Sim
date: Sept. 22-24,
1947
VS.
VS. Goat Island Edges Monterey
On Final Day; Lights Win Crackerjack Championship
With 6-2 Win At KC;
Monterey Swept By Cincinnati Sept. 24, 1947 KANSAS CITY, KS: With 3 games left in the
nip-and-tuck race for the Crackerjack League regular season championship,
the Monterey Jacks seemed to have the advantage.
They held a 2-game lead over the Goat Island Lights and
were finishing the season at home, while the Lights were on the
road. Only 1 Monterey win would clinch at least a tie. Even
though Goat Island was facing the 7th place Kansas City
Monarchs while Monterey was hosting the contending
Cincinnati Rhinos, the odds were in Monterey's
favor. But the race came down to the last day of the season after
Monterey dropped their first two games against the Rhinos and Goat Island
won their first two games in KC. Playing in the Central time zone,
the Goat Island Lights had the first move in today's
finale. Starter Harry Brecheen turned in 7 2/3
strong innings and earned his 17th victory when the Lights outscored the
Monarchs, 6 to 2. Eddie Erautt pitched a fine game for
KC, giving up only 1 earned run in 7 innings, but was saddled
with his 17th loss of the year. [Boxscore]
MONTEREY,
CA: After winning their final game, the Lights kept the
champaigne on ice while they waited for the result of the Monterey
Jacks - Cincinnati Rhinos game on
the west coast. The Rhinos took control of the game
from the start, pounding Monterey starter Sam Zoldak
for 6 runs and chasing him from the mound after only 1 1/2
innings. Rip Sewell went the distance for the
Rhinos and held the Jacks to only 2 runs. Frankie
Baumholtz was 3 for 5 with 2 doubles and 3 RBI for
Cincinnati, who completed their sweep of the Monterey Jacks with a 7-2
win. Monterey will now face D.C. in the Crackerjack
League Wild Card Playoffs. [Boxscore]
VS. D.C. Knights Clinch
Playoff Slot On Final Day; Finish 3rd With 10-3 Win Over Chicago
Outlaws Sept. 24, 1947 [Boxscore] CHICAGO, IL:
The D.C. Knights needed to beat the Chicago
Outlaws today to avoid a tie for 3rd place, and thanks to
strong pitching from Bob Lemon and 2 homers from
Walker Cooper, they were able to hang on to sole
posession of the final ticket to the Crackerjack League playoffs.
Lemon gave up only 1 earned run in 8 innings to tally his 16th win of the
season. Cooper went 4 for 5 with a double and two home runs, scoring
4 times and driving in 3. Cooper finished the season in fine
form, with 9 hits and 4 home runs in D.C.'s final 2
games. The Cincinnati Rhinos have been hot at the end of the season
with 4 straight wins including a 3-game sweep of Monterey, but they ran
out of time to climb back into 3rd place,
VS. California Clinches 1st Place With 9-3
Win Sept. 23, 1947 [Boxscore] ALTOONA,
IA: Even though the Quasqueton Quillback Carpsuckers were
nipping at their heels, the California Tornados were in
control of their fate if they could just keep winning. And even
though they had to finish the season in the home stadium of the tough
Altoona Warriors, the Tornados were able to get the job
done. With a 2 game lead and 2 games left to play, California
clinched the Peanut League regular season championship today with a 9-3
victory over Altoona. Phil Rizzuto knocked in 3
runs and Fred Hutchinson contributed a complete game win. The
victory rendered the Carps' 13-inning win irrelevant, and Quasky will
now face Altoona in the Peanut League Wild Card Playoffs.
Sain, Galan Named Top Players For
August

Sain Galan RALEIGH, NC: The VBG
Commissioner's office has announced the recipients of Player of
the Month Awards for August.
