Today, we’re at Kansas City’s Muehlebach Field for Game 1 of the simulated semifinal series, the New York Cubans versus the Kansas City Monarchs. For the Cubans, manager Martin Dihigo is sending Neck Stanley to the mound. Kansas City manager Andy Cooper is sending Floyd Kranson to the hill.
Kansas City drew first blood in the bottom of the second as LeRoy Taylor reached on a two base error by New York center fielder Lazaro Salazar. After Curtis Harris lined out to second baseman Francisco Correa, catcher Quincy Trouppe brought the run in with a sharp base hit to right.
The Cubans immediately answered with a three-spot in the top of the third. Right fielder Clyde Spearman led the inning off with a booming home run to dead center fielder. Manager Martin Dihigo then lit up Kranson for a double off the left field wall. Jabbo Andrews followed that with a double in the left-center field gap, scoring Dihigo with New York’s second run. Correa then scored New York’s third run with a single to center that center fielder Eddie Dwight misplayed into a one-base error.
But the Monarchs tied things up in the bottom of the third. Neck Stanley started off wild, walking Eddie Dwight and Newt Allen back-to-back. Pat Patterson erased Allen with a 6-4-3 double play, but Neck Stanley uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Dwight to score. With the bases empty, Willard Brown then tied the game with a home run to right that saw Clyde Spearman nearly pull off a circus glove-over-the-fence catch.
The Cubans retook the lead only a half-inning later, in the top of the fourth. Lazaro Salazar drew a walk to lead things off. Dave Thomas tried to bunt him to second, but the Monarchs went after the lead runner – and didn’t get him. After Clyde Spearman grounded into a 3-6-3 double play with Salazar coming around to third, manager Martin Dihigo gave the Cubans back a two run lead with a long home run to left.
It stayed that way until the Monarchs once again tied things up in the bottom of the sixth. LeRoy Taylor, Curtis Harris and Quincy Trouppe led off with three straight base hits to right, with Trouppe’s single plating Taylor and sending Harris around to third. Trouppe then got into scoring position without assistance, stealing second. Henry Milton scored the Monarchs’ fifth run with a sacrifice fly to mid-level center, as Harris tagged and scored.
In the top of the seventh, Kansas City manager Andy Cooper sent Ed Barnes to the mound to try to hold off the Cubans’ offense. Silvio Garcia greeted him with a clean single to right. Dihigo grounded up the middle, as the Monarchs cut down Garcia but couldn’t complete the double play. After Jabbo Andrews struck out, Barnes walked Francisco Correa on four pitches. Barnes gave up a double to Anastasio Santaella, scoring Dihigo. Catcher Eddie Powell worked Barnes to a full count before looping a single to right, scoring Santaella with New York’s eighth run.
With Neck Stanley tiring for New York, the bullpen was active in the bottom of the seventh. Pat Patterson lined a one-out single up the middle. After Willard Brown hit a lazy fly ball for the second out, LeRoy Taylor brought in Patterson with a triple to the right-center field gap. After Stanley walked Chet Harris, Dihigo made a move, bringing in Chet Brewer to pitch. Kansas City manager Stanley responded by sending Chili Mayweather up to pinch hit, and Mayweather drew a walk. Brewer got two quick strikes on the next hitter Henry Milton, but Milton then looped a Texas Leaguer to left, scoring LeRoy Taylor.
With Kansas City now within one, manager Andy Stanley decided to take no chances, putting himself in to pitch in the top of the eighth. Stanley was sharp, getting New York on eight pitches, 1-2-3.
For a moment, it looked like Chet Brewer was going to have an equally easy eighth as he quickly got two outs. But a few pitches later, Kansas City Pat Patterson hit a no-doubter, a solo home run to right that tied the game.
Both teams had solo base runners in the ninth, but neither team was able to score. So Game 1 went to extra innings.
In the top of the tenth, Stanley took himself out of the game, substituting pitcher Woodrow Wilson (no, not that one – the other one.) Wilson was sharp, setting the Cubans down in order (I always heard Wilson had a nasty slider). With Schoolboy Taylor taking over the pitching for New York, the bottom of the tenth was nearly as uneventful, as Willard Brown scratched out a two-out single, only to be stranded at first on the next pitch.
Kansas City began the top of the twelfth with an entirely new battery, bringing in Ed Elmore to pitch and Double Duty Webster to catch. Jabbo Andrews immediately greeted him with a sharp single to left. Francisco Correa followed with a base hit, and suddenly the Cubans were threatening. Anastasio Santaella forced Correa at second with a ground ball, as Andrews held up at third. New York catcher Eddie Powell scored Andrews with a long double in the gap. With pinch hitter Silvio Garcia at the plate for New York, Elmore was betrayed by his defense, as third baseman Pat Patterson threw an easy ground ball over the first baseman’s head and into the dugout, scoring Santaella and Powell with New York’s tenth and eleventh runs. New York nearly added even more, as Elmore gave Dave Thomas an intentional walk and Francisco Garcia an unintentional walk, loading the bases. Manager Martin Dihigo hit a wicked line drive that looked like it was heading for the right-center gap, but LeRoy Taylor made a great diving catch for the out.
With yet another three-run lead gifted by Kansas City’s defensive lapses, Dihigo sent Rudy Fernandez to the hill to try to seal the win. He did so quickly, getting Eddie Dwight and Newt Allen on weak infield ground balls and Pat Patterson on a pop up gloved in foul territory by Dihigo himself.
So it took twelve innings, but Game 1 is finally in the books, and New York just keeps on surprising, beating Kansas City 11-8.
Image courtesy of Pixabay by royharryman (no changes).