Sim Date:
Oct. 21, 1952
vs.  MONARCHS EDGE CARPS IN 10TH INNING,
4-3; KC TAKES 1-GAME LEAD IN SERIES Oct. 21,
1952 [Boxscore] QUASQUETON,
IA: The Kansas City Monarchs came from behind to
tie today's game in the 9th inning and then scored a run in the 10th to
win the 3rd game of the World Series against the
Quasqueton Quillback Carpsuckers. Quasky
started strong, scoring all 3 of their runs in the 1st inning off of
Monarch starter Billy Pierce. The Carps benefitted
from 3 walks in the inning by Pierce, who only walked 2 more batters the
rest of his 6 innings of work. Quillback starter Jim
Hearn shut out the Monarchs for the first 5 innings but
then returned Pierce's favor, walking 3 batters in a row in the
6th inning to load the bases with only 1 out. Like Pierce, Hearn had
good control for most of the game, walking only 1 other batter
outside of that inning. One out later, Andy
Pafko singled in KC's first run and left fielder Del
Ennis committed a throwing error to allow a second run to cross
the plate, narrowing Quasky's lead to 3-2. Hearn left the game after
7 innings, having given up only 1 earned run on 5 singles and 4
walks. Kansas City tied the game in the top of the 9th against
reliever Sandy Consuegra. With 1 out, Gene
Shuba hit a weak squibber to 2nd base and was able to beat
out the throw for an infield hit. The next batter, Jackie
Robinson, hit a slow-roller to 3rd and both runners were
safe before any Quillback fielder could make a play.
Mickey Vernon then grounded the ball between 1st and 2nd
for a shallow single that drove in a run to keep the Monarchs alive.
Quasky threatened to win the game in the bottom of the 9th when
Hank Thompson and Jerry Priddy each hit
bloop singles off of Paul Minner to put runners on
1st and 2nd with 2 outs and slugger Larry Doby coming to
bat. But Bob Cain relieved Minner and struck out
Doby to send the game into extra innings. Woody
Main came in to pitch for Quasky in the 10th and retired the
first batter. But Andy Pafko then hit the only
extra base hit of the game for either team, a double to right. The
next batter, Cal Abrams, singled home Pafko to put KC
ahead, 4-3. Main got out of the inning without further problems but
the damange was done. Cain held the Carps scoreless in the bottom of
the 10th to save the win. Both teams pulled out all the stops to try
to win the game, with Kansas City using 20 players and Quasqueton
getting 19 players in the game. Tomorrow's anticipated starting
pitchers are righthander Sid Hudson (8-10, 4.51) for Kansas City and
southpaw Warren Spahn (25-6, 1.84) for
Quasqueton.
vs.  QUASKY WINS GAME 2, 8-4, TO TIE WORLD
SERIES; STALEY WINS 3RD STRAIGHT POSTSEASON START Oct.
19, 1952 [Boxscore] KANSAS CITY,
MO: Warren Spahn may have been the Quasqueton
Carpsuckers' pitching star during the season, but
Jerry Staley is emerging as their ace in this year's
playoffs. After starting and winning two games in the League
Championship Series, Staley started Game 2 of the World Series today and
pitched a complete game victory over the Kansas City
Monarchs. The two teams traded single-run innings for the
first 6 frames, and the game was tied 3 to 3 as KC starter Mike
Garcia took the mound to start the top of the 7th.
Garcia had been pitching well up to that point, but today it was the
Quillbacks' turn to have a big inning. With one out,
Quasky took the lead after consecutive singles by Hank
Thompson, Jerry Priddy, and Larry
Doby scored a run and put runners on 1st and 3rd. Jim
Dyck then tripled, scoring Priddy and Doby to give the
Carpsuckers a 6-3 lead. Reliever Joe Black, who
saved yesterday's win for the Monarchs, came into the game to try to end
the Carp rally. But Joe Garagiola singled home Dyck
and Quasky went up by 7-3 before Black could get the final two outs of the
inning. Each team scored one more run apiece before the game ended,
making the final score 8-4. Priddy was 3 for 4 with a double and 3
RBI for Quasky, and Dyck went 2 for 4 with a double and a triple.
Granny Hamner had a single and a triple for KC.
Staley now has a 3-0 record and 2.25 ERA in his 3
postseason starts, with 24 innings pitched in those 3 games. The two
teams will head north to Iowa for the next three games, beginning on
October 21. Although final announcements have not been made,
possible starting pitchers for game 3 are Billy Pierce (21-4, 3.21) for
the Monarchs and Jim Hearn (13-12, 3.84) for
Quasqueton.
