A Landmark Event
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A Beautiful Sight
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It was during the world series of 1946 that I, a lad of thirteen, first began following baseball in a serious way. The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Boston Red Sox in seven games that year. The following spring I listened to the Philadelphia Athletics play the Philadelphia Phillies in an exhibition game at Shibe Park just before the season started and I was hooked. That summer I listened to every game that I could. They only broadcast home games on the radio in those days. However, away games were reconstructed from ticker tapes. I listened to many of those reconstructed games. Sometimes late at night I could get games from cities as far away as Chicago and St. Louis. I was supposed to be sleeping, but I used a pair of bakelite headphones. Occasionally I would fall asleep and my ears were really sore when I woke up.
The next summer I began riding my bicycle on a Sunday afternoon to my cousin T. Glenn Horst's house about 2 miles away from my home. We would listen to double header's on his balcony and go nuts when the A's scored some runs. That year the A's played really good ball the first half of the season. Glenn and I prevailed on his older brother John to take us to Phillie to a ball game. He agreed and on July 15, 1948 we headed to Philadelphia to take in a twi-night doubleheader. The A's were playing the Cleveland Indians who were then in first place, a half game ahead of the Philadelphia A's.
When we got there it was a sell-out crowd. There were long lines waiting to buy tickets. John went around to the front to try and get tickets. Meanwhile, I saw that two lines were merging and I said to Glenn, "If we go stand near where they are merging we will soon get caught up in the line and we'll get in. Meanwhile, John had gotten three tickets and was yelling at us from upstairs that he had tickets. We couldn't hear him because of the noise. We got in and we each bought a ticket. I think John was able to sell two of his to someone at the gate.
When we got upstairs and walked out to our seats, I saw the field, and I thought it was the most beautiful sight that I had ever seen. I had never been so excited about anything. I was finally going to get to see my baseball heroes play in person. In the opening game, Dick Fowler started for the A's and Bob Feller for the Indians. We knew that if the A's won the doubleheader, they would be in first place. Well, they lost the first game. We consoled ourselves with the knowledge that if they won the second game, they would still only be one-half game behind the Indians.
So it was that in the second game, the A's started their second-best pitcher, Phil Marchildon. In turn, the Indians started their second-best, Bob Lemon. For you younger fans, Bob Feller was probably the best pitcher of all time, and Bob Lemon had become a great pitcher. To have seen both of them pitch on one night was really special. Now the Indians had just signed Satchel Paige to a contract as a relief pitcher. Paige had been a star for many years in the Negro leagues. As you probably know, African Americans did not play in the major leagues until 1947 when Jackie Robinson was signed by the Brookly Dodgers. Paige was 42 years old when he was signed by the Cleveland Indians.
Paige had appeared in one game before that evening. In the sixth inning he was brought in in relief of Lemon with the bases loaded. The Indians were ahead 5 to 3. He got Eddie Joost to fly out to end the inning, but gave up two runs the next inning when Ferris Fain doubled and Hank Majeski hit a home run. Now the score was tied and Paige buckled down and gave up only one more hit the rest of the game, getting five of the next six outs on fly balls. Paige was famous for a blooper pitch, sometimes called an "eephus" pitch. It was thrown with a high arc. Paige completely fooled the batters with that pitch. We saw him throw it several times.
Larry Doby and Ken Keltner hit home runs in the 9th inning to win the game, giving Satchel Paige his first major league victory. I remember that Larry Doby's home run cleared the roof in left field, and landed on the street outside the stadium. The final score was 8 to 5, and the A's lost the double-header. That was a real disappointment to Glenn and me. Yet, to have seen Bob Feller, Bob Lemon, and Satchel Paige pitch on the same night, and to see Paige get his first major league victory, was an experience never to be forgotten. The Indians won the pennant that year and the A's ended up in fifth place. I wish that I still had a copy of that program, but somewhere along the line it disappeared. I did buy a team photo of the A's that night and I still have it in my possession.
- The Old Professor
Copyright © Jay D Weaver - March 4, 2011
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