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

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At the beginning of August the Indians were still a few games under .500. Steve O’Neill tried to tighten things up by banning poker games and posting an earlier curfew. The restrictions did not turn the club around, though one player in particular began to heat up. After resting for three weeks, Johnny Allen, fully recovered from his dangerous surgery, received the okay to pitch again. On August 14 he went seven innings in a 4–3 win over Chicago. The win boosted his record to five wins and no losses.

Five days later Allen won again, easily beating St. Louis 9–1. Six wins without a defeat was a nice record, but Allen was setting in motion a remarkable winning streak. No doubt making up for lost time, Allen refused be beaten, lifting his record to 8–0 at the end of the month. He began September by defeating the hopeless Browns, 15–3. Bruce Campbell and Moose Solters each drove in three runs to help Allen to win number nine without a blemish.

The streak rolled on through the month, with Allen topping the Red Sox, Senators, Tigers, and White Sox. His outstanding pitching woke up the ball club, lifting them above .500 and into the first division. On September 21, Allen beat the Senators in a complete-game victory, 6–3. Hal Trosky slammed a bases-loaded home run to seal the win. With two weeks left in the season, Allen was now a lofty 13–0.