Cubs' Eight-Run Fifth Buries Cardinals While Hornsby Heads to Hospital
The Cubs erupted for eight runs in the fifth inning to defeat the Cardinals 11–3, while Rogers Hornsby's painful battle with boils finally sent the St. Louis star to the hospital for surgery.
Content from the St. Louis Globe-Democrat Tuesday, June 29, 1926
Table of Contents
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Cubs Rout Keen and Score Eight Runs in Fifth to Thrash Cards, 11-3
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Edwards Holds Browns to Four Hits and White Sox Go Over, 7 to 0
Cubs Rout Keen and Score Eight Runs in Fifth to Thrash Cards, 11-3
Boils Force Rogers Hornsby to Retire; Bob O'Farrell Suffers Finger Injury
Southworth and Johnson Also Slightly Hurt—Charley Root Holds Birds to 6 Hits, One of Which Is Jim Bottomley's Double with Sacks Loaded.
By MARTIN J. HALEY.
Winding up their seven-day home stand at Sportsmans Park yesterday, the Cardinals suffered their worst defeat in many weeks when the Cubs trimmed them, 11 to 3, but the beating failed to oust the Cards from second place, although it did enable the pace-setting Reds to increase their advantage to three games and a half. The Reds strengthened their position by humbling the third-place Pirates for the fourth straight time.
Yesterday's 12,000 ladies' day crowd saw the Cardinals all out of step at every angle of the game. Victor Keen, far from his customary form, was knocked out in the fifth inning, when the Cubs, in their eight-run rampage, also picked on the hard-luck, title-holding Sylvester Johnson, who was driven from the mound when a smash from Johnny Adams' bat struck him in the right knee. Bill Hallahan also was found for a hit in this wild inning which wrecked the ball game, but the young southpaw stopped the Cubs cold after that blow and permitted only three more hits in the last four innings.
All Except One Cub Score
In that fifth inning the Cubs piled up eight hits, the first five of which were in succession. The Bruins also drew a pass, a hit batsman and a stolen base out of the damage, and the only Chicago player who did not score in that round was Charlie Grimm, who was one of two Windy Cityans who failed to locate the safe-hit column. The Cub pitcher, Root, was the other.
Root, however, obtained his enjoyment on the pitching mound. The former Brownie held the Cards to six hits, two of which were bunched in the sixth inning, when Bottomley drove in the three Cardinal runs by doubling to the left-center wall with the bases loaded. While pitching his few-hit game, Root struck out nine men, Ray Blades being cut down on strikes three times.
Little better than their attack was the Cardinals' defense. The box score shows that the Birds played an errorless game, but, even so, the Cards were far from themselves in a fielding way, so much so that pop-fly bununts became singles and fly balls fell for extra bases in the outfield.
To make the day complete in misery, Catcher O'Farrell was slightly injured, when a pitched ball bruised the third finger on his throwing hand in the third inning. At that time, with the Cubs leading by only one run, O'Farrell had the injury dressed and returned to duty, but when Keen was kayoed in the fifth, Manager Hornsby decided to give O'Farrell a rest, so Ernie Vick was pressed into service for about the first time this year.
Hornsby Derricks Himself
At the close of the fifth, Hornsby also derricked himself from the pastime in order to rest his painful legs. Rog has been sticking to the task gamely for the past week, despite the fact that his thighs have been dotted with boils. These boils have been so painful that Hornsby has forced himself to remain in the game only by superhuman effort. The Rajah's place at second was taken by George Toporcer.
Another Cardinal injured yesterday was Billy Southworth, but the injury was not severe enough to cause the former New Yorker's retirement. Southworth hurt his right shoulder, which was broken several years ago, when he made a try for George Kelly's fly ball down the right-field line in the third inning. Billy managed to get his glove on the ball, but the leather hopped away when the right-fielder landed heavily on his shoulder.
The Cubs started scoring as early as the second inning. Hack Wilson headed this session with a single to center. He went to second on Grimm's pass and to third when Mickey Cochrane Cooney forced Grimm, then scored on Mike González' pop single to right field.
