Cardinals Beat Robins, 12-10, Despite Fournier’s Three Home Runs

Sherdel Goes Route for Birds Under Barrage of 16 Hits for 32 Bases

Knot Holers Reach McGraw and Barnes Early But Boehler Relieves Successfully—Taylor Douthit Leads Hornsboys’ Attack with Four Singles

By MARTIN J. HALEY. - St. Louis Globe-Democrat Wednesday July 14, 1926

Animated leather, in its loosest moments, was on wild display again at Sportsmans Park yesterday during the progress of the Cardinals’ 12-to-10 triumph over Brooklyn. The two clubs assembled thirty-two hits, each accounting for sixteen. Brooklyn’s sixteen were good for thirty-two bases, or an average of two bases per each sock, which was a fraction of a base better than that averaged by the Cardinals, whose sixteen safeties totaled twenty-four bases.

The reason Brooklyn lost, although they succeeded in outslugging the Knot Holers, is plain. Bill Sherdel, who went the route for the Birds, issued only one base on balls. Brooklyn’s three pitchers gave five, three of which aided in Cardinal scoring. The Cards also benefited from one of the two bases stolen by Taylor Douthit in one inning, the fifth, when the Birds piled up seven runs. Then, too, the Cards were helped by one of the two Brooklyn errors and by a wild pitch. In contrast, the Cards not only threw a perfect support behind Sherdel, but yanked him out of two bad spots with lightning double plays.

Why We Were Outslugged

There were three principal reasons why the Dodgers got more bases in their hits than the Cardinals. The three were three homers by the former Cardinal, Jack Fournier, who returned to first base for the Robins in Chicago Monday, after an absence of many weeks during which the ferocious one was nursing injured underpinning. Fournier hit his first homer in the fourth inning with one base leased. He made it two straight when he hit another in the sixth with the sacks empty. In the seventh he was thrown out on an infield grounder, but in the ninth he duplicated his fourth inning wallop by locating Grand boulevard with one man on base.

There was some doubt about Fournier’s sixth inning homer, but Umpire McLaughlin, behind the plate, allowed it. This clout struck the supporting beam of the extreme corner of the upper grandstand wing and caromed off into the seats. This steel beam, although painted white, is supposed to be in foul territory. The fact that the beam is painted white is misleading. It indicates that it is serving as a foul line, but it is not and should be repainted before it causes an argument in a close ball game.

Getting back to the Cardinal victory, two of Brooklyn’s pitchers were removed under fire in the fifth inning, when the Cardinals tucked away the decision on the strength of their seven run rally. The victims of the rampant Bird’s fire in this round were Bob McGraw and Jess Barnes, who yielded a half dozen hits, three bases on balls, one wild pitch and two stolen bases before George Boehler, another righthander, came to a successful rescue.

Douthit Paces Cardinals

Heading the Cardinals in their overthrow of the boys who were crowding them for third place honors, was Taylor Douthit, who made four straight singles and would have had a fifth had he not loafed on a slow ground ball down the third-base line in the eighth inning. Taylor stood at the plate for almost a second on this grounder, thinking it would roll foul and then just missed beating Marriott’s throw to Fournier by a step.

In addition to his four singles, Douthit stole second twice in the fifth inning, in which he also hit safely twice. His first steal was legitimate, but his second was pure highway robbery, seein’ as how he started down as Barnes held the ball and then beat Fournier’s throw to the midway, after Barnes had thrown to Fournier.

Other leading lights in the conquest were Les Bell, with three singles, Ray Blades with a home run and a single and Billy Southworth with a triple and a single and, note bene, there also was a big double by Wee Willie Sherdel. This two-bagger, a line drive which struck the right field foul line, was inserted at a moment when the bases were loaded in the fifth inning. It came on Barnes’ first pitch, just after McGraw had issued eight straight balls to gain his admission to the shower baths.

McGraw’s first punishment came in the first inning, the Cardinals taking a 2 to 0 lead on Douthit’s first single and doubles by Rogers Hornsby and Jim Bottomley. In the third, McGraw was found for two more runs, Blades pacing with a homer and Hornsby completing the circuit on his own single, together with a pass to Southworth and Bell’s single.

Dodgers Put on Steam

This gave the Birds a four-run margin, but the Dodgers climbed to within one run of a tie in their fourth and fifth, after Sherdel had allowed but one hit for three innings. In the fourth Fournier homered with a man on, and in the fifth Jimmy Butler reached the pavilion for his first homer of the season.

Now for the Cardinal fifth. Douthit led off with a single and stole second. Hornsby fanned and Bottomley bounced out to McGraw. Southworth singled to center, Douthit scoring. Bell singled to right. Bob O'Farrell and Tommy Thevenow walked, forcing Southworth over the plate. Exit McGraw, enter Barnes. Sherdel doubled, Bell and O’Farrell scoring. Blades lined a single off Barnes’ glove, Thevenow scoring. Blades moved to second on a wild pitch and scored in back of Sherdel on Douthit’s second single of the inning. Douthit stole second and Hornsby walked, Boehler replacing Barnes and drawing the curtain by making Bottomley fly to Jacobson.

Each club scored once in the sixth, the Dodgers on Fournier’s second homer, the Cards on Southworth’s triple and O’Farrell’s single. That was all for the Birds, but not for the Robins.

There was one more for Brooklyn in the seventh on singles by Butler, Boehler and Sammy Bohne, late of the Reds. There were two more in the eighth on Cox’s single, Marriott’s double and Butler’s single. The three in the ninth were produced when Bohne walked, Fournier homered, Felix singled and Cox doubled. The game became history when Blades went back for Marriott’s liner and held on for keeps.

Second game of the series today, which is Tuberculosis Benefit Day.

Haines and Petty Today

Jess Haines and Jess Petty, a southpaw, are slated to oppose on the parapet this afternoon.

Yesterday’s victory was Sherdel’s third straight over the Dodgers. Until the fourth inning Sherry had pitched twenty-one successive scoreless innings against the Dodgers, whom he shut out twice on the last eastern trip. Sherdel’s record for the season is eight victories and six defeats.

Bell’s three hits yesterday give him thirteen in six games and fourteen in seven straight.

Sherdel worked the quick return to strike out McGraw in the third. All told, Sherry had five strikeouts.

McGraw pitched eight straight balls in the fifth, which yielded three walks—one to O’Farrell, one to Thevenow and the third to McGraw himself.

Punk pitching or good hitting or an extra dash of “rabbit” in the ball, what is it? In the last two games at Sportsmans Park there have been fifty-nine hits. In the last three games there have been ninety hits, or an average of fifteen for each club in each game. In the eleven games played at Sportsmans Park since the Cards returned home, July 4, there has been a grand total of 260 hits, or an average of twelve for each club in each contest.

The Cardinal average, however, has been under that of the opposing clubs, for the Cards’ share of the 260 hits is 114, or approximately ten per game, as compared to thirteen per contest for the opposition.