MONARCHS WIN GAME 1, 5-3; CARPSUCKER ERRORS
LEAD TO 4 UNEARNED RUNS ROBINSON HOMERS, DRIVES IN 2 Oct.
18, 1952 [Boxscore] Webcast: http://www.livestream.com/wombatvideo KANSAS
CITY, MO: The Kansas City Monarchs demonstrated
today that they still know how to beat the Quasqueton
Quillback Carpsuckers. The Monarchs, who defeated the
Carps in all three of their previous World Series matchups, took advantage
of two Quasky errors and 4 unearned runs in the 5th inning to win the
opening game of the 1952 Series by the score of 5-3. For the first 4
innings, starting pitchers Spec Shea for KC and
Warren Spahn for Quasqueton mowed down batters right and
left, and each pitcher had given up only 1 hit as the 5th inning opened.
Quasqueton got on the board in the top of the 5th thanks to Del
Ennis, who hit a leadoff triple and then scored on Eddie
Waitkus' ground out. In the bottom of the 5th,
Spahn remained in control of the game as he quickly
retired the first two batters. To this point in the game Spahn had
only allowed 2 baserunners. But Jim Busby doubled to keep
the inning alive. Shea, the pitcher, hit a grounder
to Quillback shortstop Bobby Morgan for what should have
been the 3rd out, but Morgan's throw was wild and landed in the stands,
allowing Busby to come home to tie the game at 1-1. Jackie
Robinson drilled Spahn's next pitch into the left field stands
for a 2-2un home run and a 3-1 KC lead. Spahn's next pitch was
drilled down the right field line by Sid Gordon for a
single. On the very next pitch Don Lenhardt
hit a slow dribbler to the left of the mound that Spahn chased after
but had trouble fielding, allowing Lenhardt to reach base on the
error. That brought up Yogi Berra, who watched
one pitch go by before drilling a single into right field to send
Gordon home and give the Monarchs a 4-1 lead. The Quasqueton fans
who had made the trip down from Iowa were stunned by the sudden reversal
of fortune, with their 1-0 margin turning into a 4-1 Monarch lead
after only 7 pitches by the winningest pitcher in the VBG.
Larry Jansen relieved Spahn and ended
the inning. Quasky looked like they would mount a comeback in
the top of the 6th when they loaded the bases with no outs, but Shea
managed to work his way out of that jam with only 1 run scoring, narrowing
the KC lead to 4-2. Kansas City got that run back in the bottom of
the 6th with a double by Gene Shuba and
an RBI single by Shea. Quasqueton added
one more run when Bill Nicholson homered off of reliever
Joe Black in the 8th, but the Monarchs hung on to
win, 5-3. Starters for tomorrow's game are expected to be Jerry
Staley (19-16, 3.66) for the Carps and Mike Garcia (16-13, 4.56) for the
Monarchs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sim
Date: Oct. 14, 1952
vs.  MONARCHS WIN
NAIL-BITER, 6-5, TO CAPTURE CJ PENNANT 9TH-INNING GOAT ISLAND COMEBACK
FALLS SHORT Oct. 14, 1952 [Boxscore] Webcast: http://www.livestream.com/wombatvideo KANSAS
CITY, MO: The Kansas City Monarchs finally put away
the scrappy Goat Island Lights in the fight for the
Crackerjack League pennant with today's 6-5 victory in Game 7 of the
LCS. Goat Island took an early lead with a run in the first
inning. Enos Slaughter led off the game with a
triple. Backup catcher Harry Chiti, who was pressed
into emergency duty as the starting left fielder due to Goat Island's
injury problems, drove Slaughter home with a single. The Lights
increased their lead to 2-0 when Connie Ryan led off the
5th inning with a walk and raced around to score on Billy
Johnson's double. Goat Island lost a chance for
another run, however, when Johnson was thrown out at 3rd
trying to stretch his double into a triple, going against the traditional
baseball axiom that runners shouldn't risk making the 1st or
3rd out in an inning at 3rd base. Aggressive baserunning
may have cost the Lights another chance at a big inning in the 6th as well
when they again risked making the 1st out at 3rd base and lost the
gamble. Slaughter led off the 6th with a
single and Johnny Wyrostek followed with another
single. With the heart of the order coming up to bat and no outs,
Slaughter tried to go to 3rd base on the single but was gunned down
by KC rightfielder Don Lenhardt.