Johnny Sain
of the Goat Island Lights was named Pitcher of
the Month for his VBG-leading 7 victories in the month and his
1.95 ERA, which ranked 4th in the VBG as a whole and 3rd in the
Crackerjack League. Sain topped both leagues with 43 strikeouts, 64
2/3 innings, and fewest runners per 9 innings (9.0). He pitched 4
complete games in 8 starts, best in the Crackerjack Leauge, and all 8 of
his starts in August were classified quality starts. [Game Log]
Augie
Galan of the California Tornados was named
Position Player of the Month. Galan's .552 on-base
percentage was the best in the VBG, and his .391 batting average topped
the Peanut League. Galan also ranked 8th in his league with a .565
slugging average. He reached base safely in all but 1 game during
the month. [Game Log]
Here's how the races shape up with
only 3 days left in the season:
Injury-Ravaged
Carpsuckers Fall To Mudcats In 14th Inning; Tornados Beat Bombers In
Bottom Of 9th; California Now Leads Quasqueton By 2
Games Sept. 21, 1947 Two days ago the Quasqueton
Carpsuckers had high hopes of squeezing past the
California Tornados at the finish line to claim the Peanut
championship. Only 1 game behind with 6 games left, the Carps went
into the home stretch with two assets: an apparently easier
schedule, and the full-time services of slugging veterans Charlie
Keller and Arky Vaughan, rested and ready after
spending most of the season on the bench dealing with various
ailments. But the wheels of the Quasky bandwagon fell off early,
with an 8-2 loss in the first game of their series against the
Spoon River Mudcats. The Mudcats, who will finish the
season with over 90 losses, looked like champions against the Carps as
Denny Galehouse went the distance and gave up only 1
earned run. The worst news of the day wasn't the loss,
however. The 4th inning may end up being remembered as the moment
that the Carps' championship hopes were crushed. With 1 out and the
Carps trailing by 1 run, Keller reached first base on a
throwing error and kept going, sliding into 2nd to beat the throw by a
whisker. But Keller was injured on the play and had to leave the
game. Preliminary reports are that he is most likely done for the
year, although it is possible he might see action if the Carps make it to
the World Series. Dell Ennis, the Carps regular
left fielder for most of the season, came in to pinch run for Keller and
attempted to score when Aaron Robinson singled into right
field. Ennis bowled over catcher Bob Swift in a
collision at the plate but Swift hung on to the ball to nail Ennis.
Both Ennis and Swift were hurt and had to leave the game, and Ennis will
be lost to the Carps for about 2 weeks. Meanwhile the Tornados
scored 2 runs in the bottom of the 8th to beat the Bombers, 4-2, and
take a 2-game lead. Quasky pulled back to only 1 game out when they
won yesterday's game while California lost to Oak Ridge, but Quasqueton's
injury nightmares continued when they lost another key
player, Harry Walker, who injured his leg running
out an RBI grounder in the 1st inning. The
Tornados reclaimed a 2-game lead today when they scored 2 runs in the
bottom of the 9th to win, 5 to 4. Unlike the Tornados, the
Carpsuckers weren't able to pull off any late-inning
magic today. While Quasky did score a go-ahead run in the top
of the 14th inning, the Mudcats scored twice in the bottom of the 14th to
win the game. Quasqueton will finish the season against 4th place
St. Petersburg, while California will wind up their season against the
Altoona Warriors who have won 93 games and are on a 10-game winning
streak.
 Monterey Salvages 1 Win In Crucial Home
Stand; Jacks Defeat Lights, 11-3, To Retake CJ
Lead Sept. 21, 1947 After taking the first two
games in their series against the War Eagles, the Monterey
Jacks had a chance to clinch at least a tie for 1st place in the
Crackerjack League with the Goat Island Lights, who had
lost their first two games against Texas in Cape Porpoise. But the
Lights won their final game against the Aggies by the score of 9 to 2
thanks to a complete game victory by Virgil Trucks, while the Jacks were shut out by the War Eagles, 5 to
0. Monterey's lead over Goat Island has
increased to 2 games with only 3 left to play, but the Jacks have to
finish the season against the tough Rhinos while the Lights will be
playing the 7th-place Monarchs.
 Rhinos Beat Outlaws, Knights Fall To
Monarchs; Cincinnati Trails D.C. By Only 1 Game Sept.
21, 1947 The Cincinnati Rhinos beat Chicago today
by the score of 9 to 2 to capture the rubber game of the Rhino's last
scheduled homestand. Cincy pulled back to within 1 game of the 3rd place
D.C. Knights, who lost 2 of 3 to the Monarchs in D.C. The Knights
will finish the season with 3 games in Chicago, while the Rhinos will
travel to Monterey to face the league-leading Jacks.
