SULTAN OF SWAT
Ruth Caps Yanks Comeback With Game-Winning Blast
NEW YORK, Aug. 25 (AP) -- Babe Ruth culminated a perfect day at the plate with a
two-out solo home run into the right-center field bleachers in the bottom of the
10th inning as the New York Yankees overcame a 4-0 deficit to defeat the
Cleveland Indians 5-4 on a damp afternoon at Yankee Stadium.
Ruth finished the game 4-4 plus a walk. It's been a disappointing season
for the Yankees as a team--the win finally vaulted the club into sole possession
of fourth place in the American League--but on an individual level, the New York
outfielder is having a stellar year. Ruth has a legitimate shot at the
batting Triple Crown; he leads the AL in home runs (39) and batting average
(.406) and is second in runs batted in (115), trailing Washington's Goose Goslin
by merely two.
Cleveland starter George Uhle held the Yankees at bay for six innings while the
Indians pecked away at Waite Hoyt. With one out in the fourth, Tris
Speaker doubled and Joe Sewell followed with a triple into the right field
corner to put the Tribe on top, 1-0. Glenn Myatt followed with a
run-scoring ground out to short.
The Indians doubled their two-run lead in the sixth. Charlie Jamieson led
off with a double and moved to third on Homer Summa's ground out to
second. Speaker was walked intentionally to set up a potential
double play, but Sewell foiled the strategy by rapping a ground ball past third
baseman Joe Dugan for a two-run double, making it 4-0.
The second rain delay of the game may have changed everything. The contest
had already been delayed for an hour and 24 minutes in the top of the
sixth--immediately after the free pass to Speaker. Uhle had cruised
through six shutout innings and retired Wally Schang on a pop up to start the
seventh. The rains came again, delaying the game for 34 minutes and when
the contest resumed, Uhle seemed like a different pitcher. Aaron Ward
lined a single off the glove of a diving Chick Fewster at second and Everett
Scott followed with a triple to the gap in right-center field, breaking the
shutout. Bullet Joe Bush pinch hit for Hoyt and chased Summa to within 20
feet of the wall in right-center field. The sacrifice fly plated Scott and
cut the Cleveland lead to 4-2. Whitey Witt grounded sharply to Sewell to
end the inning.
Al Mamaux replaced Hoyt on the mound and retired the Indians in order in the top
of the eighth. With Uhle still in the game in the bottom half of the
frame, Dugan drove Speaker to the center field fence for the first out.
When Ruth singled to center, Cleveland manager Speaker had seen enough, and
called on Bud Messenger to take Uhle's place. It was a fateful
decision. Bob Muesel buried Messenger's very first pitch deep into the
left field grand stand for his 10th home run of the year. It just happened
to be of the game-tying variety.
Messenger avoided further damage in the eighth and both teams went down in order
in the ninth. Mamaux pitched around a one-out tenth inning walk to
Jamieson, despite a steal of second mixed in. In the bottom of the frame,
Messenger retired Witt and Dugan and then faced Ruth. The Yankees right
fielder entered the plate appearance 3-3 plus a walk. Ruth fouled off the
first two pitches, took a ball, fouled off another pitch, then worked the count
full on consecutive balls. After one more foul, Messenger tried to slip a
fastball past the Babe. Ruth crushed it, far into the bleachers, winning
the game for the Yankees in the process.
8/25/1924, Cle24-NYA24, Yankee Stadium 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E LOB DP 1924 Indians 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 4 9 0 5 2 1924 Yankees 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 1 5 11 0 5 1 Indians AB R H BI AVG Yankees AB R H BI AVG Jamieson lf 4 1 2 0 .340 Witt cf 5 0 1 0 .307 Summa rf 5 0 0 0 .307 Dugan 3b 5 0 1 0 .300 Speaker cf 4 1 1 0 .330 Ruth rf 4 2 4 1 .406 Sewell J. ss 4 2 2 2 .331 Meusel lf 4 1 1 2 .319 Myatt c 4 0 1 1 .342 Pipp 1b 4 0 0 0 .272 Messenger p 0 0 0 0 .167 Schang c 4 0 0 0 .290 Burns 1b 4 0 1 1 .292 Ward 2b 4 1 1 0 .277 Fewster 2b 3 0 1 0 .233 Scott ss 4 1 2 1 .269 Stephenson 2b 1 0 0 0 .333 Hoyt p 2 0 1 0 .188 Lutzke 3b 3 0 0 0 .223 Bush ph 0 0 0 1 .367 Gardner 3b 1 0 0 0 .158 Mamaux p 1 0 0 0 .000 Uhle p 3 0 1 0 .329 37 5 11 5 Walters c 1 0 0 0 .158 37 4 9 4 Indians INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Uhle 7.1 9 3 3 1 1 107 76 4.27 Messenger BS 1, L 1-2 2.1 2 2 2 0 1 35 24 7.50 9.2 11 5 5 1 2 142 100 Yankees INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Hoyt 7.0 9 4 4 1 1 100 69 3.89 Mamaux W 2-3 3.0 0 0 0 1 0 27 16 4.50 10.0 9 4 4 2 1 127 85 Cle: Stephenson inserted at 2b in the 8th Gardner inserted at 3b in the 8th Walters inserted at c in the 8th NYA: Bush batted for Hoyt in the 7th 2B-Jamieson(24), Speaker(35), Sewell J.(35), Burns(26). 3B-Jamieson(4), Sewell J.(4), Scott(5). HR-Ruth(39), Meusel(10). RBI-Sewell J. 2(90), Myatt(64), Burns(67), Ruth(115), Meusel 2(83), Scott(49), Bush(16). SB-Jamieson(13). CS-Myatt. K-Uhle, Dugan, Mamaux. BB-Jamieson, Speaker, Ruth. SH-Bush. GWRBI: Ruth Temperature: 66, Field: wet, Sky: threatening, Wind: left to right at 13 MPH, Rain Delays: 84 and 34 minutes. Attendance: 6,313 Game Time: 2:17