Goat Island starter Curt Simmons shut
out the potent Monarchs lineup through the first 6 innings but
ran out of gas in the 7th. Pitching on 3 days rest after winning
Game 4, Simmons showed signs of fatigue as he battled Andy
Pafko to start the inning. Pafko fouled off 3 pitches as he
worked Simmons into a full count and drew a walk on the 8th pitch of the
at-bat. With two righthanded batters coming up, the Goat Island
manager decided that was enough for the lefthanded Simmons and
Johnny Sain came in to relieve him. Sain got the
first batter out but then surrendured a single to Mickey
Vernon and a 3-run homer to pinch hitter Gene
Shuba, and suddenly the Monarchs had a 3-2 lead.
Johnny Mize then singled, bringing up Jackie
Robinson. Robinson grounded to 3rd baseman Billy
Johnson for what should have been at least the 2nd out and
possibly an inning-ending double play, but Johnson committed an error on
the play that put Mize on 2nd and Robinson on 3rd. Sain, having thrown 20
pitches but only notching 1 out, left the game and Ed
Wright took over on the mound to try to keep the game in
reach. Wright induced Sid Gordon to hit into a
force for the 2nd out, but then Don Lenhardt drove
Wright's next pitch deep into the left field stands for KC's second 3-run
home run of the inning to stretch the lead to 6-2. Monarch reliever
Joe Black came into the game in place of starting pitcher
Billy Pierce, who had been removed for a pinch hitter
during the KC rally. Black ran into big trouble in the 9th inning
when the Lights came roaring back from their 4-run hole to threaten to
retake the lead. Luke Easter led off with a double
and scored when the next batter, Sherm Lollar, singled,
and KC's lead was cut to 6-3. Connie Ryan singled
to put runners on 1st and 2nd and the tying run at the plate with no
outs. Catcher Yogi Berra allowed a passed ball and
the runners moved up to 2nd and 3rd. Black struck out Billy
Johnson for the first out, and then retired Gus
Niarhos on a grounder for the 2nd out. Lollar scored on the
groundout and Ryan moved up to 3rd base, and the Monarchs lead was down to
6-4. Leo Thomas then singled home Ryan, and the
Lights had pulled to within 1 run. That brought the go-ahead run to
the plate in the person of Enos Slaughter, who had
already tripled and singled during the game. Righthanded reliever
Spec Shea took over for Black and faced the lefty-hitting
Slaughter. In an epic plate appearance that had Kansas City fans
holding their breath, Slaughter worked the count to 3-2, fouled off the
next two pitches, and then launched a long fly ball toward the left field
wall that looked like it could be out of the park. But the ball fell
just short of the fence where it was caught by Gordon for
the final out of the game, sending the Kansas City Monarchs to the World
Series and the Goat Island Lights back to Cape Porpoise to ponder how
close they came to a pennant despite their barrage of injuries.
After 3 days off, the Monarchs will face the Quasqueton Quillback
Carpsuckers in Game 1 of the World Series, with the first 2 games played
in Kansas City.
MONARCHS STOP GOAT ISLAND
MOMENTUM; KC WINS GAME SIX, 6-3, TO TIE CJ LCS; TOMORROW'S GAME WILL
DECIDE PENNANT Oct. 13, 1952 [Boxscore] KANSAS CITY,
MO: The Kansas City Monarchs regained the
upper hand in the Crackerjack League Championship Series by defeating the
Goat Island Lights and sending the series to a final game
in Kansas City's' home field. The defending champion Monarchs
pounced on Goat Island starter Virgil Trucks
early with 4 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks in the 2nd inning. The
first 4 KC batters of the inning reached base safely, with a
single by Yogi Berra, a double by Andy
Pafko, a 2-run single by Granny Hamner, and a
walk to Jim Busby. Monarch pitcher Bob
"Sugar" Cain bunted the runners to 2nd and 3rd, and Gene
Shuba drove in 2 more runs with a single, taking 2nd on an
error. When Trucks walked the next batter, he was yanked and
replaced by Turk Lown, who put out the
fire. The Monarchs scored 2 more in the 4th inning, putting the
Lights in a 6-run hole. Through the first 6 innings Cain had shut
out the Lights on 3 hits and no walks, but Goat Island started to
battle back in the late innings. Russ
Sullivan singled to lead off the top of the 7th and advanced
to 2nd when Sherm Lollar
walked. Connie Ryan put Goat Island on
the board by singling home Sullivan. Goat Island threatened to tie
the game in the 8th. Pinch hitter Leo Thomas drew a
leadoff walk and Enos Slaughter followed with a single
that advanced Thomas to 3rd. Thomas scored when Johnny
Wyrostek hit into a force at 2nd. Back-to-back singles by
Russ Sullivan and Luke Easter drove
Wyrostek home to cut the KC lead to 6-3 with the tying run at the plate
and only 1 out. Cain was sent to the showers and rookie
reliever Joe Black took over. Black pitched like a
VBG veteran as he retired the next two batters to end the threat and then
closed out the win with a scoreless 9th inning. The Crackerjack LCS
will now come down to one last game. Although nothing has been
finalized, expected starters for the decisive game are southpaws Curt
Simmons (14-11, 3.63) for Goat Island and Billy Pierce (21-4, 3.21) for
Kansas City. The wheels continue to fall off the Goat Island
bandwagon as it approaches the finish line; after today's game it was
announced that Russ Sullivan will be unable to play
tomorrow. That announcement raises the total number of injured
or inactive Goat Island players to eight.