In yesterday's game, hot-hitting Cincy
catcher Clyde Kluttz was injured and could be done
for the year.
With only 6 days left in the season, we have
3 exciting races for playoff slots, including 2 tight races for
league championships:
vs. Carps
Complete Sweep Of Tornados; With 5-1 Win, Quasky Now Trails By Only 1
Game Sept. 18, 1947
QUASQUETON, IA: The
last time the California Tornados visited northeast Iowa,
they swept the Quasqueton Quillback Carpsuckers in the
Carps' home park. This time the result was different, with the
Carpsuckers defending their home turf with a 3-game sweep of their
own. The Tornados, who had won 8 of their last 9 contests against
Quasky, came into Iowa with a 4-game lead and only 9 games left to play,
but now must defend a slim 1-game lead in the final 6 games. In
Tuesday's series opener, the Quillbacks shut out the Tornados and scored 8
runs to beat 20-game winner Dutch Leonard. [Boxscore]
Yesterday George McQuinn broke a 3-3 tie in the
bottom of the 10th inning with a dramatic walk-off grand slam home
run. With 1 out and 2 runners on, the Tornados had played
Charlie Keller the ultimate compliment by intentionally
walking him when there was a man on 1st base. That set up McQuinn's
dramatic blast that sealed the 7-3 win. [Boxscore] In the final game
of the series today, 20-game winners Warren Spahn and
Ewell Blackwell locked horns. Spahn came out on
top, pitching a complete game victory for Quasqueton in which he gave
up only 1 earned run. Blackwell lasted 7 innings and surrendured 5
runs, 2 of which were unearned. The final score was 5 to 2. [Boxscore]
vs.  Monterey Salvages 1 Win In Crucial Home
Stand; Jacks Defeat Lights, 11-3, To Retake CJ
Lead Sept. 18, 1947 [Boxscore] MONTEREY, CA: Before today's game
the relentless Goat Island Lights had won 5 out of their
last 6 games while the stumbling Monterey Jacks had lost
5 in a row, allowing Goat Island to move into a 1st place tie with the
Jacks in the Crackerjack League. On Tuesday Goat Island came into
Monterey for a crucial 3-game series trailing the Jacks by 2
games, and won the first game, 6 to 4, with starter Harry
Brecheen
winning his 16th game. [Boxscore] Yesterday the
Lights beat the home team again to grab a share of 1st place, taking
advantage of 5 Monterey errors to score 4 unearned runs on their way to a
6-2 victory. [Boxscore] Facing the
possibility of being swept at home, the Jacks rallied today, pounding out
16 hits and beating Goat Island 11 to 3 to retake the Crackerjack lead by
1 game. Johnny Mize was 3 for 5 with 2 home runs
and 5 RBI. [Boxscore]
vs.  CJ
Race For 3rd Still Close; Knights Pick Up 1/2 Game, Lead Rhinos By
2 Sept. 18,
1947
ARLINGTON, TX: The Cincinnati
Rhinos came into today's game against the Kansas City
Monarchs with a chance to move into a tie with the D.C.
Knights for 3rd place. But that would have required
two things that didn't happen: a Cincinnati win and a D.C.
loss. The Knights beat the Texas Aggies
today by the score of 5 to 3 with starter Mickey
Haefner
going 8 1/3 innings to pick up his 12th win of
the season. [Boxscore] Meanwhile the
Rhinos suffered a 4-1 loss at the hands of the Monarchs. [Boxscore] D.C.'s
win coupled with Cincy's loss allowed the Knights to increase their lead
for the 3rd place playoff berth to 2 games.
Peanuts End Up On Top Of Crackeracks,
11-8;
31 Hits In Wild MSC Contest;
Gordon Grand Slam In 8th Is
Game-Winner
July 6, 1947

Gordon [Boxscore] CAPE
PORPOISE, ME: Joe Gordon had only 1 hit in 5
trips to the plate in today’s Midsummer Classic game, but he made that hit
count. Gordon’s
8th-inning grand slam put the Peanut League ahead for good, as
they hung on to win an 11-8 victory on this unusually hot day in
Maine. The temperature had reached 98 degrees
and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky when Walt Masterson
took the mound to start the game for the Crackerjack League. Although there was only a light
breeze blowing out to right field, the ball carried very well in the hot
and humid air, making it a great day for the batters on both teams, who
combined for 31 hits including 3 doubles, 3 home runs and a
triple.