Cubs Score Two in Third
Two runs were picked up by the Cubs in the third. With one gone, Harry Heilmann Heathcote doubled to right, Jimmy Freigau singled to center, Heathcote stopping at third, and when Taylor Douthit needlessly threw to the plate, Freigau went to second. Wilson bounced to Hornsby, whose throw to O'Farrell flagged Heathcote, Freigau moving to third. Came then Kelly's fly ball to right, Southworth's miss and a triple for Kelly, Freigau and Wilson scoring.
The fifth inning ticked into the park. Adams singled to right. Heathcote singled to center. Freigau popped a bunt over Keen's head for another hit, the bases filling up. Wilson singled to center, Adams and Heathcote scoring, Freigau taking third and Wilson moving to second on Douthit's throw to third. Johnson relieved Keen. He was greeted by Kelly's single to center, Freigau and Wilson romping home.
There was a lull when Grimm flied out, but Cooney walked and González doubled through Southworth, Kelly and Cooney completing the circuit. Root stopped a pitched ball. Adams, up for the second time, got his second hit in the round on the afore related smash off Johnson's knee. Hallahan replaced Johnson. Heathcote popped out, but Freigau singled to right, sending in González and Root, Adams taking third. Freigau stole second and the round ended with Wilson fouling to Vick.
Bottomley's Clean-Up Smash
In the last four innings the Cubs did not get a man to second base. The Cards did not locate the midway until the fifth. Jimmy Bell doubled at the start of this chapter, but was doubled off second on Tom Thevenow's liner to Heathcote, following Vick's strikeout.
In the sixth, prior to Bottomley's clean-up two-bagger, Blades walked, Douthit singled and Toporcer stopped a pitched ball. Following Bottomley's double Southworth walked, but was forced by Bell, who in turn was forced by Vick. Only once more did the Cards get past first base. Douthit walked in the eighth and after two were out he legged to the far corner on Southworth's single off Grimm's glove, after which Bell struck out.
The Cardinals are in Chicago today, while the Browns return home to open a two-game series with Detroit.
Hornsby Goes to Hospital as Team Departs for Road Trip
Cardinal Manager to Be Operated Upon This Morning for Boils on His Legs Which Have Crippled Him in Play for Past Week.
Manager Rogers Hornsby of the Cardinals will be operated upon this morning at St. John's Hospital for the removal of a carbuncle on his thigh and, therefore, will not be with the Cardinals on their brief trip to Chicago and Pittsburgh. Hornsby has been suffering from boils on his legs for over three weeks, but has continued in the game even though he has been hardly able to walk the past week and has undergone excruciating pain.
In the second game Sunday Hornsby was in such bad condition that he could not field his position. It was extremely difficult for him to bend over for a ground ball, with the result that he made three errors. However, he remained in the Sunday game, figuring he could be of help to his club at the plate, and then came back yesterday to start the final game with the Cubs, but was forced to retire in the sixth, a fever having developed to further weaken him.
Absence from Game Uncertain
Just how many games Hornsby will miss is a question which will be solved only by time. Dr. Robert F. Hyland, the Cardinal club physician, states that Hornsby may not be able to play for a week or ten days. Hornsby is hoping that he will be in playable condition for the Cincinnati series, which opens at Sportsmans Park next Sunday. Rog had tried to postpone the operation until after the Cincinnati series, but was prevailed upon to change his mind.
In Hornsby's absence Billy Killefer will manage the Cardinal club. The Cards are fortunate in having in Killefer a man who managed the Chicago Cubs for half a decade. Bill has been associated with Hornsby since the start of the training season and is thoroughly acquainted with Hornsby's style of play and with the innermost details of the Cardinal club. Hornsby said last night that he would keep in close touch with Killefer by long distance telephone each night.
"Certainly there is great consolation in my good fortune to have such an able man as Killefer at hand to place at the head of the club," Hornsby said last night. "Of course, I hate to miss even an inning at this time. We are in a hot race and every inning counts, but I know that Killefer will be of great service as manager. I did not want to miss this trip, but I feel certain that I will be back in the game at least in time to play in the Cincinnati series."
