Читать книгу No Money, No Beer, No Pennants. The Cleveland Indians and Baseball in the Great Depression онлайн

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The new method of training seemed to be working for the Indians. There were few injuries, and regular poundings of the New Orleans Pelicans. At the end of March they destroyed their minor-league club, 19–7. Carl Lind had two doubles and a triple. Wes Ferrell, the twenty-one-year-old pitcher, threw four innings of relief. He was unbelievably wild, walking eight batters. Even so, he managed to wiggle out of trouble, something noted by Roger Peckinpaugh. A later exhibition appearance against Cincinnati convinced Peck he had a new pitcher to add to the staff. In four innings of work, Wes gave up one run on two hits in a 7–6 loss. The other Indians pitchers were hit freely, but the Reds could not get to Ferrell.

While the Indians were gearing up for a new season, a troubling event occurred in the United States. On March 25, the stock market took a deep plunge, which caused a panic among investors. For years, Wall Street had been sailing along with positive results. For most of the 1920s, investing in the stock market was almost a guarantee to make money. People who knew little about stocks and bonds put their money in the market. If you did not have the cash to invest, you could buy on margin, putting in a down payment of 10 to 20 percent of the stock’s value and owing the rest. The risk was that if the stock did not perform well and dipped below the value of the purchase price, the buyer was responsible for the entire amount. Despite the chance of a margin call, buyers ignored the peril and continued to purchase on credit. When the twenty-fifth rolled around and stocks fell, a considerable percentage of investors could not pay what they owed. To avoid a serious crisis, National City Bank in New York announced it was allocating $25 million in loans. This action stopped any further panic, but did not serve as a warning to people heavily over-financed. The thrill ride continued, even though it had hit a serious bump in the road.