The Peanuts had a promising
beginning in the first frame with singles by Joe Dimaggio
and Ted Williams that brought Ralph
Kiner
to the
plate with runners on 1st and 2nd and only one
out. But Kiner hit into a forceout and Masterson struck out Bob
Elliott
to end the threat. The Crackerjacks got on the board
in the bottom of the 1st inning. Lucky
Lohrke led off the inning by
hitting a line drive past the third baseman. Left fielder Kiner dove for the
ball in an attempt to knock it down but couldn’t quite get his glove on
it, and Lohrke ended up with a stand-up triple when the ball rolled into
the corner. One out later, Lohrke scored on Bobby Thomson’s
fly out. In the top of the
2nd inning
Aaron Robinson led things off for the Peanut League by
drawing a walk. After the first out, Luke Appling
singled to put
runners on 1st and 2nd. Although Peanut
starter Warren Spahn
fanned for the 2nd out, Stan Musial kept things alive by
working Masterson for a base on balls that loaded the bases. Joe Dimaggio then hit a ground
single into left field that scored Robinson from 3rd base. Appling
was also safe at home, barely beating the throw from left fielder
Enos Slaughter
, and the
Peanuts took a 2-1 lead.
Masterson continued to have problems finding the strike zone with
his fastball, and gave up the third walk of the inning to Ted Williams,
loading the bases for cleanup hitter Ralph Kiner. But after a conference on the
mound Masterson got his fastball under control and Kiner struck out
looking to end the inning.
The Crackerjacks quickly regained the lead in the bottom of the
2nd. Leadoff hitter Hank
Majeski walked and scored when Walker Cooper
hit the first
pitch into the left field stands to put the Crackerjack League ahead,
3-2. That’s where the
score remained until the bottom of the 5th inning. Because the Peanut squad
had only 3 pitchers available in the bullpen, the Peanut manager had
left Spahn in the game with hopes that he could pitch 5 good innings
before the Peanuts had to go to the pen. But perhaps as a result of the
extreme heat, Spahn seemed to lose his effectiveness in the 5th
inning. He walked the
leadoff hitter, Johnny Berardino, on four straight
pitches and then gave up a line drive single to Lou
Boudreau
that sent Berardino to third. That brought up righthander
Lucky Lohrke, who had tripled off of Spahn in the first and hit a long fly
to right field in the third inning, with two on and no outs. The Peanut manager thought long and hard
about taking Spahn out of the game and certainly would have done so if not
for the shortage of pitcher in the Peanut pen, but after a long conference
on the mound Spahn was given one more chance to get out of trouble. Lohrke hit a
grounder to the right side of the infield that was fielded by Joe
Gordon
. Gordon was able to flip the ball
to Appling to start a slick double play. Although the runner on third had scored
and the Crackerjacks now trailed 4 to
2, the twin killing gave Spahn a little breathing room and kept the
Peanut League in the game.
But Spahn went right back into the fire by giving up a single
to the next batter, Hoot Evers, which brought up
righthanded slugger Bobby Thomson
. The Peanuts stuck
with the struggling Spahn, and he managed to get the final out when
Thomson forced Evers at 2nd.
While Spahn was trying to make
it through 5 innings, Harry Gumbert
had taken over for the Crackerjack team in the 3rd inning and
provided 2 scoreless innings in relief, baffling Peanut hitters with his
curveball and what he calls his “nothing-ball changeup.” Sam
Zoldak
relieved Gumbert to start the 5th inning and contributed
another two shutout innings.
