehringer, and the always dangerous Hank Greenberg. During the flurry of strikes, White stole second and third, but could not advance any further. The Indians scored in the bottom half of the inning when Roy Hughes singled, went to third on Earl Averill’s base hit, then scored on Hal Trosky’s sacrifice fly.

Feller cruised along until the top of the fourth. He had been throwing mostly fastballs with a few curves mixed in to keep the Tigers off balance. Greenberg led off the top of the inning with a walk. Goose Goslin hit a grounder to Lyn Lary, who kicked the ball around for an error. Rudy York then laid down a perfect bunt, just inside the third-base line. Feller picked up the ball and heard catcher Frankie Pytlak yell, “First base!” At the same time, Detroit third-base coach Del Baker yelled even louder, “Third, third!” Feller turned and threw a strike to third base. Unfortunately, no Indian stood near the bag, and the ball rolled all the way into the left-field corner. By the time Moose Solters recovered the baseball, Greenberg had scored while Gehringer reached third and York second.