Today, we’re at American Giants Park in Chicago for Game 1 of the first second round series for our (simulated) 1936 playoffs. Cubans’ manager Martin Dihigo is putting up the Neck Stanley as his game 1 starter, while Bingo DeMoss is countering with Willie Cornelius.
After a 1-2-3 first on both sides, the Cubans got off and running in the top of the second. Jabbo Andrews hit a sharp single to right. After Francisco Correa walked, Anastasio Santaella singled in the first run, as Correa came all the way around to third. Santaella took off for second on the first pitch to Frank Duncan and Joe Greene threw the ball into center field for a one-base error, scoring Correa with the Cubans’ second run. Frank Duncan then lofted a sacrifice fly to deep right to score Santaella with the Cubans’ third run of the inning.
The American Giants mounted a mild threat in the bottom of the fourth on back-to-back base hits by Jack Marshall and Joe Greene, but Neck Stanley whiffed Wilson Redus for the third out.
The Cubans added one more in the top of the fifth. Frank Duncan led off with a walk. Pitcher Neck Stanley reached on a one base error – catcher Joe Greene’s second error of the game. Lazaro Salazar singled to left to load the bases. Dave Thomas scored the Cubans’ fourth run on a sacrifice fly to left-center.
The Cubans broke the game wide open in the top of the eighth. Manager Martin Dihigo opened things with a booming double off the right-center field wall. After Jabbo Andrews grounded out, Francisco Correa scored Dihigo with a triple in the gap. Anastasio Santaella scored the Cubans’ second run of the inning with a base hit to right.
At that point, Bingo DeMoss had seen enough. He made a double switch, bringing in Walter Thomas to replace Cornelius and sending in Bing Long at third for John Prince. Frank Duncan greeted Thomas with a base hit up the middle, advancing Santaella to second. Neck Stanley executed a perfect sacrifice bunt, advancing the runners to second and third. Lazaro Salazar scored the third run of the inning with a solid base hit and Dave Thomas followed him with another base hit, scoring the Cubans’ fourth run of the inning and eighth of the game. Bingo DeMoss decided he’d seen enough of Thomas and brought in Ossie Brown to try to shut down the inning. Clyde Spearman stroked a solid hit to score the Cubans’ fifth run of the inning. Martin Dihigo walked, but Brown finally shut things down, striking out Jabbo Andrews.
The American Giants finally got on the board in the bottom of the eighth. Subby Byas stroked a one-out base hit to left. Emmett Wilson drew a walk. On the next pitch, Neck Stanley uncorked a wild pitch, advancing Byas and Wilson to second and third. Radcliff then lofted a sacrifice fly to make the score 9-1.
By the top of the ninth, it was long since clear that American Giants’ manager Bingo DeMoss had thrown in the towel on Game 1. Francisco Correa led off the Cubans’ ninth with a solid single up the middle. Anastasio Santaella followed with a base hit to left, advancing Correa to second. Brown then loaded the bases, walking Frank Duncan on four pitches. Worse yet, he promptly brought in the Cubans’ tenth run by walking opposing pitcher Neck Stanley on only five pitches. After Lazaro Salazar forced Santaella at home on a bouncing ball to short, Dave Thomas brought in the Cubans’ eleventh and twelfth runs with a sharp single to right. The final run of the inning scored when the American Giants went for the inning-ending double play on Clyde Spearman’s bouncing ball to third and missed, getting Spearman at first but missing Neck Stanley at the plate. Brown then got himself in deeper trouble, walking both Martin Dihigo and Jabbo Andrews, but ultimately escaped the inning on a line drive by Francisco Correa speared by second baseman Wilbert Lebeaux.
Dihigo opted to allow Neck Stanley to go for the complete game, returning him to the mound in the bottom of the ninth. Wilson Redus got a one-out base hit to right. Stanley – obviously tiring – walked Wilbert Lebeaux to put the run in scoring position. Dihigo made a double switch, bringing in Cocaina Garcia to try to finish things off, and putting Silvio Garcia at second. Herman Dunlap greeted Cocaina with a single to left, scoring Redus with the American Giants’ second run of the game. Pinch hitter John Hawkins loaded the bases with a base hit, but Garcia then got Subby Byas on a swinging third strike and Emmett Wilson on a line drive to left fielder Jabbo Andrews.
So game 1 was a blowout for Martin Dihigo’s New York Cubans, as they triumphed 13-2.
Image courtesy of Pixabay by Manne1409 (no changes)
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