Infielders Will Alternate
Hornsby explained that during his absence George Toporcer and Jake Flowers will alternate at second base. Toporcer, a left-hand batter, will be employed against right-hand pitchers, and Flowers, a right-hand batter, will be in the game against left-hand pitching, according to Hornsby, who points out that he has planned this move in order to get the best batting punch possible in the lineup.
Hornsby says that Jesse Haines is in line to pitch this afternoon's game against the Cubs, and that the pitchers for the four games in Pittsburgh will be named in the rotation they have been taking the mound in the past. This indicates that Flint Rhem is slated for the opening game in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, and that Bill Sherdel will work Thursday, Grover Cleveland Alexander Friday and Victor Keen Saturday.
The Cardinals departed from St. Louis for Chicago late last night and will return here next Sunday morning. They have only one game scheduled in Chicago and four in Pittsburgh.
Hornsby's superwork the past week, despite the torments he has undergone, is proof positive that the greatest heroes aren't in fiction. One week ago tomorrow, Hornsby made three hits against the Pirates. The third hit was a home run with the bases loaded in the seventh inning and defeated the champions, 6 to 2. Last Thursday Hornsby aided in tying the Pirates by hitting a long sacrifice fly in the eighth inning. He previously had singled. Against the Cubs Saturday Hornsby crowned a seventh-inning rally by hitting a home run with two men on base. That punch gave the Cards an 8-to-7 conquest. Hornsby also doubled in that game to drive over another run.
Fielding Under Handicap
Even greater than his batting feats was Hornsby's work in the field the past week, for it was in the field that Hornsby suffered most from his many boils, because of the stooping he had to do, the quick stops and starts he was forced to make and the footwork in general that is exacted from an infielder.
Hornsby rose to such great heights, even in his suffering, that he handled a total of 46 out of 49 chances in the seven games played at home by the Cards since last Tuesday. Of the 46 chances, 33 were assists and 13 putouts. This brilliant fielding means that Hornsby averaged almost seven clean chances per game. This is handling chances in record-breaking style, for the major league record for a second baseman over a season's play is 988 chances, held by Nap Lajoie.
The only errors Hornsby made in the week at home occurred in the second game Sunday, when he fumbled one ground ball in the first inning and two more in the sixth. To prove how fickle is the baseball fan and how quickly the fan turns even against a great hero, Hornsby was subjected to a severe razzing in Sunday's sixth inning and was sarcastically cheered in the last three innings whenever he accepted a chance cleanly.
Cardinals Away 5 Days
The Cardinals will be away from home for five days. They play a single game in Chicago this afternoon, then move on to Pittsburgh, where they engage the champions in a four-game series, starting tomorrow. At the close of the Pirate series Saturday, the Cards return to St. Louis next Sunday to inaugurate a five-game series with Cincinnati. Two of these games will be played as a holiday double-header next Monday afternoon.
In their week's stay at home, the Knot Holers won three games, lost tree and tied one. They split even in the first two games with the Pirates and deadlocked the third, when the game was halted at the end of the ninth inning to permit the Bucs to board an early train home. Against the Cubs, the Cards lost the last two games, after winning the first two.
The Browns, back home today, are booked to play the Tigers this afternoon and tomorrow and to oppose the White Sox Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The Browns then jump to Cleveland for a single game next Sunday, after which they journey to Detroit for two games next Monday and for one game next Tuesday. After that the Browns travel through the eastern end of the A. L. circuit while the Cards are engaging the N. L. Atlantic Seaboarders at Sportsmans Park.
On their brief road trip the Browns lost five out of seven games. They were beaten twice by Detroit and three out of five by Chicago. Tom Zachary won one and lost one on the trip. Milt Gaston was the other winning pitcher. Urban Shocker Vangilder was charged with two losses, Sam Gray Davis and Chester Falk with the other two.
In three trips this season the Browns have won only six games out of thirty-three. On their first short journey they lost six out of seven, and on their first extended trip sixteen out of nineteen. At Sportsmans Park they have won twenty-one while losing fifteen.
