Today we’re back at Municipal Stadium for Game 5 of our latest series, the Pittsburgh Crawfords versus the New York Black Yankees. With the series tied at two games apiece, Pittsburgh manager Oscar Charleston is sending his ace Satchel Paige to the mound. New York skipper Bob Clarke is countering with Roosevelt Davis.
After both sides were retired in order in the first, the Crawfords drew first blood in the top of the second. Josh Gibson led off the inning with a walk. Johnny Washington singled Gibson – speedy for a catcher – all the way around the third, and Chester Williams then scored the first run of the game with a base hit up the middle. Davis then loaded the bases with a walk to Judy Johnson, and Dickie Seay scored the Crawfords’ second run with a sacrifice fly to right.
The Crawfords manufactured a third run in the top of the fourth, taking advantage of a questionable fielding play by the Black Yankees. Judy Johnson led off with a single to right. Two pitches later, Johnson swiped second. Dickie Seay followed with a ground ball to second base. As Walter “Rev” Cannady failed to hold Johnson to his base before throwing out Seay, Judy was able to advance to third on the out. Playing aggressively, manager Oscar Charleston send Judy home with pitcher Satchel Paige at the plate. Paige hit a sharp ground ball which first baseman George Giles managed to snag, but he had no chance to get Johnson at the plate and settled for the out at first.
With Satchel working on a masterpiece against the Black Yankees, the Crawfords scored again in the sixth. Judy Johnson once again got things started, lacing a single to right. Dickie Seay followed with a two strike base hit up the middle, with Johnson stopping at second. Paige then laid down a perfect bunt down the first baseline, with Seay and Johnson moving to second and third on the play. Davis worked Cool Papa Bell all the way to a full count, but then Cool delivered, stroking a single to right, scoring both Johnson and Seay.
As the Black Yankees’ eighth dawned, Satchel Paige was working on a one-hitter.
Nevertheless, Jim Williams led off the inning with a double off the right field wall. Satchel got Marvin Barker on a roundhouse curve third strike, but then Satchel made a mistake with pitcher Barney Brown, who had replaced Davis in the seventh, at the plate. Brown made him pay, slamming a triple down the left field line to score Williams with the Black Yankees’ first run. But then Satchel settled down, striking out Clarence “Spoony” Palm on three pitches and getting George Giles to fly out to center.
Charleston sent Satchel out again in the bottom of the ninth to try to wrap up his gorgeous performance, and he didn’t disappoint: Jake Stephens, fly out to right; Fats Jenkins, easy grounder to second, and Rev Cannady, fly out to center. Final score, Crawfords 5, Black Yankees 1.
So five games into our series, the Crawfords have taken a three games to two lead. If they take game 6, they’ll be advance to the championship series.
Image courtesy of Pixabay by cristigrigore94 (no changes).
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