vs.  STALEY PITCHES
CARPS INTO WORLD SERIES; QUASKY BEATS SPOON RIVER, 4-1, TO WIN
PENNANT Oct. 11, 1952 [Boxscore] CANTON,
IL: The Quasqueton Quillback
Carpsuckers captured the Peanut League pennant today by
beating the Spoon River Mudcats, 4 to 1.
Jerry Staley started for Quasky and recorded his
second win of the LCS by holding the Mudcats to only 1 unearned run off of
5 hits and no walks in 7 innings of work. Staley also
contributed offensively with a single and a double, and scored what proved
to be the winning run. With the score tied 1-1 in the
top of the 8th and 1 out, Staley singled. After the
2nd out was recorded, pinch hitter Bill
Nicholson walked and Jerry Priddy singled home
Staley to break the tie. Lary Doby
then hit a 2-run triple to increase the Carp lead to 4-1.
Klem Koshorek went 2 for 4 with
a stolen base for Spoon River, driving in the Mudcats’ only
run. Mudcat starter Ken Rafffensberger
took the loss. The Carpsuckers will
now have a few extra days off while they wait to find out if they will
begin the World Series by hosting the Goat Island Lights in Quasqueton or
traveling to Kansas City to face the Monarchs.
 MARRERO & MUSIAL HONORED AS SEPTEMBER'S TOP
PLAYERS
RALEIGH, NC: Players of the Month
for September have been announced. In the announcements below,
the first number after a statistic indicates the player's overall rank in
the VBG. If there is a second number, that number indicates the rank
in the player's league.
Connie Marrero (4-1,
1.98) of the Goat Island Lights was selected as the
Pitcher of the Month for September. [Game Log](Honorable
Mention: Warren Spahn, Qua: 4-1, 1.19)
ERA:
1.98 (5, 3) CERA: 1.55 (1) RCERA: 1.80 (1) OPPONENT
BA: .188 (t5, 2) OPPONENT OBA: .219 (1) OPPONENT
SA: .299 (10, 4) R/9 IP: 7.7 (1) CG: 3
(t1) ShO: 1 (t2, t1) QUALITY STARTS: 5
(t1)
Stan Musial of the Spoon River
Mudcats was chosen as the Position Player of the Month
for September [Game
Log] (Honorable Mention: Billy Martin, Tex:
.379/.478/.589)
BA: .412 (2, 1) OBA: .478
(1) SA: .676 (3, 1) H: 42 (1) RBI: 28 (2,
1) D: 13 (1) XBH: 18 (1) TB: 69
(1)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CRACKERJACK
LEAGUE WINS MIDSUMMER CLASSIC, 7-5; SHANTZ NAMED
MVP July 6,
1952 [Boxscore] QUASQUETON, IA:
The Crackerjack League stars came from behind to beat the
Peanut League squad in the 1952 Midsummer Classic game by
the score of 7 to 5. Bobby Shantz, West Park War
Eagles hurler, started the game for the Crackerjacks and was phenominal
for 3 innings. The diminuative lefty, who stands only 5' 6" and tips
the scales at only 139 pounds, relied mostly on his curve balll with an
occasional fastball and changeup when he came up 3 years ago, but he
became more effective when he added a knuckleball to his arsenal
last year. He didn't give the Peanut batters anything they could hit
today, mowing down all 9 all-stars in order. He was a model of
efficiency as well, needing only 22 pitches to get through his 3 inning
assignment. Starting for the Peanut League was Warren
Spahn of the Quasqueton Quillback Carpsuckers. Spahn also
started the game with 3 scoreless innings, allowing a baserunner each
inning but facing only 10 batters in those 3 innings thanks to 2 double
plays by the middle infield tandem of Red
Schoendienst and Eddie Joost. Spahn
opened the 4th inning by giving up a double to Yogi
Berra. With two dangerous righthanded sluggers coming up
next, the Peanuts brought in their own curve ball specialist, righthander
Joe Dobson. But Dobson's breaking stuff didn't
baffle Gil Hodges or Sid Gordon, who
lined back-to-back singles, with Hodges' hit driving in Berra for the
first run of the game. One out later, Granny Hamner
also singled to drive in Hodges and put the Crackerjacks ahead 2-0.