Edwards Holds Browns to Four Hits and White Sox Go Over, 7 to 0
Jim John Edwards Holds Browns to Four Hits and White Sox Go Over, 7 to 0
Chicago Hurler Proves So Effective that Only One Man Reaches 2d
Urban Vangilder Is Punished in First and Third Innings and Removed for Lefty Wingard—Ernie Nevers Pitches Eighth and Is Easy.
Special Dispatch to the Globe-Democrat.
CHICAGO, ILL., June 28.—Jim John Edwards, the left-handed Mississippian, breaks out only occasionally, but the occasions mean something. He broke out today with about as slick a brand of hurling as any modern southpaw ever dispensed and behind him the White Sox fielded and hit their way to a 7-to-0 triumph in the rubber of the five-game set with the St. Louis Browns.
Edwards' sweeping gestures that marked the start of a dizzy curve or a wicked fast one, evidently blinded the Brownies and they touched him up only to the extent of four hits. These were so widely scattered and his defense was so steady that the visitors sent only one man exploring as far as second base. That was humiliating enough but Jim John further aggravated them by twice retiring the side on strikes. He did it to Harry Rice, Vangilder and Cedric Durst in the third and to George Sisler, Bing Miller and Rice in the seventh. Jim played no favorites.
Vangilder Starts Badly
Vangilder, the St. Louis hurler at the start, didn't have to do much work before being excused from the assignment. He poked one batter in the ribs in the first inning and three others poked him with hits for a total of three runs. They poked him some more for two tallies in the third, whereupon he departed willingly in favor of "Lefty" Wingard. This fellow was good, but eventually it was necessary to sidetrack him for a pinch hitter, and in the eighth Nevers, the former Stanford grid star, appeared, so the Sox celebrated with a couple additional runs.
The only fellow who reached second base on Edwards was Red McManus, who made two of the Browns' four safeties. One of his two was a double at the start of the second inning and he was nailed when he foolishly tried to go to third on Miller's tap to Moe Hunnefield. The latter tagged the runner with ease and the next happening was a double play.
The Hose also had accomplished a twin killing in the first frame, when Oscar Melillo singled, and they put over another of the same kind after Rice's hit in the fifth.
As usual, Young Hunnefield had a hand in putting the Sox on easy street in the first inning. With one out, he slashed a single through Melillo. Eddie Collins went to first when hit by a pitched ball. Earl Sheely drove a single back past Vangilder, and Hunnefield nicked the plate. Bibb Falk's infield out let Collins and Sheely move to third and second, respectively, and Johnny Barrett shoved them the rest of the distance with a single into left.
Wingard Goes In
At the start of the third Vangilder raised the distress signal by walking Collins and Sheely. Falk thumped a single to right, scoring Collins, and on Rice's fumble of the hit Sheely went to third and Falk to second. Vangilder beat it at this juncture to let Wingard straighten up the mess. A long fly by Barrett let Sheely score, but from then until the end of the seventh the lean left-hander had the Sox hanging out on the line.
When the well-set-up Nevers showed on the slab in the eighth, Johnny Mostil Harris (who had taken Falk's place), Barrett and Willie Kamm exploded hits. Harris tallied on Kamm's blow. Then Ray Schalk sacrificed and Edwards' squeeze bunt Barrett hustled home.
NOTES
During their long at-home stay, during which every team in the league was here, Detroit excepted, the White Sox copped fifteen and lost eight. The Yanks and Browns each won two, the others one apiece.
Umpire Bill Owens heard about Clarence Rowland's wrist watch, so went out and purchased a fancy silver cigarette case. On one side of the case is engraved in large letters, "Brick." Owens never has told how he happened to come into possession of that nickname.
Only about 5000 cash customers were present, but there were 5000 school kid guests and they made enough noise for a crowd of 50,000.
Sheely's long reach and his skill with one hand save the infielders plenty of errors. He prevented one for Hunnefield in the eighth, when he reached out and pulled in a wide throw.
A peculiar feature of Edwards' strike-out of Sisler, Miller and Rice in the seventh was that the third strike in each case was permitted to sail past unmolested. That proved that Jim John had them completely fooled by his offerings.
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