Fred Hutchinson relieved Spahn to start the bottom of the
6th inning for the Peanut League with the score still 4 to 2. In Hutchinson, the Crackerjack batters were
facing an entirely different type of pitcher from Spahn. Whereas Spahn’s best pitch is his
powerful fastball, Hutchinson is purely a finesse pitcher,
throwing nothing but sliders and changeups. He relies on control and a
deceptively quick motion rather than speed. His California teammate and fellow All-Star, catcher
Hal Wagner
, has been quoted as saying Hutchinson “has the best control and
change of pace I ever caught.”
The Crackerjack batters didn’t seem to
be fooled by his offspeed stuff, though. Johnny Hopp
singed with one out and Yogi Berra
hit a drive
down the right field line for a double. With runners on 2nd and
3rd and
only 1 out, Jackie Robinson hit a low screamer up the
middle that hit the pitchers mound, bounced over Hutchinson’s head, and
found its way into center field between the converging gloves of Appling and
Gordon. Both runners scored
and the score was 6 to 2.
Joe Hatten took over the Crackerjack
pitching duties to start the 7th inning. Tommy Holmes swung at Hatten’s
overhand curve and hit a soft fly into left for the first out. But
Bama Rowell hit a line drive up the middle for a single and
Hal Wagner walked. Hatten retired Gordon for the second out but gave
up another walk to Luke Appling on four pitches to load the bases.
George McQuinn hit a double to deep left field that
cleared the bases and suddenly the Peanut League was trailing by only 1
run with the tying run on 2nd base. Hutchinson hit a solid shot into
right field for a single, driving in McQuinn to tie the game, 6 to
6. Wally Westlake flied out to end the
inning. The Crackerjacks threatened to pull ahead again in the
bottom of the 7th when they loaded the bases with only 1 out.
Johnny Hopp hit a sharp grounder toward the hole between
1st and 2nd, but Joe Gordon managed to knock it down and
make a perfect throw to catcher Hal Wagner to start the
4-2-3 double play that ended the inning.
Hatten continued to have a
rough time in the top of the 8th inning. He walked the leadoff man,
Barney McCoskey, and then gave up a single to
Tommy Holmes. Playing for 1 run to take the lead,
Bama Rowell sacrificed the runners to 2nd and
3rd. Wagner battled Hatten for the second walk of the inning
and the bases were loaded. Joe Gordon, righthanded
slugger, came to the plate to face the lefty Hatten. Gordon is
a feared home run hitter, but he also prone to grounding into
double plays. Although there was some debate in the Crackerjack
dugout about relieving the struggling Hatten in this situation, the
Crackerjacks had only 1 available pitcher remaining in the bullpen.
Considering the game could remain tied and go into extra innings, the
Crackerjacks gambled that Hatten could get out of the inning without much
damage. The gamble didn't pay off, though, because Gordon blasted
the ball deep into the left field stands for a grand slam that put the
Peanut League ahead, 10 to 6. Hatten quickly retired the next two
batters to end the inning, but the damage was done.
The
Crackerjacks had a chance to regain lost ground in the bottom of the 8th,
loading the bases with 2 outs, but Hutchinson induced Hoot
Evers to hit a ground out to shortstop to end the threat.
The Peanut League scored again in the top of the 9th with a solo homer by
Willard Marshall, and the score was 11-6. The
Crackerjack League kept fighting in the bottom of the 9th against
Ralph Branca. Branca opened the inning by fanning
Bobby Thomson on 3 straight pitches, but a rally was
started with back to back singles by Pee Wee Reese and
Hopp. Yogi Berra struck out for the 2nd out, but
Jackie Robinson singled up the middle to drive in Reese and Johnny
Berardino hit another single to score Hopp, and the
Crackerjacks had pulled to within 3 runs. Spec Shea, a weak-hitting
pitcher, was able to foul off 3 pitches to earn a walk, loading the
bases. Lucky Lohrke came to the plate representing the winning run,
but Branca was able to retire Lohrke on an infield grounder to let the
Peanut League hang on to their 11-8 victory. After the game
Joe Gordon was honored with the Most Valuable
Player award in recognition of his game-winning grand slam and
his two key double plays.
About the VBG
Welcome to the Vintage
Baseball Guild. This centralized league is simulated on
Diamond Mind Baseball (v9)
and began with the 1927 season.
Commissioner: Darrell Hanson
Commissioner Emeritus:
Eric
Lowder
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