Bob Lemon took over the Crackerjack mound duties in
the bottom of the 4th but struggled with control from the outset.
Minnie Minoso led off with a walk, Red
Schoendienst singled, and Stan Musial walked to
load the bases. Cleanup hitter Larry Doby then
belted an opposite field double into Griffith Stadium's spacious left
field to clear the bases and put the Peanut League on top, 3 to 2.
Unfortunately for the Peanut squad, that would turn out to be their only
extra base hit of the game. Doby scored on George
Kell's single to increase the lead to 4-2. While
Shantz used only 22 pitches to record 9 outs, Lemon needed 37
pitches to get just 2 outs and finally gave way to Harry
Brecheen who notched the 3rd out to end the inning. The
Peanut team scored again in the 5th with an unearned run. Dobson led
off with a single, advanced to 2nd on third baseman Billy
Goodman's error, advanced to third on a ground ball double play,
and came home om Musial's infield single. That turned out to be the
end of the Peanut League's scoring, as Crackerjack pitchers Brecheen,
Billy Pierce and Curt Simmons
scattered 2 singles and 3 walks the rest of the way. The
Crackerjacks tied the game in the top of the 7th with 3 runs, two of them
earned, against sinkerball pitcher Jerry Staley. Shortstop
Granny Hamner, a righthanded spray hitter, led off the
inning by launching a home run into the left field stands, an
impressive feat in Griffith Stadium. Richie Ashburn
followed with a single. One out later Goodman
singled and Ashburn scored on a throwing error with Goodman advancing to
2nd. Goodman then took 3rd on a passed ball and scored when
Berra flied out. Warren Hacker relieved
Staley to start the 8th inning. Hacker, a sidearm pitcher with a
good fastball mixed with knuckleballs and slow curves, started out
strong against the Crackerjack lineup, retiring the first two batters in
the inning. But the 3rd out proved elusive as he proceeded to walk
Ashburn and gave up consecutive singles to Mickey
Vernon, Goodman, and Jackie
Robinson. Before he could end the inning, the Crackerjacks
had scored twice to take a 7-5 lead that they would never give up.
In a ceremony after the game, Tony Musso accepted the
Midsummer Classic trophy on behalf of the Crackerjack League.
Bobby Shantz was named the Most Valuable
Player.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1952 Players of the
Month
PITCHERS April: Harry Brecheen, Tex
(4-0, 0.26, .345 OPS allowed) May: Allie Reynolds, Tex (4-1, 2.09,
.438 OPS allowed, 3 CG) June: Bobby Shantz, WP (5-0, 1.53, .455 OPS
allowed, 6.6 R/9IP) July: Bobby Shantz, WP (5-0, 0.75, 3 ShO, 3
CG) Aug: Bob Lemon, DC (4-1, 1.38, 3 CG, .499 OPS
allowed) Sept: Connie Marrero, SR (4-1, 1.98, 3 CG, 7.7
R/9IP)
POSITION PLAYERS: April: Stan Musial, SR
(.410/.529/.651) May: Sid Gordon, KC (.331/.419/.712; 37 RBI, 12
HR, 20 XBH) June: Eddie Joost, Fri (.350/.458/.650; 28 R, 15 XBH, 65
TB) July: Yogi Berra, KC (.390/.450/.810; 31 R, 39 RBI, 12 HR, 81
TB) Aug: Ted Kluszewski, LA (.378/.444/.638; 48 H, 19 XBH, 81
TB Sept: Stan Musial, SR (.412/.478/.676; 42 H, 4 T, 18
XBH, 69 TB)
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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